A Love to Call Mine by Merrillee Whren on Sale for 99CENTS

          This is my latest series of books. The second book in the series, A LOVE TO CALL MINE, is currently on sale for 99 cents. Be sure to get a copy while it is on sale. You can find buy links for the different online retailers by clicking here.

Here is a short excerpt from the book. 

“Do I have a terrible disease?” The words tumbled from Max Reynolds’s mouth as he sat alone in the exam room and stared at the pale-yellow walls. Even the supposedly cheerful color failed to cheer him today. Instead, the hue sent up a caution signal. What would the doctor have to say?

Bad news?

It had to be bad, or the office coordinator wouldn’t have called him to come in immediately after the doctor received the results of Max’s recent medical tests.

For months he’d been dealing with a series of maladies, including rashes, night sweats, and a cough. All previous appointments with doctors had resulted in a diagnosis followed by a prescription that cleared up each problem temporarily. He hadn’t been concerned until he’d unexpectedly lost ten pounds in the last two months and a painful cough had reoccurred.

This time—no prescription, only tests followed by an urgent phone call. He took a deep breath, then let it out in a harsh rush of air. He hated the uncertainty. He hated the vulnerability. Most of all, he hated the waiting. Why were they making him wait when they had insisted he come in right away?

Maybe he should leave. He’d been to enough doctors—doctors who had done little for him. Why should this doctor be any different? Max stood, but as he took a step, he heard a muffled conversation outside the door. He returned to his seat as the doctor walked into the room, a stethoscope dangling around his neck.

Dr. Vargas immediately pulled up a chair and sat facing Max. “I have bad news. Your test results show that you have lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphoma.”

The word lymphoma sliced through Max’s mind. He couldn’t speak while a sinking sensation filled his gut. He swallowed hard.

Cancer.

How could he have cancer? At twenty-seven, he was too young…but that wasn’t true. Cancer was no respecter of age. He’d spent the last four years working in labs and looking at other people’s cancer cells through a microscope—people of all ages and occupations. Cancer could change a person’s life in an instant.

His moment had come.

When I first wrote a proposal for this story, Max, the hero, did not have cancer, but he was searching for his father's family. When I talked to my editor at the time, she thought it would be a good idea for Max to be the character with cancer because Heather, the heroine, is an oncology nurse. I questioned whether the story would work when the main character has cancer, but my editor insisted that it would. So I rewrote the proposal and sent it to my editor. What did I get back? A rejection, saying that the story just wouldn't work with the hero having cancer. 

So I set this story aside and worked on another series. After I finished that series, I decided to come back to this story because Max was a minor character in several of my earlier books, and I wanted to tell his story. Even though I was skeptical at first about giving him cancer, I decided to give that storyline a chance. I loved writing this book, and I hope you'll take a journey with Max as he battles, not only, cancer but a lot of self-doubt.

Has there ever been a time when you decided to forge ahead with something even though you weren't sure it would work?

Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.

 

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New Release!

Merrillee Whren here. I'm excited to announce the release of the second book in my Front Porch Promises series, A LOVE TO CALL MINE. The hero of this book, Max Reynolds, has a lot to deal with in this story. Here's how I think he'd answer some questions put to him at the beginning of the story. You can find links to buy here.

1. What is your current state of mind? Worried. I’ve just been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, so the future is very uncertain?

2. What is your most deplorable trait? I tend to look at things with a half-glass-full point of view. I’m trying to have a more positive attitude, but too many things have gone wrong in my life, so I let negative thoughts take over.

3. When and where were you happiest? I was most happy when Brittany was in my life and I was playing college football. I lost Brittany, and an injury ended my football career.

4. Do you own a pet? No pets. I just moved from Montana to Massachusetts for a new job. I can’t have pets in my studio apartment.

5. What’s your favorite food? Pizza. I probably eat it too often, but I don’t like to cook.

6. What do you put off because you dread it? Talking to my mom about my health. She worries more than I do about what lies ahead for me.

7. What is your greatest regret? I regret not giving my former girlfriend, Brittany, the attention she deserved. Her friend Heather is my oncology nurse, and she thinks I was neglectful. She doesn’t have a very good opinion of me, but she’s doing her best to help me fight this disease.

8. Who are your real life heroes? My mom Beth and adopted father Clay. My mom fought to keep me when she was a unwed teenage mother. Clay adopted me after he married my mom when I was a teenager, and he steered me in the right direction and saved me from making some bad decisions.

9. How do you express your anger? Most of the time, I don’t. I usually suffer in silence, but when it finally gets to be too much to bear, I let it all out. Then I wish I could take it all back.

10. What do you want out of life? Right now I just want to conquer my cancer. I also want to find the other half of who I am. My father died before I was born, and I’m non-existent on his side of my family tree. I want to find them and let them know that my existence is a good thing. At the same time, I’m afraid of their rejection.

11. What do you value most? My family, even the family that doesn't know me yet.

12. What does God mean to you? I believe in God, but a lot of times I don't understand why all this rotten stuff has happened in my life. Many times I ask, "Why me, God?" I have to admit that too many times my faith is weak, and I have trouble praying. But I have a host of friends and family who are bringing me along one step at a time.

What do you like best about books that are in a series?

I'll be giving away the first book in the Front Porch Promises series to one person who leaves a comment. I will draw the winner's name, on October 16, 2016 at 9PM PDT.

 

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Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of  forty plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.