I’ve been teasing everyone with snippets from my two upcoming books.
WITH
THIS RING and
I THEE WED for several weeks now.
I THEE WED is about to be
released June 9
th as part of the boxed set,
WEDDINGS ON MAIN STREET
by the Authors of Main Street. With eleven books in this set, there will be
something for everyone to enjoy!
If you don’t know who the Authors of Main Street are, let me introduce them
to you: Joan Reeves, Tori Scott, Mona Risk, Jill James, Kelly Rae, Kristy Tate,
Leigh Morgan, Susan R. Hughes, Stephanie Queen, Pepper Phillips, Carol DeVaney,
Bella Street, and yours truly, E. Ayers There are thirteen of us and it’s the
perfect baker’s dozen! We all write contemporary romances, and we range from
sweet to a little spicy. We’ve been blogging together on
http://authorsofmainstreet.wordpress.com
We finally decided last autumn to pool our talents and put out a boxed set
called
CHRISTMAS ON MAIN STREET. It was so successful, that we’re doing this new
one on weddings. We all write with very different voices but everyone in the
group is an excellent author. I promise there’s not a sinker in the bunch!
After we determined that our next release would be a wedding theme, I began to write the story about DeeDee Drayden and
her desire to open a bridal design business. The brilliant idea was that the
other brides could choose to buy their gowns from DeeDee’s Main Street Bridal
Salon. Except we had decided to write novellas that were about 25K words in
length – the perfect length for an evening read. I had almost reached that mark
when I realized I had barely scratched the surface of the story. (I am so wordy and novella are not easy for me to write.)
Oh was I in trouble! I’m lousy at cutting words and what was I supposed to
cut? All the wonderful stuff about DeeDee starting the salon or the handsome Cody Montgomery? I’d have to start over, but I didn’t want to do that. One of the authors
on Main Street suggested I use a character from that story and keep writing. So
my mistake became two books!
I’m thrilled to have two wonderful books for your enjoyment and I have plans
for more wedding stories all tied to Main Street Bridal Salon. And there are
ten more fabulous stories of romance in
WEDDINGS ON MAIN STREET. You don't want to miss them!
***
This is the original story, and it will be released about mid-June.
WITH THIS RING
DeeDee Drayden has done her time at fashion houses in Milan, Paris, London
and New York. At thirty-one, she’s still single. She doesn’t look the part of
fashion designer. Far from being fat but in an industry where everyone is rail
thin, she’s discovered they refer to her as Miz Pig behind her back. She
couldn’t wear the clothes she was supposed to be designing, and her idea of
clothing is something that actually covers what is supposed to be covered. But
she has this crazy notion that everyone deserved to be beautiful on her wedding
day. She takes a not too shabby inheritance and parlays it in a bridal
business.
Cody Montgomery is thirty-eight and heir to an oil fortune. Tall, dark and
handsome, he’s been married twice and burned each time. Those marriages have
left him with seven children, none of them are his, but he loves each one of
the children with all his heart. In an attempt to bring up normal,
well-adjusted children who know how to handle money and have a real grip on
life, he’s living in a cul-de-sac and the children are going to public school.
He’s got four teenagers, one preteen, and a set of twins in the first grade.
He’s not sure he can ever trust a woman again, but DeeDee isn’t the average
woman. She’s been busy with her career. Along the way, she’s been burned, too,
when it came to love. Sparks fly between the two of them, but DeeDee is renting
a room from a woman on Main Street who has a place a half block from the salon,
and with Cody’s seven children, hot dates are…well… They are sneaking around
like a couple teenagers that don’t want to be caught.
***
This is the story included in the boxed set WEDDINGS ON MAIN STREET available June 9th.
And for fun, I’ve added an excerpt at
the end.
I THEE WED
Cody’s daughter, Julia, graduates from high school and refuses to go to
college. She loves her job working for DeeDee at the salon. At eighteen, she
easily slips in a manager role, and tucked under DeeDee’s wing, she’s matured
into a lovely young woman. A chance encounter with a substitute delivery driver
fills her mind with more than just bridal dresses. This freckled-face redhead with
the prettiest golden-green eyes is a little older, and she’s about to discover
that there’s a big difference between dating a teen and dating a man.
For Aaron Symons, it’s love at first sight and he’s flying back to the
university in Utah where he’s an assistant professor while finishing his PhD in
veterinary genetics. But don’t feel too sorry for that young man who delivers
packages in the heat of summer. His father owns that national delivery company
and believes it’s important that Aaron understands the business from all
angles.
A single date between them leaves her hankering for a
whole lot more. But Julia is about to discover she’s got a trust fund that goes
way beyond her job at Main Street Bridal Salon and the little used car she’s
been driving. She can do anything she wants and she’s got to decide what she
wants to do.
***
Excerpt:
Holding
her shoes in one hand, Julia sprinted silently across the hardwood floors and
started up the stairs to her room. The distinct cocking sound of a shotgun
stopped her in her tracks. She waited, listened, and then with caution, took
the remaining steps.
At the far
end of the hall, rumbled the deep voice of her grandfather. “Where were you,
young lady?”
Her
insides clenched into a tight ball and she stopped. There was no point in
lying, but maybe she could make it sound more innocent. “With Aaron.”
“At this
hour?”
“Yes, sir.
We don’t have much time together and I didn’t want to spend it sleeping.”
“So you
spent the night with him?”
“We fell
asleep.”
He strode
to where she was standing and grabbed her chin.
She stared
into his blue eyes. He looked somewhat like an older, slightly heavier version
of her father except where her dad was dark her grandfather was gray.
She
shuttered her eyes from his intense scrutiny. She could feel every fiber of her
body and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. “Please let me go to my room.”
“Your
room? Do you even know where you’re supposed to be sleeping? Did it ever dawn
on you that sleeping with a boyfriend is unacceptable behavior?”
“Please,
let me go.” Her bladder decided to protest the situation and the urgency was
getting worse. She squeezed her thighs together.
“What is
going on?” Cody’s voice boomed as he stepped from his bedroom.
“Daddy,
please. I’ll explain everything later. I need to use the bathroom.” She wiggled
away from her grandfather’s grip and flew to her room.
“I’ll see
you in fifteen minutes downstairs.” Her father’s command sent a shot of panic
into her already knotted guts. She knew she hadn’t been in this much trouble
since she was in sixth grade and was caught cheating on a test.
***
Coming June 9, 2014 to all fine ebook retailers.
