The Power of Love, Special Anthology. Coming from Berkley Trade June 3, 2008.

Since this is an anthology with 12 authors the stories range in size. So the excerpts are pretty short. But hey we got you something! We will have two posts 🙂 a volume I and II.

enjoy!

“Girl Next Door” by Janice Maynard

Felicity bit his bottom lip … lightly … and then soothed it with her tongue. Her pretty grass-green eyes were hazy with arousal, and a tiny smile on her lush, red lips taunted him.

“Jason?” Her voice was husky… strained.

“Yeah?”

“What would you think about me coming to live in Charlottesville?”

His minute hesitation cost him dearly. As did the unmistakable way he tensed up. Shit.

She went from cuddly to caustic in a split second. She jerked out of his embrace so suddenly she almost fell over a nearby pile of boxes. Her eyes were bright. With tears? The possibility wounded him.

She backed away, heading for the door. “Oh, shoot,” she said, her voice wobbly. “That was just the hormones talking. Forget I said anything. I’ll see you later.” And then she fled.

“Chicken Soup for Annie” by LuAnn McLane,

“Right,” Josh nodded but he couldn’t help but smile at his cute little volunteer. The sudden rosy color in her cheeks had him hoping that the attraction that he was feeling was mutual. Although she had mentioned a daughter her ring finger was bare so he assumed that she was a single mom and he intended to find out before her shift was over. He decided not to come on too strong since she seemed rather skittish… not that he was a smooth operator. No, quite the opposite. When it came to women Josh tended to get tongue-tied…

“No Angel” by Lucy Monroe

“Do you make it a habit of sending someone’s apology down the garbage disposal?” he asked dryly.

“Is that what it was?” Her brow lifted. “An apology?”

“Yes. Damn it. What else would it have been?” …
“Well they were an apology,” he huffed.

“Say it.”

“You want me to say that I’m sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that a little juvenile? I’ve already told you the flowers were meant to convey that.”

“So, say the words.”

“Fine. I’m sorry for the way I treated you Friday morning and for expecting you to lie to get me out of a tight spot.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He grimaced. “Hard enough.”

She laughed. “You are forgiven.”

And why those particular words should make his dick go hard as granite, he had no clue, but he wasn’t knocking it.

“Angel in the Alley” by Patricia Sargeant

Sara’s voice shook only a little. “I want to be independent. I want my own identity. And I don’t want you in my life any more.”

“You need me.” Asa stressed the words. “When your mother died, I took care of you. You didn’t have anyone else.”

Sara stared at him, realization freeing her mind. “No, Asa. You need me to make yourself feel superior, stronger, in charge. I’m through with letting you or anyone else control me.”

“You’re going to regret leaving me.” Anger stripped his mask and revealed the brutality just beneath his surface.
She watched Asa stalk off. Rage made his body stiff, his movements jerky.

Her gaze shifted to Raphael. He nodded once and Sara relaxed.

“Hannah’s Choice” by Kay Stockham,

“Hey! Hey, don’t do that! Stop!” Hannah Pruitt didn’t take the time to think, much less pause and remove her leather sandals or the ridiculously expensive watch she’d
splurged on six months ago as an “I am woman, hear me roar” present to herself.

Instead she vaulted over the rail of the foot bridge crossing the twelve-foot deep canal that sliced Orchard Park in two, and entered the cold depths with a choking gasp.

When a bubble escaped, she belatedly reminded herself that keeping her mouth closed would be a good idea. God knew jumping in hadn’t been her brightest.

The moment her leather-clad toes touched the canal’s rocky bottom, she pushed herself to the surface, arms and legs working as she frantically searched for the burlaplooking
sack she’d seen a man toss into the water. Had it gone under? Where?

“The Mouse Roared” by J.C. Wilder

Just what in the devil are you waiting on girl?

The shriek of tires and the loud, insistent blare of a horn jolted her back to reality.

The bumper of a bright yellow cab was mere inches from her right leg. She blinked.

What the heck?

With a start she realized she stood in the center of an intersection, the busiest in Haven.

Not twenty yards away was the storefront, the place she’d always dreamed of. But what if she never made her move? What if tomorrow, she were struck dead and she’d done nothing to halt her slide into mediocrity.

Was she destined to die an unfulfilled woman?