Wednesday Wonders: THREE PLUS THREE

Today's Wednesday Wonders features the story Three Plus Three  by Cindy Flores Martinez in the Valentine Pets & Kisses collection.

Book Description:

Make your Valentine's Day tail-wagging and purr-fect with 14 brand-new romances from award-winning and bestselling authors! (When it comes to stories involving our four-legged pets, one day a year to share tales of love isn’t enough.) Today we feature story #14:

Three Plus Three - Cindy Flores Martinez

A grieving widow and her beloved doggie meet a handsome widower the day before Valentine's Day.

Excerpt:

She scooped Cookie up in her arms, but before she could get a firm grip, the eager dog jumped out of her grasp and darted down the sidewalk toward the ocean. Violet was stunned, too stunned to move for the first few seconds.

She watched, agape, as Cookie descended on Ocean Avenue, a small two-lane road that lay between Main Street and the beach. Traffic was heavy on that street. Although the cars moved slowly, they were still a crescendo of hot, shiny metal and rolling wheels. They were no match for a dog, especially one as small as hers.

"Cookie!" Violet raced after her while passersby's watched. "My dog! Please stop her!"

Several people tried to grab hold of Cookie, but she got away. She reached the curb, stepped off it, and dashed in front of the cars.

Violet felt as if her heart leaped out of her chest.

The sound of screeching tires filled the air as drivers slammed on their brakes.

Cookie's body came within inches of the wheels on a minivan.

A horrified scream escaped Violet's lips. She covered her eyes with her hands, unable to watch Cookie's horrible end. Her body tensed as she braced herself for what was about to come.

When all remained quiet, she uncovered her eyes and glanced ahead. Cookie safely reached the other side of the street, hopping onto the sidewalk with her tiny back legs.

A wave of relief swept over Violet at the sight. She lunged forward, and her high heels click-clacked on the ground as she chased after Cookie, crossing in front of the cars that were still stopped. "I'm sorry," she said to the drivers.

Arriving at the other side of the road, she caught a glimpse of Cookie heading toward a cement ramp beside the pier. It led out to a parking lot where more cars might cross her path.

Violet's heart began to race. "Somebody, please stop my dog!" She slipped out of her high heels and ran after Cookie in her bare feet.

Seal Beach was much smaller than the other beaches in the area. A long pier cut through two narrow parking lots, which quickly met the sand. The water was just a few feet away. She could tell Cookie remembered how to get there and that she was determined to get there at whatever the cost.

Violet darted down the ramp as fast as she could. By then, Cookie was dashing toward a small separation wall that shielded the parking lot from the sand. Thankfully, there were no moving cars in front of her, but Violet knew it wouldn't take long for Cookie to reach the water. She had loved playing in the ocean to no end, but Violet had always been there to watch her. The current on this beach was fierce, easily pulling anyone and anything underneath its clutches. Lately, there had been sharks and jelly fish swimming close to the shore because of the warmer-than-usual ocean temperatures.

Horrible images flashed through Violet's mind of killer sea creatures lurking in shallow waters waiting to feast on pet dogs. At that moment, Violet decided she was never going to let Cookie out of the house again, ever.

 

About the Author:

Cindy Flores Martinez writes sweet romantic comedy and inspirational romance in English and Spanish. The Spanish version of her debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, which is titled Novio Por Correo, has been an Amazon US and international Spanish romance bestseller. Cindy has an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. She has been a screenwriting instructor, screenplay consultant, script reader, and screenplay collaborator.

You may purchase Valentine Pets & Kisses which includes Three Plus Three by clicking HERE.

 
Connect with Cindy:

Facebook  |  Website  |  Twitter

Tweet this blog post: 
Surely killer sea creatures lurked in shallow waters to feast on pet dogs. Three Plus Three @AuthorCindy http://bit.ly/1VDzjwf #WedWonders

Wednesday Wonders: COURTING CASSANDRY

Today's Wednesday Wonders features the medieval novel, 

Courting Cassandry by Joyce DiPastena

 

About the Book:

Is it too late for second chances when the girl you loved in your youth comes back into your life?

Gerolt de Warenne became guardian to a child-heiress named Cassandry when he was only nineteen-years old. As he watched her grow into a lovely young woman, he found himself falling in love with her, but Cassandry viewed him as an older brother. So, burying his feelings, he gave permission for her to marry another.

Twenty-four years later Gerolt and Cassandry meet again. With the loss of their respective spouses, Gerolt hopes to finally court Cassandry, but she desires to remain a widow. Instead, they agree to a betrothal of their children.

Matters become complicated as their friendship begins to evolve into the romance Gerolt has always wanted. But by the law of the medieval Church, Cassandry and Gerolt can’t marry if their children do. Can they find a way to be together? Or must they sacrifice their future for the love of their children?

"Courting Cassandry" is a “Hearts in Autumn” romance, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because love isn’t only for the young!

Excerpt:

Cassandry sniffed dismissively. “Boyhood mischief. You grew out of it. Samson did not.”

“I might not have. There was worse ‘mischief’ as I grew older. Gambling and drinking. We had begun to walk a dangerous road together, Sam and I. Do you know what stopped me?”

She shook her head, grappling with the implausible portrait he had drawn.

“You.” Gerolt turned his head to meet her shocked gaze. “Had my father not died and left you in my care, I might have remained as reckless and undisciplined as Sam. But suddenly I was responsible for raising a nine-year-old girl, and I knew I could not do so if I drank away my days in a tavern. You were still grieving for your parents. Even after a year in my father’s wardship, you still carried that lost, lonely look in your eyes. The day after I buried my father, I vowed I would find a way to make you smile, to win your trust, to raise you to be as fine a lady as my mother had been. I did not have a notion how to do any of it, but there was something about you that made me determined to try. It was not easy. I made a great many mistakes.”

“I do not recall a one,” she protested.

He grinned. “You were small, and, as you said yourself, age has dulled your memory.”

She swatted playfully at his shoulder. “It is not that dull.”

He laughed, sending up another scolding from Jenny Wren. He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling silence until the bird settled back down. By then Gerolt had grown sober again. He straightened, folding up his stretched out legs.

“I hoped fatherhood would steady Sam, as caring for you did me. But instead he went off on that wretched crusade.”

“What, so now I was a daughter to you? Or did raising me merely make you feel ancient?”

That brought the twinkle back to his gray eyes, but another expression lurked behind it, something warm but cautious. “And what was I to you? A brother?”

Her breath caught a little. “Yes . . . then.”

The twinkle faded at the little pause between her words, but if anything, his eyes grew brighter. “And now?”

She did not answer, but neither could she pull her gaze away from his. Not until he shifted his position and his face slowly drifted ever so close to her own. Then her lashes brushed against her cheeks as she closed her eyes and waited for his hand to tenderly touch her face, his breath to brush her lips . . .

About Joyce DiPastena:

 

Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel…set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist). Joyce is a multi-published, multi-award winning author who specializes in sweet medieval romances heavily spiced with mystery and adventure. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.

Purchase Links:

Amazon          Barnes & Noble          iBooks            Kobo        

Author Links:

 
Website          Author Blog         Medieval Research with Joyce

Facebook          Twitter: @JoyceDiPastena          Pinterest Board for book

Tweet this blog post:   

 Is it too late for second chances at love? COURTING CASSANDRY @JoyceDiPastena  http://bit.ly/1KFNCj5 #WedWonders