Title: Grocery Girl (Book One)
Author: Virginia’dele Smith
Genre: Wholesome & Cozy, Small-Town Romance
Publisher: Books are Ubiquitous, LLC
Book Blurb:
She inhales life with every breath. He’s suffered a world of pain. Can they rise above tragedy to find their happily ever after?
Maree Davenport refuses to let a tearful past rule her future. After losing her parents at the age of five, the big-hearted fabric designer is determined to embrace her feelings and find happiness no matter what. So when she literally runs over a handsome new firefighter in the produce section, the hopeless romantic is certain she’s just collided with destiny.
Everyone Rhys Larsen ever loved has died. And though he may have hit it off with the pretty girl at the store, the haunted EMT knows better than to let her into his heart. But when an accident leaves her wounded and in need of care, he vows to nurse her back to health.
As Maree struggles to break through the grieving man’s walls, she fears his deep-seated superhero complex will make him unreachable. And as Rhys grapples with trying to protect the beautiful woman from his curse, he worries he’ll have to choose between doing the right thing and true love.
Can this conflicted couple reconcile their opposite takes on adversity and find purpose in each other’s arms?
Grocery Girl is the touching first book in the Green Hills wholesome small-town romance series. If you like strong but vulnerable characters, emotional growth, and quaint backdrops, then you’ll adore Virginia'dele Smith’s celebration of joy.
Buy Grocery Girl to escape to Green Hills today!
The Book Belles (my Green Hills book club) is reading Grocery Girl this month (January 2024). At our monthly meeting, I’ll be unveiling Miss Sadie’s quilt that is described in the novel. We’ll also have a special guest in attendance, so you don’t want to miss it!
Excerpt:
“Is it safe to return to my candy store?” Mrs. Dawsey asked, beaming under his praise.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll walk you and Maree back over,” he decided for everyone.
Mrs. Dawsey chattered like a magpie, telling Rhys everything she had noticed about the man in the alley. Rhys didn’t get too far away from her, but Maree was grateful that they went on ahead of her, since she was rather slow on the crutch. By the time she made it to the front door of her quilt studio, he had already seen Mrs. Dawsey to her store and even walked through it to make her feel safe and comfortable.
The short walk from her shop to Maree’s turned out to be plenty of time for Rhys's anger to resurface.
“Why didn’t you call me, Maree?” For a guy who liked to look down when he was unsure of what to say, he had no problem directing his stern gaze right through her eyes and into her heart.
Why must I love him so much?
“I called 911, Rhys. That’s what we all learned to do back in kindergarten, remember?” She was suddenly feeling a little testy herself.
“You just left,” he said, switching gears on her in a heartbeat.
“Yes, I—” She blinked a few times to catch up, but he stopped her before she could explain herself.
“I can’t protect you if you’re gone.”
“Rhys, you’ve taken the very best care of me this week. I can’t tell you how much that has mea—”
“Then let me take care of you now,” he interrupted again, obviously still antsy and agitated.
“No,” she replied.
“Because I can’t keep you safe.” His words were flat and defeated, said as both a question and a statement of fact.
“No, you can’t, Rhys.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Product on my website: https://ashlimontgomery.com/products/grocery-girl
Barnes & Noble:
BookBub:
Goodreads:
Angus & Robertson (AUS): https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/grocery-girl-virginiadele-smith/p/9781957036021
Powell’s Paperback: https://www.powells.com/book/book-1-9781957036045
Powell’s Hardcover: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Book-1-by-Smith-Virginiadele/9781957036021
Waterstone’s Paperback: https://www.waterstones.com/book/book-1/virginiadele-smith/9781957036045
Booktopia (AUS) Hardcover: https://www.booktopia.com.au/book-1-virginia-dele-smith/book/9781957036021.html
Books-a-Million Paperback: https://booksamillion.com/p/Book/Virginiadele-Smith/9781957036045
Spotify Audiobook:
Other Audiobook Links:
Author Biography:
Ashli Montgomery is a wife, a momma, and an author whose passion is sharing love stories, books, quilts, yoga, recipes, and all of her favorite things in life. She is quilting to mend the mind by spearheading a community of quilters through Quilt 2 End ALZ, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit she launched to use her quilting hobby as a platform to advocate for an end to Alzheimer's disease.
Ashli writes under the pen name Virginia’dele Smith to honor Syble Virginia Tidwell, Adele Gertrude Baylin, and Etta Jean Smith. These three cherished grandmothers were beautiful role models, teaching Ashli to love without judgment and to always put family first. Through Grandma Syble’s journals and appetite for books, through Momadele’s priceless cards and handwritten letters, and through many, many hours of visiting over fabric at Mema’s kitchen island, Ashli also learned to treasure words.
Get to know Ashli by subscribing to her newsletter, The Gazette, at AshliMontgomery.com
Social Media Links:
Receive a complimentary short story, Sadie & Sam: PART 1, by signing up to receive weekly editions of The Gazette: http://eepurl.com/gJIDcv
Join my private Facebook Readers’ Group: Welcome to Green Hills
Follow me on BookBub for new release announcements and to see what I’m reading: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/virginia-dele-smith