Welcome back to Anna’s crazy world! The second book in my Fab Five series is almost here. LazyDay Publishing will release The Road to Her Heart on March 20, 2013! For all of you who read the one that started it all, Crossroad to Love, you’ll be happy to know the second story begins right where the first one left off. I know many of you have told me you’ve fallen in love with the Fab Five and can’t wait to follow their lives. I’ll warn you…drama and romance follow them where ever they go.

Crossroad to Love has gotten several 5 star and 4 star reviews on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads. It earned Silver Star status on ARe within four days of release. I’ve been told guys are reading it…and liking it. In fact, guys and gals of all ages are reading it. I’ve been told by people who rarely read romance that they were pleasantly surprised to find they enjoyed it and they are looking forward to the rest of the series.

If you haven’t read it yet, there’s still time to get caught up in the drama before March 20th. Crossroad to Love is available on Amazon, B&N, and ARe as well as http://www.lazydaypub.com, in fact, the buy links are listed on my “Buy Links” page on this blog. All you have to do is copy and paste the link of your choice into your browser and it should take you right to the book.

Without further ado, here’s a glimpse of The Road to Her Heart.

Blurb:

The ‘Fab Five’ are back, but this time, it’s Lizzie’s daughter who is causing all the drama.

Cara Hart is getting married. But there’s a slight problem with the upcoming nuptials. Cara is in love with two men. She loves her fiancé, Caleb, but can’t get over Nick, the one who broke her heart. To make things even more complicated, Caleb and Nick are best friends. Deciding not to waste her life pining for what might have been, Cara goes ahead with the wedding to Caleb. Determined to make the marriage work, she hides her feelings for Nick in the deepest corner of her heart, and moves forward. Finding love and contentment in Caleb’s arms, Cara is certain she has made the right decision. The newlyweds settle into married life, planning to start a family right away. But days after learning she is pregnant, Caleb is killed in a plane crash, leaving a devastated widow behind.

 

Nick steps up to the plate, comforting Cara during her grief, even asking her to marry him. He offers to help her raise Caleb’s baby. Angry, Cara declines Nick’s offer, believing it to be a pity proposal.

 

Is she right? Did Nick propose because he felt it was his duty to take care of his dead friend’s wife and child? Or, is it possible that Nick wants a second chance, with the girl he once loved and left? As he travels the road to her heart, will Nick be able to convince Cara to open it and let him back in? 

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Katy rolled over and saw the man lying next to her. She looked around the room, spying the trail of clothes on the floor leading from the door to the bed. She smiled, remembering. Am I dreaming again, or did last night really happen? Katy pinched herself, realizing this was no fantasy. Ryan was here, in her bed, in her apartment. Last night really happened… finally.

Katy Barron thought back to the past eight months. She had met Ryan O’Grady last fall, while on a vacation in Dallas, with her three best friends, Angie, Marianne, and Lizzie. The four had been friends since childhood, but had all scattered to different states over the years. The trip had been planned as a reunion and could not have come at a better time. Each of the four women had found herself at a crossroad, needing to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.

Angie had recently come face-to-face with the man she had divorced fifteen years earlier. He had shown up the day before the trip, the architect assigned to work with her on a renovation project she was spearheading for the QuadCity casino-hotel resort she worked in. She had never gotten over him, but a secret she’d kept had threatened to keep them apart forever. When Angie told Michael the real reason she had set him free was so that he could have a family with someone else, it had looked like they were over for good.  Years ago, she had miscarried while he was out of town, and having been told by the doctor that she would never carry a child to term, she had decided not to tell him, divorcing him, instead. The reason she had given him at the time, was that she wanted to pursue her career. Marriage, and a family, did not fit her plans. Luckily, he was able to forgive her and they were reconciled now.

Lizzie had been suffering from empty nest syndrome. She thought she wanted to work in her husband, Rex’s, ad agency in Columbus, Ohio. She did not know how to broach the subject, when a solution landed in her lap. During that fateful trip to Texas, she had met Chloe O’Grady, co-owner of a restaurant, who needed a new ad campaign. Lizzie had offered to come up with some slogans and had landed the account.

Marianne had believed her husband, handsome Dallas surgeon, Jon Jacobi, was having an affair. She was using the week away from him to decide what to do about it, when it all had come to a head, halfway through the vacation. Jon had shown up at the hotel where she and her friends were staying, followed by the supposed mistress. During the heated arguments that followed, it was discovered that Jon had never betrayed his wife. He was being stalked by the young lady in question.

All of Katy’s friends had gone home from the trip with a happy ending and a bright future, except Katy. She had met, and fallen head over heels for, playboy Ryan O’Grady. She had also secured his restaurant, as a client, for her new interior design business. The job had later led to a permanent position with O’Grady Enterprises, with Katy relocating from Chicago to Dallas. But one night, after professing their mutual feelings for one other, Ryan and Katy discovered that they had a connection from the past. Ryan’s wife and her lover had been in the car that had hit Katy’s husband and little girl head on, killing all four of them. Ryan felt they could never have a relationship after that. Katy had spent the past eight months working with him, and trying to put her feelings for him to rest.

Last night, after the restaurant closed, they had both been working late. Ryan had finally admitted that he still loved her. And he had asked her to marry him. They had made love for the first time, in the private dining room of the restaurant. Afterward, he had come home with her, where they had spent the better part of the night making up for lost time.

“Well, hello there.” Ryan was awake now.

“I just pinched myself, to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” Katy replied with a smile.

“If you are, then I’m having the same dream and I don’t want to wake up.” He pulled her to him, kissing her, to prove that he was real, this time, and not a dream.

“I love you,” she said, gazing into his brown eyes. The gold fleck in each of his eyes sparkled.

“And I love you, my yellow rose. But right now, I need to make a call.” Putting his finger to his lips, indicating he wished her to stay quiet, he picked up his cell and dialed.

“Hello, Shane. I’m not going to be in today. I have some personal things to take care of… Yes, that’s right. And by the way, Katy won’t be at work today, either. She worked pretty late last night, so I gave her day off… Gotta go, Bro. Bye.”

Katy stifled a giggle. “What did he say?” Shane was Ryan’s younger brother. Ryan, Shane, and Shane’s wife, Chloe, co-owned a restaurant named Chloe’s Place. They recently had expanded the original restaurant. They were in the process of building a corporate office, as well as several chain restaurants, across the country. Shane handled the finances, Chloe was in charge of menus and chefs, and Ryan was handling the openings of the new restaurants. Katy was their decorator.

“He said okay, and I said goodbye before he had a chance to ask any questions. We’ll surprise them with the news, later, but first we need to go shopping.” He lifted her left hand, adding, “I want the whole world to know you’re mine, so we’re buying a ring today.”

“I only need you. I don’t have to have an engagement ring.”

“But you’re getting me and a ring, so don’t complain.” He laughed as the gold flecks in his beautiful brown eyes flickered once more.

“Okay, Boss, whatever you say.”

“You’ll find that being Mrs. Ryan O’Grady comes with a few privileges.”

“There’s only one privilege I’m interested in. I think you know what that is, after last night.”

“Don’t tempt me, baby, or we’ll never get out of this bed today. You get in the shower, while I make breakfast. Now scoot.” He pretended to push her out of bed, as she forced herself to get up.

A short while later, when Katy walked into the dining room of her Frisco, Texas apartment, breakfast was already on the table. Ryan had prepared ham and cheese omelets and toast. He was pouring coffee into mugs as she sat down.

 “I could get used to this real fast.”

“Well, I do own a restaurant, you know,” he teased. “And I intend to pamper you, my yellow rose. I’ve wasted too much time, holding you at arm’s length.”

He had given her the nickname of his yellow rose because that is what she had reminded him of, the day they’d met. She had walked into the restaurant for a meeting, wearing a pale yellow dress. That had been the day she had bowled him over, with her decorating ideas, and her charm.

As they dove into the scrumptious omelets he had prepared, they discussed how they would tell their families and friends, about their engagement and upcoming marriage. They came up with a plan and finished their meal. She made phone calls, while he loaded the dishwasher.

Katy called her son, Alex, first, and then her parents. They were all, of course, elated for her.

Next, she dialed the number of her friend, Lizzie, in Ohio. As she waited for Lizzie to answer, she blew a kiss to Ryan. Damn, he looks good, working in my kitchen.

“Hello.” Lizzie’s voice came on the line.

“Lizzie, it’s Katy. How are you?”

“I’m fine, just going crazy helping Cara with this wedding of hers.” Lizzie laughed. Her only daughter was getting married soon, a source of concern, as she was marrying a virtual stranger, and not the boy everyone had expected her to spend her life with.

“How’s that situation going?”

“We’re going to meet his parents this weekend. I guess we’re just going to have to accept the fact, once and for all, that Nick isn’t going to be our son-in-law.” Lizzie and Rex had both been disappointed that their daughter was not marrying her long time boyfriend, Nick. Instead, she was planning a wedding with his college roommate and good friend, Caleb Walters.

“I’m so sorry this has been so confusing for you. But I have some news that may cheer you up.”

“What’s that?”

“Ryan and I got engaged, last night.” Katy waited for the scream and was not disappointed.

“Finally, I had begun to think it wasn’t going to happen. How did it all take place?”

Katy gave her a quick description of the proposal, adding, “Mum’s the word, if you talk to Mari. We’re going to tell her at dinner.”

“Okay. I wish I could be there.”

“I do, too. I have to go now, I need to call Angie. Give my love to the family.”

“Okay, bye, Katy.”

Next, Katy called Angie, in Iowa. Her reaction was similar to Lizzie’s.

Now, it was time to call Marianne and Jon. Marianne answered on the third ring. “Hello.”

“Mari, hi, it’s Katy. I was wondering if you and Jon could join me for dinner, at the restaurant tonight.”

“Let me check with Jon, he hasn’t left for the hospital yet.” She came back on the phone and said, “We can be there about seven-thirty. Will that work for you?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you both then. I have to run now.”

As Marianne hung up the phone, she said to her husband, “I wonder what that was all about.”

“Katy probably needs some friend time. It has to be hard for her to work with Ryan, every day, with nothing happening in the romance department. She really has it bad for the guy. And he’s about as stupid as they come, for not latching on to her.”

“I agree, but you know, there’s a lot of baggage there. I thought when she moved out here, though, things might change.”

“Got to run, Babe, I’ll see you tonight.” Jon kissed Marianne goodbye, leaving her to the rest of her day.

That’s all I’m going to share with you for now…

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Crossroad to Love if you haven’t yet, so you can see how it all started.

On the 17th, I’ll be featuring fellow Rebel author, Helen Ogrodnick as she celebrates the release of her debut romance. 

And on the 21st, fellow LazyDay author, Anastasia Vitsky, will be stopping by to tell us about her new bestseller!

Fellow Rebel author, Jane Wakely, will be here on the 25th, so it’s a full month in Anna’s world and you won’t want to miss any of it.

I’ll also be sharing some teasers about my April release from Rebel Ink Press, Sunny’s Love.

Until then, happy reading and see you soon.

Love, Anna 🙂