׺°”˜`”°º× Runaway Groom Release Day! ׺°”˜`”°º×

I have wanted to share this story with you for a long, long time. Braxton and Abby first came to me a couple years ago and I was SURE, positive even, that theirs was a cute little short story. My crit partner, Heather Long, insisted there was more to it...so I sat down and quit trying to rush it and let them tell me their story.

What came out wasn't the short story I planned to write. Braxton and Abby hurt, bled, laughed, and lived on the page and I'm more than thrilled to finally be able to share them with you.

Without further preamble, here's a bit of my Runaway Groom.

He’s ready and waiting. She’s wanting…but wary.

Runaway Groom

Watkin’s Pond, Book 1

Links
Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

The groom is back in town.

Abigail lost her best friend years ago when he ditched her at the altar like a loaf of stale bread. Now he’s back and determined to do whatever he has to—even lie, apparently—to get under her skin. Although he makes her hormones rev to life in a way that no one has since he left, she is equally determined not to fall for his boy-next-door charm.

His bride-to-be is somewhat reluctant.

Braxton Dean was too young and stupid to know better when he walked away. Years of trying to fill the Abby-shaped hole in his heart have left him empty, and now he’s going to win back his girl—or get over her. But first he needs answers. Particularly why she never responded to any of his letters.

It might take a whole town to make this wedding happen.

With the help of their friends, the two battle it out. The army? An entire town of busybodies. The prize? Happily ever after.

Warning: Contains indignant old ladies, steamy sex (but not with indignant old ladies), seduction cake, and condom bouquets. Yes, we went there.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Runaway Groom:

Counting it down to Runaway Groom : Two of my favorite small town authors...

I can’t believe we’re almost to the release day of Runaway Groom!! *squeaks*

That said, I LOVE small town stories. Sweet Home Alabama might be my favorite small town movie, or maybe The Proposal and that little town in Alaska…wait, let’s talk about books because I am a HUGE fan of these two authors.

2. Mariah Stewart 

I have never in my entire life eaten as much ice cream as I did while I read Almost Home, The Chesapeake Diaries Book 3. Aside from writing a lovely and intimate small town, Stewart also made me want to visit it. I wanted to eat at the ice cream shop, fall in love with the hero, all of it. Just great stuff.

1. Kristan Higgins

I know, I know. If you’ve read my blog before or my facebook, you knew I’d mention Higgins. I’m a huge fangirl and if I ever meet her, I’m sure to be so speechless, someone will post a pic of it and share my frozen shock with the world. That said, she has SO MANY SMALL TOWN AWESOME BOOKS. From the Blue Heron series and the beauty of wine country to the Maine coast, Higgins transports us smack dab into a town full of folks who know each other and have such easy familiarity with each other that it is impossible to resist falling in love with them. Start with The Best Man if you haven’t read them. No, wait, do Until There Was You. No, ignore me…start with My One and Only. Oh, shoot…just read them all like I did and we’ll talk about them, okay?

Counting it down to Runaway Groom : Three recipes you can’t go wrong with in a small town

Since I can bake these, I know you can do it because I’m the worst baker in the WORLD. I burn water. Seriously, look at my facebook wall…I posted a pic the last time I burned water.

3. Taco Lasagna

First you fry up some ground beef, chicken, or whatever meat you’re taco-ing. Then you follow the instructions on the taco packet (add some water and the packet and cook it down, you know the drill.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Once you have the meat, you can start layering. Put down some soft taco shells in a lasagna pan. (They have some fancy name for it, but me? I call it a lasagna pan, even though mine is glass.) Then you layer meat, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, more shells, maybe some onions, more meat, some taco sauce…whatever stuff you’d put on your taco. Add a final layer of taco shells and cover the whole mess with cheese. Bake until the cheese melts and serve up like lasagna. 

2. Mom’s Mac and Cheese

Boil noodles until they are done. When they are, drain them and then add a stick of butter and some velveeta chunks until melted…then splash in some water and sprinkle on some pepper. Comfort food? Done.

1 Alfredo Sauce

Get a big pan (I use the skillet my mama gave me) and melt a stick of butter and throw in some garlic (I like the chunky kind in oil, but you can use powder in a pinch.) Once it is melted, throw in a block of Philadelphia cream cheese. Stir, fast…until the cream cheese is combined and you have what looks like a giant white booger in the pan. Add shredded parmesan cheese and some milk until it takes on a creamy texture. Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Counting it down to Runaway Groom : Four Reasons to Avoid Small Towns

4. We aren’t going to forget that thing you did…

I know, you were twenty. I know, you were drunk. I don’t care, we won’t forget. We’ll forgive you, since you grew up to be such a nice adult and all, but we won’t forget.

3. No, seriously…

Ever. We won’t forget. We’re telling your grandkids about it.

2. We really do only accept cash.

We don’t care that all the places you’ve ever been to before accept your little plastic card, we don’t. There is an ATM over there. Use that, bring us money. Kthxbai.

1. You may never want to leave.

We grow on you. Like mold. It might be insidious, but it happens. You’ll fall in love with us and you’ll put some roots down and you’ll never see a reason to live anywhere else…even if they don’t get buried in ten feet of snow and have a Starbucks. This will become home and that will be what matters at the end of the day.

You were warned. O.o