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Love and Grand Manan
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The second book in the series picks up after the Fredericton Marathon. Courtney has qualified for the Boston Marathon and things have never been better with Barry. He listens to her like Clint used to. Sometimes she worries about how much she needs to give in order for Barry to take but she doesn’t care. She has the best of both worlds with Clint still around!!
Unfortunately for Courtney, her string of luck runs out in late May. Clint knows something is wrong and has known since January ....just not how bad. When he receives a hotel confirmation for Courtney and Barry, he at first phones Courtney in confusion not suspecting a thing. Then reality hits and Clint is floored. He is afraid to share the news with his family as they are dealing with his mother’s illness. He then knows that he must move forward but Courtney has second thoughts and holds Clint in her wavering grasp.
Clint helps Courtney "celebrate" her 40th and things get more tense than ever. Clint needs Courtney to commit but he doesn’t know how much she has committed... to Barry!! Courtney was so worried that Barry would back out!! But he was in full and he even sent Clint an e-mail to throw him off at Courtney’s request. Courtney and Barry were preparing for a big trip to Grand Manan and all rules were going to be broken!! Barry was promising Courtney that she would love every minute of it but she still felt guilt over Clint and trapped by his activities.
Why oh why did she need to be financially connected to Clint?!? She didn’t trust his judgement anymore and she felt she had to still prop him up even as things heated up with Barry! The night before the big trip, she met a running group with Clint. Everyone talked about their first days of romance. Clint seemed upset that she didn’t want to say anything about them! Clint was asking to come with her on her trip to Grand Manan!! Clint wanted to get passionate that night!!! Courtney just wanted the night to be over so she could leave for the island but then the bombshell hits.
Prepare yourself for the crazy ending as Clint reveals that he knows about the trip and that she is going with Barry. Courtney panics and rushes back into Clint’s arms. Clint thinks he is losing his mind but he takes her back. The next morning reveals second thoughts but for whom??
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Part 2 of the Courtney Running Romance Series
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Qualifying for Love
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It was December and 15 years with Clint seemed just about right. It was time to move on for Courtney and facebook provided the perfect opportunity to reconnect with Barry. Courtney had briefly dated Barry in her youth but Barry was looking for someone more experienced. Well Courtney was experienced now and wanted to broaden her horizons. Barry was quick to want to teach but Courtney was timid.... but only at first!!
Follow Courtney as she prepares for the Fredericton Marathon with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon but with the bigger goal of winning Barry over so he would never pick someone else first again. Courtney would have doubts about Barry’s interest but her sister Paula was always there to keep her confidence up. She could win over Barry, she could help Chad Joyce win in the local election but she still needed Clint.
Courtney still had conflicted emotions over Clint. She felt bad at times for not being there emotionally for Clint as he dealt with his mother’s illness and his growing business. She still enjoyed some of her time with Clint and actually felt anger when Clint coached too much or went to hockey games. Didn’t he know Courtney hated hockey!?!
Things come to a crash in the suspenseful ending. It’s getting tougher and tougher to see Barry as much as she wants! Clint gets suspicious of Courtney’s computer time and new patterns of use! Courtney is upset with a hotel screwup through work but doesn’t realize the biggest screwup is to come! Barry ups the ante and wants to come to Saint John instead of the regular island visit! Clint goes to Cape Breton and for some reason Courtney wants him back! Clint gets suspicious of Courtney’s change in hairstyles!
Catch your breath:) The book finishes with Courtney running the big race in Fredericton with Clint and you’ll never guess the result. It’s not all about the time!!
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Part 1 of the Courtney Running Romance Series
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Running and Boston
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Courtney went ahead with the marriage ceremony and Clint didn’t suspect her resistance even though she almost gave it away with a refusal to write her own vows like Clint did with his own. Even Courtney doubted herself as she remained passionate with Clint and appreciated how he helped her with her Boston training. Boston was going to be great and her friends were all pumped.
The big day came and Clint met her at the start line along with her emotional coach Ted Arrow. Her run went like a dream and she even forgot to say hi in her euphoria to Clint and his special friends at the "1 mile to go" mark. She felt the running gods take her in their wings. Her future never felt so bright until the summer came and Clint pressured her on the bathroom renovations that she had always wanted. Like anything Clint tried to do lately, it just seemed to get too complicated and she wanted out! Clint convinced her that it was just the stress of the renovation but she could tell that he had lost the trust that he had built back up for her.
Clint was defeated in an attempt to organize a big local running event that fall and Courtney knew once again that he was just a loser who created unneeded stress for her. She wanted out again and, to make her decision permanent, she gave him a letter and told her friends at work that she was leaving Clint! Right before Christmas!!! Clint did everything he could to try to keep things patched just so they could make it though the holidays. He even gave her an agreement that he would take her back after a year in which she could reunite with Barry but still decide to come back with him. Clint contacted female friends he knew to see if they wanted to hang out with him just to show Courtney that he was serious about it.
The book ends with an eventful polar bear dip that leaves Courtney feeling fully cleansed and ready to move on with her new life!!
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Part 4 of the Courtney Running Romance Series
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Running to Goofy
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The final chapter to this series starts with a bang as Courtney puts Clint on notice and reconnects with another old friend from her childhood...Gunther!! Gunther is better looking than Barry and is much more bohemian than Clint could ever hope to be. Barry is still in the mix but her sister Paula reinforces her belief that Gunther could be the one!! She just needs to get rid of Clint now. She had always left Clint before but this time she was going to make him leave. Courtney could still get passionate with Clint but finally she phoned the police one night to make Clint sleep elsewhere.
She needed to keep the pressure on Clint now and he was starting to break. He had lost his business manager and he was desperately trying to make his new job work. The irony that he took the new job to keep her love was lost on her. She just needed him to leave and she kept up the pressure until she underestimated him once again. He had found letters again and this time they were to and from Gunther. He even asked the police to protect him. She waited for her opportunity and ratcheted up the pressure. He relented finally but, in her mania from victory, she let it slip that Barry was still in the mix.
Clint let Courtney enjoy her moment but slipped from the back of their running group the next morning. He ran the fastest race of his life to go back home and retrieve the two items that she had forgotten about. He wanted to ensure that certain things were protected and he escaped to a safe house.
This series ends with many questions!!
Does Courtney find true bliss with Gunther?
Can Courtney resist her fatal attraction to Barry?
Why does Courtney still care when Clint starts dating again?
Is Courtney able to destroy Clint as she promises or does Clint survive with his reputation intact?
Does emotional coach Ted Arrow remain committed to Courtney even though Clint has provided him with opportunities and assistance in the past?
Who is this coach Greg Brock from Victoria that Courtney connects with publicly to the dismay of Clint?
Is Courtney able to combine running with romance once again?
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Part 5 of the Courtney Running Romance Series
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Running Vows
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The third book in the series starts with a bang as Courtney awakes to realize that she does still want Barry and getting back with Clint was a mistake. To her horror, Clint not only is prepared to watch her leave but has stumbled on to her collection of love letters to and from Barry. Clint can’t even look at her as he realizes how intense their affair was or how deep her resentment of him had become. Courtney left for Prince Edward Island to regroup again as she had in the past but this time things were different. She didn’t feel in control anymore and she felt like her life was being ripped apart. Barry wasn’t worth this!! After a sleepless night in the island and a final goodbye to Barry, she rushed back to Saint John to win Clint back!
Meanwhile Clint is a mess but he now feels optimistic for the first time in about a year. He has joined a dating service in one quick day and already has some interested women. He went to a movie with his top athletes and laughed like a free man. Nothing will prepare him for the hurricane force that Courtney brings as she returns to claim him back. Clint resists but he had always been in love these past 15 years. This would be a bigger accomplishment than any race he has run if he won back Courtney’s love.
Clint wavered many times but Courtney brought him back from the edge each time. After a counsellor on the phone told him to run for his life, the other counsellor through Courtney’s work gave them the thumbs up. Clint hesitated to destroy the love letters but Courtney said they need to trust each other. Clint even took Courtney to Grand Manan to erase the bad vibe from the island. Everything seemed solid but Clint panicked one last time at the Valley Harvest Marathon. Courtney won him back once again and Clint pulled out a shocking triumph at the Wolfville event. The world was back to normal for Courtney and she made promises to everyone in Clint’s family that they would stay that way including the family member she didn’t realize knew everything before Clint did!!
Prepare yourself though for trouble ahead even as Clint and Courtney celebrate their best Christmas holidays ever. The winter blahs come back even as Courtney prepares for the Boston Marathon with Clint’s help. Courtney resents Clint’s need to always organize things although she benefits from his winter training events. Clint had asked Courtney to remarry him and she had been willing to do that but now she wasn’t so sure. Her parents weren’t on side because of what she hadn’t told them and now it felt like an obligation that she didn’t want to commit to.
Does she go ahead with the marriage ceremony? Is she going to be ready for Boston? It’s a cliffhanger ending!!
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Part 3 of the Courtney Running Romance Series
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