• Can love survive a nearly forty-year separation?
• Can passion?
• What happens to lovers separated for a lifetime?

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This is the premise author Linda Lingle explores in her Debut Book, Dear Heart.

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Dear Heart is the story of Deirdre Reid and Hartley (Lee) Tate, who feel an immediate attraction when they meet, and they soon fall in love. There is only one problem:  they are married to others and Lee has four daughters to whom he is devoted.

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For fifteen months Deirdre and Lee carry on a passionate affair.  Then Lee’s wife is offered a big promotion across the country.  With his heartbreaking, Lee leaves Deirdre in San Francisco and moves East with his family so his wife can advance her high-powered career.  

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When unforeseen circumstances have Deirdre second-guessing her insistence on a clean break, she resists every impulse to fly to Lee’s side.  But on the first anniversary of their parting, Deirdre grows increasingly regretful and melancholy. Then she receives a surprising Christmas present which sets in motion a 38-year ritual that, against all odds, keeps alive the love she shared with Lee. 

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Writer Linda Lingle said that the idea for the story came to her as she was preparing to celebrate her fortieth wedding anniversary.

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“I started to wonder if love and passion could survive a forty-year separation, and the next thing I knew I was writing about it.”

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It took Lingle two years to complete the manuscript and then another two years to find a publisher. 

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“When I saw the email from Solstice Publishing, the day after I submitted the manuscript, I thought: man, they must have really hated the book to have rejected it so fast,” Lingle laughed.  “But as it turned out, they loved it and were offering me a contract.” 

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Even though Lingle hoped to bring her characters and their story to the attention of the widest possible audience, she knew that it wasn’t the type of romance that would have a broad appeal.  

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“Dear Heart is definitely A Passionate and Sexy Adult Romance Love Story geared toward a more mature audience,” Lingle said.  “It will most likely resonate with Baby Boomer Readers who know what it’s like to sacrifice personal happiness to honor their responsibilities, and who realize that physical intimacy can continue well into their golden years.”   

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Dear Heart has been hailed as a hauntingly beautiful, erotically romantic, and a truly mesmerizing Love Story that reviewers unanimously agreed that they couldn’t stop reading once they started it. Lingle’s Baby Boomer Contemporaries overwhelmingly feel the same way.

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Baby Boomers who want to get a feel for this heartwarming Love Story can check out its book trailer on YouTube.

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Dear Heart is available on Amazon in both Paperback and eBook Electronic formats.