Genre: Contemporary
Romance
Till You Come Back To Me by Chicki Brown
Driven to make a
difference in the lives of the injured and deformed, Atlanta plastic surgeon,
Charles Stafford gives up his successful practice to work with a medical
organization in Nigeria. Awaiting him at the small village hospital is the
beautiful and compassionate nurse, Adanna Okoro, who is everything he has ever
wanted in a woman.
Adanna has returned to
her homeland after graduation from a London nursing school. Her two desires in
life are to help the sick in her nation and to marry a smart, motivated man.
Charles enters her life like an answer from heaven, but cultural differences
separate them. Adanna must choose between tradition and the man she has come to
love.
~Excerpt~
The hospital staff and
their guests settled under a white canopy covering two tables laden with bowls
and platters. Nurse Okoro introduced their servers, three women from the village
dressed in colorful traditional clothing and head wraps. Dr. Ijalana asked the
women to serve the assistants first and instructed them to take turns checking
on the patients. Charles bowed his head and silently offered a prayer over the
food. Even though it smelled wonderful, most likely it contained ingredients he
would never have eaten. The facilitator at the briefing mentioned the necessity
of being careful not to insult the locals in any way, and one of those ways was
by refusing food they had prepared. When he raised his head and opened his
eyes, Nurse Okoro was studying him with a hint of a smile.
The new combined staff
got to know each other while they ate. Charles took a few minutes talking with the
two local doctors and the other nurse before he settled in the seat next to
Nurse Okoro.
He nodded toward his
plate. “Can you tell me what all of this is?"
"We asked the three
best cooks in the village to prepare your first meal, and requested they fixed
only chicken and vegetable dishes." He listened intently while she
described the assortment of rice dishes, fruits, and vegetables in detail.
"Thank you.
Everything is delicious. You have a British accent. You weren’t born here in
Nigeria?”
She smiled and her
cheeks rose like apples on her high cheekbones. “I was born here, but my family
moved to London when I was twelve, and we lived there until I graduated from
nursing school.”
“Why did your family
decide to return?”
“They didn’t. My parents
still live in London, but my brother and I always wanted to come back.”
“That’s interesting.
I’ve recently moved away from my family too. Have you ever visited the United
States?”
“No, but it’s on my bucket
list.” She laughed and her obsidian eyes danced. “Is this your first visit to
our continent, Dr. Stafford?”
“Please, call me
Charles. Yes, it is, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Nigeria.”
“We have our problems,
but Nigeria also has its own unique beauty both in the villages and in the
cities. Are you staying in Lagos?”
As she spoke, Charles
admired the slant of her eyes and the tempting pout of her full lips. “Yes, the
organization put us up in apartments in Surelere.”
"Really? That's not
far from where I live. Are you satisfied with your accommodations?"
"So far. We only
had time to unpack before the car arrived to bring us here."
Charles tore his gaze from
her face when Dr. Pategi said, “Doctor Stafford, you will find our nurses to be
invaluable to you,” he said with a wide smile. “Because our funding and
staffing are limited, Nurse Okoro and Nurse Bankole have often had to handle
patient care and perform procedures normally dealt with by physicians.
Likewise, our nursing assistants have stepped in to take care of traditional
nursing duties. We all pitch in whenever and wherever necessary.”
The way Dr. Pategi
suddenly interrupted him, Charles wondered if he’d been ogling her. He gathered
his senses and concentrated on her words rather than her face.
~About the Author~
Shades of Romance
Magazine 2011 Author of the Year, Chicki Brown has published nine novels and
one novella, all of which have made different Kindle bestseller lists. A
voracious reader since she was a child, Chicki grew up in New Jersey reading
everything she could get her hands on. Now she concentrates on reading romance,
women’s fiction and suspense. When she is not writing or reading, Brown devotes
her time to helping aspiring authors.
Mother of two and
grandmother of five, Chicki was born and raised in New Jersey and now calls
suburban Atlanta, Georgia home.
Keys To Her Heart by Lacey Wolfe
Love happens when you
least expect it.
Officer Cody Duncan gave
up on love years ago. Or so he thought. He was content with his quiet
solitary life, until a clumsy waitress spilled hot coffee on his pants and
turned his world upside down. Suddenly, there’s a new heat in his life, filled
with cravings for things he once pushed aside.
Lily Jenkins’ busy life
as a single mom and primary caretaker for her elderly mother leaves little time
for herself. Struggling to adjust to a new life in a small town, her focus is
too easily derailed by the gorgeous man she accidentally spilled hot coffee on.
Knowing she has too much already going on, Lily vows to keep Cody at a
distance, even though she craves him in ways she never thought possible.
Their attempts at simple
friendship continually fail as they soon discover an untamable fire between
them whenever they are alone together.
Seeing a life he never
imagined for himself, will Cody have the patience to wait for the woman of his
dreams? Will Lily finally let go and give Cody the Keys to Her
Heart?
~Excerpt~
As they walked back up
the main road in town, Cody couldn’t shake the feeling Lily was holding back on
him. From the outside, she seemed to have her life together. She was strong and
confident, but something told him there was a story she wasn’t sharing. He
wouldn’t push. If, and when, she was ready, he’d listen. He didn’t plan on
going anywhere.
God, was he already
thinking about the long haul with her? He was in trouble, and he hadn’t even
kissed her yet. He’d definitely thought about it, though.
“You’ve been such a gentleman showing me
around.” She tugged at the hem of her dress. Her hot, sexy,
want-to-rip-it-off-her dress.
“Who better than me?” he flirted.
“I can’t think of anyone.” She stared at him.
Her long red curls begged him to touch them. Were they as soft as they looked?
“We should do this again.” His heart raced as
he waited for her response.
“Yes.” She stepped back a little, increasing
the space between them. “My evening schedule is kind of hectic. So daytime is
best for me.”
“I understand. You have your son to care for.”
Her gaze darted away and
she sucked in her bottom lip. “Yeah. Speaking of which, he’ll be home before
long, and I should be there to get him off the bus.”
He hated that their time
together was ending. “Okay. Let me walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
She gave him the cute
little grin he found himself adoring already. Of course, she’d parked near
Luigi’s, which had them to her car too quickly.
Lily leaned against the
side and he could practically see the wheels turning in her head. Was she
debating the kiss as much as he was? Oh yeah, he wanted to explore those sweet
lips of hers, but not yet. Not until he could spend a good few minutes with
her.
~About the Author~
Lacey Wolfe has always
had a passion for words, whether it’s getting lost in a book or writing her
own. From the time she was a child she would slip away to write short stories
about people she knew and fantasies she wished would happen. It has always been
her dream to be a published author and with her two children now of school age,
she finally has the time to work on making her dream come true.
Lacey lives in Georgia
with her husband, son and daughter, their six cats and one black lab who rules
the house.
~Giveaway~
Chicki
is giving away an eCopy of Till You Come Back to Me and Lacey is giving away
one eBook (winners choice) of The Brookfield Series.
For
a chance to win please fill out the rafflecopter below.
Welcome to the Snarkology! Thank you for sharing your stories with my readers. :-)
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