Thursday, May 8, 2014

He's No Saint by AJ Harmon

he's no saint
He's No Saint by AJ Harmon.
Becoming a priest wasn’t his plan, but when Tyler Oswin suffers a tragic loss, the safety of the church seemed the perfect place to find solace and peace. Now Father Hugh, he works and tries to do good but his carnal nature always seems to get in the way of fully committing to his new profession. Amy Lansing felt lost as a teenager after her father died and deals with her loneliness by joining the convent. She’s not living - she’s hiding. Holding onto the past is keeping her from dealing with her future and when she meets Father Hugh, her heart starts beating again, despite knowing that there can never be anything more than a friendship between them. With all that has happened in the past, and the difficulty of their current situation, it seems that neither Tyler nor Amy will find the happily ever after they are both desperately searching for. But love has a way of bringing them together, only to find that his sins from the past will threaten their future. He’s No Saint is a love story for all who believe in fighting for love. It is a stand-alone novel written by AJ Harmon, author of the best-selling series First Class Novels. “Phenomenal” and “Breathtakingly beautiful” is how this romance novel has been described by readers.
Excerpt
Charlie was a parishioner that had lived a couple of blocks from St. Mary’s his entire life. He’d grown up in the neighborhood, married a girl he’d known since 1st grade, Ruby, and they settled in the same apartment building as his parents. Charlie and Ruby were inseparable, not blessed with children, but that did not affect their deep and eternal love for one another. Ruby had died many years before after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Charlie becoming her caregiver in her final days. Father Casey had known the couple well, but Ruby had passed before Father Hugh had arrived. But Charlie had made an impression and Father Hugh loved to visit with him as often as he could. He was in awe of Charlie’s desire to be reunited with his Ruby… to feel her hand in his and see her smile again. It almost made him believe in love.
On this particular day, Charlie now in a nursing home, the phone rang in the nunnery to tell the Sisters that Charlie was nearing the end. He’d asked to see the new nun… the pretty one, and to have Father Hugh come and hear his final confession. Sister Agnes was heartbroken as she informed Sister Meredith of the request. Father Hugh was also saddened to hear that this would be his last time with Charlie, but quickly changed out of his work clothes and waited for Sister Meredith to accompany him to the nursing home.
They drove in silence the short distance and hurried down the white halls to find Charlie propped up in bed, his breathing labored. Sister Meredith took the old man’s hand in hers as she sat by his bed and smiled down at him.
“I’m glad you came,” Charlie smiled. “I wanted your beautiful eyes to be the last thing I saw on this earth.”
“That’s very kind of you,” she blushed. “I’ll stay as long as you’d like.”
“It won’t be long,” the nurse whispered, looking at the monitors.
With a sacred reverence, Father Hugh performed last rites and eased Charlie’s conscience by hearing his confession, all the while refusing to let go of Sister Meredith’s hand. His hand relaxed slightly as he drifted in and out of consciousness and occasionally had a smile on his lips.
“What do you think he’s thinking about?” Sister Meredith asked.
“No clue,” Father Hugh replied.
“You don’t think he’s excited about going to be with Ruby?”
“I guess he might be,” he shrugged.
“You must believe in heaven,” she gasped.

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