Embracing the Moon (Embracing the Dawn Romance), page 1
Embracing the Moon
Synopsis
Gwen Jamison has been attracted to her best friend Taylor for years but has kept her feelings masked as friendship. Left behind by her mother at age nine, then by her first love eight years later, she’s vowed never to trust her heart to anyone. It’s easier to have casual relationships than risk falling in love.
Taylor Matthews has no interest in a relationship. The one and only time she lost herself in love it cost her four years of her life. Never again. In the three decades since, she’s turned her life around, built a successful career, established solid friendships, and had plenty of women, sex, and fun. No complications, no entanglements, no regrets—until Gwen.
Just as Gwen and Taylor are exploring the new love they’ve found, the present and past collide, threatening the future they long to share.
An Embracing the Dawn Romance.
What Reviewers Say About Jeannie Levig’s Work
A Wish Upon a Star
“Jeannie Levig has been putting out lesbian romances for a few years and is going from strength to strength with each book. …A Wish Upon a Star is a perfect book if you’re looking for something a little different from the usual romance fare. While there’s plenty of chemistry between Leslie and Erica, there are no meet-cutes or perfect people to be found in it. Instead, Levig takes us on a journey of finding love that’s familial as well as romantic. If you haven’t read her before this would be an excellent place to start and fans of this author are sure to be pleased too.”—Lambda Literary Review
“This is another fantastic book by Ms. Levig. It is not only a romance but also a story about maternal love, friendship, and loyalty. Kudos to the author for featuring an older couple both in their early fifties but so full of life. Alongside them, there is Siena, Erica’s daughter who has ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder.’ She is portrayed with incredible authenticity as both a child and a person with special needs. It seems that the author did her research well not only in Siena’s personality but also in her relationship with others.”—LezReviewBooks
“[B]e prepared to be taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride because these endearing characters will latch on to your heart and they won’t let go!”—Lesbian Review
“A Wish Upon a Star by Jeannie Levig is a fabulous read. This book has those little moments that pull at your heartstrings. A slow burn romance that uses tension in the most glorious way. …I cannot say how impressive these characters are. They are three dimensional and are 100% relatable.”—Romantic Reader Blog
“This lovely romance features a couple of mature women who begin as friends with undeniable attraction towards one another. Each has faced challenges in their lives and each are wary of changing their personal status quo. In the end I found myself thinking this is what love is all about, overcoming challenges and weathering the storms life throws at you and making a home filled with love. A memorable and sweet read.”—Late Night Lesbian Reads
Threads of the Heart
“What a beautiful and moving story about five women learning invaluable lessons about love, self-awareness, cause and effect, consequences, betrayal, trust, truth, relationships, friendships, family…and life.”—2015 Rainbow Awards
“[The main characters’] individual stories were interesting on their own but the interaction between the characters really makes this novel great.…The steamy scenes were so well written and extremely hot—in fact the best I’ve read in a long time. They were very varied and inventive. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was so sad to finish it. I wanted it to go on and on!”—Inked Rainbow Reads
“The first thing that struck me about this book is how skillfully Levig handles switching between five different points of view. …Each of the characters has a distinct voice that reflects her joys and struggles. The story is structured in such a way that there was never any confusion as to whose perspective I was inhabiting.”—Lesbian Review
Embracing the Dawn
“Embracing the Dawn by Jeannie Levig has to be considered one of the best books of 2016 and one of the best audiobooks of 2017. We also see a lot of the relationships with secondary characters, and how important those friendships are to the growth and happiness of our main characters. Levig handles all of these relationships with a deftness that is truly a joy to read, and reread. The story is well plotted, the characters have depth, and the story sucks you in and keeps you turning pages.”—Lesbian Review
“Embracing the Dawn was written beautifully and it has slipped straight into my Favorite and Must Read Again shelves. It was so raw and honest. The story was very believable and I think that’s what has stood out from most books I’ve read recently. Bold Strokes Books has really upped the ante recently with their authors. This was a fantastic novel. I was gripped from the beginning.”—Les Rêveur
“Seldom have I read such a passionate and insightful love story as this. Ms Levig’s novel flows like a magnificent river, sometimes roaring other times meandering but always effortlessly and impressively moving gracefully on.”—Inked Rainbow Reads
“This is a fantastic lesbian romance audiobook that has many ingredients for its success: romance, family drama, personal struggles, and great sex scenes. Both main characters are very well written with wonderful depth, very distinctive personalities and a background story that makes them very credible.Their chemistry is a bonus as Ms. Levig builds it from literally the first page and the reader/listener sees it progress into something more meaningful but perpetually sizzling.”—LezReviewBooks
Into Thin Air
“Two things are apparent to me after reading Jeannie Levig’s three novels. 1. She is an absolutely fantastic writer. 2. She is anything but formulaic. Every single one of her books has been good, but all so different. This writer knows how to draw emotion from her readers. …Levig challenges you with this book. This story is like a pendulum of emotions, so well crafted that you can’t stop. This is a really fantastic book, you haven’t read anything like this one, I promise.”—Romantic Reader Blog
“Jeannie Levig created such a poignant story that drew so many intense emotions out of me. Each of her characters were so realistic with their flaws and unique personalities traits and I felt so close to each of them. …This story surprised me on so many levels because it is one of the few books that I have ever read that threw all of my expectations out of the window. I have cycled between delight, outrage and sorrow throughout this story and I loved every word of this book because it sends several messages and it is so worth the read.”—Lesbian Review
A Heart to Call Home
“Can we please all pause and celebrate the fact that both of these women are in their mid to late 40s? Because there are so few in lesfic and it’s refreshing to see! A Heart to Call Home is beautifully written. It has so much angst and tension that works well alongside the chemistry and pull between Jessie and Dakota. Even though I knew it’s a romance and that they would have a happily ever after, their crisis still brought tears to my eyes.”—Lesbian Review
“What a fantastic novel! Jeannie Levig continues to blow me away with her beautiful story telling. Jeannie Levig writes conflict between protagonists better than many authors. You can feel the tension coming off the page that added another element to this wonderful novel.”—Les Rêveur
“Jeannie Levig knows how to develop a character. She weaves her story around her protagonists and draws you right into the amazingness of her stories. I’m never sure where I am going to go, what I’ll read and I can never predict the ending. Levig keeps me guessing throughout the whole book and I love her for it. …Levig definitely doesn’t play by the rules and loves to add a curveball here and there. Levig does it again with bringing you an amazing story that grips you to the last page.”—Romantic Reader
“The main characters embark on a soul searching journey which is moving, poignant and sometimes heart-breaking. The reader joins this emotional rollercoaster suffering and enjoying along with the characters. It is one hell of a ride.”—Lez Review Books
Embracing the Moon
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By the Author
Threads of the Heart
Into Thin Air
A Heart to Call Home
A Wish Upon a Star
Embracing the Dawn Romances
Embracing the Dawn
Embracing the Moon
Embracing the Moon
© 2022 By Jeannie Levig. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-463-2
This Electronic Original Is Published By
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: June 2022
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form with
out permission.
Credits
Editors: Victoria Villaseñor and Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design by Jeanine Henning
eBook Design by Toni Whitaker
Acknowledgments
This book has taken a long journey to get here, with many starts and stops, life issues, and a pandemic in its midst. Given that, I want to begin these acknowledgements with a huge thank you to my readers for your patience and support over the past several years since my last book. Some of you have reached out to me during that time to check in on my next release and offered patience and support as I struggled to get this story onto the page. Some of you have shown your support through continued mentions and recommendations of my backlist titles and brought new readers to my readership. And some of you have found my writing and stories during this time offering new reviews and ratings that keep the energy flow moving around my work. ALL of you have made such a huge difference for me during this long haul and kept my writer spirit nurtured and nourished. I thank you all for your support, encouragement, and faith. I love you all and truly hope you enjoy Gwen and Taylor’s story.
As always, I want to acknowledge my best friend and First Reader, Jamie Patterson, for being with me through every word I write. I know in the depths of my soul that without your love, friendship, support, and belief in me this book would not have come to fruition. Thank you so very much.
A huge acknowledgment and thank you to my content experts, Julie, Suzie, and Kim, for your answers to my questions on certain medical aspects of this story, to Lisa for all the information and photos of the Sacramento area, and to my beta readers, Carolyn and Geoff for your input and suggestions. All of your contributions made this a better book.
Thank you to my family and my spiritual circle for loving me no matter what and for not looking at me too oddly when I space out because I’m concentrating more on fixing a plot flaw than on our conversation.
And always, always, always, my deepest acknowledgment and gratitude to all of the amazing folks at Bold Strokes Books who are so deeply committed to excellence in publishing. To Radclyffe for creating this supportive space in the world where creativity is so richly nurtured and writers are encouraged and assisted in their growth. To Sandy—always, but especially on this book—for your gentle patience and understanding and always for being there with answers and ideas whenever needed. To my incredible editors, Victoria Villasenor and Cindy Cresap, for your time and knowledge that you give every scene, every line, and every word in my books. Vic, you might never fully grasp the enormity of the role you played in keeping me writing on this project and, subsequently, any future ones. Your check-ins when I’d vanish off social media, the group Zoom calls you set up during the pandemic and now continue, and always being there with encouragement when I needed it most made such a difference. Thank you for it all.
And now, to the reader about to start this story, thank you for your interest, your time, and for choosing to share this experience with Gwen, Taylor, and me. Peace, and love, and happy reading.
Dedication
To Jamie
Like the friendship in this book, ours has been the constant that has always been and will always be.
Thank you.
Chapter One
Gwen Jamison pulled into her best friend’s driveway and turned off the engine of her brand new, pearl red, crossover SUV. With four-wheel drive for hard-to-get-to campsites and trailheads and a ski rack for the upcoming winter weekends in Mammoth, it was the car of her dreams. She smiled with joy, lovingly stroking the steering wheel. She’d driven it home from the lot the previous night, then here this morning. She couldn’t wait to show Taylor, then get it out on the freeway for their trip south to EJ and Jinx’s.
She slid her gaze to the car parked next to her, one she didn’t recognize, and fought back a frown. Nope. Nothing was going to spoil her excitement today. She grabbed her travel mug of peppermint tea, then climbed out. Not even Taylor running late because she was still in bed with last night’s pickup.
At the top of the steps, she rang the doorbell. Then again. With an exasperated sigh, she finally unlocked the door and let herself in.
She stopped and listened.
Not a sound.
She moved across the tiled entryway, the squeak of her Nikes going silent when she reached the plush carpet of the living room, then returning with her first step up into the kitchen. With long-standing familiarity, she started a pot of coffee since Taylor would need some, then she began sorting the pile of mail that covered the bar. Sometimes she wondered if Taylor deliberately left it there until Gwen’s next visit.
Gwen couldn’t help herself. She was a neat freak. She made a tidy stack of the mortgage and two credit card statements; the cell phone bill; a jury summons, the dates for which she hoped Taylor hadn’t already missed; and a postcard from someone in Venice, Italy. Who still sent postcards instead of pics on social media? Then she set a $2 off coupon from Taylor’s favorite pizza place and a Bed Bath & Beyond flyer beside the pile. Taylor had a thing for new sheets and towels and kitchen gadgets she never used. She might find something on sale she couldn’t live without.
The morning felt like the beginning of a workday. Open EJ’s office. Check. Start the coffee. Check. Sort the mail and anticipate EJ’s needs. Check. Check. The similarities stopped there, though. Gwen couldn’t recall a single time she’d had to roust EJ from bed to get her moving, whereas Taylor…This wasn’t the first time, and surely wouldn’t be the last. She scanned the grocery ads while she waited for the coffee to brew.
The sound of an upstairs shower turning on drew her attention to the double doors of the master suite halfway down the railed walkway that overlooked the living room. No, no, no. A shower meant more sex, and more sex meant more waiting. Their departure would already be later than they’d agreed on. A mischievous thought sparked to life, bringing with it a devious grin.
She scooped up the junk mail and dumped it in the recycle bin, then retrieved two mugs from the cupboard. She filled both with steaming black coffee, the only way Taylor liked it, and made her way up the spiral staircase by the front door to the second level of the condo. She let herself into the master suite and ignoring the rumpled covers of the unmade bed, crossed to the archway of the en suite. She paused and took in the scene through the clear glass of the huge shower.
Taylor had a slender redhead pressed against the wet tile, her lips to the back of her neck and her hand slowly working between her thighs.
The redhead’s moans were audible over the hiss of the spray.
Gwen allowed herself a pleasurable moment to take in the two naked women, but mostly, she admired Taylor. When they’d been introduced on Gwen’s third day as EJ’s administrative assistant at Bad Dog Athletic Apparel over a decade ago, she’d been mesmerized by Taylor. EJ had waved her hand in front of Gwen’s face to recall her attention. Gwen had blushed so deeply, she’d had to excuse herself to perform some imaginary duty until her color returned to normal. Taylor had grinned, and that was the beginning of her merciless flirting with Gwen.
In her mid-forties at the time, Taylor had been stunning, her sleek, dark hair, long and lush; her body, lean and toned; and her eyes—those captivating eyes. Heavily lashed with a warm amber hue from her mother’s Brazilian heritage, their seductive smolder reached into a woman’s soul when Taylor turned up the heat. And not much had changed since then. Now fifty-five, Taylor carried some extra weight, and there was a bit of a droop to her round buttocks, some extra lines at the corners of her eyes, and some silver threads through her hair, but she was still sexy as hell.
Gwen had seen the numerous women who succumbed to her allure and flirtations, observed from the second Taylor set her sights on one to the moment they walked arm in arm out the door, even noted her own reactions when Taylor turned her charms on her. And she’d come to the conclusion that sexy came from the inside. She was certain Taylor would be bedding any woman she wanted well into her eighties, regardless of what age might do to her appearance.
