Once upon a time, there was a little boy named David. He had one sister who was fourteen when he was born, and his best friend was an imaginary pink rabbit. The rabbit was not surprising if you considered that the little boy’s grandmother was a writer. The child had to get his imagination from somewhere. David was Grandma’s biggest fan, probably because he admired her book video trailers.
Time passed and David’s sister married Josh. The little boy soon idolized his new brother-in-law, mostly because Josh owned a gym and taught people how to wrestle WWE style. The boy’s sister thought she’d give wrestling a try too, but she didn’t like getting flipped around and hurt so she gave it up in a hurry.
Grandma thought wrestling was too violent for little David, but his father, a first class musician, let him watch it anyway. After one exciting match, the little boy demanded, “Grandma, write me a book about wrestlers.”
Grandma resisted. Wrestling was not her cup of tea, but like all good grandmas, she caved and said she’d do it. She consulted with Josh and soon started her first romantic comedy, which she called Fortuna. Not wishing to have all the action in a wrestling ring, Grandma had one match in chapter one, and then her wrestlers retired to West Virginia where the adventures just wouldn’t stop coming.
And that, dear friends, is where Grandma got the idea for Fortuna. Those who looked at the dedication page found that Grandma dedicated the book like this:
For Josh and David without whom there would have been no book.
And now lets have an excerpt from Fortuna.
Blurb:
Aimee Sherwood never dreamed that following her fiancé into the witness protection program would land her in a haunted house in a town that's downright creepy. She'd have laughed if she had been told the guy who lives down the road might be her should mate, not the man whose ring she's wearing. Life in West Virginia is nothing like life in Los Angeles, but between bean ball battles with Marilyn Monroe, remodeling a crumbling farmhouse, and starting a new online business, life in the country is anything but boring.
Excerpt:
Cade held out his arm to Aimee. “Ma’am, I would be delighted to show you the gazebo. Do take my arm. The ground is rather uneven.”
“Why, thank you, sir.”
As they strolled toward the gazebo, Aimee allowed the setting to mesmerize her and capture her imagination. What would it have been like to attend this party in the year 1860? Would the threat of war have lent a spice of excitement to the festivities that made ordinary activities like visiting the gazebo seem new and romantic?
Cade indicated a built-in bench, which circled the inside of the gazebo. “Would you like to sit down?”
Aimee sat and gathered her skirts around her, admiring the rustle of her long, crinoline petticoat. She patted the space beside her. “Sit beside me.”
Cade bowed. “You honor me, Miss Sherwood.”
“You may call me Miss Aimee, sir.”
“Miss Aimee, then.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Aimee’s heart took off in a mad gallop. She felt heat rising from her chest and knew it colored her face an inconvenient shade of red. Oh! My! Goodness!All he’d done was kiss her hand, and she was melting. If only she hadn’t left her fan at Miss Gladys’ table.
Cade kept hold of her hand even though she’d expected him to let go of it. His calloused fingers felt so male, so strong, so warm that another wave of heat washed over her and almost took her breath away.
“You look beautiful tonight, Miss Aimee. There’s not a woman at the party who can touch you.”
Was it her imagination or had he moved a bit closer to her?
“Your eyes sparkle like blue diamonds, and I love those curls of yours. You’ve captured the sunshine.” He reached for her ponytail and bounced her curls in the palm of his hand.
Breathe. She mustn’t forget to breathe.
