Do you love fairy tales with a twist? Once Upon a Marriage by Sara Daniel

Once Upon a Marriage

Retelling The Three Army Surgeons

By Sara Daniel

My favorite school assignment ever was modernizing and retelling a fairy tale (sophomore English – Aced it AND got extra credit – Thanks  Ms. Seckler!), so when Decadent Publishing put out the call for a retelling of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, my hand immediately shot in the air. I was given The Three Army Surgeons, an obscure, somewhat gruesome story that was definitely not a romance. (Read it here.)

At the beginning of the initial brainstorming, I thought, “You have got to be kidding me. What I have I gotten myself into?” But then I plunged in. Before long, I was giggling as I typed because Once Upon a Marriage was SO MUCH FUN to write. Yep, favorite assignment ever!

Once Upon a Marriage

Time is running out for Armina Keer to have the baby she’s always wanted. Before she can move on with her life, she needs her estranged husband to sign their divorce papers. When she can’t get him to respond, her meddling uncles arrange for a trip to his inn. Despite vowing to guard her broken heart, she has to settle the past before she can have a future.

Ian Keer might not deserve a second chance with his wife, but he’s not going to give up one either, not with the immediate flaming attraction still between them. While her uncles’ antics wreak havoc on life at The Inn, he offers her the ultimate gamble: Spend the night with him, and afterwards he’ll sign the papers if she still wants to leave.

With everything riding on one night together, Ian must convince her that their love is strong enough the second time around, and Armina must decide if love is worth sacrificing her dreams.

Excerpt:

“You hate me,” Ian whispered, feeling more nauseous than if he’d ingested a prosthetic eyeball. How could she not hate him when she believed their personal relationship had meant less to him than an employment issue?

Armina gazed beyond his left shoulder. “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. When we got married, I understood you had a strong work ethic combined with an unusual drive to succeed and a consuming passion for the Inn. I knew I’d come in second to this place.”

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but couldn’t. If she’d made him choose, he wouldn’t have picked her.

“I thought I was okay with it,” she continued. “After all, I loved the Inn, too, and wanted you to realize your vision for it. Turns out I wasn’t okay. I didn’t realize how distant second place actually was.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Live and learn, right?”

Not right. He wanted to take back the lesson and teach her about real love instead. “You never should have had to settle for second place. With me or with anyone else. No one has the right to ask that of you.”

“Agreed.” Her voice came out stronger, her shoulders squared, and she looked him directly in the eye. “Now you understand why I want a divorce.”

Buy links:

Amazon   Barnes & Noble   All Romance ebooks   Decadent Publishing

Sara Daniel writes what she loves—irresistible romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She lives her own happily-ever-after romance with her hero husband. Connect with her online at:

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New Release Spotlight – One Night with the Groom By @SaraDaniel #romance #giveaway

One Night with the Bridal Party is a subseries of Decadent Publishing’s popular 1Night Stand line. One Night With the Bride and One Night With the Bridesmaid share the same opening scene where the bride’s mother presents each woman with a one-night stand a week before the wedding.

Meanwhile, the poor jilted groom has been twisting in the wind since his bride left him a year before. Fear not! He’s about to meet up with the woman from his past who still holds his heart captive, despite him spending fifteen years trying to forget her.

One Night With the Groom

As if trying to save the family farm and pay her mother’s medical bills isn’t enough struggle, Luciana Cortez discovers her brother has used the last of the mortgage money to buy her a one night stand. Even if she wasn’t appalled at the prospect, her farm chores leave her too exhausted for sex. The silver lining: she’s also too busy to think about the man who’d once pledged to marry her then abandoned her.

Working on an important business deal, CEO Blake Wellington doesn’t think twice when he steps out of the limousine…until the car leaves. Instead of the business he needs to attend to, he’s on the doorstep of the farm where his past love Luciana lives. Without cell phone service or transportation, he must rely on her for help, a move that threatens to awaken his long-dead emotions.

As they attempt to gain closure over the ache and secrets of their past, neither are prepared for the onslaught of emotions that jeopardize everything they’ve worked their whole lives for. When the night is over, they must heed their responsibilities and go their separate ways, even if it means a lifetime of heartbreak.

EXCERPT:

“Blake.” Her heart bled as if she’d stabbed it with a pitchfork. She dropped her hand from her stomach to her side. “What are you doing here?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea.” His lips curved in a crooked smile.

Aching to wrap her arms around him, to kiss his sexy mouth, to soak in his presence while grinning at him like a fool, she took a step back. She might not be hallucinating, but his sudden appearance had the power to drive her over the edge of insanity and longing. Her heel caught on the threshold at the opening of the barn, and she stumbled.

He reached for her, but she steadied herself on the doorframe, holding out her other palm to ward him away. She couldn’t handle seeing him, let alone skin-on-skin contact.

“Give me a minute,” she begged. “I’m kind of shocked to see you.” Kind of, ha. Completely would have been an understatement.

His smile faded. “Good shocked or bad shocked?”

“I don’t know yet.” The dead tree beside the barn creaked in the wind. She’d let her fear over it falling on the barn or, worse, in the other direction keep her from cutting it down, but the nasty gusts made her regret the decision.

“Keep me posted on which way it goes. I’m already skittish about getting shot at.”

“You won’t be unless you touch me, in which case I’ll shoot you myself.”

“Fair enough.” He pocketed his hands and stepped back.

The distance helped. So did the fact he didn’t call her bluff. Luciana’s limbs shook too much to pick up any weapon. At one time, she’d been furious with him for abandoning her when she’d needed him most. Although he’d bowed to her parents’ pressure and hadn’t fought to save their future together, her emotions had faded to regret and resignation.

“So, you decided to drop in after fifteen years without a word, and you don’t have a clue why?” Okay, maybe her anger hadn’t faded.

“I didn’t come to see you.”

“Ouch. Thanks for being straight with me, rather than sparing my ego. I think.”

He winced. “I didn’t mean an insult. I’m supposed to be in Des Moines to consider a potential property for my company to add to their hotel portfolio. But the limo took me here instead and then left me.”

Limo. Hotel portfolio. If he hadn’t been out of her league before, he’d traveled far beyond her social realm. “So, are you one of those ‘if I build it, they will come’ visionaries?”

“No, I’m a market-feasibility, make-sure-every-aspect-is-viable-before-I-sink-a-penny-into-it type of executive. I don’t have a reason that makes any sense for why I showed up here, and my cell phone isn’t getting reception. If I could borrow your landline to make some calls, I’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

He hadn’t come to see her. He’d arrived by mistake and wanted to get far away without further ado. Once upon a time, they’d shared a rare, special love. She remembered it and regretted losing it, even if he didn’t.

Amazon | Decadent Publishing

Sara Daniel started writing One Night with the Bride and couldn’t stop. So, she wrote One Night with the Bridesmaid next.  Her latest release is One Night with the Groom. She’ll let you guess what the next title in the One Night With the Bridal Party series will be! Connect with her online at:

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Review: Captivating the CEO (The Challenge Series) by Sara Daniel #romance

The Blurb

When live-for-the-moment massage therapist Willow Jeffries bursts into Colin Vanderhayden's office, she makes it her mission to loosen up the future-focused CEO, knowing each moment of the present is too precious to waste. Despite her immediate attraction, the only future she can offer is one full of heartache.

The last thing Colin needs is a flighty woman messing up his carefully-constructed plans, but her heavenly massages and addictive personality prove hard to resist. But he has no idea how sick she is.

No longer able to ignore her life-threatening medical condition, Willow slips away to spare Colin a miserable future with her. Is Colin willing to sacrifice his well-laid future plans to get Willow back?

My Review

This emotion and passion filled novella proved satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed the immediate spark between earthy Willow and corporate (work obsessed) Colin and the progression of their relationship into something deep and potentially substantial. 

Ms. Daniel did a marvelous job of conveying Willow’s need to spare Colin from the loss he would endure if he fell in love with her. I thought this was one of the most selfless gifts a person could give to another. To spare him the pain of loss.

But her selfless act ends up hurting him and the way Colin deals with Willow’s heart condition had tears in my eyes.

A wonderful story that I recommend to everyone, especially if you want to learn a little about the life of someone living with congenital heart disease.

I give this book five out of five heart shaped chocolate bars.

I purchased this book from Amazon.

One Night with the Bridesmaid – New Release from Sara Daniel (@SSaraDaniel)

I’m celebrating the release of One Night with the Bridesmaid, a 1Night Stand novella that follows the maid of honor from One Night with the Bride. This is a short, super-sexy, stand-alone read. I hope you have as much fun reading Sabrina and Rob's story as I had writing it.

Gifted with a 1Night Stand, Sabrina Lopez decides to use the chance to hook up with a man who knows how to give a woman pleasure—a man she’d never have the nerve to approach in real life. Madame Eve exceeds her expectations with the opportunity of a lifetime—and the man of her dreams, movie director Rob Wellington. He might be out of her league, but she’s willing to risk it all for one night.

Believing Sabrina responsible for breaking up his brother’s wedding, Rob sets out to stop her from scamming her way into the groom’s bed—even if he has to take his brother’s place. The last thing he expected to discover was a woman he could love and hold for the rest of his life—if he can convince her that he wants more than one night….

If you missed One Night with the Bride, here’s a peek at it. (Both books are stand-alone, so you can jump into either story and feel right at home!)

When her society matron mother presents Caroline with a one-night stand date a week before her wedding, she’s appalled. Even worse, the encounter will take place at the fantasy ranch resort operated by her high school lover, Javier Alvarado. Although determined to remain faithful to her fiancé, she’s tempted and intrigued to see her first love again. It’s not like she has to sleep with him.

But one look and kiss later, she yearns for the man she walked away from so long ago. Unfortunately, when Javier discovers Caroline is engaged, all he can see is deception and heartbreak all over again.

Can a 1Night Stand from Madame Eve reunite them or will one night with the bride sever their ties forever?

To celebrate the release of One Night with the Bridesmaid, enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card or a Captivating the CEO key chain.

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