Something a little special for you today...
Take a look at this exciting extract from Shari Low - 'My One Month Marriage.'
Always love Shari's work so pleased to be part of the blog tour. I love that we can give you a lovely sneaky peek.
Available via Amazon here:
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I hear the sound of the oven door banging
shut, before she re-enters with a glass of radiation pink. ‘I took some of this
from the cocktail shaker,’ she informs us. ‘It looks suspiciously like
something I’d prescribe for acid reflux. Right, what’s the latest? Married
anyone else since I saw you yesterday? Divorced yet? Engaged again?’
I refuse to rise to her innocent-faced
sarcasm, instead going for dry threats and indignation. ‘If you carry on like
that, I’m going in to work.’
‘It’s Sunday,’ Verity points out, always
one to insert facts into the equation.
‘And I hate to point out that your job was
at the root of this whole debacle in the first place,’ Yvie adds, following it
up with, ‘Jesus, my bra straps are killing me. Did I mention I’m going back on the
diet tomorrow?’
‘You did. Is it the same one as last week?
And the week before?’ Verity teases.
‘Not sure, but right now I’m hoping I lose
nine and a half stone of smug older sister,’ Yvie fires back. She takes no
cheek from anyone and I love her for it.
‘I thought you were embracing your curves?’
I enquire, confused.
‘That was last week. This week, I want to
book a holiday, wear a bikini and I’ve realised that to feel good about that
I’ll need to lose the equivalent of a small dinghy in weight in a month and a
half. Starting right after that lasagne.’
I don’t argue. Only a fool would get in
between Yvie and her ever changing body-confidence issues.
‘Anyway, I preferred it when we were revelling
in your disaster of a life,’ she tells me. ‘Where were we?’
‘Where were we?’ It’s like an echo, only
said in a voice that is sharper than the other three in my living room. Marina,
only her head and neck visible round the side of the door, is the oldest of the
four of us and the designated grown-up. She’s the kind of woman who makes
lists, has a pension plan and who knows the difference between a vintage bottle
of plonk and something off the shelf at Lidl.
‘Yvie has just pointed out that my job was
to blame for all this.’
‘Yes, well, she’s not wrong. At least at the
start. Although, to be fair, you did take an unfortunate situation, handle it
badly, then let it descend into a complete roaring balls-up,’ Marina concurs
before her head and shoulders disappear and I hear the sound of her clicking
heels fading as she heads down the hall to the kitchen. I’d bet my last pound
that she is carrying a bag containing sushi and hummus – she considers healthy
food to be the only option, even in a crisis.
Yvie gestures to the door. ‘See? Even her
Highness agrees. I finally feel validated as an adult.’
I ignore the playful barb. Successfully
negotiating life with three sisters is fifty per cent love, thirty per cent
tolerance and twenty per cent dodging the ever-changing dynamics between us.
Especially, in this case, as they both have
a point. My job, first as sales director, then latterly as partner of Glasgow
marketing company, The B Agency, definitely contributed to my current
situation. If I hadn’t worked there, I wouldn’t have met Tom. I wouldn’t have
fallen in love. He wouldn’t have broken my heart. And then I wouldn’t have gone
on to screw up my life so colossally that I’m now contemplating eating dodgy
lasagne while wondering what I am going to tell my mother when I return her
generous wedding gift of a lavish, smoked glass beaded chandelier. Granted, it
is lovely – in a blingy, wear sunglasses because it’s so bright it could cause
eye damage, kind of way. But the fact that I live in a flat with low ceilings
transforms it from an ostentatious decorative statement to a concussion risk.
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Shari Low is the #1
bestselling author of over 20 novels, including One Day In Winter and With
Or Without You and a collection of parenthood memories called Because
Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow and her first title for Boldwood will
be My One Month Marriage in January 2020.
