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Beneath Southern Skies- Contemporary Romance set in
Australia
Book 3-Leah in Love (and
trouble)
Book 2--A Dream for Lani
Book 1-Lonely Pride
Violet Amelia Connor, known to all as Leah, is a
landscape designer who inherited her love of gardening from the eccentric aunt
she lives with. Leah is contracted to work on the garden of Private
Investigator Sean Russel and unwittingly becomes embroiled in the handsome PI’s
cases. A series of unpleasant experiences land her in real trouble where she is
kidnapped, bashed, bound and altogether becomes a party to such mayhem she is
forced to wonder how she ever got mixed up in this mess. But her indomitable
spirit, obstinate nature, and incurable sense of humor enable her to override
all obstacles. And of course there is her overwhelming attraction for Sean
Russel that started it all.
Previously published as Shrinking Violet this book
was a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia’s Romantic Book of The Year
in 2006.
Russel lay where he’d dropped, and I
crawled over to him. He looked unconscious. Lord, what now? I patted his cheek
and he groaned.
I ran to the kitchen. It was
lovely—good grief, what was I doing admiring his copper pots and pans and
timber cupboards? I found a bowl in a cupboard and filled it with water and
grabbed a small cloth from the draining board.
He was still groaning when I got
back. “How are you?” What a stupid bloody question. Why do we ask such inane
things at times like this?
“Just bloody wonderful,” he grumbled
through his split lip. Who could blame him for being pissed off?
“You look it.” I dabbed at his split
lip with the damp cloth and he flinched. “I’m sorry.” I did what I could with
the cloth, which wasn’t much, but at least it stemmed the small flow of blood
that had come from his mouth. “You’re going to have a lovely shiner.”
Wasn’t that the truth? The area
around his left eye was already turning black and blue. “I didn’t think lawyers
got beaten up by thugs. What did you do, lose a case for them?”
“I haven’t a clue where you got the
idea I’m a lawyer,” he mumbled as he tried to rise. He groaned louder as he got
onto his elbows.
“Well, I don’t know—it seemed
logical.” I put an arm about his middle as he struggled to sit up. He was all
muscle. I cringed when he made a sound like a wounded bull. I’ve never been
punched in the stomach, but once ran into a post that knocked all the breath
out of me, so could imagine it was pretty painful.
“Logical? At another time I will
question your logic, but right now all I want is to lie down.” He looked and
sounded ill. “I know it’s an imposition but do you think you could help me to
my bedroom?”
He had to be joking? Imposition? Not
only was I going to get the chance to see inside his private domain, but was
also going to help him there. With ill-concealed pleasure I helped him up.
It was a struggle, but we finally
made it. The room was pure masculine and done out in blues and greens, my two
favorite colors. His bed was about the largest I’d ever seen. The chest and
robes were mahogany, obviously expensive.
I helped him onto the bed,
painstakingly lowering him so as not to hurt him any more. As I bent to take
off his shoes a strange sensation went through me. It was two years since I’d
been this close to a man.
“Perhaps you’d better get undressed,”
I suggested, hopefully.
He winced as he lay back. “Just help
me off with my sweater.” I shrugged aside my disappointment and did that. The
soft shirt he wore beneath showed a vee of dark hair on his chest. Not a lot,
but just enough to be pleasing. I’m not too keen on very hairy men, but don’t
mind a few to curl my fingers in.
I shook my head—I must be going
silly. I felt like a schoolgirl getting her first glimpse of a male chest. He
closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
“Would you like anything?” My hopes
rose, perhaps he wanted someone to cuddle and comfort him.
“No, this’ll be fine. Thanks.” My
hopes were dashed.
"She's a pushy, nosy gardener; he's a drop dead gorgeous PI… This
is a delightfully funny, romantic story… I strongly recommend this engaging
novel to all romance lovers.” Nadine St Dennis Romance Junkies.
Please take a moment to hop over to these blogs to read more snippets from amazing authors:
http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com/ (Vijaya
Schartz)
http://connievines.blogspot.com.au/ Connie
Vines
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