ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Hailey Campbell was raised by her adoptive mother, Big-Mama, in a home filled with unconditional love and foster children. Her biological mother was a heroin addict and couldn’t keep her; her father, a right-wing conservative with a secret vice his social circle must never discover. So, it was a blessing that someone with so much to give raised her to be a strong, intelligent woman whose loyalty to those she loved knew no boundaries. And that would come in handy when her best friend, Meagan, decided to leave her abusive husband, and Hailey was right there by her side as her moral and physical support; or when she needed the courage to expose the ones behind the city’s bank robberies that resulted in the deaths of three people.
And yet, in her day to day struggles of trying to deal with this kooky puzzle called her life, the idea of true love never held any priority. Was there ever such a thing as the, quote, “man of your dreams”, your, “soul mate”? If she had to judge by the Neanderthals who only had one agenda on their minds just because they paid for her salad and drink, then that middle-of-the-puzzle piece would forever sit waiting for a match.
So this single, card-carrying virgin, didn’t mind one bit as she stood with her chin lifted proudly in the middle of a room full of expensive tuxedos and glittering gowns surrounding her at an important gala, that she was dateless. She would just continue to sample the high-end cuisine, drink the expensive wine, and mind her business. A man?–why bother? Love–who needs it? No sooner had those pitiable questions crossed her mind when her answer appeared from the midst of all those international dignitaries: The most beautiful man, a simple waiter named Manley, turned and locked eyes with her. As she stood there wide-eyed with a medley of stunned excitement and paralyzing attraction rushing through head and heart, she knew then she could no longer scoff and joke at such nonsense.
Because of this man, the meaning of true love was finally made clear that night. With this man, her world had forever changed. And despite the mysteries that he, himself, was hesitant to reveal, she could stand against anything and anyone that challenged her.
That daunting challenge awaited her in Sweet Tea, Mississippi; Population 700 (that’s not counting the Ransom militia compound at the edge of town) And if she didn’t get there in time and save eighteen month-old Abbie from one of its members, Sheriff Carl, she could lose her behind those thick walls protected by the First Amendment and never see her again.
