ABOUT PUPCAKES
Sit! Stay! Speak! author Annie England Noblin’s novel takes one woman starting over, adds an aging pug named Teddy Roosevelt, and proves the power of a well-baked dog treat.
All she wants is a settled-down life.
What she gets is a dog—and a whole new normal . . .
There he stood in the doorway: overweight, depressed and nearly homeless—a pug named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy was Brydie Benson’s latest problem, arriving on top of her messy divorce and sudden move. Brydie needed a place to start over, so this rent-free home seemed a great idea. She just never counted on Teddy, or his owner, the Germantown Retirement Village’s toughest customer, Pauline Neumann.
And because rent-free doesn’t mean bills-free, Brydie gets a night-shift job at a big-box grocery. Whoever guessed there were so many people who wanted baked goods after midnight?
Then, she gets an idea—why not combine her baking skills with her new-found dog knowledge? And so her store Pupcakes is born. Along with a new start comes a possible new love, in the form of Nathan Reid, a local doctor with a sassy Irish Wolfhound named Sasha. And as fall turns to winter, and then to Christmas, Brydie begins to realize that life is a little bit like learning a new recipe for puff pastry—it takes a few tries to get it just right!
EXCERPT: After dinner, Nathan refilled their
wineglasses and led her into the living room. Sasha and Teddy had settled there
as well, and when Nathan built a fire in the fireplace, Teddy dropped right in
front of it and started to snore. Sasha wasn’t far behind him.
“The
living room at Mrs. Neumann’s house has a fireplace, too,” Brydie said. “I
thought about lighting it the other night, but it hasn’t been lit in ages.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate it if you
burned her house down trying to light the fireplace,” Nathan replied.
“No, I can’t imagine that would make her
too happy.”
“Listen,” Nathan said, scooting closer to
her on the couch. “I’m sorry if I asked too many intrusive questions earlier.
I’m hopeless at small talk, and when I get nervous, I tend to fall back into
doctor mode. I swear I didn’t mean to interrogate you over chicken.”
“That’s okay,” Brydie replied. “It was
actually kind of nice to talk about it with someone who doesn’t know anything
about my life before I moved here.”
“How do you like Memphis so far?”
“It’s getting better,” Brydie said with a
sly grin. Between the wine and the fire, she felt deliciously warm.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Brydie watched him watching her. She liked
the way his curly black hair fell in his eyes when he was concentrating. She
liked the way his T-shirt fit, not too loose or too tight. She liked the way he
asked her questions—soft, curious, but not intrusive. It made her want to tell
him everything, anything, just to keep him looking at her. Paying attention
to her.
But more than that, she realized, there was
something familiar about him, comfortable. She couldn’t put her finger on what
it was, but despite the constant butterflies in her stomach, he made her feel
calmer somehow. She could understand why people would be drawn to him as a
doctor. She could even understand why a woman might visit her elderly aunt in
order to be near him.
Nathan moved a hand up to Brydie’s face,
tucking a wandering strand of damp hair behind her ear. It sent a bolt of
electricity through her, and when he moved his hand away, Brydie felt herself
grabbing a fistful of his T-shirt and pulling him closer to her until her mouth
was on his, and she could taste the wine on his lips.
Brydie fell back into the couch and pulled
Nathan down on top of her. She could feel his hands exploring her body
underneath her T-shirt, and she burned with a need she hadn’t known existed
until that very moment.
“Do you want—” Nathan began in between
frenzied kisses, but before he could finish, the ringing of his phone in his
pocket cut him off.
“Ignore it,” Brydie murmured.
“I can’t,” Nathan said, pulling himself
away from her with a groan. “I’m on call at the nursing home tonight.”
ABOUT ANNIE ENGLAND NOBLIN
Annie England Noblin lives with her son, husband, and three dogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English and communications for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Her poetry has been featured in such publications as the Red Booth Review and the Moon City Review. She spends her free time playing make-believe, feeding stray cats, and working with animal shelters across the country to save homeless dogs.
Connect with Annie
Twitter: @aenoblin
Instagram: @aenoblin
BUY LINKS for PUPCAKES:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2f9gkMY
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2jHogdn
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2jHPrVC
Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/2wvH0CH
iBooks: http://apple.co/2wF3v32
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2w5L885
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