Another day, another Astraea Press author! :D Today Zanna Mackenzie is here sharing an excerpt from her reality show romance, "The Love Programme".
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Excerpt from Chapter Eleven of "The Love Programme":
As Isaac parked outside Arknavie House they stared at the jumble of cars and vans all around them. The caterers were unloading tray upon tray of covered food and a convoy of people were carrying them all round to the kitchen entrance. Musical instruments were being emptied from another van, and they watched transfixed as a man attempted to wrestle a guitar and part of what appeared to be a drum kit up the steps to the entrance. Obviously the preparations for the summer ball were now well underway.
In the main entrance hall Chinese-type lanterns hung from the ceiling and candles were arranged over any level piece of furniture. They wandered through the house, curious to see everything going on around them.
In the lounge one of the large tables had been cleared and a huge silver punch bowl had now taken pride of place. Glasses were arranged on trays all around it and on another table stood bottles of red wine and various spirits.
“This has the makings of an extremely good party,” Isaac said nodding approvingly.
All of the doors to the terrace had been flung open and out on the lawn, overlooking the lochan, an open-air wooden dance floor had been set up.
“This is amazing, I’ve never been on a dance floor with a view like this one before,” Lucy enthused.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Lucy tensed at the sound of his voice. Paul was now standing barely a foot away from her. In jeans and a white shirt he seemed cool, relaxed, and Lucy reluctantly acknowledged to herself, extremely handsome.
“Perhaps we could have a couple of dances later?” Paul asked, meeting Lucy’s eyes questioningly.
“Perhaps,” Lucy stepped away from him. How could he come out here asking for a dance later after he’d rejected her so obviously last night in the pool? Did he think he could just pick her up as and when it suited him?
Lucy, staring out across the lochan towards the mountains, heard Paul ask Isaac, “Did you have a good date at lunch? I heard you were going up to The Swordfish Café on the coast. The food there is excellent.”
“We had an amazing date, the weather, the food. It was brilliant. We even went for a swim in the sea. It was fun, wasn’t it, Lucy?”
Lucy nodded in agreement. “Yes, it was a brilliant date.”
Paul, a look of irritation flickering briefly in his eyes, addressed Isaac, “Swim? Lucy doesn’t swim.”
“Well she did today,” Isaac said. He offered Lucy his arm to slip her own through and then, clapping Paul on the back in a boys-will-be-boys kind of gesture, he added, “I bet you didn’t know there was a little place up the coast just perfect for a spot of afternoon skinny dipping, did you?”
As they ran up the lawn and back into the house Lucy was aware of Paul’s unamused stare but kept quiet until they were back inside. “What do you mean skinny dipping? We didn’t…”
Isaac held a finger to her lips. “Shhh! We can’t have him messing you about can we? A woman like you deserves to be cherished.” Isaac gently pulled her after him with a playful tug. “After all, it’ll do no harm, making him jealous. Give him something to think about.”
“Isaac!” Lucy protested. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“It’s okay,” he said, adding with a wink, “Your secret’s safe with me!”
Zanna Mackenzie lives in the UK with her
husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an
ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.
Being a freelance writer and editor of
business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be
found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She
loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start
deviating from the original plot!
Formerly a travel agent and therapist (she
has qualifications in clinical aromatherapy, crystal healing, naturopathic
nutrition and herbalism) she loves walking the dogs and gardening – that’s when
she’s not writing or reading!
Zanna has written two novels, The Love
Programme (Astraea Press) and How Do You Spell Love? (Crooked Cat Publishing)
and both were published in early 2013.
Find
Zanna online:
Twitter: @ZannaMacKenzie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna. mackenzie
Disclosure: I am employed by Astraea Press. I am not being compensated for putting up this post.
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Blurb from the author ~
Thanks to an embarrassing incident involving a wedding and her ex-boyfriend Marcus, Lucy has to leave her home town in a hurry and needs a place to escape to for a while.
Best friend Fiona is convinced now would be a good time for Lucy to get herself a new life with some potential for romance thrown in. Fate seems to agree when Lucy is given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to star in a TV show and be a contestant on The Love Programme - two weeks of luxury living on a grand Highland estate coupled with, she hopes, fun and romance in wildest Scotland.When Lucy meets Paul - the young, handsome owner of the Highland estate - she thinks she may have found the love of her life but who is the mysterious Hannah and what part does she play in his life? When she discovers that Marcus is planning to follow her to Scotland to win her back Lucy has some serious soul searching to do. Does she have a future with Paul, with Marcus or is she yet to find the man of her dreams?
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Romance, contemporary
Format: ebook, paperback
Release Date: February 7, 2013
* affiliate link; clicking & purchasing results in a small commission for the blog
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EXCERPT
Excerpt from Chapter Eleven of "The Love Programme":
As Isaac parked outside Arknavie House they stared at the jumble of cars and vans all around them. The caterers were unloading tray upon tray of covered food and a convoy of people were carrying them all round to the kitchen entrance. Musical instruments were being emptied from another van, and they watched transfixed as a man attempted to wrestle a guitar and part of what appeared to be a drum kit up the steps to the entrance. Obviously the preparations for the summer ball were now well underway.
In the main entrance hall Chinese-type lanterns hung from the ceiling and candles were arranged over any level piece of furniture. They wandered through the house, curious to see everything going on around them.
In the lounge one of the large tables had been cleared and a huge silver punch bowl had now taken pride of place. Glasses were arranged on trays all around it and on another table stood bottles of red wine and various spirits.
“This has the makings of an extremely good party,” Isaac said nodding approvingly.
All of the doors to the terrace had been flung open and out on the lawn, overlooking the lochan, an open-air wooden dance floor had been set up.
“This is amazing, I’ve never been on a dance floor with a view like this one before,” Lucy enthused.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Lucy tensed at the sound of his voice. Paul was now standing barely a foot away from her. In jeans and a white shirt he seemed cool, relaxed, and Lucy reluctantly acknowledged to herself, extremely handsome.
“Perhaps we could have a couple of dances later?” Paul asked, meeting Lucy’s eyes questioningly.
“Perhaps,” Lucy stepped away from him. How could he come out here asking for a dance later after he’d rejected her so obviously last night in the pool? Did he think he could just pick her up as and when it suited him?
Lucy, staring out across the lochan towards the mountains, heard Paul ask Isaac, “Did you have a good date at lunch? I heard you were going up to The Swordfish Café on the coast. The food there is excellent.”
“We had an amazing date, the weather, the food. It was brilliant. We even went for a swim in the sea. It was fun, wasn’t it, Lucy?”
Lucy nodded in agreement. “Yes, it was a brilliant date.”
Paul, a look of irritation flickering briefly in his eyes, addressed Isaac, “Swim? Lucy doesn’t swim.”
“Well she did today,” Isaac said. He offered Lucy his arm to slip her own through and then, clapping Paul on the back in a boys-will-be-boys kind of gesture, he added, “I bet you didn’t know there was a little place up the coast just perfect for a spot of afternoon skinny dipping, did you?”
As they ran up the lawn and back into the house Lucy was aware of Paul’s unamused stare but kept quiet until they were back inside. “What do you mean skinny dipping? We didn’t…”
Isaac held a finger to her lips. “Shhh! We can’t have him messing you about can we? A woman like you deserves to be cherished.” Isaac gently pulled her after him with a playful tug. “After all, it’ll do no harm, making him jealous. Give him something to think about.”
“Isaac!” Lucy protested. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“It’s okay,” he said, adding with a wink, “Your secret’s safe with me!”
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If you like the excerpt, the book is out now so get your copy!
Thanks for letting me visit The Book Nook today and share this exclusive extract from The Love Programme - have a great day!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure :) Thank you for sharing your book with us.
DeleteLove the excerpt. Sounds like a good one.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great story!
ReplyDelete