MIDNIGHT SUPPER AT THE RISE AND SHINE
by Tara
BLURB:
Bad luck and worse choices—that’s Irene. She’s been a widow half her life and now splits her time between waitressing at the Rise and Shine café and singing in an oldies cover band. And she’s having an affair with a married man—something that even her eclectic, super liberal family can’t condone.
She’d be the first one to admit she has faults, but she’s not a bigot. The genetic pool in her nuclear family spans the globe. And it’s not that she’s prejudiced against people with disabilities but that doctors and wheelchairs give her the heebie-jeebies. So when a cute guy in a chair keeps showing up in the restaurant, she’s clumsy, awkward and strangely drawn. Can Irene let go of the past or is she too emotionally broken to find a future worth the risk?
EXCERPT
The restaurant buzzed with conversation and the familiar clank of silverware on plates. Movement near the front made me glance over. A massive, shaggy-haired creature stared up at me from under table one. My heart pounded. It looked like a fucking bear. I screamed. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look.
Adam trotted over, his face aflame. “Mom, get a grip.”
As I moved toward the table, I pointed to the bear and scowled at the guy sitting beside it. “What the fuck is that?”
He looked up at me, a man about my age, who had the most amazing blue eyes. “Um, it’s a dog, ma’am. A Newfoundland. He’s very civilized. He’s a—”
“You can’t have a dog in here,” I shouted as he finished “—service dog.”
That’s when I noticed the bear’s blue backpack.
“Shit. Oh, I’m so sorry…” Great. Now I was yelling at the disabled. I moved to get out of the way of the huge dog. Something jabbed into my hip, and the guy with the great eyes jerked sideways. He clutched the table and swore.
I looked down and saw the wheelchair I’d just bumped into—unobtrusive, low-slung, a nice red that blended in with our décor.
“Sorry.” I grabbed the handle to straighten it back out for him.
“Don’t!” he barked.
I backed away, mortified. Adam glared at me. Someone put a hand on my shoulder.
Edward smiled down at me. “I see you’ve met my friend, Mark Redfield. Mark, this is Irene, the mother of our charming server. She’s quite pleasant most of the time. Maybe you could bring us some pie?”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tara Woolpy is the author of The Lacland series, loosely linked novels set in the fictional upper midwestern town of Lacland, including Releasing Gillian's Wolves, Raising Wild Ginger and Midnight Supper at the Rise and Shine. Tara earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Whitworth College after which she spent a year at the Women Writers Center in Cazenovia, New York. While pursuing her writing career she paid the rent through an astonishing number of jobs—she’s been a waitress, a shop owner, a retail clerk, a half-way house counselor and a commercial diver. Eventually, she took a midlife hiatus from writing to become an aquatic scientist. As such she also holds a Masters degree from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now she teaches online for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and has come back to writing fiction with new passion and wonder at the long, serpentine beauty of life. In addition to the novels, her work has appeared in Focus, Corymb, Kalliope, Alligator Juniper and the anthology The Things that Divide Us from Seal Press.
Contact information:
Email – tlwoolpy@gmail.com
Follow Tara on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tara.woolpy), find her on Google+
For more about the Lacland books—www.batsintheboathouse.com
BUY Links:
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Woolpy/e/B00596GT28/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1431446687&sr=8-1
BN Author Page: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tara-woolpy?store=allproducts&keyword=tara+woolpy
GIVEAWAY
Tara will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter.
Thanks for having me on the blog today!
ReplyDeleteI love the title :)
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