Musings and Ramblings

Angels in Seashore Cove

Love and Laugh in Seashore Cove, #2

Maggie Van Well

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Date of Publication: February 15, 2016
Number of pages: 282
Cover Artist: Greg Simanson

Two romances. One chance.

Back in college, Dianna Sheldon made a pledge to the Saving-It-Sisters, promising to save herself for “The One.” As her thirtieth birthday approaches, Dianna decides to break that pledge before she reaches that milestone. But she discovers that attempting to break a promise is not as easy as it seems, especially with her best friend, Sean, blocking her every step of the way.

Sean Donovan has always been a wild child, but Dianna always managed to keep him grounded. When she tells him she wants to lose her virginity, he makes it his mission to stop her from making a huge mistake.

Adriel is a guardian angel watching over his charges on Earth, Dianna Sheldon and Sean Donovan as they head down a path that will lead them away from each other — and their ‘happily ever after.’

So Adriel enlists the help of an archangel, Jude, to come up with a plan to save these two souls. They send down two rookies to nudge Dianna and Sean onto the right path, and in the interim, hopefully right a sixteen-year old wrong.

Excerpt: 

The doorbell responded in synchronized rhythm to Sean’s repeated pushing of its button. Without messing up the tempo, he reached for his cell phone and checked the time again. 9:06. Dianna should be ready by now.

“What the hell, Sean?” Tucker called from the backseat of the charcoal gray Land Rover idling in Dianna’s driveway. “Just go in and get her. You walk in every other time.”

Sean faced him, still pressing the doorbell. His brother leaned out of the back window, glaring. Dianna’s brothers, Derek and Patrick were in the front, their brows raised in question.

“Not in the mornings. I always text first. She has yet to answer the one I sent when we were pulling up the street. What if she’s in the shower?”

Tucker grinned. “What’s your point?”

“Touché, my brother.” He faced the door again. If she didn’t answer in the next few seconds, he’d do just that. Text or no text.

She’d never been a morning person, but this was ridiculous. He’d gotten about as much sleep as she had, probably less and he was up and ready to roll.

Even though last night had been weird.

He wasn’t sure whether it was the baffling and hazy images of Dianna constantly invading his dreams. Or the shouting voices he swore he’d heard. The door violently swung open. Dianna stood there in a plush white robe she’d had since freshman year in high school, glaring at him. Her hair a mass of golden frizz, haphazardly twisted into a long braid that hung over her right shoulder.

He bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“Ring that doorbell again and I swear you’ll die young.”

“You’re not dressed yet?” Sean turned to yell to the guys. “She’s not dressed yet!”

A chorus of groans followed.

“I am dressed,” she replied. “For bed, which is where I’m going.” She turned and lumbered back toward her room.

Sean entered before the door closed completely. “We’re supposed to go to the beach, remember?”

Dianna stopped and turned to him. Her eyes lost focus and she swayed.

“Princess!” Sean ran forward, wrapping his arms around her before she fell. “Jeez, you’ve had six hours sleep.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not a weirdo like you.” She yawned and grabbed onto his shoulders, pulling herself upright. “I need at least nine, plus, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Thinking things would move faster if he took control, Sean threw her over his shoulder and headed down the hall to her room, not stopping until he reached the foot of her bed. “C’mon.” He landed a quick smack to her ass. “We need to get going.”

She didn’t budge or try to hop down.

“Dianna?”

“This is surprisingly comfortable. We should stay this way.”

With a grunt of annoyance, he tossed her onto her bed. “The guys are waiting.”

“Just what I need.” She flipped onto her stomach and hugged her pillow. “To spend the day with four obnoxious men.”

“This was your idea. One last hurrah before summer ended.”

No response, save for the steady breathing.

“Dianna, are you sleeping?”

“I would be, but I have this annoying voice in my head.”

Sean rolled her onto her back and sat her up. “You need to focus.”

When he was confident she wouldn’t fall over, he went to her dresser and searched the top drawer.

A mass of silk and lace. Nope, time to move on from this one.

He pulled at the second drawer.

Typical. No rhyme or reason. He had to search through sweaters, blouses that really should be hanging in her closet, and skirts before he came across her stash of bathing suits. He tossed a fuchsia and white polka dot bikini at her. “Here, wear this.”

She looked at the two pieces of fabric he offered and shook her head. “I don’t think so. Remember what Tucker did the last time I wore that?”

No, but he could guess. Knowing his brother, he hugged her and somehow, her strings accidently came undone. Searching further, he found a black one-piece. “How about this one?”

She nodded—or swayed—he wasn’t sure, and reached for her suit. He swore if anyone could sleep on her feet, it would be Dianna.

“Good, put it on.” Back at her dresser, he had to rearrange clothing in order to get the drawer closed.

When he was finished, he turned and then the air left his lungs.

Standing, her eyes closed, Dianna let the ratty old robe slip down her shoulders to reveal a royal blue, lace-top negligee that molded itself to her full breasts like plastic wrap over a hot soufflé.

His heart raced out of control. His eyes weren’t cooperating much either. Try as he might, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the way the silk hugged her every curve, right down to her ankles. “Di-Dianna, what are you doing?”

She opened one eye and peeked at him. “I’m getting dressed—oh, yeah, you should probably leave.”

Interview: 

Please welcome Maggie Van Well to Musings and Ramblings for a little Author Q&A.

*Offers Maggie a cup of cafe’ mocha and a plate of low-carb chocolate cookies.*

Oh! You are now my very best friend!! Thank you so much for having me. *sips café mocha, and nibbles on cookie*

What makes you unique as a writer?
I think it would have to be my voice. Not very original, I know, but people seem to either love it or hate it. Humor is tough to get across on the page, but I think I’ve done an okay job accomplishing that. Also, I’m a panster. Not just a panster, but a hanging-from-a-ledge-with-my-fingers-slipping sort of pantser. I think that sometimes shows up in my writing. If I’m surprised, the reader is sure as heck going to be.

What are your five biggest distractions from writing?
1 -My kids because they know if they ask me something while I’m writing, I’m not really paying attention and will agree to mostly anything. I believe I once allowed my son to have piece of chocolate cake for dinner.
2 – Hidden object games. For those who don’t know, they’re a genre of computer game, and they are addicting!
3 – Facebook. No explanation needed here, I think
4 – My dogs. I have two Italian greyhounds that I write about in my blog. They’re very needy, and loving, but it’s hard to type when both hands are petting a tiny fury head (ew, that doesn’t sound disturbing, does it?).
5 – My husband, bless him. He likes me to sit with him while I write and he watches TV. He promises not to bother me, and then proceeds to comment on every program, every commercial, every upcoming event, and then looks wounded when I say “what?”

What’s the best vacation/trip you ever had?
We went to St. Thomas a few years back. What a gorgeous place. The beaches were lovely. Snorkeling was a blast, and we had such fun dodging Iguanas that have zero fear of humans.

What’s your favorite rainy day activity?
If it’s cold enough, I light a fire in the fireplace. I also pull out the good ole karaoke machine. What’s more fun is; no one can escape to perform outside activities because it’s raining. Yes, I have a wicked side.

What are your 5 favorite words?
Fugnugget (I made this up because, as a rule, I don’t swear-- unless I’m driving or watching a Mets game and they’re losing) Joy. Friend. Clearly (it’s a great adverb) Blessing.

A penguin walks through the door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?
I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque!

Thanks for sharing with us today. Any final words of wisdom to share with us?

*Holds up café mocha* Always believe in yourself. Remember, the only time we fail is when we give up.

Author Bio:

Maggie writes contemporary romance, sometimes with a supernatural twist. She lives on Long Island with her husband, four insane children (no idea where they get that from) and two entertaining Italian Greyhounds: Rosie, and Santa's Little Helper. She also has two ringed-neck doves, because, ya know, who doesn’t like getting woken up at two in the morning by cooing? Maggie’s love of the ocean was her inspiration for the fictional seaside town of Seashore Cove. She’s addicted to café mochas, Godiva chocolate, and hidden object games.

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