SPOTLIGHT~HUGGED BY AN ANGEL by Roberta Capizzi
Title:
Hugged
By An Angel
Author:
Roberta
Capizzi
Release
date: July 22, 2013
Genre:
Contemporary Romance (with a little angelic theme)
Age
Group: New Adult/Adult
Book
Description:
How can you ever love again when tragedy has crushed
your heart?
Kathleen used to love life. She had plans, dreams,
and faith in life; but that was before the accident that took it all away from
her in an instant. Now that her beloved brother is dead and she's confined to a
wheelchair, her future is but a dark cloud hovering above her head. How can she
ever find the will to move on and keep living without him? Even the cares of
the happy-go-lucky American physiotherapist who's helping her with her rehab
therapies are all in vain. Life seems to have lost its meaning, until one night
she receives an unexpected celestial visit…
Colin has been working as a physiotherapist in
Dublin for almost five years, but he’s never bonded so much with a patient like
he is bonding with Kathleen; there's something about those sad blue eyes that
makes him want to help her, to take away the pain that reminds him so much of
his own. Having lost both his parents in a plane crash when he was only
sixteen, Colin knows how it feels to have someone you love taken so abruptly
away from you, and he makes it his mission to help Kathleen find her faith in
life again. But something changes along the way…
Sometimes love can work miracles. If you believe.
About
the Author
An avid reader since her childhood years and being
an only child, Roberta always enjoyed the company of her fictional friends from
the children’s books she loved reading, while she dreamed of writing her own stories
one day.
It was when she discovered novels by authors
Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy in her teenage years that she realized it
was time she put down in words the stories she had kept well hidden in her mind
until then.
What started as a hobby, soon turned into a real
passion and a way of life, until she could no longer keep the stories to
herself, and decided to get over her fears and share them with the world.
Roberta lives in Italy, but her dream is to move out
of her country and live either in a thatched cottage in the Irish countryside
or in a country house with a swing on the back porch, somewhere in the United
States, where she would love to spend her days writing novels as a full-time
job, and maybe one day even get as far as writing a screenplay for a movie.
Author
social media links:
EXCERPT
I
looked around me, bewildered. I didn’t recognize the place, but I wasn’t
scared, nor did I feel lost. I felt an external force pulling me and I walked
down a path feeling more confident step after step, as if I knew exactly where
I was going. I closed my eyes and a warm light shone on my face. I inhaled the
smell of pine and leaves.
I
opened my eyes and was surrounded by tall trees, although they hadn’t been
there a second ago. I took in the relaxing sight, enjoying the feeling of peace
and freedom and knowing I would never want to leave this place. I looked up
through the leaves and branches. I could see patches of blue sky; the sun was
peeping in, shining bright on my face, and I felt at ease, at peace with
myself.
It
was only after walking a while I realized I wasn’t in the wheelchair anymore. I
was walking! I looked down at my feet, stroked my legs and felt the touch of my
hands, and a burst of happiness filled my body, making me feel as if I were
soaring in the sky.
Out
of the corner of my eye a bright light flashed. I looked toward it; it was
white, warm and inviting. I started moving while all around me the trees faded
and a hot, red and orange glow took their place.
Without
warning the peaceful atmosphere disappeared. My legs become heavy and I started
sweating, almost gasping for air. I thought I was going to melt. I slumped to
the hard, grass-covered floor, hugging my knees and felt sad, lonely and
scared. I wanted to cry.
“Kathy.”
Declan
stood in front of me, engulfed in a bright, white aura. I smiled, feeling
immediately better.
“Kathy,
please get up and leave.”
I
frowned. He held out his hand to help me up, but I didn’t take it.
“I’m
tired, Declan. I need to rest for a while.” I raked my hands through my hair.
It was wet with sweat. “I’m so tired.” I whispered, and I let out a long sigh.
“There’s
no time, Kathy. You have to leave. Now,” he urged, his hand hanging midair for
me to take. “Get up, Kathy. Please go away.”
I
didn’t think my legs would support me if I tried to stand; they felt like lead
and jelly all in one. I was sure I’d fall flat on my face but when I met
Declan’s eyes, I knew he’d catch me; I knew he’d pull me up. So I finally took
his hand, its touch feeling weird in my own, not like it used to when he was
alive.
‘When
we were alive’, as I was quite sure I was dead
now—if I could touch him like that it could only mean I was dead, too. He
pulled me up and encircled me in his arms, something I’d longed for. I wasn’t
scared anymore and I didn’t care if I was dead; I was there with him at last,
and it was all that really mattered.
“You
have to go now, hon.” He released me from his hug but I gripped tighter,
refusing to let go.
“I
don’t want to leave you, Deco. I don’t want to go anywhere; I want to be with
you, here, wherever that may be.”
His
hands stroked my back, filling my body with warmth and something that felt like
hope, as he whispered in my hair, “I’ll always be with you, Kathy; but you
can’t stay now, the time’s not right.” He pushed me back and looked at me: his
eyes were the color of the Irish sky in spring, and they gave me a sense of
peace I hadn’t experienced in months. “You have to go, now. Come on.”
I
shook my head, trying to hold on but it was like attempting to hug air: he was
standing in front of me but I couldn’t touch him, I couldn’t hug him. He was
slowly fading away, like the morning mist dissipating when the sun comes up. I
tried to grab his hand, to keep him with me, but he smiled and shook his head.
The last words I heard him say were, “I love you, my sweet, little Kathy. I’ll
always be with you.”
My eyes fluttered open and I coughed, feeling two
strong arms holding my shaking body.
“Kathy! Oh, thank God, Kathy; you’re back. You’re
all right, you’re all right now,” a familiar voice said. “I thought I’d lost
you.”
I saw Colin smiling at me, his brow knitted in what
looked like worry and, were there tears in his eyes? He’d never called me Kathy
before and it felt weird, good—familiar. Too familiar.
I shivered as the cold seeped through my pajamas
from the pavement, although I had a blanket wrapped around my body and I could
feel Colin’s body heat through it; when I looked up I realized we were outside
on the street. What had happened? Why wasn’t I in bed? Where was Declan? He was
with me only a moment ago. I was sure I hadn’t dreamt it this time.
“What…” I tried to speak, but I was wearing an
oxygen mask. Colin removed it from my face and I noticed another man take it
from him.
“A short circuit caused a fire to break out on our
floor and we had to leave our rooms. I banged on your door, tried to get in,
but you wouldn’t answer and the smoke was becoming so thick, I couldn’t
breathe.” He paused, his voice close to cracking, and I wondered if he’d been
crying. “When Al came by,” he continued, pointing at the firefighter standing
by us, “he sent me away and said he’d take care of you. I waited here in the
street, not knowing if you were okay, if he’d managed to save you, until he
came out carrying you in his arms.”
I stared at him, taking in the expression on his
face: his features were tense, his eyebrows furrowed.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, trying to reassure him, and
coughed a couple of times. My throat was on fire, as if I’d smoked a pack of
cigarettes all at once. He nodded, smiling sweetly.
“You are now, yes. And listen to this, Kathleen:
something incredible happened in there.” He looked me straight in the eye and I
realized he was still holding me, as if he were afraid something bad would happen
if he let go. “When he opened the door you fell straight into Al’s arms. He
said you were probably standing against the closet by the door and when he
opened it you sagged against him. Do you get it? You were standing, Kathleen.
You must’ve walked to the door!”
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
I had walked? I had
walked!
The dream…it hadn’t been a dream. The red and orange
glow I had seen was the fire, and the white light…it was probably where I
would’ve gone if my brother hadn’t saved me, if he hadn’t pushed me away.
If
he hadn’t helped me get out of my room.
BUY LINKS
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