The last snippet from A Chaunce of Riches ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 02/08/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

Next week I'll move on to another story, it's getting harder and harder to choose snippets without spoilers.

In the meanwhile, Sam was injured in a workplace accident - her fear and pain and Ben's guilt (that she was hurt on his watch), his relentless resentment about her abandonment and his frustrating attraction to her had them sniping at one another in last week's snippet. Sedated on pain medication, she wakes to find the house on fire and she can't reach her son's room; she's relieved to hear Ben say he's got Philip... (creative punctuation)

“I’m taking him downstairs. Go out to your balcony, I’ll be there, I’ll catch you.”

She stood frozen for just a minute while she heard him jump down the stairs; Philip’s crying moved away and she knew he was safe. Sam was hit with a coughing fit, she could feel the smoke in her lungs; it stung her eyes.

Dropping to her knees to crawl back to her room, she touched a man’s boot, that was when she looked up and saw the fireman in his turnout coat, helmet and mask; he helped her to her feet. He was carrying a mask attached to a small tank on his belt; the fireman put the mask on her face and she gratefully took a big gulp.

As she inhaled, Sam realized something was wrong, she tried to pull back, but the fireman held the mask to her face and pulled her head forward; she struggled. Her chest was hurting from the smoke and she had a coughing spasm; finally when she could no longer fight and could no longer hold her breath, she took a huge gulp of the fumes and swallowed them.

                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                     

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

A Chaunce of Riches was selected as

Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s Readers’ Choice for 

The Best Overall First Chapter of April 2010

Read the Recycled Reviews for A Chaunce of Riches on Exquisite Quills

Read Chelle Cordero's 2013 Sampler for a generous taste of
 all her suspense novels, her short story collection, and
her books on writing and being a writer. More than 230 pages.
FREE

Will they ever mend their relationship? ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 02/01/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

I had to skip ahead just a bit in the story because of some spoilers in the story - if you want to know what those are you'll just have to get a copy of A Chaunce of Riches.

The police were quite rough interrogating both Sam and Ben and introduced information that Sam never wanted Ben to know. He's p*ssed, but for reasons of his own he is staying to protect the rich widow and her son - tensions are incredibly high and they aren't exactly getting along. This snippet is after an unexplained accident in Sam's office, Ben is driving her home from the hospital. (creative punctuation has been used).

She was peeved when he got back to the car with the filled medicine bottles, “One can only hope you will take your bodyguard responsibilities strongly and test the drugs on yourself before I take them.”

He laughed, “Yeah, so I can fall asleep and leave you to your own devices?”

“You had no right to take control like you did, you really overstepped...”

His cell phone rang, “You want to put a hold on that tirade for now?”  He pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open before putting it to his ear, “Uh-huh... yeah... good, very good, all right, I’ll speak to you later.”

She couldn’t help her curiosity, “What was that about?”

He shook his head, “How do you know that wasn’t personal? Maybe that was my girlfriend.”

Sam glared at him, “Well please be sure to tell her that you took me to bed the other night.”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

A Chaunce of Riches was selected as

Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s Readers’ Choice for 

The Best Overall First Chapter of April 2010

The detectives are fishing ~ Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 01/26/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

The detectives stormed into Sam's office for an impromptu interrogation. They summoned Ben to join them and he's just arrived. We're picking up just a few sentences in from last week's snippet - once more back to A Chaunce of Riches (with creative punctuation):

“These nice detectives were just about to tell me about some information they have; supposedly this information will help to explain why they are wasting our time,” Sam tried not to sound too snippy.

“Mr. Johnson, when did you first learn that the Chaunces were back in town?”

“When my agency sent me there on an assignment...”

“And when did you first meet Julian Chaunce?”

“I never did.”

“How did you feel when you found out that your girlfriend had run off with Chaunce?”

“It was upsetting that she left me, but I didn’t know who she had left with until recently,” Ben cocked his head to the side impatiently, “what’s this about?”

“Did you hold any animosity towards Chaunce?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

.

The Plot Thickens - a snippet from A Chaunce of Riches #WeWriWa #8Sunday 01/19/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

 Sam was devastated after making love with Ben and finding the distance between them widening. They're being drawn together again, but this time it's by the detectives who just barged into her office investigating her husband's murder. While we wait for Ben to arrive, here is another snippet from A Chaunce of Riches (creative punctuation and all):

Sam sighed, “it’s okay Lloyd, would you please tell Betsy to hold my calls?” She nodded at her friend and confidant; as soon as he left her office, closing the door behind him, she stood, “is there something I can get for you gentlemen?” She was acting like a perfect hostess just the way Julian had taught her.

“We appreciate it Mrs. Chaunce, but all we want is the truth.”

“About what Detective?”

“Tell us about your marriage.”

Sam sat and carefully placed her elbows on her desk, she tented her fingers together under her chin, “what exactly would you like to know?”

“Let’s start with the obvious, were you in love with your husband?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her.

Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

After the lovemaking - a snippet from A Chaunce of Riches #WeWriWa #8Sunday 01/12/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

Back to A Chaunce of Riches ~ As several of you mentioned in the comments last week, there will be regrets, but there is also more damage to be done. Ben has been holding on to his hurt and anger to try to protect himself from further hurt, but it is a battle he's losing. We're jumping ahead and Sam and Ben have finally given in and made love - it's far from a HEA... (as usual, creative punctuation and all that...)

“I love you Ben,” she whispered those words to him.

          He hung his head and couldn't bring himself to answer her; she was just as special as he always remembered.

          There was no real conversation between them as Ben drove Sam to her office, there was no acknowledgment of what had happened between them. Ben kept changing the topic whenever Sam tried to broach it. That evening, Dave came to her office to pick her up, he said Ben was at the house with Philip, Ben avoided her there, too.

          The next morning, Ben stayed at the school with Philip and left it to Dave to drive Sam to work, he hadn't allowed her any chance to talk with him and to ask how he felt. She was convinced that he had used her only to bury their history and to move on without her, that was what she had offered him. She was devastated.

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

How far would you go for the person you loved?

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

http://ChelleCordero.com

Ben is fighting his need - Weekend Writing Warriors / #8sunday / 01/05/14

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

I'm continuing with A Chaunce of Riches - there have been attempts made on Sam's life and Ben has done his job protecting her. He's tried to comfort her and there have been a few tender moments - but he's scared of letting his defenses down and getting hurt again. Besides, she still refuses to tell him why she left...

He sighed and fought to keep control, “I just…”, if he showed her how much he still wanted her then he would be lost forever. He had to stay above it all, he had to hold on to his anger and his bitterness or he would be destroyed, “I keep telling myself that the only reason my memory of making love to you is so special is because you were the first woman I was ever with, but now I’ve been with other women and they all have been good.” He ignored the slight flicker of pain he saw in her eyes, he regretted hurting her, but that was good; he needed to keep that wall up between them. “I’m sure that if I made love with you now, you would be nothing more than just another vessel.”

          She tried to sound indignant to hide the hurt he had just inflicted, “you won’t get the chance to find out.”

          He snickered cruelly, “why not, I know I probably couldn’t afford you but can’t you just pretend, I want you, I need you, nobody even needs to know.”

          Samantha Chaunce was doing her best not to cry in front of him, “why are you being such a bastard?”

          He laughed out loud, “you know that I am a bastard better than anyone else.”

...a long time ago she promised never to call him that.

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

Author Bio:

Chelle Cordero writes stories of Passion and Suspense. Vanilla Heart Publishing has published nine Cordero novels: Bartlett’s Rule; His Lucky Charm; Within the Law; Courage of the Heart; Final Sin; Hostage Heart; A Chaunce of Riches; Common Bond, Tangled Hearts; Hyphema; and Karma Visited. She is currently working on her next novel, a paranormal romantic suspense (much requested) sequel to Karma Visited. Vanilla Heart Publishing has also produced a print and e-book version of writing lessons and exercises based on her successful Amazon blog Living, Breathing, Writing. Chelle has been writing both fiction and non-fiction for the bulk of her adult life and has been with Vanilla Heart Publishing since early 2008.

Her books have earned many plaudits which includes: Bartlett's Rule was named one of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's Top Ten Reads for 2009; Final Sin was an Honorable Mention in the Fiction Category of the 2010 NY Book Festival and a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee.; Hyphema won the Dec 9, 2011 Friday Book Cover Vote on the Shades of Love website; A Chaunce of Riches was Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s readers’ choice for The Best Overall First Chapter, April 2010; and Hostage Heart, Final Sin and A Chaunce of Riches had top ten finishes in the 2009 Preditors’ and Readers’ poll. Chelle was also featured in "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" published by The Author’s Show in 2010.

Chelle Cordero maintains an author’s blog at http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/, a promotional blog at http://ccepotourri.wordpress.com/, and offers a weekly writing workshop for Kindle Blog subscribers at http://bit.ly/pILcG. Her website http://ChelleCordero.com offers information on all of her books and her appearances. Bloggers and the media are welcome to visit Chelle’s media room at http://chellecordero.com/media/ with downloadable photos and other information.

Be sure to LIKE Chelle’s FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChelleCordero and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ChelleCordero. You can email Chelle at ChelleCordero(at)gmail.com.

A Chaunce of Riches continued - #WeWriWa 12/28/2013

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

In this excerpt from A Chaunce of Riches, Ben has been doing his job protecting the woman he once loved, now a wealthy widow, and her young son from definite threats. He still is bitter about her betrayal and abandonment when he was at his most vulnerable. After several close "encounters", she has begged him for forgiveness and he has refused. One more serious heart-to-heart and they are both left hurting. Ben enters Sam's room late one night - uninvited. He obviously has been drinking.

            She was annoyed that he had frightened her, “What do you want to talk about?”

            Ben took her by the shoulders and turned her towards him, he squinted in the dark; Sam felt exposed under his gaze, “Is that a nightgown? How long is it?”

            “To my knees,” She still wasn’t convinced of his sobriety.

            He released her suddenly, “It’s not very sexy.”

            “Well excuse me, I didn’t know I had to dress for company,” She sounded indignant.

            He laughed, that feistiness was part of the old Sam, the Sam he had loved with all of his heart; then there was silence.

            Finally Sam sighed and relaxed beside him, “What did you want to talk about?”

            He looked at her in the dark, “You, me, sex, your husband, who killed him and who is trying to scare you?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

more from A Chaunce of Riches ~12/22/13 WEWRIWA

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

As we continue with A Chaunce of Riches, Ben decides to stay and protect the wealthy Samantha Chaunce and her son even though his heart hasn't healed after her abandonment so many years before.

            Ben sat quietly and watched her, Sam tried to go back to reading.

            “So what happened to you Sam? I really thought we had the same values and the same dreams, when did money become so important to you?”

            She didn’t want to have to defend herself to him, it would be too easy to be swept up in a lie. Looking away from him, she barely whispered, “what makes you think it wasn’t important all along?” She hoped that he couldn’t read the regret in her eyes.

            “I thought I knew you better than anybody else just like I thought you knew me better; you were the only person I ever let get close to me.” He paused, “I thought our love was important to you.”

12/15/13 WEWRIWA a community of writers and readers

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

I'm continuing with A Chaunce of Riches - Ben has been hired as a bodyguard for a rich widow and her son. In a seemingly cruel coincidence, last week Ben and Samantha saw each other for the first time after many years. (creative punctuation has been used)

When she was sure her voice could sound nearly normal, she smiled sweetly, “It’s good to see you again Ben.” It was difficult to look at him and not remember things she had no right to remember; she absentmindedly played with one of the short tousled curls that framed her face.

He couldn’t ignore the diamond encrusted wedding band she wore on her left hand, he chuckled softly and cynically, “Well, now I know why you left.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never realized how much money meant to you,” he couldn’t help it, he would always be bitter. “When I heard that you got married and left for Europe, I thought it was because you thought I could never be a whole man again, but I really thought you would have at least waited to see. Now I understand, he probably flashed some bills in your face, that was all that it took, wasn’t it?”

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

An Amazon Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read 

By LAS Reviewer

Personal conflict kicks off at the very start of Ms. Cordero's A Chaunce of Riches, as widower Samantha Chaunce comes face to face with a man from her past - Ben Johnson. She told him she loved him oh-so-long ago, and then she departed in the arms of another.

The personal tension between them stands out even against the backdrop of suspense and intrigue - for someone murdered Samantha's wealthy husband. Is it all a matter of money? Or is it an affair of the heart? And...unexpectedly we must now worry; either way, was it Ben?

Suspicions impact all the other emotions Samantha must battle through. And for Ben; it's merely another slap in the face to find his client is his once-lover. And more; for Sam was a trusted friend, since childhood. She let him down back when he so desperately needed her - and now the shoe is on the other foot. Was it all for money?

Samantha's son, eight-year-old, rather sad Phillip drags Ben into the home, and into this unpredictable intrigue. For Julian, the dead husband, seems to have the power to reach beyond the grave to control what was his... and how and why that came to be is the biggest secret of all; something Ben never even guessed.

Nothing is simple in the complex tale of love, danger, and this shared, almost-mourned, past. The past is important here, but once or twice, hearing that history slows the action. However, the two main characters are both strong, edgy people, and their history together creates a rather unusual relationship between the two. There is anger, resentment, yet, somehow, there is an enduring trust that becomes more and more important in the face of danger.

The very focused plot keeps us madly turning the pages, right to the very end. Yet, it's the romantic in us that is waiting, and so hoping, that they are both the people we think they are...that somehow, out of all this emotional clutter, disaster and more, they can find their way to true feeling. The story is simply super on all counts. Mark A Chaunce of Riches a Must-Read.

12/8/13 WEWRIWA a community of writers and readers

Hi! Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warrior round. Every week writers post 8 sentences on their blogs from a published or unpublished book. Then we "hop" around and leave comments on each other's snippets. Whether our work is already published or in progress, the helpful comments help us become stronger writers on our next WIP. We welcome EVERYONE's comments.

See more at the WeWriWa blog

This week I decided to share a snippet from my romantic suspense A Chaunce of Riches (and no it is not a misspelling). These 8 lines, thanks to creative punctuation, are from the opening scene.

Only in his fifties, Chaunce died suddenly while using a treadmill at a private gym, he left a wife and son and loads of business rivals behind; now someone was sending threatening notes to the company and the house. Flipping through the folder, Ben frowned and shook his head, the family had tried to keep themselves isolated from the public, probably in an attempt to protect themselves from the same kind of journalists the publication paid on staff. While there was an occasional headshot of Julian Chaunce, Ben had seen no pictures of the family and he was expecting to see a bland middle-age woman when the door finally opened.

“I am so sorry to keep you waiting, my son was having a bit of a crisis,” she stopped short as Ben stood up from his chair and turned to face her; after seeing him her face drained of color.

All Ben could think of was how young she still looked in her light blue slacks and the tailored striped man’s shirt she was wearing; her hips were a little wider, a little womanlier, but she was still as lithe as she ever was. His gaze traveled up to her face, it had been years since he had seen those eyes staring back at him.

“Sam?” his lips felt parched as he managed to say her name.

For more WeWriWa Snippets, go to: 

www.wewriwa.com

The day that Ben Johnson was hired as a bodyguard for some rich widow and her kid, he never expected to be working for the woman who had abandoned him just when he had needed her the most so many years before. Damn it all, he still wanted her. Samantha Chaunce never thought she would see him again. She never thought she would have to explain why she married the rich man over the man she had sworn she once loved. And she certainly never expected to find out that her rich husband had been murdered and fingers were pointing to her former lover. 

Smashwords

NOOK

Kindle

Paperback

iBook/iTunes
KOBO

Book Discussion Packet (free) A Chaunce of Riches (pdf file)