By Sara
Daniel
My favorite school assignment ever was modernizing and retelling a
fairy tale (sophomore English – Aced it AND got extra credit – Thanks Ms. Seckler!), so when Decadent
Publishing put out the call for a retelling of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, my
hand immediately shot in the air. I was given The Three Army Surgeons, an obscure, somewhat gruesome story that
was definitely not a romance. (Read it here.)
At the beginning of the initial
brainstorming, I thought, “You have got to be kidding me. What I have I gotten
myself into?” But then I plunged in. Before long, I was giggling as I typed
because Once
Upon a Marriage was SO MUCH FUN to write. Yep, favorite assignment
ever!
Time
is running out for Armina Keer to have the baby she’s always wanted. Before she
can move on with her life, she needs her estranged husband to sign their
divorce papers. When she can’t get him to respond, her meddling uncles arrange
for a trip to his inn. Despite vowing to guard her broken heart, she has to
settle the past before she can have a future.
Ian
Keer might not deserve a second chance with his wife, but he’s not going to
give up one either, not with the immediate flaming attraction still between
them. While her uncles’ antics wreak havoc on life at The Inn, he offers her
the ultimate gamble: Spend the night with him, and afterwards he’ll sign the
papers if she still wants to leave.
With everything riding on one night together,
Ian must convince her that their love is strong enough the second time around,
and Armina must decide if love is worth sacrificing her dreams.
Excerpt:
“You hate me,” Ian
whispered, feeling more nauseous than if he’d ingested a prosthetic eyeball.
How could she not hate him when she believed their personal relationship had
meant less to him than an employment issue?
Armina gazed beyond his
left shoulder. “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. When we got married, I
understood you had a strong work ethic combined with an unusual drive to
succeed and a consuming passion for the Inn. I knew I’d come in second to this
place.”
He opened his mouth,
wanting to argue, but couldn’t. If she’d made him choose, he wouldn’t have
picked her.
“I thought I was okay
with it,” she continued. “After all, I loved the Inn, too, and wanted you to
realize your vision for it. Turns out I wasn’t okay. I didn’t realize how
distant second place actually was.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Live and
learn, right?”
Not right. He wanted to
take back the lesson and teach her about real love instead. “You never should
have had to settle for second place. With me or with anyone else. No one has
the right to ask that of you.”
“Agreed.” Her voice came
out stronger, her shoulders squared, and she looked him directly in the eye.
“Now you understand why I want a divorce.”
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Sara Daniel writes what she loves—irresistible
romance, from sweet to erotic and everything in between. She lives her own
happily-ever-after romance with her hero husband. Connect with her online at:
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