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As many of you may know, our beloved sister hostess SHARON DONOVAN, tragically passed away on 11th April 2012. We who knew her, loved her, and were inspired by her courage and determination to face head on whatever life threw at her. When she could no longer see to paint she turned to writing and showed her amazing talent in the Inspirational Romance and Romantic Suspense genres, and her story 'Charade Of Hearts' was awarded the coveted Predators and Editors Award in January 2011.

This Blog was a source of great delight to her, she was one of the founder hostesses and she contributed to the fun and silliness in her own original way, and was kind enough to let her unique creation, the hunky butler 'Oliver' join us for our Friday romp and prepare 'virtual breakfast' for the guests on the following morning. It's beyond hard to have to go on without her, but we know that she would have been the first to insist that 'the show must go on.' She is, and will always be with us in spirit.
Sharon, dear friend, we will never forget you.
The Author Roast and Toast is part of the legacy you left us. Let's raise a Toast to you as well as all our guests.
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Friday, June 22, 2012

Shelley Noble's beach party to celebrate her book, Beach Colors



“Pleasure Beach! What a great name!” Mary wipes her face. “But the hike just about killed me!”

“I didn’t know they had beaches in Connecticut!” Lyn adjusts her sunglasses beneath her wide-brimmed hat. “I thought Connecticut is supposed to be cold!”

Mary spreads out a bright flowered beach blanket and plops down. “Silly! Connecticut is on the ocean. Of course it would have beaches. Nice here, not like in Florida or Texas.” She fans herself. “Not nearly as hot.”

“Actually, the breeze is a little cool for me.” Patsy folds out two beach chairs, settling in. “And don’t expect me to go into the water. My idea of swimming is when the water is in the seventies or even higher. Besides, it’s getting a little dark. Maybe we should move over by the fire.”

Nibbie races to the shoreline with Hampy and Cuddles scampering behind.


Patsy lets loose a shrill whistle. “You stay out of the water!”

Mary nods her head. “Be a mess in the car if they get wet with all the sand.”

Shelley strolls down the beach. “You guys came!” She claps her hands enthusiastically. Leaning down, she whispers. “Oliver is bartending! I absolutely adore Oliver.” She glances in Oliver’s direction. “Oliver in a swimsuit is every woman’s secret desire.”

Wearing a flowered silk hip drape and matching bra, Shelley is a beachcomber’s dream girl, like she stepped from the screen of Hawaii 5 0!

Lyn mutters under her breath. “Look at her outfit! And that figure! Fashion designers must love her!”

“She does look amazing,” Mary agrees, heaving a sigh.

“You look great yourself.” Patsy pats Mary’s arm. “For old broads, we’re holding our own.”

A volley ball bounces off Lyn’s head. “OOWW!”

A crowd of young people race by throwing water balloons and nailing everyone with high powered water guns! The three women try unsuccessfully to shield their faces from the liquid barrage.

Shelley laughs, the sound so joyful, everyone has to smile. “I think you all need a sweet libation to loosen you up.” She taps her lips. “I have just the thing! Watermelon martinis!”

“Oh yum!” Patsy smacks her lips. “You must have read my mind.”

Mary stands up, ready for a drink. A well muscled bodybuilder grabs her, tosses her over his shoulder and runs into the water.  Mary shrieks once before the seawater closes over her head.

Lyn covers her mouth to keep from giggling out loud. “Oh my! She is going to be sooo mad!”

More heavily muscled beach boys start towards them, their intent all too clear.

“Not me!” Patsy turns and runs toward the food, knowing that no one is going to ruin the buffet.

“Me either.” Lyn stumbles but manages to run also. “Besides, I’m starving.”

They collide with the volley ball net, trip over numerous sun worshippers but finally make it to safety.

And what safety it is.  Drooling, they gaze at the amazing fare.

Fried clams, lobster tails, grilled corn, crab salad, three bean and hot potato salad,


 plates of fresh veggies with a variety of dips, baked beans, and lots of salty chips and for dessert, homemade vanilla ice cream sitting amidst the mouth-watering spread.






“Oh my,” Lyn breathes. “My favorite! Peach upside down cake.”

Another volley ball bounces off Lyn’s head again. “OOWW!” She glares over her shoulder. “Can’t you see I’m eating here!”

A thoroughly saturated Mary staggers up. She squeezes water from her dripping hair. “Give me one of those spicy lemonades.”

She downs it in two swallows. “I need another.”

A grin lights her face. “I’m cooler now, I have to admit.”

Patsy flexes her muscles.  “One more good looking guy with huge biceps comes at me, I’ll fix him sure!”

“Are you kidding?” Shelley gasps. “This is a beach party. You’re supposed to be having fun and what happens on the beach, stays on the beach!”

“I thought that was Vegas!”

“I don’t care where it is,” Lyn states, tilting her head at the healthy bevy of male bodies. “Perfect spot for a party, perfect food and perfect scenery.”


“I’m with you,” Mary cheers.

“Well, then,” Shelley lights up a handful of sparklers. “Let’s party!”





BLURB


Beach Colors

William Morrow
June 2012

While Margaux Sullivan was presenting her highly praised M Atelier collection at New York City’s Fashion Week, her husband of thirteen years cleaned out their bank account and disappeared. A week later the bank foreclosed on her apartment and business. Suddenly broke, betrayed, and humiliated, Margaux returns home to the small, coastal town of Crescent Cove, CT, where she once knew love, joy and family, three things she’s lost on her climb to fame.

BEACH COLORS is a story about broken dreams and new beginnings and the power of love to transform what we might have been into what we can become.

EXCERPT

Chapter One
Margaux Sullivan stood unmoving and listened to the echoes of her failure. Only a week ago, her Manhattan loft had been thrumming with energy, excitement, and caffeine, as twenty-five pattern cutters, drapers, and seamstresses worked round the clock to prepare M Atelier’s latest collection for the event of the year. New York City’s Fashion Week.

Now it was just an empty space. The finished pieces carted away in cardboard boxes. The long work tables cleared of everything but a few forgotten scraps of fabric. The manikins repossessed, the brick walls bare except for the row of five by three foot photographs of Margaux’s award-winning fashions that her creditors left behind.

The asymmetrical black, moiré satin sheath had been her first CDFA award winner. The black wool Tuxedo had made the cover of Vogue. Marie Claire had called the black tulle ball gown—not a fluffy evening dress, but cutting edge stark—“Tulle with a Bite.”
The models stared back at her, caught in time, sleek and scowling. This dress will make you thin, this will make you beautiful, this will make men adore you. Black, unique and powerful. They’d promised to make Margaux’s dream come true.

And it had come true. Ever since that sticky summer day when she’d discovered a bridal magazine in the Crescent Cove library. She’d opened its shiny pages to brilliant white, palest pink, creamy ivory. Pearls and veils and promises—and she thought, this is what I want to do.
For the rest of the summer, she rode her bike to the library almost every day to draw and dream. During the school year she took art classes and every summer she returned to the library to copy the latest magazines. She majored in design in college and interned in New York, and graduallly worked her way up to owning her own workshop.

It had been a long fierce climb, but she’d made it. She was successful, envied, happily married. But it was just an illusion. While she worked unceasingly to establish herself as one of New York’s top designers, her loving husband had siphoned off their assets and disappeared.
The bank had taken everything else.

All she had left was her car and her reputation. The car was paid for, but her reputation wouldn’t be worth a two martini lunch, once the news got out that M Atelier had gone belly up.
Margaux felt her chin quiver. Not now. She had one more thing to do before she broke down and howled at the moon.

She slipped the business card out of her pocket and picked up her portfolio. She stepped into her secretary’s office. “Guess we’re the last two.”
Yolanda looked up from a soggy Kleenex. Margaux thrust the business card toward her. “Liz Chang at DKNY has been threatening to steal you for years. Here’s her number. Call her.”
Yolanda took the card. “She’d take you, too.”

Margaux shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She’d thought about hiring herself out again. But the thought stuck in her gut. She couldn’t do it. It was too humiliating. And she wouldn’t give her competition the sastisfaction of seeing her grovel. Not yet, anyway.

“Good luck.” Margaux turned to leave and came face to face with the most recent photo of herself. An award dinner at the Plaza. Tall, sleek, her impossibly curly auburn hair gelled, sprayed and pulled back into a classic French twist that an earthquake wouldn’t ruffle. Her black evening gown, one of her own designs, had stopped conversation when she’d entered the room. She was holding a glass of Tattinger’s champagne and smiling. At the top of her game.

And now the game was over.


BIO

Shelley Noble’s first women’s fiction novel, Beach Colors, is published by William Morrow.  She also writes mysteries as Shelley Freydont and romance novels as Gemma Bruce.

A former professional dancer and choreographer, Shelley most recently worked on the films Mona Lisa Smile and The Game Plan.  She can be reached via her websites at http://shelleynoble.com  or http://shelleyfreydont.com





***GIVEAWAY***
To win a copy of Shelley's book, all you have to do is just leave a comment and your e-mail address.
Contest ends tomorrow and everyone who comments is eligible.

84 comments:

  1. Good Morning Shelley - Sister Hostesses! What a great party! I'm just going to laze here in the sun and enjoy the view *she points to a muscular guy in a thong* That one over there just fits the bill. Where's my watermelon martini!

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  2. Hello Patsy - you're look very cool, oh I agre the view is pretty good too, mind if I join you for one of those watermelon martinis?

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  3. Good Morning Shelley, welcome to your Roast Beach Party. You look so lovely in that beach sarong, come join Patsy and me under this umbrella whil Oliver gets our Martiinis for us and we wait for the guests.

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  4. HI guys, glad you all like watermelon martinis, they're the drink of choice here on Pleasure Beach. And thanks, I love my little beach wrap too.*she twirls around* It's a Margaux Sullivan design. I just love her clothes.

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  5. Boy, I hope Margaux gets to the seashore soon. It's awfully depressing where she stands right now.
    It must be horrible to have your dream ripped from under your feet like a rug. I've never had a dream ripped away, but I know I'd fight to my last breath to get it back. Margaux has to do the same.

    Shelley, do you know the fashion industry well?

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  6. Hi Irene, glad you could join the party. Yes, Margaux is obviously in need of some serious cheering up. Perhaps some of these delicious Watermelon Martinis will help!

    Such a powerful excerpt, movingly portrays a shattered dream!

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  7. don't worry about Margaux. She knows the value of the beach, and families and friends to help when you're feeling down. Wait til she gets here

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  8. Can't wait to get your book Shelley! If only it came with the cocktails!

    Lisa

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  9. Hi Lisa -

    Now there's a marketing idea! What do you think, Shelley?

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  10. The possibilities are staggering, I definitely have the recipe and I might just be willing to share it.

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  11. Mmmm. that would be great, Shelley. I have to admit to not having come across Watermelon Martinis over here, but I'm addicted to the virtual kind already!

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  12. Pearl just called to say She'll be late. She got lost —again. She took a wrong turn leaving Manhattan. I told her not to worry, just turn around. Delaware isn't THAT far from Connecticut.

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  13. Watermelon martinis at the shore. Ah. Bliss, NIrvana, Valhalla, And with Oliver tending bar. . . LIfe is complete.

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  14. *Sigh* I certainly agree, Shelley, LOL Pearl doesn't know what she's missing!

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  15. Well, while we're waiting for Pearl, here's what Margaux feels about coming home to the shore.

    She scuffed through the sand, her head bowed, letting her shoes fill up with the heavy grains and her hair blow wild in the salt breeze. She knew exactly when to look up. It was always the same, that first full view. The blues of the water reaching up to the sky. The white sand stretching to each side in a graceful curve, like a smile.
    Margaux filled her lungs with salt air and felt a ripple of hope rise inside her. She wanted to throw her arms open to the sea; let it take her troubles away on the wind, just as she’d done when she was a kid. No matter how sad, or angry or hurt she’d been, the waves could wash the feeling away. Could make her problems seem not so insurmountable

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  16. Oh that's such an evocative excerpt, Shelley. When I lived in Wales, I lived near the sea, and there's something about walking along the sand, with the sea wind in one's hair that does indeed help make one's troubles seem easier to overcome.

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  17. I've never been to Wales though it's long been on my place to visit. I was in Cornwall a couple of years ago. and it really is like being at Lands End. And so different from the Atlantic coastline over here.

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  18. Mary drags herself outta the water again. Help me please help me. All she can think of is the Fly as his head on the fly body yelled, well more like squeaked.
    So Pearl is late? If she wouldn't stay up late hitting all the hot spots looking for a rake...
    Shelly, you're looking hot girl!

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  19. I think I see Pearl! It's gotta be her! Someone in a thong bikini is dancing on the beach and has drawn a crowd. I hope she hasn't had too much to drink? I think somebody has skipped the watermelon part and is going straight for the bottle?
    Did you all see that flash of light?

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  20. Thats pearl all right crazy girl she's gonna get sunburned

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  21. OOOOOOO! I got pulled into the volley ball tournament. Guys said my arms are a shoe-in. I must admit, I spike pretty well! If I was a little taller, I'd rule the game! Back I go.

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  22. What a fun party! A watermelon martini sounds just the thing for today. Sad and lovely excerpts, Shelley! Congrats on the book release! :)

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  23. Pearl is gonna get sunburned in places she's not used to. I never saw her in a thong before.
    Hot stuff eh?

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  24. Brrr! Long Island Sound is too cold for me! And I'm for sure not wearing a thong! I think I'll just stretch out on a lounge chair with one of Shelley's watermelon martini's - or six - put on a big floppy hat and sun glasses and start reading Beach Colors. My copy came the other day and I'm really looking forward to reading it! Congrats, Shelley!

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  25. Hi Babete and Allison. Lyn hugs her slightly sopping sister hostess, Mary. Mary dear, it's a good job you have the right - er - equipment to keep you floating! *grin*

    Oh I think you'd like Wales, Shelley, the mountains of Wales are beautiful, wild and rugged, and the area of West Wales, where I come from, also has lakes and green valleys, as well as sandy beaches and ancient castles,

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  26. Yeah, did you all know that hooters float? Could save a life if necessary. Just stay on your back. And here's where size matters. LOL!
    Patsy uses her arms to float. Lyn sinks the feet are like boat anchors. So we have had to save her many times.
    Nibby what is that in your mouth? It looks like it's moving!!

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  27. AAACKKK it is moving - looks like some sort of crab or something - look at all those legs wiggling out of Nibby's mouth! *She grabs Nibby's collar and pries open the dog's mouth* OMG - it is a crab!

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  28. Oh, the poor little crab! Don't worry, crabbie, I won't let you get eaten! Lyn runs to the sea, clutching the creab.

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  29. I think Nibby found another! Or is that some sort of sea slug?

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  30. Fun... this sounds like a fun party... glad I showed up here

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  31. Sound like a great party. I'm glad I wandered up the beach to check in.

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  32. What fun! You ladies sure know how to throw a party!

    Shelley, your excerpt drew me right in. I'm looking forward to reading Beach Colors. I wish you all the best with your new book.

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  33. Nibby is chasing you with a huge crab Lyn. She wants to see if it will pinch you with it's claw before we cook it!
    No Nibby,(snicker) No...Hehehe
    Where's the music???

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  34. Look at the muscles on that guy! Even bigger than mine! Amazingly enough. Hi Victori and Sophia - glad to see you!

    Mary, the band shows up later when the sun goes down. We need to gather wood for a bonfire!

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  35. Watch out for the crabs. But don't forget the cried clams when you get hungry

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  36. Let me tell you about those volley ball boys, they don't like girls to beat them, so make sure to let them win every once and a while. and they're so cute when they do.

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  37. I had to take a break to go get Pearl, she's been so busy showing off her new swim suit that i think she forgot about us.

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  38. And by the way, has anybody noticed that mary keeps getting in the water? that's because the hunky life guard in the red swim trunks is always waiting to help her out again. You go girl.

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  39. just call me chatty cathy but while we'er talking about lifeguards, Here an excerpt where Nick stops Margaux for speeding.

    Nick Prescott glanced up as the blip appeared on his radar. Resignedly, he tossed his History of the Ostrogoths in Italy onto the passenger seat beside him. He should be sitting in his office correcting final exams, not hiding in the trees waiting to ticket some unsuspecting speeder.
    Nick flipped on the siren, pulled the cruiser onto the tarmac and took off after a bright blue sports coupe going at least sixty. The tourist season hadn’t even begun, and already the summer people were breaking the law.
    The car slowed and pulled to the sandy shoulder of the road. Nick followed and stopped several yards behind it. He noted the make, model, and license plate—New York—of course. Connecticut was their weekend retreat of choice.
    As he got out of the cruiser, he slipped on his sun glasses and unsnapped his holster. He’d been out of the army for ten years, and until six months ago, he never thought he’d ever use a firearm again.
    A woman sat behind the wheel, the window was open, her hair was windblown. Auburn, deep, rich, like burnished mahogany. A color that as a boy stopped him in his tracks. It stopped him now, even while his rational mind told him it couldn’t be her.
    He took a breath and stepped up to the car. “Ma’am.”
    She looked up at him with wide, serious blue eyes. Eyes the color of a sunlit sea.
    He’d know her anywhere in spite of the years that had passed. Felt the same jolt of connection he’d felt twenty years before. It hadn’t changed, hadn’t softened or diminished. And was still just as one-sided as it had always been. She had no idea who he was.

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  40. Shelley, you've certainly sussed our Mary out! *Grin* Now I just have to figure out how to get her back for setting that crab on me!

    I'm so intrigued by your book.I'm just wondering if Margot will ever manage to get her dream back again - and who she's going to find to help her, surely she's not going to spend the rest of her life alone?

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  41. OH no, Margaux doesn't know it but there's another man making his way into her life. and this one is a keeper.

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  42. Oh glad to hear it, Shelley! :) I was going to ask you for another excerpt but it looks like our posts crossed in the ether Is Nick going to be 'the one'?

    (And apologies for getting Margaux's name spelt wrong!)

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  43. I loved the excerpt Shelley! Great one! OOWWWW - a crab latched onto my toe *she dances around on one leg* Mary! Lyn! Somebody! Help! Preferably the guy in the red swim trunks!

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  44. Lyn tries not to laugh! Hold still Patsy dear - while I try to remove this crab. Or shall I see if I can find that hot guy in the swimming trunks ... it might take a while, your choice.

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  45. Stop Lyn, Patsy don't move. This is the way we pull a crab off a toe in Connecticut. First you have to find three beach boys, good muscles, nice hair, you know the type. One gets Patsy to sit on his lap, while the second one holds her hand, and the third kneels at her feet and yanks that sucker off her toe.

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  46. Oooh, Shelley,now I'm jealous. Can I have a crab on my toe too?

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  47. we can all have crabs on our toes. I think I can rustle up enough beach boys to go around.

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  48. You're the best, Shelley, your talents are amazing (and obviously not just limited to your books either! :) )

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  49. I want my toe sucked too!
    The internet gods took me away, they decided i was having too much fun!
    they just let me back in. Damn them!
    So as I was saying before I got taken into the water.
    Did someone mention toe sucking?

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  50. Oh sorry, I misunderstood, I thought, well, never mind.
    Where's the drinks, Olive, one round for everyone! On me! Not on me literally Shelly. Just so's you know.
    Ow, what's that on my toe?

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  51. Look at all the fun I have been missing. Almost forgot it's Friday. LOL. Hot as heck here. Sure could use something cold. Shelley love your book cover. Sounds like a wonderful story.
    Sue B

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  52. Shelley - I love your remedy for my pain! A round of crabs - er - uh - a round of drinks for everyone!

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  53. I'm here at last. Just took a little detour

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  54. Sue, how could you forget Friday! LOL

    Yes come and sit here in the shade. Would you like a crab? Er, I mean another drink? The Watermelon martinis are delicious and very refreshing.

    Yes, Shelley's cover is gorgeous, isn't it - and the novel itself sounds wonderful.

    How are the toes, Mary, Patsy? I wonder why I don't have a crab on my toe?

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  55. don't worry Mary, Oliver is on hi sway with a drink and two more beach boys to take care of your toe.

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  56. On second thoughts I suppose my little feet are so tiny the crabs don't see them!

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  57. Well Sue jump right in, there's homeade lemonade and Watermelon martinis the best.

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  58. BRRAAAAHAHAHA! Tiny feet, do oars come with your shoes?
    Those things could kill a crab, don't you think that's why they ain't grabbin' onto a toe or two. Seeing as they are out there!!!
    Hi Pearl, grab a crab, I mean a Martini, Shelly's recipe. Love the thong bikini, you look marvelous!!

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  59. I think I'll take the time to introduce one of my favorite people from Beach Colors, Linda the hairdresser.

    The Cut n Curl took up half of the first floor of an old white Victorian house across the street from the marina. Margaux almost drove past it. It had been newly painted a soft mauve. Shutters and porch were moss green, edged with a fine detailing in burgundy. White ginger-breading ran beneath the roof and the eaves of the porch. To the left of the entrance, a huge bay window overlooked the street and marina. A painted wooden sign hung above the porch rail. Le Coif was scripted out in gilt letters.
    Margaux just hoped the stylist was as good as the paint job.
    She parked across the street in front of the sea wall that ran along the cove that gave Crescent Cove its name. Below it was a small marina, used mostly by locals, with one gas pump, a bait shop and no amenities but some benches where old timers sat and reminisced.
    Margaux got out of the car, crossed the street, and climbed the steps to the porch. A sign in the door’s oval window read, I’m in.
    “Terse but to the point,” she muttered and pushed the door open. Above her head, chimes played the “Toreador Song” from Carmen.
    The foyer was softly lit from an overhead chandelier. In the center of the oak floor, a shag rug depicted a smiling Elvis Presley. The smell of ammonia and hair products permeated the air.
    Margaux looked into a door on her left. The room was empty but filled with morning light. She was just about to try the door on her right, when it opened and a woman dressed in a “Beauticians do it with Style” tee shirt, black leggings and chartreuse bunny fur slippers, stepped out. She was about five feet tall, with black spiked hair shot with gold streaks. An open paisley smock flapped around her calendar girl’s figure and she held a mug filled with yellow liquid.
    She stopped when she saw Margaux, peered out from behind cat eye glasses, and screeched, “Holy Moly!” in an unmistakable Brooklyn accent. The liquid sloshed out of her mug onto the floor. She rubbed the spot away with her toe.

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  60. Oliver please a glass of wine for Pearl. She had to be rescued by Shelly's secret forces. (She sent a guy she picked up on the beach) and finally here she is. What'll it be Pearl.
    Wine right?? Or are you up for something watermelony? We have a huge list of martini's Oliver serves. I'll try the chocolate one! Sounds good. What a great spread, has everyone eaten?
    I hear there's crabs?

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  61. This excerpt was so long I had to send it in two parts, You're gonna love Linda, at least I hope so, i do


    “Chamomile, good for the wood. Linda Goldstein,” she said, pumping Margaux’s hand. She immediately released it, pulled her glasses to the tip of her nose and peered over them.
    Margaux was about to turn and run, when the hair dresser grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her inside a room crammed with salon equipment.
    A long Formica counter ran across the far wall. A huge bank of mirrors partially obscured the windows behind it. Three sinks were attached to the back wall, each with a padded reclining chair facing the room. A display of hair care products was lined up across the marble mantel of the fireplace left over from the original parlor. It was the same layout as the Cut n Curl but, somehow, it looked brand new.
    Linda flicked a switch beneath the counter and a marquee of lights flared to life around the mirrors. She turned to frown at Margaux.
    “Damn, don’t know if you need a hug or a cut first. Let’s go for the hair. It’ll be the easiest fix. I know hair. Whatever else is making you look like you do is beyond me.”
    She nudged Margaux into the salon chair, then whirled it around to face the mirror. She stood behind Margaux, lifted and dropped her hair, batted it with her fingers, capped it close to her head.
    “Uh huh. Beneath that frizz, I see a good cut. Fifth Avenue? Jacques Cotille or I don’t know my hair dressers. Surprised you, didn’t I?”
    “How did you—yes, it is.”
    “Not your fault. Not Jacques’ either. Good cut, but not for the shore. Too short or too long. If you get what I mean.” She grabbed a fistful of Margaux’s hair. “Too thick. In this humidity, the bulk’s gotta go. Lucky for you, you came to the right place.”
    Unconsciously, Margaux reached up to smooth back her hair.
    Linda expelled a gust of air. “Well, that’s a good sign. Whatever’s wrong, it isn’t so bad if you’re worried about your appearance. What I say is if you have the right outfit and the right hair style, the rest is a piece of cake.”
    “There’s nothing wrong,” Margaux said defensively.
    Linda pulled her glasses down to look over the rim at Margaux. “What? You always walk around looking like you just lost your last cabana boy?”

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  62. Can the hairdresser fix my hair??
    No spiking though...I assume it's an identity thing? Gotta read the story huh?? Any hints??
    More booze, I mean another drink for Shelly please!!

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  63. What a party! Sorry I'm late guys, but I came here wearing a thong--and NOTHING else. The hottest guys are going gaga! Sorry, girls. I needed to do SOMETHING grand to get their attention.

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  64. Wait, cabana boy, are there cabana boys involved here. Cause I gotta say I'd rather have a cabana boy then to get bit on the toe by a crab. Just sayin...

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  65. Hiya Pearl, great to see you. You look stunning, but did you know all you really needed to do was attract a crab and get it to cling onto your toe?

    Shelley, what a descriptive excerpt! And you're right, Linda is a brilliant character, I love her already!

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  66. So what's up after the beach party? Shelly great excerpt, I need a hairdresser like that. Any chance I could get an appointment?
    I still can't stop thinking about the cabana boys.

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  67. Pearl, you stopped traffic in Manhattan for goodness sake. I told you to take the cover up. But you always were so daring and the type to get up on the table and dance. Or sing onstage. Oh wait you have!
    Let's get this party moving I like your grand entrance Pearl. Lyn wouldn't let me come top less, I don't see why not, especially since you did. Mary sticks her tongue out at Lyn and Lyn lobs a pie at her. Missed me, opps who is that with pie all over them??
    Snicker, you hiding Patsy huh or are you wearing chocolate cream pie?

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  68. *Patsy licks her lips* Chocolate cream pie! You are in so much trouble. Pearl - only a thong! I'm shocked speechless - but the guys seem to like you! More great excerpts.

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  69. Lyn frowns at Mary. Honestly, girl, can't take you anywhere. Would you like me to wipe the chocolate of the bits of you that you can't reach Patsy?

    What? you have a better idea? I might have known it would involve a cabana boy!

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  70. You wanna hug Patsy?? How many cabana boys does it take to clean up a chocolate cream pie covered woman.You mean just to carry her to the ocean right?

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  71. I want a Margaux Sullivan beach wrap. She did yours Shelly, has she shown up yet?
    Where is Patsy and where are all the cabana boys? Hey, Lyn,where are you?

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  72. There is no reply - but a lot of giggling coming from somewhere down the beach!

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  73. What happened to my life guard? You can keep the cabana boys, this is just a side job for extra money, the life guard I mean. He's calling me back to the water.
    Shelly, help, I'm in desperate need of...

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  74. Loved that excerpt! I could just picture it in my head. Oh! A watermelon martinis sounds wonderful.
    Sue B

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  75. have you lost your life guard again Mary? Just get in the water and yell chocolate cream pie

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  76. Mary goes into the water, out past the waves and starts to yell out Chocolate Cream Pie, she disappears below the water. Still yelling banana cream, pumpkin, apple, lemon, cocoanut, Heelllllpppp!

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  77. Well it's an hour past the witching hour here in my dimension! So I'll say goodnight for now and leave you to frolic on the beach. Have fun, and save a lifeguard for me! See y'all tomorrow!

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  78. Watch it, Mary! The last time you made a fuss, I spilled red wine on you! This time it will be three watermelon martinis, enough for me to drown you with!

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  79. Don't worry, I'll save you. Oh wait, my hair might frizz, Ol-liver-er-er-er-er!!!

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  80. At least I'm in a bathing suit so it won't matter if you do it Pearl.
    Just careful of the doo just had Margaux do it for me nice.
    Pearl been swimming in any goldfish pools lately?
    See you tomorrow Lyn, I know it's late for you there in the Isles! Go Britania!No wait, go Wales!!!
    I'm grabbing that life guard with the blue eyes and sexy grin. See you all in the morning. Mary slips on chocolate cream pie on her way to the lifeguard station Sigh...a girls gotta do what shes gotta do. Like Pearl in her thong. Whatever works. Party on!

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  81. That was some party and I seem to have snoozed the day away. Is that Mary still sacked out on the porch hammock? Thanks for the fun time.

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  82. LOL I think we've all slept the day away! You've been a fantastic guest, Shelley, we've really enjoyed sharing your party with you and finding out more about 'Beach Colors'!

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  83. I don't get this until Saturday morning, but I wanted to comment on what a great beginning this story has. Obviously the author has varied life experiences, all in my areas of interest, art and ballet. It's on my TBR list.

    Julie Eberhart Painter
    snorkeljul@aol.com

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