Please welcome Erin Beven to Muse Monday. Be sure to enter her Rafflecopter drawing at the end of her post. You could be a winner!
Hey
Brenda! Thanks for having me on your blog today. This story came to me last
year when The Wild Rose Press did a submission call for short and sweet
romances for their new Candy Hearts Romance line. The title of the story had to
be one of the cute sayings on the sugar candy hearts people eat around
Valentine’s Day.
Text Me
popped into my mind. The new way of
communicating now is through texts, tweets, and emails, so I decided to mix a
little old school with a little new school so to speak. My heroine seeks the
newspaper classifieds for a date avoiding the Internet, but decides to stick
strictly to texting her date scared for the actual face-to-face meeting. What
if he’s a killer, or crazy, or heaven forbid ugly! He turns out to be exactly
what she’s dreamed about.
I had a
lot of fun writing this short and sweet romance. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Thanks
again for having me!
Blurb:
When
Erika’s ex becomes her boss less than a year after dumping her by text, she
gets desperate to find a date to the corporate Valentine’s dance so he doesn’t
suspect she still has feelings for him. Though not a fan of texting for the
obvious reason, she doesn’t have much choice but to tap the keypad in order to
gain the attention of the only viable candidate from the classified ads.
Grayson
made the mistake of listening to his brother a year ago and has regretted what
he did to Erika ever since. But his brother’s next suggestion just might be his
salvation when he takes out an ad for a Valentine’s date…and Erika answers.
Using
a pseudo name and keeping contact to text messages only, Grayson’s plans to
make Erika fall back in love with him appears to be working…until the date of
the dance draws near, and she pushes a meeting—face to face.
Excerpt:
Valentine’s
Day.
She
sank deeper into the couch. What was she going to do? She couldn’t show
up alone to the company dance. Not with the chance of Grayson being there. No
way.
“Maybe
go to another speed dating session?” She grabbed a tissue off the coffee table
and wiped the excess slime from her fingers.
“My
hairdresser’s single. You want me to ask him?”
“Your
hairdresser’s gay. I don’t think he’d be interested in me.”
“Really?”
Megan gave her a funny stare.
“Really.”
Erika snorted. “Have you not seen the picture of him and his ex-partner at his
station?”
“That
was his partner?” Her friend’s mouth gapped open. “I thought it was his
brother.”
She
shook her head. Her friend was one of the smartest people she knew, but common
sense eluded the girl.
Megan
popped more hearts in her mouth. “That explains so much now,” she mumbled
around the candy. “No wonder my hair always looks good.”
“Yes,
it does.” Erika sipped her wine.
Her
friend swallowed. “Well, I’m sorry, honey. I don’t know any single guys. If I
did, I’d try to date them myself.”
“That’s
okay.” She sighed and slumped back onto the sofa.
“Is
Grayson single?”
“I
don’t know. Why are you asking?” She narrowed her gaze. “You want to date him?”
“No.”
Her friend said “no” as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
“I’m
thinking about you. You wouldn’t go back out with Grayson again, would you?
Please say no.” Megan’s shoulders sagged.
Go
back out with Grayson. She never thought she’d be given another chance. Would
she go back out with him after the way he treated her? Of course not. She
deserved better, despite how wonderful he had been.
“I
don’t think so. He really hurt me. I can’t give him that privilege again.”
“Good
for you.” Her roommate perked up and patted her on the back. “Stay strong.
You’ll find someone.”
“You’re
right. I’m going to have a date for that corporate Valentine’s dance, even if I
have to search the classifieds.”
“Surely,
it won’t come to that.” Megan held up her glass for a toast.
Erika
clinked hers with her friend’s. “Yeah, surely.”
Her
roommate sat her glass down on the table and reached for more hearts.
“Here,
give me one of those.”
“I love
reading the little sayings.” Megan passed her a heart and tossed her dark hair
behind her shoulder. “What’s yours say?”
She
flipped over the candy to see the phrase. Bright pink letters stared back at
her. Oh, you can’t be serious. “‘Text me’. Seriously?”
Megan
burst out laughing.
“You
would find that funny.” Erika popped the heart in her mouth and obliterated the
little saying she had grown to hate so much.
Erin
Bevan is a wife and mother of three. An avid reader, one day she decided to try
her luck in writing stories of her own, and the idea paid off. She spends her
days deep in the heart of Texas, fighting mosquitoes, cleaning dirty faces, and
writing when the kids nap. If it's a really good day, she even finds time to
brush her hair.
Links:
Twitter @ErinBevan
What a fun premise to write a story. 'Text Me' sounds fun and perfect for what Wild Rose Press was looking for. Thanks for sharing, Erin.
ReplyDeleteThank, Jody! I had a lot of fun writing this sweet story. I hope you sign up to win a copy!
DeleteThank you, Brenda for having me today!
ReplyDeleteHi Erin, Text Me sounds delightful. Best of luck with sales :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joanne! I hope sales go well too!
ReplyDelete