CRFT snippet #2: Sonnets

Thanks to Kage of RLyis for this lovely cover

The following is unedited and all grammatical errors are mine:

Ray needed to be in two places at the same time: his swim meet and Romance Lit Club. It was his first swim meet so he chose to go there asking his twin to stand in for him at RLC. Although Marcus knew what he was in for, he obliged for he couldn’t say no to his twin, plus, there was bribery cake in it. 

The club had a total of thirty members and they met in the music room on Wednesday evenings. Today, twenty-three showed up to read their favorite sonnet. Marcus was aghast. There was no way he was going to pull this off now. He hated sonnets! 

A tall lanky guy stands and addresses Marcus, “Ray, if you don’t mind…”

Where Ray was charming, Marcus was the total opposite, but he forced a smile – when all he wanted to do was coldly glare – and said, “By all means, be my guest, Papin.” He listened half-heartedly as Papin gushed over a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and tuned him out as he gazed out the window thinking about the batch of cupcakes Ray was going to especially bake just for him. 

“I shall but love thee better after death.”

“Ugh!” Marcus moaned in despair when some of the girls clap wildly. “Please, stop the train I want to get off.” By the time the fourth reader dramatically read her sonnet, Marcus wanted to hurt something. “I rather watch water boil!” he let out a breath and chanted internally, Think about the cupcakes. Oui, the cupcakes!

They were black coffee vanilla cupcakes that left a somewhat bittersweet coffee aftertaste in the mouth. Ray was skilled at creating bizarre foods that ended up being masterpieces. 

The cupcakes.

And they were all his after sitting in on this stupid romance club for one hour and a half. The cupcake dream soon disappear when Jarvis Facinelli said, “This sonnet is perhaps the most popular to date! It’s Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare who I consider the greatest romance writer of all time.”

Trying hard not to laugh, Marcus bit the inside of his left cheek and insolently rolls his eyes, “Right, and Shah Rukh is the best actor in the world.” 

Jarvis frowns. “Ray, I know you have your opinions…”

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Marcus cuts off the escalating rant. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” He mocks. “As if he was comparing his love to the weather! It’s emotionless and dispassionate and it’s like talking to a dead fish.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jarvis challengingly folds his arms. “then what’s your killer passionate opening? Something from a dead French fanatic, perhaps?” he sneers.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine,” Marcus smirks as the class was thrown into an uproar. A few of the girls sigh dreamily. Papin was frantically trying to rack his mind for the sonnet number and Jarvis was still staring at him with contempt. 

“Who wrote that sonnet?” Papin finally asked. 

“Ever heard of the Holy Bible?” Marcus looks on as everyone nods. “Good. That’s Song of Solomon. Read chapter one for the next class and we’ll discuss the greatest piece of romance ever told. As for me,” he picks up his backpack. “I’ll be devouring some of the finest cupcakes soon. Au revoir!”

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Have you ever seen the devil face to face?

The Old Switcheroo!

Well, I know that you’re familiar with this one! 😄You might have also seen movies with twins switching lives or a class for a day or maybe even two. Some results were hilarious, or successful, while some were plain disastrous; but twins enjoy sharing the pranks they’ve pulled on their classmates, friends, and even relatives. One of my favorite accounts involved identical twin teachers pulling off the big switcheroo, but some students noted the difference in handwriting and the class went nuts. Luckily, the teacher was just standing in for his identical twin for one day… or was he?

However, it is also important to note that although identical in appearance, twins do have different personalities and habits. They might look the same, but they are not always the same except in a few rare cases.  

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I Only Want To Get You, Coffee ☕

Short Story #21
A friends to lovers thing
A short coffee romance

I looked at the two coffees in confusion in my hands. “Why have I got two?” I asked the barista. “I only wanted one.”

She looks at me as if I had grown an extra head. “Do you sleepwalk? This is the third time that you came in and ordered the same two coffees.”

“Oh,” I could feel my cheeks growing warmer. “Thanks,” blushing out of embarrassment, I left the shop pinning the blame solely on one Nickolas Abdool. I missed him so much although I was the one at fault. We were the best of friends before something shifted in the universe, pushing us even closer together and when he finally admitted the way he felt about me a few weeks ago, I ran. I liked us being friends despite the fact that I always wanted to make him smile. His smiles were like sunshine on a rainy afternoon especially the one with the soft turn of lips, dimples deepening, chocolate brown eyes, soft and bright.

I missed him.

So when I showed up on his porch the next morning and his eyes bulged like some sort of exotic insect when he opened the door to me holding out a coffee to him, I was expecting him to tell me off. Instead, he accepted it wordlessly and stood to the side to let me in.

“It turns out that when I get a coffee, I order yours as well and then it dawned on me that I only want to get you, coffee.” I rambled. “Does that make sense?”

“No,” he drawls in that Kentucky accent, still thoroughly confused. “But keep talking.”

“Last week, I went to the mall and I ordered you a coffee despite the fact that you weren’t with me and I had no intention to come visit. And do you know what I did a while ago?”

Nickolas grins. “I can guess, but I’ll like the sound of it better coming from your mouth.”

I shrug. “I did it again, Nick. I ordered you a coffee.” I then sighed and decided to come clean with it. “I missed you, Nick.”

He smiled somewhat sadly. “I missed you, too. I would’ve kept my feelings to myself had I known you would’ve run.”

“It’s not that, Nick. The only time I feel like smiling is when I’m with you. Your voice surrounds my heart like a blanket because it reminds me of home. It’s just that all these new feelings left me perplexed because I don’t want our friendship to end.”

“And who says it’s ending?”

“When friends become lovers there is no going back to normal after a break-up.”

“You won’t know unless you try.”

“I know that now. Wait, I need to do something.” I told him putting his peace offering coffee down on the kitchen island. I stepped in front of him, tiptoed and pressed my lips chastely against his for a few seconds. “Okay, definitely didn’t feel like it was kissing my brother.”

Nickolas laughed a deep throaty laugh and teased, “You’ll be miserable for all of tomorrow over me.”

“No, I’d be miserable for all of my tomorrows without you and I like getting you coffee, so there’s that extra bonus.”

*sighs* In the end, it did not turn out as romantic as I wanted it to be for I kept rewriting and adding stuff. I don’t write short stories in advance anymore. I literally write the story two hours or so before I post (it). Also, I dislike writing in this particular POV, but the story kept leaning that way so I had no choice, but to follow where the writing led me.

I’m sorry for not elaborating further on Nickolas’ character. I kind of enjoyed writing him although his appearance didn’t tell you anything (how tall he is, if he’s handsome, a few of his favorite things, etc.) but hey, he’s from Kentucky and I LOVE the Kentuckian drawl. 😜

This short story is in sync with the six-word story I posted earlier. Thank you for reading. God bless. 💙

You are my universe…

I have no idea if this makes sense or not, but the words just won’t leave my memory so I had to get it out. *shrugging* Eh! Love doesn’t always make sense anyway.

Day 20: Favorite romance book

My least favorite genre. However, I’ll have to go with James Patterson’s Sundays at Tiffany’s. When my sister loaned me this book telling me that I must read it, I thought I wouldn’t like it because it was a romance and I didn’t care if JP was the author. 

I read it and ended up liking it, but didn’t bother to watch the movie.

Fight for me.

Words/Story: Diana Tyler

Pictures: Riverdale

It’s always a pleasure to make stories out of pictures. Also, there is no Riverdale to review this week so this would have to do.

I want to speak vows with you.

Book #86: Mr. (Not Quite) Perfect

What do women really want?

Journalist Allegra Fielding has a problem. She’s pitched a story to her boss—how to transform a not-so-perfect man into Prince Charming—and now she has to deliver! But where is she going to find a man willing to take part in a makeover? Time to blackmail her roommate, Max….

But Allegra’s cunning plan backfires spectacularly when Max refuses to be “perfected”! He’s a guy who knows what he likes, and he’s going to enjoy proving to Allegra that there’s nothing hotter than a man who’s a little rough around the edges…

Author: Jessica Hart
Publisher: Harlequin KISS (January 01st, 2014)
Chapters: 10
Pages: 186

I am in love with the book cover! I just had to get that out.

In this story, we have Max and the writer has personally declared him as her favorite hero to write to date because he is not incredibly handsome and he’s a civil engineer. I did not get that not handsome memo though for Max held his own quite well and came across as extremely handsome.

This is a friends-to-lovers story. I am skeptical about this kink for not many writers get it right.

Allegra is a feature writer for a fashion magazine called Glitz and is yearning to prove herself to her editor. She decides to write an article on turning Mr. Ordinary into Mr. Perfect, and this is where Max, her best friend’s brother, comes in. Max is an engineer (far from boring!) who has recently split up with his fiancée. After enough prodding, Max agrees to be her guinea pig in this experiment of hers.

During the experiment, their friendship is put to the test and although the feelings are there, they don’t rush into it head first. The development was well written. Kudos to you, Hart! Kudos to you!

I liked Allegra’s backstory from the impenetrable journalist mother she could never please enough right down to when she discovered who her real father was. By the end of the book, Max and Allegra took away lessons from the experiment. Max learns that making an effort occasionally is not such a bad thing while Allegra learns that average doesn’t mean boring. She learned to accept someone for who they are regardless of what they look/dress like because perfection isn’t everything. Imperfections are what make us who we are.

I must say though, every time Allegra’s name came up, I cracked up for I kept thinking of Algebra, but overall, I enjoyed this story. It was such a fun story to read!

VERDICT:

NEXT UP:

Summer Camp Secrets #2: Prankster Queen by Melissa J. Morgan

Fall Again

Short Story #17
A Fall Romance

I apologize in advance for the story cover being better than the actual story. Please proceed with caution.

***

My Love,

I know we’ve been through a lot in the past two years and with us being separated for almost one, it brought me back to where I needed to be. I had the time to cleanse my system and re-purify my soul.

Dari, I know no one is perfect. No, not even I, but I’ve acted the hypocrite with you. For that, I apologize. I am writing this letter to make a promise to you that I am going to try as hard as I can for us this time. Also, it’s Fall.

The trees are shedding their old to make way for the new, the leaves sway, rushing against the many leaves on the floor, the wind blows a burst of fresh cold air, I can smell apple spice bread baking from Mrs. Darcy’s shop down the hill and I know it’s your favorite…You know how Fall makes me sentimental! We first met in the Fall after all! I was biking through the park enjoying God’s grandeur when I almost knocked over a man in uniform! We laughed about it, chatted a bit, and then we went our own way. I did not expect to see you again, but I did, the very next day, at the same spot and what were the odds that you were riding a bike? As leaves softly fell to the ground making a blanket around us, you presented me with a flower and asked me out and of course, my answer was yes.

It didn’t take long for us to confess the most powerful words in the world to each other and we were married by the next Fall.

I hope this letter finds you well and that you’re in good spirits, Dari, for I never want to take our love for granted again. We’ve wasted too much time during this separation. However, if you go back on your promise of waiting for me, I’ll understand.

As long as you’ll have me, I am yours for the long haul.

 

Yours,

Candice

Sergeant Darius reread the letter once again with a goofy grin on his face. You can fall in love twice when second chances won’t leave you alone and he was determined this time to make things work until the rest of their lives. He folded the letter and placed it in the jacket near his heart. He had work to do in winning back his wife’s heart and he knew just the place to start; after all, the bikes were parked in the garage for way too long.

WORDS: 428

***I was leaning towards a sad story, but there’s just something romantic about Fall! I also admit that I had quite a few story ideas before landing on this one and sticking with it. I wanted to write the story based on a soldier falling in love again with his wife, but I ended up with this cheesy thing.

And Michael Jackson’s ‘Fall Again’ set the mood right. This beautiful song tells the story of my story that I wanted to tell… if that makes sense. 🙂

I wanna spend, time to live in
I wanna fall with you again
Like we did, when we first met
I wanna fall with you again

Book #72: Safe Haven

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (September 14th, 2010)
Pages: 385

BORING. BORING. BORING!

Did I say boring?

This was my first Nicholas Sparks’ book and I don’t think I’ll be reading another book from this author. This is the dude who gave the world books such as The Notebook, The Last Song, and Dear John which were turned into films. I’ve never watched any of them so I can’t pass judgment.

Safe Haven is basically Sleeping with the Enemy in a nutshell, minus the characters. The novel is about a woman who runs away from her abusive husband. She finds love with another man and becomes a ‘mother figure’ to his two children and life finally seems to be going well for her … until her husband finds her.

I found typos on page 122 (Kristen did not carry the drinks to the table and walk away with Alex looking after her. Katie did. Kristen was sitting with her father and brother waiting for their drinks, therefore, she cannot carry the drinks to the table). And on page 132, Kristin did not hold Katie after Josh fell into the river. Rather, it was Katie holding the little girl. This sometimes happens when you have characters with names close to each other or begin with the same letter.

I started speed reading right after this.

Jo turning out to be an imaginary friend, in the end, was an attempt to throw the wrench in for the sake of plot twists, but it simply wasn’t believable.

This story had lots of potentials but the author managed to lull me to sleep.

VERDICT:

NEXT UP:

The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes

Book #44: Prospect Street

Faith Bronson finds her privileged life shattered when her marriage ends abruptly. Only just beginning to face the lie she has lived, she finds sanctuary with her two children in a run-down row house in exclusive Georgetown.

The historic row house passed down through Faith’s family, harbors dark secrets of its own. Almost forty years ago, Faith’s baby sister disappeared from an upstairs bedroom, and this tragic, unsolved mystery continues to fascinate a nation. Now the secrets of the house on Prospect Street are about to be revealed. As Faith is forced to confront the deceit that has long defined her, she moves closer to freeing those she loves from their torment. For only when the truth is finally told can Faith, her family and the man she loves make a new beginning.

This is going to be a pretty short review.

I love the characters, the plot, and the surrounding. The author took me there! This story gripped me from the opening paragraph. It was well written and I was captivated thoroughly. It is about love and discovery, but most of all, forgiveness.

I’ll definitely recommend this book although it’s from 2003. It’s so rare to come across 5-star stories lately, so this was refreshing.

VERDICT:

NEXT UP:

The Storekeeper’s Daughter by Wanda E. Brunstetter