It's kind of funny when my agent called this book a romantic comedy. My publisher insisted it was a romantic thriller. I was convinced it was an erotic romance. I don't think any of us saw eye-to-eye on it; I just think we loved and believed in it from our own perspectives. I don't know what to call it---it has all of those elements. You can find it on B&N, Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, and many more retailers to come. If you read this book, please comment or email me and tell me what you think this is. Note: the humor element has to do with my style, I'm certain of that.
Book cover
artist Ryan Barlow of Martha’s Vineyard is having a cigarette break in a church
parking lot when a bride falls out of a tree and lands in his arms. Candace
Sabella, a 27 year-old drop dead gorgeous pole dancer has just runaway from her
marriage to her finance Antonio Madera, a porn king and ruthless killer. She
begs Ryan to take her into his home and hide her. He relents, with dangerous
misgivings. He discovers that this little gal is full of piss and vinegar and
carries more baggage than a Carnival Cruise.
Ryan can’t
wait to get rid of Candace fast enough because he’s currently separated from
his wife, Gloria, and attending marriage counseling. Gloria left Ryan to move
in with her parents after suspecting that he committed adultery. She also
believes he enjoyed a tawdry sex act with a floozy at his high school reunion.
Besides that, she can’t stand the smell of his oil paints, alcohol and linseed
oil. Yet Ryan and Gloria are a hair’s breath away from reconciliation.
Candace,
rightfully fearing for her life, will do anything to draw Ryan’s favor to her;
including stripping for a portrait, spiking his food with aphrodisiacs,
performing risqué dance routines, openly flashing him and trying to sleep in
his bed. Ryan, with his Christian upbringing, is forced to use desperate
measures to fight off her provocative advances. His arsenal includes a savage
masturbation episode, shows of temper tantrums and even prayers. Strippers and
pole dancers are worthless trash, he keeps telling himself. His mother had taught
him that even though he’d visited some clubs in his younger days. Yet this
petite little gal begins to soften his heart and show him another side of life
that he never knew existed.
Gloria discovers Candace in her home with Ryan and
storms off, threatening to sue him for everything he has.
Antonio has put his entire Mob Squad on the hunt for
his runaway bride because she saw him commit a murder and he needs to silence
her. Antonio closes in on her location, forcing Ryan and Candace to pack their
survival bags and run to a hideout in the bluffs for six days. During this time
Ryan finds out that he is smitten and hopelessly in love with Candace and vows
to protect her at all costs. Bouts of intense passionate lovemaking seals their
pact and they fall more deeply in love with each other.
With the
help of friends, Ryan and Candace escape on a shrimp trawler and are accosted
by Antonio Madera on the high seas. A donnybrook fight ensues. Ryan and his
friends are victorious, but the love of his life is shot through the chest
during the end moments of the fight. He has no idea whether she will live or die,
and he’ll do anything to be with her until the critical outcome.
NEW: BLACKMAILED BRIDE: https://www.amazon.com/Blackmailed-B...ckmailed+bride
https://www.amazon.com/Blackmailed-Bride-Chris-H-Stevenson-ebook/dp/B07JDP1Z7X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1539902629&sr=8-5&keywords=blackmailed+bride
NEW: BLACKMAILED BRIDE: https://www.amazon.com/Blackmailed-B...ckmailed+bride
https://www.amazon.com/Blackmailed-Bride-Chris-H-Stevenson-ebook/dp/B07JDP1Z7X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1539902629&sr=8-5&keywords=blackmailed+bride
