KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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A THOUSAND MOMENTS
A Heart of Vallantine Novella
BY KELLY MORAN
Blurb
FIRST BOOK IN A NEW SERIES BY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER KELLY MORAN!
Wallflower Rosemary Fillmore has never endeavored anything more than a good book, a cool glass of sweet tea, and a cat to curl up in her lap after a long day of teaching teenagers how to dissect literary masterpieces. Dowdy and shy, hardly anyone in her quaint southern town of Vallantine, Georgia, knows she exists, and the only time she has an ounce of confidence is if the world is a fictional one. So, when three of her star students suddenly start to show an interest in her personal life, or lack thereof, she wonders what on earth the girls are after. Or why. And how it involves a certain town librarian. Because she hasn’t exactly agreed with how he’s been running the beautiful landmark into the ground since taking over, and frankly, she’s been more than a little upset about it. Besides, he is probably the sole person more awkward than herself, despite how kind or understatedly handsome he may be.
A THOUSAND MOMENTS
A Heart of Vallantine #Novella
BY KELLY MORAN
Excerpt
Rebecca cleared her throat. “We were telling Ms. Fillmore about how they’re making movies based on the books.”
“Oh yeah?” A film was probably the only way most of her class would know the storyline. “That’s neat.”
“I hope they do it justice.” This from Dorothy. “Movies ruin books.”
He huffed a laugh. “You’re right about that.”
“So,” Scarlett hedged, mischief in her tone. “Ms. Fillmore said she might come by today to check out the books.”
He glanced up from his screen, heart thumping in stupid hope, and stared blankly at the open doorway.
Rosemary was their favorite teacher, as the teenagers liked to remind him often, and a lovely person. She’d moved to Vallantine in the last legs of his and her junior year of high school. Shy and reserved, she had piqued his interest on and off over the years. Others in town had referred to her as dowdy, but she had a quiet, natural beauty that was so understated, one had to really look to notice with all the other splendor throwing her in shadow. She had a dry yet witty sense of humor if he could get her engaged in conversation long enough. Which wasn’t often since he was awkward with people, especially women he was attracted to, and he was very attracted to her.
Except, she disliked him. Or so he’d gathered. He almost never saw her about in town, so the majority of their encounters were in the library. Her disdainful expression when glancing around was telltale.
Damn, but he was trying.
“Mr. Brown?”
Crap. What had she said? “I’m sorry, Scarlett. I was editing. Yes?”
“Did you hear me about Ms. Fillmore?”
“I did.” He adjusted his glasses. “It would be nice to see her.”
There was a pause, then giggling.
Rebecca broke the laughter. “She’s so pretty, isn’t she?”
“Pretty as a picture.” It seemed an appropriate comment, but the girls giggled again. Or still.
Scarlett made a humming noise. “We did a makeover on her last night.”
Makeover? Was that like rearranging a room for fengshui, but with a human? He wasn’t up to date on lingo. He struggled to formulate a reply. “How so?”
“Fixed her hair, makeup, and a manicure. That kind of stuff.”
Ah, okay. “Sounds fun.” Not really. And Rosemary didn’t need a makeover. He reached for his mug.
“We’re thinking she wants a husband.”
He choked on his coffee. Coughing violently, he grabbed a napkin and covered his mouth, eyes watering.
As fate would have it, the woman in question chose then to stroll through the door. Peachy.
Wearing a long beige dress with green flowers, she studied him, concern wrinkling her brow. “Are you all right?”
A couple residual coughs, and he cleared his throat, focusing on her green flip-flops. “Yes, ma’am.” He coughed once more when his voice caught. “Coffee went down the wrong pipe.”
“Are you saying you have a drinking problem?”
Ha. Case in point on her dry wit. “Apparently so.”
She nodded, stepping closer, and glanced around him. “Hi, girls.”
“Hello, Ms. Fillmore,” chanted behind him. Then giggling.
About Author Kelly Moran…
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Links to Kelly’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:
Amazon: https://www.authorkellymoran.com/a-thousand-moments
Find her everywhere here: https://linktr.ee/AuthorKellyMoran
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Special Giveaway: Kelly is giving away a book box (U.S. Only) filled with goodies to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog.
Happy Reading!
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Thanks, Kelly, for sharing your books with us!
Don’t miss the chance to read this book!
This story sounds like a lot of fun! Best of luck with it.
Thank you, xo
This sounds like my kind of read!! Thank you so much for sharing it, Kelly.
Thank you!
My kind of book! I love it. Especially the awkwardness – that would be me. SOOOO very awkward around people. I usually speak up and then wish I didn’t. HA! I can’t wait to read this one. Thank you for sharing it!
Oh, the awkwardness was so fun. I did it with one of my books in the Redwood Ridge series, too, Residual Burn. The heroine had babblingitis! lol
Nice set up! Now to see how the girls’ plotting evolves…😉
Thanks, Kelly and Karen.
It evolved into lots of fun. I loved writing this. The 3 girls get their own books when they grow up, and their own HEAs. xo
Good morning Kelly, your book sounds like a really good read! Thank you so much for sharing about it. Just wondering what the girls are up to , I would say they are trying to be matchmakers. Sounds like a fun book. Thank you so much for sharing about your great sounding book. Have a great day and a great rest of the week.
They sure did matchmake. And successfully. This was fun to write, and I’m loving how the series is panning out. xo
Hi, Kelly! Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench. I love small towns and librarians. What fun that the librarian, in this case, is the hero! I can’t wait to read this one. Thanks for sharing your book with us today.
Thank you, and thanks for hosting. I just adore the old historic library in this small town, and the librarian is geeky cute. The rest of the series revolves around the library restorations, and I’m loving how it’s panning out so far. xo
Enjoyed the snippet you shared! Sounds good to me!
Thank you! xo
This sounds charming and sweet.
Thanks! xo
nice sneak peek
Thank you! xo
Love the sneak peak and will be adding to my TBR list!
Awesome! Thanks so much! xo
Enjoyed the excerpt would love to read this one!
Wonderful! Thank you! xo
This sounds like a sweet story, I look forward to reading it.
Awesome! Thanks so much! xo