Seven Days to Paradise by Karan Eleni
Series: Launching Love #3
Published by Kindred Ink Press LLC on July 11, 2018
Genres: Sweet Romance, Romantic Comedy
From debut author Karan Eleni comes book three in the Launching Love novella series from Kindred Ink Press – a sweet romance about making time to relax, letting love find you, and dealing with trouble in paradise.
Lorilynn Matthews has been in the same dead-end job for six years and is ready for a break. When her recently-dumped best friend suggests a girls’ week on a cruise through the Caribbean, Lori is hesitant but accepts the invitation.
As his brother’s best man, Clayton Weldon agreed to co-organize a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. What he didn’t agree to was reliving his honeymoon with his ex-wife. When someone else’s drama lands in his lap, he wants to avoid it, but it gives him an opportunity to escape his own, if only for a moment.
Will a chance meeting, seven days on a cruise ship, and drama at every turn make for the excursion of a lifetime or create the need to reach for life preservers to ride out the end of the trip?
In no particular order, Karan Eleni is a bookworm, blogger, reviewer, publisher, author services wizard, former band manager and merch girl, crocheter, proud auntie to two mini bookworms, momma to two spoiled black cats, and newly published author.
She lives in Central Minnesota and spends a majority of her time living in the book world until her family drags her kicking and screaming from her house (unless they bribe her with tacos).
Follow Karan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Goodreads at @karaneleniwrite. If she ever logs in, she’ll thank you and follow back.
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“I’m sorry. You want me to what?” Lorilynn Matthews struggled to catch the soapy glass bowl before it fell into the sink. “Liv, you have gotto be joking. My boss won’t allow me to take two weeks off work right now.”
“Oh, come on, Lor! I keep bumping into Seth and Stacy. I needto get out of here, and a cruise sounds like heaven. I’ll call Aunt Janie to book everything right now if you say yes. Tell Rikki it’s an emergency. Bring work with you. There will totally be downtime. Let’s just goooo.”
Lori sighed and finished washing the bowl. “I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. If I can get this project finished early, she might let me off. Lord knows I deserve it after the crap they’ve put me through.”
“I’m going to call Janie to see what’s available on short notice.” Liv dashed off to her room upstairs.
“Wait. Liv! Don’t book anythi–” Lori’s heart raced, and her breathing became shallow. She forced a few deep breaths and squeezed the sponge as hard as she could to fend off the impending panic attack. Breathing under control once more, she raced through the last of the dishes and settled in at the table to beat her new deadline.
Forty-five minutes later, Liv came bouncing back down the stairs and flopped into the chair across from Lori. “Your passport is current, right?”
Lori saved her file and looked up, raised eyebrows signaling her annoyance at the interruption. “Um, yes? I renewed it when we went to London a few years ago, remember?”
“Oh, right. So, Janie found us a killer deal on a cruise through the western Caribbean. Seven nights on the ship, and we port in Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. We leave from Galveston, Texas next Sunday and come back the following Sund–”
Lori waved her arms in the air. “Woah, woah. Slow down.”
“What?”
“Sunday? As in three days from today?” The panicky flutters from an hour earlier reappeared.
Liv crinkled her nose. “No? Next weekend.”
“Okay. Continue.”
“Janie’s figured it all out. We could leave here on Saturday morning and fly down to Texas, visit some cafes and shops…”
Lori zoned out as Liv rambled on.
“Lor?”
“Wha–Yeah? Sorry. If I say ye–”
Liv jumped out of her chair and danced around the dining room cheering.
“Hold up. I’m not finished.”
“Sorry.” Liv zipped her lips and sat back down, waving to Lori to continue.
“What’s this going to cost me? I put most of my savings into the down payment for this house and am just starting to get the balance back up. You know I don’t want to touch it for a while.” Lori waited for her friend to chime in but was met with silence. “You can talk now.”
“I know. So this deal is awesome. I think Janie has a friend in booking at the cruise line, and she called her directly. They had a cancelation last night, and a pair of adjoining cabins are available. We can have our own cabins so you can work while I nap.”
Lori’s thoughts jumbled as she tried to calculate what this trip would cost, and she shook her head to clear her mind. “Two rooms? I feel my savings dwind–”
“Let mefinish now, please.”
Lori nodded.
“I guess they normally book cabins for two people, but since this one was canceled so close to the departure date, they didn’t refund or something. So Janie’s friend gave us each a room at the one-person rate so they could fill it.”
“Okay, you’re starting to convince me. Keep talking.”
“Eight ninety-nine each. Excursions and some restaurants are extra.”
“You want me to spend over a grand right now?”
“No. I’m paying for all of it because it was my idea. I’ve still got some money from Seth buying out my half of the house. Please?”
“Can’t really say no to that, now, can I?”
“Nope. So I can tell Janie to book it?”
“Fine. What info does she need from me?”
“She said she saved everything from London. She just needs to know what excursions we want to do. Or we can see what’s still open when we get there.”
“Let’s just do that. If we leave in a week, I need to get this finished so the boss lets me go.”
“Cool. I’ll have her check availability, and we can go through it on the plane.”
“Works for me. Tell Janie thanks.” A twinge of excitement bubbled up as the idea of a week away really sunk in.
Kindred Ink Press is an independent publisher of (almost) all things romance. From romantic comedy to cozy mystery, historical to contemporary real-life romance, we’ve got a bit of romance for just about everyone. Our books range from quick reads to those of epic length and can be found in digital and print formats with audiobooks coming soon.
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I am a writer, blogger, book reviewer, and bon vivant and encourager. I have lived my entire life in Tropical Ohio. My goal is to make friends with everyone in the world. I wrote a fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli, that presents the problems and praises, and the love and laughter of family life and retirement. My passions are blogging, reading and reviewing, and writing. My life is a WIP.