Friday, January 9, 2015

through infinity blog tour stop and thanks for the memories excerpt ~ by Libby Austin






through infinity synopsis


When your past vanishes, what happens to your future? 

Candice and Jason Woodruff had everything going for them: a strong marriage, the family they’d dreamed of, and successful businesses. When they made their wedding vows, they promised to love each other through infinity and beyond…but Candice doesn’t remember making that vow. Candice doesn’t remember the last eighteen years. 

After a medical emergency, Candice awakens to find herself a married mother of four. She’s surrounded by a loving family of strangers, but Candice struggles to claim an identity while learning to be a wife and mother. 
Candice is no longer the same woman Jason fell in love with all those years ago. Can they learn to love each other in this new reality? 

Through Infinity is one woman’s journey as she rediscovers the love of her husband and children. But will that new found love be strong enough to carry them through infinity and beyond… 


through infinity review

Through Infinity is Libby Austin's debut novel and she knocked it out of the park. Through Infinity tells the heartfelt story of Candice as she reconnects with the life and love she's forgotten. It's a touching rendition to the power of love to conquer all.

As Libby stated in her disclaimer, if you are looking for a book with a ton of hot steamy sex, then this is not the book for you. Don't let that discourage you from reading this book. Through Infinity will pull on the strings of your heart and have you falling in love with this family.

Through Infinity flowed effortlessly and with every turn of the page, I was left wanting more. I loved the connection between Jason and Candace. Their relationship felt very "real" to me and I could totally relate to them. With all the obstacles that Candace faces, her family never once left her side. They were very supportive and that was one of the many reasons why I loved them. I couldn't imagine waking up one day and not knowing who I was, who my family was, not remembering by husband, or my own children. Through Infinity melted my heart.

Lets not forget about Candace's husband, Jason. I will scream that from the roof tops, I absolutely loved him. Candace could not have asked for a better husband. He was so compassionate, understanding, patient and loving.

Through Infinity is a MUST READ.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Heather



through infinity book trailer from Libby Austin on Vimeo.


thanks for the memories excerpt


“Mommy! Mommy! Waked up! Santa comed,” being yelled in my ear jolted me awake. It felt like I had just fallen asleep.

“I’m awake,” I mumbled, ready to turn over and go back to sleep, and then it hit me; IT WAS CHRISTMAS MORNING! Popping up in bed, I almost head-butted Dawson, who had leaned over me in his efforts to wake me up. “It’s Christmas morning,” I told him in my excitement.

He grabbed my hand and tugged. “I knowed! And Santa camed! Comed on, get up, so we can see’d wha’ he bringed us!”

Reaching across the bed, I shoved Jason a little too enthusiastically—how he was still asleep with all the commotion, I’ll never understand—and shouted, “Get up, Jason. Santa’s been here and the kids are awake.” Not waiting to see if he replied, I hopped out of bed and slid on my slippers as Dawson pulled on my hand. “Okay, okay, let’s go see what the big man brought this year.”

Dawson scampered out of the room and down the hallway to the family room while I struggled to keep up. Reaching the family room with its stacks of brightly wrapped packages, I was as overwhelmed as my little boy standing beside me, and I had already seen it all. We both stood there with our mouths agape until I realized Damaris, Sybany, and Xavier weren’t here. “Buddy, did you wake up your brother and sisters?”

“Nope,” he said as he shook his head; his eyes never leaving the colorful scene before us.

I turned him toward the stairs and instructed, “Go wake them up, and I’ll drag Daddy out of bed, then we’ll meet back here to start unwrapping presents.” Then I gave him a gentle push to get him going.

“I’m awake,” Jason said with a yawn as he walked into the family room, scratching his chest. “I’m gonna go start the coffee while we wait for the kids to come down.”

Dawson had taken off for the stairs, yelling, “Guys get up! Get up! Santa camed! Get up so we can open presents!” I don’t think the kid took a breath. He could be heard yelling as he went into one of his sibling’s rooms. They should probably be glad he didn’t had a metal spoon and a garbage can lid to beat.

I followed Jason into the kitchen. Based on the hour and a half of sleep I’d had, I was going to need a lot of caffeine to make it through today. He was standing in front of the Keurig, waiting on his ginormous cup of coffee.

“I think I may have gone a bit overboard with Santa,” I confessed.

“Ya think?” He quirked an eyebrow and grinned.

“For a second there, I was afraid he was going to short circuit from being so overwhelmed.” I laughed, but it really wouldn’t be a laughing matter if Dawson had an episode because this was all too much for him.

“Nah, babe, he’ll be fine. We’ll go slow and do all of the normal stuff we do on Christmas morning.” I relaxed a little at Jason’s reassurance. “The hard part comes when he has to leave it all to go to dinner at my parents’ house.” Oh yeah, there was that.

“Hmph, just so you know, I blame you for this,” I told him straight faced.

The look on his face was priceless; it was a cross between ‘I can’t believe she said that’ and ‘should I risk arguing the point’. Arguing the point won out. “How do you figure I’m to blame?”

Keeping the laughter out of my voice and pretending to be serious, I said, “You could have told me to stop—”

“And hell could freeze over tomorrow, but I’m not placing any bets on it,” he retorted.

I laughed, and said, “I know. I know. I just couldn’t resist. I mean, it almost feels like I’m trying to catch up on the past eighteen Christmases.” By the end, the laughter had dwindled from my voice, and I began to pick at the cuticle of my right thumb nail.

Soon his arms were around me, squishing my hands in between us until I pulled them across his stomach to wrap around his back. I turned my head to the side and pressed my ear to his chest; the sound of his heartbeat soothing the anxiety that had been building since my confession moments ago. I felt him kiss the top of my head. Then he squatted just a bit to look me in the eye.

“It’s all gonna be okay. The kids will have a Christmas like no other, so we’ll all be creating a new memory—”

“Good morning,” Rissa said as she walked around us to get to the Keurig.

“Merry Christmas,” we both said to her.

She looked back over her shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Momma and Daddy.” Turning back around to the coffee maker, she moved Jason’s coffee cup and told him, “Your coffee is ready, Daddy. I’m gonna get the hot chocolate started. Do you want any, Momma?”

I stepped back from Jason and replied, “Sure, is there anything I can get for you?”

Rissa finished a yawn and said, “You can get the marshmallows if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing, I’ll get them.”

We all went about fixing our drinks until Dawson came running into the kitchen. “Everwee bodee is awake. Can we open da presents now?”

“Hmm,” I said, as if I were thinking really hard. “Do you know how to spell your name?”

His head began to bob up and down, and he said, “Uh huh, D‑A‑W‑S‑O‑N.”

“Awesome spelling, buddy! How about this? You can open one present while we finish making our drinks,” he was already on the move, “but you have to find one that spells your name.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he called over his shoulder.

“And you can’t shake the presents,” I said as an afterthought. “Aww man,” came from the family room.

Before long we had all gathered in the family room, cradling cups of hot chocolate and coffee, and organized chaos commenced.

While I worried over Dawson being overwhelmed, I should have been worried about myself. Our family room was a flurry of flying wrapping paper and ribbons, and someone was constantly saying, “Look at this!”

Rissa received a kiln and a pottery wheel. She’d expressed an interest in learning more about pottery after taking a class for home school credit. The class was over now, but we’d contacted another artist, who was willing to give Rissa lessons around her ballet schedule.

Xavier got a new drum set and scuba diving lessons. Jason had taken lessons when he was in Japan, but hadn’t kept it up when he came back stateside, so we thought this could be something fun they could do together.

Sybany was pretty easy. After Rissa and I had gone to the Experimental Kitchen, Sybany had wanted to go, so we did. Since then, her interest in the culinary arts had expanded. She definitely didn’t inherit my lack of talent in the kitchen.

They each got clothes, books, movies, games, charm bracelets for the girls, and more stuff than could be catalogued.

I was really excited to give Jason his gift. Basically all of the women in my immediate family and my in-laws got together and bought each of our spouses the Two Day High Performance Driving Course at the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham.

When Jason opened the eight by ten envelope, his brow furrowed as he flipped through the brochure and the other marketing materials until he got to the booking registration. He looked up at me and said, “Are you serious?” I nodded my head. “You’re not only okay with me going, but you actually bought it for me?”

“Yep, I did. I’ve turned over a new leaf that says seize the day.”

“I can’t believe it. This is so cool. Thanks, babe.” He stretched up to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s not just you. Your dad, my dad, Andy, Don, and Jeff are all going, too,” I told him. “It’ll be a regular boys’ trip.”

“Wow, I just don’t know what else to say,” he said with a big cheesy grin. “But now it’s your turn. I already gave you my gift, but the kids have something for you.”

They had each made a shadow box that they had decorated with items they held dear. At the back of each frame was their silhouette. Sybany’s held her first gymnastics metal and the first Harry Potter book. Rissa’s had a pair of tiny, worn ballet slippers, the logo from the experimental kitchen, and a playbill to The Nutcracker. Dawson’s contained tap shoes and the high heels he had worn during our performance in the Summer Showcase. Xavier’s included the sheet music to “You Had Me From Hello”, a guitar pick, and a plastic doughnut.

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry today,” I informed them as I fanned my eyes with my hands, trying to dry the tears before I started boohooing and couldn’t stop.

“It’s okay, Momma,” Dawson said me as he came to pat me on the back. “Cryin’ doesn’t make jou a baby.”

I smiled at him. “Aww thank you, buddy. Hey, I think I see one more present way in the back with your name on it.”

That was all he needed to take off for one last present. The box was pretty big, so Xavier helped pull it from behind the tree. Dawson began taking equine therapy in the fall. It was also a way for him to learn responsibility and giving back since he helped do small chores for the horses. After a couple of sessions, he was over the moon about this miniature horse named Snuffles. Snuffles had been a guide horse for many years until his owner passed away and the family couldn’t keep him. It was thought that he could become a service animal for someone, but he never seemed to connect with anyone else. That was until Dawson entered the picture. I don’t know if it was fate, or if it was that Dawson didn’t give up, but somehow they formed a friendship. And, well, I’m a sucker for a rescue animal.
Slowly, Dawson started pulling out pieces from the box; a bucket, a brush, a harness, a feed bucket, a book on horses, and finally a little tape recorder.

“It says, ‘Play Me’, Duck,” Xavier told Dawson as he pointed to the play button.

A voice, making a desperate attempt to sound like a horse neighed and said, “Hi, Dawson, this is Snuffles. Santa asked your Mom and Dad if I could come live with you because you’re my best friend, and they said yes. So last night, Santa picked me up in his sleigh—boy, was it scary to be so high off the ground—and he flew me to your house, where I found a nice little horse house that is just the right size for me. I even have my own little pasture to play in. When you get done opening your presents, come and see my new house, and maybe you could bring a carrot or an apple.”

That was all Dawson needed to hear. With eyes as big as saucers, he dashed to the kitchen.

“Buddy, Snuffles’s house is out behind the garage,” I called after him.

“Okay,” he yelled from inside the refrigerator. A few seconds later, he slammed the refrigerator door and took off out into the garage, saying to himself, “I gots a horse dat can talk!”

“I think he likes it,” Jason said.

“I’m pretty certain he does,” I agreed. “Now, who’s gonna tell him Snuffles can’t really talk?”

Author Bio
One day some words came to mind, so I wrote them down. Soon the words became sentences, which formed paragraphs, which, in turn, formed chapters. Before long, those words had become a book.
When I'm not reading or writing, I'm a wife, mother, and business owner. I've lived on the Gulf, East, and West Coasts, but as a born and raised Southern girl, my favorite will always be the Gulf Coast. There's just no place like home...

Author Contact Links
Libby’s Webpage - www.libbyaustin.com

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