"To Move Forward a Past Secret Must Come Out"
Reviewed by Joanne Bozik
Posted December 1, 2012
Romance Contemporary | Romance Paranormal
I enjoyed this paranormal/romance story so very much, I
could not put it down. I have lived in a small town my whole
life, and I love the way Sharla Lovelace writes of life in a
small town. Believe me, secrets can be
plentiful. Emily Lockwood has been hiding a secret for many years, a
secret she never thought she'd have to explain to anyone,
especially her daughter. When her mother puts her home on
the market, Emily's ex-best friend, love of her
life (Ben Landry) returns to town, and when ever Emily is
in her mother's home, at certain times, out of the blue,
she goes back in time. When these episodes happen, she
can't move, can't talk, she stands firmly in place and
watch's herself, her parents, friends interacting with each
other. As she watches she becomes aware that she can not
interact with them, but is instead forced to listen and
watch. She learns a lot from
these episodes, more then she ever thought possible.
She learns what her mom had to do for the sake of her
family, she views her times as a teenager and adult
interactions with Ben Landry, and along with the final
moments of her father's life. The flashbacks help Emily
(and us) understand some of the secrets that have been kept
within her family and give her some clarity as to why
certain events happened in her life. Sharla Lovelace's BEFORE AND EVER SINCE is fiction, but yet
for many people in our world, these events have happened in
their lives. I actually can relate to some incidents in
the book. Especially, when her mom puts the home on the
market for sale and it's hard for her daughters to give it
up. When my parents died, I purchased my family home from
my sister, I still live here with my family. I could not
let go of it. BEFORE AND EVER SINCE warms my heart. As Emily deals with the reappearance of her best friend Ben
Landry, she finds her feelings for him are still very
strong as are his for her. She fights hard not to be hurt
by him again and becomes frustrated with him at times. They
both try to fight this love that's so strong between them.
But there's one big secret that Emily must reveal to
Ben, her family and friends. As the time comes closer for
her to do so, she fears she will lose everyone in her life,
but the secret must be told in truth. I loved the story and I love the characters. The story and
the characters will grab you from the first page, demanding
that we go on this journey with them. It was a journey I'm
glad I took. I look forward to reading more from Sharla
Lovelace in the future.
SUMMARY
Emily Lockwood, your past is showing. Emily Lockwood has been sitting on a secret for so long, and
buried so deep that she really doesn't even think of it
anymore. Why should she? She has a successful career, an
ex–husband who rarely tests her patience, a mother who
usually does, and a stubbornly independent grown daughter.
Everything is fine, just another crazy kind of normal. Until Ben Landry comes back to town. The one person that
could change it all. From best friends growing up, to young
adults who realize their love in a night of crazy passion,
Ben and Emily had an unbreakable bond. Or so she thought.
When he then disappeared without explanation for over twenty
years, she'd had to pick herself up and accept otherwise.
Seeing Ben back again now triggers more than mere memories
and a tug at her heart. It rips the cover off an old secret
that could hurt the people she loves the most. While Emily works to keep her secret safe and her heart
safer, her sanity gets a reality check. She's been seeing
things—her past played out like home movies unreeling
before her eyes, visions that are making Emily see herself,
her family, everyone she knew, and every choice she made, in
a revealing new light and a startling new angle. For Emily,
seeing her life in rewind makes her realize she has hard
choices to make for her future. Choices that may redefine
everyone else's future as well.
ExcerptI call this one ... Never assume it's safe to drop by
Mom's house looking like Swamp Girl.
Oh no. No, no, no, no. Goosebumps ran the length of
my body and back again. Ben Landry. As I stared into that
face, I felt the old hurt I thought I'd forgotten seep
through my bones right down through my feet, rooting me to
the floor.
"You're back," I said, hearing the words and how my
voice suddenly went all croaky and hating how stupid that
was.
But I was painfully aware that I had only thrown on a
pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, and otherwise still looked
like I'd just crawled out of bed. Additionally, after
twenty–one years, I was looking at probably the only
person on the planet that ever really knew me. And could
turn my life upside down.
"Yes I am," he said, his voice quiet.
"Mr. Landry," my mother said from behind me as she moved
me over from where I'd dropped anchor in the
doorway. "Come on in."
"Just Ben, ma'am," he said, shaking her hand and then
gesturing toward where I stood with my heart slamming
against my ribs. His dark eyes warmed with memory. My
stomach threatened to send me back my four cups of coffee
as I recalled the last time I'd seen him.
"Emily and I are old friends."
Old friends.
Ben was the boy that put snakes in the teacher's lounge
and snuck into the girls' bathroom. That popped all the
girls' training bras and spent at least two days each week
in detention. That wore an old black jacket with chains on
it when he rode his bike, so he'd look like a bad ass. He
was the boy that lured me under my house when we were seven
for my first kiss, and into a closet in the eighth grade
for another one. He was the mysterious, dangerous looking
dark–eyed guy in high school who could part a room
like The Red Sea when he entered it, who always sat with
his back to the wall and never let his guard down. Except
with me.
"I don't remember seeing you around here," Mom said.
Ben grinned, an endearing expression that transformed
him back into the twenty–one year old I'd last seen
him as. Time may have dulled some of the edges, but it
worked for him, God help me.
"Well, I'm sure we met at some point," he said, smoothly
moving the conversation on as his eyes slowly took in the
walls and beams and ceiling. It was as if he were already
seeing the possibilities. "So, tell me what your ideas are
for this place."
He followed her as she talked about the paneling that
needed to go, the ceiling that needed sheetrock, the
insulation that was probably rotten, and the gaping cracks
around the windows. Just for starters.
Fortunately for me, it gave me the opportunity I needed
to release the breath I'd been holding and suck in a few
more.
"Jesus Christ, Ben Landry," I muttered under my breath
on a sprint to the bathroom. What I saw when I got there
made me want to hurl. My hair was still straight on one
side, kinked up and tangled on the other, and a zit waved
from one pale cheek. "Shit."
I dug in Mom's drawers for a brush and a ponytail band,
and managed to find an old cover–up stick for the
zit. I couldn't find any powder or mascara or blush, but
at least I'd moved up a notch from scary to just
unappealing. I couldn't remember if I'd put on deodorant,
but I saw a bottle of cologne and spritzed my neck.
"Oh God!" I groaned.
It smelled like old woman. Not old woman like my mom,
because she was fairly young at heart and active. Old like
the women with the beehive hairdos and the stripe of blue
eye shadow reaching to their eyebrows.
I found a box of wet wipes under the sink, and attacked
my neck with one, but I was pretty sure the smell was still
there along with the aroma of aloe.
"Damn it, just shoot me now," I said to my reflection.
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