Touch of Love:
Short Story Collection

by Chelle Cordero

Even works of fiction reflect on the author’s life and experiences
and Touch of Love was truly inspired by lots of personal stories.
Read on to see why each of these short pieces
hold very special meaning for me…

An Empty House: You never know what tomorrow will bring. This is a personal essay about coping with and moving on with the “New Normal”.

The night before our 41st wedding anniversary my wonderful and loving husband was rushed to the hospital with a stroke. It was just after midnight on our anniversary that the Dr said the next 48 hours would be critical. He spent months in rehab and I feel very blessed that he was able to come home. This man has always been my hero (and the man I have based every one of my book heroes on!). It’s been a journey and we are on this road together.

The Lost Love: Rejected for her Mexican heritage by the teen-age boy she had a crush on, Lindsay put it behind her. So how come, when they wind up at the same college years later, Lindsay can’t get over her anger at the humiliation? And will Brad ever forgive himself for his callous behavior?

I think I was in 7^th grade when I had my first REAL date with a boy, you know when he meets you at your apartment, says HI to your mom, you go out together and HE PAYS. We were walking to the bowling alley a few blocks away from my home (and closer to his) when we saw his mom on the street bringing her grocery shopping home; he seemed to be proud to introduce me. It was a very nice, innocent date. That night he called me on the phone, he sounded all choked up. He told me that when his mother heard my last name, my HISPANIC last name, she forbid him from seeing me again! I was so angry the next school day when I saw him in the hallway, he turned the other way and looked embarrassed. I had heard some people call others with not-nice racial names, but that was the first time I ever knew such a strong prejudice directed against me.

The Dead Guy in the Park: An almost end-of-shift call leads a paramedic and her partner to a dead guy in the park. All she has to do is pronounce him so that the coroner can come get the body. What could possibly go wrong?
* includes the special bonus Spanish translation El Difunto del Parque

I was a NYS EMT for almost 30 years and I had a lot, A LOT, of different and all interesting calls. One morning I took a call to respond to an apparent suicide, assumed DOA, to pronounce (in our county EMTs were permitted to do this). I got there and ran through all of the standard checks I had to do to sign off for the coroner. The patient was definitely deceased and yet “something” didn’t seem right to me, but I was overruled by others at the scene. I signed off knowing that there would be an autopsy anyway. But I’ve always wondered?

Rekindled: Cynthia and Daniel were college sweethearts torn apart by tragedy. A lifetime later they bump into each other again — Is this their second chance at love?

Although the story, Rekindled, is PURE fiction, the character of Cynthia was inspired by a very dear childhood friend of mine; she passed away suddenly a few years ago, I will just use her initials here, DL, to protect her family’s privacy, DL left school quite suddenly when her parents were killed by a hit-and-run driver and there was no one to raise her younger siblings. DL devoted her life to her family and did finally find her own love-of-her-life many years later.

A Date with Mistletoe: Sometimes you find that it’s the “Unanswered Prayers” that are the best things to ever happen. When confronted by the man of yesterday alongside the man who means the world to her, there is no doubt in Rachel’s mind that she has the best.

I had been seeing my on-again-off-again boyfriend for almost two years. He kept proposing but I wasn’t ready to settle down and that was ONE of the biggest problems we had in our relationship. We were on-again and I thought happy. I called his house one morning to wish him a happy birthday, since he worked nights I was hoping to catch him before he went to bed. I was surprised when a woman answered the phone and even more surprised when she said she was his wife. I was humiliated and devastated. I thought my life was over — far from it. I met my loving husband not long after and after only two weeks of dating we were in love and engaged. (To this day it has been a terrific love affair) Several years later I was making a business call for work unaware of who would answer the phone, although my last name was different he recognized my voice — I let him know I was using my MARRIED name. He asked me how things were and told me he was divorced… AND THEN HE ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE! I said NO. There was never a doubt in my mind that I wound up with the better man. 

He is My Brother…: Who can help save the life of a beloved family member? Prayers, hopes and a plea for help.

This is just an honest to G-d request for help for a member of our family who desperately needs a kidney transplant.

Always, One More Time: Disowned by her parents because of an interracial love affair, Callie Sanders is left alone to raise her son after his father, Jimmy Bernerd, dies fighting in a war on the other side of the world. Desperate to give her son a family she goes to the Bernerd household — what she finds is a second chance at love, acceptance, and family.

Moved by the heartbreaking reports of military losses from the latest conflict leaving many single parents left alone to raise children and frustrated with the increased racial tensions of the last few years, I created Callie Sanders and put her into the dual situation. I hope my readers will read this story with compassion and acceptance. My favorite character is Mama Bernerd, she is a very strong, resolute and loving matriarch of her family who is capable of showing enormous compassion for others.

Buy Links

Kindle

Apple

Nook

Kobo

Playster

Inktera

Scribd

Also Available through

Indigo, Bucher.de, Angus & Robertson, WHSmith, Thalia,
Tolino, Streetlib, 3M, Baker and Taylor, Follet, Overdrive, Gardners, Chegg, Google Play, and other online retailers