Happy Earth Day Weekend! This post is part of the JustRomance.Me blog hop. If you need to get on the tour bus, just click HERE to get started. For each comment I get on this post, I’ll be donating  at least $1 to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I say “at least” because I’ll be donating anyway, but this way you can contribute to the sentiment!
The first time I heard someone use the phrase “dead tree” to describe a paperback book, it kinda struck me as sad. Thanks to digital formats, books are being produced without any ecological waste! Even if you don’t own an e‑reader (yet…good luck in the drawing!) you can enjoy digital books on your computer, or even your cell phone! There is really no excuse to be away from your favorite reads. To tell the truth, I now look forward to a few hours between flights at the airport.
I changed into my Olivia Brynn sweater to find two characters in my books who will be celebrating Earth Day in earnest. Jade and Dean from Falling Star are two friends and botanists who own Earth Scents Florists. I’ll share with you the greenest excerpt I’ve got of these two, which only hints at the joys the earth can bring if only you know where to look. This excerpt begins as Dean and Jade join Adam, a country music star, at his home for dinner.
Dean filled her in on the weekend at Earth Scents in between Adam’s directions to his house. When they pulled into a huge circular driveway, Adam handed Dean a key to the panel camouflaged by decorative stone, and the tall iron gate opened.
Jade had a hard time keeping her mouth closed. She’d seen television shows that showcased celebrity houses, and she could almost hear Robin Leach’s voice pointing out amenities.
The dark brick driveway bordered the neatly trimmed front lawn, surrounded by native trees and boulders. The botanist in her salivated at the well-maintained foliage, and couldn’t wait to walk through the property and catalogue each species. A decorative fountain sat in the center of the drive, angels and birds of white marble directing water flow back into the basin.
Dean stopped the car in front of the door. The stoop was covered in a lush green vine, clematis, if she wasn’t mistaken, and gave the entrance an inviting feel.
“You can just park here, unless you want it in the garage,” Adam told Dean. Jade pressed her forehead against the car window to see the house in its entirety. A two story English Manor-style brick estate, with huge arching windows that emitted a warm yellow glow from the spacious rooms inside. The clematis climbed all the way to the roof, draping the grey and maroon brick with a lush green shroud.
Adam opened her door for her, and smiled at her expression.
“Do you like it?”
She nodded, trying not to look like a country bumpkin with her first look at indoor plumbing. “I suppose you already have a gardener…” Whoever landscaped the front lawn knew what they were doing. Jade spun around for a full look at the Eden-like setting.
“There’s always room for one more.” Adam reached to pull her into his arms.
“Jade! It’s Tropaeolum majus!” Dean was on his knees in front of a bricked-in enclosure between the driveway and the home. Jade rushed over and mindless of her attire, knelt beside him.
The plant was gorgeous, the bloom was a perfect red-orange specimen, opened to its full glory and releasing the distinctive perfume in the evening breeze. “It’s amazing! But I can’t tell if it’s from the T. moritzanum or T. peltophorum, it has both characteristics.”
“It must be a hybrid. Whoever planted this knew their stuff. Look how it’s flourishing along with the Trifolium.”
“You know,” Adam said from behind them, “I’ve brought a lot of people to my place. This is the first time they’ve been on their knees in the grass discussing the landscaping.”
“What a shame.” Jade looked up at Adam, a little embarrassed at her exuberance, especially in her dress and heels, but she couldn’t stop. “This Tropaeolum majus…or Monk’s Cress, is one of the species that Dean and I studied in Colombia. I think we could spend hours out here.”
“I’d like to take credit, but this was all here when I moved in three years ago. All I know about plants can fit into a thimble, with room to spare. But I should get in the shower and make myself presentable. You two are welcome to look around out here, or come on inside.”
Jade stood up and dusted her hands off. From the look on Dean’s face, it was obvious he wanted to see what other treasures he could find in Adam’s yard.
“If you don’t mind, we’d love to snoop around your garden.” Jade gripped both of Adam’s hands. “But hurry back.”
Adam kissed her cheek before leaving the two plant scientists to their discoveries. Jade watched Adam’s retreat, her gaze focused on his ass, shaking her head at his baggy shorts.
“I’d ask how he was in bed, but the look on your face already told me.”
Falling Star is available now in all formats (even dead tree). Click the cover for a blurb and buy links. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy your hop through the digital hallways of JustRomance.Me. Enjoy your Earth Day, and please join us in the after hop chat party 4⁄22 at 7pm!
Great excerpt. I’m not much of a gardener, but I love to look at and smell the flowers someone else nurtures.
Enjoyed the excerpt, love to garden, but have to compete with the squirrels and the dog digging up my flowers
I think it’s great you’re donating to the RMEF. I had to comment just for that! What a great idea. Wonderful excerpt. 🙂
I love flowers I can’t wait to read more.
I’m very very impressed. I’m so happy you are donating to RMEF.
I’m a gardening nut. I love all things that grow. LOL, I should have been a Hobbit.
A good ass is worth a thousands words. More if it’s for a good cause ^_^ Thanks for the excerpt and happy Earth Day! =D
I love the picture of the tree made out of logs. so creative and beautiful. . Happy Earth Day!
‑Jessica B
I have a feeling your story is a fountain of not only romance but knowledge as well! Thanks for sharing this Earth Day excerpt with us!
Thank you for the beautiful tree/wood image. Makes you see what it is.
I love flowers but unfortunately I can’t grow anything! Thanks for the great excerpt. 😀
Great excerpt! I love to work in my flower garden.,I’m looking forward to planting it soon.
Flowers blooming at this time of the year are wonderful. I have what I call a Fairy Garden–fairy statues amongst my plants.
Thank you for the excerpt. All the pictures were wonderful, it is so lovely that you will be donating money..I plan to donate to WWF…
Thanks for sharing the story and the pics as well. I always take close-ups of my own garden and use the pictures for my desktop background.
Enjoyed the excerpt. Sounds like a good story.
Great excerpt, definitely makes me want to read more. I do love plants and gardening, I can’t do that much anymore because of my RA, but I enjoy the look and smell of a beautiful garden.
Linda
seriousreader at live dot com
Nice excerpt!! I like to garden and plant, but I do not have a green thumb. I have to have plants that I don’t do anything with. 🙂
Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com
Very nice excerpt. The book sounds good.
Great excerpt! I cant really tells flowers apart, i only know a handful. The pictures above are beautiful. I love flowers, have a ton of them and can only name about 3. lol Oh! Cool cover! I thought it was a trick of the light at first. Thats awesome! 🙂 Thank you for the awesome hop and giveaway! 😉
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Alanna thanks for sharing (and great picture)
Great you can change personas so easily.
I enjoyed the excerpt. Though I love to plant and grow flowers, I’m unable to do as much as I used to.
Great excerpt. My lawn would not get people taking a closer look. Mostly dirt and oak leaves.
Love the excerpt. It must be a blow to Adam’s ego that Jade is more interested in his garden than him! :o)
Wish I had flowers as beautiful as the ones you have pictured…I inherited the black thumb…but I still try!
I enjoyed the way you put photos with the blogging. I to enjoy gardening and using my rain barrels to help my flowers, trees and plants through the summer.
Those are gorgeous photos! Thanks for posting them and for your donation to that particular charity.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
I think your charity is great cause and what a wonderful gesture of adding more money to the cause from our postings.
I loved the excerpt and the beautiful flowers you posted.
Teresa k.
I too love the look of beautiful flowers but hate the time it takes to weed them. Thanks for donating to something that saves nature for the next generation.
I tend to kill flowers, lol. But I do find that I am reading many more e‑books these days. There are only a few authors that I have to buy in print, because I had already started collecting them before getting into e‑books.
GREAT excerpt…nice pics too!
Thanks for the opportunity to donate by posting. I’m reading more ebooks these days like many of the other posters. While I say that, I do like the feel of a book in my hands from dead trees too but am more conscious when I buy them.