Chantilly White

It’s great to be back as a guest blogger on CoffeeTime, thanks so much for having me! Especially to talk about that all important first love. The sweetest and most poignant of all!

This seems to be “my weekend” or at least my annual general posting time, as I was heading off to Seattle’s ComiCon last year when I posted, too. I’ll be in Seattle for that same event when this posts, unfortunately, so please forgive me if I’m very late responding to comments. I will check in, I promise!

I’m excited to give a little taste of my historical romance novella, Pearls of Wisdom, this time. Pearls of Wisdom holds a special place in my heart. It’s the story of a young soldier, Billy Wingate, on the eve of heading off to fight in World War II. For years, he’s been in love with the widowed small-town librarian, and very sexy older woman, April Collins. She is his first and only love, the woman of his dreams. He’s spent all his spare time working alongside her in the library, helping to shelve books, talking about their favorite authors, daydreaming about all the places they want to travel some day, sharing their interests, their differences, and all the things they have in common. But now he’s leaving, and he knows it might be his last chance to finally tell her how he feels. What follows is a night he could never have imagined, one neither of them will ever forget.

I hope you enjoy the excerpt, below, and if you feel like sharing, tell me about your first love!

Blurb:

A long-simmering love. A proper proposal. One incredible night.

Billy Wingate has never been with a woman. He’s never held a gun. In fact, he’s never been outside his home state of Indiana. But it’s 1942. The world is at war, and Billy’s life is about to change forever.

On the eve of departing for the war, Billy finally gathers the courage to ask his dream girl, sexy town librarian April Collins, to be his bride. But when his proposal turns into a steamy night of passion, Billy is determined to make every moment count. They both know his first time may be his last. . .

A short, H-O-T historical romance, Pearls of Wisdom is 15,000 words (about 35 pages).

Excerpt: Pearls of Wisdom by Chantilly White

Waterside, Indiana ~ May, 1942

The pearl-and-diamond engagement ring weighed like a thousand-pound, shining beacon in Billy Wingate’s breast pocket.

Billy tried and failed to regulate his breathing as he adjusted his straight black tie, stalling on the walk outside the tiny town library. A riot of flowers bloomed along

Pearls of Wisdom by Chantilly White

the edge of the lawn, throwing scent into the air like confetti at a Fourth of July parade, and the glass library doors sparkled in the late-afternoon sun. The glimmering light made him squint.

His new khakis, as close to the uniform he’d soon receive as he could find, were heavily starched and sharply creased. They fit snugly over the toned body of a man full-grown, but the doors reflected the same boyish face he’d stared at in the mirror all his life. The one that had earned him his most-hated nickname””Pretty Boy Billy””a taunt he’d tolerated with good-natured grins and silent groans for years.

Billy frowned. After all this time, did Miss April still see him as a boy?

Show her you’re a man. Don’t be a coward.

Signing his life over to Uncle Sam had been a snap compared to asking Miss April one simple question.

Faking confidence, Billy strode through the doors and swept his gaze across the familiar front counter, the stacks of books and small row of tables.

There.

Leaning over Mrs. Dennis’s shoulder to point out some bit of information, Miss April had her back to him. She wore a summer dress as red as Pop’s Chevy Cabriolet, with tiny white polka dots all over it. It skimmed her back and narrow waist and flared over her hips to swirl to her knees. Leaning over as she was, the skirt drifted up a bit in back. Billy swallowed hard as his eyes traced the smooth, shapely muscles along the backs of her thighs where the skirt’s hem flirted with lightly tanned skin.

His heart thudded, heavy as cannon fire, and the rolling waves of Lake Michigan, washing the shore across the street, seemed to rush into his ears. Sound ebbed and flowed with the rhythm of his nerves. He followed his line of sight down curvy calves to delicate ankles and all the way to her feet.

She wasn’t wearing any stockings.

The tie at his neck suddenly felt tighter. It was choking off his breath, but his gaze stayed glued to April. Red high heels gleamed in the library’s ceiling lights, one heel kicked over the other, her free foot swinging lightly to some inner rhythm.

What does her skin feel like right there, in that little hollow below her ankle?

He wanted to run his fingers over that spot, trace a circle around her ankle and stroke up the side of her calf to the back of her knee. He broke out in goose-bumps just imagining the feel of her skin beneath his questing fingers.

April was speaking to Mrs. Dennis, but Billy couldn’t hear her words over the thumping of his heart. He shifted a bit, aware of the growing bulge in the front of his trousers and wishing he’d thought to grab the folder off the backseat of the car to cover himself. A book, his jacket, anything.

Every damn time! He saw her nearly every day. He should have developed some immunity. And at twenty, he should have better control.

April’s velvety laugh stroked the air and all the nerve endings in his body lit up. He wiped an unsteady hand across his brow. It came away glistening.

End Excerpt

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt and look forward to your comments! To purchase Pearls of Wisdom, please visit my website or follow the links below. (It will also be available in my very own CoffeeTimeRomance storefront soon!) Thanks!

Chantilly White’s website

Pearls of Wisdom buy links:
Amazon
B&N
Smashwords
Apple
Kobo