At last, I ask Carrie to call my mother. Only then—as she’s dialing the number—does it occur to me to ask about the people in the other vehicle. “Was anyone else hurt?”
Carrie is hesitant, but honest. “Yes. The other car was totaled. The driver collided with an eighteen-wheeler that was behind you. It was the trucker who called 911. He said the guy was weaving all over the road just before he hit you.”
“And the driver of the car?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “He’s alive, but I think he was drunk. At least that’s what they’re saying. They found an open bottle of vodka in the front seat.”
I feel an explosion of rage in my belly as I recall how the driver had drifted across the center line, directly into my path.
He was drinking in the vehicle?
I don’t have time for anger, because Carrie gets through to my mother. She holds the phone to my ear so I can speak to her and reassure her that I’m okay. Mom begins to cry, but I tell her not to worry.
She pulls herself together and agrees to meet me at the hospital. Carrie ends the call and we speed toward Lunenburg, sirens blaring.
It’s hard not to think about the drunk driver and how badly I want to shake him and shout at him for being so irresponsible, but my anger won’t change anything. At least not now.
And what about Winston? It’s killing me to imagine where he might be. What if he’s lost and alone in the woods? Traumatized by what happened? Fearful of the noisy rescue vehicles? He’s terrified of fireworks in the sky. He always darts into a corner and shakes.
Please, Troy… Please find him.
For more information about when this novel will be available for purchase, please visit Julianne’s website at www.juliannemaclean.com and sign up for her mailing list. Or follow her on Bookbub.
Other Books in the Color of Heaven Series
THE COLOR OF HEAVEN
A deeply emotional tale about Sophie Duncan, a successful columnist whose world falls apart after her daughter’s unexpected illness and her husband’s shocking affair. When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold dark depths of the water, a profound and extraordinary experience unlocks the surprising secrets from Sophie’s past, and teaches her what it means to truly live…and love.
Full of surprising twists and turns and a near-death experience that will leave you breathless, this story is not to be missed.
“A gripping, emotional tale you’ll want to read in one sitting.”
—New York Times bestselling author, Julia London
“Brilliantly poignant mainstream tale.”
—4 ½ starred review, Romantic Times
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF DESTINY
Eighteen years ago a teenage pregnancy changed Kate Worthington’s life forever. Faced with many difficult decisions, she chose to follow her heart and embrace an uncertain future with the father of her baby—her devoted first love.
At the same time, in another part of the world, sixteen-year-old Ryan Hamilton makes his own share of mistakes, but learns important lessons along the way. Twenty years later, Kate’s and Ryan’s paths cross in a way they could never expect, which makes them question the possibility of destiny. Even when all seems hopeless, could it be that everything happens for a reason, and we end up exactly where we are meant to be?
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF HOPE
Diana Moore has led a charmed life. She is the daughter of a wealthy senator and lives a glamorous city life, confident that her handsome live-in boyfriend Rick is about to propose. But everything is turned upside down when she learns of a mysterious woman who works nearby—a woman who is her identical mirror image.
Diana is compelled to discover the truth about this woman’s identity, but the truth leads her down a path of secrets, betrayals, and shocking discoveries about her past. These discoveries follow her like a shadow.
Then she meets Dr. Jacob Peterson—a brilliant cardiac surgeon with an uncanny ability to heal those who are broken. With his help, Diana embarks upon a journey to restore her belief in the human spirit, and recover a sense of hope—that happiness, and love, may still be within reach for those willing to believe in second chances.
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF A DREAM
Nadia Carmichael has had a lifelong run of bad luck. It begins on the day she is born, when she is separated from her identical twin sister and put up for adoption. Twenty-seven years later, not long after she is finally reunited with her twin and is expecting her first child, Nadia falls victim to a mysterious virus and requires a heart transplant.
Now recovering from the surgery with a new heart, Nadia is haunted by a recurring dream that sets her on a path to discover the identity of her donor. Her efforts are thwarted, however, when the father of her baby returns to sue for custody of their child. It’s not until Nadia learns of his estranged brother Jesse that she begins to explore the true nature of her dreams, and discover what her new heart truly needs and desires…
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THE COLOR OF A MEMORY
Audrey Fitzgerald believed she was married to the perfect man—a heroic firefighter who saved lives, even beyond his own death. But a year later she meets a mysterious woman who has some unexplained connection to her husband…
Soon Audrey discovers that her husband was keeping secrets and she is compelled to dig into his past. Little does she know…this journey of self-discovery will lead her down a path to a new and different future—a future she never could have imagined.
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THE COLOR OF LOVE
Carla Matthews is a single mother struggling to make ends meet and give her daughter Kaleigh a decent upbringing. When Kaleigh’s absent father Seth—a famous alpine climber who never wanted to be tied down—begs for a second chance at fatherhood, Carla is hesitant because she doesn’t want to pin her hopes on a man who is always seeking another mountain to scale. A man who was never willing to stay put in one place and raise a family.
But when Seth’s plane goes missing after a crash landing in the harsh Canadian wilderness, Carla must wait for news… Is he dead or alive? Will the wreckage ever be found?
One year later, after having given up all hope, Carla receives a phone call that shocks her to her core. A man has been found, half-dead, floating on an iceberg in the North Atlantic, uttering her name. Is this Seth? And is it possible that he will come home to her and Kaleigh at last, and be the man she always dreamed he would be?
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF THE SEASON
From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes the next installment in her popular Color of Heaven series—a gripping, emotional tale about real life magic that touches us all during the holiday season…
Boston cop, Josh Wallace, is having the worst day of his life. First, he’s dumped by the woman he was about to propose to, then everything goes downhill from there when he is shot in the line of duty. While recovering in the hospital, he can’t seem to forget the woman he wanted to marry, nor can he make sense of the vivid images that flashed before his eyes when he was wounded on the job. Soon, everything he once believed about his life begins to shift when he meets Leah James, an enigmatic resident doctor who somehow holds the key to both his past and his future…
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THE COLOR OF JOY
After rushing to the hospital for the birth of their third child, Riley and Lois James anticipate one of the most joyful days of their lives. But things take a dark turn when their newborn daughter vanishes from the hospital. Is this payback for something in Riley’s troubled past? Or is it something even more mysterious?
As the search intensifies and the police close in, strange and unbelievable clues about the whereabouts of the newborn begin to emerge, and Riley soon finds himself at the center of a surprising turn of events that will challenge everything he once believed about life, love, and the existence of miracles.
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THE COLOR OF TIME
They say it’s impossible to change the past…
Since her magical summer romance at the age of sixteen, Sylvie Nichols has never been able to forget her first love.
Years later, when she returns to the seaside town where she lost her heart to Ethan Foster, she is determined to lay the past to rest once and for all. But letting go becomes a challenge when Sylvie finds herself transported back to that long ago summer of love…and the turbulent events that followed. Soon, past and present begin to collide in strange and mystifying ways, and Sylvie can’t help but wonder if a true belief in miracles is powerful enough to change both her past and her future….
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THE COLOR OF FOREVER
Recently divorced television reporter Katelyn Roberts has stopped believing in relationships that last forever, until a near-death experience during a cycling accident changes everything. When she miraculously survives unscathed, a long-buried mystery leads her to the quaint, seaside town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
There, on the rugged, windswept coast of the Atlantic, she finds herself caught up in the secrets of a historic inn that somehow calls to her from the past. Is it possible that the key to her true destiny lies beneath all that she knows, as she explores the grand mansion and property? Or that the great love she’s always dreamed of is hidden in the alcoves of its past?
“I never know what to say about a Julianne MacLean book, except to say YOU HAVE TO READ IT.” – AllRomanceReader.ca
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THE COLOR OF A PROMISE
Having spent a lifetime in competition with his older brother Aaron—who always seemed to get the girl—Jack Peterson leaves the U.S. to become a foreign correspondent in the Middle East. When a roadside bomb forces him to return home to recover from his wounds, he quickly becomes the most celebrated journalist on television, and is awarded his own prime time news program. Now, wealthy and successful beyond his wildest dreams, Jack believes he has finally found where he is meant to be. But when a 747 explodes in the sky over his summer house in Cape Elizabeth, all hell breaks loose as the wreckage crashes to the ground. He has no idea that his life is about to take another astonishing turn…
Meg Andrews grew up with a fear of flying, but when it meant she wouldn’t be able to visit her boyfriend on the opposite side of the country, she confronted her fear head-on and earned her pilot’s license. Now, a decade later, she is a respected airline crash investigator, passionate about her work, to the point of obsession. When she arrives in the picturesque seaside community of Cape Elizabeth to investigate a massive airline disaster, she meets the famous and charismatic Jack Peterson, who has his own personal fascination with plane crashes.
As the investigation intensifies, Meg and Jack feel a powerful, inexplicable connection to each other. Soon, they realize that the truth behind the crash—and the mystery of their connection—can only be discovered through the strength of the human spirit, the timeless bonds of family, and the gift of second chances.
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THE COLOR OF A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
Claire Radcliffe has been blessed with a wonderful life—a loving husband, a fulfilling career, and a perfect house in a charming historic neighborhood. But with each Christmas that passes, the one thing she longs for most of all continues to elude her, and before long, her life doesn’t seem so perfect anymore.
When yet another holiday season approaches and she finds herself facing the fact that all her dreams have flown out the window, Claire must learn to have faith in destiny, and allow herself to believe that miracles can happen to anyone—especially at Christmastime.
Heartwarming and inspiring, The Color of a Christmas Miracle is the tale of one woman’s journey to find happiness, and to learn the power of forgiveness and redemption on the path to true love.
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Other Books by Julianne MacLean
The American Heiress Series:
To Marry the Duke
An Affair Most Wicked
My Own Private Hero
Love According to Lily
Portrait of a Lover
Surrender to a Scoundrel
The Pembroke Palace Series:
In My Wildest Fantasies
The Mistress Diaries
When a Stranger Loves Me
Married By Midnight
A Kiss Before the Wedding – A Pembroke Palace Short Story
Seduced at Sunset
The Highlander Trilogy:
Captured by the Highlander
Claimed by the Highlander
Seduced by the Highlander
Return of the Highlander
Taken by the Highlander
The Rebel – A Highland Short Story
The Royal Trilogy:
Be My Prince
Princess in Love
The Prince’s Bride
Dodge City Brides Trilogy
Mail Order Prairie Bride
Tempting the Marshal
Taken by the Cowboy – a Time Travel Romance
Colonial Romance
Adam’s Promise
Contemporary Fiction:
The Color of Heaven
The Color of Destiny
The Color of Hope
The Color of a Dream
The Color of a Memory
The Color of Love
The Color of the Season
The Color of Joy
The Color of Time
The Color of Forever
The Color of a Promise
The Color of a Christmas Miracle
The Color of a Silver Lining
About the Author
Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of many historical romances, including The Highlander Series with St. Martin’s Press and her popular American Heiress Series with Avon/Harper Collins. She also writes contemporary mainstream fiction, and The Color of Heaven was a USA Today bestseller. She is a three-time RITA finalist, and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Book Buyer’s Best Award, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. Please visit Julianne’s website for more information and to subscribe to her mailing list to stay informed about upcoming releases.
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