Simplicity by Valia Lind (excerpt & giveaway!)

Driven, beautiful Alexis Sinclair lives her life to the fullest, following her dreams of running a big company. But when her world is torn apart by a storm, everything she has ever known disappears. Now, marooned on an island with a group of men, Alexis must learn to live in a world made up of simple things. Letting go of every known convenience, she realizes how insignificant her life has become. Filled with unrequited love for her rescuer she must battle the demons buried deep inside and she must look within herself and to her faith to find the strength needed to survive.
Strong and influential, Jacob Peterson, has done all he can to survive. When the fate turned its tables on him, he learned to cope with the inevitable. Plagued by his past and secrets buried there, Jacob exerts a rigid control, refusing to succumb to the joys, and torturous pain, of strong emotions. Without considering love a gift he may never receive, he believes--he chooses to live by strict set of rules. But when a strange beautiful woman washes up on his beach, the walls that he has put up long ago begin to crumble. Is she a punishment sent from God to torment his weary soul? Or is she a gift, sent from above, there to teach him how to trust? Who is this woman? And how will he stop himself from losing his heart?
Will he learn to forgive the past in order to save the woman he loves?

Sounds great, right?  Well, now you can sample some more of the story with this excerpt from Simplicity.

I stayed up most of the night waiting for Jake to make an appearance. However, he never did. When the morning finally broke through I was in a panicking mode. He left late last night and I hadn’t seen him since. He didn’t take any sort of light with him when he left. What if he was lost? What if he was hurt? Or worse? I needed to find John. I located him near the fire preparing breakfast. 

“Good morning, Alexis,” he greeted me warmly.

“John,” I said with no precaution, “Jake never came back last night.”

“Alexis…”

“John, what’s going on? Where is he? Is he okay?” I couldn’t hold back the rush of questions. I was worried about him, really worried.

“There is a place he goes sometimes. It’s his own personal haven, you could say.” John set down the tools he was using and turned to look at me.

“I need to talk to him, John. I need to understand.” I was almost pleading with him to understand me. This was sort of ironic considering I couldn’t even understand myself at this point. “I need to find him.”

John smiled down at me. Shaking his head he said, “Ok, Alexis. Be careful.” He explained to me where to go and with a quick thank you I ran off. I probably wasn’t thinking clearly at that exact moment, all I knew is that I needed to talk to Jake. 

I walked for about ten or fifteen minutes when the path started to rise and I began to climb. When I reached the top of the hill I was met by a breathtaking view. I could see half of the island and the ocean stretching out beyond.  Standing right at the edge of the hill was Jake. He was standing quietly, just looking out over the landscape. I saw a fire going to his left and his trusty bag lying beside it. 

“Jake,” I called softly. He jerked around with a look of surprise on his face. I obviously startled him because he took a calming breath before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you.”

“How did you get here?” he still wouldn’t move from his position almost as if he was afraid to come any closer. I moved to stand next to the fire.

“I walked.” I answered smiling. When he didn’t smile back I took a step closer.

“Jake, please talk to me.” My words seemed to break the spell that was holding Jake motionless. He moved down to poke at the fire.

“It’s nothing.” He said not looking up.

“Now, where have I heard that before?” I was getting frustrated with his silence but I also didn’t want to push. I feared that if I did I would push him to far, and I simply didn’t know if I could deal with the consequences. 

“Lexi, leave it alone.”

“No I won’t leave it alone. Look, you helped me when I needed help and I’m determined to return the favor.” I said crossing my arms in front of me.

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know it. Don’t twist this into something it’s not.”

“Lexi, it doesn’t matter.” He wouldn’t look me in the eye as he said that and I could tell something was seriously wrong. This was a different side of Jake. 

“Jake, would you just stop saying things like that and answer a simple question!” I was getting frustrated with him and was trying hard to control myself. “Why did you let Gabe get to you like that? You know he’s just being a jerk.”

“It’s not Gabe okay?” Jake exclaimed turning away from me, “It’s me.”

“You? I don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t, you can’t.”

“Well, of course I can’t if you don’t tell me!” 

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” I exclaimed coming up in front of him. Placing my hands on his chest I forced him to look at me. His eyes looked bloodshot and his face held a hint of fatigue. I forced down the urge to reach out and smooth away the worry lines on his face. “Jake why won’t you just talk to me?” I pleaded with him.

About Valia ~ 

Author. Photographer. Artist. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia Valia always had a love for the written word. She wrote her first full book on the bathroom floor of her dormitory, while procrastinating to study for her college classes. Upon graduation, she has moved her writing to more respectable places, and have found her voice in YA fiction. Her first adult book Simplicity is being republished, while her YA science fiction is on submission to find a home. 

Find her at http://wordsareinnermusic.blogspot.com and @ValiaLind.

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