On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
Protecting the Single Mom
Shores of Indian Lake #7
Catherine Lanigan
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
April 1st 2017 by Harlequin Heartwarming
Getting involved shouldn’t be this dangerous…
Cate Sullivan is no damsel in distress. She’s kept herself and her son safe for six long years. Built a good life in Indian Lake. But now that her drug-dealing ex-husband is moving his operation here, that life is about to explode.
Her instincts tell her to trust Detective Trent Davis. That he’s more than just a handsome cop doing his duty. The former Green Beret has even formed a fast bond with her son. But there’s something he’s not telling her. Some darkness that keeps him from giving in to the feelings she knows are growing between them. Cate trusts Trent to keep her safe, but the real question is whether he’ll trust himself with her heart.
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Advanced Review for Protecting the Single Mom
This is an exceptional romantic fiction novel that inspires women to achieve their dreams and warms the hearts of the romantics. It is a beautifully well-written story with a clean context. It is suitable for anybody who loves a good romance and yearns to be inspired to make a change in their circumstances. – Susan Sewell for Readers’ Favorite
“Officer—10-101. What is your status?”
“I’m in pursuit of a late model, black Mercury sedan. Illinois license M3Y. Negative on the rest of the number.”
Trent glanced in his rearview mirror to see Danny and Cate running down their front sidewalk. Danny was jumping, waving his arms as if to flag Trent down.
He cursed under his breath. He spoke into his radio. “Send backup. Mercury heading north out of town on Indian Lake Avenue. Presumably toward I-94.”
“Copy that,” the dispatcher replied. “Sending an APB. State troopers on alert. Will apprehend.”
“Dispatch, 10-19. Will report from the scene.”
“Copy that. Do you need backup at scene?”
“Negative.”
The dispatcher signed off, “10-3.”
Trent yanked his steering wheel around and performed a stellar, illegal U-turn and shot back to Cate’s house. She and Danny were standing on the front porch steps, their arms wrapped around each other.
Trent bounded out of the car and strode toward them in four long-legged steps. “Are you two okay?”
“No,” Cate replied and instantly burst into tears. She hid her face in her hands.
Danny went straight to him and flung his little arms around Trent’s thigh. “We were scared. It was just like you warned us, Detective Trent.”
Trent put his hand on Danny’s head and pressed him into his leg. He rubbed his back affectionately. “Don’t worry. I’m here.” Danny heaved a sob and clung tighter.
Every protective bone in Trent’s body ached for Cate. Of all the calls, all the assignments he’d been given over the years, this one reverberated inside him like church bells on a summer morning. It didn’t take a genius to understand that his reaction was all about the woman. Not that she was defenseless, but that she’d been so strong for years. Like a stalwart angel against all odds, she’d chosen to obliterate her old life and don a new one.
He respected her and admired the kind of character it took to create a life for herself and her son that appeared normal to all outsiders when, in fact, the underpinnings were held by the sinewy fingers of evil. An evil not of her making.
Trent reached out to Cate and pulled her hands away from her face. She was trembling even more than Danny, if that was possible. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a funny sound, like a little dog’s bark, came out. Mascara ran down one cheek, and her face was red and blotchy. But her eyes were like searchlights in a storm, warning ships away from treacherous, rocky shores. More tears streamed down her face as she gently shook her head, as if she didn’t mean what she said.
“No,” she uttered thickly. “No. I shouldn’t have brought you into this.”
“Don’t say that. It’s not your fault. It’s my job—” Already, he knew he’d moved beyond professionalism where Cate—and Danny—were concerned. If he could steal her away, then he’d be the savior.
“Your job,” she said, then sniffed. “Yes.”
Her eyes swam in a sea of tears, and though he could not see beyond the fake brown of their color, he felt the explosion of emotions in her. In that moment, he read the suffering she’d experienced at her ex-husband’s hands. He couldn’t imagine what it had been like for her back then. Pregnant. Afraid. On the run.
Trent had probed Luke for information about Cate and had been satisfied to hear that his own observations about her had been spot-on. Cate was the kind of person who did everything for herself and by herself. She didn’t ask for favors. She didn’t lean on anyone. Cate was more likely to help her friends than to ask for help.
What Trent knew was that everyone had their breaking point, and Cate had come to hers.
Trent wanted her to know she could depend on him. She knew him only as the cop doing his job. But he wanted to be a friend to her, just like Sarah, Luke and Mrs. Beabots. He wanted her to feel comfortable allowing him into her circle. Not because he thought he’d wheedle some information from her, but because, after being around her and Danny at the Sunflower Festival, he liked how he felt when they were together.
He realized with a jolt that he might need her more than she needed him.
He took her hand in his. “You’re trembling.”
“I’m scared.”
Trent pulled her toward him. She relented like a flower in a spring breeze. “Come here,” was all he said.
She fitted against his chest like she’d been born to inhabit that very spot. He slid his arm around her shoulders and pressed her head into his chest, just as he had done with Danny. He made comforting noises that were half words and mutterings that he remembered his mother using when he was small and terrified of monsters in his closet.
For Cate and Danny, their monster was very real.
Standing in the dark with woman and boy clinging to him for comfort, safety and protection filled Trent with a sense of belonging he’d never experienced in his life.
And he didn’t want it to end.
Other Books in the Series
About the Author
Catherine Lanigan is the international bestselling and award-winning author of forty published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, as well as over half a dozen anthologies, including “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living your Dream”, “Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul”, and more. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into dozens of languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Ms. Lanigan’s novels are also available in E-books on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, Apple Store, Mobi and Kobo. Several of her titles have been chosen for The Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Her Vietnam war-based novel, The Christmas Star, won the Gold Medal Award Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine and has also won Book of the Year Romance Gold Award from ForeWord Magazine as well as Book of the Year Romance from Reader’s Preference.
Lanigan is the author of a trilogy of non- fiction books regarding angelic intervention in human life: Angel Watch, Divine Nudges and Angel Tales published by HCI and Cedar Fort. Skyhorse published Lanigan’s “how-to” book on writing: Writing the Great American Romance Novel. Lanigan was tasked by the NotMYkid Foundation to write a non-fiction book addressing teen addictions. Ms. Lanigan’s first Young Adult adventure novel, The Adventures of Lillie and Zane: The Golden Flute, was published by Cedar Fort.
Currently, she has published seven novels in the Shores of Indian Lake series for Harlequin Heartwarming: Love Shadows, Heart’s Desire, A Fine Year for Love, Katia’s Promise, Fear of Falling and Sophie’s Path. Protecting the Single Mom pubs April, 2016. She has recently contracted for two more in the series: Wedding for Isabelle and A Bride for Mica.
As a cancer survivor, Ms. Lanigan is a frequent speaker at literary functions and book conventions as well as inspiring audiences with her real stories of angelic intervention from her Angel Tales series of books. She is an outspoken advocate for domestic violence and abuse and was honored by The National Domestic Violence Hotline in Washington, D.C. (THE EVOLVING WOMAN). She has been a guest on numerous radio programs including “Coast to Coast” and on television interview and talk show programs as well as blogs, podcasts and online radio interview programs.
Tour Schedule
March 26th: Launch
March 27th: Thoughts of a Blonde & Katie’s Clean Book Collection
March 28th: Rockin’ Book Reviews & Book Lover in Florida
March 29th: Rainy Day Reviews & Zerina Blossom’s Books
March 30th: Hearts & Scribbles & Harlie’s Books
April 2nd: Hardcover Feedback & Reading Is My SuperPower
April 3rd: Mel’s Shelves & Kati’s Bookaholic Rambling Reviews
April 4th: underneath the covers & Wishful Endings
April 5th: The Silver Dagger Scriptorium, Heidi Reads… & Singing Librarian Books
April 6th: Nicole’s Book Musings & Becky on Books
April 7th: Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
– 1 winner will receive a $50 Amazon eGift Card (open internationally)
– 1 winner will receive a tote bag and three Shores of Indian Lake books: Katia’s Promise, Fear of Falling and Sophie’s Path (US only)
– Ends April 11th
Book Lover in Florida 
What a great excerpt! Can’t wait to read this story.
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Thanks, Beth! Glad you liked it. This was a lovely post!
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