Sunday, July 18, 2010

Marrying Mallory, Diane Craver

Romance/Contemporary
Is Mallory Harrington jinxed because her name means luckless?

Things have gone wrong for Mallory since she was a small child. All she ever wanted was to have a complete family and live happily ever after. It appears she has it all when she marries Toby Harrington and they have a son. Unfortunately, their marriage ends when Toby has an affair with his law partner. After their divorce, Mallory doesn't think she should ever get married again.

Mallory decides to do something for herself, and get a surgical procedure that she's always wanted. What she doesn't expect is her instant attraction to her surgeon.

She learns that sometimes faith is about accepting what can’t be changed and grabbing what God offers. Life must go on.

Excerpt:
He realized he'd made a mistake having coffee with Mallory. He liked her too much which wasn't appropriate for a patient-doctor relationship. Add to that, he thought she was beautiful. Her dark brown hair shone in the bright sunshine that streamed in through the window by their table. Her brilliant green eyes mesmerized him. Incredible eyes with such a sparkle to them that he loved staring at them. Her warm smiles got to him, too. He'd noticed in the office Mallory had a tiny scar that looked like a dimple when she smiled. He'd wondered then what had caused the scar but hadn't wanted to ask her.

Maybe he should tell her that she could skip the nose surgery. Mallory's face had so much character with her strong cheekbones, overwhelming smile, beautiful eyes and personality that an imperfect nose was of small importance.

"Thanks. This is nice to relax after a rough day with junior high students." She took a sip of coffee. "And I love the smell of coffee. When I was growing up, I always woke up to the aroma of coffee brewing. My mom had to have coffee first thing in the morning."

"How about you? Do you get up at the crack of dawn?" He bet she looked cute even in the early daylight hours.

"I usually don't have any trouble getting up."

Should he talk to her about not having the surgery? Sure, he should. It was his obligation. "Mallory, I know Sharon put your name on the calendar for your surgery, but I'm not so sure you need to have anything done. Look at Sarah Jessica Parker. She has a strong nose."

"But my nose is bigger than hers."

"You might think your nose is imperfect because of the size, but I do think it gives your face character."

"Well, I can do with a little less character on my face."

"Your nose is large but it's aristocratic… like Princess Diana."

"And look what happened to her. Prince Charles loved Camilla." She snapped her fingers. "Guess what? Camilla has a small nose."

"But Princess Diana was considered beautiful." Like you, he wanted to say but didn't.

"I bet you're afraid I won't be happy with my appearance because I still won't have the perfect small nose. I understand that you can only do so much, but it'll definitely be a big improvement over what I have to live with now."

"I'm happy to do your surgery but if you should change your mind, I'll understand."

She gave him a warm smile. "You're stuck with me. I'm not changing my mind on this. I loved seeing the imagining of what I'll look like after surgery."

Mallory was definitely serious about having rhinoplasty. Part of him was glad because he'd be seeing her again several times, for sure. But he wasn't sure he liked that it'd be as his patient. "Then I'll see you in June for your surgery."

She cleared her throat. "What made you decide to become a plastic surgeon?"

The abrupt question caught him off guard. He thought about that for a moment. "I was impressed how plastic surgery made a difference in my sister's appearance. When we were still young, a stray dog came in our backyard and attacked her. Amy had to endure many surgeries."

"I'm so sorry."

"I'm still not sure why the dog went after her instead of me. We were both playing outside."

Her cell phone rang. While she pulled it out of purse, his eyes shifted to her mouth. Mallory had full perfect lips. Ideal for kissing. Big oversight spending time with Mallory outside the office. Now he was noticing her lips.

Reviews:
"In his book, ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’, Donald Maas states, “God works in little ways as well as big ones, so look for small moments of magic as well as big ones.” He then asks, “Have you ever felt that something that happened to you was fated?”...Well in Diane Craver’s book, Marrying Mallory, that is the precept she has used...For those who assume an inspirational romance cannot handle conflict, drama and suspense, I recommend they read Diane Craver’s Marrying Mallory, for it is all there."

Fennel - Long and Short Reviews
Rating = 4.5 Books
Voted BOOK OF THE WEEK 3/15/10

Why Diane Wrote this Book:
After reading many romances, I decided it was important to have a character with a physical defect, such as a large nose. Of course, not all heroines in romances are flawless beauties, but usually the main female characters have smaller noses. I decided that Mallory would not have a perfect nose. After her marriage ended, she would then decide it was time to do something for herself.

Mallory is a realistic character because I used my personal feelings in writing what she desired. I got into her mind completely because I know what it's like not to have a cute, small nose.

My large nose hasn't kept me from enjoying life. I've been happily married for thirty-four years to the same great guy and we've been blessed with six children. But I'll admit if I had extra money to spend on my appearance, I'd love to have rhinoplasty.

Divorce is another issue I tackle in Marrying Mallory. Even though I can't imagine ever being divorced, my character Mallory is a divorced Christian. She wanted to be married to Toby Harrington forever and have a happy family life while serving the Lord. When she learned Toby had an affair with his law partner, she couldn't forgive him so she agreed to a divorce.

Mallory struggles with her feelings for her surgeon because she feels it wouldn't be right for her to get married again God's eyes.
Purchase

Author Bio:
Diane graduated with a degree in English and Speech Education from The Ohio State University. Before writing her books, she was a schoolteacher and play director. She met her husband, the love of her life, while teaching at an orphanage.

She is the mother of six children and lives in southwestern Ohio. Her dream vacation is going to the beach. Her husband is supportive of her writing career as well as her awesome children. Diane writes contemporary and inspirational romance, chick-lit mystery, and women's fiction.

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22 comments:

  1. Hi. Thanks for the exerpt. It sounds very good. I will have to check out your other books aswell. COngrats on 34 yrs of marriage!!!

    brandyzbooks@yahoo.com

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  2. Hi Diane and Hi Shawna,
    What an inspiring story! I can't wait to read it. Diane, you really make your readers think about what life is all about. Thank you for a fantastic interview on such a beautiful site. Best of luck to you on your book, Diane!
    Hugs,
    Regina

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  3. Hi Brandy,
    Thank you for stopping by! My husband and I will celebrate our 35th in August - I can't believe it - life goes by so quickly!

    I'm glad you liked my excerpt!

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  4. Hi Regina,
    It is a beautiful site - I'm so glad Shawna has this wonderful blog! Thank you for visiting and for your kind comments.

    Have a great Monday!

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  5. Marrying Mallory sounds like a book that I'd like to read. Definitely outside the box, I think, in terms of the heroine's 'flaws' etc. Hope I can win a copy!

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  6. I liked to add that apart from being a wonderful writer, Diane is an incredibly inspiring person.

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  7. Loved the excerpt, it was the first I'd read of this book. Yes, she definitely sounds beautiful, but I do understand what Mallory is saying about Charles and Camille too.

    Sounds like an excellent story, Diane. :)

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  8. Hi ladies! Great excerpt,Diane. You're a wonderful lady and a fantastic author. Best of luck to you with Marring Mallory. It's a great book!

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  9. Tracy,
    I'm happy to hear that you'd like to win a copy of Marrying Mallory. I really enjoyed writing it.

    Have a pleasant evening!

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  10. Hi Shawna,
    Thank you so much for posting about my inspirational romance here on your fantastic blog. I appreciate and I know others do, too, all the work you do to promote authors.

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  11. Miss Mae,
    I'm glad you stopped by. Thanks for reading my excerpt. You're a good friend.

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  12. Anne,
    What would I ever have done without your wonderful patience and help in formatting Mallory for me - you were such a blessing when I struggled with trying to figure out how to correctly do the formatting. Thanks again!

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  13. Hi Diane,
    I've gotten to the party a little late, but I enjoyed reading about your new book. It sounds interesting. It also sounds as though it would be helpful.

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  14. Hi Diane,
    Just wanted to drop by and say I loved Marrying Mallory. A great read and it does deal with a touchy issue for a lot of us. Should we or shouldn't we?
    Best wishes for continued success.

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  15. Hi Gail,
    Thank you for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed learning about Marrying Mallory.

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  16. Hi Rebecca,
    Thanks for the best wishes. Coming from an award winning author like yourself, it means a lot to me that you loved Marrying Mallory!

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  17. great excerpt!..Sounds like a great book. I love books where the reader can relate to the characters that they are real!..

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  18. Hi Christy,
    Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you liked the excerpt! Have a great day.

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  19. Ooh, I'd like to win this one! Diane, I wanted to mention that not only do I like the excerpt, but the cover for your book is adorable. I'm a sucker for a cute cover! :)

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  20. Hi Joy,
    I'm glad you like the excerpt and the cover. Our awesome cover artist, Jenifer Ranieri did the cover for Marrying Mallory! She does a great job on our Desert Breeze covers

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  21. Hi Diane, I really love this story line. I believed when I married in 63' it would be forever but almost 23 yrs later I was divorced. My daughter was 22 and my son had just turned 16. The yrs after were hard but we made it. I am so thankful that I had just gotten a great job so I was able to provide the necessities. Beautiful cover.

    Thanks for the opportunity to enter.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  22. Hi Miss Kallie,
    Sorry I'm just getting back to you. I'm so happy you stopped by and shared your experience. I'm glad you had a great job and made it after your divorce. You made my day that you love the story line of MARRYING MALLORY. Thank you!

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