Annie welcomes Eva Scott to the chair...

THE RELUCTANT WEDDING PLANNER BY EVA SCOTT

I’ve always wanted to write, always fancied I had a book in me but the time never seemed to be right.  I was busy chasing a career here and overseas, busy having adventures and romances (some romances could be deemed adventures!).  Life sailed on with me no closer to achieving my dream of becoming a writer and I was beginning to think it would never happen.  Do you believe in serendipity?  I do and what happened next convinced me.

Years and years ago on one of my adventures I met a lovely man and we fell for each other.  Sadly we were both in other relationships so we let the moment pass.  Then quite by accident we ran into each other again via a mutual friend.  This time we were in a position to act – and we did!  To cut a long story short I found myself in my early forties, engaged and pregnant!  Shortly after I went on maternity leave my employer offered me a generous voluntary severance.  I leapt at the chance to stay home with my child – and to write.  All these other wonderful dreams had come true so why not that one?  If not now, when?

I wrote The Reluctant Wedding Planner and submitted it to the Romance Writers of Australia’s Emerald award.  I came fourth.  Reading that draft now I cringe at how awful it is – I’ve learnt so much about writing since then.  Thanks to some timely feedback from a Breathless Press editor and a seriously good critique partner (shout out to Téa Cooper, historical author extraordinaire) I finally snaffled a contract with Musa Publishing.

The story is set in my home town of Brisbane, Queensland, and I’ve set it in some of my favourite places.  Paddington is a funky little suburb full of wonderful quirky shops and great eateries.  The Samford Valley and Dayboro are gorgeous semi rural locations just beyond Brisbane’s reach.  My characters, Georgi a wedding floral specialist and Cam a rural vet, navigate all the insecurities of a new relationship with the help of a large grey Persian cat named Manouche.  There are loads of coffee, baked goods and of course the occasional wine!  Please come join me and meet Georgi and Cam – I hope you like them as much as I do.

The Reluctant Wedding Planner is released on the 18th of January 2013 at Musa Publishing

Blurb -

Dr Camden James is a rural vet, not a wedding planner, so he quickly feels out of his depth when, in a fit of generosity, he offers to glam up his sister's budget wedding in a secret move designed to surprise her. With only six weeks to make this the wedding of his sister's dreams he needs to move fast.
Stumbling around in the largely female world of weddings he gets a lead on the go-to girl for wedding flowers - Georgiana Mac Intyre. Georgi, reeling from a very public breakup, is not interested in men in anyway shape or form. Not even super-cute vets - even when they are clearly interested in her.
Cam shamelessly uses his story to get her to help. It has all the elements; romance against the odds, true love, orphans (you can't have good story without an orphan or two), and a bride.

Excerpt -

“Who the hell are you?” Georgi demanded. “And what are you doing back here?”
Camden James held both palms up in a gesture of surrender. When the lady at the shop counter sent him to the workroom he had hoped for a more welcoming response.
“I come in peace.”
“What?” Georgi couldn’t hear a word over the music. She moved to turn down the volume as the man shouted:
“Me friend.”
She cocked one eyebrow at him, watching as a red flush colored his face.
“Little early to tell, isn’t it? We haven’t been formally introduced yet.” Her heartbeat had returned to normal and she was over her initial fright. Commonsense told her whoever this man was; he wouldn’t get past Irene and the Happy Gardeners if he didn’t have a bonafide reason to do so. Georgi placed the scissors back on the work bench.
“Me florist” she said.
A slow, warm smile spread across Cam's face. He liked a gal with a sense of humor.
“Now that fact we are sure of” he said.
“What can I do for you?” she appraised the man before her, recognition dawning. Mr. Gorgeous, it was hard to forget those blue eyes—or his great butt. He filled her work room with his presence, taking up all the space and the air or so it seemed. This made her feel small and feminine at the same time. Not to mention just a little off kilter.
“I need some help and the kind lady out front felt sure you would be most accommodating.”
“Irene did, did she?” Georgi made a mental note to have a word with dear, kind Irene about meddling in her private life. I can find my own dates, thank you very much. Providing she felt like dating of course, which she didn’t. But for Irene to infer she would be 'accommodating' was a bit much. It was no use rustling up Tall-Dark-and-Handsome as temptation. This was the third time this month Irene had thrown a man in her path.
“Well, I don’t know what Irene told you but I'm not interested in being accommodating.” She crossed her arms to emphasize her point.
“Oh,” said Cam. “That's disappointing. I had my hopes up.”
“Sorry to dash them so quickly but I'm super busy and just do not have time for dating anyone - no matter how handsome they are.”
“I'm sorry” Cam blinked in confusion. “I was only looking for advice on flowers for a wedding. You've been recommended to me by Wendy Richardson. “
Wendy Richardson was one of the biggest wedding planners in Brisbane. Georgi blushed at her mistake. God, she'd even said she thought he was handsome! Hoping he hadn't noticed that bit of her tirade, she wiped her hands on her apron and stepped out from behind the work bench, hand outstretched.
“When you said Irene sent you through, I assumed…I mean, I thought…never mind. I'm Georgiana MacIntyre.”
“Georgiana of Georgi's Garden.” He smiled a slow, warm smile.

Buy Link –

http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_29&products_id=513

Short bio –

I live on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland Australia with my fabulous husband and gorgeous little boy. When I'm not writing romance you can find me out on the water kayaking, fishing or swimming. When on dry land it’s all about the shoes and the coffee.


Personal links -

Website - http://www.evascottromance.com/

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/eva.scottromancewriter

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/EvaScottWriter

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