BOOK BLITZ: Contol By, Laura Marie Altom

Laura Marie Altom’s heart-stirring new romance will have you believing in the power of love—and passion—to heal even the most wounded souls.

Never again. Fleeing her hometown to escape an abusive marriage, Ella Patton swears she has surrendered to a man for the last time. But while living under a new name, she meets a kind, handsome stranger who seems different—and will be moving on soon, making Ella reckless enough to break her rules. With a kiss, the stranger opens the door to desires Ella believed she would never know. Then he makes an unexpected proposal.

A dot-com billionaire from humble beginnings, Liam Stone is a man whose past has made him compassionate yet guarded—much like the beautiful, secretive woman he stumbles upon in a remote Southern town. Though he intends only a dalliance, when the time comes to return home to San Francisco, Liam cannot bear the thought of leaving her behind. But when he tries to entice her to join him, he finds the tables turning dizzingly fast. Suddenly a little seduction becomes a huge battle for one thing: control.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

(from Chapter One)

Needing this guy out of my snack bar, needing to rid myself of the voodoo his mere presence stirred inside, I focused on the roller grill, willing the sensor light to blink. 

When it finally did, I grabbed a paper food tray, then tonged his dog into a steamed bun, wishing my coworker and partner-in-crime, Willow, were there. She’d crack a dirty joke and instantly have me feeling better.

“Thanks. Got any wasabi mustard?” he asked after I’d stepped out from behind the counter to set his food on the brown laminate table.

Considering our locale of Rose Springs, Arkansas—aka, the middle of butt-fuck nowhere—I didn’t even try hiding a smile. “Seriously?”

“A guy can hope.” He reddened, then shrugged before blasting me with an insanely slow, crooked white-toothed grin that played Frisbee with my stomach. And his eyes. How had I missed them in my earlier appraisal? They made me think of moss—the velvety, emerald-green kind that stays luxurious and serene through the most vicious winter.

Those eyes . . .

That lopsided grin . . .

He made that Frisbee soar.

And so I did something stupid for a girl who really needs her job. “The store stocks fancy mustard—you know, like Grey Poupon. Would that be okay?”

“Sure.” He sipped from his Pepsi. Though for the record, he’d ordered Coke, which the snack bar doesn’t carry. Meaning I’d already let him down once. “Thanks. But you don’t have to go to any trouble.” He wagged a mustard packet. His hands were large and his nails well groomed for these parts, where most men work dirty jobs. “The regular stuff will be fine.”

What if your smile makes me want to find fancy mustard? I couldn’t remember the last time a non-regular customer had even met my gaze, let alone considered whether or not he’d be causing me trouble. “Sit tight.” For some unfathomable reason—maybe something to do with the fact that now that I’d taken a better look, he wasn’t just attractive or hot, but downright mesmerizing—I flashed a shy grin of my own. “I’ll call in a favor.”