Guest Blogger: Keri Neal & Contest for Torn

My husband, Stephen and I make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. Maybe not every year, but of all the birthdays and anniversaries and holidays, Valentine’s Day means the most to us. Fifteen V-Days ago, my husband proposed to me. It was not the most romantic of settings, my stuffy townhouse that I shared with three other girls, but it was the most memorable event of my life. He remembers this event very differently, but here’s what happened.

In my early college years, I attended Cal State in the Northern California town of Chico. It was about eight hours from my home in San Bernardino, CA. Not a long distance to go away to college, by any stretch of the imagination. But to me it was another world. Luckily I had a boyfriend who didn’t mind driving or flying up to see me at a moment’s notice whenever the homesickness got to be too much. This particular Valentine’s Day visit had been planned. Turns out, he had put a lot of planning into this romantic holiday.

We went out to dinner the night before Valentine’s Day. I couldn’t tell you where we went, but if I had to guess it was this adorable Italian restaurant on The Esplanade that had red checker table cloths and peanut shells on the floor. Afterwards we curled up together and watched Backdraft. I fell asleep sometime after the opening credits.

Shortly after midnight Stephen woke me up to give me my Valentine’s Day gift. (A side note: I don’t like being woke up. Ever. There is no politeness or enthusiasm in me after being woken up.) He had put together a lovely scrapbook full of trips that we had taken together. I remember flipping through it, but my brain was still asleep. On the last two pages, the spread was filled with typed letters that read: KERI WILL YOU MARRY ME. It honestly took me a while to read them, he must have been in agony as I stared at the open scrapbook. When I looked up, he was holding my ring.

Here’s where are stories divide into the controversial He Said She Said moment. He says: she rolled over and went back to sleep. She says: she was very excited and threw her arms around him and said yes and THEN went back to sleep. Either way, I said yes. It was the sweetest proposal I ever could have asked for, and I honestly didn’t see it coming.

Tell us your Valentine’s Day stories, and/or your Engagement stories. There is a romantic in all of us, even if that romantic falls asleep on you from time to time.

Title: Torn by Keri Neal
Publisher: Still Moments Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Romantic Suspense
Length: 176 pages

Summary:

After Agent Shane Baxter’s last mission failed both professionally and personally, he fled the States and changed his name. When Dixie Peterson re-enters his life, he has a second chance to make things right. Dixie is determined to find out the truth about Shane’s departure from her life two years ago, but someone else from her past is seeking revenge. Shane and Dixie are forced to confront the past, while their future is still unclear.

Buy Links: eBook * Print

Contest Info:

Keri is giving away an eBook copy of Torn! Here’s what you do to enter:

1. Go to Keri’s blog at kerineal.com/author/ and leave a comment on any post.

OR

2. Follow Keri on Twitter: twitter.com/@authorkerineal

OR

3. Like Keri on Facebook: facebook.com/authorkerineal

Only one entry per person, even if you do all three 🙂