It’s fun to be back at Book Brew, especially with such a fun theme. My thanks to Gaye and Coffee Time Romance for hosting this event.
There are two canine characters in my first published romance, Worth The Risk by Lyn O’Farrell. My writing partner, Anne Farrell, and I are both dog lovers, so of course, each of our main characters had to have a dog.
Amanda Lloyd lives in a small condo, so we gave her a small dog, a miniature Dachshund named Willie. Willie is small but can be fierce when he’s protecting someone he cards about, but he can also be mischievous, and loves to untie people’s shoelaces. (My folks once had a Chihuahua who did that.)
Our hero, Mitch Delaney, lives in a large Victorian home with his seven-year-old son Josh and Albert, a rambunctious and overly-friendly Olde English Sheepdog, who has flunked obedience training. Twice.
We had lots of fun writing the canine characters. An excerpt featuring one of them follows.
Worth The Risk
Short Contemporary Romance
By Lyn O’Farrell (the writing team of Anne Farrell and Linda McLaughlin)
Children’s librarian Amanda Lloyd values privacy above all else. Three years ago her wedding ended in disaster when her groom was arrested at the altar and the story of the ‘Embezzler’s Bride’ appeared in the supermarket tabloids. The experience has left her determined to avoid being caught in the public eye again. Until she meets a sexy single dad with a scandalous past.
Ex-racer Mitch Delaney is a public figure whose life has been plastered across the tabloids more than once. But he believes that anything worth doing is worth a risk, and he wants Amanda in his life. When they draw the attention of the tabloids, his custody of his son is threatened. Amanda has waited twenty-eight years for the right man. But will happiness come at too high a price?
(Golden Heart Finalist, previously published as Private Affair, Kensington Precious Gem #121)
Available in e-book format from the following ebookstores:
Amazon Kindle, Apple iTunes, Kobo, Nook, Smashwords, and Sony Reader.
Excerpt:
His head was nestled in her lap. Amanda gently smoothed back the hair that had tumbled into his eyes. He sighed contentedly and gazed at her with soulful blue eyes.
“You really are a love,” she murmured. “I can’t imagine why I was ever nervous around you.”
The living room was quiet now, except for the soft crackling of the fire. Shadows played on the walls as the flames danced in the fireplace. Dinner was over, the kitchen cleaned up, and Josh was upstairs asleep. It was the first really relaxing moment Amanda had had all day.
“Is that mutt bothering you?” Mitch asked as he stepped into the room.
“No, we’ve been getting acquainted.” She smiled and scratched Albert behind the ears. He looked up at her adoringly. Then, as if aware that three was a crowd, he sauntered over to the fireplace and flopped down with a large sigh.
“Never thought I’d actually be jealous of a dog,” Mitch muttered, sitting down on the couch next to her.
Amanda laughed. “But he’s the sweetest thing.”
Mitch murmured his agreement, then said, “You’re sweet, too.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him.
“For tutoring Josh, I mean,” he said quickly.
“There’s nothing sweet about that. I expect to be paid the going rate for my efforts.”
“You will be,” he assured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “In fact, there may even be a bonus in it.” He leaned closer, a teasing gleam in his eyes.
“What kind of a bonus did you have in mind?” Amanda knew she shouldn’t have asked when his look changed to one of desire.
Pulling her closer, he rubbed his thumb along her lower lip and her lips parted instinctively. She looked deeply into his eyes and saw a new tenderness she hadn’t seen before. Her body ached in anticipation as he continued caressing her mouth and gazing at her from hooded eyes that promised a world of pleasure in their blue depths.
Connect with Anne and Linda online:
Anne Farrell’s website: http://annefarrellwriter.com/
Linda McLaughlin’s website: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com/
Linda’s blog: http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/
Add Worth The Risk to your Goodreads shelf
Leave a comment to win an e-book copy of Romancing The Pages, an anthology published by my local RWA Chapter. I was honored to be one of the editors for the stories, most of which feature new and upcoming authors. Several of the stories feature animals, mostly dogs, so it sort of fits today’s theme.
What’s your favorite breed of dog?
Linda McLaughlin w/a Lyn O’Farrell
- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
I love the twist you put in this scene — leading us on toe think the dog was the hero until the man walks in. Nicely done.
Thanks, Elf. It’s one of my favorite scene openings, if I say so myself. Love your name, by the way. Very cool.
Great excerpt! 😀
Fav breed of dog… well my family has had many different breeds… mutts, doberman, min pin, chaweenie, irish setter… have loved them all, each with their own unique quirks and personalities… but my fav out of the bunch was my special girl who was a mutt… part husky… she was so beautiful and gentle.
like all kinds of dogs; no fav breed
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Colleen, you sure have had a lot of dogs! And sometimes the mutt can be the best of the lot. Being part husky, I bet she was really pretty.
BN, I’m like you, no favorite breed, really, though I kind of like the little dogs. We had a Chihuahua for 16 years and it was kind of like having a puppy for all that time because she never grew past the cuddly stage.