Love Lingers

Four award-winning stories combined in one collection. Ms. Eldering's first place, second place, anthology pick and runner-up stories are combined in a short-story anthology/collection. Love Lingers brings everything together under one cover. THE TULIP KISS: A bittersweet tale of love, loss, and hope and how meaningful a simple flower can be. And a reminder to never, ever leave an argument hanging between two hearts. Find out how Amanda's world comes crashing down on that fateful day and how she is reminded of the tulips she loves when she receives her very own Tulip Kiss. This is Ms. Eldering's first place winning story for the Fast and Frigid contest in 2007. THE PROPOSAL: April 1st, a day filled with practical jokes and Stella's 25th birthday. It looks to be a day filled with wonderful surprises and not of the killjoy jokes that Stella is the victim of because her boyfriend, Henry, the most straight-laced man she has ever met, who also has been the victim of many practical jokes from her family, takes her out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. Stella hopes this will be the night he proposes. Her mother's hand in playing practical jokes on Stella shows up throughout the evening. Stella and Henry devise a joke of their own to play on her mother. After all, turn around is fair play. Find out if Stella accepts Henry's proposal in The Proposal (An April Fools Day story). This is Ms. Eldering's 2nd place winning story in the April Fools Day fan contest. BRIDE-AND-SEEK: Based on the legend of Covington Manor, Bride-and-Seek introduces us to Isabella, a young woman from a wealthy family in the 1800s, as she anxiously waits to learn who her betrothed will be. She trusts that her father will choose wisely for her, but her heart yearns for it to be her best friend William. At the masked ball thrown in her honor she falls for the man who claims the first and last dance of the evening, the man who makes her heart beat faster and her blood pulse stronger. After the wedding, the celebration ends in tragedy as the lovers are parted by the cruel turnings of a simple game of hide-and-seek. This story was selected to be in the 2007 South Carolina Writers Workshop anthology, the Petigru Review. THE CELLAR/LA CAVE (FRENCH VERSION OF SAME STORY): A writer returns to France and faces her ghosts with the help of her friend, who has been there for her through many lives. This is Ms. Eldering's runner-up in the Fast and Foreign contest.