Without
Borders
A Wanderlove Novel
A Wanderlove Novel
By:
Amanda Heger
Releasing
April 19, 2016
Diversion Books
Diversion Books
Blurb
For Annie London, a month in a Central American rainforest means handing out mosquito nets, giving medical aid, and teaching children about the birds and the bees. With any luck, it will also land her application in the “accepted” pile at a top tier medical school. But as soon as she steps off the plane, Annie realizes her bug spray, feeble Spanish, and medical supplies won’t help her deal with her new feelings for Felipe—her best friend's older brother, who's much hotter than she remembers, and who also happens to be the doctor in charge of the trip.
For Annie London, a month in a Central American rainforest means handing out mosquito nets, giving medical aid, and teaching children about the birds and the bees. With any luck, it will also land her application in the “accepted” pile at a top tier medical school. But as soon as she steps off the plane, Annie realizes her bug spray, feeble Spanish, and medical supplies won’t help her deal with her new feelings for Felipe—her best friend's older brother, who's much hotter than she remembers, and who also happens to be the doctor in charge of the trip.
Gawking
“volun-tourists” may keep his family’s medical clinic afloat,
but Dr. Felipe Gutierrez doesn’t have to like them. Or the way they
make snap judgments about his practice and the people he cares for.
But when his old crush, Annie, shows up to volunteer, her killer
curves and kind smile fan the embers of a flame Felipe didn’t
realize he’d been carrying. A flame that makes him question all his
preconceived notions.
As
ideas and cultures clash, Annie and Felipe must decide how far
outside their comfort zones they are willing to go—both for their
work and for one another.
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27133248-without-borders
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Links:
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Guest Post:
How
It Actually Happened: Without
Borders Edition
When
I was twenty-one, I packed a bag, hopped on a plane, and spent a
summer in rural Nicaragua. I volunteered with a public health
organization, teaching sex education classes and courses on domestic
violence. I also spent time hopping in and out of a boat as part of a
medical brigade. A decade later, I longed to go back. I wanted to
take in the ocean and volcanoes. I wanted to spend time with the
friends I’d made there. I wanted to fall asleep in a hammock and
wake up to a sky bright with stars. But things like my job and life
and student loans got in the way.
To
ease my homesickness, I decided to try to write a book set in
Nicaragua. Thus, Without
Borders was
born. Parts of the story are influenced by places I’d visited and
things I’d done during my summer there. And for the first time
ever, I’m revealing which portions of the story were stolen from my
time in Nicaragua.
Arriving
in Nicaragua, Without
Borders Version:
As
she tapped her foot to the feisty music playing on the airport’s
speakers, a large, nondescript black bag shot onto the conveyer belt,
followed by a small blue duffle. Next came Annie’s crème leather
suitcase, barreling down the carousel, wide open and overflowing with
its once carefully packed contents.
Arriving
in Nicaragua, Real life Version:
Exactly
like this. Minus the leather suitcase.
Buying
a Toucan, Without
Borders Version:
“This
guy showed up with a toucan in a backpack.” Annie left out the part
about Chowmey bringing the man to her. “He kept saying, ‘Is nice.
Is nice.’ But the stupid bird looked sick, so I thought maybe he
was bringing it to you guys. Ouch!” She tried to jerk her hand
away, but Felipe held tightly as he dumped saline solution into her
wound…
“He
was trying to sell the bird to you,” Marisol said.
Buying
a Toucan, Real life Version:
I
was sitting alone on our front porch reading a book. We always had
people in and out of the property, so when a man I didn’t recognize
showed up, I just waved and expected him to keep walking. But he
pulled up a chair next to me and started speaking too quickly for me
to understand. Eventually, he gave up and held his backpack out to
me, zipper half open. Inside: a baby toucan. However, because I
sometimes make good choices, I didn’t stick my hand inside and end
up with a bite wound.
Use
better judgment around strange animals next time, Annie.
Teaching
Sex Ed with a Giant Plantain, Without
Borders Version:
They
stared at her, expressionless, but stayed planted in their seats. By
the time she pulled out a condom and Marisol’s monster plantain,
Annie’s pulse had slowed from just-ran-a-marathon pace to somewhere
around out-for-a light-jog.
“¡Dios
mío!” The woman in the purple dress threw her hands in front of
her face.
“What
are you doing with that? Is that a real plantain?” Felipe asked.
Teaching
Sex Ed with a Giant Plantain, Real Life Version:
The
nurse I worked with always teased that she would bring me the biggest
plantain she could find. But—thank God—she always brought
moderately-sized fruit for me to actually use in the sex ed classes;
we had some serious monster plantains, and the condoms I was given
for demonstration purposes were expired by several years. Basically,
it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Kissing
Cute Doctors, Without
Borders Version:
“Annie?”
“Yeah?”
The
silence stretched for eons. Finally, he stepped closer, barely
visible in the darkness. “I really want to kiss you.” His fingers
brushed against the skin of her low back, firm but tentative. Gentle
but wanting.
They
eased the words right out of her. “Then kiss me.”
Kissing
Cute Doctors, Real Life Version:
Nada.
Sigh.
Excerpt:
The girl
strained and cried out, and it took everything Annie had to keep her
upright. Felipe and the midwife swapped positions with every
contraction, taking turns at easing the infant into the world. But
with every push, Felipe’s face darkened and the midwife’s voice
grew shriller as she half cried, half encouraged her daughter.
Annie had no idea how long it had been
since they’d arrived in this dim hut, but every second that passed
with those arms and legs dangling outside the womb made her heart
ache.
In a rare moment between contractions,
Felipe and the midwife began arguing. They pointed and stomped and
shook their hands as the words flew between them.
Angela sagged in Annie’s arms, pale
and sweaty.
“What’s going on?” Annie asked.
For a moment, the arguing stopped and
they both stared silently at Annie.
The girl’s mother pointed and nodded
at her, shrieking in Spanish, but Annie didn’t understand a word of
it.
Felipe held up a hand. “We are
having some trouble delivering the baby’s head.”
The midwife yelled and pointed again,
and before Annie could ask what she was saying, the woman stood and
nudged her out of the way with her rotund mid-section. She looped her
arms through Angela’s and took the girl’s weight.
Annie stumbled, her muscles too tired
to change position. She squeaked to something that resembled
standing, but her back refused to straighten. Felipe looked at her,
eyes flashing with fear.
“We need you to deliver the baby,”
he said.
Author
Info
Amanda Heger is a writer, attorney, and bookworm. She lives in the Midwest with three unruly rescue dogs and a husband who encourages her delusions of grandeur.
Her debut romance, Without Borders, is forthcoming from Diversion Books. The story was inspired by the summer Amanda spent in rural Nicaragua, eating gallo pinto, speaking mangled Spanish, and showing high school students how to slide condoms onto over-sized plantains.
Her
stories are represented by Jessica Watterson of the Dijkstra Literary
Agency.
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