Barbara Cutrera – författare

A young widower struggles to overcome substance abuse and emotional instability as his daughter attempts to find solace for them despite overwhelming odds. Set in southern Louisiana, Over, Under, Across & Through tells the story of Tristan and Sarah Maes and their extended family. The novel is divided into three parts. Each part highlights a different time period in their lives during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and explores how the father and daughter and those closest to them confront abuse, neglect, and deception. While Tristan grapples with the loss of his wife and the subsequent battle with alcohol and drugs, Sarah strives to carve out a normal life for herself. This is made more difficult by the onset of juvenile macular degeneration, which results in partial blindness that develops during her teenaged years. Parent and child must come to grips with their actions and choices in the past in order to gain the elusive peace of mind so desperately sought by both in their present.

Neile Landry, a talented corporate interpreter, is forced to face her past fears and rethink her future plans as she is confronted with deception, threats to her life, and murder. When Neile's wealthy employer dies in a suspicious car accident that also critically injures her co-worker and best friend, she forms an unlikely partnership with Scotsman Ewen Erskine, a recent business acquaintance. As secret plans for a global healthcare network are revealed, more deaths follow. Neile soon finds herself in a personal as well as professional relationship with Erskine as they work together in their efforts to uncover the truth about those who have fallen prey to foul play. As they grapple with personal threats and insidious attacks by an elusive sociopath, Neile struggles to overcome increasing difficulty with a congenital cardiac condition and her painful past, while Erskine tries to deal with terrible secrets from his youth that have troubled him most of his life. In the terrifying inevitable confrontation with the killer, Neile realizes that more is at stake than she ever imagined.

Daniel Nash struggles to reconcile his feelings of betrayal with his desire to understand his life. His hopes of uncovering the secrets revealed in his father's journals are quickly dashed, and he works with a private investigator to discover the truth. Worry about his wife, Sarah, combined with his efforts to cope with his childhood trauma, an unexpected death, and the recent revelations. His obsession with the past threatens to destroy his stable life. Meanwhile, Sarah and her father, Tristan, continue to combat the lingering discord that developed between them years before but refuse to take their main focus from Daniel. As he reviews his biological father's efforts to be a good man, Daniel searches for a way to comprehend shocking disclosures. He questions his own goodness as he fights not to emotionally withdraw from those around him, especially Sarah and Tristan, the two people he knows will always love him.

Daniel Nash needs to receive mercy from his family, his friends, from God, and from himself. Now in his mid-forties, he's spent most of his life suppressing memories and his rage regarding the severe abuse he suffered during his first twelve years. The situation for Daniel is critical: He's finally reached his breaking point. His downward spiral into mental instability threatens to rob him of his stable home life with his loving wife and children, his successful career, and his sanity. However, his breakdown also promises to release repressed memories that may lead him to a younger brother, one he hadn't known survived. While fighting the demons in his mind, Daniel also fights with his body, which causes him constant pain due to the passage of time and the multitude of injuries that had gone without treatment before he was rescued from his childhood hell.Daniel's wife, Sarah, does what she does best – whatever she can to help those she loves. Despite her own emotional struggles and visual impairment, Sarah is the woman who always manages to keep her family going. However, she finally decides that it's time to take care of herself as well. As she tries to deal with rejection from her former stepmother and the results of Daniel's breakdown, Sarah begins therapy and returns to work. She regains a life purpose outside of her dedication to her husband, children, and other family members. Watching Daniel suffer brings forth the inner strength she always manages to find in times of strife, regardless of her own emotional turmoil.Tristan Maes, Sarah's biological father and Daniel's de facto one, draws upon all of his own tragic life experiences and his resolve to persevere in an effort to save his two eldest children. He works with his family and Daniel's new therapist as he attempts to keep connecting with the rational part of Daniel's mind. In the midst of his stress and worry regarding Sarah and Daniel, Tristan unexpectedly finds love with a fellow architect. However, the perplexing circumstances of his ex-wife's departure, combined with her odd behavior, have him and the rest of the family searching for answers. Tristan holds onto hope but knows his grasp is tenuous.Mercy is what Daniel, Sarah, and Tristan need most. It's also what they provide for each other and what they receive from those closest to them. Although many things are beyond their control, their overwhelming love and devotion to one another are their strongest assets in the most difficult battle of their lives -- a battle to stay together and find their own version of living happily ever after.

In this thrilling sequel to A Lovely Dream, Seneca and Michael battle to survive a plot initiated by a murderous man from Michael's past. Innocent people fall prey to the psychopathic killer, who then kidnaps Michael. Seneca must save the man she loves and keep their children, family, and friends safe from harm. Her determination to find Michael before it's too late leads her into a dark world where espionage and murder are accepted and expected. Forced to trust a dangerous man who has his own agenda, Seneca has to use every resource available to her in order to bring Michael home to the lovely reality they created before his disappearance.

One night, Seneca Jones has a vivid dream in which a smart, handsome man loves her passionately and unconditionally. Seneca, a social worker, dismisses the dream as a manifestation of longing for what she fears she'll never have. But she figures out shortly after meeting Michael Benedetto, a former Naval Intelligence Officer, that he is the man of her dreams. Both brilliant and haunted by their pasts, Seneca and Michael realize they were meant to be together regardless of their extremely different backgrounds and their individual struggles with PTSD. Despite their devotion to one another, however, Michael's past as a spy and the horrific incident that Seneca witnessed as a teenager put their relationship, as well as their lives, in jeopardy. As their love and commitment grow stronger, Seneca and Michael vow to work together to help others who are fighting similar battles. Unfortunately while they attempt to deal with their own issues, they have no way of knowing that an even greater danger looms over their future.

It's 2034. In 2029, the D Plague struck and killed half the world's population. Those who contracted the virus faced certain death and the disintegration of their bodies afterwards into dust. Unbeknownst to all but a handful of people left on Earth, one twenty-two-year-old man contracted the D Plague and lived. His name is Aric Rodrigue.Aric may be a living miracle, but he's haunted by survivor's guilt. His entire family gone, he gave up his dream of attending medical school in order to take over his parents' pharmaceutical company. He allows doctors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to routinely perform tests and examinations on him in hopes that whatever helped him to survive might lead to great medical advances. Aric knows he's doing good work but feels as though he can't alleviate his depression and loneliness.Then, he meets Chelsea Capra. He immediately senses that the sweet, beautiful woman with blue eyes and almond-colored skin is anything but average. He discovers that she suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2033 and remembers nothing of her previous life. All of the doctors who treated her after her accident have died or disappeared. A computer genius who has lingering emotional and physical challenges, Chelsea improves with Aric's help, and they fall in love. However, their relationship only complicates matters.The couple comes to the conclusion that their pasts are somehow linked. They become suspicious of CDC employees and those Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who are supposedly protecting them. When friends fall prey to murder and a trusted associate almost succeeds in killing Aric, they must decide whether to stand their ground or flee. Chelsea's inquisitive nature may get them killed or save their lives. Aric combines his resources, connections, and drive in his efforts to save them, but he wonders whether or not he's been betrayed by his closest friend and former lover, the President of the United States.Both Aric and Chelsea have been told how lucky they are – him for surviving the D Plague and her for surviving the accident. Their desire to stop evil incarnate and remain together unites and strengthens them. Only if they can outwit the masterminds of a plot to eliminate them will they be lucky enough to find lifelong happiness together and to understand the surprising hidden truths in their pasts that have led them to be targeted for assassination in their present.

Josie Hollingsworth is beautiful, tenacious, and successful. She's also haunted by her past. For years, her brilliant, mentally ill parents consistently compromised their children's sense of security. But Josie worked diligently to distance herself from their world, a world filled with hallucinations and anxiety. However, now that her sister has also succumbed to mental illness, Josie fears that all of her efforts were for nothing, that she's doomed to the same fate.Enter Stone Romero, a sexy, charismatic, strong-willed pediatrician. After their unlikely meeting in an Austin, Texas Emergency Room, Stone intuits Josie's need for support during her time of crisis. He offers her his help, assuring her that there are no strings attached despite their mutual attraction. Josie soon realizes that Stone, grieving the loss of his identical twin and repressing anger regarding his own childhood issues, needs her help as much as she needs his.Relocating to Stone's hometown in northern Louisiana, they work to begin a new life together. For the first time, Josie discovers love, intimacy, and explosive sex. As scandals resulting from both Hollingsworth and Romero family secrets come to light, they lead to terrible tragedies and horrific violence. Josie recognizes that Stone is the one man in the world who will never put her in a compromising position. She prays that it's not too late for them to have the storybook ending that she never imagined would be within her grasp.

Jordan, daughter of the famed healer Collum, has always taken pride in her independent nature and in the fact that she's the only woman on the planet Etherea who possesses "e;the healer's gift."e; She finds acceptance, excitement, and purpose by treating soldiers in war camps. Jordan is comfortable with her uniqueness and doesn't believe she needs the love of any man in order to be fulfilled.When she begins to have premonitions and is captured by enemy soldiers, Jordan becomes embroiled in a quest to save the great-niece of her King, a child who is the product of rape and is being used as a pawn by her own father. Noah, the King's bastard son, is not only intent on saving his infant cousin and avenging the murder of her mother, but he also knows he's the ideal match for Jordan. Like her, he's respected but is also set apart from others. Unlike her, his separateness results from the circumstances of his birth and from the berserker rages he succumbs to during battles.Jordan and Noah come to understand that love and desire are the most important tools they have in their own quest to stay alive and together. But a twisted part of Noah's past will threaten his life and sanity. If Jordan can't heal him, body and soul, then her final premonition will come true. If it does, then both of the lovers are doomed. Jordan refuses to accept that outcome, but her strength of will may not be enough to prevent tragic events from robbing her of the future she longs to have with Noah.

The past, present, and future collide when Anya, Etherea's last Oracle, is kidnapped by a stranger called Nameless. She soon discovers that her captor has plans to use her in order to seek revenge against Emil, the sociopath who stole his innocence and memories and turned him into a vicious fighter and ruthless killer. When he realizes that Anya's power holds the key to his past, Nameless decides to modify his plot and keep her for himself.Impulsive and stubborn, Anya, daughter of Tabitha and Alexi, rapidly uncovers pieces of her captor's past, including his name: Xander. As she glimpses his history, she quickly loses her fear of Xander, finding goodness within him when he becomes her selfless, fierce protector. "e;Every heart can be reached,"e; her mother once told her, adding, "e;Where there is love, there's hope."e; But will Xander's refusal to accept his own worth prove Anya's mother wrong?Pursued by Emil and his henchmen, the couple discover their passion and love as they uncover more secrets about Xander's early life and try to accept Anya's startling last prophecy. Even as they flee from one country to the next, both are determined to stop Emil before the promise of what is meant to be can be crushed by the events of the past. If Anya's final vision doesn't come to pass, then Etherea's future itself is in jeopardy.

Tabitha, adopted daughter of Jordan and Noah, finds herself kidnapped by slave traders and spirited away from her home country of Amare. Beautiful, gentle, and capable, Tabitha, an artist, is determined not to be sold into slavery. The birthmarks on the back of her left shoulder that resemble Etherea's two moons might ensure that she's never purchased, but they might also result in her death.Arrogant, brilliant, and successful, Alexi is an inventor and businessman who doesn't approve of slavery. Yet, he's compelled to buy Tabitha, both to save her and to solve many of his own problems in his home country of Skye. Underestimating Tabitha's kind heart and inner strength, he refuses to believe that he can ever love or be loved by anyone. Abandoned as a newborn, Alexi is certain of his own abilities but not of his own self-worth.When Tabitha's efforts to reach Alexi's heart result in a tragedy for which he blames himself, their future together seems unlikely. But Tabitha's capacity to love and forgive the man who can't forgive himself is crucial when it comes to saving them both. Alexi must realize that he is bound to Tabitha in the most fundamental of ways if they're to be truly free.

The Real World Series tells the riveting saga of Tristan, Sarah and Daniel, three survivors who have each overcome devastating loss in their lives. Experiencing some of life's cruelest challenges threatens to overwhelm the trio, but their hopes for the future and love for one another carry them through times of darkness as life goes on. But this is the real world. Will they live happily ever after? Read the series finale, Unfinished Business, and find out!