As February is the month of love, I have a host of wonderful romance authors stopping by my blog to share flirty extracts from their novels! Well you know, any excuse 😉
Today, I am excited to welcome fellow Apricot Plots author Angela Barton back to my blog #SharingTheLove with an extract from her new novel, Magnolia House … over to you Angela!
Magnolia House
“Before she had chance to start working, Rowan heard someone knocking on her apartment door. Ace would be at work at this time so she wondered if Nora needed something. Jet barked and scampered from the bottom of her bed and out of the bedroom. Subconsciously smoothing her hair with her hands, she pushed the chair away from the workbench with the back of her knees and went to answer the door.
She felt the heat rise on her cheeks when she pulled the front door open and saw James standing there. He wore loose jeans, an oatmeal T-shirt and a sheepish smile. He pushed his hair out of his eyes.
‘Morning,’ he said, bending to stroke Jet.
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Fine, thanks. I’m just after the newspaper that Ace left outside your door this morning. It had a jobs page in it and I’ve been threatened with eviction if I don’t find work.’
‘Come in and I’ll see what I’ve done with it.’
James stepped inside the lounge. ‘How’s your new workbench?’
Rowan smiled. ‘The bench is wonderful but it doesn’t help if the creativity isn’t kicking in.’ She crouched to look on the shelf under the coffee table. ‘Here it is.’ She pulled out the newspaper, dropping it before handing it to James. Why was she so flustered?
‘I know the feeling. Just because I have a circular saw at my disposal, doesn’t mean a table will make itself.’
Rowan stood in front of him, arms folded through shyness. It unnerved her to have such an sexily dishevelled man who she didn’t know very well, standing so close.
‘I was wondering if having the workbench in front of the window was such a good idea,’ she said, making small talk to break the silence. ‘I seem to be doing more daydreaming and curtain twitching than anything else at the bench.’
‘Well, the time to worry will be when you start facial twitching,’ he said, tapping the folded newspaper against his cheek. ‘Can I give you a hand moving it somewhere else?’
‘Oh no, thank you. You’ve already been such a great help getting it upstairs. I think it’s me that’s the problem. I can’t seem to get motivated despite feeling lucky to have found someone who wants to buy my jewellery. It doesn’t help that the weather can’t make its mind up what it’s doing.’
Rowan cringed inwardly. Was she really standing here discussing the weather and her lack of motivation? She’d have him backing out of the doorway in desperation to escape from her and her maudlin conversation. ‘I’m sure I’ll feel a lot better when I’ve had some fresh air. I was just about to take Jet for a walk.’
‘Want some company?’
Rowan was taken aback. She’d been expecting him to use the dog walk as an excuse to leave. How could she say no without appearing rude and ungrateful?
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course. Hasn’t Ace told you that I’m a gerbil whisperer? Dogs aren’t so different: four legs, whiskers and a cold nose. Besides, it’s called delaying tactics.’ He grinned, holding up the newspaper and shaking it. ‘Putting off the inevitable. I’ll just drop the paper downstairs and meet you at the front door.’
With that, he ran downstairs leaving Rowan to put Jet’s harness on. How had that happened?”
Thank you for sharing your wonderful extract Angela, I’ve had the pleasure of reading Magnolia House and fell in love with the warm characters and wonderfully detailed settings.
Find my review and a recent interview with Angela here.
Discover more about Magnolia House:
When you open up your home and your heart …
Rowan Forrester has it all – the happy marriage, the adorable dog, the good friends, the promising business and even the dream home after she and her husband Tom win a stunning but slightly dilapidated Georgian townhouse in London at auction.
But in the blink of an eye, Rowan’s picture-perfect life comes crashing down around her and she is faced with the prospect of having to start again.
To make ends meet she begins a search for housemates, and in doing so opens the door to new friends and new beginnings. But could she be opening the door to new heartbreak too?
Publisher: Choc Lit
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Links to buy the book Amazon UK | Amazon.Com | Kobo |
About the author:
Angela Barton was born in London and grew up in Nottingham. She is married with three grown up children. Passionate about writing both contemporary and historical fiction, Angela loves researching for her books and is an avid reader. Having signed publishing contracts for three of her completed novels with Ruby Fiction, Angela is excited to be working alongside such a friendly and supportive publishing team. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and Nottingham Writers’ Studio.
Having recently moved to France, Angela (alongside her husband, Paul) is now a lavender farmer, creating products from the oil that’s distilled. Angela says she’s looking forward to spending more time writing in the company of her two spaniels while sitting on her veranda overlooking the breath-taking countryside of Charente.
Discover more about Angela Barton here: Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Ruby Fiction | Angela is also a member of Apricot Plots.
Don’t miss author Kathryn Freeman #SharingTheLove with an extract from her romantic comedy novel, Oh Crumbs, on my blog tomorrow. xx
Carol Thomas writes contemporary romance novels, with relatable heroines whose stories are layered with emotion, sprinkled with laughter and topped with irresistible male leads. Discover more here.