Waiting for an Eclipse
Book 2Steve Thomas has a self-destructive wife, three kids, more guilt than one man can handle...and a chance at true love for the first time in his life--if only he can allow himself to take it.
Read More →
Wounded Warriors Series, Book 1: Reluctant Hearts by Karen Wiesner
Women who have faced pain, loss and heartache. They know the score and never back down. Women who aren't afraid to love with all their passion and all their strength, who risk everything for their own little piece of heaven...
Men who live their lives on the blade's edge. Knights in black armor. The only thing more dangerous than crossing these men is loving them...
What's a man to do when he's seen too much of life's dark side and suddenly finds himself believing in flesh-and-blood angels who can heal with a single touch? What's a girl to do when she believes in true love but can't trust the eyes of her own heart? Fall in love...reluctantly?
Also Available from these Retailers:
📖 Read the first chapter!
Part I: THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
"....how shall I explain? I - it's always so. Each time you happen to me all over again."
~Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence
One
Wendy Thomas sighed as soon as she exited off the interstate, anticipating how good it would feel to get out of the confines of her car and really stretch. She'd been on the road for the better part of the day with minimal stops.
Better yet, I'll just shower and hit the sack, and unpack tomorrow. Yeah, much better plan.
Something caught her eye in the rearview mirror, and she turned to look over her right shoulder to see a car barreling past her on the exit ramp toward the turn lane. She edged her car farther to the left protectively. "What...?"
The car passed and entered the turn lane, barely stopping to check traffic before speeding on.
"Idiot," Wendy said under her breath, clenching her jaw in anger and disbelief.
One thing I didn't miss--Milwaukee's insane, defensive driving. More like offensive! She'd lived in Milwaukee all her life and she'd learned to merge, dodge, edge out, rev on the line like a race car driver, shoot forward and barrel down with the rest of them. But it'd been nice for a little while to be in a town where everyone drove the speed limit, sometimes slower, and actually obeyed safety and traffic laws instead of creating their own, like those in Milwaukee, so they'd become the rule instead of the exception.
This morning, in the cabin, while she and the other female counselors had packed their things, she'd felt a twinge of sadness at the end of her summer job. She'd been away from home for a little more than a month, teaching at a camp for blind children in a small town in Nebraska. At eighteen, she'd been the youngest counselor in the program, but she'd garnered a lot of high recommendations from her previous volunteer work.
Even now, remembering the children and her peers, Wendy smiled sadly. She would miss everyone. They'd formed a strong bond, even though she'd learned from experience to detach herself slightly or drown. She'd helped the kids, in some small way, to lead more productive, happy lives. In a way I can never help those I know, she added to herself, her thoughts on her mother and her best friend, Jessie Nelson.
She put her mind back on that hot shower and sleep as she neared her home. No more thinking today. Too soon she'd be back into the old groove. Right now she didn't want to experience guilt for feeling that sometimes she'd just like to be Wendy, the daughter, the friend, the individual.
The streets she knew so well brought her closer to the two-story home she'd grown up in. While the front exterior was classic Georgian, the inside and back were ultramodern. As she zipped onto the three-car garage approach, she sighed again.
Home. Yeah, this is good.
Turning off her car, she forced her cramped muscles to cooperate in getting her out and on her feet. When Grace, the Thomas' long-time maid rushed out, Wendy started to smile in greeting. But then Grace thrust a yellow slip at her. "Can you pick up the dry cleaning? Your daddy needs his tuxedo for tonight. Your mother's got me doing half-dozen things at once. Quisdale annual cocktail party, you know. Insanity."
In shock, Wendy watched as Grace scurried toward the house. She stopped and turned back before reaching the front door. "Oh."
Wendy waited expectantly for a real greeting.
"Can you also stop by and grab a bottle of wine? I already called it in and they know you. They shouldn't card you."
Well, glad to see you, too! Wendy wondered why she was surprised. But then Grace rushed back and hugged her, just as quickly as she'd run out and dropped a load of errands in her lap. "It's good to see you home again, hon. I don't know how this house runs without you."
Grace smiled at her, her plump, familiar face too sweet for Wendy to remain wounded.
"Your mom has been asking all day if you're home yet. I'm sure she'll want to see you right away when you get back."
Grace zipped back into the house, and Wendy scolded herself for frowning at her parting words. People needed her. She'd rather have that than the alternative. Not being needed or wanted by your own parents was something her neighbor and life-long friend Jessie had faced all her life.
With a heavy sigh of disappointment, Wendy opened the door of her car again and slid back into the cramped confines.
Well, I'm glad to be almost home, she thought with good-natured acceptance.
* * * *
"Tuxedo. And Chablis," Wendy said when she stepped into the kitchen from the garage door.
Grace looked up from folding laundry. "You're an absolute doll."
Wendy smiled as Grace took the offerings from her. Despite knowing Grace most of her life, she hadn't always noticed how different she was from other people. Grace reminded her of Nana, the housekeeper in Disney's animated cartoon 101 Dalmatians, or Edith Bunker. Grace didn't walk. She rushed, scurried, darted. Wendy wasn't sure if she'd always been that way or if the mistress of the Thomas' house caused it with near-constant needs. Wendy's mother had a subtle way of making it seem that if something didn't get done, she'd suffer excruciating torment inside her own body at the prospect.
"She asked for you again while you were gone," Grace imparted, and Wendy nodded.
"I'll get my luggage out of my car and head right up." Another fifteen minutes, and you'll be standing under a steaming spray that'll work all these kinks out, she told herself as she lugged her three, oversize duffel bags up the winding staircase.
With an "Uh", she hefted the bags off her shoulders outside her bedroom door, without entering, and headed toward her parents' room at the end of the hall. Her neck, shoulders, back and legs all ached horribly, yet she put on a smile after she tapped on the bedroom door and her mother called out a welcome.
"I can't even dress myself without you," Felicia--as she'd insisted on being called by her children--looked at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity. "I spent the whole social season looking like a frumpy old maid."
Wendy shook her head as she glanced at the pile of cocktail dresses on the bed. Her mother sat in a satin slip. "Ah, so Dad locked you in the closet the whole while, huh?"
Her mother laughed as she removed the necklace she'd apparently put on with the last discarded dress. As much as she said she hated social activities, Felicia constantly thrust herself into them with her charity activities. Wendy understood why she volunteered so much, but her attempts to feel better about herself rarely worked. The only thing she really enjoyed, just for herself, was her work at Nelson Cosmetics. She worked in the lab, creating fragrances. It was where she'd met Wendy's father, who was vice president of the company.
The annual Quisdale cocktail party was an event put on by one of Nelson Cosmetics' biggest clients.
"I just don't have your confidence and poise for these things," her mother said, and Wendy temporarily took the comment in the way she initially would a skipping record. Let it go and maybe it would fix itself. "I wish you could go, too, like you did when you were little. You were so sophisticated in those velvet cocktail dresses. You captivated everyone."
Wendy remembered those times clearly. She'd felt like a super-computer on display. Show them how smart you are, Wendy. You can out-think anybody here. Isn't she amazing? And she's only seven!
She'd been glad when her parents allowed her autonomy to decide pretty much her whole life at the age of eleven. The first thing to go had been attending those ridiculous, outshine-the-Jones' cocktail parties.
Shuffling through the stack of dresses on the bed, Wendy chose an off-the-shoulder, white one that shimmered like diamonds. It brought out the sparkle in her mother's beautiful eyes and emphasized her shining, dark hair. As soon as she held it out, Felicia stood, took the dress and put it on immediately.
While she dressed, Wendy chose jewelry, knowing her mother would ask her to pick that out for her, too.
"Is Dad still at work?" Wendy remembered how she'd watched her mother get ready for a party when she was a little girl. To Wendy, her mother had always been the most beautiful creature on two legs. She still was. Her name fit her perfectly. Felicia, tiny, lovely and so very, very fragile.
Her mother nodded, turning her back so Wendy could put the multi-tiered, diamond teardrop necklace on her.
"I think he's having an affair."
The only thing that surprised Wendy about the admission was that her mother had said it so soon. She'd uttered the words so often in the past, there were times Wendy wanted to shake her and scream, "You're the one who's paranoid. You're creating a delusion with it because you're so insecure. Dad would never, ever cheat on you. He's too good a man. And what woman could ever compare to you?"
Felicia seemed to think every other woman in the world was more attractive and a better catch. Wendy's father treated his wife like royalty and loved her more than anything else in the world. In his daughter's mind, he was the perfect man.
Wendy could never confront her mother about her misconceptions though. Felicia would probably shatter if Wendy ever thrust a psychological microscope on her. Instead, she turned her mother toward the full-length mirror and said, "Why would Dad ever want someone else? Look at you. You're absolutely stunning. Every other woman turns to dust in your wake."
Wendy had said the one thing that could temporarily subdue her mother. Felicia's need for reassurance was chronic. She had no inner strength at all.
Felicia smiled slightly. "Do you really think so?"
Swallowing hard at the ache of realizing every fix was temporary and she could never help her mother permanently, Wendy nodded with tears in her eyes. "With all my heart."
Her mother turned to her, kissing her cheek and hugging her with a long sigh. "It's good to have you back. I missed you, sweetie. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're my stronghold and guardian angel."
Wendy took a deep breath, seeing herself in the mirror as if from multiple déjà vu angles. As long as she could remember, she'd been supporting her mother emotionally and building her back up. Felicia couldn't let go and help herself in any way. It'd been hard enough for her to finally concede to allow Wendy to start school--months from the age of seven. She'd been a mother to her own mother all her life.
When Felicia backed up, she said, "Well, I better finish getting ready or I'll give your father another reason to look elsewhere for companionship."
Knowing her mother felt a twinge of embarrassment for her own neediness, Wendy left the room without comment, her chest heavy with the need to cry or roar her frustration. Her father came down the hallway toward her with his tuxedo in hand. Relieved to have something to distract her from her own sense of helplessness, she grinned at him widely.
Her parents really did make a gorgeous couple. She'd spent her life thinking her father was the most handsome man in the world, though she'd outgrown that in favor of guys closer to her age--ones a little less clean-cut, a little more wild. She still thought he looked better the older he got, with the silver streaking his temples and his smile buried in deep, attractive grooves around his mouth.
"Is your mother ready?"
"Yup."
He hugged her lingeringly, allowing her to relax for the first time since she got home. "It's good to have you back, sweetheart. Among the dozens of reasons why is that we're never late for anything when you're around."
"I run a tight ship," Wendy said, laughing.
He pulled back slightly. "You're welcome to join us tonight."
She shook her head. Positively, she wasn't going. "I'll probably have a hard enough time getting Steve to relent in throwing me a welcome home party. I really just want to sleep."
At the mention of Steve, Wendy's brother and his own son, her father's face darkened. Trying not to let his ridiculous disapproval of Steve's choice of college and his class load of music courses instead of business annoy her, she bent to pick up her duffel bags one by one, hoisting them over her shoulders again.
"Would you mind calling the limousine service to confirm, sweetheart? I didn't get a chance to yet, and I still have to get ready."
He handed her the phone number and time of arrival, and Wendy took a deep breath before letting the heavy bags slide off her shoulders once more. "Sure. No problem."
He started off down the hall, tossing back almost carelessly, "Have some fun, Wendy. Sleep tomorrow. You work too hard. You deserve a night out once in a while."
"Look who's talking," Wendy called back, and he laughed before entering the bedroom and closing the door behind him.
Wendy looked down at the scrap of paper in her hand. Get this over with and then maybe I can at least shower.
As she went to the phone on the pickled pine table in the hall, she realized no one had even bothered to ask her how her summer went.
Buy the print version from Amazon
Continue the Series
Dark Mirror
Book 3Twenty-five years ago, Gwen Nicholson-Nelson was in a car accident that left behind a strange gift. She can see the future, and death, before it comes to pass. She also has a disturbing connection wit…
Read More →
Wayward Angels
Book 4What do you get with a former wild man who's committed his path to the Lord and a woman who has absolutely nothing to lose? It's either a match made in heaven...or a sure-fire heartache.
Read More →
Until It's Gone
Book 5You don't know what you've got...until it's gone. Mitch has been playing a dangerous game. The lines between black and white, good and evil, saint and sinner are all blurred.
Read More →
White Rainbow
Book 6Jessie Nelson has been telling herself she doesn't deserve or believe in second chances, especially when it comes to love...until her white rainbow appears in a corporate pirate who conquers her…
Read More →Reviews
★★★★★4.5 You Need to Read Review at YGR
Reviewed By: Martha
This was a wonderfully enjoyable and deeply moving story of the complexity of young love.
.... Ms. Wiesner is an expert storyteller keeping you engaged to find out what happens! I am sure that the other books in the series, about the various friends, will be wonderfully full emotional reads as well. If you are prepared for heartache and joy, this is a book you will enjoy!
★★★★★This is the first of Karen's books I've read and I really enjoyed it. I like her style of writing and easy read.
Reviewed By: Bonnie
★★★★★RELUCTANT HEARTS is an atypical love story because of the attitude of the male lead character. Readers will have to wait a while to know whether Paul admits to Wendy he loves her, as Karen Wiesner concentrates on relationships that place Wendy in the center as the hub. The story starts slow in order for the audience to appreciate the cast, but those readers who are as patient as Wendy will happily find a tremendous drama that provides the saga over the years of a strong female and the Wounded Warrior she loves.
Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
★★★★★Wiesner pens a novel that will stay with long after you have turned the last page. Wiesner has penned a tale filled with love, romance, coming of age, the shattering of dreams, and then picking up and moving on. The dreams we have as teenagers require us to assess them and change them as we grow and mature.
Wendy and Paul are so well developed that we feel their disappointments and their triumphs. We understand their motivations and they become our friends. Wiesner has penned a tale that will capture your attention and ensnare your heart as you cheer for Wendy and Paul and cry for them as well.
RELUCTANT HEARTS will not disappoint the reader as we engross ourselves in their wonderful story. Highly recommended but be sure to have tissues nearby.
Reviewed By: Single Titles
★★★★★I read this entire book in one sitting. The author's talent for telling a story is beyond compare. I was enthralled with all the characters from the very beginning.
The investment that that the reader has in Wendy and Paul will bring on a wide range of emotions; I cried, laughed and cursed at them throughout the book. Wiesner is a stupendous author with writing skills that should not to be missed.
Reviewed By: Coffee Time Romance & More
★★★★★This is a story about real people who love and lose, who find their faith only to lose it, then rediscover it again. Wiesner's creativity to compose true to life characters is amazing. She develops in-depth characters that spin in the reader's mind for a long time after the story is finished.
Wiesner instills a lovely story of distress, victory and camaraderie that leaves a lump in your throat and keeps you glued until the incredible expedition is concluded. The story is inviting, powerful and completely captures.
Reviewed By: The Romance Studio
★★★★★Wiesner has crafted a novel full of pathos and joy. She has blended pain and triumph and friendship in a way that grabs you by the throat and never lets go. All of her characters are heroes, flawed and sometimes barely functioning.
This tale is a sprawling 150,000-word document that will rivet your attention and engage your emotions. The action flows, twists and undulates and you are drawn in, swept up in the lives of these interesting people. RELUCTANT HEARTS is a 'getter' as well as a keeper! If Wiesner maintains the quality of writing she employed with this book, we have a treat to look forward to.
Reviewed By: Timeless Tales Book Reviews
★★★★★RELUCTANT HEARTS is a full-sized work of fiction that makes good use of interior monologues and remembrances to give depth to the inner conflicts of the characters. The author holds nothing back in depicting a sometimes grim reality. I strongly recommend it. Paul and Wendy live a powerful love story that can't help but move the coolest reader.
Reviewed By: Romance Reviews Today
★★★★★Disappointment, disillusionment and surprising hope give RELUCTANT HEARTS a universal appeal. Wiesner wisely captures the nuances and struggles of young people with self-worth and love, maintaining tenderness and grittiness in equal measure. Her powerful storytelling gift builds sympathy even as characters self-destruct and creates hope in the midst of despair. A fantastic beginning to what promises to be an outstanding series, RELUCTANT HEARTS comes very highly recommended.
Reviewed By: Wordweaving
★★★★★I read this series completely out of order--a testament to how each book stands on its own. In the process, I somehow saved the best for last. My emotions were all over the place while I read this book.
Even as young as she is, Wendy tries to take care of everyone around her. I couldn’t wait until she could live her own life, free of all the restrictions she had on her, dealing with everyone else’s problems. Her teenage crush on the much older Paul Randall turned into certainty that he was the only man for her, but Paul had never felt worthy of someone so pure and angelic, never mind how much younger she was than him.
But when age is no longer an obstacle… Well, if only the road to love ran smooth all the time. I laughed and cried throughout this outstanding story, rooting for Wendy and Paul to get their happily ever after.
Reviewed By: Linda's Reviews
RELUCTANT HEARTS is worth the time invested...and then some. There’s something powerful in the storytelling that's compelling. That’s the true strength of Wiesner’s writing.
With her guidance, we truly get to know who these characters are; there are no secrets, no hidden facets. The author introduces us and takes us right into the lives, hearts and minds of the people in her book and I, for one, cannot look away. This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and I’m extremely fortunate enough to have the other books in this series to read.
RELUCTANT HEARTS is a stunning introduction to the series and to the author's skillful recitation about the lives of those she introduces us to. Bravo!
Reviewed By: Kathy for Dark Diva Reviews
★★★★☆Wiesner has totally swept me into her Wounded Warriors Series. The characters are well established--flaws and all. I can't wait for the next book.
Reviewed By: Escape to Romance
★★★★☆This book captivated me, hook, line and sinker. The storyline is compelling and I sensed a true connection between the author and her characters. I eagerly look forward to the next story.
Reviewed By: RT Book Reviews
Wiesner has once again proven her masterful talent of creating realistic and compelling characters dealing with complex issues and emotions. She knows her characters and their stories inside and out. Their stories of survival and even victory were enough to keep me pushing through this book, dying to know what would happen next.
I was totally captivated by these people. Everything the author shared about these characters’ lives was a vital part of who they were, where they were in their life and relationship, and what they needed to do to heal and move forward. I always enjoy Wiesner’s work and I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Reviewed By: Melissa for Dark Diva Reviews
★★★★☆Alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking, RELUCTANT HEARTS is an evocative contemporary romance. You will be moved to sympathy. The depth and range of emotion Wiesner develops is amazing.
Reviewed By: Long and Short Reviews
★★★★☆This tale is heartbreaking. Be prepared for laughter, love, heartache, and tears. Wiesner ties the strings together neatly weaving in multiple threads pushing the tale forward, closing the chapter of Wendy and Paul and opening another.
Reviewed By: eBook Reviews Weekly
★★★★☆Karen Wiesner has totally swept me into her Wounded Warriors Series. The characters of future novels are well established--flaws and all--in the first book. I can't wait for the next book.
Reviewed By: Escape to Romance
★★★★☆Wendy and Paul suit each other well. This book targets those who do not want danger in their stories, just pure romance! Wonderful light reading!
Reviewed By: Huntress Reviews
This was a wonderfully enjoyable and deeply moving story of the complexity of love. I did not want to stop reading. Wiesner is an expert storyteller keeping you engaged to find out what happens!
I am sure the other books in the will be wonderfully full emotional reads as well. If you are prepared for heartache and joy, this is a book you will enjoy!
Reviewed By: You Gotta Read Reviews
RELUCTANT HEARTS is a heart-rending account of a woman in love trying to teach her Wounded Warrior that love does exist and that he is worthy of her love. Paul must realize that sex is not all the females of the species have to offer and that Wendy is the one to teach him how to love and believe in himself. Wendy makes him whole. She sees through his wounds and his pain and together they complete each other.
Reviewed By: The Word on Romance
RELUCTANT HEARTS will take you on a journey of two young adults reaching out for something they never believed possible for each other: love. RELUCTANT HEARTS will bring you a blast from the past as you relive some references of the eighties. Karen Wiesner has written a tale of two people with needs of different kinds that will blend together to make a perfect couple.
Take the journey with Paul and Wendy as they search to find the missing pieces inside themselves. This reviewer enjoyed the story line. It was a well-written story, easy to follow.
I didn't find myself reading things over to catch the point. Karen created two believable characters in Wendy and Paul. This reviewer believes Karen showed how easily people can lose their faith and beliefs, and how love can pull you back. I believe Karen Wiesner will have a long and prosperous career.
Reviewed By: Love Romances
After finishing WAITING FOR AN ECLIPSE (Book 2), I was anxious to read Paul and Wendy's story. The magic they find in each other's arms is equally impressive. Karen Wiesner does a great job at building her characters and making them seem genuine to the reader.
Reviewed By: Round Table Reviews
On the surface, RELUCTANT HEARTS is a common good-rich-girl, bad-poor-boy romance. It goes a little deeper than that: the facets of Paul's total lack of self-esteem and Wendy's belief in him, the fact that he wants to be worthy of her, all create a very romantic story. The emotions are kept at a pretty high boil the whole time as their obsession becomes eclipsed by a tragedy neither of them can deal with easily.
The meaning of sex and its real attachment to love is one of the main themes and is handled well. This is a fairly strong romance with some very magical moments, the first in a series of romances featuring characters introduced in this book.
Reviewed By: Affaire de Coeur
Fans of romance with a gritty, Romeo and Juliet type of story will enjoy the first part of this book. The sexual tension will steam your glasses. The plot and the way the protagonists relate to each other takes a 180-degree turn in the middle of the book.
Don't be surprised when the tone of the story changes, but the characters stay true to themselves and to each other. RELUCTANT HEARTS is the first in a series about the circle of friends introduced in this story. If a series with interweaving characters is what you enjoy, keep on the lookout for Karen's next offering.
Reviewed By: Inscriptions Magazine
I'm definitely a sucker for a hero who's a cat lover, and the more I got to know this hero, the more I liked him. The growth and development of the characters, the disappointments, the sorrows, and trials they have to overcome, made it an intriguing story.
Reviewed By: Sensual Romance
With RELUCTANT HEARTS, Karen Wiesner, the new voice of women's fiction, proves yet again that she's a top-notch storyteller. No one explores the complexities of relationships and the yearnings of woman's heart better than she does.
Reviewed By: author Michele Bardsley
With her enthralling romance RELUCTANT HEARTS, Wiesner has set a new standard in the genre. Wendy's pain is so real, her love so deep, her soul so tender, that I found new strength and trust alongside her. What a powerful drama!
Reviewed By: author Christine Spindler
★★★★☆Book 1
Wendy Thomas knew how to take care of herself, as well as everyone else. At the tender age of seven, her parents took her to the airport so she could find her own way to a Broadway show and back. Her parents never worried about her, even if she disappeared for days. They believed Wendy could do no wrong. Wendy grew up to be pretty, caring, with high grades, and about to go to college.
Paul Randall was the ultimate bad boy. Even the gangs steered clear of him. Wendy and Paul found themselves deeply attracted to each other. Against his will, Paul fell in love with her. However, he knew he had to let her go or she would give up all her dreams for him. Problem was that Wendy did not want to be let go. Paul would have to hurt her, badly, for her own good.
**** Wendy is a bit hard to believe, but she and Paul suit each other well. This book targets those who do not want danger in their stories, just pure romance! Wonderful light reading! ****
Reviewed By: Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
Reviewed By: Detra Fitch
Bought this book from us? Write a review from your account page — it appears here once approved.