Join the writers at #MFRWHooks here http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com for some great excerpts. Mine is A Marriage Takes Two
BLURB:
” This is medieval.” That’s Carrie’s response to the reading of her grandfather’s will. The money will allow her to provide for her ill mother and give her the chance to give up one of her full time jobs as a nurse. The money won’t be hers until she marries. This creates a dilemma. She has no time for dating and doesn’t know who would marry her until she thinks of her former best friend, Tony. But can she ask him? Two months later time is running out and she decides to take the plunge.
Three years ago, Tony and his wife divorced. Last year he obtained custody or their child. When Carrie asks him to marry her he decides since this won’t be a real marriage, he can accept. Years ago, he loved Carrie but never said anything to her. Now burned, he doesn’t believe in love. To help her uncomplicate her life he agrees.
Can Tony and Carrie get past the reason for the marriage and find love and make a home for his son?
EXCERPT:
Two hours of pep talks, a dozen whispered
mantras and five sets of calming breaths failed to settle Carrie Graham’s acute
case of nerves. Get a grip, she told herself. She was going to see Tony,
childhood defender, teenage ego booster and the one person who’d always
listened. Besides, she’d already eliminated every other candidate for the
position.
Who are you kidding?
Myself?
From the moment she’d been presented with
her current dilemma, he was the only possibility. All she had to do was
convince him… But could she? Sure Tony
listened, but he didn’t talk about his problems or his feelings.
The fading light of dusk made her slow the
car in order to read the street signs. She’d planned to leave the apartment at
noon but the short nap after her night shift had stretched until late
afternoon.
She made the final turn into Fourth Street West Virginia
She hadn’t seen him for years, not since
several months after his marriage, an event that had shaken her life. His wife
hadn’t understood the friendship or Tony’s and Carrie’s mutual interest in
medical mysteries. With a flash of anger, Carrie recalled the night that woman
had stormed into the hospital cafeteria and spewed jealous accusations.
Carrie’s hands tightened on the steering
wheel. She’d been embarrassed, hurt and angry enough that she’d walked away
from her best friend.
She’d heard rumors that Tony’s wife had
taken off for greener pastures. At least that’s what the hometown gossips had
said. Not that Carrie believed in gossip, especially after the news of her
inheritance had brought the tongue-waggers out in force.
She slowed the car to a crawl. Waves of
panic lashed against her momentary calm. The place in her head where she’d
filed his address was empty. She braked. The paper with the directions
fluttered from the dashboard. She bent and grabbed them.
One glance was enough to retrieve the
forgotten data. She eased off the brake and cruised the street. Half the houses
had missing numbers. What now? Then at
the foot of the dead end street, she saw the ones she’d memorized displayed in
shiny brass on a massive gray house that looked like the setting for a Gothic
novel.
A broad lawn fronted the house. The
tailored grass stood in contrast to the tangles on either side.
“This is the place.” She gulped a breath.
After parking at the curb, she slowly
released a held breath. She strode up the walk and onto the wide porch. Muffled
shouts and noises came from inside the house. She rang the bell. What sounded
like a slammed door nearly sent her back to the car. Who was staging a major
temper tantrum? She thought Tony lived
alone.
She rang the bell again, this time holding
for several peals. The door opened and she forgot why she’d come. She forgot to
breathe. Her eyes widened and her heart pounded in a staccato rhythm until she
thought her ribs would crack.
He was more than she remembered.
Are you sure you want to be here?
“Tony.” His name escaped on a sigh. She
felt like a teenager come face to face with the latest movie hero. This was the
man she planned to ask…She changed her mind. Time to retreat. The plan wouldn’t
work, not with the things he made her feel and what he made her want.
MY PLACES
http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com
BUY MARK
http://bookswelove.net/authors/walters-janet-lane-romance-fantasy-suspense-medical/
Oh, yes, this is going to be much more than a marriage of convenience. Enjoyed the excerpt!
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