Love Stories GIVEAWAY: More Than Words Can Say + guest post

Happy February – official (according to me) KissingBooks month! And welcome to what I hope will be another annual giveaway series, much like the Christmas Reads series I do each November/December. This LOVE STORIES giveaway series is thusly named for two reasons – first, because I love stories and second, because I love Love Stories.

Throughout the entire month of February, I’ll be spotlighting swoony Christian fiction & ‘clean read’ romances. Three cheers for KissingBooks!!! So… grab a fan or two, your trusty fainting couch, and maybe a freezer just to be safe and start making your KissingBooks tbr list! Oh… and did I mention there are GIVEAWAYS with EACH POST in this series??!! (Because authors are awesome!)

Today features a guest post (and swoony excerpt – i was serious about that fan!!!) from author Karen Witemeyer & More Than Words Can Say!

MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY
SERIES: Patchwork Family #2
GENRE: Inspirational Historical Romance
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2019
PAGES: 358

An Impossible Situation. An Unlikely Couple.
A Recipe for Love?

After fulfilling a pledge to a dying friend, Zacharias Hamilton is finally free to live life on his own terms. No opportunities to disappoint those he cares about, just the quiet bachelor existence he’s always craved. Until fate snatches his freedom away once again when the baker of his favorite breakfast treat is railroaded by the city council. As hard as he tries to avoid getting involved, he can’t turn a blind eye to her predicament . . . or her adorable dimples.

Abigail Kemp needs a man’s name on her bakery’s deed. A marriage of convenience seems the best solution . . . if it involves a man she can control. Not the stoic lumberman who oozes confidence without saying a word whenever he enters her shop. Control Zacharias Hamilton? She can’t even control her pulse when she’s around him.

Once vows are spoken, Abigail’s troubles should be over. Yet threats to the bakery worsen, and darker dangers hound her sister. As trust grows between Zach and Abby, she finds she wants more than his rescue. She wants his heart.

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more than just a kiss

by Karen Witemeyer, author of More Than Words Can Say

As a romance author, one of my favorite elements to write is the kissing scene. I’m a sap at heart, and I love sighing over the perfect kiss. Usually the kissing scene is the culmination of romantic tension and attraction that has been building between two characters across a large portion of the book, giving the hero and heroine time to truly get to know each other and fall in love. But sometimes the kiss serves a different purpose.

In More Than Words Can Say Zach Hamilton and Abigail Kemp agree to a marriage of convenience in order to save her bakery. In her mind this marriage is strictly a business arrangement. Zach, however, has different ideas, and he uses a goodnight kiss as a cornerstone on which to build intimacy instead of the celebration of a completed structure.

This scene occurs after Zach and Abigail’s wedding when they arrive at her home.

***

She started backing out of the room. “I’ll be sharing Rosalind’s room. A man needs his privacy, after all. His space.” She dipped her chin as if she knew privacy was the last thing a husband would want on his wedding night. “All of my things are already moved, so make use of whatever you like.” She waved her hand at the furnishings, but his gaze never wandered from her eyes.

At least he knew what the sister had run off to do.

He stalked toward her. She retreated into the doorway.

“I usually retire around eight o’clock,” she babbled, “since I get up at four to prep the ovens and prepare the sweet breads. I wouldn’t want to disturb you.” She backed into the hallway.

He wasn’t about to let her get away. Not without some kind of understanding between them. Zach lengthened his stride and caught her about the waist.

He yanked her to him, and her palms flattened against his chest. Abigail’s eyes widened, but only in surprise, not fear, thank the Lord.

“I-I’m very tired,” she protested.

He raised a brow. The excuse was weak, even if she had gotten up at four this morning.

“Good night, husband.” She actually managed to make that sound like a command. Impressive.

Zach grinned. He liked her take-charge side. Showed gumption. Grit. But that didn’t mean he’d be leaving the field of battle with his tail between his legs. He had his own supply of grit.

“You don’t have to share my bed until you’re ready, Abigail, but tonight you vowed to obey me . . . in domestic matters.” He let that sink in for a moment. They’d been her words, after all, not his.

She stiffened. Her mouth pursed, no doubt in preparation for issuing a severe dressing down aimed at putting her arrogant husband in his place. Well, this husband knew where his place was, and it wasn’t across the hall from his wife. At least not in a permanent arrangement.

“A goodnight kiss,” he said before she could lash into him.

She blinked.

“Before you go to bed each night, I want a kiss.” If he couldn’t have the closeness of sleeping beside her, he’d just have to manufacture it another way. And since memories of their wedding kiss had been plaguing him all night, it was the first strategy that came to mind.

She cocked her chin upward. “A kiss.”

“Yep.”

“I suppose that’s a reasonable request.”

It was actually more of a demand, but if it made her feel better to call it a request, he’d go along.

“All right. I agr—”

He didn’t let her finish. Just swooped in and claimed her mouth. Man, but he’d been wanting to this again. He held her close, relishing the feel of her against him. The taste of her lips. The softness of the skin at her nape as he supported her head while deepening the kiss.

Slowly, he separated his lips from hers, and peered into her face. Her lashes fluttered open revealing beautifully dazed brown eyes.

Might not be the wedding night a man dreamed about, but it was a block to build on.

***

Sometimes a kiss is more than just a kiss.

What is your idea of the perfect fictional kiss? What should it say about the characters?

For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Recently voted #1 Readers’ Favorite Christian Romance Author by Family Fiction Magazine, Karen is a two-time winner of the ACFW Carol Award and three-time RITA® finalist. Karen is a firm believer in the power of happy endings. . . and ice cream. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children.

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Karen Witemeyer is offering an autographed copy of More Than Words Can Say + a bag of dark chocolate kisses to one of my readers! (US only) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What interests you most about More Than Words Can Say? What is your idea of the perfect fictional kiss? What should it say about the characters?