All the Right Reasons ~ Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Finalist

I'm thrilled to announce that All the Right Reasons, Damaged Heroes Book 3, has been named as a Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Finalist in the Single Title category! I'm honored to be included among so many well-known mainstream romance authors!
*hugs*
Sandy

All the Right Reasons Damaged Heroes Book 3
By: Sandy James | Other books by Sandy James Categories: Mainstream Romance, Contemporary, Women's Fiction Word Count: 113,271 Heat Level: STEAMY Published By: Siren-Bookstrand, Inc. Can love heal all wounds? Lucas Mitchell returned from Iraq a bitter, changed man, wracked with guilt over his friend's death. He buys an old mansion and deals with his injuries and grief by restoring his new home and rehabilitating retired racehorses. Joy Kovacs falls in love with Lucas at first sight. Descended from gypsies who are still influenced by the lingering effects of the Holocaust, her family follows the traditional ways. A husband has already been selected for her, and her father insists she work at their ethnic restaurant. But Joy wants to use her talent and be an artist, and she wants no one but Lucas. How can Joy find a way to help Lucas break out of his prison of grief? Although they've committed their hearts to each other, can the growing love and passion between Lucas and Joy survive her family's insistence that she marry within her culture? "As a high school teacher, I've had to watch many young people, students whom I love, put on uniforms and head to Iraq. While I'm thankful they're all doing well, I felt there was a story to tell about them. Lucas Mitchell represents those students I've had the pleasure of knowing who make the noble choice to serve their country." ~Sandy~ Romance Writers of America's 2007 Polar Passions Finalist Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Finalist for best 2010 Single Title A BookStrand Mainstream Romance 7 Ratings Avg - 4.9 5 4 3 2 1		All the Right Reasons Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Reader, HTML, Mobipocket Price: $5.99 View Larger Cover Image Cover Art by Jinger Heaston Trade Paperback $15.99

Five Ribbons for All the Right Reasons!

All the Right Reasons received a beautiful 5 Ribbon review from Romance Junkies! My thanks goes out to Pamela Denise!





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Twenty-three year old Joy Kovacs has Hungarian gypsy roots. Her family is strict in their traditions. She already has a future husband picked out for her and she is expected to run their ethnic restaurant. However, Joy dreams of being an artist and refuses to marry for any reason other than love.

Twenty-six year old Lucas Mitchell comes back from the Iraq war, his life permanently changed. He carries with him physical scars, and also, internal scars that affect him far worse than his outer markings. Trying to piece his life back together and deal with the traumas of the war, he invests his time in restoring an old mansion he purchased and rehabilitates retired racehorses.
The moment Joy lays eyes on Lucas Mitchell she feels he is destined to be the one she’ll spend her life with. Joy first sees Lucas on one of her outings to sketch an old mansion she has been taken with. As she watches Lucas working on repairs to the mansion, she decides to sketch him too. Lucas comes across a painting and the sketches of his house displayed for sale at an Arts Day event when he is searching for a birthday present for his sister-in-law. He is angered at first by the invasion of privacy, but as soon as he sees Joy, all ill-tempered feelings fly out the window.

Lucas and Joy come together naturally and a connection is formed almost immediately. Their love might have come easily, but several challenges are ahead for them. Lucas must learn to battle against his inner demons and Joy will have to stand up to her family if they want to make their relationship work.

ALL THE RIGHT REASONS is the third book in DAMAGED HEROES series. Dan Patch Raceway and the characters from MURPHY’S LAW are back as secondary characters, along with a whole set of new ones. As the series title suggests, Sandy James pens each of her main characters with adversities they must cope with. Lucas and Joy were so believable and likable. Joy’s quirky carefree attitude, and Lucas’s schooled cautious one were such a delightful contrast. I have had the wonderful opportunity to read all of her releases in the series. My only problem is deciding which one I’d pick if I had to choose a favorite. Sandy James is a truly talented author who does a magnificent job with creating works that touch the heart. Every time I pick up one of her novels, it’s like stepping into spring time, warm and refreshing. I look forward to book four.

5 Heart Review ~ All the Right Reasons

What a beautiful review from Diana at Night Owl Romance!

All the Right Reasons Damaged Heroes Book 3

Author: Sandy James (Author Website)

Genre(s): Contemporary Review Date: 6/4/2009ISBN:

Print Book Price: $15.99 - (Website)

E-Book Price: $5.99 Book Strand -(Website)

SCORE: 5 / 5

Twenty-six year old Lucas Mitchell is not the same person he used to be since returning home from the Iraq war. He’s bitter with himself for not being able to save his best friend’s life while over there. Wracked with guilt and plenty of frustration, Lucas just doesn’t seem to be fitting in like he used to in his hometown of Indiana.

Since suffering from the physical and mental injuries he obtained while serving his time in the war, Lucas just can’t seem to move ahead with his life now that he’s back home again. Everyone at the race track, where he works paddocking his brother’s harness race horses, just seem to be talking behind his back about his injuries and how he’s changed since coming home. Trying to ignore all the hurtful comments he hears, Lucas decides to put all his energy into renovating an old mansion he just bought and is quite eager to set it up so he can rehabilitate retired horses so he can make a decent living.

Deciding to keep his distance away from all the people around him, Lucas jumps into his work full steam ahead. Little does he know though that when he first meets up with a twenty-three year old, Hungarian beauty named Joy Kovacs, things will never be the same for either one of them ever again.

Is Joy the only one person who is able to bring the old Lucas back? Is she the answer to his prayers or just another complication for him to deal with in his life? Is Lucas every able to break free from the demons that haunt him?

Ms. James knows how to tell such an emotionally driven story and she just tears at your heart while allowing you to personally get to know Lucas and all the challenges he’s facing since returning home from the war in Iraq. This author writes her stories from the heart and each one is compelling in its own way. I immediately fell in love with Lucas and hoped that someone would finally be able to pull him out of all the self-torment he was subjecting himself to. When Joy entered the picture, I was hoping she was just the person he needed to help him get through the grief he was suffering from. I wanted Lucas to finally forgive himself and to be able to move on having a happy life again. Ms. James did a fabulous job in telling this story and I would highly recommend the Damaged Heroes series to other readers. This is the third book in the series and as I understand it, there will be another one on the way. I eagerly look forward to reading the next installment in this wonderfully written series. Well done, Ms. James!