Today I am so pleased to welcome Jaime Samms to Joyfully Jay. Jaime has come to talk to us about her latest release, Thief in the Light. She has also brought along an exclusive excerpt to share. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Thanks Jay, for having me at your site today. I am always in awe of you and your constant support of authors and readers, amid all the chaos that goes on around us.

I think the world is full of selfless people. Just because they don’t make the news doesn’t mean they are out there, quietly doing their part to make sure the world keeps spinning on the right axis. Lucky and Kreed are those type of people. They don’t need fanfare and accolades to show they’ve been doing the right thing. They are happy to know in their hearts they did what they could.

For that, they get rewarded with a happily ever after. Because I can control that. I can giver them all the rewards for doing the right and good things for each other and for the people around them.

I wish I could offer the same for the people around me who were indispensable in getting this book out. They know who they are. They are angels, full of generous spirit and without them, I would not have been able to afford editing for many months yet. I would not have a cover. I would not have decent marketing, and the book would have had a lot more silly errors in it than it does now.

I probably would have gone hungry and coffee-less a fair few days, as well, because well. My family. They are my real life happy place, and they remember that I need to eat even when I don’t.

I guess this is a case of art reflecting life. My guys are giving characters because that is what I’ve experienced in my life recently. I am very blessed!

Excerpt

She hugged him with one arm. “It’ll be fine. He has to find his balance. Give him time and some space. Letting him run the show a while longer is a good idea. He’s good at it. People like him, and he’s earning their respect. He likes the job. It gets him out of his head, which he needs. Desperately. When your town friends step up for him, because they like <em>him</em>, it gives him confidence. You have to let that happen, but still be around when things like finding the petty cash box come up.”

“Great. I can fetch and carry.”

“Honestly. Step back a minute, right?”

Of course she was right.

“If he can build a life here, be a part of this place, this town, he’ll believe it himself when he tells the world he’s got a new life. That belief is crucial. But he has to do it on his own, and I know you. It’s going to kill you to get out of his way and let him do it. You want to wrap him in Bubble Wrap, keep the world away, control it so he doesn’t get hurt. Which is commendable, but not actually helpful.”

“Not wanting someone I care about to get hurt isn’t helpful?”

“Not if it keeps him from getting strong enough to stand on his own. He is making a new life, but if it’s going to stick, he has to do it himself. Like it or not, you have to stay out of it. And….”

“And what?”

“Make sure he knows you’re there with him.”

“God, I hate when you do that.”

“What?”

He sighed. “Be the smartest person in the room.”

Blurb

Lucky Denver has wandering feet, sticky fingers and an unreliable moral compass—he’s never had a home and he’s not so sure he cares about what he’s missing.

Arnold Kreed who runs a small-town B&B knows what a home should be. So does his home, The Oaks—aka Mildred—and she has some very definite opinions on who should stay and who should go.

Mildred wants Lucky to stay—and while Kreed is surprised, he can’t really blame the old girl. He’s getting sort of attached himself. Lucky might be fine with the house’s eccentricities, but he’s not so sure Kreed will be fine with the man attached to Lucky’s real name. When Kreed falls ill, Lucky needs to make a decision—wander away like he’s always done or stay and be his better self. Kreed’s hoping he’ll stay—and so is The Oaks, and Mildred has a way of getting what she wants.

Bio

Jaime Samms is a plaid-hearted Canadian who spends the too-long winters writing stories about love between men and the too-short summers digging in the garden.

A multi-published author whose work has been translated into French, Italian, and German, Jaime delights in the intricate dance of words that leads her through tales of the lost and broken hearted men she writes about, to the love stories that find and mend them.

She also makes pretty things with yarn and fabric scraps because in her world, no heart is too broken to love, and nothing is too worn or tired it can’t be made beautiful. All it takes is determination and the ability to see life a little bit left of center.

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