Excerpt from Fiancé Finale

My oldest daughter gets married this weekend, then my next romantic comedy releases next week. My emotions are all over the place, so I thought I'd invite you to share in my excitement by giving you a little teaser of what's to come in Fiancé Finale.

You can either read it for yourself or listen to me read it in the video below!

***

“Why do you even want to marry me?”

He meets my gaze, eyes clear and determined. “God wants me to marry you.”

I groan. “God hates me.” And I’m not sure how I feel about Him at the moment either.

Charlie stands at that. But did he really expect me to accept his crazy proposal?

We face off, and I kind of feel sorry for him. This man is attractive, brilliant, successful, and changing the world, but he’s probably better off alone than letting down a significant other all the time. I can’t help wondering if he’s capable of empathy. Even his efforts to please God seem selfish.

“What do you want?” I demand. That’s the real question here.

His jaw twitches. “I want to film a documentary on midwives in the Philippines.”

My heart throbs with fresh rejection. You’d think I’d have gotten used to it by now, since I grew up always being second to the church. “Then why are you here?”

His eyes flash with purpose. “On the night before your wedding to the other guy . . .”

“Tim.” I don’t want Charlie to think of my rebound as “the other guy.” Even if I dated him because he made me feel like somebody again after Charlie made me feel like a nobody.

“Tim,” he repeats. “I prayed that if God wanted me to marry you, then you wouldn’t marry . . . him.”

My lips part to let a gasp slip out. I seal them back together.

His gaze darts to my mouth, then back up. Does he think his random prayer means anything to me? Does he want it to?

He shrugs one shoulder. “I forgot about the prayer until I learned from Meri that you’d broken a second engagement.”

I close my eyes. I never should have told Meri. Then I wouldn’t be in this ridiculous position.

“You see? We should get married.”

I form my lips into a derisive smile before forcing my eyes open again. “You could write Hallmark cards.”

He gives a nod, completely missing my sarcasm.

I grip the bulge of his bicep and usher him toward the door. Carrying luggage around the world makes his muscles surprisingly firm. “I know you’ve been out of the country a lot, but here in the United States, women get a say in who they wed. In order to become your wife, I would have to hear from God myself.”

Charlie turns at the doorway to face me. “That’s fair.” He says this hopefully. Does he think God’s going to have a come-to-Jesus moment with me, or does he think he found a loophole to get out of a wedding?

God may not love me enough to protect me from this man showing up in my office, but He’s not going to make me marry the dummy.

As for Charlie wanting an escape clause, why did he pray that stupid prayer in the first place? Why is he still standing in my office doorway?

***

If you can't wait to start reading, check out the whole award-winning series by clicking here. I look forward to your reviews, and I'll be back soon to share pics from my daughter's real-life romance.