Damage Done by M.J. Schiller-Review, Guest Post and Giveaway
Damage Done
Real Romance Collection #3
by M.J.Schiller
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance, suspense
Release Date: July 2014
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 16, 2014
When an unhappy youth leaves him damaged, will Teddy Mckee be able to find love?
“Teddy Passmore McKee was born in Cork, Ireland, with a limp and a chip on his shoulder that threw his balance off all the more.” When he falls in love with the dark haired beauty born of an Irish father and a Spanish mother, will Gabrielle Quinn be able to restore his balance? And what about the charming Sean Hennessey? When Gabby catches his eye, too, will Teddy’s playboy best friend cause his own damage?
Fourteen years later, will Teddy and Gabrielle’s son be able to overcome the damage done to him in his childhood?
“Even through bloodshot eyes he could see she was different.” But can Michael leave behind the bottle, and his womanizing ways, to win over the lovely Tess Flanagan? Tess has sustained some damage of her own. Can she and Michael overcome the terrors of the past and learn how to love each other?
And if they do, will they be able to elude those after them who want to create their own damage?
On the run after an altercation leaves their boss in a pool of blood, will Michael and Tess be able to stay one step ahead of their pursuers? Or is it simply too late to correct the damage that has been done?
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REVIEW: DAMAGE DONE is the third storyline in M.J. Schiller’s adult, contemporary Real Romance Collections series. Each book is a stand alone novel, not connected or interconnected to any of the previous storylines. Damage Done is the story of one family / two men-Teddy Passmore McKee and his son Michael Patrick McKee. The storyline covers approximately fifty years starting in 1960 to the present, when a then five year old Teddy McKee discovered life was never going to be easy.
Set in Ireland, DAMAGE DONE looks at choices made and the damage done when these choices result in heartbreak, destruction and death. We follow Teddy McKee from a young boy with a physical handicap whose earlier years have left him jaded and without the support of family and friends. Meeting Sean Hennessey will start a twelve year old Teddy on a downward spiral that does not stop for close to fifty years resulting in the breakup of his family, the loss of his freedom and a blight on the next generation. The sins of the father will destroy everything and everyone that comes in contact with Teddy McKee.
Told from third person point of view, DAMAGE DONE is a romantic narrative but not necessarily a tale of romance and love. It is a story about two men whose choices in life have affected the places and people that they meet. It is a story of passion, pain, forgiveness and hope but also a story that does not delve too deeply into the mind or the emotions of the leading characters.
The world building focuses on one family’s choices and the people they meet along the way. The secondary characters are colorful and drive a good portion of the story-in other words these characters set into motion the choices that will affect both Teddy and his son.
MJ Schiller’s DAMAGE DONE is an intriguing look at the ‘damage done’ or ‘the snowball affect’ of one man’s choices and another man’s sins.
Copy supplied by the author.
Reviewed by Sandy
Good morning! I am so glad to be back at The Reading Café talking about my latest release, DAMAGE DONE, an Irish romantic suspense. It may seem a little different for me, as the majority of my books are rock star romances, but it actually is similar in a lot of ways to my other romances. For one, I never stray too far from music. Michael is not a rock star—not by a long shot—but he is a musician, and a talented one. He plays rock music, but on the local level. Perhaps he hasn’t been discovered yet. (Hmm…do I see a sequel in the works?)
So why did I choose to write Michael and Tess’s story in the first place? It all began with the line, “Even through bloodshot eyes he could tell she was different.” That line kept playing over and over in my head until I was forced to explore it. Who is “he?” Why are his eyes bloodshot, and what makes “her” different? I decided the bloodshot eyes were from late hours, drinking and womanizing. (Maybe he’s a rock star after all!) But why? Why is he living his life this way?
That’s where the idea of DAMAGE DONE came into play. We all suffer our damages, just in different ways. You know what I mean? Those childhood scars that never quite seem to leave us. For example, growing up in an abusive home, like my character Chad Evans from TRAPPED UNDER ICE. Those sorts of experiences, especially in our formative years, leave a mark on us. Permanently change us, and it is up to us to rise above those circumstances, to adjust, to heal. Sometimes it takes meeting the right person to make us want to change and improve ourselves. For Michael, that is Tess. Tess has had her own damage done to her. Together Michael and Tess help each other to open up and trust again and a wonderful, lasting romance begins.
I’ve always been drawn to this idea of two people who have been hurt before mending each other, becoming each other’s salvation. Such a powerful thought! And it’s not good enough for only one of them to need the other, it needs to be a joint union of broken hearts that makes for one indestructible love. Sigh. I love my job! Okay. Enough of my blabbering. Why don’t I tell you a little bit more about DAMAGE DONE.
When an unhappy youth leaves him damaged, will Teddy Mckee be able to find love?
“Teddy Passmore McKee was born in Cork, Ireland, with a limp and a chip on his shoulder that threw his balance off all the more.” When he falls in love with the dark haired beauty born of an Irish father and a Spanish mother, will Gabrielle Quinn be able to restore his balance? And what about the charming Sean Hennessey? When Gabby catches his eye, too, will Teddy’s playboy best friend cause his own damage?
Fourteen years later, will Teddy and Gabrielle’s son be able to overcome the damage done to him in his childhood?
“Even through bloodshot eyes he could see she was different.” But can Michael leave behind the bottle, and his womanizing ways, to win over the lovely Tess Flanagan? Tess has sustained some damage of her own. Can she and Michael overcome the terrors of the past and learn how to love each other?
And if they do, will they be able to elude those after them who want to create their own damage?
On the run after an altercation leaves their boss in a pool of blood, will Michael and Tess be able to stay one step ahead of their pursuers? Or is it simply too late to correct the damage that has been done?
She remained frozen in her spot, staring blindly over the cliff. He moved a step closer and gently grasped her elbow. “Tess—”
She whirled around and his heart caught in his chest as he stared into her wild green eyes. Tears shone on her damp cheeks, glimmering in the moonlight like trails of scattered diamonds. “Nay, Michael,” she said, her words coming out choked. “I have to tell them the truth. It’s my fault. …I k-killed him.” She sobbed.
He looked at her sadly, begging her, “Let me help you.”
The back door creaked open and light spilled out from the bar across the grass, startling them. He saw Jimmy Flynn’s outline in the doorway. “They’re out here!” he yelled.
Without waiting for a response, Michael took Tess’s arm and steered her along the cliff’s edge. He stepped over the railing and helped her to the other side as well. They stood on a narrow ledge. To the left a trail dropped off toward the sea. He led her skittering down the path, loose rock pebbling the beach far below. He had taken the pathway many a night when he was drunk and feeling particularly reckless. Tonight he hurried over it with only self-preservation and Tess’s safety in mind.
They heard voices above them, coming from every direction as searchers fanned out along the top of the cliff. Their eyes met. They hardly dared to breathe. A flashlight beam ventured over the railing and along the cliff face. She clutched his hand, squeezing it until he lost feeling in his fingers. He tried to flatten himself even more tightly against the rock face, wishing it would somehow melt and absorb them. Several seconds passed and the beam of light was joined by another, and another, each swinging away, and then toward them again.
He grabbed a quick look at the churning sea below then closed his eyes for a second, and his stomach dropped. He took a deep breath before turning his head to look at Tess. Her eyes were closed and her lips were moving fervently, but she emitted no sound. He swallowed, wondering again why the sight of her affected him so. After several minutes a voice called out, “You won’t get away with this, Mikey.” Had someone seen them? He heard Jimmy Flynn mutter, “Wherever they are, we won’t find them tonight.” One by one the lights disappeared until only a solitary beam shone.
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MJ is a lunch lady in the heart of Central Illinois. My gosh! Can you get more folksy than that? She met her husband at the University of Missouri-Columbia and now she has a nineteen-year-old (how did that happen?) and seventeen year old triplets! She loves to read, karaoke (where she can pretend she is a rock star) and spends WAY too much time on Facebook. She grew up in St. Louis and still has family there.
MJ Schiller is graciously offering an ecopy (winner’s choice) of any of her books to TWO (2) lucky commenters. You can find all of MJ Schiller’s books HERE
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