Laura's Light
A much sought-after, successful career hasn't been enough to bring happiness to his life—is it possible that one woman can light up his darkness?
Forty-two-year-old single mother Laura Harris has devoted more than half her life to raising her son. She remembers the concept of having sex but it's been aeons since she's actually been a participant—especially with a real flesh-and-blood partner. But it's time to reclaim her life. Her son is a man now, and the rising star of the Jets Rugby League team.
Their future is brighter than ever and, for the first time, financially secure. But Laura is starting to think agreeing to have dinner with Trevor Hughes could be biting off more than she can chew. Not that she can't see herself taking a nice big chunk from the absolutely gorgeous, thirty-four-year-old sports-commentator's rump—he's one prime piece of masculinity! She just isn't sure how or when the whole sex thing will become an issue. She can't even get past the what-to-wear step, let alone reach the when-to-take-it-off stage…
Trevor Hughes usually avoids woman with substance—he has enough of his own demons to deal without trying to care for anyone else. But there's something about the upbeat, sexy, one-woman dynamo Laura Harris. The woman is pure sunshine and happiness, and that's surprising when you look at what life has handed her. Nothing seems to dampen Laura's spirits, and she quickly becomes someone Trevor needs in his life…until misunderstandings come between them. Can Trevor put things right?
Pippa's Fantasy
What's a girl to do when her fantasy is within reach? Grab it with both hands, of course—then try to live with the consequences.
He was her childhood crush, her fantasy man. Pippa spent her teenage years surrounded by players from the Sydney Jets rugby league team, the fit and muscular bodies that made up the team her father used to coach an ever-present part of her formative years. But he is the only one of that group of high-profile men who has ever caught her interest. From the moment Pippa first set eyes on the handsome future star, he owned her heart. Mitchell ‘the Rookie' Harris sauntered into her life and nothing has been the same since.
The problem for Pippa becomes twofold when she meets Rook again after years apart. Now there is the moral dilemma that, as she is signing on as physiotherapist for the Jets team in a few days, she is fully aware of the 'no fraternisation' rule. But then there's the reality that her heartthrob of so many years and dreams has no clue who she is, doesn't recognise her as the young girl whose heart he crushed years before when he refused her naïve advances. He wants her, and this could be her only chance to finally get Rook out of her system once and for all.
Now Pippa must decide, and quickly, whether to risk everything she's worked for. Will living her fantasy be worth the inevitable fallout?
General Release Date: 14th June 2013
Laura's Light
"This is pointless. What on earth was I thinking? Forty-two-year-old women do not accept dates from thirty-four-year-old men, especially when the man in question is a famous and mouth-wateringly hot television personality."
Laura Harris scolded her reflection in the full-length mirror she was standing before. "This is a nightmare. What do old, desperate women wear to this sort of thing?" she groaned as she took in her appearance grimly.
"Nope, too much cleavage," she said as she ruthlessly tossed aside the little black dress.
"Far too short..." was the decision that condemned the blue dress to the pile of discarded clothes that was becoming a mountain on the floor of her small, but usually tidy, bedroom.
"Yeah, okay...Maybe these black pants with this sweater—I do love the feel of the soft wool and these little pearl buttons are so sweet...Oh, my God—sweet. This is ridiculous! I’m too old for sweet. Sophisticated. Mature. That’s what I need. How do people do this...dating thing?" She waved frantically at her dishevelled self in the mirror. "I’m terrified."
She took a deep breath, then shook her hands a few times to try to dispel the anxiety that was eating her up.
"No, Laura, get a grip. Terrified is finding yourself pregnant at twenty. Terrified is being kicked out of home by your unforgiving parents with no way of supporting yourself. This is just dinner, dinner with a man who presents a sports programme on TV. A man who knows your twenty-one-year-old, football-playing son."
Having now managed to turn down the panic level a few notches Laura perused the mess on the floor. The ruby colour caught her eye, and as she picked the knee-length, full-skirted dress with the tailored bodice from the floor, she thought, What the heck, why not?
It wasn’t that bad a sight that greeted Laura in the mirror’s reflection, once she had finished primping and pruning for the good part of an hour. Her blonde, almost white hair was in a loose updo and grey-and-silver eyeshadow highlighted her pale blue eyes. Happy with the way her dress fit tastefully over her trim body and noticing that her moderately high black pumps gave her calves a nice shape, Laura twirled one more time, reasonably pleased with the overall result, before picking up the small clasped handbag she had set aside.
"Well, as my mother used to say, 'That will do for the fella you’re after and the chance you’ve got'." The sound of the snort she made in response to repeating one of her estranged mother’s pearls of wisdom was not at all ladylike, in Laura’s opinion. "Great, and now I’m turning into my mother," she mumbled as she headed towards her living room to await her date’s arrival.
"Hey, Ma—did you say something? Wow, what’s with the get-up? Where are you going?"
Laura hadn’t heard her son come home but it was no shock to see him sitting on the couch with the TV on—probably a replay of the last year’s winning Grand Final. She smiled to herself, noticing the surprised expression on his face when he saw her.
"What’s wrong, Mitchell? Don’t I look okay? Do you think I should change? Yes, you’re probably right. It is a bit too much for dinner..." Laura had really got herself into a tether and rambled on until she felt her son’s hands come down gently on top of her shoulders.
"Slow down, Mum, you look fantastic. Hot—which is quite awkward for me to notice." Mitchell Harris—known as 'the Rookie' to fans of rugby league—shuddered visibly in response. "What’s got you into such a state, and all dressed up like that? Where are you going and who with?"
Laura would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the moment, if she hadn’t already felt as if she were about to faint from the nerves caused by the quickly approaching dinner date. Her son had sounded just like her father in his demand to know her plans. Nice turn of events, she thought.
"Huh, not that it is any of your concern, young man—you are still the child in this relationship and me the mother—but to answer your question, I’ve been invited out to dinner. Pretty sure we’ve already had this conversation. Mitchell Harris, were you not listening to me...again?" Laura looked up into her tall son’s face, trying to appear stern, but she couldn’t hide her affection for her only child.
"I’m sorry, Ma, I didn’t mean to sound nosey… But who are you going out with, again? I forgot."
Laura had always had a hard time not falling for that puppy dog look Mitch had perfected early on in his life when he’d really wanted something. Many a time it had broken Laura’s heart to disappoint him, but money had always been tight back then. She thanked her lucky stars, every day, that their life had taken a turn for the better. Not that luck had had much to do with it. No, it was all Mitchell and his amazing sporting ability that had given their small family a leg-up in life.
Pippa's Fantasy
"Pip, if you could have anything you wanted just for one night, what would it be?"
Phillipa Rodgers—Pip or Pippa to her friends—sent Cassie a bewildered look, wondering what had brought about the odd question from her best friend.
"Well, Pip, it’s your twenty-second birthday and you are now a professional sports physio, about to begin the grown-up phase of your life—you know, responsibility and all that." Cassie giggled. "If you could have or do anything, just for one night, what would it be?"
Cassie was looking at Pippa as if she knew some big secret and couldn’t wait to tell it.
Phillipa Rodgers and Cassandra Davies had been best friends since they’d met on their very first day of school, eighteen years ago. Since that day, they had shared everything—the ups and downs of life, good or bad. Tears, fears and successes. They had always been confidantes, whether it was for a first kiss or the loss of virginity, each girl had been there to support the other. They had cried over broken hearts and celebrated the good times, but always together. Pip and Cassie were inseparable.
Pip—once blonde, like her friend—had recently dramatically changed her hairstyle. Her formerly curly, waist-length hair was now cut short and coloured blue-black in a style that feathered around her face. Pip’s eyes were a darker shade of blue than Cassie’s cornflower ones, her face slightly more pointed compared with Cassie’s more cherubic features.
The girls were out partying to celebrate completing their university degrees, dressed in the latest fashionable, chic clothes. Pip, having finished a physiotherapy degree and a year at a teaching hospital, was about to begin her career in earnest, specialising in sports physiotherapy. Cassie, with a Diploma of Education combined with her bachelor’s degree in physical education, was starting her teaching role as a sports teacher at the local high school.
Now finally back on home turf, the girls had been enjoying the scene at a new club when
Cassie had spotted Pippa’s fantasy man.
"Well, if you really have to ask that question, Cass, you’re not the best friend I thought you were. You know full well my one fantasy is, and has always been, to have long, hot monkey sex with Mitchell Harris."
"Hmm, yep, I knew that, Pip. Just thought I’d double-check before I told you the man of your seven-year fantasy walked into the club a few minutes ago. Take a look. He’s standing at the bar," Cassie said as she pointed.
Pippa’s gaze followed in the direction her friend pointed. Sure enough, leaning majestically against the bar and looking as if he owned the place was Mitch ‘Rook’ Harris, and he was as gorgeous as ever. The mere sight of him caused Pip to catch her breath.
Pippa hadn’t seen Mitch in the flesh for over five years, but she noticed the changes in her first crush’s looks immediately. The young, brash man destined for superstardom had completely filled out into one hunky piece of prime male. Rook’s face was now slightly fuller, more mature. His nose—not as straight as it used to be—gave him an overall tougher, more masculine appearance. Once the ‘pretty boy’ of rugby league, he was now all grown up—and he was the complete package.
As Pippa sat staring, Rook turned from his conversation with the barman, and as if sensing he was being watched, looked towards her. Their eyes locked, and Rook’s face broke into a sexy, broad smile.
"Oh, my God, he saw me, Cass!" Pippa exclaimed as she hastily broke eye contact with Rook.
"Well, Pip, now’s your chance. What did you say? ‘Hot monkey sex’, wasn’t it?" Cassie laughed at Pippa.
Pip had first met Mitch ‘the Rookie’ Harris when he’d joined the rugby league team her father had coached. Rookie had been a cocky twenty-year-old, full of potential. Quick and with a natural footy brain, he had been instrumental in the Jets’ winning the premiership that year. Pippa had been a fifteen-year-old girl coming into womanhood, and Rookie had stolen her heart. He had been her first love.
"Not likely, after the disgrace of five years ago," Pippa answered with a hint of sadness in her tone. She’d thought fulfilling her fantasies with Rook before heading off to uni would be a good idea, but the humiliation when he’d calmly removed her hands from his body and told her ‘no’ was one she was unlikely to forget. "My God, I bared my breasts to him and he turned me down. I’m not his type. Rook will just have to stay a fantasy."
"Yeah, well, let’s just see about that, Pip. Fantasy man is heading this way—and it’s not me he’s undressing with those sinful eyes. Stay calm and see what happens. This will be your last chance at him. You told me Coach James has a strict no-fraternisation rule, and as of next Monday, you will be part of the Jets staff. I don’t think you will ever find a man that lives up to your fantasy of Rook—now is your chance to get him out of your system and then maybe you can move on."
Sydney-born Donna Gallagher decided at an early age that life needed be tackled head on. Leaving home at fifteen, she supported herself through her teen years. In her twenties she married a professional sportsman, her love of sport—especially rugby league—probably overriding her good sense.
The seven-year marriage was an adventure. There were the emotional ups and downs of having a husband with a public profile in a sometimes glamorous but always high-pressure field. There were always interesting characters to meet and observe, and even the opportunity to live for a time in the UK.
Eventually Donna returned home a single woman, but she never lost her passion for watching sport, as well as the people in and around it.
Now happily re-married and with three sons, Donna loves coffee mornings with her female friends, sorting through problems from the personal to the international. But she's on even footing with the keenest man when it comes to watching and talking rugby league.
Donna considers herself something of a black sheep in a family of high achievers. Her brother has a doctorate in mathematics and her sister is a well-known Australian sports journalist.
An avid reader, especially of romance, Donna finally found she couldn't stop the characters residing in her imagination from spilling onto paper. Naturally, rugby league is the backdrop to her spicy tales of hunky heroes and spunky heroines overcoming adversity to eventually find true love.
A multiple ARRA awards finalist in 2013 & 2014 for her League of Love series, Donna is spreading her genre wings In 2015 with the launch of her new romantic suspense Haven Security Series and the re-release of her contemporary erotic novella A Fruitful Intimacy.
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