This year has been eventful to say the least. Almost every day there seems to be things that happen that can make your heart hurt. As an author I tend to express myself through words. When the invasion of Ukraine started I was stunned and felt helpless to do something positive to make a difference.
The first thing I did was to donate money to World Central Kitchen which waded into the devastation and started to feed people. It felt good to help, but I didn’t want to leave it at donations to make sure that people had access to warm, comforting food in the middle of the crisis.
Later, I was asked if I wanted to be a part of a group anthology to raise funds for Unicef and their world in Ukraine.
When I was a kid I carried the little orange UNICEF box around at Halloween, loving the sound that coins made against each other and cardboard sides. Helping to contribute to them gave me the same giddy, happy feeling inside.
As my contribution to the anthology, I was inspired by stories of dancers in and from Ukraine.
I was a dancer for most of my life. Ballet, tap, jazz, hula, flamenco… I loved that form of expression as well and if you ever peek into my closet you’ll see my favorite pointe shoes and some of the costume pieces that I’ve worn through the years. So, my heroine in this story is a dancer.
A ballet dancer whose mother is from Ukraine, but she was raised in Center City. Her childhood friend, Jay, became her best friend and while she left the US to become part of a national Ukrainian Ballet Company, she’d never lost touch with Jay.
Until the invasion.
Jay, who is called Raffe, by his First Responder family, takes a leave of absence to find Mila and make sure she’s okay. His plan to talk her into coming back to the US is the center of this romance novella.
I’m going to write their whole story later, but for now, you can read “Far & Away” in Happily Ever Afters for Hope.
I hope that you’ll take the opportunity to share the love!
Happily Ever Afters For Hope is an anthology with over a dozen stories from some of your favorite authors. Each story features a couple (many fan favorites!) living out their hard-earned happily ever afters. 100% of the royalties from this collection will be donated to UNICEF to support their efforts in Ukraine. This anthology will only be available for a limited time, so make sure you one-click your copy before it’s too late!
Authors include: Tara Wyatt, Roxie Noir, Zoe York, Nicole Burnham, Lainey Davis, Kimberly Kincaid, Alexa Rivers, Arell Rivers, S.E. Rose, Lori Ryan, Kelly Siskind, Tru Taylor, Reina Torres, Marie Tuhart, and Sara Whitney
Don’t miss out on this feel-good collection in support of a good cause!
** Did I forget any information you’ll need? **
(There’s a bookbub page for this book which links to the various sellers – https://www.bookbub.com/books/happily-ever-afters-for-hope-a-charity-collection-for-unicef-by-zoe-york-and-roxie-noir )
Think back and let me know something special that you shared with your childhood friend(s)?
