I wrote Only the Beginning as a thank you to all the Wattpad followers who gave so much love and support to my first romance novel, The Right Fit. And when this book took off in popularity as well, I just had to get it published too!
The novel is set in my own beautiful city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Many of the places Melissa and Craig visited were inspired by real businesses and destinations. Below I’ve listed the name in the book with its real life counterpart. I hope you’ll enjoy this love story as well as the backdrop of Halifax!
The Chestershire Hotel, where Melissa first meets Craig, is inspired by The Lord Nelson Hotel.
The office building containing Donaghy Inc. is fashioned after the two towers of Purdy’s Wharf on Lower Water Street.
The Farmers’ Market is real as well as The Public Gardens, but unlike the story, it closes at sundown.
The Halifax Public Library on Spring Garden Road is also real and if you do visit Halifax, you must take in this beautiful building. It opened in December 2014, replacing the older library and has since won the Lieutenant Governor’s Design Award in Architecture for 2014 and a Governor General's Medal in Architecture in 2016.
Tableau, the restaurant Sue Yin and Lance have their rehearsal dinner, in real life is called The Kitchen Table and is located on Gottingen Street. I have had the pleasure of eating there twice and each time is a culinary experience—another must visit if you find yourself on the East Coast.
Just Desserts, the restaurant that Melissa and Brooke meet up for breakfast is inspired by Sweet Hereafter Cheescakery on Quinpool Road. And yes, it’s only cheesecakes on the menu and it’s amazing.
Lastly, The Wallington House, the historic inn that Sue Yin and Lance had their wedding is based on Haliburton House on Morris Street.
Halifax has so much more to offer, but it was impossible to fit every place in the novel so you’ll just have to visit for yourself!
Only the Beginning
Daphne Dubois
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Daphne Dubois
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: 25 April 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5092-2034-2
ASIN: 978-1-5092-2035-9
Number of pages: 264
Word Count: 63,300
Tagline: Taking your best friend’s place on a blind date to let the guy down easy was the plan, taking him to bed wasn’t!
Book Description:
After a heartbreaking betrayal, Melissa Legacy shuns romance. So when her best friend joins the Lovers Oasis website and fears her fiancé will find out, Melissa agrees to meet the anonymous Romeo, prepared to explain her friend’s change of heart—then she sees him.
Failing restaurant entrepreneur, Craig Wheaton hasn’t been home since his mother’s tragic death. Now he’s back to confront his demons and stand beside his brother as best man. Dreading the reunion, he agrees to meet his avatar lover, but at the last moment he reconsiders the arrangement—until he lays eyes on her.
When Craig assumes Melissa is his online consort, she impulsively plays along, resulting in an afternoon of unexpected intimacy. But with Melissa using her friend’s identity and Craig dealing with a family fallout, is a future together impossible, or will they discover that love at first sight is Only the Beginning?
Excerpt:
Melissa blinked
a few times, trying to remember the dream. A sense of bliss made her smile into
the pillow. She was warm and the bed covers were tucked around her like a
cocoon. It must be Saturday, she thought.
There was a
shift in the bed behind her, followed by a low sigh.
She froze. In a
series of flashing images, it all came back.
The pub. Craig.
The intense stare of his eyes. The way he’d kissed her as he unzipped the back
of her skirt. He made her feel like she was the most desirable woman on the
planet, that there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep touching her.
And she’d
reciprocated, opening up to him, losing all her inhibitions. She imagined this
was what Lovers’ Oasis was like. The anonymity combined with the fantasy
created a freedom Melissa had never experienced before, not ever.
But now reality
set in. She’d woken naked, next to a man she barely knew and the earlier
courage she’d felt—the reckless delirious abandonment that augmented her
physical enjoyment of the afternoon encounter—had morphed into terrified
embarrassment.
There was only
one choice—she had to leave before he woke. Slowly, she slipped one leg out,
her foot searching for the floor. Then she inched her way to the edge of the
bed, carefully making sure not to jostle the mattress.
She stood,
completely naked, looking down at Craig. He was on his back, one hand was on
his chest gently rising and falling as he slept. The sheets pooled at his
waist. His face was completely relaxed, his mouth opened slightly, lips parted.
A warmth began
to stir inside her, remembering how those lips felt. He’d memorized each of her
breasts with his tongue as his fingers slipped down her belly then nestled
between her thighs. She’d come for him, then. So quickly…so easily.
Her purse buzzed
from the floor making Melissa jump. It sounded like a marching band had
exploded through the door. She crouched down and lunged for the purse, grabbing
the phone and silencing it. Melissa waited, but there was no movement from the
bed. A quiet breath eased through her pursed lips. She read her phone; there
were multiple messages from Brooke. The last one was marked “urgent.”
—Where are you?—
About the Author:
Daphne Dubois writes contemporary romance and believes the right book at the right time can make all the difference. When she's not putting her characters in compromising positions (ahem), she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Eastern Canada, the most romantic place in the world.
Website: http://bethanymyers.blogspot.ca/
Twitter: @br_myers
Author Facebook:
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/brmyers/
1 comments:
Thank you so much for hosting and sharing Only the Beginning with your followers! ~Daphne
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