Hometown Girl by Michele Ashman Bell

From the back cover:
Jocelyn Rogers’s life is in a rut. Maybe she should step outside her comfort zone and move to Milford Falls, where she has inherited her grandmother’s house. With the encouragement of the other Butterfly Girls, Jocelyn musters her courage and starts a new life.

However, when she arrives in the small town that holds both good and bad memories for her, she discovers the house in worse shape than she expected, and getting repairs done is anything but easy — especially when it comes to dealing with Jack Emerson, a man who seems to be agitated by Jocelyn and everyone else within a fifty-mile radius.
To make matters worse, she has begun to worry that moving back to the place where she once spent a troubled summer will expose the deep personal secret she has kept hidden for fourteen years. But Jack also has a hidden secret that has prevented him from getting close to anyone in a long time. And now it seems that interfering neighbors may prevent both Jack and Jocelyn from moving forward with their lives.
Join the Butterfly Girls in this charmingly romantic story that shows sometimes it takes a leap of faith to land on your feet.

Michele Ashman Bell sent me this book to review and I'm so glad she did because I really enjoyed it. I found myself thinking about it even after I read it. It's a fun romance. At first, I wasn't at all excited about the main love interest, Jack. With his long hair, beard, and bad attitude, I couldn't understand why the main character, Jocelyn, would find him at all attractive--I wouldn't have. But, she could see beneath his exterior and as I read the story I could see more and more why she would be attracted to him. At the end of the story, Jack explains why his appearance is what it is and it makes perfect sense.

This book also includes some deeper, even disturbing, issues. The main one concerned Jocelyn. I felt connected to Jocelyn and I ached for her when she shared her long-held secret. It also made me angry--I won't say anymore so it doesn't ruin the story.

I love the relationship between the Butterfly Girls and how they worry about each other and love each other.  What a great group of friends.

I think Michele visited where I live to assemble such a cast of quirky characters. The townspeople made me laugh and reminded me of people I know. I loved Jocelyn's neighbor, Harry.

All in all, I had fun, and a few tears, reading this book and I recommend it. It's true that Michele sent it to me, but that didn't influence my review--the romance did that. I loved, loved, loved the first kiss. Michele sure knows how to show the romance in her writing and communicate those emotions. Gave me some tingles.

Michele is hosting a contest on her blog www.micheleabell.blogspot.com for a $50 VISA gift card. If you'd like to enter the contest be sure to visit her blog for directions on entering.

Cover Contest--Woo Hoo!

My cover for Altared Plans was recently in a contest at LDS Publisher. Although it didn't win the overall contest, it won in the Romance category. My cover won both the Reader's Choice and LDS Publisher's Choice. It was interesting to read the different comments about it. I love the cover, especially the pink accents.

If you voted for my cover, thank you!! I appreciate it.

Because there must be opposition in all things, a reader at Goodreads gave my book 2 stars and then wrote, "A mindless read for New Year's Eve." Ouch.

So there you go--up and down--such is this crazy writing life. Good thing I absolutely love it or I might try to do something far easier, like brain surgery :).

Altared Plans, Chapter One, Part 1

For the next several days, I'm going to post a few pages each day of the first chapter of my LDS romance, Altared Plans. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

Her wedding day. A day she’d never forget. A perfect day that would begin her perfect life with her perfect husband. It couldn’t be anything but perfect because that’s how she’d planned it.

Caitlyn grabbed her hand mirror. She tucked a wisp of her dark blond hair behind her ear as she examined her makeup for the hundredth time. The hum of the engine was the only sound in the car.

“You look beautiful,” her mom said as she turned from the front seat of the car to look at Caitlyn. “The temple isn’t too far away; are you getting nervous?”

“Kind of. But, I don’t know why. After all, I’ve been planning this day for so long and everything is falling into place.” A smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes. “By this afternoon, I’ll be Caitlyn Haggerty.” She couldn’t help but feel the joy as it bubbled to the surface. Soon Justin would be her husband and she wanted nothing more than to spend her life, and all of eternity, loving him.

“I’m glad it all worked out for you,” her younger sister said with a shrug.
Caitlyn jerked her head back and gave Lindsay an incredulous look. “Did you think it wouldn’t?”

“I figured you’d meet another guy while you were at BYU. I didn’t think you’d actually wait for him.” Lindsay snatched a tube of lip gloss from Caitlyn’s makeup bag.

“Seriously?”

Lindsay shrugged again.

“No way. Justin is the only one for me. Has been since high school. I can’t imagine my life without him.” She paused. “And, after today, I won’t have to. We’ll be married and all my dreams will come true.” A vision of Justin’s smiling face with his sky-blue eyes and blond, wavy hair flashed across her mind.

“So,” Lindsay said as she applied the lip gloss, “where’s he been for the last few days?”

“Huh?” Caitlyn blinked her eyes a few times.

“He didn’t even come over for Christmas dinner.”

“Your point?”

“Shouldn’t your fiancé have eaten Christmas dinner with you?”

“He wanted to spend time with his family. He’s sweet like that. And then he went down to Newport Beach to see an old companion. You know, bachelor stuff.”

“Isn’t that kind of weird?”

“No. Not at all. We’ll have plenty of Christmases together. I think it’s fine he wanted to spend time with his family and with Troy.” It was fine. Just because they didn’t spend Christmas together like she’d hoped didn’t mean anything. They’d be sealed today and have the rest of their lives and eternity to be together. It wasn’t weird. Caitlyn assured herself that Lindsay was still a teenager and she didn’t understand such things.

“Whatever you say. I—“

“Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s my wedding day and I only want happy thoughts.” She gazed at herself in the mirror and recalled their first date when Justin had tried to teach her to surf. She kept falling off the board into the cool ocean water, sometimes even slipping below the surface. She could almost taste the salt on her lips.

When he placed his arms around her to help steady her on the board, her skin tingled, and it wasn’t because she was cold. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in memories of Justin’s embrace.

“Cait . . . Cait . . . Cait?” Lindsay intruded on her daydream.

“Huh?”

“Mom asked if you double-checked everything before we left the house.”

Caitlyn did a mental tally of the contents of the trunk. “The garment bag with my dress and veil. My shoes—“

“You’re sure,” her mother asked.

“Yes. The photographer will be in the courtyard so he can capture us as soon as we come out of the temple, right?”

“That’s what he said when I called yesterday,” her mother answered.

“I think everything is all in place then,” Caitlyn said, happiness enveloping her.

“As long as Justin shows up.” Lindsay let out a laugh.

Caitlyn gave her a look. “Ha. Ha.”

“I still don’t agree with the rules about your Mormon temples. A father should be able to see his daughter’s wedding,” her dad said over his shoulder, his voice stern.

“Dad, we’ve already discussed this a thousand times.”

“I don’t understand why the Episcopal Church where your mom and I were married wasn’t an option. All Saints by the Sea is a beautiful building right near the ocean and all of our family could’ve attended.”

“Because I want to be sealed for eternity. I don’t want to marry Justin for this life—“

“Caitlyn—“

“Robert,” her mom interrupted. She squeezed his arm, “Please, not today. Cait’s made her decision and this is her day. Let’s not ruin it with another argument.”

“You’ll be able to see the ceremony,” her father said to her mother. “It isn’t right. A church shouldn’t separate families on a day like today.”

A few moments of silence followed. Her dad finally said, “I’m sorry, Caitie. You know how much I love you. I’m disappointed, that’s all. I’ve looked forward to your wedding day ever since I first held you in my arms.”

Caitlyn reached up and patted her dad’s shoulder. “I know, but this is the right thing for me to do. I’ll see you as soon as we come out. You’ll be the first one I hug.”

Read Part 2 of Chapter One

My New Book Cover

What do you think of the cover for my new book? It's an LDS romance. It went to press this week and should be available on Amazon soon and in bookstores in July. I'm way excited. I love the pink accents. (My son asked if I could get him a date with the model).

Here's the back copy:

The perfect day. The perfect marriage. The perfect groom.

What could go wrong?

Caitlyn has been preparing for her perfect wedding all her life. But when her fiance abandons her at the altar, Caitlyn vows she'll never love again.

Going to BYU doesn't make that easy, however, and avoiding all social contact can only last so long. When her bishop calls her to be the "mom" of her family home evening group, Caitlyn is suddenly thrust into surprising circumstances that leave her flustered--the attention of two unwanted suitors.

Travis, the FHE "dad" has plans to woo Caitlyn by using his cowboy charms while Chase has his own ideas for dating her. Will Travis or Chase change her mind about love? Or will it be deja vu?

Follow Caitlyn through all the flirtatious looks, dates, ex-girlfriends, and unexpected surprises. Altared Plans is a light-hearted romance that is sure to please.