Excerpt from Blazing Tales: Blaze and Willa Meet

One of the best parts of a romance is when the couple meet for the first time. It is the reader's chance to start to feel the heat and romantic tension build between them. I loved writing this scene in Blazing Tales. Check out an excerpt below.

It was a chilly day as Willa made her way down the broken sidewalk to her favorite coffee shop. She hadn’t been able to shake her nerves since she’d had her call with Gerri. Pulling her jean jacket tighter around her, she quickened her pace. She was pretty sure she made it clear she wasn’t looking for anything serious, but she found herself hoping she liked the man that her matchmaker set her up with. Maybe she’d even finding a little inspiration for the love interest in her next book. Detective Cassidy was in need of a new man.

A warm breeze hit her as she entered the coffee shop and the owner greeted her with a smile. She’d spent many afternoons in this place, hammering out chapters when her office wouldn’t do. It was almost always busy, and today was no different. She looked through the crowd of people searching for a man at a table with a red rose. She spotted a bouquet of roses connected to a hand, a large hand. That large hand was attached to a muscular arm, which was connected to a pair of broad shoulders, strong neck, perfectly chiseled face, and granite chest. He stole her breath. There was no way a man that hot was here for her.

“Willa?”

His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what he said. She was too busy staring at the best-looking guy she’d seen in years.

“Are you okay?” he spoke again, this time waving a hand in front of her face, knocking her out of her reverie. It was one of those moments she wrote about in books, when the world froze, and the only people in the room were him and her.

He stood up and snapped his fingers in her face. She shook her head and blinked her eyes as she began to focus once again. As it turned out, she had that moment all wrong. There were no words to describe the feeling. She’d get it right in the next book. A voice in the back of Willa’s head yelled, run! You’re in trouble here. He is far too good for you. It was the voice that came from multiple men in her past. The one that always poked its head up when she found herself interested in someone out of her league. It is only one date, she reminded herself.

“Are you okay? Are you having a seizure?” His large hand roamed over her neck, and down her arm to check her pulse. His mere touch set her synapses on fire. Electrical currents vibrated through her body. She was suddenly hot, on fire from the inside out.

A blush burned her neck and cheeks. “No, I’m fine. I’m sorry.” She sat down. Time just stopped in your presence, and I don’t know how to process the moment, she thought silently. “I’m Willa. I hope you’re Blaze.” Otherwise I am making a fool of myself sitting here at your table.

He chuckled. “It would be uncomfortable if you sat down and I wasn’t, right?” He continued to watch her with a careful eye.

“Oh, maybe I do have the wrong table.” She tried to stand up, but he gently pushed her back down.

“No, I am Blaze. It’s nice to meet you, Willa.” His voice was as hot as the rest of him, like hot chocolate on a bitter cold day. She was in trouble. She really liked this man.

Find out how their love affair progresses. Grab a copy on Amazon today.

Happy Release Day: Excerpt from Blazing Tales

Blazing Tales, a new story in the Paranormal Dating Agency Kindle Worlds is now available. I'm super excited to bring you Willa and Blaze's romance. The fire between these two is going to scorch your tablet, beware.

Super hot fire fighting, arson investigating dragon shifter + inexperienced in life, but talented mystery author who lives vicariously through her characters = dangerous, scorching love affair that will blaze a trail to your heart.

I've included an excerpt below that gives you a little insight into our hero... check it out and I hope you enjoy

The fingers of the fire licked the night sky, and dark smoke billowed around the restaurant. Blaze was an expert at fires. He’d seen massive burners in his time as a firefighter, and likewise as a dragon shifter. As a fire investigator, he’d seen more of the aftermath and less of the blazes for years. This fire was out of control. The building would be condemned. He pulled over on a side street and headed toward the fire truck.

He approached his mentor and old friend, Juan Martinez. The man he started working for when he was a fresh recruit, looked exhausted. Martinez rarely let a fire get under his skin. Something about how beat down he looked in that moment told Blaze this was one of those rare occasions. “Captain, it looks like a bad one.”

“Yes, we’re trying to contain it for minimal damage to the surrounding buildings.” Martinez turned his attention back to the fire. “Keep the flames from flaring! There are gas lines and propane tanks in there! Careful of explosions.” He barked orders into his bullhorn.

Blaze ran a hand through his dark locks, surveying the damage that had already hit the location. It was going to be difficult to contain. “You need help?”

Captain Martinez shook his head. “Nope, but I’m sure you’ll be called in to check for arson when we get this monster put out.”

Blaze had a feeling this fire was going to fall under the same MO as the others he’d been investigating. He didn’t smell chemical accelerants on the air. It was probably electrical. If he was a betting man, he’d place the ignition sight in the office. That would be the most likely origin of an electrical fire.

“Jacob? Jacob?” A frantic woman ran up to Juan. “Please, sir, I think my son is still in there!”

Blaze grabbed a spare suit off the truck and started getting dressed while the woman begged for help. He was a firefighter first before becoming an investigator, and he knew how to handle himself in a burning building.

“He went to the bathroom and we got separated. I can’t find him anywhere!” Her voice took on a shrill tone as fear radiated off her in waves.

Martinez turned to Blaze. “I think we can use a little of your dragon magic. My boys can’t get in there. The building is collapsing, and there are random explosions in the walls.”

Electrical. Blaze nodded. “I figured.” If anyone could take the heat it would be his dragon self. Fully suited up, more for show than anything else, he ran into the building. Inside he took off his helmet. Fire lived inside his soul. He knew what he could and could not handle. “Jacob?” He called out. “Jacob, where are you?”

A wall exploded, and a glass aquarium shattered spilling water out across the floor. “Jacob, if you’re here, I need you to call out!” The smoke was more hazardous to his health than the blaze. He called upon his animal half to help him see and hear. His human half was a weakness in this situation.

The only sound he heard was the roar of the flames as they devoured everything in their path. “Jacob!” He put the mask back on and started checking rooms. She mentioned the bathroom so he headed in that direction. As he got closer, he heard muffled sobs. His heart leapt with joy. The boy was still alive, but his breathing was raspy.

“Jacob, if you can hear me, I’m coming! Stay low, and if there is a wet cloth nearby, cover your mouth and nose.”

Another explosion from a side wall hit causing a minor ringing in his ears. He was focused on his enhanced hearing when the boom hit. Blaze shook it off, the tingling in his animal ears, and refocused. “Jacob, if you can give me a sign of where you are it would help a great deal!”

A tiny hand popped up from the low hanging smoke cloud across the room. Relief flooded Blaze. He headed toward the shaking hand. He was only a few feet away from the kid when part of the ceiling caved in. “Shit!” He looked up at the sky. “Seriously?” He turned back to the area where the boy was. “Jacob, are you okay?”

“No, my leg.”

“I’m coming. Hold on!” He tossed the wood beam in front of him out of the way and reached down for the kid, picking him up in his arms. “I’ve got you.”

Hope filled his scared little eyes. Tears streamed down Jacob’s soot-stained face as he wrapped his arms around Blaze’s neck like he was a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. Blaze carried him out of the burning building, and made a beeline for the ambulance on the street.

“He has heavy smoke inhalation, and part of the ceiling fell on his leg. I didn’t assess the damage,” he told the EMT. 

Grab a copy of this adventurous romance here on Amazon today for only $1.99.