HEART RESTORATION/RENOVATIONS INC./BOOK 1

HEART RESTORATION/RENOVATIONS INC./BOOK 1
Friday, September 8, 2023 by REGINA RUDD MERRICK

Categories: Friday's Fiction / GUEST AUTHORS

PLEASE WELCOME

REGINA RUDD MERRICK

FICTION FRIDAY

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Who likes to watch home improvement shows? ME!

Who would much rather watch someone remodel a house in less than an hour as opposed to actually working on MY house? ME!!!!

My most recent book, Heart Restoration, is RenoVations Inc., book 1. I originally published it under the “Mosaic” banner, and now it’s coming out with a traditional publisher, Scrivenings Press.

This book is one of those “books of my heart.”

The first thing that came to mind was a family-owned design/build contracting company that specializes in renovation and restoration. Then the “what ifs” start: What if the family name was Reno? For fun, it stands to reason they would name their company RenoVations, right?

What if the series is set in my own backyard in western Kentucky? I created a fictional community called “Clementville,” located close to the Ohio River, and based on a historical event.

I remember having an image of a beautiful young woman (Lisa Reno) with red hair and her laid-back brother (Del Reno, who always seems to need a haircut) going into business with their dad, who is semi-retired – she is the designer, Del the builder/contractor. He has an accident, and she is tasked with being the general contractor for a project for a friend, and that, because of his accident, a fellow contractor has agreed to work with her on the project. It’s one of those “He owes me” deals.

What could happen? What, indeed?

What if this contractor is someone she knows? Maybe someone she had a crush on as a younger woman? You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but maybe she’s a bit of a clutz and falls through the floor? What if they find something in the basement during the initial walk-through that changes everything, adding more questions and mysteries than before?

I grew up reading Trixie Belden, then Nancy Drew, and then Agatha Christie among many others in the mystery and suspense genres. I love a good police procedural on television. Mysteries are among my favorite storylines in any story-telling avenue, so it was inevitable, after writing a few contemporary romances, that I would write a romantic suspense someday.

Sharing new editions of the RenoVations Inc. stories thrills me. There are three novels featuring different branches of the Reno family, and three more in the works. In November, Scrivenings Press will release The Twelve Days of Mandy Reno, first published in an anthology, but now expanded to be my first Christmas novel. In early 2024, Del Reno takes centerstage with Rebuilding Joy, with even more twists and turns in the tiny hamlet of Clementville, KY. I wonder if he’ll get a haircut …

I would love to share an ebook copy of Heart Restoration with one of Linda’s readers, so please comment by answering the following question: What’s your favorite home-related TV show, if any?

Buy link for Heart Restoration:

https://scriveningspress.com/book/heart-restoration/

Connect with me online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Regina-R-Merrick-512257938964888/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

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Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rmerrick/

Website: https://www.reginaruddmerrick.com

Scrivenings Press, LLC Author Page: https://scriveningspress.com/regina-rudd-merrick/

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/AmReginaRuddMerrick

ABOUT REGINA RUDD MERRICK

Regina Rudd Merrick is a multi-published author, church musician, wife, mother, former librarian, lover of all things fun, beachy, and chocolate, and grateful follower of Jesus Christ. Married to her husband of 40 years, she is the mother of two grown daughters and lives in the small town of Marion, KY. Connect with Regina on Facebook, Instagram, or on her website at https://www.reginaruddmerrick.com

ABOUT HEART RESTORATION

For interior designer Lisa Reno things go from bad to worse when her contractor-brother falls off a ladder and breaks his leg. Now she has to deal with the past coming back to haunt her, an old house with a corpse in the creepy cellar, and her best friend trying her best to fix her up with any man that moves.

Nick Woodward is willing to do his old college roommate a favor – especially since it involves renovating his own inheritance. The last thing he wants is to get involved with anyone. When he lost his wife and unborn child so suddenly, he had made the decision to keep God and everyone else at arm’s length. So far, so good.

Ah, the difference a trip to a dingy basement makes.

EXCERPT from HEART RESTORATION

JULY

“Del Reno, I could kill you.”

When her brother broke his leg the week before, Lisa Reno should have canceled all their upcoming Reno Renovations projects.

But no. She had to be the super-sister that could do it all. After all, she was a designer, wasn’t she? She could figure out this contractor stuff. Didn’t she help him make all the most important decisions, anyway? In the heat of the moment, she was invincible. In the cold light of day, she knew she was in over her head.

Sure, she had building cred. She had watched more home improvement for her twenty-seven years than most girls her age. A degree in Interior Design and a DIY resume that went back to watching Bob Vila from her daddy’s lap should be worth something. Shouldn’t it?

Yes and no. She closed her eyes and shook her head. The last thing she needed was the local contracting community looking at her as “daddy’s little girl.” She was twenty-seven years old and a partner in a design/build firm with her father and brother. And yet, around here she knew everyone thought of her as that red-headed, freckle-faced daughter of Steve Reno’s. One of these days everyone would find out she was nothing more than that.

She finally released the huge sigh that seemed to engulf her. Better go in and see what she’d gotten herself into. Walking up to the front porch of the dilapidated farmhouse, she started taking mental notes. Windows to be replaced or restored. Porch floor? Almost non-existent. Pull off the aging vinyl siding and see what’s under there. Rip off the dull aluminum trim. That was the worst.

But then she saw the landscaping. Gotta love plastic flowers stuck in the ground. It was springtime year-round, here, it seemed. She did a double-take, laughing. Nope. It was Christmas year-round. The plastic flowers were faded poinsettias.

Better to laugh than cry, Mama used to say.

If she were on one of those renovation shows she enjoyed, this would be where the door would open, and the host would laugh about how nasty it was. Then they would point out this and that feature that could be highlighted. They would have, on hand, a computer rendering of their vision for the entire property. In less than an hour, the new homeowners were amazed as they were led on a tour of a completely renovated house, inside and out.

From experience, she knew that those one-hour renovations took months to complete. And this one? This one looked as if it could take years.

Standing inside the foyer of the 1910 Craftsman farmhouse, she noted mounds of trash holding who-knew-what kind of vermin nests, sagging stairs, uneven floors, layers of wallpaper, and cracked ceiling plaster. And the smell. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

It was so nasty that when she felt the vibration in her pocket, she almost jumped out of her skin, thinking a critter had made its way into her pocket.

She pushed the button to open the face-to-face call, shaking her head when she saw her brother’s face, a little worse for wear. When she saw “BigBro Del” flash on the screen, she shook her head before she answered. “Del, you scared me to death.”

“What did I do?” He seemed as confused by her attitude as she was by the enormity of this project.

“Never mind. Have you actually been in this house?” She continued walking through the lower floor of the house. “I mean, seriously. There is junk everywhere. It’s a trash heap. Look at this stuff.” She turned the phone so he could get a good look at it.

He laughed. “Ah, Sis, it’s a jewel in the rough.”

“Rough being the operative word, here.”

“Yeah, I was in there with the owner a while ago. I planned to get out there yesterday to start clearing out the debris, but you know how that worked out.” She saw him shrug his shoulders, grinning.

She took a deep breath. “I know. Sorry. I didn’t mean to whine, but you could have warned me about the smell in here.”

He winked at her on the screen. “No worries. I’m used to the whining. I didn’t notice anything stinky last time I was there, but it’s been a few months.”

“Either it’s a recent addition to the ambiance, or your sniffer needs to be checked.” She walked into the kitchen. “Look at the windows in here.” She showed him the full bank of windows facing into the backyard. “Did this used to be a back porch or something?”

“I don’t think so. I think they were smart enough, even back then, to know that summer in the South means you need lots and lots of windows to open – especially in the kitchen.”

“I can work with this. The rest of it? I don’t know.” She crept up the stairs, pointing a dirty look into the phone’s camera. “Squeaky, much?”

“Easy fix.”

“Easy for you.”

“Hey, you said, and I quote, ‘I can handle it. You just get well.’”

She turned the phone toward her face and stuck out her tongue. “I lied. You were pitiful and I felt sorry for you. Besides, since when do you listen to me?”

“Since I didn’t have a choice.” He grimaced. She could tell he was in pain.

She wrinkled her nose in sympathy. “Have you taken your pain meds?”

“I had some Ibuprofen. I’m saving the hard stuff for bedtime, so I can sleep.”

“Good idea. Don’t let yourself hurt too much.” She worried about him. He steered clear of painkillers. They had both seen too many of their friends, sidelined by injuries, hooked on medications to get them through the pain. When Del let God get involved in his life, he was all-in and wanted to keep it that way. She was proud of him.

“I won’t. Listen, I didn’t just call to get a look at the house. I wanted to let you know I got a licensed contractor to help you out on this. You’ll still be in charge, but he knows about annoying things like moving walls, leveling floors, and so on.”

She looked around her and felt her shoulders slump the longer she looked at the project before her. “Probably a good idea. Are you sure you don’t want to let them find another company to take care of it?”

“I would, but they couldn’t find anyone else that would tackle it.”

“What makes you think this guy will?” She hoped her glare was translating through the telephone camera.

“He owes me.” Her brother grinned. She could hear it. “And he should be arriving any minute now.”

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