Seven Days of Second Chances

Talia Johnson escaped Detroit at eighteen with a scholarship and a broken heart, determined to prove that success meant leaving everything-and everyone-behind. Now a high-powered marketing executive in Chicago, she's built the perfect life: corner office, designer wardrobe, and a promotion to New York on the horizon. The last thing she needs is to return home for her grandmother's eightieth birthday and face the community she abandoned.David Calhoun gave up his basketball scholarship and NBA dreams to care for his dying mother and raise his teenage sister. Fourteen years later, he's the heart of the Eastside Community Center, fighting to save the programs that keep neighborhood kids off the streets. When the city threatens to shut down the center, he needs a miracle-or a marketing expert who knows how to make people pay attention.When Mama Ruth volunteers Talia to help with the community's Kwanzaa celebration, neither Talia nor David is prepared for what happens when ambition meets purpose, when corporate polish clashes with grassroots passion, and when the love they thought they'd buried resurfaces stronger than ever. As they work side by side through the seven principles of Kwanzaa, Talia must decide: Is success measured by how high you climb, or by how deeply you're rooted?A heartwarming second-chance romance about redefining success, reclaiming your roots, and discovering that the longest journey is often the one that brings you home.TROPES:Second Chance RomanceClean (No Spice) RomanceReturn to HometownOpposites Attract (Corporate vs. Community)Matchmaking GrandmotherSmall Town vs. Big CityChildhood Sweethearts ReunitedHoliday RomanceFound FamilyFamily ReunionWorkplace RomanceSacrifice vs. AmbitionCultural Celebration Author of mystery stories featuring a female amateur sleuth, diverse characters, and a dash of romance. Barbara Howard is the author of two cozy mystery series; Finding Home and The Clover City Files. Her stories feature a female amateur sleuth, diverse characters, and a dash of romance. She is a first generation tech geek turned master gardener. Ms. Howard returned to her Midwestern hometown after an extensive career as a Department of Defense Project Manager at the Pentagon, KPMG Eastern Region Project Leader, and Corporate Sales Representative for Borders Books & Music. She now spends most of her time treasure hunting, spoiling her fur-babies, growing veggies, and plotting whodunits. Memberships/Affiliations: Mystery Writers of America (MWA), Sisters in Crime (SinC), Great Lakes Fiction Writers (GLFW), Crime Writers of Color (CWoC) Read more at http://www.authorbarbarahoward.com