Date Published: February 5, 2021
Publisher: DCL Publications
Warm your heart, put a smile on your face, and get ready for a bellyful of laughs with this collection of four original romantic comedies. Featuring laugh-out-loud tales by some of today’s most talented authors, ‘The Scent of a Man’ will pull you into the world of true love and the antics and misadventures that it takes to find it. Your cure for the doldrums and tribulations of the real world awaits in this shining collection of PG-13 short stories of lively, eclectic and humorous proportions. Remember, there is no greater scent than the scent of a man, so settle back, get comfortable, and take a nice, deep whiff of hilarity.
'Love Cabin' by Miriam Newman
He thinks she’s a snob. She thinks he hates women. It’s going to take a lot to work this out.
'Exiled to Love' by Jae El Foster
An exiled witch must learn to live without her powers, but will she risk losing everything to save a mortal’s life?
'The Scent of a Man' by Jennifer Patricia O’Keeffe
An injured woman must endure homecare with the aid of a handsome man that threatens to win her heart.
'The Scent of You' by Kristi Ahlers
A woman, terrified of flying, boards a plane at her brother’s beckoning. Can a first class surprise shake her from her nervous angst?
‘Love Cabin’ by Miriam Newman
EXCERPT:
Blue skidded on the hardwood floors
through the cabin, making a beeline for the back door and his pee place. Though
Sandy assured her that he sprinkled her place liberally, he had to go at once
to his spot in the yard, as if assuring the world he was back. Marjorie
followed, .22 cradled in her arms. Nothing was going to eat her pup.
Jack was inspecting his fence line. Alerted
by Blue’s furious barks, he glanced up in time to see her carrying armament.
“Hey,” he said, strolling over to the
fence. “It isn’t that bad, is it?”
Marjorie smiled. “Coyotes and hawks. He’s
still pretty small.”
Jack pushed back his tractor hat. “He
looks like he’ll go about eighty pounds, so later you won’t have to worry. But,
yeah, they’ll snatch him now.” He gestured to her rifle. “You know how to use
that thing?”
“I know how to use this thing.”
“Just checking,” he said. “Those bullets
carry a distance.”
“I won’t hit you. Not unless I mean to.”
He grinned. “Well, I’ve been warned. Um,
I’ve got an entire freezer full of food from Saturday. Take anything you want;
I’ll never eat it all.”
The thought of not cooking was highly
appealing, as was the thought of a repeat. “OK. Let me feed the brat and I’ll
come over.”
“You can bring him,” Jack said.
‘Exiled to Love’ by Jae El Foster
EXCERPT:
“I wonder…” she thought aloud as she
started down the stairs to the front door, “what kinds of jobs are open and
hiring on a Saturday?”
There were, of course, thousands of
possible jobs out there. She considered what it would be like to be the CEO of
a large corporation, or to be a successful fashion designer. Maybe, if she
played her cards right, she could star in a motion picture or land a recording contract
by dinnertime.
Those, she knew, were true possibilities
for her – if she was able to use her
powers. Without her powers, she felt pretty useless in the workplace. Then, she
thought, every employed mortal must have felt useless before getting that first
job. This was no different than that. They had found a use, and so would she.
She just wasn’t sure where or how.
“A latte…” she mumbled as she stepped
outside her home and walked to the sidewalk. “A latte would definitely help me
think right.”
Normally, she would have just teleported
to the coffee shop of her choice – no matter where in the world it was. Now,
she didn’t have that option, and as she lived in a suburban neighborhood
without a public transportation system, she’d have to walk.
“I’m glad I went with sensible shoes,” she
noted with a cringe.
As she walked, she noticed several
neighbors outside, enjoying the sunny Saturday afternoon. Donna knew none of
them. She never ventured on foot anywhere – especially around this
neighborhood. The neighbors either waved at her, smiled, or both. With gritted
teeth, she returned the gestures. Her eyes scoped the streets, the street
signs, the beautiful houses and the well-groomed yards. Nowhere did she see a
café.
“Latte?” she called to an old man on his
porch. “Where are the lattes?”
The old man, obviously hard of hearing,
waved at her and smiled.
Slowly spinning in a circle, she looked at the other random, unknown
faces and asked, “Where is coffee? You know… a coffee shop? A café? Lattes?
Cappuccino? I need caffeine!”
‘The Scent of a Man’ by Jennifer
Patricia O’Keeffe
EXCERPT:
“Beth!” Melanie squealed with happiness as
she saw her friend up and on her own two feet. Then, her expression went to
shock as she noticed her forehead. She gasped, put a hand to her heart, and
took a step back. “Oh, my god!”
“Oh, that looks bad,” Dianna added. “Like,
really bad.”
“Is… is that permanent?” Melanie looked
absolutely horrified.
“I hope not,” Beth said and shrugged.
“It’s pretty embarrassing.”
“Yeah it is,” Dianna agreed. “You can’t go
to work with that on your face.”
“I can’t go back to work at all for a
while,” she told them. “Bed rest for a few days. I have a nice concussion that
the doctor seems concerned about.”
At the mention of the doctor, the
expressions of both friends transformed and wide smiles took over.
“Speaking of the doctor,” Melanie began. “That’s who you were with when this
happened, right?”
“He’s pretty cute,” Dianna noted. “Like, really cute.”
“He’s my doctor,” Beth specified. “He now knows much too much about me to want to date me. I can promise you
that.”
“You don’t know that,” Dianna said. “He’s
a doctor, but he’s still a man.”
“A delicious
man,” Melanie added. “Have you smelled him?
He has on no cologne and his scent is still divine!” She fanned herself as she
thought about it.
“Have I… smelled him?” Beth questioned. Then, she wondered what Melanie was
doing smelling him.
“How can you miss it?” she continued. “You
can’t miss it! Honey, there is no
scent greater than the scent of a man.”
Beth laughed out loud. It was absurd.
Unless someone was drenched in cologne or perfume, they didn’t really have a
scent… did they? Maybe sweat, she thought. Men were often sweaty, and sweat
definitely had a scent.
‘The Scent of You’ by Kristi Ahlers
EXCERPT:
Arden smiled at the man beside her. The
man who managed to become so very important to her in less than eight hours. A
man she was going to have to walk away from. Her throat tightened but she
refused to cry.
“So, what’s your favorite color,” Cade
asked as he soothed her with his attentions.
“Purple.”
“Favorite food?”
“Depends on the moment. I love sushi.
Anything with lobster in it. Hmmm, brie cheese, but it has to be melted and
super gooey. I love a good burger but it has to be good, not some chain
restaurant’s idea of a burger.”
“Nice.” Cade smiled. “What is your
favorite season?”
“I guess I like paprika if it’s not used
too much. Does vanilla count as a spice? I really love vanilla. I have to admit
I’m not a spicy spice kinda girl.”
The guys all laughed softly.
“No, baby, what season like spring or
summer.” Cade brushed a strand of hair off her face.
Arden willed the world to just open up and
swallow her. Of course that’s what he meant. Because who talks about spices in
a kitchen cabinet as a form of getting to know a person. Unless, of course,
they were talking to a chef, which, she wasn’t. Yeah, she was a bright one all
right.
“Hey, did we lose you?” Cade asked.
“No, I couldn’t be that lucky after being
such a dork.”
“Hey, none of that. Easy mistake.
So…what’s your favorite season?”
About the Authors
Miriam Newman
Contact:
Jae El Foster
Social Links:
Twitter: @JaeElBooks
Instagram: @JaeElFoster
Jennifer Patricia O’Keeffe
Contact:
Twitter: @authorjpokeeffe
Kristi Ahlers
Contact:
Twitter: @KristiAhlers
Purchase Links
Thank you so much for hosting us on this tour! We had a great time writing this collection, and we hope that it makes the readers smile and laugh, while feeling the love!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting the anthology. Much fun was had!
ReplyDeleteSuch a delight having all of you on Teatime and Books!
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