Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy 💕 Behind the Scenes, Book Tour and $10 Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Contemporary Romance)

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Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds?

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about an internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

A Magical Writing Process

I’ve loved writing more than anything else for as long as I can remember. My mother saved one of my earliest “books” in a plastic storage bag which is sitting in my desk drawer. I recited the story, and she typed it. I added illustrations and bound it with old wallpaper and glue. The back says I was six years old. When I was ten, I tried to write my first novel. My fifth grade English teacher Ms. Mercer even exempt me from some class assignments to work on my novel. I got pretty far for a ten-year-old, but ultimately didn’t finish it. I don’t remember any details, but I know that it was a grand love story between wounded souls. Eventually, I became an author and published many books in nonfiction and fiction. To date, I’ve published fifty books. Romance novels are my absolute passion. There’s nothing better than writing about love. One night I was sitting in my office stuck on something I was writing. I stepped outside onto my balcony for some fresh air. I looked up at the stars and suddenly there was a bolt of inspiration for an entirely new book. The entire story came to me all at once, which was different than all my previous novels. I dropped everything else in my life and started writing. I wrote the first draft in only ten days. It was the most immersive experience of my life. That novel is Shooting Stars Above. It's a love story between people who help each other heal. I believe it is the novel I tried to write when I was ten.

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The Literary Titan Silver Book Award is granted to books that demonstrate notable merit in the realm of literary creation, both in fiction and non-fiction genres. This award acknowledges books that deliver engaging and inventive content with a distinctive voice. We commend the careful cultivation of unique characters or subjects and their placement in an enriching and captivating context. It values works that successfully introduce or support interesting concepts, either through a well-structured narrative in fiction or through persuasive discourse in non-fiction. The award is an esteemed recognition of books that exhibit substantial talent, creativity, and commitment to the craft of writing.

When the unmistakable opening piano notes of “All of Me” came on, Tess looked up at Jack. “It’s our song, baby.”

“That’s my cue,” he said to the group.

He led her onto the dance floor. She put one hand on his shoulder, and he slipped one around her waist to the small of her back. They started to sway, staring at each other as if they were the only people in the world. As the song progressed, she moved her hand down his arm to pull him closer, and he ran his fingers through her hair. They were pressed tightly together, in slow movement. Everyone at their table watched, smiles across their faces.

“Whoa,” Bobby mumbled.

“They are really in love. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Joe said.

Clay put his arm around Omar and said, “Look at them.”

“If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I’d never believe it. My sweet Butterfly is truly happy.”

When the song was over, Jack whispered, “Let’s go to your place.”

At the end of the evening, they all bundled up and stumbled out of the bar.

A homeless man standing on the sidewalk asked, “Can you please spare anything?”

The group stood around awkwardly, but Tess walked right up to him. “Hi. I’m Tess, this is Jack, and these are our friends.”

Jack stepped directly behind Tess in a protective stance.

“What’s your name?” Tess gently asked the man.

“Henry,” he replied.

She smiled, pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her pocket, and handed it to him. When he took the money, she held his hand. Surprised, he looked at her and said, “You’re very kind. Thank you.”

“Getting kind of cold out,” she remarked, still holding his hand.

“Sure is.”

She took off her cashmere scarf and held it out. “Here, please take this and try to stay warm.”

“Wow,” Joe muttered.

“Oh, I couldn’t,” Henry said.

“Please, I insist.”

“Thank you,” he said, taking the scarf. “Someone must have taught you to do unto others.”

“No, someone taught me there are no others. Good night, Henry.”

She turned to her friends, their mouths agape.

Henry looked at Jack, who hadn’t moved, and quietly asked, “Is she some kind of angel?”

“Yeah, something like that,” he muttered.

Tess walked over to Omar and hugged him. “Our usual breakfast on Thursday?”

“Yes, Butterfly.”

“Good night, guys,” she said to her friends.

They all said goodbye. Jack took Tess’s hand and walked her to his car. He opened her door and she got in. When he closed the door, he looked back at Henry, who was wrapping the scarf around his neck and smiling.

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Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a bestselling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She has published over thirty books, earning commercial and critical success in both fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. She is also series creator and editor for ten book series with Oxford University Press, Guilford Press, and Brill/Sense, including the ground-breaking Social Fictions series. Patricia has received dozens of accolades for her books. Recently, her novel Film won the 2020 American Fiction Award for Inspirational Fiction, her 3-novel set Candy Floss Collection won the 2020 American Fiction Award for Anthologies, and her novel Spark won the 2019 American Fiction Award for Inspirational Fiction and the 2019 Living Now Book Award for Adventure Fiction. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” She has residences in Maine and Massachusetts where she lives with her husband, daughter (when she’s not away at college), and her dog. Patricia loves writing, reading, watching films, and traveling.