Shall we begin the final Monday in February with the final Love Song of the month and an excerpt from one of my books?
I heard this song while wandering a grocery store aisle a week or so ago. I had not heard it for some time and had forgotten about it, actually. However, while choosing a bottle of salsa for my youngest son and singing along with the radio, I decided it would be a good song to share today.
Later, I listened to it again at home to pick a story to go with the song. The story that came to mind first was So Very Unexpected because that is a story where the hero stands next to the heroine and protects and guides her into their happily ever after. The hero also has a wonderful model of marriage to use as his guide — that of his mother and father.
In fact, the line below is spoken by Marcus’s father, who falls in love with the idea of having Lydia for his daughter.
Yes, this Lydia is a very different sort of Lydia, but then, when do I write standard-issue characters. 😉 LOL
So Very Unexpected, Lydia and Marcus’s story, is book three of my Pride and Prejudice variation series Willow Hall.
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PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY RONANKEATINGOFFICIAL ON JULY 29, 2018.
Today’s music video is not a video at all but just an audio version of this song. However, please listen to the lyrics, and if you have read So Very Unexpected, imagine Marcus singing this to Lydia. Is it not the most perfect song for them?
I think the chapter below highlights how Marcus feels about Lydia even though he has just met her and literally brought her “home” to her family. He’s not going to let her fall into a desperate situation. He will be there to help her. Of course, he (and Lydia) just think he’s being a friend, but hey, this is a romance story, so you know it’s going to develop into something more. However, that willingness to see that Lydia is well is not going to change, in fact, he will add to it a determination to see her become all that she can be, and along the way, he will become not just her friend but also her safe place and her champion.
“Lydia, do be serious,” Elizabeth chided before anyone else could say a word.
“I can replace it.” Ignoring her sister, Lydia continued with her explanation. Of course, Elizabeth would not understand. Elizabeth never did anything foolish enough to be punished by their father. In fact, he had never once called Elizabeth dull or silly. No, to their father, Elizabeth was quick and clever. “I will go without most of my pin money, and I am not without skills. I could take in some sewing.”
Lydia saw the look of disbelief on Elizabeth’s face and could not ignore the stinging of her sister’s words any longer. “Mr. Wickham is not what you think, Lizzy. If you knew what he was like, you would not wish him upon me. I was not taken in by him as you were.” She smiled inwardly at the stricken look on Elizabeth’s face. “I may look like I am not paying attention at times, but I assure you, I am listening. I have heard plenty of tales about Mr. Wickham.”
“Then why did you choose him to accompany you?” demanded Elizabeth.
Lydia sighed. “Because he knows where Derbyshire is, and he is weak enough to be led. I should think you would be able to piece that together.” She knew there was a cutting edge to her voice, but she did not care. Lizzy was Papa’s favourite. “I am not so stupid as you think.” A hand took hers.
“I do not think Lydia’s plan is completely without merit,” said Marcus, squeezing Lydia’s hand tightly. “Wickham has been bought off before. I am sure he could be once again.” He returned the small smile Lydia gave him.
I hope you are all safe and well. Below you will find information about what I got done in my writing life this week and a link to a book that is on sale from now until next Wednesday (April 15). I have finished reducing the prices of my novels and novellas. I’ll mention that below as well.
Writing Life
Here’s an update on my writing I have with a short excerpt from two of them. Her Convenient Forever: Guess what? I started the next Touches of Austen book. Here is the very first peek at how that story starts.
Waves lapped at the sand below her. A group of gulls dipped and soared before landing just out of reach of the rolling waves. A breeze steady, but gentle, pulled at her skirts and tugged at her bonnet. The sun peeked out from behind a light grey cloud. If only her heart felt as perfectly lovely as the weather.
Felicity Love opened the small box she held but quickly closed it again. This must be done, but… she turned away from the edge of where the land dropped from where she stood to the beach far below. Perhaps tomorrow she would feel more prepared.
Turning around, she walked in the direction of the road which would take her to the small cottage her father had rented.
This place and this time away from home was her reprieve – her place to grieve and her place of solace where her heart was supposed to mend enough to face the future. But how could a heart, which had been shattered as hers was, repair itself in just two months?
Matching Mr. Darcy: I’m up to chapter 11. Here is how chapter 11 begins:
A pained expression created a great furrow between Grace’s eyes. “Then, how is one ever to know if one is in love enough to marry?”
“That is an excellent question,” Roger replied, turning to Walter. “Do you have an explanation? You always had some reply when we pondered such impossible things in school.”
[from Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen Book 3]
Published to YouTube by TheAlena31 on February 7, 2011.
Today marks the beginning of my husband’s vacation time, which means a reduced number of work hours for both him and me. There will be a full week of blog posts this week, but next week the blog will be rather bare with only a Monday post.
The song title for the video today, I think, goes well with both tomorrow’s chapter of Grace’s story and the excerpt from a previously published, currently being updated book at the end of this post because only time will tell how each of these situations is going to work out. (They will work out. That’s not the question really. It’s more how will they work out.)
Can you believe it is August already? July certainly seemed to fly by. This upcoming month will be a busy and fun one for me as my husband will be off from one of his jobs for part of the month. So, I’ll be cutting back on some of my work time while still attempting to keep a few projects on track.
Published to YouTube by YirumaVEVO on July 12, 2019.
And that cutting back means there will be some impact on the blog — but it should be minimal. These Monday posts might end up being abbreviated and there will be one week (August 19-23) when there will be no posts at all. Yes, there will be a two-week wait between chapters for both the Sweet Tuesdays story and the Thursday’s Three Hundred story. However, I will make sure our couples are in happy places the week prior. So, there will be no cliffs to hang off of for those two weeks. 🙂
