SHERRYL WOODS
âStrong supporting characters, a vivid sense of place, and a strong appreciation for the past add to the appeal of Woodsâ contemporary romance.â
âBooklist on The Backup Plan
âClever characters and snappy, realistic dialogue add zest ⦠making this a delightful read.â
âPublishers Weekly on About that Man
A âgripping, emotionally wrenching but satisfying tale.â
âBooklist on Flamingo Diner
âSherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity and the right amount of humor.â
âRomantic Times
âEnergetic pacing, snappy dialogue and an appealing romantic hero.â
âPublishers Weekly on After Tex
Dear Reader,
Usually when I write connected books, I plan in great detail well in advance, but when I came to the end of The Backup Plan, I suddenly realized that Maggie needed to have her own story. Here was a bright, spirited, successful woman whoâd had the worldâs worst luck with men, a mother who considered her a failure at love, and a safe, predictable ex-fiancé whoâd called off their wedding at the last minute. Maggieâs self-esteem was pretty much trashed.
And so she ran ⦠straight to a beach house to try to get a grip on her life. When three people show up to save her from herselfâincluding her ex-fiancéâMaggieâs pretty sure that her future is about as bleak as it can get.
Her best friend, though, has a plan ⦠and a man for Maggie.
Josh Parker has issues of his own, including a mother whose maternal instincts leave a whole lot to be desired. What fun to have this strong, sexy man try to battle his feelings for Maggie and wrestle with all those old issues when his exuberant, offbeat mother zips in from Las Vegas after yet another disastrous marriage!
Once I had the right guy for Maggie, the rest of the story came together the second I saw the Reba McEntire commercial for Habitat for Humanity. Every single time I see it, I get choked up and think about all the families this wonderful organization has helped to move into their first real homes. Itâs a church thatâs building a home this time, but the philosophy of giving people a fresh chance is the same.
I hope youâll enjoy Maggie and Joshâs story and that youâll have fun catching up with Dinah and Cord and meeting Amanda and Caleb. You guessed it! Those two will have their own remarkable story in Waking Up in Charleston, coming out in May 2006.
All best,
Sherryl
THE BACKUP PLAN
DESTINY UNLEASHED FLAMINGO DINER ASK ANYONE ABOUT THAT MAN ANGEL MINE AFTER TEX
At six, running away from home had been a scary proposition. It should have been easier and less traumatic at thirty-two.
It wasnât, Maggie concluded with regret after three weeks in hiding. Oh, the logistics were easier, but the emotional wear and tear were about the same.
Way back then, lugging a Barbie suitcase packed with Oreos and her favorite stuffed toys, Maggie had set out to show her parents that she didnât need them anymore. But by the time sheâd wandered a few blocks away from their Charleston home onto unfamiliar streets, and by the time darkness had closed in with its eerie shadows, sheâd begun to wonder if she hadnât made a terrible mistake.
Still, sheâd been far too stubborn to consider backing down. Sheâd climbed onto a wicker rocking chair deep in the shadows of a deserted front porch and, tightly clutching her tattered Winnie the Pooh, gone to sleep. Her frantic parents had found her there the next morning, thanks to a call from the owner of the house, whoâd been alerted to her presence by his son. Leave it to terrible Tommy Henderson to rat her out. No wonder no one in first grade liked the little tattletale.
It seemed more than a bit ironic that twenty-six years later, Maggie was running away from home again and that she was still trying to prove things to her parents. The only difference this time was that Tommy Henderson was nowhere around. Last sheâd heard, he was working somewhere overseas as a CIA operative for the United States government. At least heâd put his capacity for sneakiness to good use.
Sitting in a rocker on the front porch of a tiny rented beach house on Sullivanâs Island, Maggie sipped her third glass of sweetened iced tea and watched the fireflies flicker in their endless game of tag in the evening sky. The air was still and thick with humidity, the night quiet and lonely. Even though she was all grown up, in many ways she was just as scared now as she had been at six, and just as stubbornly determined to stay away till she made sense of things.
She couldnât recall exactly what had sent her fleeing into the night back then, but now it was all about a man, of course. What else could possibly drive a reasonably sane and mature woman to run away from her home and business and fill her with enough self-doubt to keep her on a shrinkâs couch for years? She didnât miss the irony that it was, in fact, a shrink whoâd turned her world upside down.