When
I was a little girl, I went to a wedding for the daughter of one of my
parents' friends. I wore a pretty blue party dress, a little black
velvet hat, and carried a cute little purse. That wedding was the
biggest social event I had ever attended because I grew up in the era of
"children should be seen and not heard."
I
loved everything about that wedding: dressing up, the music, the
beautiful satin dresses the bridesmaids wore, and the wonderful scent of
white roses floating through the air. My favorite part of the wedding
though was the bride.
Of
course I knew her and had seen her often. She was just an average
looking young woman. At least that's what I'd thought up until the
moment she entered the church. As I watched her float down the aisle to
the strains of the traditional wedding march, I stared open-mouthed.
She
had transformed into an ethereal beauty in a gossamer ball gown of
white silk, encrusted with pearls. A veil of lace and tulle fell from
the pearl headpiece all the way to the floor and trailed behind her.
Lasting Impression
I've
never forgotten that first wedding and that sense of wonder I felt at
seeing the bride in all her glory. When I decided to start a novella
series, I knew instinctively that I wanted to write stories about brides
because a woman's wedding is usually the grandest event in her life.
Because
I've been the guest at many other weddings as well as the "mother" four
times as our children have married, I also know how important it is to
maintain a sense of humor. Sometimes things go comically wrong on a day
when the bride wants it to be absolutely perfect.
As
a guest, I've laughed until I cried at the ring bearer who decided he
wanted to keep the rings and ran with them while his parents and the
bride's parents chased him.
At
one evening reception, the parents of the bride, in their excitement
about all the reception events, forgot about all the food in coolers set
outside the reception hall. Even the wedding toasts were made with
guests raising empty glasses because someone forgot to bring in the
champagne! But all the guests obliged by lifting empty glasses and
pantomiming drinking from them.
Laughter Enriches Love
Weddings can be so comical that I've played with that premise through a few of my books. In Still The One,
Burke Winslow is at the altar with his business partner and about to
embark on a marriage of convenience when the minister asks: "Does anyone
know why this man and woman shouldn't be joined in holy matrimony?"
Burke's ex, who it turns out isn't as ex as he thought, shouts, "Stop
the wedding."
In Cinderella Blue,
released in March, police detective Andie Luft, dressed as a bride, is
chasing a "slime-ball photographer who ruined her day" in the opening
scene of the book.
I
love romantic comedy so I knew I wanted to write romantic comedy for my
brides novella series. The title for the series was a no-brainer: All Brides Are Beautiful.
Are All Brides Beautiful? Yes!
April Fool Bride was published last summer. This summer I'll publish White Rose Confession.
In case you think roses are my favorite wedding flower, you're correct.
I love roses. My back yard is a rose garden--15 red knockout rose
bushes span the width of my yard.
White
roses were the perfect choice for the second novella in my series
because one meaning for this elegant rose is new beginnings. That's just
what Constance Quinn, the stepmother of Maddie from April Fool Bride,
gets when she meets Alejandro, the absolutely last man on earth she
should have fallen for. When a meeting begins with a lie, can there be a
future?
Well, of course there can if you're reading a romance novel!
NY
Times and USA Today bestselling author Joan Reeves makes her home in
the Lone Star State with her hero, her husband. She lives the philosophy
that is the premise of her romance novels: "It's never too late to live
happily ever after."
Visit
Joan online at her Blog, http://SlingWords.blogspot.com or her Website,
www.JoanReeves.com. Readers, sign up for her email list/newsletter:
http://eepurl.com/Yk61n. Writers, sign up for her free NL Writing Hacks,
http://eepurl.com/fX7JT.
Is
it a marriage of convenience or something more? Something that sizzles
like steam heat between Maddie and Jake that neither can resist!
Oil
heiress Madeline Quinn needs a husband by the time she turns
twenty-five in order to claim her full inheritance. Mad Maddie, as the
tabloids christened her, has learned the hard way that men only see
dollar signs when they look at her.
Maddie
decides a marriage of convenience is the only answer. She turns to the
one man in the world she can trust, her housekeeper’s son who always
treated her like a little sister when they were kids growing up
together.
Jake
Becker hasn’t seen Maddie since the night she tried to seduce him. Why
should he help the woman who changed the course of his life? Simple.
Revenge.
