Looking Ahead in Orchard Hill

Yesterday I posted a blurb and excerpt about a new story due out in June 2010. Before that there will be two more free reads available.

The first will be posted on my website on Monday - http://karalynnrussell.googlepages.com/. In "First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage" Cora Applebaum gives an account of all the weddings that resulted from Pansy and Misty's matchmaking. She also has a few things to say about an old beau that she keeps meeting at these weddings. If you plan to read the complete series, but haven't yet, you may want to wait to read this one.

Next, "Baby Boom" will be featured as a free read from White Rose Publishing. I don't have a release date for that one, but it should be some time in January or early February since it is a Valentine's story.

In "Baby Boom" Riley and Ian's cousin Vanessa has volunteered to baby sit so that they can take their wives out for Valentine's Day. It sounds better than staying home alone yet again on Valentine's. But caring for Riley's infant twins and Ian's six puppies is more work than she bargained for - especially when the puppies escape. So she grabs the baby monitor and heads out into the snow to find them.

Here's a tiny peek at the story:

****

Kneeling, she began to reach under the prickly bush. She'd just managed to get her hand around one of the puppies when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled to her feet. She shrieked in surprise and the puppy wiggled away. The baby monitor slipped from her belt and fell into the snow.

Behind her a man's voice demanded "Who are you and what are you doing?"

"My name is Vanessa and I'm...I'm babysitting."

The grip on her arms loosened slightly. "You're what?"

"I'm babysitting for my cousin's twins and my other cousin's puppies. Only the babies were crying and then the puppies escaped and..."

She tried to turn so she could see the man, but his hold on her tightened again. "That's quite a story. Have you got any more?"

"I'm not making this up! There are two puppies in your bushes. I need to get them inside before..."

A tiny wail sounded from the baby monitor, now covered in snow.

*****

Sounds like the worst Valenine's ever, right? But then again, maybe not.