Tagline:
Could two people
be more different?
Blurb:
Kimi Fairchild is pursuing an Art Therapy degree while working as
a barista at a local hospital. She takes life as it comes and has a smile for
everyone who crosses her path. She’s never much cared for schedules,
either…until a mysterious man starts showing up at her coffee kiosk every
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at exactly 7:05 a.m.
Owen Pratt is a research scientist on the verge of obtaining FDA approval for a new cancer-fighting drug. He has limited people skills, a fondness for caffeine, and a love of strictly kept routines. He’s the antithesis of Kimi in almost every way. Something about her smile, though, keeps bringing him back for more.
How can two such different people go from a shared interest in coffee to a
shared future? By getting out of God’s way and letting Him handle the details. Ha! Easier said than done.Owen Pratt is a research scientist on the verge of obtaining FDA approval for a new cancer-fighting drug. He has limited people skills, a fondness for caffeine, and a love of strictly kept routines. He’s the antithesis of Kimi in almost every way. Something about her smile, though, keeps bringing him back for more.
Excerpt:
Kimi
pretended to organize her muffin assortment as Dr. No-Name approached. She
could set her clock by him. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:05 in the
morning, he came for his large half-caff triple nonfat medium whip white mocha.
Even though she knew what he would order, she waited for him to arrive. One day
not too long ago, she’d started his drink as soon as he’d stepped into view.
She’d had the steaming beverage ready and waiting for him. The poor guy had
been so flustered he’d knocked over the fruit basket and taken out half the
cookie display in the process.
She’d
learned an important lesson that day. Two, really. Patience paid off. And some
people don’t handle change well.
Dr. No-Name
glanced to the side and tripped over a covered cable that ran along the floor.
He kicked the toe of his loafer into the top of the cable’s molded rubber
protector, lost his balance, hopped a couple of times on his left foot, swung
his arms like a grade-schooler doing the windmill in PE, and finally got his
right shoe back down on the ground. Despite the theatrical gymnastics, nobody
but her appeared to be watching the show. She had to give him points for the
landing. Not a brown hair on his head was out of place, and his lab coat hung
from his shoulders with straight lines in complete denial of its recent whirlwind
of activity.
The same
cable had been positioned across that floor for as long as Kimi could remember.
The doctor had to know it, too, but unless his eyes were trained directly on
it, he seemed to forget. She’d witnessed his footwork often enough to realize
that much, at least.
Kimi turned
her back on him lest he catch her spying. Despite his oddities, she enjoyed Dr.
No-Name’s visits to her kiosk and didn’t want to scare him off by staring or —
heaven forbid — laughing.
“Um, excuse
me.”
She turned
around, her smile in place and hopefully no pity in her eyes. “Good morning!
The usual?”
Dr. No-Name
nodded. Most doctors wore their name embroidered on their official white lab
coats, but not this one. Plain white, no fancy frills, and no embroidery.
Either he wasn’t important enough for a name on his coat or he was humble
enough not to care. She secretly hoped it was the latter.
Kimi set to
work on his drink and tried to make conversation. “You always order a triple
shot, but you want half-caff. Most people who want to go easy on the caffeine
avoid the triple.”
She caught
his shrug out of the corner of her eye. Getting this guy to talk was harder
than pulling a barking dog’s molars with a pair of tweezers.
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Links:
Author Bio:
Heather Gray loves
coffee, God, and her family – not necessarily in that order! She enjoys people
who embrace God even when life is hard and who aren't afraid to laugh out loud.
Like her, the characters she writes are flawed…but
loved anyway.
Social Media Links:
Additional Info:
An Informal Date
currently has a 5-star rating on Amazon with 18 reviews.
An Informal Date
can also be found in the Falling For You box set (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KWI4TDS) which has a 4.7-star rating with 46 reviews.
An Informal
Christmas, book #1 in the series, won the 2016 Selah Award in the novella
category.
An Informal Date
on Goodreads:
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