First Kisses and Wedding Bells

First kisses and weddings...I've been thinking for weeks about which to write about and decided to talk about both!

First kisses...I think everyone can remember their first kiss, good or bad. I was about 13 and "going steady" with a boy named John. He'd taken me to a matinee and then walked me home afterward. The two of us stood there awkwardly, slowly saying good. Then he suddenly looked up the street. I leaned forward to follow his gaze and he turned around and kissed me. All in all, not a bad first kiss; although I admit, as a romance author, I've given my characters better ones.

A personal favorite is from my Summers at the Shore series between Brooke and Rory. 

First remembered by Brooke in The Beach - Their lips met in a perfect kiss that was everything Brooke Martin had ever imagined a kiss could be. Fireworks exploded inside her. Her toes curled up. She was hot and cold at the same time. 

Then Rory's take in the second book, The Boardwalk - Yes, they tasted like cherry ice... sweet cherry ice. He needed to taste more and moved his tongue into her mouth; more cherry. He could easily lose himself in her. He wanted to hold her, touch her...he wanted all of her. But she was young, he reminded himself as he pulled away and confessed that had been his intention for months.

As the saying goes, first comes love, then comes marriage. I truly enjoy writing weddings, and all of my series have them; some have even more than one. Choosing between them is tough.

I do have a soft spot for the grooms taking over and giving their brides weddings beyond anything they could have imagined. 

Rory surprised Brooke with a top secret wedding in The River, where even the venue was a surprise to Brooke. That was fun to imagine and bring to life for my readers - The car pulled into the park on the riverfront and Brooke saw white roses and tulle bows everywhere. It was absolutely stunning. An aisle was made from flowers and about thirty seats were set up with a rose covered arbor in the center.

But the wedding that will always hold a special place in my heart is the wedding Barrett threw for Ella in my Strong Armed series.

Knowing how unworthy Ella believes she is, Barrett stops at nothing to give his bride a wedding beyond her wildest dreams. It was important for me to have the wedding celebrated in their penthouse, because that was the first place that Ella felt loved. The penthouse had become a haven for her; a place where she discovered her strength and value and to me, that was the only place for Barrett and Ella to exchange their vows in Being Strong - Our living room was transformed. All the furniture was gone and replaced with white chairs in rows; the first in each row having a red rose bouquet on it. There was a white linen aisle runner with red rose petals. White and silver fabric was draped everywhere. I started shaking again, taking it all in and my eyes traveled to a white silk archway, tacked with white rose bouquets, positioned in the doorway between the living room and terrace. My eyes settled on Barrett, smiling at me. I felt myself smile and drank in the sight of him in the formal tux with the silver gray vest and bow tie, a scarlet red rose in his lapel.

Several months later, however, Ella got her own chance to plan a wedding, when her younger sister announced she was about to elope with Barrett's younger brother. Armed with her newly acquired power and wealth, in a matter of hours, Ella was able to turn a Las Vegas elopement into a wedding for the impulsive siblings.

But just how impulsive were Bryn and Carson? Many readers reached out and asked for more Bryn and Carson, and although it has been more than a year later than originally anticipated, I'm pleased to announce on this blog that Inner Strength, a supplement to the Strong Armed series will be available Friday, June 24 on Kindle for Amazon. I will post a link as soon as it is available.

It is a stand-alone book, and you don't have to have read the Strong Armed series to read Inner Strength. But a note, Inner Strength begins in the same time frame as Book 4, Staying Strong and runs beyond the original series, so it will contain spoilers for anyone who didn't read the series first.

As always, all my books are available for free on Kindle Unlimited and through the Amazon Prime Lending Library.