Songbird by Cecilia London
Series: Standalone though technically
is #7 in The Bellator Saga
Publisher: self-published
Release Date (Print & Ebook): April
14, 2020
Length (Print & Ebook): 80,000
words
Subgenre: Women’s Fiction/Mainstream
Fiction with Strong Romantic Elements
Warnings: content warnings for death,
violence, psychological trauma
Pre-order now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085T2172L
Book blurb:
Christine Sullivan isn’t an easy
person to love. She knows how the world sees her – aloof, standoffish,
cold…perhaps even bitchy. After a lifetime in politics, including a stint with
an expat government in exile, President Sullivan has taken her share of body
blows, but now she’s back in Philadelphia…a widow, a recovering Republican, a
former public servant seeking a quiet, private existence.
On her to-do list - rebuild her
relationship with her estranged daughter and invent the rest of her life. She
has her best friend Caroline, her brand spanking new condo, and her ever
frustrating Secret Service detail to keep her company. That should be enough
for anyone, right?
Until Alexander Guardiola comes
along… liberal, emotionally unguarded, younger. A lot younger. Everything
Christine isn't. And isn't ready for.
But opposites attract, don't they?
And hearts and minds can always be changed…
Blitz Excerpts:
Teaser #1:
“Look, I’ve got a serious question
for you.”
“Ask away, then.”
“Do you think I
still, you know, have it?”
“It? What is it?”
“You know…” Was
she really going to make me say it out loud?
“Chrissy, if you
can’t define what it is, I’m not sure
you should be using it for anything.”
Susannah wondered
why I didn’t want to talk to her about intensely personal bits of my life. If
my best friend was going to give me a hard time about my difficulties
discussing… things, how would my own child react?
Fortunately,
Caroline spoke again before I was forced to explain myself. “You want to know
if you’re still sexy,” she said.
A bite of pie
dropped rather inelegantly from my fork to the plate. Such timing. “I guess
so.”
She started to
get up. “We could ask Jack.”
Lord help me.
“Please don’t.”
She flounced back
on the couch. “You’re no fun. But… should I draw this out for effect?”
“Again, please
don’t.”
“You’re super
hot. Blazing. Like, blonde bombshell bordering on silver fox hot. On occasion
you make me question my own sexuality.”
“Come on,” I
said.
“Seriously. And
your legs. Damn, Chrissy, you have the lower body physique of a thirty year
old. Mine never looked that good.
Ever.”
My bestie thought
I had great gams. Lovely. “You’re teasing me.”
She licked some
meringue off her fork before pointing it at me. “Wouldn’t you like to know,
eh?”
I didn’t need her
giving me a crash course on the lesbian continuum. “I mean it, Caroline. I need
some reinforcement.”
“You’re fucking
gorgeous and you know it. And you’ve never fished for flattery before. Why
now?”
Revealing things
to my best friend involved a delicate balance of timing and phrasing, lest the
conversation devolve into chaos. But it seemed as good a time as any to dip my
toe in the water. “I went out on a date last night.”
“And you didn’t
tell me?”
“I’m telling you
now.”
She slapped the
couch cushion, making the connection immediately. “This is why you had me bring
you a tiramisu yesterday. You never ask me for shit that fancy. You gave a man fraudulent baked goods.”
“Well, yes.” I
didn’t bother justifying myself. She knew how to prepare yummy things. I
didn’t. Was it so very wrong to tell a little white dessert lie to save face on
a first date?
“I spent hours on that thing.”
Okay, now I felt
a little guilty. “It was good, though. I believe said man proclaimed it remarkable.”
“Of course it was
remarkable! I made it!” She smacked my arm. “You’re a charlatan, President
Sullivan, and your schemes hurt me here,” she said, theatrically placing her
hand over her heart. “But anyway, your deception is fine, I’m totally over it,
please tell me more about the date you neglected to mention while asking me to
expend considerable energy in making you a dish that I erroneously assumed was
solely for your consumption.”
Caroline may have
given up her career in public service, but she could still pivot back and forth
between issues to the next like a champ. “It wasn’t something I planned on
doing,” I said. “But then it just kind of happened so I went with it.”
“Obviously.”
Her feelings were
hurt. I could tell. And it wasn’t really about the tiramisu. “I was going to
tell you but...”
“Did you think I
would talk you out of it?”
It had been so,
so hard to keep my mouth shut. I told her almost everything I felt was worth
sharing. “No, but I was afraid that talking to you would provide me with an
excuse not to do it.”
“Ah,” she said.
“The curse of the overthinker.”
Pretty much. Both
of us had the annoying habit of analyzing everything to pieces. “I met him at
Susannah’s office.”
She raised an
eyebrow. “At that retirement party she forced you to go to?”
“Yes. You might
say he was an unintentional bonus to a fairly uneventful evening.”
“Oh, my my my.”
Caroline took another generous scoopful of meringue. “We have been busy, haven’t we?”
Dare I tell her
the meatiest part? “Susannah was trying to set me up with the retiree and,
well, I hit it off with his son.”
“No way.” She
started laughing. “Some poor little man got cockblocked by his own flesh and
blood. Harsh.”
Teaser #2:
“I would like to talk about where
this relationship is going.” There. That sounded good.
“I think it’s
going well, don’t you?”
“I meant, more
specifically, where it might go tonight.”
“Oh.” He looked
as if I’d genuinely caught him off guard. “I see.”
“I’m not being
impulsive this time.”
“I can tell.”
“But I also think
I need to… discuss expectations. I mean, neither of us are virgins but—” How
could I possibly complete that sentence without dying of embarrassment?
“In a way, we
are,” he said. “The first time you sleep with someone is a discovery, right?”
Oh, okay. That
made sense. I could build on that. “I suppose so.”
“Much of a
couple’s initial intimacy is about discovering likes and dislikes, don’t you
think? Almost like sexual information gathering. The joy of discovery. Science
but fun.”
“Are you
comparing me to an archaeological dig?”
He kissed my
neck. “I want to know everything about you. That might require some pretty
intense studying. And I’m an eager student.”
“That might take
a while. I’m much older than you.”
“I am a man of
uncommon dedication.”
Didn’t hurt for
me to make the journey a little easier for him. “All my internal organs are in
the right places,” I said.
“Duly noted.”
“I’m very
sensitive so you don’t have to worry about getting a response out of me.”
“That’s
consistent with my observations so far but thank you for sharing.”
“I like soft
touching but sometimes a little harder.” In case he hadn’t picked up on during
any of the times we’d crept toward home plate while spending lengthy periods of
time at first and second base.
“Mmm-hmm.” He
nuzzled my neck. Apparently he was eager to get to third as quickly as
possible.
There went my
plan of hiding my fears. I didn’t like that he could read me so well. “My body
is not as springy as yours.” I gestured vaguely. “And my parts are not as, um—”
“I have lube,” he
said. “And condoms. Even if pregnancy isn’t a possibility, I want us both to be
comfortable.”
“I agree. Safe
sex is important.”
“Good.” He mock
wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Saves us that discussion.”
I was glad he
brought it up first so I wouldn’t have to. Any man who wouldn’t insist on
taking precautions was not a man I’d want in my bed. His proactivity was
definitely a point in his favor. “If you call me ‘Madam President’ during any of this, whether we are
undressed or not, whether sensitive places are being touched, or whether parts
are inside other parts, I am running out the door and never looking back.”
“Fully naked?”
“Fully naked.”
About the Author:
Cecilia London is the pen name of a native Illinoisan currently
living in San Antonio, Texas. She's filled several roles over the course of her
adult life - licensed attorney, wrangler of small children, and obsessed
baseball and footy fan, among others. An extroverted introvert with a serious
social media addiction, she is the author of The Bellator Saga, an epic,
genre-crossing romance series, and its spinoff, Songbird. You can most often
find her causing trouble on Twitter or, less frequently, on
Facebook.
Connect with Cecilia:
Giveaway: Cecilia London is giving away 3 complete e-sets of the first
6 books of her Bellator Saga, Books 1 - 6, to celebrate her new release,
SONGBIRD. You can enter below! Must be 18 to enter and win. Open
Internationally.
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