And Then He Smiled

I can honestly think of no better way to spend my 50^th birthday than with Lynn, Chef & Tyrell here at Decadent Decisions. Thanks so much, Lynn, for the opportunity…

What makes your heart beat fast?

I mean, other than Tyrell’s smile when you come through the door. Oops, was that my out-loud voice? I have kind of a crush on him. Shhh. Don’t tell.  

Seriously, now, what makes your pulse zing? I can remember being 15 or 16 years old, sitting in one of the upholstered rocking chairs in the living room, just swinging back and forth with a silly grin on my face as I thought about some boy I had a crush on – the way he smiled, the (painfully) goofy things he said. You know the drill. He was tall, with broad shoulders and feathered hair. Hey, it was the ‘70’s. We couldn’t help it. There was some kind of group pact that we all had to have really lame haircuts.

Fast-forward fifteen years or so and there’s my husband, also tall, also broad shouldered, but with his hair in a ponytail (and an unfortunate mustache, which took me years to get rid of). I remember watching him on stage with his band when we were first dating, and even though I felt a little squeaky clean compared with the rest of the Prog Rock scene he was into, he had so much presence, such a calm confidence, that I fell for him. Despite the fact that it took him a year to ask me out. Because when you’re over thirty, it’s not like you keep track of that kind of thing.

After almost seventeen years of marriage, and on my 50^th birthday, I still like to see him on stage.  I like to watch his strong hands on his big Polaris bass. It’s the same instrument he’s played since college. He had it re-jiggered (which is my somewhat less-technical term for shiny new electric innards) a few years ago, and it’s still got a great sound. And my boy’s got rhythm, I’m just sayin’.

So what about you? Is it broad shoulders or a quirky smile or feathered hair that does it for you? In my ever-so-humble opinion, it’s the little things that make a romance, things like the fact that on the day of our wedding, I forgot my house keys and my husband did not, saving me from a full-on panic attack. Good man.  He also sent me roses at work on my birthday the first year we were dating. Okay, now I might be boasting just a little, but when a bunch of nurses get ahold of something like that in the middle of a night shift, it becomes a very big deal.

;)

There’s a giveaway linked to this post, so leave a comment that tells us whether it’s the way they smile or a particular romantic gestures that made your heart beat faster. Lynn will draw a winner from the comments and send them a copy of my book A Vampire’s Deadly Delight. It’s a humorous, ‘Buffy meets Spider Man’ kind of thing, and while not truly a romance, it does have the occasional romantic moment. Because life’s too short not to have a happily-ever-after.

Peace,

Liv

Liv Rancourt is a writer of paranormal fiction and romance, often at the same time. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, two cats and one wayward puppy. She likes to create stories that have happy endings, and finds it is a good way to balance her other job in the neonatal intensive care unit. Liv can be found on-line at her website (www.livrancourt.com), her blog (www.liv-rancourt.blogspot.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/liv.rancourt), or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LivRancourt). 

And if you’re curious, you can check out Liv’s husband with his current band, The Fentons, at their website. He’s the (handsome) guy in the left of their picture, the one in the black Western-style shirt.   ;)

A Vampire’s Deadly Delight

Kristen is a happily-single bookstore owner with a secret: when she smells vampire, she turns into Jai, a beauti-licious babe who makes vamps permanently dead. Vamps can’t keep their hands off her, and Jai uses super strength and her trusty blade, Mr. Sticky, to slice and dice them, ending their undead lives.  Kristen keeps her day job running a bookstore, but at night, Jai comes out to play.  

The thrill of wearing miniskirts without worrying about cellulite makes it worth any qualms Kristen has about killing.  Being Jai is the most fun she has ever had, at least until she runs into the one vampire Jai can’t kill.  He and Jai may have shared a past, but Jai can’t remember him.  Meanwhile, Jai’s work has caught the attention of some old enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to destroy Kristen if it meant the end of Jai.

Kristen struggles to hold onto normal life under the dawning realization that Jai is a more complicated person than she thought, and that the good guys and the bad guys might be tricky to tell apart.  Their survival depends on what each of them is willing to give, and to give up, for love.

Available from Black Opal Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.