Eternal Designs
Gale Sinclair is a marriage counselor who has broken
the cardinal rule of psychotherapy and fallen in love with
his client, Zoelle Sutherland.
One evening, Zoelle calls Gale in desperation after her
estranged husband, Laurent, goes ballistic. Rushing out
into a pouring rain to get to her, Gale is killed in a
head-on collision on the expressway.
Zoelle is a successful interior designer whose firm is threatened by a takeover bid from none other than her husband, ambitious realty tycoon, Laurent Crews. Divorce is a viable consideration since their separation, certainly not murder. But when Zoelle stumbles upon
her estranged husband in a pool of blood in his office after he's stood her up for a meeting, she realizes someone else doesn't feel the same.
When Gale wakes up in alien surroundings, returning to
life in Laurent's body, Gale realizes that death has given
him a chance--to love Zoelle.
Sensuality Rating:
SCORCHING
Genre: Erotic Contemporary Paranormal:
Interracial/Reincarnation/Suspense
Length: Plus Novel (98,000 words) |

Larger Cover Image
Cover Art by Jinger
Heaston
ETERNAL DESIGNS
ISBN: 1-933563-39-7
E-book $5.99

ISBN:
1-60601-001-8
Trade Paperback $14.99


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REVIEWS
for Eternal Designs
4.5 Blue Ribbons:
"Eternal Designs will put you on an
emotional rollercoaster and won’t let you
off until it’s finished. Zoelle is really
torn about her marriage and her feelings
for Gale and her guilt at his death is
even more palpable. Gale is in love with
Zoelle, but fears he can never be more
than her therapist. When he dies rushing
to her rescue it breaks your heart, but
when he comes back in Laurent’s body you
just know that he will fight to keep
Zoelle. Gracie C. Mckeever makes sure that
you have background information on the
characters so you feel as if you know them
and are present at every memorable moment.
You are drawn into this tale and
experience it right along with the
characters. Gracie C. McKeever has a knack
for evoking powerful emotions in her
stories and her past books are a testament
to what a wonderful writer she is." —Angel,
Romance Junkies
4 Roses:
"Wow, this story blew me away. I was like,
what are you going to do? Gale dies in the
car accident, then Zoelle comes across her
estranged husband in a pool of his own
blood, then Gale wakes up in her husband's
body. Wow, this author kept me turning the
pages to see what she was going to do
next. I was on the last page, and was
like, wow, she pulled it off and pulled it
off Great. I look forward to more by this
author. "
—Nicole, My Book Cravings
4 Stars:
"Gracie McKeever’s full length novel,
Eternal Designs, falls into a myriad
of romance categories: paranormal,
reincarnation, interracial as well as
suspense. The plot takes many twists and
turns when nearly everyone in this
character-packed story is considered, at
one time or another, a potential murder
suspect. Throughout the who-done-it plot
line runs a parallel one of whether Gale
(in Laurent’s body) can make the
mistrustful Zoelle fall in love again. I
especially loved the fumbling, yet tender
way these two try to find their way back
to each other. Gale (as Laurent) is a
great character, thrust unexpectedly into
someone else’s body and given the chance
of a lifetime to love Zoelle if only she
would take him back, since she thinks he’s
really her domineering husband Laurent.
Zoelle is hard as nails and but really as
soft as a marshmallow inside. Her teenage
son, Wynton, is a pivotal character and
gives Gale/Laurent a hard time throughout
the entire story, playing true to type as
the suspicious and surly stepson.
Eternal Designs works well as a
suspense story and kept me hanging until
the very end as to the identity of the
real murder suspect."
—Anna Mae, Just Erotic Romance
Reviews
The excerpt
or excerpts
below contain
explicit adult language and sexual content.
By
reading any further, you are stating that you are at
least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of
18, it is necessary to exit this site.
___________________________________________
Copyright © 2008
All rights reserved, Siren Publishing, Inc. Cannot be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without expressly permitted to do so in writing from the
publisher.
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EXCERPT
“Breathe, damn it! C’mon!”
Someone tilted back his head, pinched together his nostrils before
touching smooth moist lips to his mouth. He felt more pressure,
this time from air pushing into his lungs.
Full lips. Firm lips. Her lips. They were solid—not a dream, not
a fantasy—yet soft, warm, and moist. The sensations were
exciting and soothing.
His balls tightened at the swirl of vibrations, though the rest of him
remained relatively paralyzed and unconscious. His cock,
however, was instantly on high alert and aroused by her sensual
proximity.
Her closeness went a long way in easing the pain in his head, almost
made him thankful for her pounding on his chest, pushing air
into his lungs and signaling a new reality beyond the buckled
metal of his Rover splashed against the Van Wyck blacktop.
If she thought he was dead and was trying to revive him, she was doing a
more than adequate job, especially at reviving certain parts of
his body, like his relentless libido.
He realized he was hard as a rock a second
before he thrust out his tongue, lured by her familiar scent, by
the familiar taste and feel of her mouth on his. His tongue met
her lips, teasing the seam of her mouth a moment before he
pushed further to tangle with her tongue. He heard a gasp and
his rescuer unceremoniously withdrew, leaving him bereft.
Gale jerked open his eyes, blinked several times and saw her figure
hovering above him.
Zoe's features—generous mouth set in a grim line, brows furrowed,
flushed coppertone cheeks—slowly came into focus, her expression
exuding relief before instantly changing to anger.
"Laurent…Damn you, you scared the crap out of me!" She punched him in a
shoulder, knuckles connecting with his collarbone, shooting
exquisite star-spangled flickers of agony to his neurons. "That
wasn't funny."
"What...funny?" He wasn't finding anything funny in this entire
situation, especially not the pain in his shoulder and head.
What was the woman's problem? And how and why was she
here?
Gale stared at her, noticed the subtle differences—her chestnut hair
longer, flowing just past her shoulders, wavy and untamed around
her face—but it was his Zoe. He'd know that scowl anywhere, had
made a small fortune pointing her to the cuss box on his desk
and the sign on the wall above his leather sofa: If you are
grouchy, irritable, or just plain mean, there will be a $10
charge for putting up with you.
He reached for her and she recoiled, moved from her knees to her
haunches to evade his touch.
"This some elaborate way to woo me back?" She kept her distance, warily
eyed him.
"I don't know what you mea—"
"Oh please, Laurent." Zoe smirked. "Staging some sort of...dramatic
incident, or whatever you want to call it. Feigning
unconsciousness, scaring Wynn..."
"Feigning unconscious—" Gale tried to sit up, caught his breath when
agony stabbed the back of his head. "I made it here as soon as I
could."
Zoe frowned, shaking her head. "I don't have time for your games."
"Games?" He clenched his teeth against the pain, stopped short of
reaching for her again and trying to rise.
"Do you have the keys with you, Sir Olivier?"
"Keys?"
"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop parroting every question I ask." She
put out a hand, wiggled her fingers in a give-me gesture. "You
promised to return them, but like everything else, I guess
you're going back on your word with this too, huh?"
"Zoe, you called me and I came."
She dropped her hand and put a fist on her hip. "I think you're a little
confused, Laurent. You called me. I wouldn't have
come otherwise, and the only reason I'm here in your office now
is because you stood me up."
Stood her up? They'd had a date?
Well color him chagrined, he was under the impression he'd been tearing
down the highway like a madman to save her from her husband, not
that he'd been invited to a romantic interlude. And he probably
wouldn't have been so desperate to get to her then if he weren't
feeling guilty over that kiss. A transgression for which he was
beginning to think he'd burn in hell. Or maybe he was already
there and—Wait a minute! Why was she calling him Laurent?
He rubbed the back of his neck, vaguely aware of the hair cascading over
his hand, down to the top of his shoulders. Silky and full, not
close-cropped and curly like his but long and unfamiliar
and...Gale realized something was severely trippy, like one of
the acid junkets his mom and dad used to take in the 60's.
"When you didn't show up at the restaurant, I figured you were up to
your old tricks," Zoe scoffed.
Gale glanced at his surroundings and frowned, disoriented. How had he
gotten from the highway to here? Where was the van, his Rover,
the rescue units?
"No tricks..." He paused, tempted to ask her what was going on, but
afraid voicing the question would make him seem conniving,
crazy, or dumb, none too desirable. "I'm not up to any tricks,
Zoe, I just—"
"Didn't mean it when you said we could part amicably."
"Of course I meant it. I'm just not certain anymore if separation is the
answer." Wow, that came out like he had seen the opening credits
and hadn't walked into the middle of the movie!
"I don't care whether you're certain or not. I'm certain."
"Zoe wait..." On impulse, he caught a sleeve of her jacket,
tailored cut, expensive material. He'd always admired her taste
in clothes but was more concerned now with the look of alarm and
anger that sprang into her eyes at his touch. "Don't leave."
"Laurent..." Zoe sighed and knelt back.
Gale relaxed his hold, hoping for a minute to acclimate. He only needed
to get through the next several minutes without giving himself
away anymore than he already had.
He didn't know where he was. He knew who he was—or who Zoe
thought he was—but he didn't know how, why, and when.
"We've gone over this already."
"Can we discuss it again...at home?"
"At home?" She gaped, expression frozen somewhere between
sympathy and outrage.
Had he made such an unreasonable request?
"You've got to be kidding."
Well, that answered that, told him how far downhill things had gone
between Zoe and her husband. He still had to try. He'd beg if he
had to, and the look on her face told Gale that he might have
to. "I'm serious."
"Of all the arrogant, big-headed tricks you've pulled, this just takes
the cake."
Think, Sinclair, think! How would you normally handle an
irate, resistant client in therapy? How would you handle
this client?
Everything that he would have said to diffuse Zoe's fury was everything
that Gale Sinclair would have said and these wouldn't serve any
purpose, except to freak her out. He couldn't afford to alienate
her any further.
"Yo, Mom! Everything okay?"
Gale sucked in a breath, eyes wide as Zoe clamped a hand over his mouth
before he could say anything.
If she knew what her touch was doing to him, she’d stop. If she knew how
much he wanted to wrestle her to the floor, strip off her
clothes right here in the office, and fuck her senseless, she’d
run.
He didn’t think he could take much more of being this close to her
without acting the way nature intended, arms aching to enclose
her in an embrace to end all embraces and feel her soft curves
melting against him.
"Everything's fine. Be there in a sec." She removed her hand, glanced at
him pleadingly.
"Take me with you." Christ, take me with you and put me out of my
misery and let me make love to you like I’ve been fantasizing
about for months.
"You'll never change, Laurent."
"But I can come home?" Gale pushed. He'd be whatever she wanted him to
be. He just wished she’d stop calling him by that alien
designation.
Zoe barely nodded, teeth clenched.
Gale grabbed the edge of the glass table, pulled himself to his knees
with some difficulty before she reached down a hand. He eagerly
grabbed it, felt the warm strength of her grip for the instant
it took her to help him to his feet and release her hold as soon
as he was steady enough. Either she thought he was steady, or
she felt sullied by his touch.
The latter hurt more than if she had slapped him, even though he knew he
shouldn't take her reactions personally.
"Let's get one thing straight right now, Crews." Zoe poked his chest
with an index finger, eyes blazing, as Gale tottered on his feet
and leaned a palm on the tabletop to support himself. "This
changes nothing. Not one single thing between us."
"I got it." Gale licked his lips, head injury catching up with him,
slurring his words. He tried again. "Anything you say, Zoe." Had
she been this tough when she was his client? Had he been this
attracted to her, so turned on his dick throbbed painfully? Or
was he so aroused because he now inhabited her husband’s body
with no more moral dilemmas keeping him at arm’s length and his
hands off of her?
Zoe grunted and glanced at the spot where until a few minutes ago, her
husband lay. She crinkled her brows, looked ready to scratch her
head.
When she stared back up at him, she looked surprised to see him there,
standing and intact. Gale glanced back at her as if she had that
quickly changed her mind about him going home with her.
SIREN SEX Rating
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SENSUAL:
Traditional romance, suitable for the general
audience (BookStrand) |
| |
STEAMY:
Heavy sexual tension; graphic details; may contain
coarse language (BookStrand) |
| |
SIZZLING:
Erotic, graphic sex; explicit sexual language; may offend delicate
readers (SIREN) |
| |
SCORCHING:
Erotica romance; contains many sexual encounters; may contain unconventional
sex; will offend delicate readers (SIREN) |
| |
SEXTREME:
Excessive or non-exclusive sex; many instances of unconventional sex; may be hardcore; not for the faint-hearted
(SIREN) |
SIREN BOOK LENGTH
| |
NOVELLA:
15,000-25,000
words |
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NOVEL:
25,000-55,000
words |
| |
FULL
NOVEL: 55,000-80,000
words |
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PLUS
NOVEL:
80,000-100,000
words |
| |
SUPER
PLUS
NOVEL:
100,000-140,000
words |
| |
HUMONGOUS
NOVEL:
140,000+
words |
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