E.L. Lindley wrote Don't Look Back as a stand alone novel and ventured out of her usual crime genre for this one. It came in response to a friend who asked her to write a romance. It's definitely not a fluffy kind of a love story, however, and has been described as "romance with a kick." It is set in both the UK and the USA and features Catherine Hayes, a woman whose past comes back to haunt her and then some.
Synopsis
Catherine enjoys her life as a single woman and, if her career fails to fulfil her at times, her social life more than makes up for it. Life for Catherine is about having fun and she is not looking for anything more meaningful or permanent than that. Everything changes however when she is forced to face the consequences of a decision she made eighteen years earlier. Events conspire to bring her first love Bill Myers back into her life and, as they find themselves struggling to forge a new adult relationship, Catherine begins to question the very foundations of a life that seems to be imploding around her. Can she find the courage to embrace a new way of living or is she doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past?
Read the first chapter and get a taste for the novel.
CHAPTER ONE
Catherine looked up from her computer screen to meet the eyes of her friend and colleague, Amanda Roberts.
“Come on, we are going to miss the happy hour,” Amanda complained upon seeing Catherine still seated at her desk.
“You go ahead; I can’t go until somebody phones back from Pittsburgh. We need to know how many places we have.” Catherine and Amanda worked together in the International Office at the University of Sheffield. It was Catherine’s job to secure placements for students wanting to take part in the student exchange programme. She was working to a deadline and needed to know if the University at Pittsburgh had any students open to exchanges. Amanda shook her head, causing her thick blonde hair to fall around her face.
“What do you want?”.
“A mojito. In fact get me two. After the day I’ve had I’m going to need it.”
As the economic recession continued to bite, Catherine was finding it more and more difficult to find students who wanted to come to Britain which, compared to most places in the States, had a high cost of living. She was also competing with universities all over the country and Sheffield wasn’t as recognisable to most American students as cities like London, Manchester or Liverpool. The time difference meant she hadn’t been able to chase up unanswered emails until the afternoon and she was feeling thoroughly fed up of being given the run around by her American counterparts.
Finally someone from Pittsburgh called back and delivered the good news that there were three potential placements. Ending the phone call, Catherine quickly grabbed her bag, rifling through it for her lipstick. She applied a fresh coat using her compact mirror, shaking her dark curls to rid herself of the oppressive build up
of her day. She knew better than to attempt any grooming, leaving the curls to fall as they may as she put the mirror back in her bag, pushing herself up out of her seat. At that moment, Amelia, the young receptionist, appeared at her door.
“You still here?” Catherine asked, looking at her watch. “I thought everybody would be gone by now.”
“I’m just going but you had a phone call while you were on the line to Pittsburgh. Somebody called Harry asked you to phone him back urgently.” Amelia stepped forward and placed the little memo where she had written the message on Catherine’s desk. Catherine stared at it for a moment, searching her memory for someone called Harry. She knew it couldn’t be any of her current exchange students, none of whom were called Harry and so dismissed the notion of urgency. It would probably be some fussy, over eager student and he could wait until
tomorrow morning. Catherine’s mind was already firmly focused on her mojito.
As she made her way into the bar, it was steadily busy with people wanting to take advantage of the happy hour which lasted until seven. There was a mixture of students and university staff, as the bar was close to the university and so a popular choice. At thirty six, Catherine looked much younger and didn’t feel out of place with the younger crowd, who were getting louder and louder as they tried to drink as many of the two for one cocktails as they could fit in before seven. Catherine didn’t blame them, in fact she intended to do much the same herself.
She spotted Amanda seated at a table, already halfway down a drink and with three more lined up on the table. Catherine slid into the waiting seat wordlessly, taking a large drink from one of the mojitos that Amanda had ordered for her. She closed her eyes in appreciation as the cool drink soothed her harried nerves.
“Mmmm, that’s perfect,” she purred.
“Did they call?” Amanda asked absently.
“Yeah, we have three places.”
“That’s good. What do you think we should do this weekend?” As two single women of a similar age, Catherine and Amanda tended to spend a lot of time together. Most of Catherine’s other friends had settled down with husbands and babies. She knew that deep down that’s what Amanda wanted as well and that she was just a
stepping stone until she found it. It didn’t bother her though as she appreciated that it was pretty much what most women wanted, she was happy to enjoy Amanda’s company while it lasted.
By seven, Catherine was feeling a slight buzz from the mojitos but resisted Amanda’s suggestion to move on to somewhere else for more drinks. It was only Wednesday and she knew she would struggle to get through two more working days if she opted for a boozy late night, especially when it was such a crucial time of year. Instead, she decided to head home and have an early night. Outside the bar, Catherine embraced her friend and they set off on their separate journeys to their respective homes. For Catherine, that meant walking up towards the
hospital before turning off to wind her way along a maze of leafy suburban roads until she reached her flat above a dry cleaners on Ecclesall Road.
Over the years, she had lost count of the number of people who had urged her to invest her money wisely and buy a property but she was happy renting. It allowed her to imagine that her life style was temporary. That one day she was going to pack it all in and maybe travel around the world. The fact that she had been imagining
it for the past ten years and had in fact been renting the same flat for four of them didn’t shake her deeply held conviction. It didn’t matter a jot that, as her more sensible friends liked to point out, she had probably almost paid off her landlord’s mortgage with the exorbitant rent that he charged her. Catherine liked to feel that she was just passing through, the thought of permanence felt too much like failure.
Synopsis
Catherine enjoys her life as a single woman and, if her career fails to fulfil her at times, her social life more than makes up for it. Life for Catherine is about having fun and she is not looking for anything more meaningful or permanent than that. Everything changes however when she is forced to face the consequences of a decision she made eighteen years earlier. Events conspire to bring her first love Bill Myers back into her life and, as they find themselves struggling to forge a new adult relationship, Catherine begins to question the very foundations of a life that seems to be imploding around her. Can she find the courage to embrace a new way of living or is she doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past?
Read the first chapter and get a taste for the novel.
CHAPTER ONE
Catherine looked up from her computer screen to meet the eyes of her friend and colleague, Amanda Roberts.
“Come on, we are going to miss the happy hour,” Amanda complained upon seeing Catherine still seated at her desk.
“You go ahead; I can’t go until somebody phones back from Pittsburgh. We need to know how many places we have.” Catherine and Amanda worked together in the International Office at the University of Sheffield. It was Catherine’s job to secure placements for students wanting to take part in the student exchange programme. She was working to a deadline and needed to know if the University at Pittsburgh had any students open to exchanges. Amanda shook her head, causing her thick blonde hair to fall around her face.
“What do you want?”.
“A mojito. In fact get me two. After the day I’ve had I’m going to need it.”
As the economic recession continued to bite, Catherine was finding it more and more difficult to find students who wanted to come to Britain which, compared to most places in the States, had a high cost of living. She was also competing with universities all over the country and Sheffield wasn’t as recognisable to most American students as cities like London, Manchester or Liverpool. The time difference meant she hadn’t been able to chase up unanswered emails until the afternoon and she was feeling thoroughly fed up of being given the run around by her American counterparts.
Finally someone from Pittsburgh called back and delivered the good news that there were three potential placements. Ending the phone call, Catherine quickly grabbed her bag, rifling through it for her lipstick. She applied a fresh coat using her compact mirror, shaking her dark curls to rid herself of the oppressive build up
of her day. She knew better than to attempt any grooming, leaving the curls to fall as they may as she put the mirror back in her bag, pushing herself up out of her seat. At that moment, Amelia, the young receptionist, appeared at her door.
“You still here?” Catherine asked, looking at her watch. “I thought everybody would be gone by now.”
“I’m just going but you had a phone call while you were on the line to Pittsburgh. Somebody called Harry asked you to phone him back urgently.” Amelia stepped forward and placed the little memo where she had written the message on Catherine’s desk. Catherine stared at it for a moment, searching her memory for someone called Harry. She knew it couldn’t be any of her current exchange students, none of whom were called Harry and so dismissed the notion of urgency. It would probably be some fussy, over eager student and he could wait until
tomorrow morning. Catherine’s mind was already firmly focused on her mojito.
As she made her way into the bar, it was steadily busy with people wanting to take advantage of the happy hour which lasted until seven. There was a mixture of students and university staff, as the bar was close to the university and so a popular choice. At thirty six, Catherine looked much younger and didn’t feel out of place with the younger crowd, who were getting louder and louder as they tried to drink as many of the two for one cocktails as they could fit in before seven. Catherine didn’t blame them, in fact she intended to do much the same herself.
She spotted Amanda seated at a table, already halfway down a drink and with three more lined up on the table. Catherine slid into the waiting seat wordlessly, taking a large drink from one of the mojitos that Amanda had ordered for her. She closed her eyes in appreciation as the cool drink soothed her harried nerves.
“Mmmm, that’s perfect,” she purred.
“Did they call?” Amanda asked absently.
“Yeah, we have three places.”
“That’s good. What do you think we should do this weekend?” As two single women of a similar age, Catherine and Amanda tended to spend a lot of time together. Most of Catherine’s other friends had settled down with husbands and babies. She knew that deep down that’s what Amanda wanted as well and that she was just a
stepping stone until she found it. It didn’t bother her though as she appreciated that it was pretty much what most women wanted, she was happy to enjoy Amanda’s company while it lasted.
By seven, Catherine was feeling a slight buzz from the mojitos but resisted Amanda’s suggestion to move on to somewhere else for more drinks. It was only Wednesday and she knew she would struggle to get through two more working days if she opted for a boozy late night, especially when it was such a crucial time of year. Instead, she decided to head home and have an early night. Outside the bar, Catherine embraced her friend and they set off on their separate journeys to their respective homes. For Catherine, that meant walking up towards the
hospital before turning off to wind her way along a maze of leafy suburban roads until she reached her flat above a dry cleaners on Ecclesall Road.
Over the years, she had lost count of the number of people who had urged her to invest her money wisely and buy a property but she was happy renting. It allowed her to imagine that her life style was temporary. That one day she was going to pack it all in and maybe travel around the world. The fact that she had been imagining
it for the past ten years and had in fact been renting the same flat for four of them didn’t shake her deeply held conviction. It didn’t matter a jot that, as her more sensible friends liked to point out, she had probably almost paid off her landlord’s mortgage with the exorbitant rent that he charged her. Catherine liked to feel that she was just passing through, the thought of permanence felt too much like failure.