Written by Zoe Allison
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Today I'm taking part in the blog tour organised by Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources with an extract from Zoe Allison's latest romantic comedy The Wedding Engagement. It sounds like the kind of humorous story I'd really enjoy, so I've added it to my wishlist.
The blurb:
The Wedding EngagementIt's not supposed to be her love story…
Planning a wedding with the man you’re secretly in love with… what could go wrong?
Liv Holland has a secret: she’s been crushing on Arran Adebayo, her brother’s best friend, for years. They’re ‘just friends’ but she can’t help the butterflies in her stomach whenever she’s around him.
When they’re asked to help plan festivities for Liv's brother's wedding, Liv and Arran can no longer deny the sparks between them. But with both having their own chequered romantic history, risking everything for love could mean losing each other forever…
As the wedding bells ring, will Liv and Arran finally find their own happy ever after?
Romantic Comedy
Fiction
Enjoy this short extract from The Wedding Engagement by Zoe Allison
In this scene, Arran has just made an SOS call to Liv to ask if she can collect his son, Jayce, from his street dancing class. Arran’s ex, Jess, was meant to pick up their son but she was waylaid. Unfortunately Arran couldn’t get back home in time for the class finish because he was out of town buying paint supplies for his art studio. Liv collected Jayce and took him for a milkshake and has just arrived at Arran’s house to drop Jayce off.
‘Have you got time for a cuppa?’ he asked her.
‘Sure. Always time for tea,’ Liv told him as she followed him down the hallway.
‘Excellent. Walk this way,’ Arran said, performing a comical gait for her to imitate, which she did. It occurred to her that she had as many in-jokes and gestures with him as she did with her best friends, Maya and Elise. And yet up until the previous summer, while Arran had always been best friends with her twin brother, Sam, to her he’d merely been a casual acquaintance. A really hot acquaintance that she’d harboured a crush on for the past decade or so. Not that he’d ever noticed.
Arran set about making them some tea. ‘Don’t judge me,’ he said, glancing up to meet her eyes.
She frowned as she took off her coat, then the jacket from her karate uniform. ‘Judge you for what?’
For a moment he was silent, and when she looked up, he was eyeing her vest-clad form with an odd expression. He shook his head slightly, as if bringing his thoughts back to the conversation. ‘For my inferior tea-making skills.’
Liv smiled. She was renowned in their friend group for making the best cup of tea in the land. She blew on her fingernails, then pretended to polish them on her white vest top. ‘Well. One does try.’ She took a seat at the breakfast bar, looking behind her to where Jayce was sitting at his little red table, energetically drawing something that resembled a tiny stick figure battling a dragon. ‘What’s the deal with Jess, then? Change of plan for this weekend?’
Arran glanced over at Jayce, then pushed a steaming mug towards her, leaning his elbows on the counter to bring himself closer. Liv’s pulse rocketed as she inhaled his scent and struggled furiously to keep her eyes off how his biceps flexed under the close fit of his T-shirt.
‘Yeah. She asked if I’d have him last night so she could go to this party with the boyfriend.’ Arran always referred to Rory as ‘the boyfriend’, and Liv was sure it was because he still resented his ex-fiancée dating anyone.
He lifted his mug. ‘The deal was that I’d drop Jayce at street dance, then she’d pick him up and have him the rest of the weekend. But then she called to say they’d overdone it last night and she was too hungover to drive.’
‘Ah,’ Liv said, sipping her tea. ‘And by that time, you’d already reached the paint shop?’
‘Yep,’ he said on a sigh. ‘I’m behind schedule on this commission. There’s a specific deadline because it’s a present for a wedding anniversary.’
He took a drink, eyes down in a rather dejected manner.
She touched his hand. ‘Why the long face? I thought you loved doing these new portraits?’
‘I do,’ he said, eyes still on his mug. ‘Problem is, I’m . . .’ He paused, rubbing the side of his face.
‘You’re what?’ she asked, studying him.
He cleared his throat. ‘I’m struggling. To manage it all.’ He met her gaze. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love having Jayce more often. But Jess keeps reneging on her weekends, and it’s the only free time I get to paint.’
She could tell admitting that was a big deal for him. ‘Are you in a position where you could give up your day job to concentrate on painting during the week?’
He shook his head with a wince. ‘Nah. Not yet. But I can’t wait for that day to come. Especially since no one in the office appreciates my sense of humour.’
‘What did you do this time?’ she asked.
He grinned. ‘I replaced everyone’s desk photos with Leonardo DiCaprio memes.’
She sighed, trying to suppress the smile threatening to break out over her face. ‘You’re so immature.’
He gave her a nudge. ‘I can see how desperately you want to laugh at my hilarious joke, karate kid. Don’t try to hide it.’
The corner of her mouth quirked.
‘We have the same sense of humour.’ He waggled his fingers. ‘We are kindred spirits, you and I,’ he said in a mysterious tone.
That was the last straw, and she broke down laughing.
| Author Bio – Zoe Allison |
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 Zoe Allison lives in Scotland with her husband and two children, having been brought up in a mixed-race family in Yorkshire. Growing up, Zoe enjoyed stories about falling in love. But rather than daydreaming of being rescued by a knight in shining armour, she imagined herself fighting dragons alongside him, battling supervillains as heroic allies, or teaming up to dive into perilous waters and save the day. As an adult, Zoe became a doctor. However as time passed, she craved a creative outlet to counter the soul-sapping burnout that her career inflicted upon her, and also to achieve the happy endings that were so often lacking in the real world. She wanted to create heroines who represent her and her values, as well as heroes who truly love women—men who find their true loves inspiring, want to connect with them as soulmates, and fully open themselves to their partners on an emotional level. And so, Zoe began to write romance. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Web site | www.zoeallison.co.uk |
| @zoeallisonauthor | |
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| Facebook Author Page | zoe.allison.9279 |
| X | @zoeallisonauth1 |
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