Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Language of Love Book One of the Port Provident Series Complete at 60,000 wordsGraciela Garcia de Piedra’s family emigrated from Mexico to Port Provident, Texas, in search of a better life. Now she wants others to have the same opportunity to live out the American dream through her school, where she teaches English as a Second Language.
Jake Peoples returns to his hometown to prove he’s more than his past mistakes and to claim his place as president of the development company owned by his family, one of the Island’s oldest and most powerful. The only piece of property standing in the way of the new condo project that will secure his future is Gracie Garcia’s school.
Although they both talk in English, Gracie and Jake don’t speak the same language. Where he sees profit and loss, she sees people and love. Can this teacher help a reluctant prodigal learn that God’s dreams are always bigger than our own?
Labor of Love Book Two of the Port Provident Series In progress – Target: 60,000 wordsMidwife Gloria Garcia Rodriguez transferred to work in a freestanding birth clinic because she knew she’d never again be able to set foot in the same hospital where her husband and newborn daughter died.
Dr. Pete Shipley knew he was made for more than routine baby deliveries, as he counted the days until he could leave Port Provident and join an international mission team of doctors.
But when Hurricane Henrietta roars ashore on Provident Island, Gloria must overcome her fears to save her own life and those who stayed behind alongside a doctor who must learn that you don’t need to leave home to serve others. Can they heal patients after the storm…and their own broken hearts?
Second Chance Cinderella In progress – Target: 60,000 wordsTen years ago, Dan Clark was the prince charming of Blue Creek, Texas. Everything he did turned to gold, except for the gold ring on his finger.
When Meg McMahon got the call that her former foster mother needed her help, she knew she had to return to Blue Creek for the woman who raised her–even if it meant coming face to face with the ex-husband who put his career before her.
Now, the high school football coach must get past the Monday morning quarterbacking to team up with the woman he could never forget in order to help a student avoid his teacher’s mistakes…and get a second chance to win the over the love of his life.
Comedic Inspirational Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Guerrilla Gorilla Dating (Because Love’s Not War, It’s a Zoo) Complete at 68,000 wordsSecond Place, Inspirational Category, Northwest Houston RWA’s Lone Star Writing Contest.
As a new Assistant Account Executive for a small Austin, Texas public relations firm, Kate Cormick realizes that the animals in her life do not just reside at the new Capital of Texas Zoo which her company is promoting—her co-workers also remind her of various species in the primate habitat.
Outside of work, her life is no less complicated. Kate discovers that her ex-boyfriend, Mark, is newly-engaged but sends out signals which point toward wanting Kate back. She is set up with preacher’s kid Paul White, who is declared Mr. Right-for-Kate. Then there’s Jack Cooper, who swore off God fifteen years ago. Kate’s been warned to stay away from this man and his love-’em-then-leave-’em reputation, and she knows she can’t date him because Jack’s recommendation holds the key to Kate’s ability to drop the “Assistant” from her job title—but she can’t deny the sparks that are there.
When out in their natural habitats, though, none of the animals in her life are quite what they seem. When Kate is confronted by the realities behind what she thinks she wants and how she thinks she is going to get it, she has to dig deeper into her Bible and her relationship with God to find the wisdom to keep moving forward and not slide back to the status quo.
Non-Fiction
Ike 101: Life Lessons I Learned from a Hurricane (And How You Can Recover from the Storms in Your Life) In Progress–70,000 Non-Fiction Memoir/Bible StudyOne week after returning from our honeymoon in May 2006, my husband and I moved to Galveston, Texas to open and run a family business on the beach. As the years passed, we built not only a store, but a life, until Hurricane Ike came to town on September 13, 2008. Bringing Category 2 winds and a Category 4 storm surge, with the highest Integrated Kinetic Energy ever recorded in a hurricane, Ike rolled ashore and flooded both our home and our business.
Unlike the constant media coverage after Hurricane Katrina, days after our world became waterlogged, the world’s eyes turned from this natural disaster to the country’s financial meltdown. As we struggled to return to the island and then to rebuild, God used this (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience to teach me lessons about possessions, family, life, work and how to trust in His timing and His plan.
Please note: All Content is Copyright 2011, Kristen Ethridge
