Here We Go Again!

Eleven of us on Main Street have decided to do another boxed set. This time to make it easy on our readers we were each supposed to aim for a nice 25K words. That’s perfect for an evening read. Except I’m so wordy, I got to 24K and realized I was just getting the story really churning, not nearing the end! Oh no!

This is where it really gets complicated! I had this very bright idea for my character to be a bridal dress designer. Because wouldn’t it be fun for everyone to have a way of loosely tying stories together. Every bride needs a dress, right? My character DeeDee Drayden would have this fabulous salon and all these beautiful custom dresses. Brides could visit on the shop or order online! (Everything is online today.) So you are apt to see DeeDee’s name in a  few of the other stories and her Main Street Bridal Salon mentioned.

Anyway, I realize I’m headed way over word count and others have already written their books. I’m in trouble, big trouble! I’m just going to have to toss it and start over again. When I mentioned the situation to my fellow Main Street authors, the groan could be heard across the USA and into Canada. They were counting on me. But one of them asked if there was someone from that story I could use and write a new story for the boxed set. Then I could release my longer story. They all jumped on that idea and so did I!

I had the perfect solution, the hero’s daughter, Julia, worked for DeeDee. She’s young but this would work. Now dresses could be ordered from DeeDee. But I had to find her the right guy! After writing about her dad, I needed someone totally different. Aaron Symons popped into my mind and came to my rescue. He was the perfect hero.

So now I have two books that will be releasing in June, one for the boxed set, and the original story of DeeDee and her grand plans for a little bridal business of her own. And in the middle of all this, I have a new River City book getting ready to release around the same time. (Am I crazy? Yes!)

Since I don’t have any official blurb for either of these wedding stories, I’ll put them both in a nutshell and give them to you that way. Woman meets man, they fall in love, and the second one for the boxed set is young woman meets young man and they fall in love. Who can resist a good love story? And I have titles that you won’t easily for get! With This Ring and I Thee Wed.

WITH THIS RING

DeeDee Drayden has done her time at fashion houses in Milan, Paris, London and New York. At thirty-one, she’s still single. She doesn’t look the part of fashion designer. Far from being fat but in an industry where everyone is rail thin, she’s discovered they refer to her as Miss Piggy behind her back. She couldn’t wear the clothes she was supposed to be designing, and her idea of clothing is something that actually covers what is supposed to be covered. But she has this crazy notion that everyone deserved to be beautiful on her wedding day. She takes a not too shabby inheritance and parlays it in a bridal business.

Cody Montgomery is thirty-eight and heir to an oil fortune. Tall, dark and handsome, he’s been married twice and burned each time. Those marriages have left him with seven children, none of them are his, but he loves each one of the children with all his heart. In an attempt to bring up normal well-adjusted children who know how to handle money and have a real grip on life, he’s living in a cul-de-sac and the children are going to public school. He’s got four teenagers, one preteen, and a set of twins in the first grade.

He’s not sure he can ever trust a woman again, but DeeDee isn’t the average woman. She’s been busy with her career. Along the way, she’s been burned, too, when it came to love. Sparks fly between the two of them, but DeeDee is renting a room from a woman on Main Street who has a place a half block from the salon, and with Cody’s seven children, hot dates are…well… They are sneaking around like a couple teenagers that don’t want to be caught.

I THEE WED

Cody’s daughter, Julia, graduates from high school and refuses to go to college. She loves her job working for DeeDee at the salon. At eighteen, she easily slips in a manager role and tucked under DeeDee’s wing she’s matured into a lovely young woman. A chance encounter with a substitute delivery driver fills her mind with more than just bridal dresses. This freckled-face redhead with the prettiest golden-green eyes is a little older and she’s about to discover that there’s a big difference between dating a teen and dating a man.

For Aaron Symons, it’s love at first sight and he’s flying back to the university in Utah where he’s an assistant professor while finishing his PhD in veterinary genetics. But don’t feel too sorry for that young man who delivers packages in the heat of summer. His father owns that national delivery company and believes it’s important that Aaron understands the business from all angles.

A single date between them leaves her hankering for a whole lot more. But Julia is about to discover she’s got a trust fund that goes way beyond her job at Main Street Bridal Salon and the little used car she’s been driving. She can do anything she wants and she’s got to decide what she wants to do.

 

I’ve had fun writing these stories. They are a little lighter then what I normally write, but I’m certain my readers will enjoy them. I know I can’t wait to read everyone’s books and I happen to know all sorts of things about some of those other weddings.  Besides our Christmas on Main Street boxed set was such a huge success, and we had so much fun pulling it together that we wanted to do it again.

My mistake wound up being two books one for the set and one to stand alone. I do hope everyone reads both! And as you’ve already heard from Kelly Rae, she got more for you. So subscribe or remember to check back all this month for more covers and peeks at the other books in this boxed set. And in the upper right hand corner, see that little box about the newsletter? Subscribe! Those folks get all the info first!