VALENTINE'S PROMO - ROMANTIC EXCERPT FROM "IN NEED OF THERAPY"

The #ChickLitLove-fest continues today with participating authors sharing romantic excerpts from their books. In this snippet from my novel, In Need of Therapy, heroine Pilar Alvarez is trying to close the door on an old relationship (Her ex, Victor, just won't take the hint!), and in the process she might be opening a new window . . .

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Humming the tune to some Nicki Minaj song I didn't know the name of, I headed down the stairs.  Just as I reached the landing that divided the steps before they veered to the left, I heard the muffled sound of my cell phone ringing.  I stopped and unzipped my purse.  Extracting the phone, I checked the Caller ID.  Victor.  UGH!  There went my good mood.  I could have just let the call go to voice mail, but I was annoyed that my ex was once again intruding on my life and I suddenly felt confrontational.  So, I answered it.

"What do you want?" was my curt greeting. 

"To take you out for a romantic dinner at Tantra, mi amor."  Tantra was a Miami Beach hot spot that was known for its sensual environment.  Its exotic smells, decor, and cuisine were all designed to enhance and arouse the senses, and there were, in fact, several aphrodisiacs on the menu.  When a man took a date to Tantra, it was with one goal in mind.
 

"That's not going to happen.  Ever," I said firmly.

"But you love Tantra!  Don't you remember we went there for our one-month anniversary?  I hand fed you lobster dipped in bleeding heart truffle vinaigrette and grilled quail with fresh figs."  Mmmmmmm, he was making my mouth water.  "Then, we went back to my place and spent hours experimenting with Kama Su--"

 

"Victor!" I interrupted him before his walk down memory lane became X-rated. 

"Okay, you don't like Tantra anymore.  I'll take you to B.E.D."  Where patrons ate their meals while sitting on large mattresses.  A theme seemed to be developing with Victor's restaurant choices.

"I don't want to go to B.E.D. with you."  It sounded like I was turning down a proposition much more salacious than dinner. 

"Alright, you'd rather not commit to sharing a meal with me.  I understand.  We can just take a walk on the beach and talk."

"We are not a couple anymore, Victor."  In my agitated state, I began to pace back and forth on the landing.  Three steps towards the wall, pivot, then three steps back to the top of the stairs.  "We broke up.  And people who are broken up do not spend time with each other."

"But you said we could still be friends, and friends spend time with each other."

"Friends give each other space when they ask for it."

      

"I've given you plenty of space."

     

"Then, why do I feel so claustrophobic?" I questioned irritably.  "You've got to back off."

 

"If I do that, you'll find somebody new, and I can't bear the thought of you with another man."
 

In that moment, I actually felt a pang of sympathy for my former lover.  Maybe his campaign to win me back wasn't all about his over-inflated ego?  Maybe he did have real feelings for me?

Softening towards him, I said, "Don't worry, Victor.  It's not like I'm going to walk out the door tomorrow and run into my soul ma--" I bumped face-first into a hard, flat surface, let out a startled yelp, and staggered back against the wall.  My cell phone clattered to the stone floor and I watched dazedly as a leafy green plant toppled off a large cardboard box being carried by a tall man with a square jaw and thick brown hair that was attractively disheveled.

"Damn," he cursed and dropped the box down on the pile of potting soil that now covered the landing.  It hit the ground with a loud thump.  "Sorry.  The plant blocked my view and I didn't see you.  I shouldn't have tried to carry so much in one trip.  Are you okay?"

He had a brusque way of speaking that immediately outed him as a New Yorker.  There were plenty of retirees in South Florida who hailed from that part of the country, so I knew the accent well.

I blinked hard a few times, trying to reorient myself.  "I-I think so."

"What about your head?  Did you bang it when you hit the wall?"  There was concern in his eyes, eyes that were the most brilliant shade of blue I'd ever seen.  Gazing into them was almost like staring directly into the sun;  I felt dazed, woozy, like the back of my head was going to split open and my brain would fall out . . . okay, so it wasn't the color of this man’s irises that was having such a strange effect on me, I'd obviously suffered a serious cranial injury.

 

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Wanna find out who Mr. Square Jaw is? Pick up a copy of In Need of Therapy today; the e-book is only $1.99!

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Book Blurb:  Lending a sympathetic ear and dispensing sage words of advice is all part of the job for psychologist Pilar Alvarez, and she’s everything a good therapist should be: warm, compassionate, supportive. She listens, she cares, and she has all the answers, but how’s the woman everyone turns to in their hour of need supposed to cope when her own life starts to fall apart?

While working hard to make a success of her recently-opened practice in trendy South Beach, Pilar must also find time to cater to the demands of her boisterous Cuban family, which includes younger sister Izzy, an unemployed, navel-pierced wild child who can't stay out of trouble, and their mother, a beauty queen turned drama queen who’s equally obsessed with her fading looks and getting Pilar married before it’s “too late.” Although she’d like to oblige her mother and make a permanent love connection, Pilar’s romantic prospects look grim. Her cheating ex, who swears that he’s reformed, is stalking her. A hunky, but strictly off-limits, patient with bad-boy appeal and intimacy issues is making passes. And the sexy shrink in the suite across the hall has a gold band on his left ring finger.

When a series of personal and professional disasters lead Pilar into the arms of one of her unsuitable suitors, she's left shaken, confused, and full of self-doubt. With time running out, she must make sense of her feelings and learn to trust herself again so that she can save her business, her family, and most importantly, her heart. 

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