The Carmel Charmers Series

By Kemberlee Shortland

For Tutti-Frutti Blues --
Town therapist Maisie Daniels is having a bad day. A failed alarm clock makes her late for work, she's locked herself out of her house and worse, she's half way across town when she realizes she's wearing her bunny slippers. A double scoop of tutti-frutti ice cream is just the ticket to boost her mood.

When Sergeant Jake Hennessey spots a woman in bunny slippers muttering to herself in the park, he wonders if she's one of the local eccentrics. When she steps from the ice cream parlor with her double dip in hand, Jake decides not to cite her for eating ice cream on the street, a recent ban, but invites her to dinner instead.

When Jake arrives at the restaurant and sees Maisie in her bunny slippers, he knows instantly that he could love her.

For Dude Looks Like A Lady --
Pamela Howard can't believe what she let her friend Maisie talk her into—a charity costume contest where she's made to dress as King Louis XVI. Her partner, dressed as Queen Marie Antoinette, reminds her of a man she's spent five long years trying to forget.

Hank Delacroix is ready to throttle his friend Jake. Hank is a great clown around his 49er teammates, but six-inch heels and a poodle on his head are a bit much. He has to be the tallest drag queen in the state. When he meets his Louis partner, he can't keep memories of the only woman he ever loved from waking in his mind.

When Hank realizes Louis is his ex-fiancé, he has to find a way to make her stop running away from him so he can finally apologize.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
• Release date: Jan 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466131453

Kemberlee Shortland

Kemberlee is a native Northern Californian who was raised in a community known as Steinbeck Country, home to authors John Steinbeck, Jack London, Robert Campbell, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Sterling, Robinson Jeffers, Mary Austin... just to name a few. With so much influence around her, it’s not hard to see why she fell in love with the printed word.In 1997, Kemberlee couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend six months in Ireland, where she met a man who eventually became her husband. Upon permanently relocating to Ireland, Kemberlee established an Irish travel consultancy, building a reputation as one of Ireland's foremost Irish travel experts.Kemberlee has had the opportunity to study Ireland's history and culture first hand, and has even picked up a cúpla focal . . . a few Irish words. Because of her knowledge of Ireland, she has had the privilege of working with some of the romance industry’s top authors who’ve set their stories in Ireland, including Deb Stover for "Mulligan Stew" and "Mulligan Magic."Over the years, Kemberlee’s love of Ireland has inspired a number of Irish set stories, including A Piece of My Heart, Kemberlee’s first published novel, and short stories Moondance and The Power of Love. Other short stories include Tutti-Frutti Blues and Dude Looks Like A Lady, both set in Kemberlee's hometown of Carmel-by-the-Sea. All of these stories are published through Highland Press. See Kemberlee's website for order information.Kemberlee loves hearing from her readers, so stop by her website and drop her an email. http://www.kemberlee.com

Book preview

CARMEL CHARMERS SERIES

Includes: Tutti-Frutti Blues and Dude Looks Like a Lady

Kemberlee Shortland

Published by Tirgearr Publishing

Author Copyright 2018 Kemberlee Shortland

Cover Art: ARt Designs+Illustration - https://www.artdesigns-illustrations.com

Editor: Amanda Stephanie

Proofreader: RL McCoy

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away. If you would like to share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not given to you for the purpose of review, then please log into the publisher’s website and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting our author’s hard work.

This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Please respect my hard work. I’m always happy to give away copies of my books in exchange for an honest review. However, if you’ve obtained a copy of this book without purchase, or from me or my publisher, please consider leaving a review on your favorite retailer site, or by emailing it directly to me or my publisher. Reviews tell authors, like me, how we’re doing, and they help us market our work more effectively, and encourage readers to buy a copy for themselves. Thank you.

Always for Peter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tutti-Frutti Blues

Dude Looks Like a Lady

About the Author

Other Books

TUTTI-FRUTTI BLUES

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California:

Ice cream is forbidden from being sold or eaten on public streets.

(Repealed in 1986 when Clint Eastwood became mayor)

Town therapist Maisie Daniels is having a bad day. A failed alarm clock makes her late for work, she's locked herself out of her house and worse, she's half way across town when she realizes she's wearing her pink bunny slippers. A double scoop of tutti-frutti ice cream is just the ticket to boost her mood.

Sergeant Jake Hennessey spots a woman in bunny slippers muttering to herself in the park and wonders if she's one of the Carmel’s eccentrics. He follows her, just to be sure she’s all right. As she steps out of the ice cream parlor with her double dip in hand, Jake decides not to cite her for eating ice cream on the street, a recent ban, but invites her to dinner instead.

When Jake arrives at the restaurant and sees Maisie in her bunny slippers, he knows instantly that he could love her.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 1985

From the moment she woke, Maisie Daniels’ day became a series of comedic blunders bent on destroying her sanity. It started the instant her alarm went off.

Scratch that.

The alarm failed to go off because its batteries died during the night.

But at this time of year, the peak of summer, what could one call night when the sun rose so early?

Maisie had learned to sleep through the early sunrise, letting the sunlight streaming through her bedroom window and creep up the bed, the heat of it leaching through the thin blankets. Not that she slept with many blankets. More often than not, the morning light crept over her bare legs and gave her dreams of sunbathing on the white sands of Carmel Beach. In her semi-conscious state, she could almost hear the waves crashing on the shore at the edge of town.

It wasn’t until sunlight flashed in her eyes that she realized she wasn’t on the beach.

It was Friday and she’d overslept.

Oh, no! she exclaimed, along with a few expletives, as she forced herself out of bed. She repeated her curses when she saw the time.

It didn’t help matters any when her secretary and best friend, Pamela Howard, laughed when she rang to cancel her remaining morning appointments.

Already handled it, Pam said, not trying to hide her mirth.

Where would I be without you?

Probably living in a box on the beach.

Maisie laughed. See you after lunch.

She loved the little town of Carmel-by-the-Sea and decided a stroll would be just the thing to clear her head. Always trying to see the bright side of things, she brushed off the day’s late start, and after rushing through her morning routine, she headed for the front door.

Once on her stoop and the door clicked shut behind her, she let out an audible groan and cursed for the umpteenth time. She glanced up the façade of her Comstock, one of Carmel’s charming gingerbread cottages, and cursed again. Sometimes, the brighter side of things didn’t always turn out how one wished.

It wasn’t as if the weather was bad. Indeed, the heavy morning fog that crept in from the Pacific overnight had burned off once the sun came over the Santa Lucia Mountains. This was a typical phenomenon that occurred even in the height of summer.

As she expected, the beauty of the day was instantly evident the moment she stepped through the front door and a wall of warm air hit her. Sunlight glinted through the boughs of California Live Oaks and Monterey Pines surrounding her cottage and winked off the chimes dangling amongst the branches. The shade beneath the boughs should have provided a respite from the heat, but the trees were so thick around this side of her little cottage that they socked in stagnant heat, creating a sweltering pool of hot air she’d have to walk through to reach Torres Street.

It wasn’t the weather causing her grief though, nor the celebrity-seeking tourists she’d have to wade through in order to get to her office—they all came to see Clint, especially now that he was running for Mayor. It was the fact she had decided to leave the house without her sweater. It was so warm she wore little more than a white t-shirt tucked into cut-off denim shorts—perfect attire for a beautiful summer day in Carmel.

What irked Maisie was that she distinctly remembered the location of her sweater because it sat on the sofa beside her purse. The same purse that contained her house keys. The same keys she’d just left the house without. The very same keys she’d need to get back in again!

Groaning aloud, Maisie hoped the old adage start as you mean