Across the Bridge excerpt

Hello, reader friends! Join me in welcoming author friend Kristin Neva for a JustRead Publicity Tours blog tour and giveaway celebrating Across the Bridge!

about the book

Title: Across the Bridge
Series: Copper Island, Book 3
Author: Kristin Neva
Publisher: The Christmas Tree House
Release Date: November 4, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Fiction from the Ragged Edge of Faith 

When Marcella Seppa meets her new tenant, widower Drew Smith, a spark ignites, but she won’t consider dating him. She doesn’t want his son, AJ, to experience the hurt she felt when her dad remarried shortly after her mom died. Her faith unraveled, and she threw herself into exercise and gardening instead of forming trusting relationships.

When Drew finds out he may not be AJ’s biological father, his first instinct is to leave Copper Island, but he wants to find out the truth. He seeks out Marcella’s support.

Is it possible their friendship could become more? But how would that affect AJ? Could love help make peace with the past?

Love weaves its way through the messiness of life on Copper Island. 

Across the Bridge is part of the Copper Island series, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Across the Bridge will make you laugh and cry. Deep, meaningful themes are woven into a fast-paced storyline.

After Marcella Seppa lost her mother when she was fifteen years old, her father quickly remarried, and her stepmother pushed too hard to foster a relationship with Marcella. Well-meaning people used Christian clichés in an attempt to comfort her, but it resulted in Marcella having a faith crisis. Is love worth the risk of loss, and how can you hold on to faith when questioning the idea of a puppet-master God?

Drew Smith moves to the small town of Quincy so that his in-laws can help raise his son, and he plugs into a local church where the leader of a boys group — and his deceased wife’s high school boyfriend — looks strikingly like his son. Drew fears losing part of his son’s heart to a man who even he admires for his height, charm, and cool job as a State Trooper. What does it mean to be a father, and what is the balance between protecting and preparing your child?

Across the Bridge also contains a theme dealing with ALS, a terminal disease that requires a team of caregivers. Readers who’ve met Grandma Lou in Snow Country will want to be with her again.

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excerpt

From Chapter One, Marcella:

A wave of apprehension washed over her. Who would her next tenants be? Marcella took a calming breath and walked to a large oak which provided shade from the mid-morning sun. She set down the gift, flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, and wrapped her arms partly around the massive trunk, pressing her cheek to the rough bark. She felt the solidness of the earth, grounding her, beneath her bare feet. She breathed in the musty bark. “Please let me get good renters.”

“Is she talking to the tree?” A boy’s voice startled her.

Marcella let go, and the man next to the boy chuckled. Marcella picked up the gift and took a step toward them. “Trees are good listeners.”

“But not very good huggers.” The man’s eyes twinkled. “I’m looking for a Mr. Larry Seppa. We’re supposed to look at a rental.”

“I’m Marcella, Larry’s daughter. He asked me to meet you.” Marcella matched his smile. A family. Not partiers. No beer cans in her garden. She looked toward the sky. Thank you! She exhaled.

about the author

Kristin Neva grew up in an old farmhouse on Copper Island in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula where the hard-working, rugged residents persevere through harsh winter weather, sustained by friendship and family, surrounded by natural beauty. As an adult, she lived in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas for seventeen years before returning to the her hometown with her husband and two children.

Kristin’s first book, Heavy, co-authored with her husband, Todd, journeys through the first year after Todd’s ALS diagnosis as the Nevas struggle to find meaning, hold on to faith, and discover joy in the midst of pain.

It is this life experience that brings authenticity to Kristin’s fictional works as she explores themes of love, loss, and faith on Copper Island. Her quirky characters are endearing and wholesome. But they are also full of healthy grit, humor, flaws, and appetites.

Learn more about Kristin and explore Copper Island at KristinNeva.com.

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tour giveaway

One winner will win a Copper Island Gift Pack containing: a Signed Copy of Across the Bridge, a Scandinavian Dish Towel, Garden Note Cards, a Locally Hand Crafted Bird’s Eye Maple Spatula, Rishi Loose Leaf Tea and Tea Ball, and a Keweenaw Mug.

Most items are from Copper World, A Copper Island Gift Shop.

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight May 6, 2019 and last through 11:59 pm May 13, 2019. US only. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

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tour schedule

Follow along at the link above to learn more about this book and earn more giveaway entries!