Title: Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Author: V. N. Writer
Genre: Lesbian Contemporary Age-Gap Interracial Romance
Book Blurb:
Their hearts told them it was fate. Society warned them it was wrong. Can these women begin a new love story?
West Hale. Forty-three-year-old literature professor, Aurelia Barlow, is relishing some time away from work. Strolling through familiar streets, she can’t help but feel drawn to a once-dead bookstore showing signs of life. But instead of being attracted to shelves of musty classics, she’s surprised when the sight of the quirky brown-skinned female behind the counter makes her heart beat faster.
East Hale. Twenty-one-year-old Latina, Luz Trujillo Perez, lives and breathes stories. Running her parents’ old bookshop to save funds for an English degree, the bookworm is suddenly distracted by an alluring academic who shares her deep passion for reading. And it doesn’t take Luz long to realize their connection is kismet, soon finding shared tales and emotions deepened between the pages of masterworks.
Battling their obvious chemistry, Aurelia struggles to publicly embrace an unfamiliar identity and fully commit to her spunky other half. But as Luz senses the hesitation from her closeted lover, she fears conflicts over their growing intimacy could destroy her own dreams.
Who Stole My Hula Hoop? is a charming standalone lesbian contemporary romance. If you like well-developed characters, intense passions, and touching emotional journeys, then you’ll adore V.N. Writer’s captivating tale.
Buy Who Stole My Hula Hoop? to take the ultimate chance in love today!
Excerpt:
The Set-up: Aurelia (Orrie) meets Luz’s mother for the first time.
She placed one of the glasses in front of Aurelia and the other in front of the place where she would sit. She leaned against the table, her hands curled into fists, the knuckles pressed against the orange and brown plastic tablecloth. Her body leaned toward Aurelia and asked without a hint of humor, “Where is your husband?” She placed the large glass of wine in front of Orrie.
“My…? I don’t have one.”
“Why? You’re pretty enough.”
“Perhaps I didn’t want ‘pretty enough’ to be my only qualification in life.”
“Good answer. Luz would approve. What do you want from Luz?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You do. Everyone wants things. It’s my job to know Luz will not be hurt.”
“I would never intentionally hurt Luz. She’s very important to me.”
“Yes, yes, Luz tells me you are a ‘special’ friend.” Sra. Perez took a long drink from the wine glass, draining it to half full in one swallow. “When Luz begin to have ‘special friends’, and she has had many, you are not the first…”
“I’m aware of that, Isabela. She’s a popular girl.”
“When she tell me the first time that she like girls better than boys I bring her to many priests and all day I pray for the devil to be cast from her, but I know it was wasted air. Luz have a rebel spirit and will do what she will do. You are an educated woman. Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why? Why do you not have a...? Why are you doing what you are doing with my Luz and please never tell me what that is.” She held her two fingers to her nose like there was a bad smell in the room. The Señora suddenly slammed her fists on the table directly in front of Orrie. Orrie jumped. She leaned into Orrie’s face. “If you hurt my Luz I will cut out your heart.”
“Sra. Perez…”
“For St. Peter’s sakes call me Isabela.”
“Isabella… I will never intentionally hurt Luz. She is special to me.”
Isabela pulled the chair away from the table and sat down. “You are the most loco of the ones my daughter bring home. What I do this night is not easy for me. Mi esposo… Como se dice? I forget.”
“Your husband?”
“Sí. He is gone and it is necessary what I do tonight. For her sakes. Comprende?”
“Yes, I think I do.”
“Tell me about you.”
“Well, uh, I graduated from Capperston College with my bachelor’s degree, a major in Romantic Literature. I graduated magna cum laude and I was awarded my master’s degree and PhD from…
“Excuse me, Aurelia. This is not interview for a job. I want to know who you are on the inside. My daughter has chosen you. I need to know why.”
“I can tell you this. I care for Luz very much.”
“I can see you do. You will care for her and that is most important to me. I hope I can remember that when I am burning in hell fires… Don’t look at me so seriously. It’s a joke.”
“Oh. Of course.”
“You’ll be fun to tease.”
“I hope not,” Orrie said seriously, which made Isabela roar with laughter.
“In all my forty-three years I have not met someone so…”
“Forty-three years? Is that what you said?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, no.”
“Is something wrong?”
“I’m—forty-three.”
“No!” Isabela burst again into laughter. “Are you really?”
“Yes,” Orrie said, but she was not laughing.
“When is your birthday?” Isabella asked.
“September.”
“On, no. True?” Isabella’s laughter was now bouncing off the kitchen walls. In between gasps for air, she pointed at herself, “Me too, Me too!”
Orrie didn’t find it at all funny, but she nodded and smiled.
“What, what…?” Isabela asked, struggling to get the words out. “Day?”
Orrie squinted her eyes. “The—the tenth.”
“Phew,” Isabella fanned herself with her hand. “That practically doesn’t count. I was born all the way over on September 28. That’s another century.”
Isabela laughed more; Orrie forced a smile.
“Hey, what are you two doing in here?” Luz asked barging into the kitchen.
“Mamá, are you getting my girlfriend drunk?”
That was the first time Luz had called her ‘girlfriend’ in English. How did it feel? she asked herself. She wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t terrible.
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Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09L6JDV7W
What makes your featured book a must-read?
It’s a lot of fun and very romantic.
Giveaway –
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Runs November 9 – November 17, 2021.
Winner will be drawn on November 18, 2021.
Author Biography:
V.N Write wrote her first novel in eighth grade, with encouragement from her teacher, Mr. James Evers, who said, "My children will read your words." She went on to win an Edward Albee Fellowship among other awards. In playwriting. One of her plays, VILE AFFECTIONS, was a finalist for the National Lambda Literary Award. V.N Writer, as Vanda is currently writing a series of novels about LGBT modern history that is NOT for LGBT folks only. These are books about people surviving and rising though some very difficult and dark days. However, they are not gloomy books. The characters are filled with spirit and lots of humor.
V.N Writer also recently completed the standalone Lesbian Contemporary Romance, Who Stole My Hula Hoop?
Social Media Links:
www.vandawriter.com
Facebook.com/vandawriter
Facebook.com/thejulianaproject