Learning to Believe in Happily-Ever-Afters
A Guest Post by Darby Davenport
I've never been a girly girl. As a child, I preferred bugs
to dolls and books to dresses. Yeah, I'm not that much different as an adult,
either. As my life experience invariably grew year after year, I found myself
becoming embittered, cynical, and suffering a bad case of the mully grubs. A
string of failed relationships followed by a failed marriage is enough to turn
even the warmest heart to ice, and I was no exception.
In the summer of 2012, I found myself moving to a new house
in a new town to start my new single life. I was fully prepared to live out the
rest of my days as a spinster recluse and had no doubt that one day
neighborhood children would think I'm some kind of evil witch and thus be too
afraid to even walk past my house.
Oh, well. At least I had my pets, my writing, and an active
social life... on Facebook. That
would be enough, right?
Wrong.
Sometimes rock bottom is a good place to be. As those
annoyingly optimistic people like to say, "You can only go up from
here." For once, they were actually right about something.
So I met a guy. A pretty great guy, actually. And I did everything in my power to friend-zone
him. How rarely things go according to plan.
We grew closer and closer through a string of Facebook
conversations, then started spending some time together in the real world. It
didn't take me long to see that he was a genuinely kind man who liked me for
who I am—warts and all.
My mind was blown.
After a month of chatting online, we spent a 4-day weekend
together in constant company. At the conclusion of which, we shared our first
kiss. Well, that was the end of my resistance to love. He practically moved in
then and there, and we officially started living together within a month. Two
months later, we snuck off and eloped in a beautiful ceremony in the park that
was made even more special because it was just for us.
As of today, we've been together for nearly 7 months—more of
it married than not. And you know what? I'm deliriously happy. Neither of us
thinks we're worthy of the love the other gives, which makes us absolutely
perfect for each other. While we do in fact live real life together—chores,
financial decisions, and serious talks about the future—we also still whisper
sweet nothings, slow dance in the living room, hold hands, and find special
ways to express the love that's just bursting from both of our hearts.
What changed? How
did I go from a future of certain spinsterhood to a love zealot?
I just happened to meet the right person. It seems so
simple, yet so immensely difficult. If such a thing as soul mates exists, then
we have—what?—a 1 in 3.5 billion chance of meeting our perfect other? I never
believed it could happen for me... until it did and at the absolutely perfect
time, might I add.
I learned to believe in happily-ever-after when I met and
married the embodiment of mine. I love you, Falcon!
About Walk Away with Me
A man with a painful
past, a woman who fears commitment, and a dog with only one more chance at
life--together, can they find love?
***
What is Charlie Rockwell supposed to do when the sad
Rottweiler's eyes connect with hers through the TV screen and work their way
straight into her heart? She adopts him without a second thought or the slightest
knowledge how to take care of the large, needy dog with the traumatic past.
Ethan Porter is not happy when a savage Rottweiler picks a
fight with his mild-mannered Golden Retriever at the dog park. But his anger
quickly dissipates when tears begin to form behind the eyes of the dog's
beautiful owner--eyes that are far too familiar for his liking. Disregarding
his instincts, Ethan can't deny her plea when she asks him to teach her the
basics of dog ownership.
Can he ignore the fact that she bears a strong resemblance
to his ex and finally learn to trust again? Will she find committing to both
man and dog more exciting than the freedom of a single, unrestrained life?
Walk Away with Me is just $2.99 for the eBook and $9.95 for the paperback. Here are all the links you’ll need: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo Books, GoodReads.
***
"Lovable
characters, compelling plot, and an exciting twist that will leave you on the
edge of your seat as Charlie and Ethan find their
happily-ever-after." ~ Lucy Kevin, New York Times bestselling author
of THE WEDDING KISS
Darby Davenport never believed in
love--that is, until it happened to her. Now she's a firm believer that every
story is a love story, and has taken to writing out her favorite romantic
fantasies and sharing them with the world.
Darby, who also writes young adult
and children's fiction under the pen name EmlynChand, lives in suburban Detroit with her own personal soul mate--fellow
writer, Falcon Storm--and
private zoo, which includes a music-loving Sun Conure, hyper-active Golden
Retriever, and two scrappy little rescue mutts.
You can connect with her at: http://www.darbydavenport.com
My Thoughts - 5 out of 5 stars - I loved it!!!
Okay I’m going to start this review by explaining that I
usually like paranormal with my romance, so this book was a wonderful
surprise. The first thing that drew me
in was the animal compassion, and Charlie adopting Rugby to save him because he
was unwanted. She took him to a dog park
trying to learn how to handle him, but Rugby was the one handling her. It brought back memories of childhood and
being dragged around by my dogs. Both
Charlie and Ethan were trying to run from this connection they had. I remember blowing a great relationship
because of fear, so I really connected with Charlie and her wanting to run far
away. This story had all the pieces; it
made me laugh, cry, and in the end jealous.
One day maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find the ‘one’, but for now I’ll
have to rely on awesome books like this one.
This is my first book by this author, but I loved it and will look for
more :) Awesome job, Emlyn…I mean Darby
;)
Romantic Swag Pack
What it includes: The special launch week swag basket includes items inspired by the book: Must Love Dogs DVD, a plush Rottweiler toy, Classic Love Songs CD, and two books–The RoMANtics Guide: Hundreds of Creative Tips for a Lifetime of Love and Easy Thai Cooking: 75 Family-style Dishes You Can Prepare in Minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment