Tami Lund Romance Author Enjoy A Charlottini Today! Courtesy of Author Charlotte Daly

Happy Jello Shot June! Thank you, Tami Lund, for hosting me on your blog.

Summer has finally arrived here in New England, which means it’s time to paarrt-y! Break out the shakers and fancy glasses. There’s nothing better than sitting poolside or swinging in a shady hammock with a cool cocktail in your hand.

I’m a martini girl, and one of my favorites is a personal creation, one I have dubbed the Charlottini (makes 2):

1 jigger Citrus Vodka (Absolut Citron is my favorite)

½ jigger Triple Sec

2 jiggers Ocean Spray Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice (the light, low-cal one works fine)

Wedge of fresh lime

Pour liquor over ice in shaker and blend thoroughly. Squeeze lime into the bottom of a chilled martini glass and wipe lime around rim. Strain cocktail into glass, sip, and enjoy!

Repeat as necessary. Possibly often.

My upcoming contemporary romance, Memories of You from Lachesis Publishing, has a summer-bar-party theme.

What happens when a big-city Cinderella trades her shattered glass slipper for a pair of FMP stilettos? That’s how Zoe Anderson chooses to cope after her husband’s murder, her brutal rape. But it’s been three years, and her persistent psychotic episodes now threaten her job. Her shrink says to reboot: start over, return to an earlier, happier time. So she’s headed upstate where she spent summers as a kid. Zoe’s inherited her aunt’s lakeside cottage in the mountains—perfect timing—but finds it, like her life, in shambles.

Playboy Jason Rolland appears to have everything—a successful business, his own radio show, and all the beach babes he can handle. His resort has Zoe’s childhood vacation home landlocked, and now he wants the rest—razed. He’s already erased every other trace of his own false-perfect childhood, one that convinced Jason true love doesn’t exist, and that he’s destined to follow in his father’s unfaithful footsteps.

Zoe finds herself a reluctant guest at Lakeview Lodge. She befriends the elegant Jamaican bartender, Jade, and when Jason’s womanizing ways chases off Jade’s summer help, Zoe steps up. She tended bar nights while she was in college, and she can’t think of a better way to keep busy and rewind her life to happier times.

But Jason has his sights set on Zoe, and quickly succumbs to jealousy as he watches her flirt with bar patrons . . .

Excerpt from Memories of You, Book 1 in The Lake George Series:

~~~

Jason drained his glass and slammed it down on the table. He waved at the waitress, who hesitated when she saw him. She cast a worried glance over her shoulder, then disappeared into the bar. A few moments later, it was Jade who rounded the corner and stood there, glaring.

“What the hell is the matter with you, Mon?” Jade’s hands were rolled into tight fists on her hips. Standing over him as she was, Jason could swear she’d grown to nine feet tall. And she seemed to be wavering just a little. Or was that his eyes? Yes, perhaps it was. The flowers on her blouse were…moving. Swaying in the breeze. But there’s no wind in here. Jason chuckled and swiped a hand over his face.

I think four double vodkas might be my limit.

“So how’s Zoe’s real estate negotiations going? You’d think…” he hiccuped, “you’d think as the other interested party in this venture, I’d have been involved, wouldn’t ya?” Jason found it difficult to make the words come out without spitting. His tongue felt lazy, swollen.

Wow, vodka is a wonderful anesthetic. Makes talking a little challenging, though. But it’s a very effective painkiller. I don’t feel nearly as bad now as I did earlier.

Jade was scowling at him, shaking her head. “You’re drunk on your ass.”

“Don’t you look at me like that, big sister. I’m a grown man. I can drink as much as I want.” With his head tipped back, struggling to keep his eyes focused on Jade’s face, he was feeling a little dizzy.

Wow, she’s really tall tonight.

Jason tried to stand up. Jade’s hand came down on his shoulder and slammed him back into his seat.

“No scenes. This is my place of business too. You just keep your sorry ass right there in the chair.” She turned and motioned for one of the waitresses. “Go tell Claude we need some help out here,” she murmured when one drew near.

“I’m not hungry,” Jason sputtered. “What the hell do I need Claude for?”

But there he was, appearing as if out of nowhere right beside Jade. The man, whose mass was always intimidating, looked even bigger to Jason.

It’s like Alice in Wonderland. Everybody is either bigger or taller.

Jason chuckled at the thought, and was struggling to form the words around his lazy tongue when Jade said, “Claude, Mr. Rolland isn’t feeling well tonight. Can you please help him up to his cabin?”

Claude reached to untie his stained, cook’s apron, but Jade laid a hand on his arm.

“Better leave that on. We’ll get you a clean one when you get back,” she murmured.

“I’m not ready to go to my cabin,” Jason began. He planted both hands on the table and tried again to stand. “I need to have some words with our pretty little barmaid.”

But before the words were out of his mouth, he felt Claude’s bulbous arm hook his rib cage and lift him to his feet.

Man, this guy’s strong. And fast. We’re moving way too fast.

The whole room was swaying now, and the movement made Jason’s stomach lurch. He just couldn’t seem to keep his feet moving fast enough to keep up with Claude’s pace. His toes kept scraping along the floor, bumped over the doorstep, and then thumped down the steps to the parking lot.