Elephants, blazing skies and her two best friends...
Maddie can’t wait to return to Kenya! Until she learns the bill her law firm has sent her to fight is the same one her friend Haki helped write. At first, her work feels disloyal to Haki, but soon the sparks flying between them aren’t anger...but something more. Much more. Which is another kind of betrayal. Her cousin Pippa has been counting on a proposal from Haki for years. But to Maddie, denying her love for Haki also means betraying herself.
What was wrong with her?
No guy had ever had this effect on her. Maddie rubbed her hand along her arm where the rough stubble of Haki’s jaw and the warmth of his breath had inadvertently caressed her skin. Even the vibrations of his rich voice, when he’d gotten permission to touch her, had made all the hairs along her skin sway and dance.
She wanted this feeling to go away. It was overpowering. It was dangerous. It betrayed Pippa.
Maddie set her fork down and took a drink of water. Maybe she needed a shower or maybe she was still jet-lagged. That had to be it.
“I know what’s on your mind, Maddie,” Pippa called out from the far end of the long wood table.
Maddie’s stomach churned. “You do?”
After I wrote The Promise of Rain, many of you asked me if spunky little Pippa would ever have her own story. Pippa was only four at the time! Still, there was something about her and her friend Haki that I couldn’t let go of and, after the children in the following books, including introverted Maddie in After the Silence, endured the impossible and stole my heart, I simply couldn’t quiet their stories.
Every Serengeti Sunrise takes readers back to the wilds of Kenya about fifteen years after the third book, Through the Storm. I never imagined sweet little Pippa’s future involving a love triangle, but both love and a writer’s imagination work in mysterious ways. I also felt guilty writing this story because Maddie, Haki and Pippa are good, kind souls who deserve to find true love. It made me wonder about the many different kinds of love and the complexity of relationships. Love is priceless, but it opens the door to pain. Would you turn down the chance to grow old with your soul mate if it meant hurting someone else you loved? Is being true to your heart selfish? Or is it always the right thing to do?
The Kenyan Wildlife Service is a real organization dedicated to protecting Kenya’s unique and extraordinary wildlife. Its teams are on the front lines, fighting poaching and providing emergency veterinary care to wildlife, including elephants. Their conservation efforts, along with those of the smaller rescue and rehab groups they cooperate with, are critical in the fight against poaching.
My door is open at www.rulasinara.com, where you can sign up for my newsletter, get information on all of my books and find links to my social media hangouts.
Wishing you love, peace and courage in life,
Rula Sinara
Every Serengeti Sunrise
Rula Sinara
Award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author RULA SINARA lives in rural Virginia with her family and crazy but endearing pets. She loves organic gardening, attracting wildlife to her yard, planting trees, raising backyard chickens and drinking more coffee than she’ll ever admit to. Rula’s writing has earned her a National Readers’ Choice Award and a Holt Medallion Award of Merit, among other honors. Her door is always open at www.rulasinara.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, learn about her latest books and find links to her social media hangouts.
To Jeannie Watt for your wisdom, kindness and friendship, and for writing books that make every anticipated release a special gift for the reader in me...and to Victoria Curran for your guidance, for believing in me and for buying my first book, The Promise of Rain. Jeannie, I’ll never forget how you urged me to pitch that story and, Victoria, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for seeing that book as the first in a series that would take readers on a (literally) wild and romantic journey to Africa. I owe the birth of my From Kenya, with Love series to you both, and will be forever grateful.
Acknowledgments
To Claire Caldwell for her patience, incredible editorial insight and for always helping me bring out the best in a story. You’re one of the smartest and most talented people I know. I’m so lucky to have you with me on this journey and am beyond grateful for all you do.
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