Book Spotlight: Mail-Order Groom by Cindy Florez Martinez

Title: Mail-Order Groom

Author: Cindy Florez Martinez

Release date: February, 2014

Genre:  Contemporary Romance  

Tour: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

Book Description:

Lisa is about to marry the love of her life and have the wedding of her dreams, but her world is shattered when she finds her fiancé, Jeff, in the arms of another woman. When he calls the wedding off and struts around town with his new love, Lisa is heartbroken, and she wants revenge. She gets it by marrying a total stranger from Poland who she found on Mail-Order-Grooms.Com. He needs a green card to stay in America, and he’s willing to pay money for it. Lisa thinks he’s the perfect answer. It won’t be a real marriage, and her best friend Daphne insists she won’t even have to live with him. Lisa races to the altar with her stand-in groom and says “I do”, but she soon discovers that revenge isn’t as sweet or as simple as she thought it would be. Will she find love in the end?

Book Excerpt:

“Lisa.” Krzys’s voice stirred me awake.

“What happened?” I sat up on the sofa, disoriented.

He stood over me dressed in black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. The fresh scent of bath soap inundated the air around us. “You fell asleep.”

“I did?” The poetry book was now on the table, but the picture was gone. I glanced up at him. “Who’s Kasia?”

He winced as if he had been expecting that question, and he didn’t want me to ask it. “She was my girlfriend, Katarzyna. It was a long time ago.” He turned away and gathered the blankets from the love seat.

“What happened to her?”

“We broke up.” He avoided eye contact with me as he carried them to the sofa.

I could tell by his demeanor that he wasn’t comfortable with the subject, but I wanted to know more, so I didn’t back down. “Why did you break up?”

He dropped the blankets beside me. “She left me for another man.”

I had to catch my breath. “Why would anyone ever leave you?” The words had slipped out without my wanting them to. I had never meant to say them aloud. I had planned for them to stay in the recesses of my mind forever. I rose to my feet, embarrassed. “I should go to my room. It’s late.” I stepped across the floor, but I faltered, still off balance from the drowsiness.

Krzys lunged forward and grabbed hold of my arm so that I wouldn’t fall. He guided me to my bedroom and led me inside where we were enshrouded in darkness. He turned my lamp on, which illuminated us with its incandescent light. “Do you want to get out of your clothes?”

My eyes widened. “What?”

He smiled. “I mean do you need to put your pajamas on before you get into bed?”

“Oh.” I grinned. “I’ll change into them later.” I was glad I hadn’t said “yes” and started getting undressed.

He pulled the bed sheet back, and I slid inside of it and lay my head against the pillow. He covered me with the comforter and stood over me, watching me with a tender expression. “Good night, Lisa.” He brushed the hair out of my eyes, caressing my face with his soft fingertips.

Although I was drowsy, I was fully aware of the sensation. Somehow it seemed more intense at that hour and in that place. “Good night, Krzys.”

His stare took in my eyes, my nose, and my lips. I could almost feel the heat on my skin, but my desire to sleep was too overwhelming. My eyes closed.

“Kocham cię,” he whispered.

My eyelids parted. “Huh?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

About the Author:

My name is Cindy Flores Martinez. I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles. I have an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. I have been a screenwriting instructor, screenplay consultant, script reader, and screenplay collaborator.  My debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, which was inspired by my own Polish ancestry, started out as a screenplay and movie project. I spent years shopping it around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world and had two well-known actors, one of them Academy Award nominated, interested in portraying the lead character’s parents. After not finding the success I wanted, I officially canceled my film production company in November of 2009 and embarked on the journey of turning my screenplay into a novel.