I’ve been counting down the days until this party day arrived.  Now, it is here, and I am thrilled to get to reconnect with friends made at the Thanksgiving Party last month, and the chance to meet new people at this Christmas Party. I plan to share some about my new book, Love Beyond the Curve, but I also want to share some holiday ideas, memories, music  and maybe even a holiday recipe!  I also plan to spend more time reading about new books and new authors at this party.  I’d love to hear your holiday comments, too!  Please check in with me often over the next few days.   I plan to feature excerpts from my new book, Love Beyond the Curve, released Dec. 4th at BookStrand Publishing.  I will open with the following excerpt, and add-on from there at each post.  Enjoy!

She had been there for two weeks and had yet to meet her landlord.  He was still out-of-town, and with her crazy schedule, she had no idea when their paths would cross anyway.   As long as she paid the rent on time, she guessed it didn’t matter.  The apartment was in mint condition, having been recently renovated, so there was little for her to do in the way of any ‘DIY’ projects.  She just needed to put out some personal items, and put her own spin on the decorating and it would go from fabulous to awesome!  But again, her schedule would probably make that task more drawn out than she would like for it to be.  She would just have to make a list and begin checking things off as she went along.  Making a list usually helped her to expedite the completion of a project,  because she couldn’t wait to draw a line through each step as she went along.  She lived to see her list, which was located on the refrigerator, completely covered in red lines, signifying a victory of sorts in her eyes.

It was one such “list” that brought her to this very moment in time.  She had drawn the last red line through her current list, and was celebrating with her television remote control and a pint of Turtle Tracks ice cream when a knock on the door left her frozen with her spoon in her mouth, and her eyes riveted to the doorknob, wondering who on earth could be here at this time of the morning.

“Who is it?” Charlotte asked without opening the door.

“Reed Jackson, your landlord.  I hate to bother you so early, but I am in a bit of a jam, and was hoping you could help me out,” he said through the door.

Charlotte ran her hands over her hair to try to smooth it down.  It was in a ponytail, and rather messy at that.  She was wearing black Capri length leggings with a pink tank top and no bra.  Her habit of completely “unlatching” when she got home was biting her in the ass right now.  She was barefoot with hot pink toenails.  Not a bit of make-up was on her face, since she had showered earlier.  In other words, she looked like a train wreck, but what did it matter?  She wished she looked more presentable for her initial meeting of the landlord, but with him being an old man, why should she care?

            With that final thought, she opened the door and instantly thought to herself, “Oh shit!  I should have cared!”  There in front of her stood a prime example of “tall, dark, and handsome”, with a pair of piercing ice blue eyes to go with it.  He was wearing faded, worn jeans, and a light blue t-shirt straining against a wide, muscular chest and bulging biceps.  Somebody should have warned her.  She closed her eyes for an instant,gathering her thoughts and opened the door wider, saying, “Please come on in. How can I help you?”

Check back for another sample of  “Love Beyond the Curve”!