Summer #RomanticIdea | Linda McLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont

Today’s Summer #RomanticIdea comes courtesy of Barbara White Daille, Author of Cowboy in Charge.
Linda – 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.”

From 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.

About 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

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my Regency romance, Lady Elinor’s Escape, and my Summer #RomanticIdea.

“A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou” – The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

I love that quote, and it makes me think of romantic summer picnics—at the beach, by a lake, in the mountains or a park—whatever location works best where you live or vacation. But what to pack? Wine, bread, meat and cheese are a given, but don’t forget the summer fruit—ripe red strawberries, lush juicy peaches or crisp apples. There’s nothing like a taste of fruit to sweeten a kiss.

Lady Elinor’s Escape
by Linda McLaughlin
Sweet Regency Romance

Lady Elinor Ashworth always longed for adventure, but when she runs away from her abusive aunt, she finds more than she bargained for. Elinor fears her aunt who is irrational and dangerous, threatening Elinor and anyone she associates with. When she encounters an inquisitive gentleman, she accepts his help, but fearing for his safety, hides her identity by pretending to be a seamstress. She resists his every attempt to draw her out, all the while fighting her attraction to him

There are too many women in barrister Stephen Chaplin’s life, but he has never been able to turn his back on a damsel in distress. The younger son of a baronet is a rescuer of troubled females, an unusual vocation fueled guilt over his failure to save the woman he loved from her brutal husband. He cannot help falling in love with his secretive seamstress, but to his dismay, the truth of her background reveals Stephen as the ineligible party.

Excerpt:

Elinor looked around her. “Where shall we have our picnic?”

“I have a particular place in mind.”

A few minutes later, he reined in the horses near a small pond with a few ducks paddling on the surface. He put his hands on her waist and swung her down from the curricle. His hands lingered for a moment longer than necessary as he stared into her eyes. His were a dark liquid amber, like honey, and the warmth in his expression set her heart to racing.

Alarmed by her reaction, she stepped away from him. Oh my, this very private picnic might not have been a wise idea at all.

After tethering the horses, he spread a blanket under a nearby oak, and then produced a picnic basket. While Elinor lowered herself onto the blanket, removed her gloves and bonnet, he dug into the basket. The picnic turned out to be a hearty repast of cold chicken, cheese, bread and butter, cider and sweet, fresh strawberries.

Elinor did not realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite of chicken. Before she knew it, she had devoured a bit of everything, aware of Stephen watching her the entire time.

“I did not mean to eat so much,” she said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“As you are so slender, I had not expected you to have such a hearty appetite,” he remarked with a smile. “I approve.”

“Everything was delicious.”

“I’ll pass your compliments on to Mother’s cook. She kindly provided the food.”

“You mean you cajoled her into it,” Elinor teased him.

He flashed her a boyish grin. “Cook always did have a soft spot in her heart for a hungry boy.”

“You must have had a wonderful childhood.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Fairly typical, I should imagine, except for my habit of bringing home stray and injured animals. I was the despair of my mother.”

Elinor laughed softly. “Then you have not changed much, only now you collect stray females. What does your mother think of that?”

Again he shrugged. “If only I were to marry one of them, she would not object at all, or so she says.”

“I see.” So he was under familial pressure to marry. But he could hardly consider a liaison with a seamstress. Was he pursuing her as one last fling before getting married?

“There is one strawberry left.” He held it out to her.

She leaned toward him and bit into the sweet pulp. A trickle of juice ran down her chin. With one finger, he captured the moisture, and then licked it off, all the while holding her gaze. Her eyes widened at the intimacy of the gesture as heat rose to her cheeks. She was in over her head here.

Buy now from Amazon, All Romance eBooks, BN/Nook, Kobo and Smashwords.

What is your favorite summer fruit? I’m torn between strawberries and blueberries.

Linda

Linda McLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont

Romance author

Tag Archives: Summer #RomanticIdea

Summer #RomanticIdea from Author @BarbaraWDaille

Lady Elinor’s Escape Excerpt & Summer #RomanticIdea