Posts Tagged ‘Blind Date Bride’
Talk about manic weeks… When I’m not at work, I’ll be running around getting ready for the first-ever Payson Book Festival.
The festival is Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gila Community College, 201 N. Mud Springs Road, Payson, Arizona. All kinds of authors will be there. I’m sharing a table with RWA chapter mate Susan Haught.
Activities will include:
- Book readings by authors
- Storytelling for kids
- Book signings
- Author exhibit tables
- Local food vendors
- Musical entertainment
I’m looking forward to interacting with readers, for sure! If you’re in Arizona, plan on stopping by. It’s a beautiful time of year for a road trip to Payson!
Speaking of getting ready, I had to unearth my box of bookmarks and business cards. I hadn’t seen it since my move, and I had a moment of sheer panic last Thursday when I couldn’t find it immediately.
It’s my own fault, really. I snagged boxes from the Daily Sun office for my move. They were the perfect size — big enough to hold books and/or videos without being too heavy to move once filled. And they’re all stamped “Sedona Visitor’s Guide.” So I have a couple dozen boxes all with the same label … with no idea what’s actually in them. (Yeah, that’s a solid argument for labeling boxes as I pack them. I did that at first. Alas, when moving day came and we were still throwing stuff in boxes, the labels went by the wayside.)
Finally, I found my author promo items. Some other crap from my computer desk had been dumped on top of the precious stuff I sought.
If you stop by to see me Saturday, I’ll autograph a bookmark for you. I’ll also have copies of BLIND DATE BRIDE and HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS for sale.
Dare I say this week’s My Sexy Saturday theme is right up my alley?
This week’s theme is A Good Ole Sexy Time and think about things like the Dukes of Hazzard or maybe Nashville or the Appalachian Mountains. This week is about…well…normal people. You know, the boys next door, the good ole boys, the boys of summer and everything in between. There is nothing more sexy than a man at the beach or getting done with his chores or doing his best at any task.
Fun—and I have just the snippet.
In this scene from BLIND DATE BRIDE, Kari is grappling with her new reality. She and Damien, her faux husband of less than a week, have ceded the spare room she was planning to sleep in to the camera crew that will be taping their every move for a new series they’ve agreed to. Thus she finds herself reluctantly sharing his bed.
Damien is about the most normal guy I’ve ever had the pleasure of having in my head. (His buddy Cody is a close second.) He’s a veterinarian, a one-time band geek (trumpet), retired Casanova (he went a little crazy in college when he started running and playing tennis and grew into his gangly body) and armchair psychologist.
Enjoy!
***
“Stop looking at me like you’re on a diet and I’m a hot fudge sundae!” she snapped at him.
Damien rolled his eyes. “You think you’re that irresistible, huh?”
“Well,” Kari began. More concerned with her own response to the look he was giving her, she hadn’t considered how conceited the complaint would make her sound.
“Because I have news for you, sweetheart, I can resist. No problem.”
She stood and sat on the edge of Damien’s bed opposite him, but not before scowling at him. “You don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”
He glowered right back. “Why shouldn’t I be? You’re basically saying you don’t trust me to keep my hands to myself, right?”
“Uh—”
“Because I’ve never had to force my attentions on an unwilling woman before, and I don’t intend to start anytime soon. So until you decide you want my hands on you, you have nothing to worry about.”
Find BLIND DATE BRIDE at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and in print at CreateSpace or Amazon.
Long time no blog, eh? So much for those weekly posts I was supposed to be writing after coming home from San Antonio in July.
January has been a busy month. I started a new job in a new city. I’m still looking for a permanent place to live. I have to pack up 13+ years of crap that’s accumulated in the Flagstaff house.
I’m getting back into the rhythm of working days. Spoiler alert: It’s really cutting into my writing/editing time at Starbucks.
Since I’m fresh off the blog tour for BLIND DATE BRIDE, I’ve decided to share a moment from Kari & Damien’s story for this week’s entry into the My Sexy Saturday linkup.
In this scene, the reluctant bride and groom have just completed a couples’ yoga class — an intense experience that brings them closer than ever. In fact, it brings them so close that Kari’s willing to take a chance.
****
Tentatively, Kari traced the muscles of his shoulders and back. Slowly, her hand trailed to his rear end and then around front to flutter over his now-raging hard-on.
It was Damien’s turn to groan. Even that featherlight touch through the fabric of his yoga pants was driving him wild. Roughly, he yanked her pants down over her hips and cupped the mound of her sex.
When she made a soft sound of protest and pushed his hand away, he groaned again. So, she wasn’t quite ready yet. He captured her lips again, stroking her face, shoulders and thighs as his tongue plunged in and out of her mouth in an imitation of the sex act he wanted to be engaged in.
Slowly, he felt Kari’s resistance melting. Sending another thank-you into the universe, he pushed down his pants and positioned himself between her thighs.
Bright light flooded the Element.
“What the—?” Damien spat a curse.
A split second later, he had his answer. Sam’s voice announced cheerfully, “Found ’em.”
Find BLIND DATE BRIDE at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and in print at CreateSpace or Amazon.
I’m in the throes of NaNoWriMo…and way behind, so this blog post has to be quick. Friday was Day 21, and I just crossed the halfway mark (25K) Thursday. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll make it to 50K
Chalk up another one for “plotting rules, pantsing drools.”
This week’s My Sexy Saturday theme is “Our Sexy Thanksgiving.”
Say what?
“… This week show us all the characters love family. Maybe it’s someone who doesn’t have one and suddenly they find themselves with one. It could be about someone who has always looked in and wanted a home with all the trimmings including a family. There are many ways to be thankful and we’d love to hear some of those wonderful stories.”
Okay. I think I can find something that fills the bill.
In BLIND DATE BRIDE, Damien is the only child of college professor parents—and when he meets his reality TV wife’s family, he’s a bit overwhelmed. Her sisters ogle him, her brothers threaten him and he earns dirty looks for being a Cubs fan in a house full of White Sox lovers. In this seven-sentence snippet, Damien and Kari have arranged an after-dinner walk to keep her parents from watching the latest installment of “Just Married” (because it contains some embarrassing footage of Kari and Damien making out in his car).
A quick primer: Steve and Sean are Kari’s brothers. Claire and Shannon are her sisters. Frank and Sarah are her parents.
***
When they got back to the house thirty-five minutes later, Kari and Damien exchanged a glance. She took a deep breath and whispered, “Here goes nothing.”
Damien pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by Sean’s hostile stare. Steve, however, flashed him a thumbs-up, mouthing the words, “Good job.”
Kari’s other sister greeted them with a harsh laugh. “I stand corrected.”
Beside him, Kari’s face flamed fire engine red. Damien narrowed his eyes at the other woman. For some reason, he didn’t like this sister much.
It was then that Shannon came rushing to the rescue. “Mom, I have some bad news: The DVR malfunctioned.”
Sara Parker stamped her foot in frustration and looked at Kari. “I so wanted to see you in action, dear.”
Kari sucked in a breath at her mother’s word choice. Even Damien found it unfortunate. He was about to say something to come to her rescue when her brothers threw in their two cents’ worth. Sean tried unsuccessfully to stifle a snort and Steve quipped, “Trust me, Ma. You didn’t miss a thing.”
Find BLIND DATE BRIDE at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and in print at CreateSpace or Amazon.
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