SYNOPSIS
Nearly a decade ago, accountant Kari Parker shed 220 pounds of dead
weight — her hulking, abusive college boyfriend. The last thing she wants in
her life is another man — especially one as tall as a Windy City high rise. Yet
when her best friend enters her in Romance TV’s “Get a Love Life” contest,
another man is exactly what she gets. As much as she'd love to just say no, she
can't turn down the prize money that will allow her to help her parents save
the restaurant they've run all her life. Sparks fly between Kari and her bogus
groom, and as she and Damien share close quarters, intimate meals and — gulp —
his bed, Kari doesn’t stand a chance of resisting his considerable charms. Even
worse? She might not want to. But building a real future out of their sham
marriage will be tougher than baking a wedding cake from scratch … with no
flour … in a broken oven.
PURCHASE
BLIND DATE BRIDE
THE AUTHOR
Arlene Hittle is a Midwestern transplant who now makes her home in
northern Arizona. She suffers from the well-documented Hittle family curse of
being a Cubs fan but will root for the Diamondbacks until they run up against
the Cubs. Longtime friends are amazed she writes books with sports in them,
since she's about as coordinated as a newborn giraffe and used to say marching
band required more exertion than golf.
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Blind Date Bride Excerpt
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
Kari jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Used
to living alone and desperate to reach the commode before she threw up all over
the hall, she didn't think about the fact that the bathroom door was partially
closed. She simply pushed it open and made it to the toilet just in time.
As she kneeled in front of the toilet bowl, resting
her forehead on the cool porcelain, the memories receded and the world started
to come back into focus. It was then she realized the water in the shower was
running. Scratch that: It was shutting off. The shower curtain rings clinked
together as the curtain whooshed back.
“What the—? Kari? Are you okay?”
Her face still buried in the toilet bowl, she mumbled
an affirmative. No way was she going to turn her head and get an eyeful of her
naked, wet husband. As much as the thought tempted a part her, she didn't need
any more fodder for dreams that’d only go bad.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” she told him. “Last night’s dinner must
not have agreed with me.” She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping he didn’t
remember that they’d shared a frozen pizza. How often did people get sick from
eating pizza?
Silence. It stretched out for so long that Kari
started scrambling for another, more plausible excuse. No way was she going to
attempt to explain the ugly truth. She and Damien were only going to know each
other for a couple of months — not nearly long enough for her to trust him with
her past.
“Then you think you could move?”
“M-move?”
“Out of the way,” Damien explained. “I can’t leave
the shower with you there.”
Figuring there’d be nothing too embarrassing at her
eye level, Kari carefully slanted a glance sideways and realized that she was
indeed near the edge of the bathtub. She also was treated to a side view of
Damien’s calf.
A very nice calf it was, too. Muscular but not overly
so, and sprinkled with just enough hair.
“Kari?”
She felt her face heat the not-so-cool-anymore
porcelain. “Sorry,” she mumbled. Still on her knees, she edged toward the door.
Behind her, she heard Damien step out of the tub.
A few seconds went by. “Okay.”
“Pardon?”
“Off your knees, Kari. It’s safe now.”
As she slowly stood upright, Kari thought she
detected laughter in Damien’s voice. She whirled to face him. “Don’t you dare
laugh at me!”
“Do I look like I’m laughing?”
Kari’s eyes roamed over Damien, taking in the
droplets of water glistening on his broad chest and the dark green towel slung
low on his hips. If it slid an inch or so …
She gulped and shook her head. “That towel should be
banned.”
“Oh yeah?”
Kari nodded. “Yeah.”
Damien grinned lazily at her, reaching for the
terrycloth. “I can take it off, if you’d like.”
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