LITMIR.BIZ

      “The Full Monty,” Bobbie declared.

      She tapped the toe of her meringue-colored heel on the tile floor. “Catalog number 233A. See-through-front bikini brief for the man with nothing to hide. Contour-hugging, barely-there backside for a rakish and yet daring display of your manly assets. Available in Exposed Ebony and In-the-Buff Buff.”

      Jasper gasped. “But you said no man could ever look good in The Full Monty.”

      She gave her hand an indignant little wave. “I said that before I met Aidan.”

      Touché. One for the lady in pink. Flattered, taken aback and slightly confused, Aidan went and held the door open for Jasper to leave.

      “This isn’t over, Bobbie,” Jasper insisted. “We’ll talk about it when I pick you up on Sunday afternoon for the picnic and watermelon thump.”

      “Bobbie’s going to the picnic with me,” Aidan stated.

      “I am?” she questioned.

      “You are.” He nodded. After all, he’d already agreed to go. So what if it meant he had to play the Twango-Drifter game a little longer? He’d, ahem, suffer through it, especially since his cohort was none other than one Bobbie Fay Callahan!

      Dear Reader,

      I love a fish-out-of-water story, and I think it’s a great premise for not only comedy but a sizzling romance. For example, in Truly, Madly, Briefly I take Aidan O’Shea, a cute Boston cop who has sworn off women, and plop him in a small Texas town where the females significantly outnumber the males. Estrogen is heavy in the air, and it doesn’t get any lighter when Aidan meets Bobbie Fay Callahan, the manager of Boxers or Briefs, a factory that makes risqué men’s underwear. Bobbie’s immediately attracted to Aidan, but after being jilted twice, she’s decided she needs another man about as much as a longhorn needs panty hose.

      So Aidan’s sworn off women. Bobbie’s sworn off men. That means they should have no trouble pulling off a pretend relationship meant to rid them of unwanted suitors—right? Well, this is romance, so there is a problem or two. Aidan fights the attraction between them. Bobbie fights it even harder. Neither win, but they certainly have fun losing and manage to steam up Texas along the way.

      Let me know what you think of Truly, Madly, Briefly. You can e-mail me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.

      Delores Fossen

      Books by Delores Fossen

      HARLEQUIN DUETS

      94—THE DEPUTY GETS HER MAN

      To SARA, the San Antonio Romance Authors—sisters, goddesses, friends