In the Christmas novella
Eight Birds for Christmas, a Holiday funeral sends Laidan into a dormancy of
sadness. Holed up in her mother's lake house with her best friend and her
bodyguard, birds appear one by one as gifts that help her through a time of
grieving. Each birds carries with it a word and a hope that things will begin
to look up.
Hurt from the realization
that the rock star life Laidan led had made her selfish, the birds reveal
forgotten memories and glimpses into how she can become a better person. It
will take confronting her past to make peace with her future. By taking to heart
the gifts the birds bring, Laidan begins to realize the true meaning of
Christmas and that there are other ways that she can share her song.
In the novel BROKEN
SMILES, Laidan Swanson rises from ashes of sorrow to the top of the music
billboard charts, only to find that her desire for fame is overshadowed by her
desire to serve. She escapes her identity and flees to find the humanitarian
doctor and the Chinese children depicted in a brochure that she came across in
a hospital lobby.
While performing at the
Grammys, the pressure from the music industry becomes too much for Laidan. She
is quickly carried off the stage, leaving the world audience stunned and amazed
by her emotional performance. Accompanying her are a trusted bodyguard and a
close childhood friend. Together they make for the jungles of China where she
meets Doctor Rafe Watkins, a humanitarian doctor who has reasons of his own for
why he has chosen to live deep within the bamboo forests. The handsome doctor
is building an orphanage and runs a clinic that fixes children’s broken smiles
or cleft palets. Watching him perform his many acts of kind service, Laidan’s
“broken smile” is also healing and she begins to fall deeply in love with him.
She has finally found a place where she belongs. One problem – because of
Rafe’s intentional seclusion from society for the past seven years, he does not
know Laidan’s true identity. What will he do when he finds out? Can love conquer
all, or is Laidan’s rock star fame too big for his quiet life?
BIO:
As a child, Tara Mayoros moved to
Asia with her family where her love of different cultures and travel began. In
college she satisfied her wanderlust by moving to China, filling her head with
countless stories, and occasionally writing them down.
Years, marriage, children and many
adventures later, she picked up her dusty pen and paper (or laptop) and
realized that writing took her to different worlds and gave her the experiences
that she yearned for. As an author, artist, baker, music teacher, gardner, and
nature lover – she sees the beauty in the process, and the miracle, of
creation. The Rocky Mountains are her home and they call to her whenever she
finds herself in need of inspiration.
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