So Hard to Do

 

 

So Hard to Do

by Sally Basmajian

GENRE:   Romantic Comedy

Suze Foster has always been devoted to her daughter. As a child, Jannie required extra support in school, but now-at age 29-she's a rising executive. Suze, thrilled with Jannie's success, is finally free to follow her own dreams.

Without Suze's dedicated attention, though, Jannie flounders. In a careless moment, she floods her apartment. Enter our hero, Aram-her hot but significantly older neighbor. He saves the day, and for Jannie, it's love at first sight.

Not so much for Aram, though, who falls head over heels for Suze when they accidentally meet. Unaware of Jannie's feelings, Suze is equally smitten.

In this twisted triangle, can a happily-ever-after be achieved? Or will someone's heart break and the mother-daughter bond be severed forever?

Excerpt:

He was the most good-looking man she’d ever seen. Luxuriant locks. She bet that’s how a Harlequin Romance would describe his hair. And under the full beard, maybe even a cleft chin. And most definitely, a sensuous lower lip. Ooh la la.

As she mused in an X-rated way about his mouth, Jannie remembered something from a book she’d read where the heroine had a habit of biting her lower lip. It drove men mad. 

So she tried it. Nibble, nibble. 

Aram just looked at her. His breathing didn’t accelerate. His chest didn’t heave. 

She tried again. Nibble, nibble. The prolonged silence was beginning to be uncomfortable.

“Are you all right, Jannie?” Aram finally asked. He studied her.

Well, that hadn’t gone so well. But she’d never tried to flirt with an older man before. Maybe they needed something more obvious. 

She attempted to look coyly up at Aram through her eyelashes. This wasn’t as easy as all those romance authors made it sound. She felt her forehead contract, her nose wrinkle and her upper lip pull away from her teeth in her effort to do the impossible.

“Jannie, are you having an allergic reaction? Shellfish, maybe? Isn’t that crab I smell coming from your condo? Do you carry an EpiPen?”

She stamped her foot in frustration. It was supposed to look fierce and cute, but she could tell from Aram’s face that he was way more startled than turned on.

About the Author:

After leaving the corporate world, Sally Basmajian discovered the joy of writing. Her fiction and nonfiction stories have appeared in newspapers such as The Globe & Mail and in several anthologies. In 2022 she won prizes for memoir pieces (Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop, Gulf Coast Writers Association), and was thrilled to have a poem selected by the journal Antithesis. She expects to be busy in 2023, when her first two novels appear: in January, a light-hearted romance, So Hard to Do (published by Creative James Media) and in October, a much darker one, Fountain of Evil (Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC).

Q&A With the Author

 

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 

 

I moved to a small town several years ago, leaving my heart behind in the magnificent and friendly city of Toronto. In writing the book, I revisited my favorite neighborhoods and relived my upwardly mobile career days—in my imagination, at least! It was fun placing my heroines in sleek condos and sparkling office towers. I also enjoyed dressing the characters in designer clothes—as I sat at my computer in my stretchy grey sweats, banging away on my computer keyboard when I should have been preparing something nutritious for dinner. fictional folks also got to drink good wine while I slurped diet pop and hours-old coffee. No fair!

 

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about? 

 

I’m working on a book about two sisters who have mysterious musical powers. It’s a romance set in the 70s, laced with magic. Of course, there’s a tragic backstory, as well as great hurdles they must overcome. It’s less zany than So Hard to Do, but less realistic, too. For example, one of the characters in the new project can make others behave a certain way when she deploys her magical abilities. In So Hard to Do, on the other hand, one of the characters can’t control anyone at all. Strangely, this more realistic approach seemed to offer more comic possibilities. By the way, I’ve been experimenting with that magical-musical trick on my dog, singing him hits by The Weeknd (a Toronto hero!), but so far all I can achieve is that my puppy is getting better at disappearing. 

 

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future? 

 

You’ve likely seen my author photo. Even all glammed up, you’ll notice that I’m not precisely young, and I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage two years ago that alerted me to the fact that I won’t be here forever. So my number one plan is to stay healthy and alive! Realistically, I think I can write coherently for another twelve years or so. So, let’s see—I plan to be on a red carpet when So Hard to Do is made into a brilliant series or movie. I plan to keep producing work that makes people smile. I intend to amuse the dickens out of all my readers. I do not want to win prestigious awards (unless sacks of cash come with them). I just want to entertain.

   

How long have you been writing? 

 

I started writing about eight years ago and was delighted to win a prize in the first contest I entered. That judge has a lot to account for, because ever since then I’ve cranked out story after story. If my husband ever tracks him down, there’ll be some ‘splainin’ to do.

 

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

 

Ooh, fans—how I love the sound of that! Yes, I’d like to say thank you so much for reading my words. Sometimes they’re glib and sometimes they’re heartfelt, but I appreciate that you are laughing and crying along with me. It makes my journey meaningful.

Website: https://www.sallybasmajian.com 

Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/mVAXE5

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Buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/So-Hard-Do-Sally-Basmajian-ebook/dp/B0BK2Q12H9/

GIVEAWAY

Sally Basmajian will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway