Little Beginnings + Summer #RomanticIdea from Author @_iris_b

Summer #RomanticIdeaAuthor Iris Blobel is here to share her romance Little Beginnings and her Summer #RomanticIdea. Welcome, Iris.

Iris Blobel bannerMy #RomanticIdea for this summer

I love the beach and for me there’s nothing nicer than a walk along the beach with my feet in the water, listening to the sound of the waves crushing along the shore, and my loved one by my side – hoping to spot a dolphin.

Little Beginnings cover~~  Little Beginnings ~~

by Iris Blobel

“I suppose it doesn’t hurt to dream sometimes.”

♥♦♥ BLURB ♥♦♥

A blind date that doesn’t happen might lead to love.

After her divorce, Jeri Belmont moved to Hobart and now runs a successful art gallery. When her niece sets her up with a neighbour, Jeri expects a blind date like the many she’s had. But she never expected her date wouldn’t even show up because of her age. Despite feeling unjustly judged, when she unexpectedly runs into him again, she finds it hard to ignore Ely’s charm.

Ely Lennox knows he shouldn’t have skipped the blind date because of the lady’s age. After all, it had only been a date, not a lifetime commitment. When his carpentry business takes him right to the woman he bailed out on, his guilt turns into regret when he finds out she’s everything a man could hope for. How can he convince Jeri that he knows acting so immaturely was a big mistake? Will she ever forgive him? Or is she hiding behind something else?

♥♦♥  EXCERPT  ♥♦♥

Jeri Belmont checked the time on her watch. It was twenty past six, and they’d agreed to meet at six.

He was late!

Steaming inside, and less than impressed by her blind date, she took another sip of the Chardonnay as she gazed around the restaurant. Everyone was engulfed in their conversations, but occasionally one of the patrons glanced at her. She shrugged it off, confident in sitting on her own in the town’s most elegant restaurant. What she couldn’t shrug off, though, was her date being late.

She drank the last little bit of her wine, paid, and left. A deep disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach, surprising her, because it hadn’t been the first time she’d been on a blind date that ended with the guy not showing up.

She suppressed a groan as she thought of the man she’d met only a few weeks earlier. Admittedly, he’d been nice, but not at all what he’d pretended to be in the details she received from the “Your Future Heart” agency.

Yet, this rejection hurt inside. Olivia had told her so much about her neighbour, and she’d trusted her niece when she’d assured he’d be there.

Olivia was Georgia’s daughter. Georgia was Jeri’s cousin, but to avoid confusion they all agreed on Olivia being her niece. Jeri loved Olivia like her own daughter and had often babysat her when she’d been younger. They’d been to movies, concerts, and Jeri had even been along to one of her niece’s trips to Melbourne to visit Olivia’s best friend Mia, who had moved across the Bass Strait.

As Jeri walked down the streets to her car, she replayed her conversation with her niece in her mind.

“How are your blind dates going?” her niece had asked as she came into Jeri’s gallery a couple of days ago.

She’d shrugged. “I have a winner’s luck getting hooked up with all the duds in town.” Jeri remembered hesitating, contemplating whether to speak the words in her head. Was she destined to live alone after her divorce? She wasn’t looking for the man of her dreams, just companionship. Someone to go out with once in a while.

Someone to share her day’s highlights or nightmares with.

“You should meet the guy from next door,” Olivia said. “He’s like sex on legs. Honestly.”

Jeri let out a stifled laugh. “Listen, sweetie. I’m in my late thirties, good looking for that age, but sex on legs?”

“You just wait and see,” Olivia said as she looked at her watch. “Anyway, I’d better go. I’ll give you a call tonight. Prepare yourself for a nice night out with my neighbour!”

That had basically been it — she’d been set up on a blind date without actually agreeing to it. In hindsight, she knew she should’ve called it off, but deep inside, she’d hoped for a nice evening. She’d been most certain that none of Olivia’s friends were what she was looking for, but then again, she didn’t even know herself what she was looking for.

♥♦♥   LINKS   ♥♦♥

AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/1SXs5ES

AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1psbjSs

AMAZON AU: http://bit.ly/1R2vjWd

♥♦♥ MEET THE AUTHOR ♥♦♥

Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.

Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.

Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.

Social Media Links:

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Summer #RomanticIdea from Author @BarbaraWDaille

Today’s Summer #RomanticIdea comes courtesy of Barbara White Daille, Author of Cowboy in Charge.
Summer #RomanticIdeaLinda – thanks for hosting me at your blog today.

Readers – here’s my romantic idea for you. So many of us are watching our budgets lately that I thought I’d toss in a cost-conscious idea that can still be very romantic. Instead of going out to a fancy restaurant with even more fancy prices, pick up your favorite takeout meal—but make a few modifications to your usual habits. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking tacos or finger-lickin’ chicken, you can make the meal more special.

Choose any or all of the following: Put flowers and candles on the dining table. Use your best china, your favorite tablecloth and linen napkins, your good silverware, your crystal goblets or champagne flutes. And while you have the flutes handy, maybe serve a reasonably priced wine or sparkling water with a fresh strawberry rather than your everyday diet soda.

And now, here’s part of a dinner scene from my new release. FYI, my heroine is dealing with the flu…

Excerpt from Cowboy in Charge

Their awkward dinner would have taken place in near-silence if not for her son’s chatter all through the meal and dessert.

She focused on getting her few spoonfuls of soup to her mouth without spilling anything…and on trying to keep her gaze on her soup bowl and away from her ex. And failing miserably. Every time he walked away from the table, she couldn’t help sneaking a peek, couldn’t help watching the way his muscles flexed beneath his gray T-shirt as he reached for dishes from the cabinet and the way his faded jeans pulled tight when he leaned down to pull the container of milk from the refrigerator.

When Scott had finished eating, Jason rose and began gathering up the dishes. He had taken control of her tiny kitchen and, worse, dominated her space. She was finding it hard to breathe, let alone keep her head upright. “Leave the dishes, please,” she said. “I can take care of them.”

“I don’t think so.”

He locked gazes with her. She managed to take a steadying breath and turn to Scott. “Honey, how about you go and get into your jammies for Mommy?”

“No, Mommy. I play with cars. Please?”

She smiled. “Well, we’ll see. But jammies first. They’re on your bed. You go get started, okay?”

He slid from his booster chair and left the room.

Slowly, she turned to face her ex-husband again. He had set the dishes in the sink. Hips settled back against the counter, he stood with his arms crossed and his biceps bulging against his T-shirt sleeves and his frown looking too much like Scott’s for her liking. This situation was all too much for her and had been from the moment she had seen him standing in her hallway.

“Jason.” Anger at him and irritation at herself made her hiss his name. “Just who do you think you are to tell me what I can and can’t do in my own kitchen?”

“Just the guy who carried you back into the house after you passed out.”

“It was only for a second. You told me that yourself.”

“I lied.”

Cowboy in Charge coverFrom the cover of Cowboy in Charge

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Single mom Layne Slater thought she’d seen the last of Jason McAndry when he chose the rodeo over her and their unborn son. Now Jason’s back in Cowboy Creek and just as handsome as ever. But Layne can’t give in to those feelings again. She has to protect her children…and her heart.

Jason wants to try to make up for the pain he caused when he left. The least he can do is help Layne while he’s home. Before long, Jason realizes he’s finally ready to be the husband, father and man his family deserves. But can Jason prove to Layne that this time, their love is forever?

Find the book:

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Harlequin, IndieBound, or Kobo.

Barbara White DailleAbout the Author:

Barbara White Daille lives with her husband in the sunny Southwest. Though they love the warm winters and the lizards in their front yard, they haven’t gotten used to the scorpions in the bathroom.

Cowboy in Charge, the latest book in The Hitching Post Hotel series, is a brand-new release! Other books in the series will follow. A larger print reissue of A Rancher’s Pride, book one in Barbara’s popular Flagman’s Folly series, is now available exclusively from Harlequin, while the e-book version is available everywhere. And at the end of 2016, she begins a new sweet romance series for Entangled Bliss.

You can find more info about Barbara and her books at the following locations:

Website  http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com
Blog  http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/blog
Newsletter  http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/newsletter
Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
Twitter  https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille
Amazon author page  http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-White-Daille/e/B002J6B0QQ
Harlequin author page  http://www.harlequin.com/author.html?authorid=1244
Goodreads author page
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/529361.Barbara_White_Daille