Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Thursday - Writing A Marriage Takes Two #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #eomance #medical #Marriage #convenience

 I remember when I began writing A Marriage Takes Two, some of my critique group raised their eyebrows. "How can you make a marriage of convenience work in the present." That was the challenge. The idea came after reading a Regency romance with a marriage of convenience. How to do this. Why do people marry - Love, money or power are the things I considered. Then I chanced upon a nurse who worked two jobs to support her ailing mother and herself. This was a true colleague so... Money was the problem. I also needed a hero who had a connection to the heroine. Some thoughts and I decided on a doctor who had been her childhood friend and the object of her interest during her teen years. He married someone else, had a child and was divorced by his wife. He's not looking forlove but when the heroine comes to him and tells him what she needs, he decides to help her. This will be a marriage in name only. Of course the story shouldn't end that way but how to bring the two together. That comprised the rest of the book. Was fun and a challenge to make this story make sense.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Wednesday A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWHooks #BWLAuthor #Romance #Medical #Second Chance

 

For some great excerpts join the authors at #MFRWHooks here.  http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com Mine is found @https://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com and is A Marriage Takes Two friends find love

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:

She shook her head. “Another job is the last thing I need. I already have two.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Necessity.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a long story.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“What’s wrong? Sounds like you need a shoulder.”

The entire body, she thought. “You could say...It’s like this...I have a problem that needs a solution...It’s sort of...” Her throat closed. Maybe she should leave. Go home. Forget the plan. Find a new one. Except, he was her first, last, and only choice.

“Be glad to listen.” He patted her hand. “Are you saying in all these years, you haven’t found anyone else to listen?

I haven’t looked, she thought. There couldn’t be a replacement for Tony. She couldn’t tell him that. “I thought...Maybe you can help.”

“Be glad to try. Go ahead.”

A crash resounded. Carrie jumped. “I think you’re the one with the problem.”

“You could say that.” Tony rolled his eyes upward. “My son’s protesting his punishment for his latest series of pranks. He’s grounded with no TV and no phone.”

“What did he do?” She sat on one end of a shabby brown couch.

“Do you really want to know?”

She nodded. Hearing about Tony’s problems could give her time to gather her courage.

He slumped beside her. “He glued the sitter’s clothes together. She left in a huff.”

“Don’t blame her.” Carrie frowned. “I thought your son lived with his mother.”

“He did until July. She’s remarried…to one of the Brinkers. She and her new husband are on a world cruise honeymoon. They didn’t take Chad.”

His blue eyes were bleak. Was his pain for his son or himself? How badly had his failed marriage hurt him?  “Are you all right with the idea?”

He shrugged. “I’ve mixed feelings.”

His expression showed hurt and anger, not ones she’d consider mixed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s great having Chad here, but he’s angry about the divorce, about living here, about his mother’s new husband. Wasn’t a great summer. Even with him in school, there are problems.”

“Maybe I can help.”

“Don’t know how.” He winked. “I’m not without experience in dealing with angry kids. “Remember…”

“Yes, and don’t even mention the first time we met.”

“Or my black eye? Lord, it’s great to see you again. Why don’t you tell me why you came all this way?”

She ran her tongue over dry lips. She searched for an answer and couldn’t find one he would believe. If she asked him, he would think she was crazy.

Good grief, my thoughts are scrambled. He is too…too… male.

And your feelings for him haven’t changed.

“Carrie.”

The demand in his voice made her feel like a child facing an adult. “It’s...” What sounded like glass shattering brought her to her feet.

Chad!”

Saved, she thought. “Don’t you think you’d better see what he’s doing before he trashes the house?”

He raked his ebony curls with his fingers. “You’re right.” He headed to the door. “Promise you’ll stay ‘til I settle him. Then we’ll talk.”

“I’ll be here.”

She sank against the cushions. Maybe he would need the entire evening to deal with his son. This visit was an act of desperation. After all, it had been years. Maybe he’d changed.

She looked around the sparsely furnished living room. Most of the pieces looked like refugees from second-hand stores. What had gone wrong for him? He’d been on the fast track. He’d entered practice with one of the largest medical groups in Pittsburgh. From some of her classmates, she’d heard how wonderful he was, what a caring doctor he’d become, and how loyal he’d been to his wife and child. Had the end of his marriage caused him to turn his back on success? She hadn’t heard, and she hadn’t asked until two months ago. Her jobs had been in hospitals where he hadn’t been on staff.

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bid=113639528680724

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Sunday, September 19, 2021

Sunday's Book A Marriage Takes Two #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Romance #Medical

 

"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?




My Places

https://twitter.com/JanetL717

 https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f

bid=113639528680724

 http://bookswelove.net/

 http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com

https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/

 

Buy Mark

https://bookswelove.net/walters-janet-lane/

 

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Wednesday A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWHooks #BWLAuthor #Romance #Medical

A Marriage Takes Two

Join the authors at #MFRWHooks here http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com  for some great excerpts Mine is a medical romance about a modern marriage of convenience

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?

2019 Book Hooks


EXCERPT:

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.
“Carrie...Oh lord, it’s been ages. What are you doing here?  You look terrific.”
She did?  He must be blind. Even her coworkers had made comments about the deep smudges beneath her eyes. Most days, she felt as though she was suffering from terminal exhaustion.
“Come in.” He took her hand.
Exhaustion vanished. He’d always made her feet great, but this instant tonic-effect startled her. Coming to see him had grown corners she couldn’t see around.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” He drew her inside. “What brings you to town?”
She wanted to tell him, but the words caught in her throat. “Would you believe I was in the neighborhood?
Tony laughed. “No.”
She inhaled and the spicy scent of him invaded her space. “I came...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. He’d been her hero, her prince, her fantasy lover. In the flesh, he relegated those images to black and white.
“I bet you came to apply for the nursing position at the clinic.” He steered her down a hall that needed paint into a large living room. “Did you get lost on the way there?  Unfortunately, I’m not the one you need to see.”
She shook her head. “Another job is the last thing I need. I already have two.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Necessity.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“What’s wrong?  Sounds like you need a shoulder.”
The entire body, she thought. “You could say...It’s like this...I have a problem that needs a solution...It’s sort of...” Her throat closed. Maybe she should leave. Go home. Forget the plan. Find a new one. Except, he was her first, last and only choice.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Wednesday A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWHooks #BWLAuthor #Doctor #Home Improvement


Thursday, April 11, 2019

Thursday's Fourth Scene A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWAuthor #BWLPublishing #Eomance #Medical


The sound of Tony’s deep voice woke her. “Chad, time to be up and at ‘em.”
The order made her smile and raised an eagerness to see him, an eagerness she had to hide. She sat on the edge of the bed and listened to a sleepy child beg for a few more minutes.
“Come on, buddy.”
“Five minutes, please.”
“On your feet.”
She scurried to the bathroom that adjoined the guest room. The green silk underwear she’d washed the night before hung on the shower curtain rod. After putting on the wisps of silk, she slid into her jeans and pulled a sweater several shades darker than her bra over her head. Then she finger-combed her hair.
When she opened the door into the hall, she stifled a sigh. Tony looked better than he had in her dreams. What if he said no?
“Don’t borrow trouble,” she whispered. She stepped into the hall and caught her first glimpse of Tony’s son. He was his father’s image in miniature. Her thoughts rocketed to her first encounter with Tony -- the day he’d become her hero and her best friend.
The boy stamped his foot. “It’s not fair.”
“Life often isn’t.”
Carrie’s breath caught. Tony leaned against the wall. Faded jeans covered his long legs. He wore no shirt. Her gaze focused on the mat of dark hair on his muscular chest. The man was a walking anatomy lesson for the muscular-skeletal system. She itched to explore the lines of his pectorals, intercostals and muscles she’d forgotten how to name.
“Not fair. It’s not fair.”
“And who promised it would be?”  Tony asked.
Carrie held in a chuckle. How many times had he said those words to her?
“Son, just get on with what you have to do.”
This time, she laughed. Tony and Chad stared at her. The boy’s blue eyes turned hostile, but in Tony’s eyes, she saw memories and promises.
“Can we do something special tonight?” Chad asked.
“Count on it.” Tony grinned. “Carrie, come and meet my son.”
She clutched the promise she’d seen and strode toward them. “You certainly can’t deny he’s yours. He has the Flynn look.”
Tony winked. “There are times…” He ruffled his son’s dark curls. “Carrie, this is Chad. She’s an old friend.”
The boy’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t look that old.”
Carrie smiled. “You’ve got that straight. I’ve known your dad since I was your age.”
Chad grinned. “That’s forever. Guess you are old.”
“Hey,” Tony said. “She’s four years younger and was like my little sister.”
“Okay.” Chad headed down the hall. “Hazel’s here. I smell the coffee. Bet she makes pancakes ‘cause we have company.”
Once he started downstairs, Carrie forced her gaze away from Tony’s chest and met his eyes. “What did you decide?”
“Patience. Tell you later.”
Their gazes meshed. Warmth that had nothing to do with comfort and everything to do with desire flooded her system. She swallowed. Feeling this way was a sure recipe for disaster.
He thought of her as a little sister, and from what she’d heard in his voice last night, he still loved his ex-wife. Still, he might agree to a marriage of convenience.
That’s what she wanted. If she repeated those words for the next ten years, she might believe them.
“See you downstairs. Follow the coffee trail, but don’t drink it unless you like rocket fuel. Usually smells better than it tastes.”
“I already made the mistake of having a cup. Strong is a joke.”
Until he vanished into his room, she lingered in the hall and considered the situation. If he agreed to marry her, she was in trouble. With her feelings for him, the marriage would rapidly become very inconvenient.


Sunday, April 7, 2019

Sunday's Book A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWAuthor #BWLPublishing #Romance #Contemporary #nedical

A Marriage Takes Two

” 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?

Reviews:


May 16, 2016
Fun, easy to read with just enough conflict to keep it interesting. Will read more of Ms. Walters books.


February 28, 2018
What does the future hold for Carrie? She is not sure whether Tony, her ‘childhood protector’, ‘teenage ego booster
’, the one person who always listened to her, will help her. Years ago, Tony’s wife, Marilyn spread false accusations 
about Carrie, a nurse, in the hospital cafeteria. Embarrassed and angry Carrie walked away from Tony, her best 
friend. Since then, Marilyn has left Tony and their son Chad, who reacted by behaving badly.Tony has never forgotten, Carrie, his first love. When she asks him to marry her to fulfil the terms of her grandfather’s will, although he has reservations he agrees to help her. However, with a rebellious
 child to deal with and an uncertain relationship they have much to resolve.
Ms Lane-Walters has written a romantic novel about a marriage of convenience with many twists and turns that
 held my interest from beginning to end.
A Marriage Takes Two contains explicit sex.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Wednesday A Marriage Takes Two #MFRWHooks #BWLPublishing #Medical #Romance

A Marriage Takes Two

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?

2019 Book Hooks

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 in a small West Virginia town established in the days when coal mining had dominated the area. She shook her head. Rundown houses and boarded storefronts were the norm along the town’s main street. Why was Tony practicing medicine in this end-of-the-road place?
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.



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