The Bride Takes a Powder
A Birchwood Falls Novel
by Jane Leopold Quinn
Do you know the musical Brigadoon?
The Bride Takes a Powder was kind of inspired by the Broadway musical about a magical Scottish town that appears from the mist one day every century. “Two weary hunters” come upon the town and its inhabitants, and love and music ensue. I finally saw it on stage last summer after waiting for decades. I know all the music and lyrics to this play. It was all I could do not to sing aloud in the theater.
Anyway, back to my story—The Bride… features a big city runaway bride (the title Runaway Bride has been written to death) and a small town English teacher whose family also owns a local bar. Norah opens her eyes on the train and sees a sign—Birchwood Falls-You’ve Come Home. It’s like Brigadoon, she thinks, and taking that as an omen, she climbs off the train and finds a completely different life from what she’s used to. Mike remembers the new woman in town from college, but back then she was way out of his league. Norah doesn’t plan to let another man—no matter how sweet, smart and sexy—get close enough to hurt her again. But Mike’s passionate pursuit of her, the way he seems to know just how to arouse her, awakens a sexual hunger she didn’t know she had.
The Bride Takes a Powder is a companion novel to The Gunny & The Jazz Singer. Both books take place in Birchwood Falls. I created the small town, and because I love birch trees I named it Birchwood Falls and even drew a site plan for the town. The inspiration for the map came from Jan Karon’s Mitford series. If you’ve read her books you know the main character is an Episcopal priest so very different types of books from what I write. But I do love the maps of Mitford in the front of the books.
Here’s the official blurb –
When her fiancé is busted at a gentlemen’s club, Norah Ballard calls off the wedding. Shocked and humiliated, she takes the first train out of Chicago and ends up in a picturesque small town called Birchwood Falls.
Michael Banning spots the new woman in town and recognizes her from college. She’s even more gorgeous and sophisticated now. He’s no longer the nerd he was back then, and now that she’s on his turf, he’s going to touch and taste every sleek, beautiful inch of her. Whatever her reason is for being in his town, he’ll fulfill all her desires so she never wants to leave.
Norah doesn’t plan to let another man—no matter how sweet, smart and sexy—get close enough to hurt her again. But Mike’s passionate pursuit of her, the way he seems to know just how to arouse her, awakens a sexual hunger she didn’t know she had.
Author’s Note: This book was originally published as The Real Deal.
It now has a new title and new cover.
An excerpt –
Why is she here? Oh, what the hell. You have a beautiful woman in your arms. You’re slow dancing. What more did he want? He almost forgot the trouble he was in. His whole body snapped to attention, and he smothered a groan when her fingers touched the long hair at his nape. “Thank you.”
“What?” She sounded drowsy and seductive as if just waking up after a night of intoxicating full-out sex.
“You’re making me forget my problems,” he whispered.
Her hand moved back to his shoulder. “How can you be here with the two people investigating this?”
“Yeah, well, they’re friends.” He hoped they believed in him. Moira had grown up in B Falls and had known him for years. Stu was fairly new to town but was friends and lovers with Davy, who would believe Mike was honorable.
Whatever. With a soft-skinned, sweetly scented, gorgeous woman in his arms, he didn’t want to think about the crap going on in his life.
***
Norah shook her head. Unbelievable. He’d been accused of cheating on test scores, and here he was hanging with the people investigating him and then calmly dancing with her.
And you’re enjoying him, aren’t you? Good God, he felt fine, amazingly buff for an English teacher. Although there was no reason an English teacher couldn’t be a hunk. His soft shirt clung to his torso, her palm resting under his on a hard pectoral where she felt the solid pump of his heart. The jeans hugged his thighs all hot and firm brushing against hers. “Isn’t it a conflict of interest for those two?”
“Mm?”
He didn’t seem to be worrying about his legal problems. “Do you know when the meetings were?”
“What meetings?”
Her eyes drifted closed at the heat of his breath wafting on her ear. Her stomach clenched, her clit throbbed at the feel of his large erection pressing against her belly.
“The grade changing ones,” she murmured, almost forgetting what they were talking about.
Then he rubbed his cheek against hers and brushed his lips over her cheek right next to the already tingling ear.
She shivered, swallowing heavily. He was moving a bit too fast. Maybe he was using her as a distraction to keep his mind off the scandal. Maybe she was using him…
“I’m not thinking about that right now. Not with a very appealing woman in my arms,” he whispered.
Lord, he was holding her tightly, and Lord, it was still wonderful. If she forgot for the moment why she was in this town she’d say she felt safe in his arms. She should run away as fast as possible but didn’t truly want to. Running away two times in one week was excessive. She silently chuckled at that. Yeah, sure, use any excuse to stay in his arms. His marvelous, glorious, welcoming arms.
It seemed as if they’d been dancing for hours. “Why is your hair so long?” She fingered the strands on his collar. “Is that approved for a small-town teacher?”
He laughed, angling his neck displaying pleasure in her touch. “No, there’s no rule. You should see the biology guy. He has a ponytail.”
The Bride Takes a Powder is available here – http://amzn.com/B018BK1J6Y
– at 99 cents preorder until December 15, 2015.
The companion book, The Gunny & The Jazz Singer, stars Marc, a Marine, who after a decade at war comes home to investigate his parents’ mysterious deaths. Beautiful jazz singer Phoebe hungers for fame and craves love. Despite their differing paths, they give in to their sizzling attraction. Will their passion turn deadly when the killer decides two murders might not have been enough? This book is available here – http://amzn.com/B017X3K5L0.
About Jane
Sensual fantasies were locked in my mind for years until a friend said, “Why don’t you write them down?” Why not, indeed? One spiral notebook, a pen, and the unleashing of my imagination later, and here I am with nineteen books published. The craft of writing sensual romance has become my passion and my niche in life. I love every part of the creative process—developing characters, designing the plot, even drawing the layout of physical spaces from my stories. My careers have been varied—third grade school teacher, bookkeeper, secretary—none of which gave me a bit of inspiration. But now I’m lucky enough to write romance full time—the best job in the universe! And I’m fortunate enough to have found my own happily ever after love.
Jane Leopold Quinn
My Romance: Love With a Scorching Sensuality
My Blog ~~ Twitter ~~ Amazon Author Page ~~ Facebook
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My Books
Historical Indie
Smokin’ Hot Mini Tales of the Olde West
Contemporary Indie
Scorching Mini Tales—Educating Eris and My Parisian Sabbatical
Siren
Social
Thanks, Kate!
You’re welcome, Jane! Thank you for being a guest!