Elisabeth Barrett | A Secret Place

Okay, be honest. Do you have a secret place where you like to go hide? For me, it’s my garage. When I need a breather from the crazy that is my house or just need to give myself a time out, I sneak away to the cool darkness. Sometimes I turn on the tiny florescent garage light, but most of the time, I don’t. Sometimes I sit in my car where it’s quiet, but mostly I just stand near the boiler and listen to it clanking. Sometimes I take a spoon and eat some ice cream right out of the carton. I never feel guilty about my secret eating in my secret place. After a while, I feel calm enough to head back into the house to deal with whatever mayhem is going on with my husband and kids.

I think a lot of people have secret places. It might be a reading nook or a spot on the couch. It might be a cozy bed, the top of the staircase or a space in the attic. It might not even be in your house. In college, I always sought out a particular desk deep in the library stacks, and I have a friend who retreated to a spot under a notch on a particular tree. Your secret place is somewhere where you can hide, read, dream, or decompress.

My latest book, ONCE AND AGAIN, is a second chance love story with a double reversal-of-fortune twist and in it, my heroine, Carolyn, has a secret place. It’s located at the end of the rickety, old dock by her house. She goes there to think about her problems and listen to the waves. Early in the story, Carolyn isn’t doing well, and she ends up doing a lot of thinking and wave-listening. Her family lost their fortune, she’s struggling to make ends meet, and her new boss turns out to be her first love—and he still holds a grudge about how things ended between them. But Carolyn’s secret place calms her, helps her work through her problems, and keeps her going for another day.

Things end up working out for Carolyn, aided by a lot of soul-searching and a challenging journey, but it’s thanks to her secret place that she is able to keep herself together during the darkest times until things truly start to turn around.

GIVEAWAY

How many of you have a secret place you go when you need to hide/relax/dream? Where is it? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a digital copy of ONCE AND AGAIN.

About Elisabeth Barrett

Elisabeth Barrett lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and spends her days teaching, editing, writing sexy contemporary romance, and enjoying time with her sometimes-bearded husband and three spirited children. She is constantly perfecting her home-work-writing juggling act, but in her free time she loves to hike open space preserves, grow orchids, bake sweet things her husband won’t eat, and sing in grand choruses.

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About ONCE AND AGAIN

For readers of Shannon Stacey and Susan Mallery, the heartfelt new Briarwood series begins with a tale of forbidden love, broken promises, and second chances.

Growing up in Eastbridge, Connecticut, Carolyn Rivington was a young debutante who did whatever her parents asked. So when her father demanded that she break things off with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks or else, she did. Now Carolyn’s family is deep in debt. She’s no longer a member of the Briarwood Golf and Yacht Club, she’s an employee. And the tanned, tattooed, dangerously handsome stranger who saunters into her lobby isn’t just her new boss . . . he’s also her first love.

The last time he saw Carolyn, Jake Gaffney was in the back of a police cruiser, handcuffed and humiliated. But seeing her again stirs other memories: a blanket on the beach, the moon above their heads, and the most expensive bottle of wine he could afford. Now the tables have turned. As a real-estate magnate and Briarwood’s new owner, Jake doesn’t have to answer to anyone. But now that he’s back home, he’s finding it hard to live down his old reputation.

Before they can move forward, Jake and Carolyn must face their pasts. But it’ll take more than sizzling chemistry for them to heal old wounds and return to the love they once shared.