PW #144: Adult Contemporary Romance: PLAID PACKAGE

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: Jennifer Blackwood

Mentee Name: Lisa Leoni

Title: PLAID PACKAGE

Category: Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Word Count: 81,000 words

Pitch:

1 kilted Scottish tour guide barely keeping his company afloat + 1 American travel agent in dire need of a promotion, secretly evaluating his company = recipe for delicious sexcapade—er—disaster that could leave them both jobless. With an ocean separating them, they must decide if their connection’s more than a Highland fling.

Excerpt:

“I look jet-lagged as hell,” Marie Christie said, finger-combing volume into her limp-as-cooked-linguini hair. Bouncing from hotel to hotel had wreaked havoc on it. She caught Becky’s eye in the mirror. “You look like you’ve had a spa day after your flight, while I’ve been here for days and barely functioning.”

“The trick is Benadryl and wine, but I’m dreading my alarm going off at the butt crack of dawn for our tour.” Her best friend touched up her signature Mac Pervette lipstick, while Marie stared at the sad state of her own chapped lips.

One tour down, one to go. After enjoying the last one, she understood why her boss was considering changing Scotland tour companies. If she could focus on evaluating the next tour instead of drooling over the lush scenery, she may score the promotion she’d coveted for years.

“Look, Mar.” Becky pointed to a dingy wall-mounted machine. “Scotland pub bathrooms don’t need tampons. They’ve got whisky-flavored McCondom dispensers.”

Score! Laughing, Marie rummaged in her purse for coins. “Perfect gag gift for Bianca.” She dropped a pound into the slot, twisted the knob, and a tartan cardboard package dropped into the tray.

Admiring her haul, Marie exited the ladies’ room and head-butted something hard. Ow. Had a wall sprang up since she’d gone into the bathroom? Looking up, she nearly combusted from the burn racing across her cheeks.

A curly-haired hunk stared down at her with a playful glint in his eyes.