#openbook
Share some of your favorite lines from your writing. How about some of your worst ones if you still remember them?
This is going to be fun! I try to add layers of emotions to my romances. So, I think some of my favorite lines are when characters are at their most tense. I will share some moments from a few books.
My Way to You
Simon’s mother Alice shows up at his apartment the morning after Regina spends her first night there. Regina is none too pleased, especially after Alice gets in a few shots. Regina decides that it’s time to leave, but Simon brings her into the bathroom, and she lays into him.
She wagged her finger between his eyes. Now, inform me, counselor, why you have no problem bringing me around your coworkers but haven’t found the time to tell your mother slash personal shopper about the Black girlfriend whose bed you’ve been hopping into? Is it because I’m one of those people?”
He opened his mouth then turned to the soft knock interrupting him. “Simon? I asked if you had any fresh cream.” Alice continued to knock.
Regina sneered and folded her arms. “Go ahead, Simon. Get your mother her cream. She doesn’t even like her coffee black.”
The Groom
Mansur Saleh is probably my brattiest leading male, but he sure knows how to apologize. Below is from a scene after he and Faiza had a huge fight, and he tries to get back into her good graces.
The twitter of Mansur’s special ringtone stopped Faiza from talking. “Hold on. Salams.”
Mansur returned salams, his voice smooth enough to caress her ear like an aphrodisiac. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s nice.”
“I’m torn apart inside.”
“Good.”
“I want to make it up to you. Actually, up and down you and back up again.”
Trapped in Sin
Baaz wants desperately to end his life of crime and be a good Muslim husband and father. He struggles, but there doesn’t seem to be a way out for him. Below, he and his friend Nadir pray after they’ve just finished a hit.
They stood next to each other. Baaz raised his hands and began the prayer. After they finished, each of them sat. The ground’s coldness seeped through the rug. But he couldn’t get up, not yet. Flashes of the night raced through his mind—more bodies—more sin in his record of account. He was supposed to be out of this by now. There had to be a way.
Baaz raised his palms and begged to His Creator for forgiveness in a hushed tone, no louder than the birds chirping in the trees overhead. He glanced over at Nader; his hands raised too. Each of them had so much to answer for.
Drowning In Shallow Waters (Sneak Peek)
I have a treat for those of you who made it this far. I’m going to share a little bit of the soon-to-be-released Drowning In Shallow Waters (Brothers in Law Book 4). It features Brandon Hulse, a Muslim lawyer looking for love, and Hawwah Benoit, a chef running from her abusive ex-husband. Brandon’s friends Quinn and Dominique have Hawwah’s ex Faruq tied up in the scene below. He tries to play it tough, but Dominique isn’t the least bit intimidated.
“Look at you,” a feminine voice said from a distance, followed by the clicking of heels. “Big, powerful man shaking like a wet, newborn pup.”
Faruq heard her getting closer. Good. When she was near enough, he’d take her down somehow. He tugged at the restraints, holding inside the excitement when whatever held him loosened a little. All he had to do was bide his time.
A light floral scent mixed with the stale air. He felt the women’s eyes on him, even though he couldn’t see her. She was so close that their breaths mixed. He could fly his head at hers, but something stopped him, a feeling that she was formidable. “I ain’t shaking.”
“Oh, but you are, and you’re too scared to realize it. What’s the matter? You’re only good at beating up those weaker than you?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Cut me loose and find out.” His dead tone only cracked slightly. Had she noticed?
She pulled down his blindfold. A pair of piercing black eyes stared at him. Deep brown cheeks, darker in the dim light, rounded into spheres as she smiled. “You’ll want to get rid of the pitch of fear from your voice if you want to sound like a convincing thug. Guess you spent too much time in the burbs, being daddy dearest.”
He pitched forward, growling through his bare teeth.
She took a few steps back, not quickly, or showing any fear. She stood in stilettos, leaning on one long leg, the other peeped out from a slit in the green skirt she wore. Even without heels, she had to be well over six feet. With them, she had the stature of a Dahomey woman warrior. No matter, she was still a woman.
“Easy there, tiger—” she inspected her nails in the fluorescent lighting buzzing and blinking overhead. “—you don’t want to hurt yourself.”
Faruq ain’t ready for what Dominique has in store for him. Be on the lookout for Drowning in Shallow Waters!
Lyndell Williams 
Thanks for the peek into your writing, Layla.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s some good imagery there, thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
“Go ahead, Simon. Get your mother her cream. She doesn’t even like her coffee black.” OUCH! I love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Simon!
LikeLiked by 1 person