Sweet Saturday Sample: Forced to Wed a Stranger

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample. Today I want to share a bit from my upcoming release The Enchanted. Mark May 14 on your calendar, please!  In this excerpt, my heroine reflects on her forced marriage to Prince Alan, a man whom she has never met.

 
"Please, my lady. If you do not sit still I cannot care for your feet."

"You try to sit still if you think it is so easy!" Morgane cried. "The bandage has stuck to the blisters, and the pain is dreadful when you pull."

"I am very sorry, but if we do not keep your feet clean and medicated, you will get an infection."

"Yes, I know." She flinched as Edana applied a soothing ointment to her burned feet. At least it was supposed to be soothing. Truly, it did little good.

A flash of lightning split the sky outside the window. Thunder boomed as the rain started to fall. Over the roar of the downpour, she heard the sound of horses galloping across the cobblestones in the courtyard. The wind caught the heavy brocade drapes, which billowed into the room as raindrops pattered on the stone floor. "I will shut the window," Edana cried. She ran to do so, but instead of closing it, she stared outside at the courtyard.

"What do you see?" Morgane demanded. "Who is out there?"

"It is the queen and Prince Alan. One of the servants told me that the two of them had gone riding."

Morgane jumped up and hobbled to the window, ignoring the pain in her feet. "I cannot see his face."

"Please, come back and sit down. You will meet him soon enough."

Morgane sighed, feeling the animation drain from her face. "All too true."

She returned to her seat in the soft, deep chair beside the fireplace and bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood. Shehated her father! Presently, she voiced this sentiment to Edana. "The only good thing that comes from my marriage is that I escape my father. I hate him, Edana."
"I do not wonder, my lady."

"I have always been a dutiful daughter to him. He had no right, no reason to treat me as a slave or worse."

"No, my lady."

Morgane's foot jerked as Edana's gentle touch burned and stung. "Finish them," she commanded. "I cannot bear for you to touch them."

Edana applied the last bandage. "There. It is done. You must be careful, my lady."

"Ha! I am sure I will be expected to dance the night away."

Worry clouded Edana's large, brown eyes. "I have worried about that. If you will allow it, we will add an extra layer of bandages."

"Well… perhaps that is best." Morgane stuck out her right foot. "I am like an animal in a trap. I would chew my own foot off if it would gain my freedom for me."

"Perhaps you and Prince Alan will care for each other," Edana soothed.

Morgane's lip curled. "I doubt it very much."

Sweet Saturday Sample: Big Tipper

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample. My sample today comes from a book that's been sitting on my computer for several years. I keep meaning to go back and edit it, but it's more fun to write new stuff. Anyway, in this excerpt, my hero Wes just arrived at the diner where my heroine Caroline works. Caroline doesn't want to wait on him at all. She threw herself at Wes for months, and all he did was reject her. Caroline speaks first.

“What can I get you?”

“I want a date.”

Caroline frowned.  “Do you mean the date nut bread or the date bars?  We have both.”

“I don’t mean either one.” He smiled so beatifically that Caroline wanted to hit him.  “I want you to give me a date that we can get married.”

He didn’t bother to lower his voice, so several customers' heads swiveled their way.

“I’ll bring you the date bars.  They’re good.”

Caroline hustled away and returned with the date bars and some coffee.  “Here.”  She put a ticket down beside him and ran away before he could try to talk to her. 

Wes ate the date bars and drank his coffee.  He looked at his bill and called, “Caroline, I'm ready to pay.”

Caroline was making a mess of the egg salad anyway, so she dried her hands and went to take his money.  “That’ll be four fifty five.”

Wes placed a folded five dollar bill in her hand.  “Keep the change.”

“You’re the last of the big tippers, Wes.”  She went to the register to put the money away, but when she unfolded the five, a diamond ring fell out into the change in the register drawer. 

Sweet Saturday Sample: Amnesia

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  My excerpt today is from a WIP titled Forgetting Our Love.  In this excerpt, my heroine is going home from the hospital after she recovered from an accident that has given her temporary amnesia.

The silence in the car almost deafened Jorie.  Oh, why was it taking so long to get home?  How was she supposed to make conversation with a perfect stranger?  She didn’t know Ben.  The hospital had given her into the care of a man whom she didn’t remember, a man who scared her to death.

The nurses and doctors at the hospital had told her Ben was her husband.  They had showed her pictures of the two of them, pictures in which they always looked happy.  She had seen her name on her driver’s license, and Ben had even shown her their marriage certificate.

It all meant nothing to her.  The first thing she could remember was waking up in the hospital with Ben sitting beside her bed.  She still remembered the expression on his face.  She had identified worry and concern for her well-being, but she saw something else too, and for the life of her she couldn’t figure it out.

Her fists clinched in her lap.  Why did she have to have that stupid accident?  Why did destiny pick her life to ruin?  Why couldn’t she remember her husband or her family?  It was the most awful thing that had ever happened to her.  A swell of emotion almost closed her throat.  At least, she thought it was.  Who knew for sure?  She had amnesia.  Heaven only knew what she may have suffered.

Picture: http://www.stockfreeimages.com/6562940/Young-beautiful-sad-woman.html

Sweet Saturday Sample: First Dates

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  In today's sample my heroine goes on her first date since her fiance dumped her for her sister.

Kara’s eyes fluttered open when he raised his head.

“That was nice,” she whispered, or maybe she only thought she said it. She didn’t know.

He bent his head again, but the lights from a passing car illuminated the SUV’s interior. Kara pulled away from him.

“Don’t, Ross. We shouldn’t be parked on the side of the road kissing each other.”

“Then where should we park?”

Kara blinked and tried to pull herself together. “What?”

“To kiss. Where should we park so I can kiss you?’

Kara smiled in spite of herself. “We don’t need to be kissing at all. I don’t make a habit of kissing men on the first date.”

“You don’t know that,” Ross retorted. “It’s been a long time since you had a first date.”
 

If you have a moment, take a look at the video I made.  I'm kinda proud of it.

 

 

Sweet Saturday Sample: A Living Gift

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Sample.  Today I'd like to share a sample from one of my WIPs.  Yes, I have more than one at a time.  The title of this manuscript is Reclaiming Wes Hagood.  In this excerpt, Wes has just buried his wife.

The priest stroked the baby’s soft hand and looked into Wes’s eyes.  “In spite of everything you’re a lucky man.”

“Lucky!  You have the nerve to call what happened to me lucky?”

Father Duncan refused to take offense.  “You had three years with a wonderful woman.  Lots of men never find a love like you and Chris shared.”

That was true, but still…  “I’m angry, Father.  Why did God allow this to happen?” Wes demanded, his face dark and tormented.  “We wanted a baby so much!  It isn’t fair to cheat her out of seeing her son grow up.”

“That’s a cry which has echoed down through the ages.  Unfortunately, the only answers I could give you would sound cruel, mocking, and hollow.  But even in the face of this tragedy, God is good.  He let you keep Chris’s last gift to you, didn’t He?  She knew her heart might not stand the strain of a pregnancy, but she did it because she wanted a child from the love you two shared.”

He patted the little boy in Wes’s arms.  “Take good care of him, Wes.  He’s a living gift from your wife.”

Father Duncan left Wes alone, and Wes buried his face in the blue blanket in his arms and cried.

 

Picture credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Un_b%C3%A9b%C3%A9.jpg

Sweet Saturday Sample: Oh. My. Goodness

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  Today's sample comes from Her Kind of Man.  In this excerpt, my heroine Kara goes in search of her husband Ross.  Her Kind of Man is 50% off now through Sunday at https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herkindofman-771739-149.html

Ross wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen, so she decided to check the bedrooms. People had spread out all over the house; that’s where he must have gone. She paused outside the master bedroom door when she heard Brittany’s voice.

“Does Kara suspect anything?”

“No,” Ross answered. “I told her you wanted to buy some sausage.”

“It’s a good thing you told me. I might have made a boo-boo if you hadn’t.”

“For obvious reasons I don’t want her to know anything about this, Brittany,” Ross warned.

“She won’t hear about it from me.”

“Do you think things are going to work out?”

Now what could they be talking about?

 

Sweet Saturday Sample: Fortuna

My sample today comes from my current WIP where we see my hero having some difficulty explaining the name of his farm to a new acquaintance. Rocky is a former professional wrestler.

At the conclusion of the service, a woman seated nearby made her way to them and held out her hand. “Welcome to Holy Cross. I’m Wanda Meadows.”

They shook hands with her. “I’m Rocky Brooks, and this is my fiancée, Aimee Sherwood.”

“Oh, you’re the people who bought Four Tuna. I read about finding the cemetery and the discovery of the property’s name. It made the front page of the local paper.”

Rocky shook his head. “It’s Fortuna, not Four Tuna.”

“Oh, I get it. It’s one word. Fourtuna.”

“No, Fortuna. For not four.”

Wanda beamed at Rocky. “That’s right. Fourtuna.”

Rocky gave up.

 

Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wrestler_Eddie_Edwards_in_August_2008.jpg

at http://flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/2768591865
    

Sweet Saturday Sample: Grrrr

Today's sample comes from The Welcome Inn.  I hope you like it!

The hot, heavy darkness, as cloying as dusty velvet, pressed relentlessly upon the two struggling figures.

"Let me go you pig, you... you... pervert!"

Two well-placed kicks and a jab of the elbow later, Julianna Martin broke free.

"You swine," she raged. "How dare you come to MY motel and attack me!" She shoved the man’s chest with all her strength, and he stumbled backwards and fell against the stairs leading into the pool.

Julianna waited for him to get up, but instead he gave a loud snort, mumbled something, and curled up into a ball on the side of the pool, presumably to sleep it off since he reeked of alcohol.

She approached him cautiously, but when he still didn’t move, her temper flared, and she aimed a swift kick at the prostrate, drunken figure by the pool.

"Really, Miss Martin, that’s not very nice," a voice protested from the shadows near the office door. "Do you make a habit of kicking a man when he’s down?"

Julianna whirled around to confront this new and unexpected danger. The man threw his hands into the air,  palms out, and backed up a step. "Hey, I promise you’re safe with me. I was in my room reading when I heard the commotion, and I came out to see if you needed my help."

"Do you know this... this... thing?"

"Oh, you mean Tim. He isn’t a thing, Miss Martin; he’s a man. He’s one of my best workers. Unfortunately, he had a little too much to drink tonight and tried to steal a kiss from a beautiful woman, but he’s harmless. He wouldn’t have hurt you."

"That’s what you say. Are you his boss?"

"Yes, I’m..."

"I don’t care who you are. I’m calling Sheriff Mitchell to hold him until he sobers up."

"Please, don’t do that. I’ll see to it that he doesn’t cause any more trouble, and he’ll apologize to you tomorrow."

Julianna hesitated, but it was late and she was tired. "Oh, all right," she crossly conceded. "Get him back to his room, and I’ll let it go this time."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Until Mr. Abercrombie shows up and says differently, I’m the manager of the Welcome Inn, and I don’t allow drinking around the pool. It doesn’t matter if your construction crew works for Abercrombie or not, I still don’t allow drinking at the pool, and you’d better see to it that all of your men know it."

"Yes, ma’am, I’ll be sure to tell them, but..."

"Good night," Julianna interrupted, and she silently vanished into the manager’s apartment.

A smile played across the lips of her would-be rescuer who shook his head before dragging his fallen comrade back to his room.


Want to guess who she just smarted off to?  Yep, Mr. Abercrombie himself, her new boss.

Sweet Saturday Sample:

Today's excerpt is from The Sentence my only inspirational novel.  In this excerpt Rachel my heroine ponders her attraction to my hero Clint.

Maybe it was because of his looks. He had a nice body with  a pair of drop-dead gorgeous shoulders. She’d always loved nice shoulders on a man. His face was traditionally handsome, his eyes a pretty blue that always caught her attention. She suppressed a sigh. Bet he didn’t know that every single thing he thought showed in his eyes. Sometimes the emotions she read there shocked her.  Clint seemed to be far more sensitive than she had expected.

He could show unexpected consideration also, like helping Mrs. Jones off the floor and offering to paint her house for free. Still though, how could she be attracted to a man like Clint?

Attracted? Rachel Amos attracted to a……drunken…nobody? Rachel had to remind herself to breathe.  It probably wasn’t a real attraction. She didn’t know anyone like him so she was curious about him. That’s all it was.

Of course, she knew her attitude toward Clint wouldn’t please her father because he wanted to save Clint’s soul. What would he think if he knew his only daughter was attracted to such a man?

She was not attracted to him! Okay, she’d better pray tonight. Pray for the strength not to notice those nice shoulders and expressive blue eyes. She had a nice boyfriend, a guy with a future which was exactly the way she liked it.

The Sentence is available at:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sentence-ebook/dp/B007ND7F8W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347324421&sr=8-2&keywords=the+sentence

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sentence-elaine-cantrell/1109667552?ean=2940014238359

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:mode=product&product=10046831

Sweet Saturday Sample

Hello!  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment if you'd like.  I value your input.  Today's sample comes from my new release The Sentence.  If you like what you read, you might check the last few posts I've made.  I have excerpts from The Sentence in all of them.  The Sentence is available at

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sentence-ebook/dp/B007ND7F8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332890754&sr=8-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sentence-elaine-cantrell/1109667552?ean=2940014238359&itm=1&usri=the+sentence

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=10046831

Blurb:

How could he do it! How could her father bring the guy who burned the church into their home for six months? Yeah, it was an accident and her dad’s a minister, but if he wanted to help this man why didn’t he go to the prison to do it?  And no matter what anyone says she doesn't watch him every minute they're together! 

In this excerpt, Clint meets Reverend Amos for the first time.  By the way, the guy in the picture is Clint Hayes.

Clint Hayes parked his car in the minister’s driveway and sighed. Six long, dreary months stretched like an eternity in front of him. Reverend Amos would probably make him go to church every time the doors opened, but what did the man intend to do with him the rest of the time? As far as he knew, they only had church on Sundays and Wednesdays. Did the Reverend want help raking his leaves or splitting firewood? Maybe the house needed painting.

Actually, the house didn’t need painting. Its pristine white paint gleamed in the crisp, autumn air. Clint sort of liked the red shutters and the big front porch that ran from one end of the house to the other. The maple trees strewn around the yard blazed in shades of green, gold, and red and made the white house look like a picture in a calendar.

A dog barked in the distance, jerking him back to reality. Sitting in his car wasn’t getting the job done. Sighing, he got out and made his way to the front porch where he rang the doorbell. In a moment, Reverend Amos opened the door. “Hello, Clint. Won’t you come in?”

“Uh, thanks.”

Reverend Amos stood an inch or so taller than Clint and outweighed him by probably forty pounds. He had dark hair and brown eyes that made Clint uneasy. The preacher didn’t stare at him or anything, but Clint feared Reverend Amos saw right past the front a man presented to the world and looked into his heart—a place Clint had kept private for years.

The preacher stood aside, allowing Clint to enter the lion’s den. He indicated a room on the right. “This is our living room. Come on in.”

The living room looked downright cozy. A fireplace occupied center stage while a brown leather sofa sat in front of a big picture window on the opposite wall. Colorful easy chairs in shades of brown, coral, and green were scattered around the room. A baby grand piano was positioned against the far corner.

A middle‑aged woman with brown hair and plain features rose from the sofa to greet him. “Hello, Clint. I’m Cynthia Amos.” She held out her hand for him to shake.

It made Clint uncomfortable because he never had liked shaking hands with women. With a guy, you could give a nice firm shake and be done with it. With a woman, you never knew what to expect. Some of them acted like shaking hands was a contest of strength, while some held your hand a little bit too long. However, he knew he didn’t have any choice in the matter.

Reverend Amos and his wife took a seat on the sofa. The preacher nodded toward a chair and said, “Have a seat, Clint. I thought we should clarify our expectations for you.”Clint clenched his fists. Here it came. The huge, long list of rules and regulations that he’d dreaded for weeks now. “Yes, sir.”

Reverend Amos didn’ look angry with him like he’d expected. He didn’t hear any condemnation in the man’s voice either. The serious expression on the preacher’s face told Clint he meant what he said, but he wasn’t trying to bully anyone or throw his weight around.

Sweet Saturday Sample

Welcome to my blog!  Thanks for stopping by.  Today's excerpt comes from soon to be released novel The Sentence.  First a blurb, then the excerpt.

Blurb:

Rachel Amos doesn’t understand her father at all.  How could he bring Clint Hayes who burned Saved By Grace Christian Church into their home for six months?  Sure, the guy didn’t mean to do it, and her dad’s a minister, but if he wanted to save Hayes’ soul, why didn’t he go to the prison to do it?  And no matter what her friend Christina says, she doesn’t watch Clint every moment they’re in the same room.

Excerpt: In this excerpt, my hero first lays eyes on my heroine.

The smiling red-haired girl didn’t appeal to him, redheads never had, but the other one…Oh! She made his mouth water. Even from this distance he saw how beautiful she was. Her dark hair hung down her back in pretty, springy, black curls, while her fair skin glowed with a delicate, pink color that gave her an air of innocence or…or something. Happiness, maybe? She wore a pair of jeans and a blue sweater—mmm. And what a great figure. From this distance he had no idea what color her eyes were, but he hoped they might be blue.

He grunted. It didn’t matter what color her eyes were. The preacher hadn’t brought him here to flirt. Anyway, a girl who hung out at a preacher’s house probably wouldn’t be interested in a guy like him. If he wanted a girl, he’d pick one who hung out at Bud’s Club. Someone like Darlene. The two of them had had some good times together.

Sweet Saturday Sample

Thanks for stopping by!  Today's sample comes from A New Dream which is available at the following websites.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&sprefix=a+new+dr%2Caps%2C211

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/a-new-dream-by-elaine-cantrell?keyword=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&store=allproducts

http://www.astraeapress.com

Violet tried to scramble to her feet, but Matt held her close.  “Be still,” he ordered. “If you’d stop acting all offended you’d like the way it feels to sit on my lap.”

“Aren’t you afraid of scaring me now?” Violet accused in as sarcastic a tone as she could muster. “You’re bullying me, Matt, and I don’t like it.”

“You like everything about me,” Matt muttered as he pulled her head down and kissed her again.

Yes, she did. Violet momentarily resisted, but her defenses crumbled, and she returned Matt’s kiss with enthusiasm.

“I love you, Violet,” he whispered, tearing his lips from hers as if reluctant to end the kiss. “I want to marry you on the twenty third. Forget about Stacey. She’s the past.”

Sweet Saturday Sample

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy today's excerpt from A New Dream.  In this excerpt, my hero Matt and his brother have a conversation after Matt's first date with my heroine Violet.

Matt didn’t quite get his bedroom door closed before Chris showed up. He poked his head around the corner and demanded, “Did you kiss her?”

Matt scowled at him as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it in a basket at the foot of his bed. “Chris, that’s none of your business,” he protested, feeling warmth spread up his face.

“You did kiss her,” Chris declared, satisfaction oozing from his voice. He moved into the room and threw himself down on the bottom of Matt’s bed. “If you hadn’t kissed her, you’d oh so virtuously tell me so.”

“Chris…”

“Is she the first since Stacey?”

“Chris…”

“She must be the first. Way to go, bro. It’s about time you woke up and realized your life isn’t over.”

“Chris…”

Chris picked up Matt’s Super Bowl ring that lay on the night stand beside the bed and slipped it on his finger. “That includes women too, Matt. Violet looked at you like you walk on water. Do you think you could be serious about her?”

Matt grabbed the ring and tossed it into a small wooden box on his dresser. “Chris…”

“I hope you won’t think I’m out of line, Matt, but I don’t think Violet’s the same kind of woman as Stacey.”

“Chris…”

“I mean, Stacey didn’t have a problem sleeping with you, but I think Violet would. Pam’s family knows Violet’s family, and she said Violet’s father is real strict. He raised the girls to have high

moral standards.”

“Chris…”

“You should think about getting married. You’re old enough, and you have a good job. If you got married you could move out of here. Just think about that.”

“Chris…”

“But the best part of it would be that you’d have a woman to cuddle with at night. Don’t you miss female companionship?”

Matt sighed and sank down on the bed beside Chris. “Yes, but…”

“But nothing. You think about it, Matt. Violet’s beautiful, and you need a wife. You could do worse.”

“Chris…”

“I’ve got to go to bed, Matt. I enjoyed our talk.”

Chris slammed the door behind him, leaving Matt with a smile on his face and a heart overflowing with laughter. “I enjoyed it too, Chris.”

For more samples go to http://www.sweetsaturdaysample.wordpress.com

Sweet Saturday Sample

Welcome to my blog!  In today's sample my heroine's friend Julie tells her something terrible about my hero Rob.  The Table in the Window is available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. 

Marley flinched. “That’s a lie. How dare you say such things about Rob?”

“Because they’re true.” Julie’s lip curled. “Ask him if you don’t believe me.”

Rob approached their table with two cups on a tray. Julie had lied. She had to have lied.

.

He set the tea in front of Marley. “Ladies, I recommend the chicken.”

Marley jumped from her seat. In a move eerily reminiscent of the day Michael broke up with her, she bumped into Rob and almost made him spill Julie’s coffee. “Call me later,” she whispered in his ear. “We have to talk.”

For more sweet samples go to http://www.sweetsatsample.wordpress.com

Sweet Saturday Sample

Remember the thrill of dressing up for that special date?  Watch my heroine Violet decide what to wear on her special date.  A New Dream is available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. 

 “How should I wear my hair?” Violet chewed at her lip.  “I’m wearing the blue dress I wore to Henry and Julie’s wedding.

Marjorie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Violet, I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t have encouraged you to go out with Matt. His friend’s wedding is all you’ve talked about for days now.” She sighed again. “Wear your hair just like you always wear it. Mattnlikes it that way.”

“He does? How do you know?”

“Because of the way he looks at you.” Marjorie passed a tub of cake frosting to Violet. “Now, Violet, you still have several cakes to ice. You’d better get at it.”

“I don’t like my shoes. I think I need to get something nicer. Where could I find something sort of unusual?”

“Patterson’s at the mall. Now about those cakes…”

“Do you think I should get a makeover before the wedding?” Violet surveyed her reflection in the glass display case.

“No. Cakes…”

“I’ll stop by Nada’s Dress Shoppe after work. Everything there costs the earth, so I can’t afford to buy anything, but I’ll get some ideas on how to accessorize my dress.”

Marjorie iced the cakes.

Welcome to Sweet Saturday Sample.  My name is Matt McCallum.  Elaine told my and my wife's story in her book A New Dream.  Violet isn't here today.  She's doing some Christmas shopping, so I've picked an excerpt from A New Dream to share with you.  Hope you enjoy it.  If you do, you can buy it at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&sprefix=a+new+dream+by+   or at

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=677872&mode=product&product=2676585

Here's a blurb and excerpt for you.

Blurb:

After an accident destroys his pro-football career, Matt McCallum struggles to find a new dream for his life.  Nothing engages him until he meets Violet Emerson who has big dreams of her own.  Together they find a common dream for their lives, but will a loose end from Matt’s past destroy their future before it even begins? 

Excerpt: Sometimes one family member's tragedy can hurt an entire family.  In this excerpt, you can see how my accident affected my mother.

Marilyn laughed when she saw Matt’s stained shirt. “What happened to you?”

“Bakery accident.” Matt set the cake on the table, relieved to have it safely delivered.

“Ha! You dropped my cake, didn’t you?” Chris snickered as he inspected the wrapped packages stacked on the kitchen table.

“No, I didn’t. The girl who got it out of the refrigerator tripped and fell against me.”

“She just wanted to feel your muscular chest,” Chris teased. “How old is she, Matt?”

“Around my age.”

“Uh huh. He’d like to feel her chest, too.”

Matt’s arm shot out, and he grabbed Chris. The two of them began a mild scuffle that ended with Marilyn’s sharp reprimand.

“Stop it this instant! Chris, you could hurt him.”

Animation drained from Matt’s face as he released his hold on his brother. “I’m sorry I scared you, Mother.”

Chris’s face turned a fiery shade of red. “Are you going to treat him like an invalid forever? He isn’t going to break!”

He spun on his heel and rushed from the room leaving Marilyn and Matt staring at each other in an uncomfortable silence.

Matt took a tight rein on his emotions and changed the subject. He plain didn’t want to get into it. “Is it okay if I invited somebody to the party?”

“Of course,” Marilyn answered, her tone far too bright and cheerful. “Any friend of yours is welcome.”

“I’d better go change.”

Matt looked back over his shoulder as he left the kitchen and saw his mother sitting at the table with her head in her hands.

Sweet Saturday Sample

Hey, Violet, what are we doing for Sweet Saturday Sample?

Readers, he forgot to introduce himself.  That gorgeous man is my husband Matt MCallum.  My name is Violet, and Elaine told our story in her book A New Dream.  We're taking over her blog so she can have a break for Christmas.  Did you know she has a new Christmas release out?

Violet, why don't we share an excerpt from the new story?

(Violet laughs.)  That's my plan, my darling!  In this excerpt Marley, Elaine's heroine, has just found out the secret her new boyfriend kept from her.

Rob stepped inside and slipped his coat off. “What’s wrong? Tell me, Marley. I’ve been worried about you all afternoon.”

She kept her eyes on the floor and refused to look at him. “You know what’s wrong.”

“Tell me.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she sat down on the sofa as if her legs would no longer hold her. “I didn’t believe her at first. I defended you, but after I got home I started to think of all the times people started to say something about you and then just stopped talking or changed the subject. They did that so I wouldn’t find out about your past.”

A muscle jumped in Rob’s cheek. “I was going to tell you last night, but the wrecker interrupted us.”

“You should have tried harder.”

“Let me explain,” he pleaded as he sank down on the sofa beside her.

Marley didn’t answer, but with nothing to lose, he decided to explain anyway.

Wow!  That sounds omnious, Violet.  Do you know what the secret is?

Yes, Matt, I know.  I read the book.

Well, I'm going to read it too.  I gotta find out what the secret is.  Readers, if you'd like toread the book go to http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=7885677 to get your copy of the story.  Please check back with us tomorrow for Six Sentence Sunday.

Sweet Saturday Sample

In this sample, my hero and heroine are caught together on the morning after.  Return Engagement is available at Whiskey Creek Press.

Her jaw dropped the moment she flung open the door. There, in the flesh, stood her mother and, ohmigosh, Alex Crawford! Oh no! Oh no! What were they doing here? What did they want?

"Mother, Alex! What are you doing here at this time of the morning? Why didn’t you call first?" she demanded.

Mrs. Lane, a larger, older version of her daughter, rolled her eyes at Elizabeth. "Since when does your mother and your fiancé need an invitation to visit you? You and Alex were sup-posed to have dinner with me last night, remember? I was worried about you. Why didn’t you call and tell us you couldn’t make it? Did your shoot last longer than you thought?"

Alex stepped around Mrs. Lane and entered the house. Elizabeth tensed when he caressed her shoulder through the thin fabric of her robe and placed a light kiss on her lips. Thank God Richard didn’t see that. He’s jealous enough as it is. I don’t want to think what he might say or do if he saw Alex touch me. She shivered. It wouldn’t be pretty, she knew that.

"Don’t scold her," Alex sweetly admonished Mrs. Lane. "She looks tired this morning. Did you have a bad day yesterday, sweetheart?" Elizabeth steeled herself not to jerk away from him when he fondled the sash on her robe. If Richard came in…

"Oh, I had a very tiring day," she agreed. Well, I told the truth this time. All of yesterday’s emotional upheaval was exhausting to say the least.

Mrs. Lane sniffed. "Do I smell coffee?"

Elizabeth’s thoughts raced. Kind and generous to a fault, Alex deserved to hear her news in private. She had to make him and her mother leave until she got Richard out of here. He probably wouldn’t want to go so…

She had waited too long. The bedroom door opened with a click that sounded abnormally loud in her ears. "Elizabeth? Do you know where my shirt is? I can’t find it."

All eyes in the room swung to Elizabeth whose heart had started to pound so loudly she heard the blood roaring in her ears. She wanted to rush across the room and shove him back into the bedroom, to keep her secret hidden, but of course she couldn’t do that. "It’s on the back of the sofa."

Richard stopped short as he came into the living room. His hair still dripped from his shower while several drops of  water streaked down his bare chest. When he saw the two silent, disapproving guests, a faint flush spread across his cheekbones, but Senator Lovinggood had trained him well; he crossed the room and pulled on his shirt as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

What awful timing! Oh, why couldn’t he have waited for ten more minutes? He inclined his head to her mother who looked as if she’d rather shoot him than talk to him.

"Mrs. Lane, how are you?" he asked. "Do you remember me?"

Sweet Saturday Sample

Today's sample is from The Best Selling Toy Of The Season, and it picks up where last Saturday's sample left off.  The book is available at
















http://www.melange-books.com/authors/elainecantrell/cantrellthebestsellingtoyoftheseason.html

The butler stood beside her chair wringing his hands. “I’ll get it ma’am. Please don’t worry about it.”

“Why don’t we have dessert in the living room,” Tommy tactfully suggested, rising as he spoke.

Everybody followed him, and Tommy seated himself on the sofa beside Nikki. He began to talk to his parents about nothing in particular, and with the focus off of her, Nikki marginally relaxed.

“Did you know Tommy when you were in high school, Nikki?” asked Mr. Price.

“No, I didn’t.”

“When did you graduate?”

“Oh, I didn’t graduate. I quit when I was seventeen. I always thought I’d go to adult education and get my diploma, but after the kids were born I had to work and take care of them, and I just didn’t have the time.”

Nikki maintained a casual air, but her face had turned pink, for she knew that nothing she had done so far could hold a candle to her lack of education. Tommy was a lawyer for goodness sake. These people valued education as much as they valued family, and she had neither

Mrs. Price changed the subject for which Nikki blessed her. “Your cousin, Dan, trains Tommy’s horse doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he does. He does a good job, too. He’s won a lot of ribbons and trophies for Tommy.”

“I believe he recently married Holly Grant.”

“Yes, ma’am, he did.”

“I play bridge with Holly’s grandmother, Pauline. She’s really pleased about the marriage.”

“Oh, so is Mr. Wakefield. You know Dan lived with him after his parents died.”

“I expect he is pleased. Most parents wouldn’t like for their daughters to go out with Kyle Wakefield’s son.”

Nikki’s eyes started to snap, and Tommy hastily stepped in. “Mother, I know you didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Dan’s a fine man; he’s nothing at all like his father.” Dan’s father had been a drug dealer, and everyone in Fairfield knew it.

“I’m very sorry,” Mrs. Price apologized. “That didn’t come out the right way.”

Nikki suspected that it came out exactly the way Mrs. Price meant it, but for Tommy’s sake, she kept quiet.

Thankfully, Tommy didn’t want to stay too late. Nikki had never been as glad of anything in her life when he said they had to go. The thing was, she needed a restroom. She hated to ask, but it had reached the point where she had to.

“May I use your bathroom before we go?”

“Certainly. I’ll show you where it is,” Mrs. Price said.

Nikki followed her through the elegant home, and Mrs. Price indicated the powder room. It wasn’t as large as Nikki had thought it would be, but this was an older house. Maybe they didn’t build bathrooms so large a long time ago, she thought.

As she washed her hands she admired the pretty, snow-white towel. With all that lace on the bottom it looked too fancy to use. She had just replaced it on the towel bar when disaster struck. Her arm nudged the edge of a cut glass bowl full of potpourri that crashed to the tile floor and splintered into what looked like a million pieces. Nikki started to cry. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and bit the inside of her lip hard. She couldn’t afford to bawl like a baby.

She heard a knock on the door, and Tommy called, “Nikki, what was that noise? Are you okay?”

Nikki swiftly opened the door. “Get me a broom and dustpan. I knocked your mother's bowl into the floor and broke it."

Tommy shook his head. “Henry will clean it up, Nikki. You’re Mother’s guest.”

Mrs. Price appeared in the doorway behind Tommy. “Don’t worry about it, Nikki. I have plenty of bowls to replace it with.”

“I’d like to pay you for it.”

“That isn’t necessary. It wasn’t valuable.”

Finally, they said goodnight, and as the car door closed behind her Nikki burst into loud, noisy sobs. The good time had definitely ended. Tommy would wash his hands of her, and it was all her fault. Why couldn’t she have done things right just this one time?

Sweet Saturday Sample

In this excerpt which is from Return Engagement, my heroine has just come home from the hospital where the doctors had to remove a bullet fragment from her head.  Return Engagement is available at Whiskey Creek Press.

When Elizabeth opened her eyes the room lay in darkness.  She yawned and stretched. She had slept a long time.  Wonder why her mother hadn’t woken her for dinner? Her stomach growled and reminded her she had skipped lunch.

As she turned over for a look at the clock, a shadow moved from the corner of the room. “Hello, Miss Lane,” a well-remembered, cultured voice said. “How nice it is to see you again.”

Elizabeth sat up in bed, her breath coming in painful gasps that hurt her chest. “You! You can’t be here. You’re dead!”

“I’m not dead.” As Brady moved toward the bed, a flash of light from a passing car glinted off the object he held in his hand: a syringe.

Elizabeth started to scream. Her muscles churned as she tried to run, but she couldn’t move. She could scream, though. In the back of her mind she heard her mother’s voice.  “Elizabeth! Wake up!  Elizabeth!”

A strange man’s voice, a deep voice, cried, “I’ll call her doctor.”

“Elizabeth! Wake up! Open your eyes!”

Elizabeth’s eyes flew open to a room full of sunshine and bodyguards. A dream. It had only been a dream. She fell into her mother’s arms and started to cry.