Better Than Chocolate

BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE

by J. Lynn Rowan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:  Chick Lit Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Carmella Sannarelli just found out that her best friend, Sadie Miller, has broken her engagement and is eloping on St. Croix. Though Carmella agrees to act as the maid of honor, she’s determined to find out what went wrong between her friends.

But she’s not counting on coming face to face with Ryan Wutkowski (the jilted fiancé) on the plane, or with staying at his hotel during a two-day stopover in San Juan. They try to act like nothing’s changed. But Carmella’s totally flustered by the weird vibes Ryan sends her, as well as how tingly and off-kilter she feels every time he so much as looks at her.

Now Carmella can’t stop thinking about Ryan or his behavior, even though most of her time in St. Croix is taken up by pre-wedding activities and dodging advances from the womanizing best man. And she knows there’s more to the story behind Ryan and Sadie’s breakup than either of them will admit to her.

Especially after Ryan shows up at the rehearsal dinner and gets himself invited to the wedding...

EXCERPT:

Ryan taps my arm. “Why are you on a flight to San Juan?”

I peer at him, my eyes narrow slits. “Why are you?”

A rhetorical question. Although his suit coat is probably in the overhead bin, safe inside a garment bag, his dress pants, crisp white button-down shirt, and Italian leather shoes tell me everything.

He answers anyway. “I have a conference over the next couple days. I have to go straight from the airport to my first meeting.”

The plane levels out, as does my head, and I wriggle to sit up straight. “They could at least let you check into your hotel first.”

“Well, fortunately the conference is at my hotel.”

“It’s a pretty fast trip.” I press my face to the window glass, squinting against the glare.

He shifts in his seat. “I had some vacation time coming, so I extended the trip through the middle of next week.”

So he’s not the only one who decided on a Caribbean adventure in the wake of his and Sadie’s breakup. I close my eyes, glad I didn’t say it out loud.

“Carmella, why are you going to Puerto Rico by yourself?”

The advantages of having Ryan for a flight companion have just turned moot. There’s no way to avoid this discussion. The flight’s too long. “I’m on my way to St. Croix.”

There. I said it. Sort of.

“What’s in St. Croix?”

His voice is low, and when I glance at him, he looks away. His jaw shifts, his profile a stern mask.

“I think you already know,” I answer slowly.

“Sadie.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

J. Lynn Rowan started writing stories as a small child, usually starring her favorite cartoon characters. Most of her work through middle and high school was filled with typical teenage angst and melodrama, and usually mirrored the books she loved to read. But eventually she found her own author’s voice and decided to seriously pursue a writing career.

Historical fiction remains J. Lynn’s “first love”, but she has enjoyed the journey to becoming an author of romance and chick lit. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Central New York Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also a teacher who tries to instill a love of learning, reading, and writing in her students.

When she’s not writing, J. Lynn enjoys travelling, gardening poorly but enthusiastically, studying various topics in American history for her own expertise, and channeling Julia Child every time she steps into the kitchen.

A native of Oswego, NY, she now lives in Charlotte, NC, with her own Romantic Hero of a husband and the most adorable baby on the planet.

Website: http://jlynnrowanliterature.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JLynnRowan

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JLynnRowanLit

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jlynnrowan/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UClfsVyA4LQYMA0Cq7T1rb6w

Buy Link

  

The author is giving away a $10 gift certificate to one commenter via Rafflecopter. Use the link below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happily Never After

If you came for Beyond the Book, scroll on down, but why
not enjoy this post first?

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER

by Bess George

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Dallas ADA Kelsey Brackston survives a brutal attack but struggles with PTSD. When someone begins to stalk her, she relocates hoping for a new start. A person can’t be hurt if they can’t be found. Her logic seems flawed when someone tries to kill her—again.

This could be Bode Taggert’s last chance at being a cop after crawling out of a bottle. Focused on the job, he avoids personal commitments. Something within him resonates with the lady ADA. Maybe it’s her desire to move forward after a life altering event. Or not being able to move forward no matter how hard you try.

Despite his good intentions, Bode falls for the sexy lawyer. While he and the police concentrate on arresting her stalker, Kelsey vanishes. With his career—and heart—on the line, Bode will stop at nothing to find her. But will their newfound faith in one another be enough to save the day? Or will their inner demons destroy them both?

EXCERPT:

Fight or flight kicked in and her rational brain shut down. She backed away from the stranger, clasping her hands together to control their violent trembling. Like a trapped animal, her eyes were frantic as they searched for escape routes, her heartbeat roaring in her ears. The wall stopped her backward progress with a jolt just as recognition hit her.

The cop.

She was safe. Two dark brown eyes pinned her in place as they stared at one another.

A soothing voice at her side broke the connection. David placed his arm around her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. “This is Bode Taggert, honey. He’s one of the detectives in the Redding police department. Bode, this is ADA Kelsey Brackston.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Debut author Bess George lives in Texas with her hubby. Her novel, Happily Never After will be released by Soul Mate Publishing September 2, 2015. In 2014, she won third place in the Pages From the Heart Contest with this manuscript.

Even though Bess crunches numbers for a living, she’s managed to work in some unusual places over the years. The oil business, a gun range, and a golf course are a few jobs where she met all types of characters. She loves to hear stories about people finding the unexpected hero inside each of us.

Facebook

Twitter

Webpage

Buy Link

The author is giving away a $15 gift card via rafflecopter. Use the link below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beyond the Book: Betrayal Hurts

Has a person you love ever betrayed you?  If so, you aren’t alone. History seethes with stories of betrayal, many of which are committed by close friends or family members. Take the story of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Guinevere, for example.  King Arthur was married to Guinevere who appeared to love him. However, when she met Sir Lancelot, she felt a powerful attraction to him.  For a time she denied the attraction and avoided Lancelot, but ultimately she betrayed Arthur and contributed to the fall of Arthur’s kingdom Camelot.

Are you familiar with the story of Samson and Delilah? Samson was a strong warrior whose enemies tried and failed to destroy him.  His girlfriend Delilah betrayed him to his enemies by telling them how he could be defeated.  He was taken prisoner and blinded.  Ultimately, he got his revenge, but it was at the cost of his life.

Modern literature is also rife with betrayals. For instance, think of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. She betrayed her own sister Suellen when she lied to Frank Kennedy and persuaded him to marry her instead of Suellen. 

Betrayals aren’t only used as a device in novels. A great many Hollywood movies deal with some type of betrayal. Have you seen Payback with Mel Gibson? In this movie Mel is shot by his wife and best friend and left for dead, but he survives and sets out to get his revenge. 

Of course, romantic betrayals aren’t the only kind.  Think of how Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.  His name is synonymous with treason.  Another good example of a betrayal is when Brutus betrayed his good friend Julius Caesar.  Brutus was one of the Roman senators who stabbed Caesar to death.  

Don’t forget Disney either. In The Lion King, Mufasa’s brother Scar betrays him and manipulates Simba into running away, ultimately leaving the way clear for Scar to take power.

On a personal level I've written several books filled with betrayals. How do you like this one from one of my earlier books The Welcome Inn? In this excerpt, my hero and heroine are hiding out from bad guys, and Buck tells her about his ex-wife.


Julianna heated the beef stew and poured it into two bowls. They sat down at the small corner table to eat. “I like this place, Buck. It’s cozy and warm.”

“You don’t mind being in the woods with no shopping center or restaurant nearby?”

“No, I don’t mind. I like to shop, but I like to get away from the crowds occasionally.”

“My wife didn’t.”

It was hard to say who was more surprised by his comment.

“What was she like?” Julianna asked.

Buck fidgeted and felt uncomfortable, but he did answer. He saw no harm in telling her about Becky. “Becky was a tiny woman. Maybe five feet two and a hundred pounds with blond hair and blue eyes. She was interested in shopping, art galleries, antiques, and stuff like that. Her idea of a vacation was a cruise or a trip to New York. She hated Alaska. I tried to tell her we wouldn’t be up there forever, but it didn’t make any difference. She never would make an effort to adjust.”

“Didn’t she love you?”

Buck grimaced. “I doubt it. She knew that I owned Abercrombie Construction, and she thought I had a lot of money. She never let me forget how crude and rough I was, and she hated that I was so big.”

“How strange,” Julianna mused. “I like a big, muscular man.”

Buck allowed himself a brief, inward grin before he completed his story. “Becky ran off with another man.”

“Was he a wormy little thing?”

Buck roared with laughter. This was certainly a new construction to a painful, familiar story. “Yeah, he was.”

“You should have beaten him up,” Julianna averred.

“I wanted to, but it wouldn’t have done any good. She didn’t want me. Forcing her to stay would only have prolonged the misery.”

“I didn’t say force her to stay. I said beat him up.”

Buck had never expected to talk about his marriage with any degree of amusement, but somehow Julianna’s opinion had removed much of the sting that he still felt. It surprised him to find how much better, how much more of a man it made him feel.

“Where is she now?”

“I have no idea.”

Julianna sniffed. “Good riddance, I say.”

If you like what you've read, you can buy the book at Wings ePress or at http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Inn-Elaine-Cantrell-ebook/dp/B003AKZBQ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441077565&sr=8-1&keywords=the+welcome+inn+by+elaine+cantrell