The Happy Hooker by Melinda Curtis

Read to the bottom for your chance to win, plus an invitation to a Facebook party today!

I love romance with its promise of happy endings. I also love romance hooks, having "grown up" on them thanks to Harlequin and rom-com movies. You could say, I'm the "happy hooker", because I've written stories featuring pregnant women, twins, secret babies, firemen, wounded warriors, childhood crushes, best friends to lovers, reunion stories...and I know I'm probably forgetting some!

In December, A Memory Away featured a heroine with partial amnesia who was pregnant (she couldn't remember how she got pregnant). And this month marks the debut of my first matchmaker story, also with a twist. In Make Me a Match, three guys have been friends since childhood in Alaska. They've played sports together. They've dreamed together. And they've failed together. So now they're trying to get their lives back on track by...matchmaking? And of course, I couldn't seem to limit myself to just one hook - matchmaking - I had to add a secret baby!

Make Me a Match is a collection of three connected romances by me, Cari Lynn Webb, and Anna J. Stewart. Here's how my hero, Cooper Hamilton, finds out he's a father.

  The inner front door opened and a woman stepped in. She was wrapped from neck to snow boots in a reddish-brown parka that made her look like a stuffed sausage. Conversation in the room died away as every pair of male eyes turned toward her. She peeled off her knit cap, revealing shoulder-length, glossy blond hair and artfully applied makeup.
  She was pretty, beautiful even. The kind of woman that men stopped and took notice of.
  Coop sat up straighter. Noticing. “Here’s our first customer.”
  She unfastened her jacket with small, delicate hands, revealing a small, delicate head covered in blond fuzz. A baby. Strapped to her chest.
  The room heaved a sigh of regret. Conversations resumed, albeit not at their usual volume.
  Slumping, Coop returned his attention to his beer. “And there goes our first customer.”
  Boots rang across the oak floor.
  Gideon tapped Coop on the shoulder. “She’s coming over here.”
  Coop turned back around.
  It was the weirdest thing. Coop was used to Alaska’s winters, used to the cold. But as the woman and the baby approached, the room took on a chill.
  She stopped in front of him and arched a golden brow. “Cooper Hamilton?”
  Coop nodded, rather numbly, because there was something familiar about the woman’s face, about her smooth voice, about the swing of her pretty blond hair across her shoulders.
  She gestured to the baby. “I believe I have something of yours.”

I'm currently writing a story with twins and a single dad, a guy who is trying to be a reformed bad boy. Hooks! You've got to love them! Don't you? What are some of your favorite hooks?

Melinda Curtis is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. To celebrate the launch of Make Me a Match, the authors are holding a sweepstakes where you could win one of three $10 gift cards or one of three ebooks! Enter here.

And don't forget that Harlequin Heartwarming PRINT books are now on sale in several larger Walmarts across the U.S. Do you have a Walmart selling Heartwarming books near you? Check here. We're hoping they'll be in all Walmarts by July!

And finally, because it's Monday - and everyone should smile on a Monday, here's a photo of my little stinker - Duke. Four months old today! Consider this your invitation to a Facebook party today celebrating the release of all the February Heartwarming books! Come join the fun here!

Comments

  1. Happy release day, Melinda, Anna and Cari!

    Melinda, your hooks have me hooked! :-D

    Best wishes with the new release.

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  2. Happy release day - I'll echo Kate.
    My Lucy just turned 5 months. She's sitting next to me with her squeaker toy and an overturned water bowl (just noticed that.)
    Guess I'll go wake up the ten year old (real kid) and water them both.
    Love the bad boys gone good.

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    1. Hope that potty training is going well with Lucy, Pamela!

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  3. Happy release day, ladies!
    Oh my gosh! Duke is adorable...he's definitely got me hooked. What breed is he?

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    1. He's half yorkie/half shitzu. But he's all yorkie in attitude and acts like he owns the place

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  4. Happy release day! You can add me to Duke's fan club, too. He is so cute!

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  5. I love your hooks and now I'll have to get the books! I have a couple just waiting for me to catch my breath and sit down and read!

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    1. Thanks, Pat! Isn't that always the way - back from vacation and you need a vacation!

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  6. Mel, your hooks are great. Looking forward to the matchmaking trio of men---something different. Duke is so cute. I hope he shows up in one of the books.

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    1. He's so tiny (3 pounds), but he won Mr. Curtis' heart (he's 6'5"). So maybe Dukey does need his own book!

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  7. You know me, I love a bad boy (or two or three). NOt too many tropes I don't care for (thank goodness)...some I might not try myself tho. YOu pulled off amnesia brilliantly in A MEMORY AWAY and sold me on it. :)

    Happy release day, anthology buddy!

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    1. Thanks, Anna. Amnesia? People love 'em or hate 'em! It was fun to write, but so were our matchmaking fellas

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  8. Does my heart good to see Duke. He's adorable! Love all the hooks involving secret babies, pregnant women on the run, friends to lovers, old flames returning. Sounds like a great book, Mel. Congratulations!

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    1. Thanks, Muriel. He was the runt of the litter and the last one to be spoken for. My daughter staunchly defends him as the best of the litter (although none of us saw the rest of the litter)

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  9. Congrats to you three anthology girls today! Reunion stories are my favorite to write but I enjoy reading all the hooks, really. I always wonder why I like reunions when I don't have a lost love in my past that I'd like to meet up with again. Duke is adorable. Love his name to go with the attitude. However. My 17-pound cat could take him. :)

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    1. Well, your "heavy weight" kitty probably could try. Duke is very quick

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  10. Love the excerpt Melinda. See you at the facebook party.

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  11. Congratulations to you, Mel, and to Cari and Anna! I'm looking forward to reading this one. I LOVE this hook! The excerpt is perfect. I already want to know the story there. And Duke is a doll.

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  12. Happy book birthday, ladies!! Can't wait to stop by the Facebook party later today. And that dog is adorable :)

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    1. Thanks, Amy. I'll let you have the bigger dogs. We're going small now

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