Please welcome the awesome Amanda Ward to my blog with book 2 in the Pann series VIVA PANN VEGAS
TAGLINE
Getting plastered at a wedding is the sign a good time has been
had, but not when it’s the bride!
BLURB
The fun
and games continue as Pann Haggerty travels around America with her ‘average’
Joe on their way to Las Vegas. This
time, Joe thinks he’s the one in charge, and able to handle his beloved quirky
English rose.
Apparently
not. Surprises, secrets and wedding
bells are in store. Has Pann given Joe
the answer to his big question? Read on in the second MisAdventure of Pann
Haggerty.
Laugh at
Pann’s antics, thrill to the romance, indulge in copious mugs of tea and try
out the delicious recipes! Above all…enjoy.
“You
know, Pann, this hand would look so much nicer with…”
“Don’t
go down that route, Joe,” Pann scolded him. “I said I would give you an answer
when I knew what it was. Why, are you feeling insecure, Joe?”
The
waitress came back, pouring Joe his thick, syrup-like coffee and placing a tall
frosted glass of pink milkshake, topped with whipped cream and a fresh
strawberry, on the table.
Pann
chuckled. What was this, a drink or dessert?
“Yes,
I am,” Joe replied eventually, after taking a sip from his mug. “You are the
only woman I’ve asked to marry me, and you won’t give me a definite yes or no.
It feels like I’m being led around by the short and curlies.”
“Joe,”
Pann admonished through gritted teeth. He sounded rather like her, and one
certainly did not mention pubic hair in a dining establishment.
“Well
what do you expect, Pann? I love you, and you say you love me. I can’t
understand why you are dragging this on.”
“Dragging
this on?” Her lips thinned with annoyance. “Joel. We are at a diner surrounded
by others eating. This isn’t really the place to have this conversation.” She
was trying to no avail to keep her voice calm.
“Shall
we go back to the van and talk there?” Joe suggested. “I’ll make tea?”
“Sounds
better than shivering in the sunshine, I guess.”
As
they walked toward the van, Joe placed his arm around her shoulders.
Instinctively she snuggled into his warmth, breathing in his fragrant masculine
scent. Pann placed her arm around his
waist, and on impulse, her hand covered his jean clad bottom. As she squeezed it, Pann smiled an impish
grin.
“Wrong
pocket, Pann.”
“I
beg your pardon?” She tilted her head back to look at Joe.
“If
you are after my wallet, it’s in the other pocket,” Joe quipped.
EXCERPT TWO
Pandora
Haggerty, sorry…Harper sat in the back of the ambulance in a wheelchair all
forlorn and feeling decidedly sorry for herself. Her plastered right leg was
elevated, and despite Joe’s hand resting on hers comforting her, Pann’s spirits
were low. She was jostled several times, wincing as the vehicle rode over
several mountains in the road. Perhaps the pain medication was wearing off. Avoiding
looking out the window, Pann kept her gaze on Joe’s steadfast one and the
gleaming rings of gold that adorned her left hand. Beside her on the floor lay
several packages, and from what she could make out, there was a Zimmer frame
ready to be constructed.
“A
zimmer frame, my arse,” Pann grumbled.
“What
was that, darlin’?”
“Just
talking out loud,” she murmured.
“Are
you in any pain, honey?”
Pann
shook her head. “Actually I’m starting to feel like a total prat,” she told him
bluntly. “I cannot believe I managed to break my sodding ankle, and now I’m
totally reliant on someone else to help me do everything. And I am not using a sodding Zimmer frame. What
do they think I am, an elderly geriatric?” Then, turning her head…she noticed a
chair behind her.
“That’s
not a commode is it?” She asked incredulously in a high squeak. Joe nodded.
“You
have to be taking the royal piss,” she exclaimed.
“No,
that’s what the commode is for. So that you can—” Joe’s voice broke off.
“No
chuffing way am I using a commode.”
“The
doctor said you had to stay off that leg. This way you can use the toilet by
simply lifting yourself from one chair to another,” he said soothingly.
Pann’s
temper finally got the better of her. Humiliation, frustration and that nagging
ache from her leg took over her usually sane-ish temperament. She squeezed
Joe’s hand digging her nails in, almost breaking the skin. At this point, she
really didn’t care if she hurt him or not. She was hurting. Why couldn’t he
sympathize? It really wasn’t fair.
Pann
sat complacently as Joe wheeled her into the now widened doorway of their
motorhome. A strange smell assailed her nostrils. What on earth…could she
smell?
“There’s
a cat in here,” Pann announced, her eyes darting around the kitchen area. It
had been widened for accessibility. As Joe closed the door, she caught a
glimpse of a tray.
“What
makes you think that?” Joe murmured, putting the brake on. He busied himself by
putting the kettle on and preparing a drink for them.
“The
litter tray behind me, and the two bowls on a mat just over there,” Pann pointed
out. “You do know I still have a cat back in England, even if it is living with
Mum now.” She sniffed again, wafting her hand in front of her nose. Several
pots of fragrant violets lined the middle of the dining table. She hoped Joe
had secured them with Velcro strips.
“Interesting
and beautiful flowers, but no matter how many pots of violets you use, there is
no cure for the niff of a farting feline,” she told him with a grin, using as
many English terms as she could fit in. It was ridiculous, but in a way Joe had
diffused her temper by diverting her attention onto something else. “So where
is it?”
Joe
put two steaming mugs on the table, fetched a plate of digestive biscuits and
sat down next to her on the seat.
“Look
up,” he suggested.
Pann’s
head tilted back. On what had been her bed, two white fluffy paws and a nose
with two black splotches were all she could see. All those awful feel sorry for
herself feelings disappeared. Joe handed her the tea mug.
“So
how did we end up with whats-his-face up there?”
“I
have no idea. I picked up the van yesterday after the refit, and well, there he
was,” Joe explained.
“He?”
Joe
nodded. “I took him to the vet with every intention of handing him to a rescue
center, but, I don’t know. There was something about him. It turns out he is a
pedigree Ragdoll.”
Pann
melted. “The ones that go limp in your arms. They are so soft and fluffy…Oh,
Joe. Look at the splotches on his cute little nosey. Bloody hell. Is that the
cat?” Her nose wrinkled. “Oh God, that’s foul,” she breathed.
“There
is nothing wrong with that cat’s stomach. Apparently, some cats are prone to gas
and this is one of them I’m afraid.” Joe chuckled. “So are we gonna keep him? I
had him vaccinated, micro chipped and everything.”
“What
have you called him?”
“I
thought I’d let you name him,” Joe replied with a smile. “It’s taken you out of
your bad mood hasn’t it?”
“Yes,
you rat, it has.” Pann couldn’t take her eyes off the two fluffy paws and now
emerging face over the edge of what had been her bed. “I’m still not using that
commode, you know.”
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Amanda Ward lives in Bedfordshire, England with her
husband, three children and two insane cats. The expression ‘What you see is
what you get’, sums her up perfectly.
She is the author of the novel Without Saying A Word with Books To Go Now and The MisAdventures of Pann Haggerty with Secret Cravings Publishing. She is a member of the Romance Novelists Association (RNA). There is always some moment waiting around the corner to be written into a novel.
Her interests include a passion for history and the royal families of Europe, romance novels, cooking, and science fiction including Doctor Who. Of course not forgetting the great and wonderful Doris Day musicals and English costume dramas.
A perfect afternoon for Amanda would be a pot of tea, plenty of biscuits with a Doris Day film on the telly. Shared with great friends and her amazingly tolerant mother in law.
She is the author of the novel Without Saying A Word with Books To Go Now and The MisAdventures of Pann Haggerty with Secret Cravings Publishing. She is a member of the Romance Novelists Association (RNA). There is always some moment waiting around the corner to be written into a novel.
Her interests include a passion for history and the royal families of Europe, romance novels, cooking, and science fiction including Doctor Who. Of course not forgetting the great and wonderful Doris Day musicals and English costume dramas.
A perfect afternoon for Amanda would be a pot of tea, plenty of biscuits with a Doris Day film on the telly. Shared with great friends and her amazingly tolerant mother in law.
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