I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Maria Imbalzano. Today, Maria shares her new release, Sworn to Collide.

Blurb

After devoting eleven years of marriage to Ben, her high school sweetheart, and stepping off the corporate ladder to raise their three children, Denise is ready to seize the reins of the career she always dreamed of. But as soon as she commits to step back into the professional world, Ben drops a bombshell that disrupts everything. Suddenly, this once rock-solid couple finds themselves in a battle over ambition, identity, and whose turn it is to shine. As personal choices draw them further and further apart, they must confront their widening rift—a threat to the love they thought was unshakeable. Can they rediscover the passion they once shared, or will their divergent paths pull them apart for good?

Excerpt

My sleepless night had produced tons of ammunition to shoot at Ben this morning. He hadn’t been able to sneak many words in since I started.

“So what do you think?”

Nothing. I had clearly silenced him.

He twisted his neck as if to ease the tension. “We’re a family, Denise. I want my family with me. I don’t want to live hundreds of miles apart and commute on the weekends. That’s not a life. That’s not what we signed up for.”

Anger kicked up a storm. “You’re right. We are a family. And you made a decision without even speaking to me. I know a promotion is what you wanted, but we never talked about moving out of Princeton. This is all new. And scary. And unwanted. I want my family with me too. I want my family here, and I want to work with my father. As we’d always planned. I don’t want to move to Boston.”

The exact words finally spewed out of my mouth with anger instead of appeasement—demanding instead of persuasive. The words Nicki had convinced me to say were irrevocably out there.

I had found the voice that had gotten lost among the carpools, laundry, playdates, and cold dinners. But it was much too loud.

Author Bio and Links

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels. When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states. Maria lives in central New Jersey with her husband–not far from her two daughters. For more information about her books, please visit her website at http://mariaimbalzano.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Maria is a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and has received many honors and awards for her work including the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award, the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers Award, The NEST (National Excellence In Story Telling) Award, the Carolyn Award, Book Buyers Best Award, The Stiletto Reader’s Choice Award, Long & Short Reviews Book of the Month Award (3rd Place for Book of the Year), and Still Moments Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.

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Giveaway

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Maria on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Riveted from the first page, I struggled to put down this well-plotted, character-driven novel. I immediately connected with Denise and felt deeply invested in her emotional journey as she navigated a painful period in her marriage. At the same time, I found myself empathizing with her husband, Ben, whose impulsive decision sent shockwaves through their family and forced everyone to confront difficult truths.

What impressed me most was the author’s ability to present both perspectives with honesty and compassion. As the story unfolded, I often found myself questioning what I would do in Denise’s position and whether a marriage can withstand the cumulative weight of betrayal, disappointment, and unmet expectations. The never-ending roller coaster of events—a father’s heart attack, a child’s defiance, a possible affair, and long-buried resentments—kept me reading well into the night.

Ms. Imbalzano has crafted a powerful novel that explores the choices, compromises, sacrifices, and unspoken needs that shape contemporary marriages. A must-read for fans of emotional women’s fiction!