The return of Joanne C. Berroa

Joanne C. Berroa, a fellow author at Rebel Ink Press, is back and ready to talk about her recent release at RIP, On Angel's Wings.

From Joanne: "My Life, My Heart is a novel that leaves the reader feeling good about love, life, and death. It's

Blurb

December 1940 found the world on the brink of a conflict greater than it had yet known, but for Anne Miller, USO band singer, the days before Pearl Harbor find her world full of excitement and promise. She had left the comfort of family and friends in Washington, DC to venture out into the distant and beautiful Hawaiian landscape to make a new life for herself and her fiancé, Corporal Daniel Beiler of the American Army forces.

Little did she know her perfect world was just an illusion. She didn’t expect to fall in love with a Navy pilot she’d meet at the USO dancehall on the eve of “the day that will live in infamy.” Her love for Daniel would be threatened while she fought with new and strange emotions for the brave and reckless Lieutenant Johnny Morgan. How could she love both men, although quite differently, and remain true to either? Will the outbreak of WWII tear their lives apart or pull them together in rain drenched islands in the South Pacific?

From Joanne: On Angels’ Wings is a story of desperation, hope, and fulfillment during the tumultuous years of World War II.

Excerpt

As Johnny’s launch cut through the water, a new formation of Jap planes appeared, flying frightfully low above the waters of Southeast Loch. The launch was making good speed as it approached 1010 dock. At least the Lexington, Enterprise, and Saratoga were at sea and escaped the slaughter. Some of the bombs missed their intended targets and splashed into a watery coffin not far from the launch, spraying sea water like a shroud of death around Johnny’s boat.

If only Johnny were in his Wildcat, he’d blow those Jap bastards right out of the sky. Suddenly Johnny gasped. Dozens of torpedo planes zoomed past them headed straight for the Oklahoma.

“Torpedoes,” Johnny cried. His cry of alarm went unheard, for the wails of dying men and exploding glass dimmed all else. Then the world went topsy-turvy for Johnny as a torpedo struck the underside of his launch. A huge shock wave lifted it out of the water and turned it turtle, spilling its occupants among the debris and bodies floating in the harbor.

Johnny found himself beneath the launch, water filling his nose and mouth. He tried to push the launch away and finally was able to move it. He surfaced and gasped for air, grabbing the end of the overturned boat just as a Jap plane swooped down for a strafing run. Clinging to the boat, he watched the plane alter its course and fire straight down into the midst of the men who were trying desperately to swim away.

The Oklahoma was now crippled and helpless, yet the Japs continued to fire upon her. Many of the men who’d been on the launch with Johnny drowned, hit by the plane’s bullets, but Johnny continued to use the boat as his protection, hiding beneath its hull whenever a plane came close enough to strafe them.

Just when he thought he’d make it unscathed, a plane left formation and swooped down upon Johnny, unleashing a torrent of bullets. Immediately, a searing pain coursed through his body and he gasped, letting go of the boat as cold water swirled up around him, shutting off his air supply. Overhead the sky was black with smoke, but he saw nothing as he sank into oblivion.
About Joanne C. Berroa, author: My life's passion has always been writing. Begun at an early age, I never got enough of creating "life" through my stories. It's such a high to be able to make realistic, believable characters who come to life on my computer monitor. Basically, they tell their own story and I just write it down. Their lives are very real to me, and I feel deprived not to be able to meet my heroes in real life. When not writing (which is seldom) I teach piano and organ. But my first and foremost love is weaving stories that readers will appreciate and remember.