Intelligent and fiercely independent, sixteen-year-old Mia Marchette has never
had a childhood. After her father’s disappearance when she was six, she has
alone borne the burden of her mother’s bipolar disorder.
When her mother
is institutionalised after a failed suicide attempt, Mia is abruptly forced to
live with the estranged father she has not known for ten years. She is shocked
to discover that he has created a new, picture-perfect life for himself, and is
now living with a stepmother and a half-sister Mia never knew she had. Together,
Mia and her new family must face the bitterness, mistakes, and long-hidden
secrets that threaten to destroy their precarious happiness.
Finding Mia
follows Mia's journey as she searches to find the unanswered questions from her
past, leading to her own self-discovery.
Ultimately, this is a story of
confronting pain and finding freedom, of letting go and learning to search for
love in unexpected places.
Welcome to the Finding Mia Blog Tour! Here's a little sneak peek! Hope you enjoy!
Keith Marchette could remember the day he laid eyes on Denise as if it were yesterday. It was the spring of 1987, and an endless bout of rain had created a dampness in the air, thick and heavy from the humidity. He was on his way to catch the train home from work, weaving in and out of the chain of booths that lined the streets of Harvard Square’s fifth annual arts festival.
He spotted her in the distance, a vision in white, carefully eyeing the rows of glass jewelry that hung from one of the displays. He slowed his pace, studied her as she toyed with the crystal beads, moving each one back and forth in her hands, humming to herself. Her hair shone like a flame in the hint of sunlight that was peeking though the clouds.
Keith was prepared to keep right on strolling along, to chalk it up to yet another what-might-have-been chance encounter with a pretty stranger. Working in the city had exposed him to a new lifestyle, and he’d found himself staring at the faces of the unfamiliar as they passed him on the subway, envisioning what would happen if he acted on the thoughts that were running through his mind. But every day, they’d just smile at each other and wander past, strangers never to meet again, a question that would never be answered.
As the clouds slowly began to part, a bright ray of sun snuck through the sky, illuminating the sultry air. Keith picked up his pace in hopes of escaping the heat and ducking into the underground shade of the train station. Only he never made it that far, because Denise stepped backwards right as he was making his way his past, sending his briefcase crashing to the ground.
Her eyes went wide for a brief second, but the embarrassment of the situation seemed to escape her. She threw her head back and let her laughter ring through the air.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, clasping both hands to her chest. Her smile was like a full moon in the night sky, something that radiated and lit up everything around it. Something that, if you got close enough, had the power to drive you crazy.
It was at that moment that Keith began to think back on all the times he’d brushed shoulders with a woman on the sidewalk, all the times he’d met eyes with a stranger across the café on his lunch break, all the chance encounters he might not have missed out on if only he’d asked.
Two cups of coffee later, Denise agreed to a date the following Friday night. Keith took her to a Bruce Springsteen concert at the Palladium, then polished off the evening with drinks at The Willow, while Denise shared stories of her semesters abroad in Paris and Florence. Keith clung to every word, helpless, intoxicated by the soothing flow of her voice, soft and warm, like the sounds of waves crashing. She smelled like lavender and wore a small purple lilac in her hair. She stirred the straw in her glass between sips. She laughed at his jokes. She had a dimple in her left cheek, a passion for photography and was fluent in three languages. Keith wondered what else about her he had yet to uncover.
Had he known what else was lurking underneath, the turmoil it would have caused him, it wouldn’t have mattered. He would’ve done it all over again. Because regardless of the outcome, love conquered all. He, of all people, knew this at least.
Intrigued? Desperate to read it?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx