Adventures of a Food Nut by Amber Leigh Williams

I fell in love with food at a young age.
Cooking was another story....

When I married, I had never cooked for myself. Toasting bread for breakfast was challenge enough. The hub had been cooking for himself for years and so tried to teach me the basics. How to boil eggs, fry bacon, brown meat, peel potatoes, etc. I say tried because I didn’t have much inclination to learn. There was always take-out, right?

When my son was born, I realized I didn’t want him to grow up eating freezer meals. I wanted him to have the same wholesome, home-brewed memories I did around the dinner table. I read Julia Child’s My Life in France and grew hungry. I joined Pinterest and grew even hungrier. Finally, I decided to satisfy my appetite while challenging myself to learn to cook just as my mother had. Last summer, I began to blog about these cooking exercises every week on Facebook with my Toast of Tuesday feature. I’ve gathered all my favorite Toast of Tuesdays together for you. Here’s a peek into my kitchen as well as my adventure in becoming a foodie….

My first cooking experiment was a strawberry cream cheese confection, a decadent gift for the hub on Valentine's Day 2013. He cooked me a big steak dinner. I made him dessert. We rolled out a quilt on the living room floor, lit candles, dressed up and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. The icing of the cake was messy and a teensy bit clumpy since I didn't let the cream cheese reach room temperature before spreading it, but the cake was every bit as yummy. That original recipe has been lost but I’ve found one pretty similar at Cooking Classy.

This was the recipe I was trying out when I nearly set my kitchen on fire. Word of advice: use a deep fryer if one is available, not a pan on the stove with hot oil. Prior to my near brush with the fire extinguisher, I was determined to master the art of home-style fried chicken because my mother made her own and it was one of my favorite dishes when I was little. Coupled with lima beans, mashed potatoes, and sweet tea, there are few dishes that taste more southern. This recipe from Jo Cooks so far is my favorite...aside from the part of the instructions that involve a pan on the stove. I make it with garlic mashed potatoes and I'm working on the perfect blend of sweet tea....




Teaching Young Skywalker to make ice cream....

Bragging on another family favorite, requested at least twice a month here at Chez Williams: Rosemary Mustard Chicken. This recipe is surprisingly easy with few ingredients. I double the sauce to make the chicken extra juicy and flavorful (and for leftovers). The Like Mother Like Daughter recipe calls for Coleman's mustard but I have trouble finding that brand at my grocery store so I just use regular mustard and it still turns out yummy-licious every time. Whenever there's a special occasion and I need something with little fuss to make for dinner, Rosemary Mustard Chicken is my go-to recipe. (I serve this dish with carrots glazed in honey and lime juice.) 


Long before I began my foodie adventures, the hub was the cook. One cool fall day we were craving something warm and filling but had only an odd assortment of food in the fridge and pantry - eggs, sausage, yellow rice, and peppers. He decided to improvise, giving us what is now Jake's Fried Rice. A few years ago, I bragged on this original family recipe with author Anna Kathryn Lanier at her blog. I'm bragging again 'cuz Jake's Fried Rice is on the menu tonight here at mi casa. Dinner cannot come soon enough!

It’s soup season! When the wind picks up and the leaves start falling, my first foodie instinct is to make soup – particularly if somebody’s sick. And speaking of sick days, there’s nothing better than a warm bowlful of Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup to fill your belly when you’re feeling under the weather. I’ve made this version from Cooking Classy for two winters. Whether the hub and I are suffering from seasonal allergies or cold toesies, there’s nothing more healing than this blend of herbs, chicken, and vegetables (served with soda crackers and hot tea)….

$3.99

Years ago, I was going through my mother's recipe tin when I found a wrinkled, yellow type-written page crowned with the words "Hash Brown Potato Casserole" and initialed by my paternal grandmother. I got really excited because this was one of my favorite comfort foods growing up. It's warm, it's hearty, and it's classically southern. I copied it down on a legal pad and snuck it into my own recipe box. I attempted the recipe many times. It was well-received, but to my taste buds there was something missing - a small thing I couldn't quite define. Finally, I brought my frustrations to my mother who admitted that through the years she had secretly swapped one of the ingredients for one of her own. (She's sneaky and brilliant like that.) When the heroine of my second Harlequin Superromance novel Married One Night needed an edible pick-me-up, I enlisted the help of my fictional foodie, her cousin Briar Browning (from A Place With Briar), and Hash Brown Potato Casserole. Enjoy with a slice of Texas Toast or two, with breakfast in lieu of quiche or as a side dish for dinner....


$3.99

Hash Brown Potato Casserole
Ingredients:

 2 1-lb packages of frozen hash brown potatoes (the cubed kind make the best texture), partially thawed

 1/4 cup chopped onion

 1-1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

 1 stick butter, melted

 1/2 tsp. pepper

 1 carton of sour cream

 1 can cream of mushroom soup

For the topping:

1 cup crushed Ritz cracker crumbs

1/2 stick butter, melted

Instructions:

Mix all casserole ingredients. Pour evenly into a 3-qt. oblong casserole dish and pack down. Top with Ritz crumbs. Pour extra butter evenly over the crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not cover while baking. Serves 10 to 12.


For more foodie adventures, join me on Facebook every Tuesday for The Toast of Tuesday. The fun doesn't stop there! At Super Authors, I blog about various kitchen disasters. Here's Kitchen Disaster Log 1  (with my infamous Broccoli & Cheese Soup) and Kitchen Disaster Log 2 (where I explain that near-kitchen-fire with fried chicken).... 

Do you have any  personal foodie adventures? Please do tell! as the entrees and it was a huge personal triumph. It made me a foodie and the process of assembling it made me fall in love wi

A Stormy August on the Coast + An Excerpt by Amber Leigh Williams

Walking "our beach" a few weeks before our boy became a big brother....

 

August is here. Hard to believe, right? For those of us on the Gulf Coast, it means one last month (hopefully) of intense heat. Unfortunately, this is the month where we really have to start watching the tropics for potential hurricanes. Though the tropics have been pretty quiet this year, it doesn’t stop those crazy summer storms from sweeping over our house at a moment’s notice.

Last week, I put my newborn in her bouncy chair where she likes to take short power naps during the day so that I could get her big tough toddler brother to sleep for an hour or two. As I closed the living room curtains to help bring on the sleepies, I noticed that it looked slightly overcast. Toddler guy and I settled into the rocking chair and slowly began to wind down for naptime.

Ten minutes later, as he was just starting to close his eyes, I heard thunder rumbling. It sounded close and began to shake the house. My guy likes watching big storms roll in from the window overlooking our front porch so when he heard the storm getting closer and closer, sleep became the last thing on his mind. As rain began to lash the front of the house, I sighed. Naptime’s hard enough as it is for him to do. Add in the noise and excitement of severe weather and this mommy can count out any quiet time for writing during the day.

However, this storm seemed to be gaining in intensity. I peeked out through the curtain and was shocked to see the wind all but laying down the trees in our front yard. I could hardly see the street, the rain was coming down so hard. I got that eerie feeling. You know, the one you get if you’ve ever seen hurricane or tornado weather. That instinct that tells you to head for the cellar.

Calling my guy away from the window, I picked up my newborn (bouncy chair and all) and ran for the bedroom closet (our version of a cellar). As I set her deep in the closet amongst winter boots and hanging coats, I noticed that my guy wasn’t with me. Alarmed, I rushed back to the front of the house to find him…that’s right…sitting at the front window between the parting in the curtain watching nature’s fury in awe. You see, this is the problem with daredevil boys. That “no fear” mentality is great when we ride on the family boat at high speeds or when we want him to try something new like sports or sleeping over at grandma’s. But when it comes to those things that are clear “no no’s” yet are just too irresistibly thrilling for him to resist (like, I don’t know, scaling the back of the sofa like a tight-rope walker…or doing a Superman dive off the dock into the water at the lake all by himself…) I really wish common sense was there to take over. Alas, I had to pick him up (no easy task; he’s a two-and-a-half-year-old inside a five-year-old’s body) and haul him back to the closet.



My guys, the aforementioned daredevils....

The closet has a light in it, thank goodness. I was able to calm the little one enough to hear what was going on overhead and give my husband a call to make sure he was out of the storm. When he heard how bad the weather was at home, he decided to drive straight to us. Yep, through the torrential downpour. (Like his love of cars, sweets, and power tools, Big Tough Toddler Guy gets his daredevil streak honestly.) I wondered how I was going to keep the boy from escaping the closet when he found a box of vintage toys from my childhood. In a rare moment of sibling comradery, he paraded half-dressed Barbies and Kens in front of his sister. He giggled over the naked ones and puzzled over the ones with missing limbs. (My sister and I once joked that if a child psychologist ever got a look into our toy box, their best guess would be that we turned out to be coroners or serial killers.)

It was difficult to hear anything over newborn’s raspberries and my guy’s chatter. When the door to the closet opened, we looked up to see the hub. He surveyed the explosion of Barbies and their counterparts crammed with the long-legged toddler, baby’s bouncy, and me with knees drawn up to my ears all in close confines and had himself a good laugh. “Storm’s over,” he announced before crawling into the fray and delicately explaining to one curious little dude the difference between naked Barbie and naked Ken.

This was the first storm in a long time that has scared me enough to hunker down. I’m pretty sure the last one involved one itty bitty boy baby. (Crazy to think that at one time he was that small….) Long before he was born, I remember walking the beach with the hub while a hurricane boiled in the Gulf. There was little room between the raging waves and the windblown dunes. The windows of the condos we walked passed emitted a loud, rattling sound. Remembering it all these years later still makes my spine tingle. That night the salt in the air from the wind crystallized on the power lines and caused massive power outages. I remember sleeping in the truck after Katrina with our dogs because the house was too oppressive without air conditioning. I also remember driving back from the lake after Hurricane Ivan and the destruction we came across as we cruised slowly with the rest of the evacuees down I-65. Not to mention the National Guard patrols who greeted us once we arrived home. Storms are a fact of life on the Gulf, one my stalwart son doesn’t seem to mind all that much. Ah, well. Maybe he’ll grow up to be a storm-chaser or a hurricane hunter. (I foresee long years and high blood pressure ahead for this mommy.)

He was in some serious trouble….
Cole Savitt does not want to deceive Briar Browning. But if he wants to see his son again, he has to find the weaknesses in her charming bed-and-breakfast, then get out of town fast! But the quaint inn isn’t the only thing charming him….
Cole’s straightforward plan becomes anything but when he begins to fall for the beautiful innkeeper. Suddenly everything’s on the line—his future with his son, a chance at happiness and the love of a good woman. Cole must rethink his priorities…and the stakes have never been higher.

When I wrote the first book in my Harlequin Superromance series, A Place With Briar, set in my hometown here on the Gulf, I couldn’t help but include some impressive tropical weather to help draw the hero and heroine closer together. If living in the same place for twenty-some-odd years has taught me anything, it's what it's like to have a category storm barreling toward my house and being helpless to stop it. Here’s a little Throwback Thursday excerpt from Briar and Cole’s summer romance….

Even with the fan cooling things somewhat in the bay-view suite, Cole couldn’t settle. He lay on top of the sheets in T-shirt and shorts, frowning at the ceiling and listening to the low-tuned, battery-operated radio he’d found downstairs.

The DJs promised to stay up through the night with listeners, providing the latest updates on Hurricane Brett, whose slanted eye was now staring straight down the watery barrel of Mobile Bay. The treacherous east side of the storm was already pounding the Alabama and west Florida coastlines. Several tornado warnings were in effect. Early damage reports trickled in from cell phones.

One message was clear for those who’d not evacuated – don’t venture outside. Law enforcement officers and meteorologists stated imperatively: stay away from windows. In case of tornado, find a safe, windowless room in the lowest part of the house for cover.

With Briar upstairs, Cole didn’t feel at all comfortable drifting off to sleep. Why had he left her alone? 

Suddenly, a deafening crash outside launched Cole out of bed. It subsided quickly. In the dim silence that followed, he heard the quick patter of footfalls in the hall.

He crossed to the room and peered out just in time to see the white tail of Briar’s robe disappear down the stairs to the first floor. Hot on her heels, he reached the landing as she ran to the back door.

When he saw her disengage the dead bolt, he rushed forward. “Briar, no!”

She didn’t stop or look back, yanking the door open.

“Don’t go outside!”

His voice was drowned by the banshee scream of the wind. The door sailed out of her grasp, crashing against the wall. She didn’t stop there. Gripping the doorjamb, she battled the wind, stepping over the threshold and moving out into the storm.

“Holy hell,” he muttered. It might have made him as crazy as she was, but he went after her without hesitation. Leaves scattered into the den as he made his way to the door and chased her onto the porch.

The clouds flickered with devilish light, illuminating the churning, rising bay—an animal all its own under the storm’s manipulation. The strobe quality helped him spot Briar at the far end of the porch, looking at the thick branch that had fallen over her vegetable garden and torn through the roof of the porch. Gripping the rail and driving himself into the sucking wind, Cole raised an arm to fend off the stinging slap of rain. Reaching out, he gripped Briar’s arm in a viselike hold and dragged her back.

It took forever to reach the door. Finally, he shoved her to safety and fought the wind again to wrestle the door closed. When it bolted, he whirled on her. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I had to see,” she explained, crossing her arms over her chest. Her voice sounded close to feeble. “I heard something break….”

As panicked as he’d felt when he saw her go through the door, he could’ve railed at her. But seeing the slight quiver of her knees and her pale features, he swallowed his fury. “You’re soaked.”

“You, too,” she noted. “I’ll go upstairs and wash off.”

He grabbed her by the hand. “You’re not going anywhere without me. We’ll both be safer together downstairs. We should be comfortable enough here.”

Before she could answer, another ominous clatter broke through the silence. Her face fell, stricken. “The porch.”

He reached for her. “Here, sit.” Gently, he ushered her down next to him on the sofa. “Just sit. There’s nothing we can do until morning.”

“Right,” she said, swallowing. “You’re right.” Another crash. “God.”

His arm wrapped around her shoulders. Comforting, he told himself. Strictly comforting.

But his need to protect, to enfold, overwhelmed him. He leaned back with her hugged close at his side. Tension loosened from his chest when her head fell to his shoulder and she didn’t hesitate to curl into him.

 

A Place With Briar is on sale for just $3.99 at Amazon, along with the two sequels, Married One Night (October 2014 Superromance) and His Rebel Heart (July 2015 Superromance)! I hope you enjoyed the throwback snippet!

 

A toast to hot August nights and summer reads!

 

Amber Leigh Williams lives on the Gulf Coast. A southern girl at heart, she lives for beach days, the smell of real books, relaxing at her family’s lakehouse, and spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their two children. When she’s not trying to keep up with rambunctious little ones and two large dogs she can usually be found reading a good romance or cooking up a new dish in her kitchen. She is represented by D4EO Literary Agency. Visit her on the web at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

A Slice of Life by Amber Leigh Williams

Sometimes I like to flash forward in my characters’ lives even after the completion of their book and their happy-ever-after. As we all know, the journey doesn’t simply end with a proposal of marriage or the “I do’s.” This is why I’ve found so much enjoyment in writing my contemporary hometown romance series for Harlequin Superromance. I love the characters of these books. Bringing a hero and heroine like Briar Browning and Cole Savitt (from A PLACE WITH BRIAR) back as secondary characters for the second book in the series, my October 2014 release, MARRIED ONE NIGHT, was great fun! I enjoyed giving readers a peek into their married life. Not only that, I liked that although Briar and Cole are married, their relationship never stops evolving. Whenever I read a series of books that brings back characters from previous titles, these people feel so much more real to me if I can see their lives unfold a bit more, even if it's just in small ways, and I see them grow as individuals and together as a couple. 

 

Book One (Briar & Cole's story)

When I completed work on the third book in the series, HIS REBEL HEART (due on shelves July 2015), I got to do it again – bringing back the whole clan, including the hero and heroine from MARRIED ONE NIGHT, Gerald Leighton and Olivia Lewis. The laugh-out-loud moments between these two and their furry Irish wolfhound, Rex, definitely play a part in HIS REBEL HEART.  But sometimes even this isn’t enough. Sometimes the characters don’t stop talking to me after the series wraps. Sometimes I have to go back to the page to make those voices rest. On my website, I have a special EXTRAS feature which includes an “after-HEA” exclusive scene starring some of my western romance characters, cowboy Casey Ridge and his heroine Josie Brusky from BLUEST HEART. Now, in honor of my favorite holiday – Valentine’s Day – I’m doing it again with my hometown series….


The following scene takes place somewhere between my first Superromance novel, A PLACE WITH BRIAR, and the second, MARRIED ONE NIGHT. It takes place at Hanna’s Inn, the setting for A PLACE WITH BRIAR, on none other than Briar and Cole’s wedding day! I hope you enjoy this after-HEA snippet….

“Oh, dear God. You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Olivia Lewis, dressed in her canary yellow bridesmaid dress, asked. She set aside the second glass of champagne she’d been ready to down and peered closely at Briar’s face. “I can get you out of here. But it’s not going to be easy with all the guests milling around the place.”

Briar rubbed her lips together. The warm light of humor made her want to smile at her first cousin and maid of honor. Still, she folded her hands together in front of her and kept a straight face. “I’m not getting cold feet,” she explained. “I promise. My toes are plenty warm, as a matter of fact. I just need you to do me this one favor.”

“If it’s his feet you’re worried about, I can sneak some hard liquor into his drink,” Olivia offered. “Just say the word and it’s done.”

Briar did smile now but only a little before her lips fell back into a straight line. “Liv,” she said, lowering her head and eyeing her cousin. “Please.”

Olivia combed Briar’s face once more before giving in. “All right. But it’ll have to be quick. If Roxie gets wind of this, we’re all up a creek.”

“It’ll be quick,” Briar promised. She carefully stopped her hand from squeezing the other. Her wedding planner, Roxie Honeycutt, had worked so hard to schedule a mani/pedi session for her earlier in the week. It hadn’t been easy with Briar’s duties as innkeeper at her second-generation bed-and-breakfast, Hanna’s Inn, and all the last minute wedding details that had to be seen to. She smoothed her palms down the front of the empire-waisted wedding gown Roxie had designed for her. There was no veil to contend with. Her hair had been carefully braided down her back and strewn with white blossoms. Still, she had been instructed not to sit in order to avoid wrinkling the gown’s linen train.



Book Two - Olivia & Gerald's story

As Olivia left her alone in the grand dining room of the inn, Briar walked carefully to the window, keeping herself hidden behind the drape. Her heart rapped nervously when she saw how many guests were indeed milling around the garden where the ceremony would take place. She took a deep breath to tamp down the flutterings under her skin when she thought how soon she would be walking down the makeshift aisle to the jasmine arbor where her groom and their officiant would be waiting.

Briar closed her eyes for a moment and pictured the view from the front of the inn – the one she couldn’t see from this vantage but knew was there beyond the picturesque garden sanctuary she kept well-tended.

It would be sunset when the vows were spoken. Roxie had timed it down to the wire so that the kiss would take place just as the sun was sinking toward the horizon. Sunset was Briar’s favorite time of day. At sunset just weeks after he had come to Hanna’s Inn, Cole Savitt had kissed Briar on the dock overlooking the tepid waters of Mobile Bay. Briar remembered exactly how golden sunlight had slanted perfectly across the water’s surface in a blinding sheen of gilded pinpricks. It had made her feel like they were floating amongst the stars….

Her mother had had a name for the spectacle. Fairies dancing. Briar remembered, too, how as a girl she had stood with her mother on that very same dock, admiring the breathtaking sunset vista. She’d easily been able to imagine that those shiny pinpricks were fairies dancing over the waves.

Her mother wouldn’t be with her today. Hanna Browning had passed away several years ago after battling cancer. But Briar had wanted to take a moment shortly before the ceremony to gather the warmth of her mother’s presence around her. Hanna’s serene countenance was something Briar had always desperately wanted to emulate for herself, especially on days like today. She wanted to keep the feeling of Hanna close so that in some way she could be a part of the nuptials. If not physically then perhaps spiritually….

Footsteps broke her out of her reverie. Briar sucked in a breath and turned to find the man standing in the archway across the room. The dark suit and tie made Cole’s shoulders appear even wider, his waist lean and trim. It suited his dark hair and she knew when she looked into his eyes, they would appear darker, denser.

Her heart rapped again, but not with the nerves she had felt before. All semblance of bridal jitters disappeared as the love she felt for him beamed to life inside her. It spread from her fingers to her toes. It danced against her breastbone as her lips spread into a wide grin at the sight of him. She chuckled quietly when she saw the blindfold over his eyes. “Oh, Liv,” she muttered.

“She made me wear it,” Cole said, his lips curling up at the corners in amusement as his head tilted in the direction of her voice. A moment’s silence passed over them before he added, “Hi.”

“Hi,” she said, beaming still. She tried to tamp down on some of the joy cresting inside her and couldn’t quite manage it. Here was her groom. The man of her dreams. On the verge of marrying her. She indulged in a blissful sigh. “Oh, Cole, you look wonderful.”

“You do, too,” he replied quickly. “I’m sure you do. If I could see you, I’m sure you’d knock me flat.” The smile slowly faded. “Is everything okay? Liv said you had something to tell me.”

Briar’s smile froze on her face as she thought over what she wanted to say to him. She cleared her throat. “It’s fine. I’m fine. We are getting married today, Cole,” she hurried to assure him.

“I know,” he said, his faith in her – in them and what they had already built together thus far – radiating through the simple words. “I know we are, and I couldn’t be happier.”

She sighed again, unable to help herself. “I couldn’t be happier either.” She crossed to him slowly, her heels clacking across the hardwood floor. “But before we do get married, there’s something…” She lost her breath, nerves beating their way back to the forefront. She cleared her throat and tried again. “There’s something I wanted to…” When she faltered again, she searched his face. She scoffed. “I can’t do this. Not like this. Please take off the blindfold.”

His lips parted. “Are you sure? Roxie will tan my hide if she finds out I saw the bride before the wedding.”

“Please,” Briar insisted, the plea wavering as emotions she didn’t know how to tuck behind composure spread clean through her. “I need to see you, all of you. And you’re probably going to need to see me, too—after I tell you.”

He let out a careful exhale. “All right.” He reached up, loosening the knot on the back of his head. The blindfold lowered.

She blinked as his dark eyes latched onto hers. In them she saw all the love and faith she felt as well as trust and a few nerves of his own he was trying to wrangle. His gaze arrested on her face and widened before it ranged over her hair and the flowers in it. He took a step back, stunned, as he glanced over the dress, taking in her full appearance. “Wow,” he said, his voice lost. “I was right. You look…incredible.”

She gave him a small smile. “You're still on your feet.”

 

"Only just."

 

Swallowing against the tide of emotions, she reached out with both hands.

He instantly took them, wrapping his warm around them and giving them a squeeze. His eyes had gone soft by the time they locked on hers again. “Now,” he said, his voice lowered to match hers, “what was it you wanted to tell me?”

She took a gulp of air, needing it to clear her head. “Before we speak our vows, there’s something I wanted you to know.”

“Oh?” he said. Concern broke across his face. “You’re all right? I thought you might have looked pale yesterday morning. And you’ve been tired.” When she began to protest, he shook his head. “I know you have. I just assumed it was the wedding on top of everything with the inn.”

Briar lowered her eyes to the lapels of his suit jacket—finely pressed with the boutonniere affixed on the left. She licked her lips and forced herself to keep going. “I…I have been tired,” she forced herself to admit. She hated admitting weaknesses, those of the physical variety in particular. “But it’s not the wedding.”

When she paused, she heard him swallow and saw his Adam’s apple dip as he did so. He tensed, his hands unknowingly squeezing hers again. “Briar,” he said when again she hesitated. “I’m, uh…I’m getting a little worried here. Tell me what’s going on. Are you…” He stopped and had to start again, just as she had before. “Are you sick?” he asked, wrenching the last word out.

Her gaze rose to his. His concern had mounted into fear. She closed the small bit of space between them, lifting her hands to his face. They framed his jaw as she raised her mouth to his for a brushing kiss, desperate to comfort him. “No,” she said and found herself laughing a little as the tense line of his body went slack against her with relief. “I told you I was fine and I am. Perfectly healthy.”

“Thank God,” he said, eyes closed tight as his hands closed over her waist, bringing her closer. He breathed a sigh of relief. “For a moment, I thought—”

He’d thought she was really sick, as her mother had been. She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. I promise. I’m sorry I made you think for even a moment that there was something that troubling going on.”

“It’s not,” he said as much to reiterate the fact for himself as for her. He gave a tight nod and opened his eyes to search her face again, steadier. “What is it then?”

"Since we’ve been planning the wedding, I’ve let the fact that I’ve been more tired than usual go unnoticed. Earlier this week, I dozed off while I was folding sheets. They were fresh and warm from the dryer and I couldn’t seem to help laying down in them and closing my eyes, just for a few moments. When I woke up a half hour later, I realized that I needed to talk to someone about this. I went to Liv and…she said that maybe I should take a test.”

“A test?” he asked, brows coming together.

She beamed when it didn’t click for him automatically. “A pregnancy test, Cole.”

Again, his jaw slackened and his lips parted in surprise. “A pregnancy test,” he repeated. The hands gripping her waist tightened by a fraction when she paused once more. “And?” he asked, features taut with anticipation as he waited for her answer.

Book Three - Coming Soon!

She broke into a full-fledged grin. “Yes,” she said. “I’m pregnant. We’re pregnant, I mean. Nine weeks already. I should’ve realized sooner, but we were so busy—”

“Briar,” Cole said, his eyes still searching hers desperately though beacons of hope were beginning to bubble up for her to see. “This is real? This isn’t some wedding day prank Liv’s trying to pull on me before I officially become a part of the family, is it? I wouldn’t put it past her. She tried spiking my drink earlier....”

She laughed, unable to contain another moment’s happiness or mirth. “That does sound like something she would do, but no. This is real. We’re going to have a baby. We’re going to be a family!”

He made an unintelligible but no less gratifying noise in the back of his throat and wrapped her in his arms as he buried his face against the column of her neck. He held her, breathing her in as she wrapped her arms around him in return. “Briar, ten months ago when I came to Hanna’s as your guest, I thought I’d lost hold of what family I had. But you changed that. If I’ve learned anything since last summer, it’s that you are my family and nothing is ever going to change that. And now we’re having a baby together….” He trailed off in disbelief as he lifted his head to touch his brow to hers. “I don’t have the words to tell you how lucky and happy I feel right now.”

"You're doing just fine." She sniffled, trying her best to blink away tears. If she cried, she would ruin her makeup. And then they’d really be up a creek, as Liv had suggested. "I’m sorry I didn’t wait until the honeymoon. But it felt right to tell you now.”

“I’m glad you did,” he said, grinning. His lips lowered to hers once. Then again. They lingered the second time as he inhaled her, his chest inflating, seeming to grow in size as he swelled with love and pride. “I’m really glad you did. This way when I see you coming down that aisle, I’ll know more than ever I’m looking at my family.”

“Okay, you have to stop now,” she told him, raising a hand to her cheek when a tear slipped past her guard. “Roxie’s going to kill me.”

“Not a chance.” He chased the tear with the pad of his thumb. The faint sound of a string quartet and “Canon in D” wafted through the walls from the garden outside. “Speaking of Roxie…I’ve got to sneak back upstairs. I’m surprised Liv hasn’t come after me already with her bat.”

“Go,” she said, reluctantly letting him back away. She pressed a hand to her heart when he didn’t turn away, just stood looking at her, drinking her in. In turn, she gazed at him. He wasn’t just the man of her dreams, she realized. He was every dream she’d ever had come to life. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Soon,” he nodded and gave her one last, promising smile. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said softly.

The sound of Roxie’s chirpy voice made them both snap to attention. Cole dodged through the swinging door into the kitchen and disappeared. Briar covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud when she heard Olivia shrieking at him as the door swung closed silently behind him and Cole fumbled through an explanation. Moments later, Roxie entered the dining room through the archway, looking brisk and only slightly harried. “Are you ready?” she asked, handing Briar her hand-tied bouquet of sunflowers. “The procession’s about to start.”

“I’m ready,” Briar said, clutching the blooms. Her hands were steady. Her heart was full. “You have no idea how much.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this bonus “slice of life” from Briar and Cole’s wedding day! Down the road, I’ll be adding more for each of the couples from my hometown series. (I can’t wait to write Olivia and Gerald’s. They’re a riot!) Stay tuned for upcoming details on HIS REBEL HEART’s launch in July. You can add the book to your TBR list on Goodreads. Until then, check out the Inspiration Boards for the first two books on Pinterest!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my fellow Roses and our readers! If you're looking for some love-themed reads, the books from my hometown series are on sale this month for Kindle readers for $3.79. If you're in the mood for a little historical romance, FOREVER AMORE is on sale this month for $2.99 as well as the first two books in my western romance trilogy.

 Happy reading!

Amber Leigh Williams

Exclusive Excerpt from MARRIED ONE NIGHT (On Shelves Now!)

by Amber Leigh Williams


You see the signs everywhere: Keep Calm. Keep Calm & Carry On. Keep Calm & Eat Chocolate. Keep Calm & Dance On. My personal favorite? Keep Calm & Call Batman! But I’m a writer. I can’t keep calm and neither can my characters – because in the fiction industry, conflict drives the story. This means that my job is to learn my characters’ goals and fears and create a story in which everything goes wrong for them. It’s true, it’s a cruel process. My heroes and heroines have been known to hate me on occasion. But even if I know that my heroes and heroines deserve a happy-ever-after scenario, the reader wants to see them earn it. And nothing turns pages like good character-driven conflict. So, no, my characters normally do not keep calm. In most cases, it’s the opposite.

My second Harlequin Superromance novel, Married One Night, is on the shelves now! The heroine, Olivia Lewis, is a confident, independent woman who isn’t the marrying type. She loves her single life just as much as she loves being a sole business owner and living by her own set of rules, particularly when it comes to relationships (or lack there-of). She appeared as a colorful secondary character in my first Superomance novel, A Place With Briar (April 2014). In some of her first notes to me on the book, my editor expressed interest in Olivia’s character and her story potential. I quite agreed. Olivia is one of those characters who are fun to write but who also create an intriguing story quandary. Out of all of her friends, Olivia is without a doubt the matchmaker. However, she’s alone and has no interest in being set up with a man who’s interested in anything more than the short-term. Why is that? Once I had the answer, I wondered what kind of man could change that?

 

 

In the beginning of Married One Night, Olivia finds herself in bed with a stranger after a night well spent in Las Vegas, Nevada. The stranger in question is charming and handsome British writer Gerald Leighton. The two later realize that amidst their wild night in Vegas that they got married. Despite the fact that her impromptu husband is any woman’s dream, the commitment-phobic Olivia is all-too-eager to end this arrangement. When Gerald follows her home to the Gulf Coast to convince her to give their relationship a second chance, however, she’s resistant because she knows he is exactly the type of man she could fall head over heels in love with if she’s not careful. Gerald has three weeks to woo her; Olivia has three weeks to resist…or do her best….

 

 

Here’s an exclusive excerpt from Married One Night just for you, readers! I hope you enjoy….

“I have a wee bit of a suggestion.”

“If it’s not related to annulment or divorce, you might not be walking out of here in one piece,” Olivia pointed out, trying to smile. He couldn’t be crazy enough to suggest that they actually remain married, for heaven’s sake.

Could he?

Gerald made a thoughtful noise in his throat. “Well…”

Olivia’s smile fled and she looked at him as if he were crazy. “Okay, now you’re scaring me.”

“Just hear me out,” Gerald advised, lifting a hand in plea.

“No,” she said and snorted out a mirthless laugh. “No,” she said again just to get her point across. “I have no idea who you are. You don’t know anything about me, despite what your publicist or whoever might have told you. The only thing we have in common is one drunk night in Las Vegas.”

“How do you know that, love, when, as you say, we don’t know each other yet?” Gerald challenged.

Olivia’s mouth dropped open. “Because this is me,” she told him, lifting her arms to encompass the tavern. “And you’re…well, you’re expensive shirts and tailored suits and spicy aftershave, which I have no doubt costs more than our sham wedding. We’re clearly from different parts of the world as a whole. How could you possibly think there’s anything there?”

Gerald’s eyes locked on hers and sobered once more. “Because of what I felt, the morning after.”

Olivia fell silent. “What you felt?”

“Yes,” he acknowledged with a dip of his head. “I…” He sighed, shook his head and narrowed his eyes on the windows next to the table as if trying to see the squall beyond the weeping, wind-buffered panes. “Well, suffice it to say, I felt more in that one morning than I’ve ever felt during any one of the lengthy relationships I’ve had throughout my entire adult life. And I think that’s worth something.”

Olivia’s mouth opened, then closed and opened again. “It was the drinks, like you said.”

Gerald gave her a baleful stare. “We both know we were clean and sober the next morning, Olivia. Can you honestly tell me that night or what was shared between us the following morning meant nothing to you?”

She chose to ignore the fact that she’d been thinking of little else since her flight back to Alabama with the girls, and simply lifted her hands and shoulders in a helpless gesture. “It couldn’t. There was nothing. It was nothing.”

Gerald studied her carefully for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, a slow grin crept over the lower half of his face, warming his eyes. The smile was like a sucker punch to her resolve. And damned if he didn’t know it, Olivia thought. He took another sip of beer, leaned back in his chair and hooked one loafer-clad ankle over the opposite knee. “I’d like you to prove that.”

“What?”

“A wager, if you like,” he told her. “Come now, Olivia. You’re a small business owner. Small business is a gamble at one time or another. And you strike me as a woman who enjoys a challenge.”

“So what if I am?” Olivia asked. “How would that change anything?”

He lifted his finger and pointed at her discerningly. “There’s a lovely bed-and-breakfast next door to the tavern. If my publicist’s sources are correct, it’s your cousin who owns it. I’ll stay on there for a three weeks, just long enough for you to prove to me that what we shared in Vegas was indeed nothing.”

Olivia frowned at him. “If I were to agree, you realize you’re betting on a losing hand, right?”

“Maybe,” Gerald said with a considering nod. “But my gut is usually right. And it tells me that the place I need to be, at least for the time being, is right here in your charming little hometown.”

She narrowed her eyes as she considered him. Damn it. She did love a good challenge. Especially one where all the odds were in her favor. “Hmm. What are the stakes?” When Gerald’s brows arched, she added, “What’s a wager without stakes?”

“Oh, right.” He grinned, lifting a hand to scratch his chin in a pensive manner that made her stare a moment too long at his wide-palmed hand with its narrow, creative fingers. “If you win, I will humbly admit defeat and hand over the divorce papers. And I’ll pay whatever legal costs filing them incurs.”

“And if you win…?”

Gerald’s eyes shined anew with the light of promise. “Then what do you say we give this a shot, aye? You and me. I have a feeling it’ll be worth it. And on a hunch I’m rarely wrong.”

Olivia weighed him and his challenge. When he extended a hand for her to shake in agreement, she sighed and lifted hers to take it. “What the hell? You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Leighton. I hope you’re not a sore loser.”

Gerald didn’t shake her hand. He squeezed it warmly and leaned forward until his green eyes yawned before hers and that aftershave of his washed over her in a splendid wave she was sure never to forget. “I rarely make wagers, Mrs. Leighton. But when I do, I play to win. And I’ll be damned if I don’t win this one.”

 

You can learn more about Olivia and Gerald and read more excerpts from Married One Night by following the virtual book tour at Pump Up Your Book or by visiting my blog for weekly updates. The tour starts today!

 

 

 

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