The Story Behind the Story of The Wedding Promise

I love a good romantic comedy and knowing the story behind the story makes it so much more fun. I can’t wait to read this one.

 

The Story Behind the Story of The Wedding Promise

by Melinda Curtis

In June, I was asked to participate in a holiday anthology with 13 other sweet romance writers. Last year, I would have jumped up and down for joy. This year, I have 6 writing projects on the table and had deadlines that couldn’t be adjusted. Call me Crazy…I agreed. Only one problem besides squeezing it in the schedule: I needed an idea.

At the time, my friend, Kim, was in Ecuador researching a new cocoa product (translation: she wanted to create a new chocolate snack organically). Kim was in a very remote part of Ecuador and her weekly updates to friends fascinated me.  All the things we take for granted – a bug-free home, air conditioning, internet – she didn’t have any of that. One week, she reported the humongous size of bugs that landed on her, a snake sighting, and a trip from the cocoa fields uphill in the rain with a flat tire on her wheelbarrow.  For a romantic comedy writer, it was nirvana! A fish out of water story was born! Add a wounded warrior, three matchmaking nuns, and I had myself a story. It turned out kind of like a cross between Runaway Bride and Romancing the Stone.

 

Here’s part of the opening scene with my socialite heroine:

It was raining.  Again.

Tiffany Bonander tried humming a few bars of White Christmas.  It was, after all, December 23.  Cheer was called for.

But the incessant beat of fat raindrops on the tangled foliage of the Ecuadorian rainforest and on her pink rain slicker, drowned out her cheer.

Or maybe she was just drowning under the pressure of heavy responsibilities.

Ankle-deep water rushed down the steep, muddy road toward Tiff and her precious cargo–thirty pounds of cocoa beans.  She couldn’t lose the beans.  They were the answer to all her troubles. 

Thunder boomed.  And boomed again.  The downpour increased to a deluge.

Tightening her grip on the wheelbarrow handles, Tiff tried to find purchase with her rain boots, tried to make it to the next rise before the road turned into a river.  Tried…and failed.   Somewhere above her the river had risen high enough to crest a bank.  Water surged toward her.

Tiff’s father claimed they’d abandoned this cocoa plantation years ago for drainage reasons.  He should have used the F-word: flood.

Tiff stumbled to her knees, and water rushed into her boots–cute, pink-flowered plastic ones which quickly filled with water and felt as heavy as cement shoes.  If not for her grip on the wheelbarrow, she might have been swept downhill.  Just last week, she’d heard about a woman who’d been carried away by the cresting river and smashed into a tree.  Smashed as in: to pieces.  Dead.

That would be worse than being broke and the laughing-stock of the civilized world.

This was karma, plain and simple.  She shouldn’t have jilted Chad at their engagement party or left Malcolm at the altar. 

 

 

Bio/Release Info:

Melinda Curtis writes the Harmony Valley series of sweet and emotional romances for the Harlequin Heartwarming line (book 4 coming 3/2015). Brenda Novak says: “Season of Change has found a place on my keeper shelf”.  Melinda also writes independently published, hotter romances as Mel Curtis. Jayne Ann Krentz says of Blue Rules: “Sharp, sassy, modern version of a screwball comedy from Hollywood's Golden Age except a lot hotter.” 

The Wedding Promise kicks off the Bridesmaid series.  This story was included in the Sweet Christmas Kisses anthology (retitled The Christmas Promise).

Buy Links for The Wedding Promise:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-wedding-promise/id918381104?ls=1&mt=11

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-wedding-promise-8

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00NIUZCYI/indie01-0020-20

B&N: will go live 10/15

 

Special Offers/Freebies:

Readers of this blog will be emailed a FREE sweet, fun novella set within the Hollywood Rules world by signing up for Melinda’s book release email newsletter. Link: http://www.melindacurtis.net/join-melinda-s-mailing-list

 

Check out Melinda’s Facebook page this week for your chance to win a book bag and autographed books by several great authors. https://www.facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor

 

Website: www.MelindaCurtis.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor

Twitter: @MelCurtisAuthor

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/melcurtisauthor/

 

World Alzheimer's Day - 30 Days of Snarktember Post & Contest

 

 

Today I’m blogging at 30 Days of Snarktember at Snarky Mom’s blog about Alzheimer’s for World Alzheimer’s Day: http://www.snarkymomreads.com/?p=7407

 

Please hop on over to catch my post as well our contests.

Guest blogger: Nina Pierce ~ "Cause...I said"

Please welcome Nina Pierce to my blog today. She has a sensational post and excerpt I know you'll love.

“Cause… I said”
by Nina Pierce

Ashley, thanks so much for having me here today. Sometimes a writer just needs to get out, stretch her legs, and visit another blog!

I’m Nina Pierce, multi-published author of erotic romance. My January release from Ellora’s Cave, “Healer’s Garden” (direct link: http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-8077-535-healers-garden.aspx ) is an erotic suspense story that takes place in an alternate future.

A world left after the devastating plague of the twenty-third century nearly wiped out the male population and significantly decreased the female population. A place where woman have evolved and developed the talents of prophesying, telepathy, telekinesis, and the greatest gift of all—healing.

In this female dominated society, continuing the human population is of utmost importance. The virus that decimated humans has also rendered male sperm incapable of surviving artificial insemination and cloning has yet to be perfected. The government has enslaved acceptable males and decreed that woman must mate with them and birth two infants before the age of thirty.

It’s at the government breeding facility known as the Garden of Serenity that gifted healer Jahara Hriznek meets the mating instructor Brenimyn and so begins their tumultuous relationship.

Brenimyn believes the time is now to rise up and restore social equality for all. He is searching for the one woman prophesied to be his mate and partner in the battle against the government and believes Jahara is that woman. But can Brenimyn convince Jahara to trust her heart and follow him? And will that love be enough to unite them in a coup against the government and bring about a new world order?

I love this couple... love that Brenimyn is willing to risk his life to stand up for something he believes in and fight for the woman he loves.

I was born in the 60’s, but I am not a child of the 60’s. That was an era when men and women laid down in front of bulldozers or carried picket signs or stood up against the government on court hall steps. I’ve never stepped up in public and fought for a cause I believed in. I’m opinionated and not too shy to express myself, but have never gone to jail to prove a point. I greatly admire people who have stepped out of their comfort zone and stood up for a cause.

I love to hear stories of people with that much bravery. Have you taken a stand? Or would you like to? Tell me about it. I’ll be here all day!

And here’s an excerpt I hope you enjoy:

Patience. That’s what was required of him. But damn, he’d been treading water a hell of a long time while he waited for destiny to change the course of his life.

Brenimyn didn’t enjoy these monthly exhibitions any more than he liked copulating with Kylie. Though she’d never admit it, she detested his touch. He didn’t mind. It was less confusing without emotions getting all tangled in their peculiar relationship.

Since arriving at the Garden three years ago, Brenimyn had become accustomed to arrogant women who thought they were the only intelligent creatures walking this earth. Kylie was a prime example of that conceited attitude personified.

To the women before him, he was nothing more than a stud. Stupid, beastly and—inhuman. Oh, if only they knew what he could do, they wouldn’t think themselves so superior, now would they? But the time had not come to travel that particular road. Preparations still needed to be made. In the meantime, he would swallow his pride and let the mauling begin.

“Their physiques are quite different from ours, not all cushy and round. Rather ugly if you ask me.” Kylie pulled off Brenimyn’s tunic and smiled up at him. “Sorry, Brenimyn. I know the truth stings.”

Forcing his lips to lift, he bent and kissed her cheek. “Nothing is as beautiful and sweet as a woman, Kylie. Not even the flowers in the gardens.”

“Thank you.” She callously patted his stomach with a cold hand.

“Now, Brenimyn is going to take off his breeches. Though you all studied anatomy in school, the first look at a man’s genitals can be shocking.”

Brenimyn untied the cords at his belly slowly, seductively. This was the only time he had control and he stretched the moments out until the females before him leaned forward in breathless anticipation. His eyes locked on the only woman in the room who seemed less interested in this whole charade than him. The raven-haired beauty actually looked lost despite the maturity lining her face. Her hand caressed her cheek even as he thought of her. Her eyes shifted uncomfortably around the room, not watching as the fabric pooled at his bare feet and the inevitable gasp of awe echoed off the walls.

“Please come up and have a closer look,” Kylie said. Her hand fondled his buttocks. Touch but don’t desire, this one is mine, her caress communicated to the breeders even as her lips curved into that plastic smile he’d come to despise. “My mate is a wondrous specimen.”

Brenimyn resented Kylie. He belonged to no one. Least of all her.

On shaky legs, the dark-haired woman approached with all the others. Her gaze searched everywhere but the one place he willed her to look—his face. For some reason, he wanted her to see him, not as a supplier of sperm, but as a man.

Like all the others, her eyes focused only on his physique. Her gaze slid over his well-defined chest he worked hard to maintain. She followed the small line of blond curls around his navel then lower. From her frank appraisal, he wondered if she had ever seen a human male as natural as the day he was birthed. This woman was no different from all the others. Disappointment slumped his shoulders.

Winding her fingers into the yellow mass of curls, Kylie’s fingers cradled Brenimyn’s testicles. “Touch everything, it’s all right.”

At Kylie’s tone, Brenimyn dropped his gaze to the floor. He worked to block out the uncomfortable flurry of fingers petting his skin. He thought again of the Governmental Body of the Garden and wondered how much longer they would keep him as head of the male breeding population if Kylie didn’t conceive soon. As much as he abhorred this display, he needed to be here. He was desperate to meet all the new women entering the Garden. After the mating ritual with Kylie, he’d circulate through the other instructing rooms under the pretense of checking his breeders. Surely the woman he sought would be among this breeding class. Although the girls currently giggling and fondling his body couldn’t really be classified as women, now could they?

Lost in his own thoughts, Brenimyn wasn’t prepared for the shock wave tearing through him like a jolt of electricity. He stared at the fingers trembling along his forearm then into the amber pools that had held his gaze since he entered the room. He wasn’t supposed to meet the women’s eyes when they were this close, but the unexpected tingle of awareness had broken his usually stoic concentration. The beautiful brunette looked at him through thick lashes as if she recognized him. Her mouth trembled with a smile. Did she feel it too? He studied her, trying to discern if she sensed the flow of knowledge rushing between them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nina lives quietly in the willy-wags of Maine, making a fuss only when her characters won’t settle down enough for her to get some peace. She shares the house with her high school sweetheart of thirty-three years, three adult children and menagerie of pets. You can keep up with her at twitter (http://www.twitter.com/ninapierce) and Facebook (http://www.Facebook.com/nina.pierce) and find all her titles at her website (http://www.NinaPierce.com)

Thank you, Nina.

Ashley