I am super excited to announce my february release
In Too Deep
Debuted at #14 on the
Christian Booksellers of America
BESTSELLER LIST
You can CLICK HERE for evidence.
(It’s like I’m testifying in court or something)
To Celebrate I’m giving away a signed copy of In Too Deep to one lucky commenter.
And here is a scene from In Too Deep that I thought was pretty funny.
You need to remember that Ethan is a complete innocent. He’s married but he’s never been around woman. He’s stayed to ‘manly’ places. Logging camps and seagoing ships and the Rocky Mountains.
He married Audra today-a complete marriage of convenience. Now they’re together, their first night and Audra keeps talking and Ethan has no idea what she’s talking about, he only knows she let him kiss her good-night and he’d like to do it again.
IN TOO DEEP
Sweat broke out on his forehead as he heard her take one slow step at a time toward the bed.
He was glad he’d dozed off because that might be the only sleep he got tonight. He didn’t think it was going to be possible with her next to him.
It was a strange business having a woman in the same bed as him. Wildly strange. A good kind of strange.
Quiet as a ghost, she lay down beside him. The bed gave, the covers shifted on his body as she adjusted them.
Ethan was glad he was lying down—because he was suddenly a little dizzy.
“Ethan?” Audra whispered.
“Yeah.” He was lucky to get that much to come out of his suddenly dry throat.
“I—I feel like this needs to be said.” He heard her shift, felt her shift, too.
“Okay.” Another word. Ethan was amazed he managed it as he rolled onto his right side and looked at his very own sworn-an-oath-before-God-and-man wife.
“What passes between a man and wife. . .” She fell silent. There was a window behind Ethan and the night was bright. Her white hair glowed and her skin was as pale and fine as her hair. The starlight cast all the shadows in deep blue. She was stunningly beautiful.
Ethan knew it for a fact because he was fully stunned.
“Go on.” He swallowed hard to make his throat work and he might’ve gotten up to get a drink of water if he’d been able to make himself leave the bed.
“Well, I know about a wife’s. . .duty. I expect to—to—to honor you as a wife must. In that way.”
Ethan wasn’t sure if she was talking about making meals or what. “That’s good then. I’m glad to have you for that.”
“I’m not surprised.” She sounded disgruntled. Maybe she hated cooking. He wondered if she hated good-night kissing.
Ethan rose up on one elbow so he could look down. His body blocked the moonlight but he could still see her, enough. Then, driven by an urge he couldn’t control, he bent slowly down and kissed her. She lay still for seconds while Ethan marveled at the touch of her lips on his. He marveled at a few more things that came to mind. Some of them shocked him.
Then she sighed and her lips softened and suddenly she was kissing him back. He’d never kissed a woman besides her so he didn’t know there was more than a touching of the lips.
There was a whole lot more.
He ended the kiss and was surprised to find just how close he’d gotten to her.
“Ummm. . .” Audra’s eyes flickered open. He could see them shining in the darkness because he no longer cast a shadow on her, not with her tucked beneath him.
“We can’t. . .that is. . .the. . .the. . .the baby is too young.”
“Too young for what?”
“A woman can’t—well, she can’t.”
Ethan didn’t know exactly what she was talking about. He only knew that he wanted to kiss her a lot more than he wanted to talk.
“I suppose—I mean I know because of—well, after Maggie it was—probably too soon. Yes, much too soon.” Audra’s delicate hands caressed the back of his neck as she talked. “And now there’s Lily.”
It was so distracting Ethan had his hands full listening to her. He kissed her again hoping she’d stop talking.
She did.
For a long time.
Then she turned her head aside. “But she…that is…we shouldn’t, Ethan.”
Lily shouldn’t do something? Babies didn’t do much but sleep and cry and eat. He wondered which of those Audra wanted to put a stop to.
I’d say leave a comment about your own wedding night except…that could just get way out of hand. So ANY comment 🙂 gets your name in the drawing for In Too Deep.
Or buy it buy it HERE
Author of Romantic Comedy...with Cowboys including the bestselling Kincaid Brides Series
https://petticoatsandpistols.com/sweepstakesrules
How exciting to hit the bestseller list straight out of the box, Mary! That’s awesome!! So happy for you.
I loved your scene. It’s such a refreshing switch to have the guy clueless in this area instead of the woman. How fun.
I won’t say too much about my wedding night except that before bed, I went into the bathroom to take down my fancy updo and learned I had birdseed stuck in places I didn’t know existed. We had the guests throw birdseed instead of rice at the wedding, but really – we should have done the bubble thing. That would have saved me so much grief.
I must have been in that bathroom for an hour trying to brush out the hairspray and birdseed. My husband told me later that he just listened to everything patter against the floor and had no earthly idea what was going on. No exactly seductive was it? We were both so green and nervous, neither of us broached the closed door between us or said anything.
Somehow we survived, and now we laugh about it. This June we’ll celebrate 20 years, so I guess a little bird seed (or a ton of it) didn’t hurt us any.
LOLOL Poor Ethan! He’s obviously not hung around with the “right” men, or he’d have at least heard STORIES! I can not WAIT to read this book. I had a teenager asking in the library, just the other day, when the next one came out! She had read “Out of Control,” and absolutely loved it! Hmmmm . . . I may have to give her mom a heads up on this one! 😉
Wedding nights . . . let’s just not go there, OK? Green and nervous describes it perfectly (thanks, Karen!), and 28 years later, we can finally laugh about it!
I am so excited to read this! My local library has it on back order. So I am still waiting to read it! I read everything you put out, usually within the first few days its released! This waiting is killing me!!! I absolutely LOVE your writing! You are my favorite author!! Even if I could get a signed bookmark it would make me extremely excited!!
I can say something about my wedding night that isn’t ‘out of hand’, lol. We drove 100 miles and had car trouble, because my NEW husband decided to trade cars with his brother, and our car broke down, so for almost 41 years now I’ve been able to tease my husband about having to call his “mommy”, actually both his parents. I wan’t say anything about the rest of the night except that something must have gone right since, as I stated, that was 41 years ago this coming May! Love that man!!!!!
wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
wrensthoughts.blogspot.com
LOL… that poor guy… oh that was a great excerpt to share… I can not stop smiling… Congrats on being on the BestSeller List! 😀
This is such a sweet and funny scene, Mary! Loved it! And mega congrats on the book hitting the bestseller list!!
No wedding night stories from me the main reason being I’m not married. :o)
Thanks for the smile this morning!
Loved it ,thanks for sharing,,,wow,that brief read had me hooked,,cant wait to read it
I can’t wait for this book. Thanks for the chance to own it.
Congrats on hitting the best sellars list. I can’t wait to read your new book, sounds awesome.
Congrats, Mary! Can hardly wait!
Wedding night? I remember the next morning best because I forgot my hairbrush and coould not tame my unruly hair. I figure it must have been okay because we will celebrate 49 years this year!!
Congrats on making the best seller list, Mary! Looking forward to reading this one soon!
Hmm, the wedding night…OK, the next morning we were supposed to have brunch with our families and open our wedding gifts, but since we’d both eaten little the day before, we were starving! We ended up stopping at an Amigos/King’s Classic/coffee shop and ate donuts before heading to brunch. it wasn’t fancy but it hit the spot.
Haha, I love Ethan already! It’s fun to have an innocent guy instead of an innocent girl for once!
And about wedding nights… I can only dream about mine, if the Lord wants that’ll happen next year!
This book sounds really good. I have yet to read a book by Mary so would welcome the chance.
Stephanie, wow, that donut story is really edgy. Shame on you for being so graphic.
😀
Kirsten to not put your name in the drawing because of no wedding story, because of no wedding, would really be unfair. 🙂 So, you’re in.
Ethan is one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever written. Remember a few weeks back I was talking about these three brothers, the tyrant, the shallow charmer and the lunatic?
Well, Ethan is the shallow charmer but you must trust me when I say he has hidden depths and Audra is going to find them.
Ah Wendy sorry about the car trouble and having to call Mommy on the honeymoon.
LOL
NOT what you’d dreamed of I’m sure.
But my husband’s mom was one of my favorite people on earth. One of my best friends. I’d have probably had more fun wth HER on my honeymoon…well, no. I take that back. I had a lot of fun. 🙂
Mary, congratulations on making the Bestseller List of the Christian market!! Yay! I’m so happy for you. But, I’m not a bit surprised. You write some great stories. You have me laughing up a storm one minute and choking on the lump in my throat the next. You’re just awesome.
Mary, congratulations on bestsellerdom (is that a word?) I loved your excerpt–so refreshing and original. Okay, the wedding night: We stayed at a lodge in Yosemite. I had just slipped into bed when I saw him: a mouse with huge eyes staying straight at me. I screamed bloody murder. That’s not exactly what a young groom wants to hear when his bride gets into bed but I couldn’t help it. The worst part was the odd looks we got the next morning at breakfast.
MARGARET I am laughing out loud and it’s embarrassing.
the looks next morning at breakfast? LOL!!!!!!!
The mouse…nightmare. In Your Bed????
Congratulations!
Hi Mary,
I loved the excerpt of your new book! I too starting laughing out loud and still have a smile on my face.
Congratulations on making the Christian Booksellers of America Bestseller List!!!
Oh, Poooooooooor Ethan! Yeah right. I hope he figures it out soon. Thanks for posting that scene Mary. I so can’t wait to read this.
Congrats on the Best Seller’s list, but of course, where else would you be but on top? Love your sweet excerpt, Mary. Can’t wait to read more.
Poor Ethan. Nobody stays that innocent these days. Hilarious scene, Mary. No wonder you’ve got a bestseller here. Congratulations, and wishing you many more.
Wow! THe Best Seller’s List…way to go. Have a great day.
We had to spend our wedding night at my mom’s because there were no vacancies and our honeymoon wasn’t until the next day. My in-laws were mad at us because we didn’t stop to see them before we left on our honeymoon.
I laughed when Karen talked about all the bird seed she had to wash out of her hair because that happened to me as well. It took me forever to get it all out.
Fun times!
jennydtipton[at]gmail[dot]com
Elizabeth, if only Ethan had HBO at the house, he’d’ve known exactly what to expect. LOL
Congrats Mary! I just can’t wait to read this book. I’m feeling sorry for poor Ethan right now. I wanted to read more when it ended. I hope I win a copy of this book. If not, it goes on my list of must have books!
Blessings!
Judy
judyjohn2004[at]yahoo[dot]com
Congrats on the new book out!! I read the first book in this series – so good!
Kim
Can’t wait to read the new book! I’m dyin’ to get my hands on a copy. Lol.
I am so looking forward to reading this book! Thanks for the opportunity to win it 🙂
Wow that little bit has me hooked! I can see why it is already on the best sellers list!
Sorry I didn’t make it sooner. Am on my way to bed. Enjoyed the post and look forward to reading the book.
Margaret, that story is hilarious!! And I don’t have a wedding night story, because I’m not married either. 🙂