Blinded by Love by Gladys Cross

GENRE: Romantic Comedy, (RomCom), Contemporary

Here at fundinmental, I enjoy seeing what the authors like to share, so I left the topic for discussion up to Gladys Cross.

Things that make you go hmm…….

Recently I was asked in a podcast if I thought there was anything missing from the romance genre and immediately all the recommendations posts I read on a daily basis sprang to mind. The most common theme I’d noticed lately was paranormal romance readers clamoring for more mature characters that let the heroine have a say. A lot of readers mentioned they couldn’t identify with teenage characters, or they didn’t always want the man to save the day.

This was very thought provoking, and I wondered if I’d secretly harbored these same feelings and just not given it a second thought considering I write about the characters these readers desired. None of the women in any of my books are wilting daisies waiting on price charming. In fact, in my Order Bound Series, the women save the day more often than the men. None of them are young either.

Something still bothered me, though. Was I subconsciously writing for how I felt at this time in my life? Granted, I’m equal opportunity with ethnicity and weight in my characters, but was I missing some key component?

I’d love to hear what you guys would love to see happen in the romance genre. Drop me a line or stalk me HERE. I’m not shy.

BLURB

Kassie knew she was in trouble when her matchmaking best friend announced she’d gotten professional help in time for Valentine’s Day. Her friend’s attempts had always been hilariously ridiculous and never in a million years was Kassie expecting a hunky firefighter to show up on her doorstep.

Her online dating profile said she was looking for a superhero, and Declan couldn’t help but believe it had to be fate. But fate was a fickle mistress who left him to wonder who he was behind the mask. He’d been hiding in plain sight for long enough that he wasn’t sure if he even knew the answer. And until he figured that out, he had nothing to offer the world, let alone Kassie.

Love had already ended in tragedy once for Kassie, and she feared that history was doomed to repeat itself unless Declan could learn to trust her with his secrets. This time around, would it be enough to harden her heart for good, or would his deception restore her faith in second chances?

EXCERPTS

Excerpt from Declan:

“Declan went on a date and called me from in front of her apartment.” There was a hushed conversation that I only caught bits and pieces of, mainly hugged, and thought he was gay. Fuck my life, I thought as I drove down the long straight-away leading out of her apartment complex. “Are you still there?”

“Of course, I’m still here. Who else am I going to call Spencer?” I asked sarcastically. “I’m not even sure the boy’s balls have dropped yet.”

Sadly, there was no one else I could call for love advice outside the guys from the firehouse and it made me miss my mom that much more. Hell, she’d probably be calling Kassie herself, asking what colors she wanted for the baby blanket. 

“He is eighteen,” Webster said pulling me from my melancholy. “It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.”

I snorted. “Do you remember that call we went on where there was an eighty-year-old dude in leather that had lost the keys to his handcuffs?”

He chuckled. “Don’t remind me, and I mean that literally. I’m still not fully recovered, and that was two years ago.” There was silence on the other end of the line as I drove under the overpass. The nothingness went on for long enough that I wondered if we’d gotten disconnected when he snapped his fingers. “Call her back right now and ingeminate the date tomorrow.”

“Do what with the date?”

“Repeat the date.” He huffed an exasperated sigh. “You didn’t make it to the movies, right?”

“Webster you’re a genius!”

“And Declan. This time kiss the girl, so she doesn’t have to ask if you’re a homosexual.”

“She only asked me that because I admitted to watching every episode of Sex and The City.” I hit my head against the back of the seat. “Never mind, I just heard myself, I am an idiot.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Books transport us to a fantasy world where anything can happen, and once I overcame my difficulties in learning how to read, I was hooked. My mother always carried a Harlequin Romance with her, so it was only natural that I was drawn to that genre. There was something magical about the concept of eternal love and as I grew older, my tastes within the genre broadened to include everything from historical to dark.

My writing blossomed in much the same way. The first story I wrote was the Vanderbilt Affair, which was inspired by a field trip. Back then, I was fortunate enough to have an English teacher willing to nurture my love of writing by becoming my editor after school.

The writing bug stayed with me, but over the years, life got in the way, and it wasn’t until my early forties that I published my first short story in a Christmas Anthology. From there, I began writing and publishing across many sub-genres, with each book carrying some element of the unexpected.

When I’m not up to devious pursuits, like shooting a character, you’ll find me curled up with a book next to my dog, watching TV with my better half, or engaging in random water gun fights with my daughter and the neighborhood kids.

Stalk Me!

• Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3w9JkKM
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2102530.Gladys_Cross
• Facebook Private Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3772742262760749/?ref=share
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gladys.cross.author/?hl=en
• Tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@authorgladyscross

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