Saturday Sample: The Best Selling Toy Of The Season

"Hey, Elizabeth. I heard that Elaine is participating in a blog hop along with a bunch of other authors."

"That's true, Nikki. You can go to http://elainepcantrell.blogspot.com/2013/12/mfrws-home-for-holidays-blog-hop-rob.html for more information."

"Is she having Saturday Sample today?"

"You mean are we having Saturday Sample. We're in charge of this blog until the end of December."

"Well, are we?"

"Yes, of course we are. What book would you like to share?"

"Mine, mine!"

"Readers, we might as well. Elaine did do a nice job telling Nikki's story."

"Tell the part where I first met Tommy."

"Okay. Here goes."

Finally, his turn came. He thankfully paid for his gag gift and

joined the throngs of people either going out or coming in. He saw

Bill English and lifted his hand to wave goodbye, but he didn’t see the

woman in front of him until he plowed into her. Both he and the

young woman who had helped him find his gift went sprawling to the

floor. Something in her bag broke with a loud crash when Tommy’s

knee smashed into it.

 

 

All the Super Mart employees in the vicinity came running,

including Bill English. “Are you guys okay?”

 

 

“I’m fine,” Tommy assured him as visions of lawsuits danced in

his head. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

 

 

To his horror, the young woman burst into tears. “You’ve ruined

everything! Teddy and Michael are going to be so disappointed, and I

guess they’ll stop believing in Santa Claus, but you don’t care.”

She jerked her bag toward her and held out two broken toys for

Tommy to see. “These robots are all that my boys asked for this year.

I put them on layaway back in September, and I finished paying for

them today. They’re the best selling toy of the season. You can’t find

them anywhere, and now you’ve broken mine.”

 

 

She shot Tommy a look of bitter enmity. Wiping the tears from

her cheeks, she scrambled to her feet and stalked out of the store.

 

 

“Be ashamed,” lectured one of the customers. “You ruined her

boys’ Christmas.”

 

 

“Yeah,” a man in the crowd contributed. “You could at least have

offered to pay for it.”

 

 

The Super Mart employees nodded their agreement. “Look at the

way he’s dressed. He’s got money to burn. He won’t even pay for

Nikki’s loss, and it was all his fault.”

You can buy The Best Selling Toy Of The Season at Amazon, B&N, and most online retail outlets.

The Best Selling Toy Of The Season

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. My excerpt today is from my Christmas release The Best Selling Toy Of The Season. In this excerpt my hero arrives to take my heroine and her two boys on their first date. Michael is five and Teddy is six. When you finish here, you can find more lovely sentences at http://www.wewriwa.com. 

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Selling-Toy-Season/dp/1612350003/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379819765&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=the+bestselling+toy+of+the+season+by+elaine+cantrell

Excerpt:

Two pairs of blue eyes checked him out.

“Are you taking us to dinner with you?” Teddy said, refusing to budge from the center of the door.

“Yes, is that okay with you?”

“Dan won’t like it,” Michael warned.

“How do you know?”

“We heard him tell Mama to stay away from you.” Michael’s lip quivered in spite of his manful efforts to hold it steady. “Are you a bad man?”

Blurb:
 

Who’d want to be Nikki Lane?  Sure, she’s beautiful, but her family isn’t much.  She isn’t married either, and supporting her two boys on a minimum wage job has cost her more than one sleepless night. 

Tommy Price is everything Nikki isn’t.  He lives on James Street, the best street in town.  Naturally, his rich, influential family has a suitable woman picked out for him to marry. 

Tommy and Nikki’s two diverse worlds literally collide one evening at the discount store where Nikki works, giving both of them a glimpse into a life they never knew existed. 

Can the growing attraction between them bridge the vast gulf which separates them, or will their romance end before it even begins?     

 

Saturday Sample: Christmas is Coming

Thank goodness it's Saturday!  I've got Monday off, and I hope you do too. My Saturday sample today comes from my Christmas novel The Best Selling Toy Of The Season, a Melange Books release.  In this excerpt, my hero Tommy is on a first date with my heroine Nikki, but unfortunately, Nikki couldn't get a baby sitter so she had to take her kids with her.  You can find The Best Selling Toy Of The Season at http://www.melange-books.com/authors/elainecantrell/cantrellthebestsellingtoyoftheseason.html

Blurb:
Can a beautiful unwed mother from the wrong side of town find happiness with a rich lawyer?
Not if his family can help it.

Excerpt:

The Chicken Shack was located several miles outside of town,

and when Tommy slipped on the greasy floor, he guessed that the

business specialized in fried chicken. They seated themselves at a

booth with a scarred Formica tabletop that needed a good washing.

Undeterred, Nikki took a paper napkin from the holder on the table

and wiped away the rings left by the previous occupants’ glasses.

“I hope you don’t mind sitting beside Michael,” she said. “It’s

easier to talk if you and I are facing each other.”

 

“I don’t mind. Michael and I are buddies.” He turned to Michael

and asked, “Did you like what Santa brought you?”

 

“I sure did. It was the best Christmas ever.”

 

Teddy snickered. “You said that last year.”

 

“I did not!”

 

“Yes, you did.”

 

A loud and lively conversation broke out. It took Nikki a few

moments to quell the riot. Good. The noise had made his ears ring.

 

Nikki propped her elbows on the table and frowned at Teddy who

looked ready to argue. “I wish that Dan was here. He can always

make the boys mind. All he does is give them a look, and they behave

just fine. I think it’s because he’s a man. Boys respond to a man better

than a woman.”

 

Privately Tommy hoped that he, too, would be able to compel the

respect of Nikki’s boys, for that’s what made the children obey Dan,

respect.

 

Michael tugged on Tommy’s sleeve. “Mister? Hey, Mister.”

 

“What do you want them to call you?” interrupted Nikki.

 

“They can call me Tommy.”

 

“You interrupted me,” Michael complained.

 

“Go on then.”

 

Michel did so. “Are you going to be our daddy?”