My guest today is author Jolene Navarro who is going to share about her latest heroine, a Texas woman with guts. Jolene teaches at an alternative high school in Texas so she has met young women just like Karly. Here’s Jolene:

Seventeen and abandoned in the hospital after giving birth

In my current story, A Texas Christmas Wish, my heroine Karly found herself–seventeen and abandoned in the hospital after giving birth–alone in the world. My heroine did not have an easy start in life, but like many of the students I work with she is determined to build a better future for her child.

the minute she walked on the page in Lone Star Hero

Karly Kalakona was special to me the minute she walked on the page in Lone Star Hero as a waitress at the local drug store. She had her son coloring at a table while she worked. The church had stepped in and helped her get out of a dangerous relationship.

A long string of bad decisions

had put her on the path to Clear Water, Texas. This was the first place she had any sense of belonging, a place she wanted to make her forever home. The days of looking for someone to rescue her were behind her. Her focus was now on God’s gifts and the most precious of those was her son. He was born without the lower part of his right arm and his leg needed surgeries.

I clearly remember when the idea of Karly came to me.

It was in my art studio where I teach in downtown San Antonio. I was talking to one of my students about her plans …her goals beyond high school. She told me she wanted a car. Which in itself is not unusual, but the reason tore my heart. She wanted a safe place where she had the power to lock the doors and leave.

Starting their lives with consequences of poor choices, they didn’t make

My heroine has been on her own since she was fifteen. I have so many students that reflect this reality. Students that have never seen their own birth certificates or know the names of their fathers. Starting their lives with consequences of poor choices and guilt that are not even theirs to begin.

one of the hardest God realities for Karly

That she is worthy of love and forgiveness is one of the hardest God realities for Karly to accept. She has to remind herself and read the verses over and over. I loved watching Karly grow in her faith and learn to accept love, not only God’s love but a whole community and the most unexpected to her the love of our hero, Tyler Childress.”–Jolene

“Karly’s movement reminded him of a cat his mom had once rescued, slow and cautious, wary of strangers.” – Some of Tyler’s first thoughts of Karly.

 

To purchase, click here. A Texas Christmas Wish (Love Inspired)

Blurb for A Texas Christmas Wish

Karly Kalakona’s new nursing job is the perfect Christmas gift she and her son needed for their future. The single mom just never counted on dealing with not only a stubborn patient, but also with his prodigal son. After years away, pilot Tyler Childress is only a temporary traveler to the Texas ranch he’s spent his life escaping. But the chemistry he shares with his father’s nurse is undeniable—and has him thinking of sticking around past the holiday season. Can Tyler learn to trust the woman whose caring ways are bringing his father back to life…and who might just be the partner his wandering heart can find a home with?

For more online:

http://jolenenavarrowriter.com/

QUESTION: Have you ever had to deal with the consequences of SOMEONE’S ELSE’S BAD DECISION?–LYN