Saturday Sample: Fortuna

Last week we left Rocky and Aimee in a dressing room in a civic center waiting for a wrestling match to start. They're both nervous. We pick up today where we left off last week.

Excerpt:

“Everything’s wrong,” she snapped. Why did this idiot always bray like a mule at what he considered his witty repartee? “It smells like dirty feet in here, and I hate the gray paint. The entire auditorium looks dingy. Besides that, this is the nastiest dressing room I’ve ever seen. I don’t like ‘no disqualification’ matches either.”

Rocky reproved her with a look. “She’s just worried about Cade hitting me with the chair.”

Rich’s lips thinned. Not that they weren’t thin enough already. The man was a lipless wonder. “This is the Los Angeles Wrestling Association, Aimee. LAWA teaches the guys how to do the moves without hurting themselves. You have no reason to worry.” He sighed. “We’ve talked about this before.” 

Blurb:
Aimee Sherwood never dreamed that following her fiancé into the witness protection pro-gram 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 soul 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.

Like the sound of Fortuna? Get it at http://amzn.to/23yoW2d

Beyond the Book: #Garden Party

Blurb:

Aimee Sherwood never dreamed that following her fiancé into the witness protection pro-gram 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 soul 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.


Now about that guy who lives down the road... His name is Cade McCoy, and he owns a 19th century property called Bad Creek. He raises horses. Here's a picture of Bad Creek. Pretty, isn't it?

Since Cade's house was constructed in the 19th century, he decided to give a 19th century garden party. People in the that era loved garden parties. They were thrown and attended by the well-to-do people of the day. The parties were held outside and were quite formal. In this selection from Fortuna, Aimee and Cade are talking about the food he served.

“Is the food all nineteenth century stuff?”

Cade’s laughter rang across the yard and made Rocky look their way. June scowled at him and laid her hand on his arm to distract him. “Sort of. The petit fours, ham, and fruit are authentic, but I didn’t bother with the cucumber sandwiches, jellied tongue, or pate. Lemonade, coffee, and tea are all authentic, and so is the punch and claret cup.”

“What’s claret cup?” Aimee asked.

“It’s a gentleman’s punch made of red wine, sugar, lemons, and carbonated water. Sometimes they added fruit juice, spices, or liqueurs.” 


Personally, I think Cade should have served the cucumber sandwiches. They were small and crustless and filled with thinly sliced cucumbers and butter or mayo. I had one at a tea once, but I didn't think it was all that great. Still, it was a traditional favorite. As far as the main dishes are concerned, they were mostly served cold. Ham was a good choice, but the pate and jellied tongue were very popular as were cold birds, lobster salad, jellied tongue, and salmon. Sorry, but I can't do jellied tongue.

Peaches, grapes, melons and strawberries were popular fruits, and no garden party was complete without a nice selection of petit, dainty cakes, filled sweet biscuits, tarts, scones, and iced cookies.

I guess Cade did all right with his menu, and with everyone in costume, it would have been an evening to remember. It was for Aimee, but not because of the food or her costume. Bet you can guess why.

Buy link:

http://amzn.to/23yoW2d

Beyond the Book

I've taken Fortuna on a virtual book tour filled with prizes, excerpts, and interviews. I would love for you to follow my tour. You can find my schedule at

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/search?q=fortuna

Fortuna is a romantic comedy in which a significant number of scenes  are based on real life experiences that happened to either me or my family. Some of them are recreated exactly as they happened while others are embelished somewhat. It's goofy, offbeat, and I think lots of fun. Sometimes the humor is fairly dry, but in other places I expect you'll laugh out loud. 

The book features a ghost, drug dealers, a stint in the witness protection program, WWE style wrestling, two mismatched couples, secret rooms, a forgotten cemetery, a crumbling 18th century farmhouse, and one 19th century house plus leech attacks, tornadoes, farting horses, and a very weird town. 

Join the tour with me, and I'll be available to answer any questions you might have. Meanwhile, here's an Amazon review for Fortuna.

I was pleasantly surprised by this story. In the beginning I thought it would be sort of dull. Boy did I get that wrong. The characters are quirky and fun, sexy and sweet. The story has a plot that moves well and the period information was a nice touch. A ghost, drugs, FBI informants and a couple of mismatched couples! Lots of fun and a sweet love story all rolled into one. If you want a quick, fun read, check out Fortuna. Recommended.

Buy link: http://amzn.to/23yoW2d

Beyond the Book

Welcome to Beyond the Book, your chance to find out what my characters are up to after the book ended. Today Aimee, my heroine in Fortuna, has to pick out a new set of china. Which one do you like better? Anyone who comments gets a free book from my backlist.

Number 1

Number 2

Beyond the Book: Barbecue and Fortuna

Do you like barbecue? I think most people who live in the South do. That’s where I’m from. Did you know that barbecue is prepared differently in different parts of the country? Let me tell you about our Southern barbecue.

First, we like pork barbecue more than beef. In the South we always ate lots of pork because it was a low maintenance food source.

Second, each different locale has their own favorite sauce. In North Carolina for example the sauce varies depending on where you are, but in South Carolina where I live is the only state that traditionally includes all four recognized barbecue sauces including mustard based, vinegar based and light and heave tomato based sauces.

And of course other parts of the country have their own recipes.

The people at Fortuna love barbecue too. In this excerpt, Aimee, Rocky, Cade, and June go to eat barbecue at a local festival.

They strolled over to the vendor who was selling barbecue. The man had set up a huge covered grill that overflowed with ribs. Hot bars kept the pulled pork warm. As she watched, the man dipped a huge brush into a bucket and swabbed the ribs with barbecue sauce. She took a deep breath. “It smells divine.”

“I’ll get you a big plate,” Rocky promised as he and Cade went to get in line.

Aimee and June sat down at a table near the dance floor and watched the man selling barbecue. “He’s quite an actor,” Aimee said.

“Step right up,” the barbecue man shouted as his helpers busily dished up barbecue for the throngs of customers drawn by the meaty, smoky smell hanging in the air. “This is real barbecue here. We smoke ‘er in a pit using wood for our fuel until she’s so tender she’s falling off the bone. Then we add some Carolina-style sauce, a little coleslaw, and baked beans. Nothing better this side of heaven.”

“I like the Carolina-style sauce,” June said. “The mustard base is tasty.” She laughed. “Some guy from Michigan came to town once and set up this barbecue place in town. I think his barbecue came straight from a freezer somewhere, and it sure hadn’t been cooked and smoked in a pit.”

“What happened to him?”

June giggled. “He went broke. I sold his building to Jessie Evans for her flower shop.”

When Rocky and Cade returned, they all fell on the barbecue with gusto. “That guy is the barbecue king,” Aimee said as she licked barbecue sauce from her fingers. “I’ve never had anything so good.”

Cade passed her a napkin. “Food tastes better when you eat it outdoors, but this is great. Maybe I should dig a barbecue pit at Bad Creek.”

“Say!” Rocky enthused. “That’s a great idea. I’d like one at Fortuna too. You’ll have to do some research for us, June, and find out if they barbecued meat like we do today back in the eighteenth century. I bet they did.”

Aimee flicked bits of pork from her sleeve where Rocky had sprayed her in his enthusiasm.

Of course, Aimee is about to have a great adventure, but that’s a post for another day.

buy link:http://amzn.to/23yoW2d