Book Extract: The Wedding Engagement by Zoe Allison

Please join me in welcoming Zoe Allison to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Wedding Engagement.

It’s not supposed to be her love story…

Planning a wedding with the man you’re secretly in love with… what could go wrong?

Liv Holland has a secret: she’s been crushing on Arran Adebayo, her brother’s best friend, for years. They’re ‘just friends’ but she can’t help the butterflies in her stomach whenever she’s around him.

When they’re asked to help plan festivities for Liv’s brother’s wedding, Liv and Arran can no longer deny the sparks between them. But with both having their own chequered romantic history, risking everything for love could mean losing each other forever…

As the wedding bells ring, will Liv and Arran finally find their own happy ever after?

Zoe has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy it. 

*****beginning of extract*****

Arran has just made an SOS call to Liv to ask if she can collect his son, Jayce, from his street dancing class. Arran’s ex, Jess, was meant to pick up their son but she was waylaid. Unfortunately Arran couldn’t get back home in time for the class finish because he was out of town buying paint supplies for his art studio. Liv collected Jayce and took him for a milkshake and is just driving to Arran’s house to drop Jayce off.

*****

‘And then what happened?’ Liv asked, maintaining a serious expression as Jayce carried on with his tall tale.

‘And then I rescued everyone from the dragon and saved the day,’ he said from the back seat, a proud look on his face when she glanced in the rear-view mirror.

She returned her eyes to the road as she navigated the last turn onto Arran’s driveway. ‘Wow. And this was definitely real, not a dream?’

‘Wasn’t a dream,’ he scoffed. ‘It really happened.’

‘Okay,’ she told him. ‘I believe you.’ She pulled up outside the house and exited the car to get Jayce out of the car seat. She couldn’t even remember when she’d started keeping Arran’s spare seat in the back; it had happened at some point since the New Year.

Jayce scrambled out of the car before she could help him, running past the grassy area lined by yellow daffodils and purple crocuses, and up to the doorway, where he banged his fist. When she reached the doorstep, Liv glanced back at the hills, the green of the Highland hills making her optimistic that spring was just around the corner.

The door opened and Arran’s smiling face appeared. He crouched down as Jayce barrelled into him in his signature greeting. ‘Daddy! We had milkshakes.’

‘What? Without me?’ Arran said, pouting his lips in an exaggerated manner that made her fantasise – again – about kissing him. ‘What flavour did you get?’

‘Chocolate!’ Jayce yelled, running off down the hallway.

Liv laughed as she crossed the threshold. Arran held out his hand and she gave him a side five. Despite the fact that they now performed this gesture pretty much every time they met, the touch of his hand still gave her goose bumps. That’s not how ‘just friends’ is supposed to feel.

*****end of extract*****

About Zoe Allison –

Zoe Allison lives in Scotland with her husband and two children, having been brought up in a mixed-race family in Yorkshire.

Growing up, Zoe enjoyed stories about falling in love. But rather than daydreaming of being rescued by a knight in shining armour, she imagined herself fighting dragons alongside him, battling supervillains as heroic allies, or teaming up to dive into perilous waters and save the day. 

As an adult, Zoe became a doctor. However as time passed, she craved a creative outlet to counter the soul-sapping burnout that her career inflicted upon her, and also to achieve the happy endings that were so often lacking in the real world. She wanted to create heroines who represent her and her values, as well as heroes who truly love women—men who find their true loves inspiring, want to connect with them as soulmates, and fully open themselves to their partners on an emotional level. And so, Zoe began to write romance.

Say hello to Zoe via her website, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Linktree.

The Wedding Engagement was released by HQ Digital on 10th October 2024. Click to buy on Amazon and Waterstones. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.