Love in Rewind by Tali Alexander is the first in the Audio Fools Trilogy. This one has romance, drama, and a much needed trip down memory lane.
Love in Rewind focuses on a a married couple as they try and get back to where they started and fell in love. I’m all about rekindling that fire and reconnection. Here’s what we know about Tali Alexander‘s Audio Fools Trilogy.
“When the fairytale ends, there’s only one way back…REWIND”
Emily has the life every woman dreams of.
At 29, she has two beautiful kids, a live-in nanny, housekeeper, cook, and every imaginable luxury in the posh Upper East Side townhouse she shares with her drop-dead gorgeous husband, Louis Bruel. His company, Bruel Industries, owns a big chunk of New York City’s most sought-after real estate, and together Emily and Louis embody the perfect hot fairy tale couple for ten happy years of marriage.
But when Louis mysteriously starts pushing Emily away, becoming distant and secretive, she is forced to search for the truth among the lies, scandal and heartbreak of his past that threaten to shatter her world. What she finds out will test the strength of her love and her vows to the man of her dreams.
Can Emily and Louis rewind far enough back to a time when life was simpler and love was all they needed? Follow their story with the help of some of their favorite songs from the 80’s to discover just how deep and how far love will go.
It was the summer before I started my first year of college. I was fresh out of high school with no real excitement in my life, especially in the boy department. I was not one of those forward or overly expressive girls. I would even go so far as to say that I was shy and guarded. I would never openly ogle a boy or, in this case, a man. That was more my best friend, Sara’s, department. If it wasn’t for Sara and her big mouth, my first kiss would still be with my Johnny Depp poster. She practically forced me to kiss Steven Owens at our junior prom. During a slow dance, she pushed me into that poor boy and mouthed, “Kiss him now!” I still feel like such a moron every time I think about that kiss; it was hands down the driest peck ever. Johnny on my wall got more tongue action than Steven.
That night, however, I was completely enchanted by this very sexy older male specimen that I kept a watchful eye on. Very uncharacteristically, I kept trying to be in his way. I was offering him and his colleagues champagnes and canapés. He had yet to say a single word to me. I was starved for any kind of verbal acknowledgement from him. In my head, A-Ha was on loop singing “Take On Me”. But all I got from him was a nod and a dimple-less smile. It seemed my eyes were having a silent one way tète-à-tète, scanning and admiring him sans words. My delusions of grandeur finally came to a screeching halt a few hours later. He (the most beautiful man in the world) abruptly left with two attractive women a few minutes before the party officially ended.
All I got was one last glance and a knowing smile from him before he slipped away and out of my life. His sudden absence left me shocked and hurt. In my utopian paradise, he was head over heels for me and waited by the door until I finished serving him and his friends to profess his love. I was a silly little eighteen-year-old. I must’ve watched Love Story one too many times. Jenna always told me that most boys were jerks. If you give them what they want too quickly, they take it and move on to their next conquest.
I’d always believed I wouldn’t be enough for “The” Louis Bruel. I remember Jenna telling me stories about Louis and his proclivities when she was trying to warn me off him. I was a little, stupid girl who fell in love with a fantasy. This day came ten years later than I’d initially anticipated. I am suddenly not Mrs. Emily Bruel, but once again, Emily Marcus. Out of high school, afraid of the future and wondering what life had in store for her. I am a nobody—a nobody and a fool.
“Emmy, can we talk this out? You’re starting to scare me. Emmy, honey, say something!”
“Jen, can you do me a favor?”
“I would do anything for you, you know that. Just say the word.”
“I need you to keep an eye on Rose and Eric for me.”?
My sister looks confused. She wasn’t expecting this.?
“You have a live-in nanny and a housekeeper. Why would I need to keep an eye on them?”?
I take in a breath that feels like fire mixed with acid going down my chest.?
“I’m going to go away for a little bit. I need to make sure you and Mom can be around for my babies while I’m gone. I need to know they’re getting love from family and not just the hired help.”
“Emmy, where are you going? And what’s ‘away for a little bit’ mean? I don’t know what’s going on. This is not like you. Can’t you just go talk to Louis? Let’s call him now.”
“Jenna, I didn’t tell you but we’ve been having some problems. It doesn’t affect you guys. I don’t want you to get involved. I know you care about him and he’s a big part of your business. What’s happening between us won’t affect any of that. I don’t know where I’m going or for how long yet. But I need to go. I have a lot on my mind. I need to try and make sense of my life. My world is about to change drastically. I need you to understand. Please make sure my kids are okay. Promise me?”
“Emmy, I promise I will take care of your kids, but you need to work this out with Louis and not take off somewhere.”
I nod, leave some money on the table, and walk out before I break down and die at The Plaza. In hindsight, my nightmare last night was just a pleasant interlude to the real nightmare that just manifested itself for me in full Technicolor.
I walk back to my so-called home in a haze. I don’t know how long it takes me to walk those few blocks to my house. Once I get to the front porch of my townhouse, I just stand there like a pedestrian admiring someone else’s beautiful real estate. I finally walk in. I go over to the playroom to see my blond-haired boy grin from ear to ear.
“Mommy, look what I made. It’s a hand puppet. We used Daddy’s sock and macawoni for eyes.”
“Eric, that’s very creative. Come here, my baby boy.”
“Mommy, I’m not a baby. Wenée is a baby, I’m a man.”
“Who told you you’re a man?”?
“Daddy said I’m a man.”
I smile and the tears I’ve been holding back since I first saw Louis earlier come flowing down. Whatever happens to us, Louis Bruel loves his kids. He would never abandon them like he’s done to me.
“Mommy don’t cwy. I can be your baby if you want.” I take Eric in my arms and inhale his delicious scent. “Don’t cwy Mommy,” my beautiful, sweet boy repeats into my neck as I hold him close. At this moment, I know that if eleven years ago, someone with a crystal ball had shown up and told me that Louis would break my heart and destroy me, I would still do it all over again. I would still fall for him and love him and marry him. Even knowing it would all end and hurt for the rest of my life. I would do it all over again, just to have my kids.
“Where is Rose?” I ask Marni, the nanny.?
“Rosy is watching a movie in her room.”?
“Eric, Mommy is going on a trip tonight. I’ll be back soon. Promise Mommy you’ll be a good boy.”?
“Is Daddy going, too?”?
“No, baby, just Mommy. Aunt JenJen and Nana Adele will come see you every day. Daddy will be home with you, too.”
That seems to make him happy. He smiles, showing off his cute little dimples. God, he’s beautiful, just like the man who made him.?
I go to see my daughter upstairs. I walk up the stairs feeling like a stranger in my own house.?
“Hi, Mama, I love camp so much better this year. Almost all the same kids as last year. I was picked first for the dance off group today. And do you know what Jake said to me at lunch today?”
“What did he say?”
Without missing a beat, she answers, “He said he wants to kiss me. Eewww, Mama, he is so gross. I would never kiss him.”
“Good, no kissing boys.”
Rose and Eric are both blond like me with different variations of my eye color. They have Louis’ features, though; hence, you can’t mistake who their father is.
“Listen, my love, I wanted to talk to you about something. I’m going away for a little while. I don’t have all the details yet. I just know that it’s very important that I go. Aunt Jenna and Grandpa and Nana will all be here for you and Eric. Daddy will also be here.”
Rose looks at me, seeing right through my pain. I’m afraid she sees how scared and lost I am. I try as hard as I can to channel all my bravery, to make us both believe that I am a strong woman and not a hot mess.
“Mama, are you okay? Do you want me to come with you?”
“Thank you, baby. I need you to be my big girl and help with Eric.”
“Why isn’t Daddy coming with you? Are you mad at him?”
“Baby, Daddy is very busy. I love you all more than anything and I will come back as soon as I can.”
I hug and kiss my sweet little child. I remember me and Louis bringing her home from the hospital when she was just born, and here we are, discussing kissing boys, and Louis is leaving me for someone else.
If I could call Sara right now, I would say to her, “Simply Red, ‘Holding Back The Years,’” or maybe I’d say, “Cher, ‘If I Could Turn Back Time,’” or better yet, I wouldn’t say anything at all…
Tali Alexander is a Jill-of-all-trades—married mother of three, doctor of pharmacy by day and romance novelist by night. Tali has fulfilled her passion of writing with her debut romance novel Love in Rewind (first book in the Audio Fools trilogy). Since its debut, fans have embraced the unconventional love story of Emily and Louis Bruel making Love in Rewind #1 on Amazon Kindle charts (September 2014). With an increasing demand from her fan base for the next installment, Tali has recently released the next story in the Audio Fools trilogy…Lies in Rewind, out now!!!
Tali’s fans will finally get their third and final book in the series titled, Lost in Rewind, which is set to release on September 1st 2016.