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    A Soft Place to Fall
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    A Soft Place to Fall
    Unavailable
    A Soft Place to Fall
    Ebook435 pages5 hours

    A Soft Place to Fall

    By Barbara Bretton

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The first time they met, his dog trashed her car.
    The second time they met, she set fire to her bathroom.
    The third time they met, they fell in love.

    Annie Galloway isn't looking to fall in love again. Sam Butler doesn't want a home and family of his own.

    Too bad fate has other plans . . .

    A SOFT PLACE TO FALL is a 100,000 word contemporary romance, previously published by Berkley Books.

    From Booklist

    It's been two years since Annie Galloway's husband died, and she is finally putting her life back together, even though she stays in Shelter Rock Cove, Maine. Annie has never lived anywhere else, and her life is tied to the small community, which is a blessing and a curse. Her mother-in-law took her in at sixteen when her parents died, and she feels grateful for her love, but her husband was not the saint that everyone thinks he was. When she meets Sam Butler, a Manhattan investment broker hiding out in the small town and reevaluating his life, they instantly connect, but some townspeople are suspicious of the newcomer and his relationship with Annie. Sam and Annie do keep secrets from each other, hoping to keep their newfound love separate from the past, but prying neighbors may tear them apart. Once again Bretton creates a tender love story about two people who, when they find something special, will go to any length to keep it. Patty Engelmann

    Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarbara Bretton
    Release dateOct 12, 2012
    ISBN9781301134724
    Unavailable
    A Soft Place to Fall
    Author

    Barbara Bretton

    Oh, how I hate bios! All of that deadly dull information about name (Barbara Bretton) and date of birth (June 25) and geographical data (born in New York City; lives near Princeton, NJ), marital status (many years married), and hobbies (who has time??). How do you gather up all of those dull, dry facts and turn them into something interesting?No wonder I tell lies for a living.I considered weaving a story for you about life on a houseboat on the French Riviera. Or maybe my years as a concubine, hidden away in a golden pleasure palace in the shimmering desert. Then I decided to do the unthinkable and tell you the truth.When I sold my first book and my life changed forever. I sent in my manuscript on Thursday February 21, 1982 and four days later the telephone rang and I heard the amazing words, "We want to buy your book." How I wish you could have seen me. I was standing by the kitchen door of our North Babylon house, the picture of cool sophistication, as I listened to Vivian Stephens explain the terms of the deal to me. You would have thought I'd sold a first book every single day of my life. Yes, I said. Sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for calling. I look forward to our association. That cool sophistication hung on until I hung up the phone, took a deep breath, then promptly threw up on my shoes.I was thirty-one years old, unagented, unschooled, unfamiliar with anything to do with the business of publishing. To put it mildly, I was in shock. My husband was working in Manhattan at the time (and finishing up his degree at night) so it would be hours until I could break the news to him. This was too exciting to waste on a phone call. I wanted to see his face when I told him that my dream had finally come true -- and came with a $6000 advance!He pulled into the driveway at midnight. I was waiting in the doorway, holding a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I didn't have to say a word. He knew right away and the look of joy and pride in his eyes warms me now, years later, long after the advance faded into memory.A lot has happened to me in the years since that first sale. I've learned that this is a difficult and demanding business (it takes a tough writer to write a tender book) and that I am happiest when I am most ignorant. I've also learned that a good friend, a writer and pal who truly understands, is worth her weight in good reviews and royalty checks.I fell madly in love with Skye O'Malley in early 1982 and wrote an unabashedly gushy fan letter to our beloved Bertrice Small. By the time Sunny answered, I had joined the ranks of the published and Sunny became friend and mentor, guide and confidant. She has held my hand through broken dreams, disappointments, family illnesses, and accepted my bizarre need to go underground from time to time with great affection and understanding. Over the years I've come to understand the difference between the writer and her work, that loving the book doesn't guarantee that I will love the author. But what a joy it is when you discover that the author of a beloved favorite is even more wonderful and witty and wise than the characters she creates.So this bio is for you, Sunny, for being the best of friends during the worst of times and -- even more wonderful -- during the good times as well.And now for the statistics:Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.

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    Reviews for A Soft Place to Fall

    3.5/5

    34 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Inhaltsangabe:Annie Galloway hatte es in ihrem Leben nicht einfach. Kaum 16 Jahre alt war sie Vollwaise geworden. Claudia Galloway hatte sie in ihrem Clan willkommen geheißen und sie wie die eigenen Töchter versorgt. Als sie mit 19 Jahren Kevin Galloway heiratete, schien das Leben perfekt. Aber die knapp 20-jährige Ehe war von Kinderlosigkeit und Kevins Spielsucht geprägt. Als er starb, musste Annie sämtliche Spielschulden begleichen und dennoch das Gesicht wahren, denn kaum einer hatte wirklich Ahnung von dem dunklen Geheimnis ihrer Ehe.Gerade ist Annie in eines der Bancroft-Häuser gezogen, als sie Sam Butler kennen lernt. Er ist ein Außenstehender, ein Fremder in Shelter Rock Cove. Niemand kennt ihn, nur Warren Bancroft bezeichnet ihn als seinen Zieh-Sohn. Dennoch weiß Annie sofort, das Sam ein besonderer Mensch ist. Auch Sam fühlt sich sofort zu der schönen Frau mit den traurigen Augen hingezogen. Doch niemand weiß, welche Vergangenheit er hat und das er tagtäglich damit rechnet, wieder aus Shelter Rock Cove zu verschwinden.Vielleicht ist gerade das der Grund, warum Annie und Sam nicht viel Zeit mit Turteleien verbringen und sich in einer stürmische Liebesaffäre stürzen. Sehr zum Mißfallen von Hall Talbot, der Annie schon seit den Kindertagen liebt und eigentlich nur auf die günstige Gelegenheit wartet. Doch Sam kommt ihm auch bekannt vor und so stellt er Nachforschungen an.Als sich für Annie dann doch ein Wunder einstellt, überschlagen sich plötzlich die Ereignisse …Mein Fazit:Dies ist der erste Teil der Shelter Rock Cove-Reihe und ich habe zuerst den zweiten Teil gelesen. Das macht aber dem Lesevergnügen keinen Abbruch.In diesem Roman sind mehrere Figuren die Hauptpersonen. Natürlich sind da Annie und Sam, die sich sofort gefallen und alle Vorsicht zur Seite wischen und sich wider besseren Wissens in einer heiße Romanze stürzen. Es hatte etwas Natürliches ansich, beide sind sympathische Figuren, die einem sofort ans Herz wachsen, wenn man ihre Lebensgeschichte kennt. Und so manches Mal dachte ich, das sich sowas von verdient hätten.Aber da sind noch Hall Talbot und Claudia Galloway. Hall Talbot ist Gynäkologe und schon seit den Kindertagen mit dem Galloway-Clan befreundet. So hatte er auch Annie kennengelernt. Drei Ehen und vier Töchter konnten sein Herz nicht umstimmen, er wartete stets auf den richtigen Moment, eben Gentleman-Like.Dann ist da noch Claudia, Annies einstige Schwiegermutter. Sie fühlt sich noch immer für Annie verantwortlich und kommt nur schwer damit klar, das Annie sich neu verliebt hat. Für sie ist Annie noch immer Kevins Frau und sie tut sich schwer damit, sowohl ihren Sohn als auch ihre Schwiegertochter loszulassen. Aber sie ist herzensgut und immer hilfsbereit. Die Wandlung in dieser Geschichte ist der Autorin gut und glaubhaft gelungen.Dieser Roman von Barbara Bretton war nicht ganz so spannend wie die vorherigen (vielleicht weil ich doch den zweiten Teil zuerst gelesen habe). Dennoch konnte ich mich in die Geschichte hineinversetzen und habe mit Sam und Annie mitgelitten. Na ja, das was Dramatisches passieren würde, ist ja schon recht früh klar. Aber trotzdem wollte ich es zum Schluss nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.Eine klare Lesempfehlung von mir.Veröffentlicht am 26.10.14!
    • 4/5
      Another of the author's wonderful books set in Shelter Rock Cove, Maine. Annie Galloway is a young widow, and Sam a man with no apparent means of support and a cloudy history. As the town watches and interferes, life happens. I love Bretton's way of capturing our hearts for her oh-so-real characters and pulling us into their lives.
    • 3/5
      I knew when I first started it it would be one of those stories with a happy ending. I was losing interest when I reach the middle of the book but I hung in there and was pleased on the way it ended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      My review

      Finally finding the home of your heart. Separately both Sam Butler and Annie Galloway find the place that will not be a constant reminder of their past failures, but also the place where two people who are not looking for new beginnings, find one, together.
    • 4/5
      Bit too much tell instead of show but good story