Sunday, January 23, 2011

Scene of the Crime

"Scene of the Crime", my short story in Cougars & Cubs releases as a single title tomorrow.

I've been overwhelmed lately. With work, illness, and Christmas. And most of all, I've just felt overwhelmed with everything. Do you ever feel that way?

I hate it, but it happened.

November and December are not just busy, but crazy times at my day job. I usually work ten hour days and often longer. By the time I get home, my brain and body are mush. Add Christmas into that, and I'm lucky I don't speak in gibberish. Then I fell and hit my head. Shortly after that my husband had surgery. And then I got bronchitis in the middle of doing employee evaluations at work which is keeping me overtime again. I'm ready for life to get back to normal.

Thus I have to give myself a swift kick in the butt and get myself together. I should feel lucky. I'm far better off than Joan Wilder and Jack Colton in Jewel of the Nile which is on TV as I write this. They're presently hanging over a well of acid, rats eating away at their ropes as a madman tries to take over the Nile. My problems real and imagined, are nothing compared to this. If Joan Wilder can get her act together and defeat an insane dictator, I can surely overcome some overtime and illness.

The heroine in "Scene of the Crime", my newest release, feels rather overwhelmed, too. Not only is she distressed that her ex-boyfriend from many years before wants back in her life, his sexy adult son and ex-wife want her to get out of town and leave them alone. How is she supposed to excel at her new dream job with all this drama?

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1062


Robin didn’t know whether to be relieved or appalled that the sexy man she’d fallen into bed with wasn’t her ex-boyfriend, but his adult son.


When Robin returns to her alma mater as a professor of history, she can’t believe her ex-boyfriend is still on campus much less looking so young and buff after twenty years.

The sexy-as-hell man she’d seen on her first day back, however, isn’t her ex but his adult son. Although she wants nothing to do with either of them, they won’t leave her head or her heart alone.

Reader Advisory: This story has been previously released as part of the Cougars and Cubs anthology by Total-E-Bound

Excerpt:


Chills struck Robyn Cattrall as she stepped onto the grounds of her alma mater. Memories good and bad blindsided her for several moments. She’d done a lot of soul-searching before accepting a post here as history professor.

But the burnished autumn leaves and chill in the air made her feel alive again. They brought the promise of soon-coming winter with its wonderland of glistening snow, something she’d missed living in south Florida for the past couple of decades.

She consoled herself that as a connoisseur of history, she had learned from past mistakes and knew better than to repeat them. Just because she was back at the scene of her first heartbreak didn’t mean she was doomed to repeat it. She’d make sure she didn’t. Forty-four now, she was a lot wiser than she’d been at twenty-two.

Funny, she felt young on a campus surrounded by twenty-year-olds, especially when a horde of students burst into the sunshine and several young studs eyed her appreciatively.

She did her best not to drool over what might be her future students, and tried hard to keep a pleasantly professional smile. But when she came face to face with the ghost of her first love, Phil Williams, her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and her heart stopped. Unabashedly, she stared.

Phil…

What was he doing here?

Phil’s glance slid over her without a hint of recognition, and he passed by without a falter in his step.

She hated herself, but she turned and stared at his retreating back as the sea of people parted around her, then swallowed him. How could he not turn to look at her? How could he forget? How could he look so damned good?

She gulped and licked her lips. When someone bumped her, she jolted awake. Embarrassed, she checked her campus map and hurried to her office.

Available at: Total-E-Bound



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Get yourself better. The rest will fall into place later!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Amber.

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