Embattled by Darlene Jones
Em sits at her desk, her hands soaked in blood. No wounds, no pain, and no idea where the blood came from. The reds and greens swirling across her computer screen scream jungle battle. She’s certain she was there. Fighting through the jungle to stop a battle, storming into a courtroom to save the accused, facing a firing squad of armed ruffians…
Are her “three wishes” coming true?
And, Yves? He is there to arm her with special powers, to send her into battle, to watch over her. His first assignment as a supreme power is to clean up the mess on Earth without going down there himself. Meeting his superior’s expectations is a huge challenge. Falling in love with Em threatens to ruin everything.
Paperback: 370 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1466468054
Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Embattled-Darlene-Jones/dp/146646805X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324498764&sr=1-1
Smashwords for all other eReader formats: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/102614
Author’s Website: http://www.emandyves.com
Author’s Blog: http://emandyves.wordpress.com
Twitter Account @darlenejones47: http://twitter.com/#!/darlenejones47
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/djones47
Reviews:-
“Fantastic book. Depicting the lives of the earthly characters as they are affected by the “beings” took a lot of writing skill. For Em, rationalizing what is happening to her constitutes another writing challenge. It is very well done.”
“Beings from another world have Em living her dreams and wishes as she performs what the onlookers call miracles wherever she goes. The interwoven love stories are anything but sappy. This book is worth the time invested to read it.”
“I’ve read Embattled and was impressed by how the author handled the protagonist’s two worlds. Em knows she’s being influenced by “beings” but what they’re having her do is not against her core set of morals. On the contrary, she thrives on the challenge – and yet, she wonders how to rationalize her experiences in her real life. Darlene Jones does a superb job of making it all seem real and believable.”
Excerpt:-
She struggled through the thick vegetation, swinging the machete awkwardly, working her way towards her destination. Vines wrapped themselves around her legs. She yanked at the long skirt of her dress to free herself. She swung the machete again, and pushed through the narrow opening she’d created, ignoring the thorns that scratched her bare arms and shoulders. “Suitably dressed, I am, I am.” A spider web enveloped her. The machete cut through it easily enough, but remnants clung to her skin.
The sounds of battle assaulted her senses. Her heart pounded and caught in her throat with each pop of gunfire and thudded with each howl of pain. “Oh Lord, what am I heading into?”
She plunged on and burst into the clearing with a final swing of the machete that nearly toppled her. She pulled the heavy knife back, nicking her shin, but pushed ahead yelling, “Favór ida, stop! Stop!” She waved the unwieldy machete and forced her way between the combatants. Cries of rage rose from them. She watched the arching swing of machetes above her head, cringed, and waited for the killing blows. “Stop, Stop.” She yelled. The men dropped their weapons, fell back, and let her through.
*
Too damn antsy to go back to work, she paced her living room, poured a stiff drink, downed it, and paced again. She kept looking at her hands, expecting to see them covered in blood. Her shin burned from the scrape she had first noticed in the shower.
The television droned in the background. “The sharp report of gunfire, screams of the maimed and dying, wails of grief; replaced by birdsong. Traces of blood and body parts gone, erased by the scavengers. The jungle has reclaimed its ascendancy over man. More importantly, this extraordinary woman, la madame des miracles, as the natives are calling her, has lived up to that name. She has indeed effected a miracle. Proof is as near as the village just beyond those trees where tribal leaders are now debating peaceful coexistence.”
She sank to the sofa, every nerve taut, every muscle quivering. Could that have been me? No way! She squeezed her eyes shut. The jungle battle replayed on her eyelids. That was her, madly waving the machete. She held her face in her hands, inhaled deeply, smelled blood, and felt the jungle close around her.
“Oh, my God! What’s happening to me?”
“
