Amulet
Heart's True Desire
Book 1
By
Kathryn Amurra
General Information:
Title: Amulet
Author: Kathryn Amurra
Series Info: Book 1 - Heart’s True
Desire series
Genre: Contemporary Romance with
Mystical Elements / Paranormal Romance
Time and setting: Present day,
Southeastern U.S. & Israel
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: April 3, 2024
Synopsis:
Intelligent, charismatic, and successful, Val Nikolov has
achieved everything he’s ever wanted, thanks to a wish made on his
grandmother’s magical amulet.
Alex Weaver, however, can’t seem to get her life in order.
As a temp-agency lawyer helping Val’s company prepare to be acquired, Alex has
no hope that she will ever land a full-time job as an attorney (or convince her
boyfriend to marry her).
When one of Val’s key engineers abruptly departs, the
acquisition is suddenly at risk. Hoping to salvage the deal, Val asks Alex to
travel with him to Israel for a meeting with the decision-makers. The more time
Val and Alex spend together, however, the more they question the things they
thought were most important in their lives. Soon, they find themselves at a
crossroads, having to choose between the lives they’ve always wished for and
their hearts’ true desire.
Excerpt:
Val opened the
passenger side door for her, silently grateful for having just cleaned the
interior.
Thanking him, Alex
got into the front seat. He couldn’t help noticing as Alex’s coat parted at the
bottom and her skirt slid a couple of inches up her thighs in the process.
He shut the door
before she could realize where his eyes and thoughts had been and went around
to the driver’s side.
“I’ll try not to
breathe too much on the short ride over to your parking lot,” he said, starting
the car. “I’d hate it if I got you sick.”
“Oh, don’t worry
about that. I’ve got a pretty robust immune system. Plus, if I’m choosing
between catching a cold and dying in a fiery car crash because you held your
breath and passed out, I think I’d choose the former.”
Val laughed. “It’s
always good to put things into perspective.”
He reached over to
the stick shift and put the car in reverse. It was only after grasping the
shifter that he sensed how close his hand was to Alex’s left knee. Indulging
himself, Val glanced at her face in profile as he turned his body to look
behind them and backed out of the parking spot. She was looking down at her lap
and trying to adjust her coat.
Val shifted again,
driving toward the exit. Alex was quiet, and he hoped she wasn’t uncomfortable
sitting next to him. After their dinner and a pleasant conversation, she
couldn’t possibly be worried that he was trying to put the moves on her, could
she?
“We’ll have to see
about getting you a parking spot in the building. I’ll talk to Judy about it
tomorrow.”
Alex looked over at
him. “That’s really nice of you, but I can’t afford to park here. It’s more
than twice as expensive as the lot I’m in right now, and I can hardly afford
that.”
Val knew that
contract attorneys made less than in-house counsel or attorneys in big law
firms, but he was curious how much less. “What are they paying you at Advance
Legal?”
“Thirty dollars an
hour.”
He was quiet for a
moment. “They’re making a killing on you, you know. I should have hired you
directly—you could have made more money, and I could have spent less money.
Anyway, don’t worry about the cost. The company will pay for your parking.”
The unexpected offer
had her eyes widening in surprise. “I can’t ask you to do that!”
“You’re not. It’s a
business decision that I’m making. Look, it’s going to be crazy the next few
weeks with this deal. I might need you to come in extra early on some days and
stay late on others. And the days are short this time of year. I can’t be worrying
about the seven-block walk you have to make to your car in the dark every
night.”
Alex pressed her
lips into a straight line, and even relying only on peripheral vision, Val
could tell she was skeptical. “So, you’re saying I’d be doing you a favor by
allowing the company to pay exorbitant amounts of money for me to park in the
building.”
He could hear the
smile in her voice as she said the words, and he wished he could take his eyes
off the road for more than just a moment to see it.
“Yes, that’s exactly
right.”
Sighing, Alex
relented. “All right, then. I’ll do it. For the company.”
He laughed. “You
might just get employee of the month at this rate.”
My
Thoughts:
Meet the main characters. Val Nicolov is a highly
successful, wealthy, and attractive businessman. Val is not only very
successful he is also very kind and generous. His success is not due just to
his merit, years earlier he was given a beautiful amulet by his grandmother,
and she explained its magical powers and how it kept her mother and grandfather
safe, out of all her family members, she knew it was meant to go to Val. At
the time Val was putting himself through school while working at a crummy job
with a boss who mistreated him. So, upon that stone, he wished for success and
that is what he got. At the time of the story, Val was informed that his top
engineer was leaving his company for the competitor Val was trying to get
signed on with. But Val knows the safety in the stone and is not afraid.
Alex Weaver is a beautiful and highly intelligent attorney,
but her skills are not being shown to their true level. Due to her boyfriend’s striving
for success, she’s allowed her career to take a back burner to help her
boyfriend become a top criminal lawyer. She’s working for Val’s company through
another company working on his files. To help save his company Val needs to
travel to Israel and meet with the company owner to go over everything since it
seems all hinged on his top engineer, but Val knows differently, that his company
can succeed without his top engineer. So, he asks Alex to go with him. Through
their journey, Alex and Val begin to develop an attraction to one another, a
deep friendship, and a blossoming romance. But Alex is already in a
relationship, even though it’s failing.
Can Val save his company, and will Alex allow her
full potential as an attorney to blossom and go after her dreams? Will Alex and
Val allow themselves to move beyond the constraints of their lives open their
hearts and let love take over? Read this beautiful and very sweet romance to
find out!
This truly reads like a Hallmark movie; I love how
it starts during the Christmas season and the banter and friendship that
develops between Alex and Val is just so sweet. You truly root for these two
and want them to find that long-lost love they’ve both been desiring deep in
their hearts. Amurra’s writing is top-notch. She creates deep believable characters,
with real problems that any of us deal with, so they are very relatable. The
scenery and setting is amazing, you feel as if you’re really in Israel, the smells,
the sights, the sounds, she brings it alive on the page. Also, a moving and
engaging plot, you just keep turning the pages. A truly remarkable read. If you
are looking for a sweet romance with a dash of magic, then this is the book for
you!
Praise for Amulet:
“Kathryn Amurra’s Amulet
is an absorbing tale of re-evaluating
what’s important in life, of choices between what one has always wished for
versus one’s true heart’s desires, and discovering that magic comes in many
forms. Thoroughly enjoyed this enchanting story!”
—Joy Allyson, Author of Whiskey
Love (Published by The Wild Rose Press)
“I loved it! I was speed-reading near the end—so anxious to
see how the romance worked out! What a great ending! I look forward to more in
this series.”
—Kel O’Connor, Author of The DAG Series
“For anyone who loves clean, contemporary romance with a
hint of magic! Kathryn Amurra writes a story that will appeal to readers who
enjoy contemporary romance combined with just the right dash of magic to their
stories! She spins an engaging tale of a family heirloom that grants whoever
possesses it their greatest wish.”
—Leanne Davis, Author of the River’s End Series
Author Bio:
Kathryn Amurra is the author of sweet and sensual love
stories. Her debut series, Soothsayer's Path, is a historical romance series of
standalone books set in Ancient Rome around 115 CE. Her new series, Heart’s
True Desire, is a paranormal romance series of standalone books published
through The Wild Rose Press. Kathryn has been making up stories for as long as
she can remember and writing since grade school. Against the advice of her 12th
grade English teacher, she studied Mechanical Engineering in college, then
worked as an Engineer for a few years. After finding and marrying her own hero,
she and her hubby went to law school together. They currently live in North
Carolina with their three girls.
Contact The Author:
Email - kathrynamurra@gmail.com
Website & Newsletter Sign-up - https://www.kathrynamurra.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kathrynamurra/
Twitter - @AmurraKathryn
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20280375.Kathryn_Amurra
BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/amulet-heart-s-true-desire-book-1-by-kathryn-amurra
Buy Links:
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSZG3YW3/
Nook - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amulet-kathryn-amurra/1144656859?ean=2940186000730
Giveaway:
Kathryn is offering Three eBook Copies of Amulet to Three Lucky Winners!
The giveaway is open internationally.
Runs from 12:00 AM EST on July 15 to 12:00 AM EST on August 3, 2024.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/30806ff52/?
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