Title: Change Me
Author: Lynne Taylor
Genre: Contemporary Romance
...because sometimes big changes are too much to take...
Sarah Fowler has spent her life accepting mediocrity. Being a plus-sized girl with only average looks, her self esteem leaves a lot to be desired.
When the most perfect male God has ever created approaches her, Sarah battles with herself, wanting desperately to believe her fairy tale is coming true. Will she be able to accept his advances as genuine? Will she step out of her private, comfortable world and allow herself to be vulnerable to him?
Dane McAllister is a heart-throb of a man who has his own demons. Having a rocky past, he has all but sworn off women. But when he sees Sarah, his world begins to turn again. There's something about her that draws him in.
Will Dane be able to truly overcome his past and be the man Sarah longs for, or will he deepen her lifelong wounds?
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Excerpt #1
“My God. If you get any sweeter, I’m going to have to have you for dessert!” I say, widening my eyes crazily and suddenly begin growling and fake-biting at her neck playfully.
She wiggles and laughs out loud as I tighten my hold on her not letting her escape my playful attack. This is so much fun! We struggle and play until she loses her footing and I collapse on top of her on the couch. Her twinkling eyes tell me she’s quite comfortable…and happy to be beneath me.
I can’t fight it. I have to kiss her. I stare into her eyes intently and lightly brush the strands of hair off her forehead, then stroke her cheek with the back of my hand. I bring my lips so close to hers and pause. I have to. Otherwise, there will be no dinner. Finally, when I feel I can have an element of control, I gently brush my lips against hers. The intensity that passes through this tender kiss is overwhelming. My mind goes dizzy as she wraps her arms around my neck drawing me in closer. When she feels my arousal through my pants pressed against her thigh I can tell she is pleased by the moan I feel humming through her lips, lighting a fire deep in my soul. She moves slightly, and I can tell she wants to feel it. I re-position myself with a slight grind, causing her to pull her head back breathlessly while I caress her exposed neck. Suddenly ripped from our heady affections, the annoying knock at the door causes me to drop my head defeated into the crook of her neck with a frustrated groan. She giggles and laughing with her is all I am able to do.
As I climb off of her to stand I catch her eyes widening in amazement as she checks out my package. Thank goodness these pajama pants have a button closure on the fly, or she may have seem more than she bargained for. She sees my reaction to her stare and begins to blush, so I give her a silly hip wiggle just to make her laugh. She throws both hands over her eyes laughing hysterically and I head to the door to collect our dinner.
Excerpt #2
“So, Dane. It’s been driving me nuts, and I have to ask. What is it about Sarah that has you so wrapped up? Don’t get me wrong- I think the world of Sarah. But…well she’s…” He struggles to find the right words to say without pissing me off.
“Heavy set?” I ask, relieving him.
“Yeah. She’s pretty and all, but I guess when you could have your pick, why a heavy-set girl?” he asks.
“Man, have you ever noticed how most of the shapely chicks have attitudes bigger than they are? Well, Sarah’s not like them at all. She has a heart bigger than her body, and she loves with every ounce of it. Her sweet shyness and her easygoing personality are bonuses. Did I ever tell you about the really skinny girl I was with? I was wrestling around, just playing with her, and I ended up breaking her tailbone? I knew right then and there that skinny girls aren’t for me. Sarah has cushioning in all the right places, and let me just say, that cushion does not get in the way! In fact, she’s the best I’ve ever had as far as sex goes. Besides that, I knew after just a couple of hours of talking to her that she wants to be loved for real and is the type of girl who will give more than she will take. Knowing that just makes me want to give her even more. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” I can feel myself practically beaming just talking about her. Bastard better not threaten my man-card again!
“Damn dude! You’ve got it bad!” he laughs. “She’s that great in the sack, huh? he jokes.
“Incredible! She does things…well, never mind all that! Let’s just say that you should never underestimate the drive or sexual skills of a “thick” girl! Have you ever heard the Queen song, Fat Bottom Girls? Yeah, I thought it was a joke of a song for a long time, but now I get what they were singing about! She makes me wanna sing too!”
Excerpt #3
My new-found peace comes crashing down when I see her. She is at a cashier stand using a credit card and all I want to do is whip her around by her hair. I wait until she finishes her transaction and leaves the spa, then I follow her out the door.
I catch up to her, grab her arm and spin her around to face me.
“Why don’t you explain to me what the hell you are doing here?” I snap aggressively at her. This is not going to go well at all.
“Sarah…I, I uh…”
“Well?”
“Maybe I better let Dane explain to you why…”
“Screw that.” I back her up against the building and bring my face close to hers. “Let me make this clear. You blew it with him. He is MINE now. So, all of your little secret meetings with him, yeah, they stop now, or I will throw you a beating. Got me?”
Feeling very threatened, the silly bitch decides to grow a backbone. Bad choice.
“Well you better talk to YOUR man then because he ASKED me to be here.”
That’s it. I ball up my fist and blast her. I have never punched anyone in my entire life, and here I am in Curacao engaged in a catfight. All I manage to do after hitting her is to give her a warning. “Stay away from him.” With that, I walk away from her while she is holding her hand over her eye.
Excerpt #4
Finally, I reach the ladies’ room and quickly lock myself in the nearest stall. what am I going to do? Why didn’t I return his smile? Way to go, Sarah. Now he probably thinks you’re a total bitch. Why isn’t he dancing with some hottie? His friends are dancing, why isn’t he? It’s not like he couldn’t take his pick of any girl in the place. Maybe he wasn’t actually smiling at you, but at some girl on the floor that was in your general direction, I silently tell myself. That has to be it. Guys that look like him don’t smile at girls like me.
My thoughts are racing uncontrollable. I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and exit the stall. Thank goodness the bathroom is void of other patrons because I need to have a one on one with my reflection in the mirror while I wash my hands. I approach the sink and there she is…in the mirror. The girl Jenna miraculously created. I had forgotten all about how I look tonight. I find myself straightening my clothes, fluffing my hair, checking my lipstick-all the things I would never normally do. Suddenly I realize, this is the beginning of a whole new me. Maybe he was smiling at me after all. I let out a slight giggle and blush at the thought.
Playlist
A Thousand Years-Christina Perri
Just the Way You Are-Bruno Mars
My Heart Is Open-Keith Urban
Count Me In- Deana Carter
Rumor Has It-Adele
Start of Something Good-Daughtry
She’s Got This Thing About Her- Chris Young
Give In To Me-Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meister
Will You Marry Me- John Berry
Shameless-Garth Brooks
I’ll Always Be Your Baby- Natalie Grant
Yours Forever-Dara McLean
At Last- Etta James
For You I Will - Monica
I was born and raised in Michigan, though I absolutely hate winters! Why do I stay? Because I would rather freeze half to death and brave the wintery travel than to be more than a couple of miles away from my family.
I am a mother to an Awesome, Unique, Talented, Intelligent, Special, Magnificent little girl…and if you didn’t catch the acronym, she is autistic. She makes life interesting, and I am blessed to say that she is not severely affected by it. She’s a quirky little thing that holds my whole heart in her little hand, even when she is acting out. I also have been wearing the hat of stepmother to two girls much older than my six year old. I have been a major player in raising them for the last 17 years, and am glad to say they have survived and are in their early 20’s now.
My husband…the best on the planet. He is truly the other half of me. I may not have gotten it right the first time around, but I like to think of my first marriage as practice to make this one perfect…and it worked!
It wasn’t until I recently got into my 40’s that I decided to write fiction. I have always been well-versed in writing business letters and that sort of communication, but never believed I had the ability to write a complete novel. When I could no longer combat the nagging in my soul to just start writing, Change Me flowed like water. In fact, the entire prologue was typed into my phone on notepad! Shocked by how well that went, I felt a spark in me that I could not extinguish unless I was writing. I am so proud of the book itself, but pretty dang surprised that I accomplished something I believed impossible. Now I have several more book ideas waiting in the wings to be written. It’s like I opened Pandora’s Box!
When I’m not working as a business manager of a veterinary hospital, in my very minimal free time I love to cook and dream up new recipes. I especially like to bake and create new luscious desserts. Planning and catering parties are challenges I love to take on every chance I get. I absolutely love to be on the back of a motorcycle riding with my husband, though I don’t get to do it nearly as often as I would like. Crafts? You bet! Music-absolutely a necessity of life. But when I found myself with no time for reading I about lost my mind! Big props to the person who invented the Kindle, who thereby provided the opportunity to reunite me with my favorite pastime.
My dreams? Well, I generally am a “keep it simple” sort of person, but I hope to someday visit every tropical paradise possible! A beach chair, my kindle, and a cold drink, soaking up the sun while the surf whispers in my ear sounds like pure Heaven on Earth to me!
More than anything, I hope that I somehow leave a positive and lasting impression on the people I come in contact with, no matter what form of contact that may be.
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