Howdy! I do NaNoWriMo every year and for the past five years, I’ve won the darned thing, typing over 50,000 words in less than a month. This year was extra special because I wrote two short stories and have already secured publishing contracts for both of them! What fantastic fortune. One will be released under my other pen name in Evernight’s Uniform Fetish anthology and is of the hotter variety. My short story is a sweet romance and will be included in Roane Publishing’s Valentine’s day anthology, Accidental Valentine.

My story is called “Guiding Hearts” and is about:

Is a lonely woman’s GPS sentient or is her subconscious taking her by the hand to help heal a scarred heart?

When Jemma Ernst’s GPS malfunctions and sends her to the home of handsome and engaging Gabriel Nash, she writes it off as a fluke. But she can’t seem to reprogram him out of her thoughts nor her GPS

Now, here’s a little snippet from it:

She rang his bell. A man’s muttered oath and “Move, cat!” bled through. Good old Betty.

He threw open the door and lounged against the doorjamb. “I knew you’d be back.”

Jemma blinked, openmouthed, but no words filled the void. “You did? Why?”

Gabriel shoulders lifted. “I dunno. Sometimes you just know. Plus I think, maybe,” he wagged a finger at her, “just maybe, you’ve been stewing on my kiss and are back for more, whether you realize it or not.”

Jemma pressed her lips together and frowned. She had thought about his kiss, when she had trouble sleeping at night, when thoughts of a woman she never met and the cemetery plot she filled, with a new date chiseled in the stone, made her consider all she was missing. Death had a way of underscoring the brilliance of life. “I’m sorry about your Aunt Teddy.”

His smile faltered for the briefest of flickers. “Thanks. She’s in a better place now, with her husband and son. I can’t mourn that part of it.”

“I never got to meet her. I didn’t get to give her your pie.”

A half smile curled his lips. “So you brought it back?”

Jemma bobbed her head side to side. “Sort of.” She handed him the plastic grocery bag containing his possessions. “The pie was excellent.”

Gabriel took the bag and flashed a grin made of sex and sin. “You liked it?”

She drank in his lanky form—his messy mop hair, a dark t-shirt dusted with some kind of white powder and a pair of low slung baggy jeans weathered in all the right places. He crossed his arms, causing his biceps to bulge. Dark whiskers covered his lower face. He needed a shave, but the roughened look seduced her hormones into an uncomfortable state of unrest. She recalled the scrape of his beard when he kissed her. Her hormones perked up. Down, girl. “I…” God, her voice squeaked. “I loved it. Best pie I ever had.”

Watch for Accidental Valentine around Valentine’s Day!

Now, head over to the other Mid-week teasers:

http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=247511

P.S. Thank you to all who voted for Boss Overboard. I managed a very respectable Runner Up in the Humor category!