January 30, 2015

REVIEW: Worth the Risk (The McKinney Brothers #2) By, Claudia Connor






When a McKinney brother falls in love, powerful emotion and overwhelming desire are never far behind.

Two hearts locked away . . . Hannah Walker spends her days coaching children through injury and trauma, one therapeutic horseback ride at a time. She knows all too well how violence can change a child and leave scars that never heal. It’s easy for her to relate to the kids; what isn’t easy is the thought of facing her own harrowing past.

Millionaire playboy Stephen McKinney could use a little coaching himself. Five years ago he encountered his most horrible nightmare—and the nightmare won. No matter what he achieves, nothing can make up for that awful night . . . or so he believes.

Both desperate for a second chance . . . Stephen is used to getting what he wants. And he wants Hannah. So when she turns him down, he’s intrigued. What he doesn’t know is that her secrets will lead him to a place he never wanted to go again . . . to a side of himself he’s tried to forget . . . a side that would scare Hannah away from ever loving him. Now his only chance to win her trust is to bare his soul, risking everything he tried so hard to protect.


Review
This is the second book in Claudia Connor’s McKinney Brothers series. I fell in love with Claudia’s writing in Worth the Fall and I am happy to say that this book was just as well written. Those McKinney brothers are something else. I am really enjoying this series and I hope the next ones can compare to these first two!

Stephen McKinney is sexy and confident. He is powerful and rich and has been that way for a long time. He made his money young and threw himself into his work whole-heartedly. Stephen has used work to keep everyone at a distance even woman. He has suffered a lot of loss in his life and now his family is getting worried. They miss the carefree person Stephen used to be. He doesn’t know how to get there with all of the guilt he seems to be carrying around until he runs into Hannah. She makes him remember what it feels like to actually care about something again.

Hannah Walker is a physical therapist that works with horses to help children who have been through a trauma. Hannah has been through her own tragic past that has left her broken and fearful. She has cut everyone in her life off except her older brothers. Now she meets Stephen and he seems like the last person she should take a chance on. For some reason he came into her life when she was willing to try and make a change. Now she just has to trust herself to not make the same mistakes she made in her past which is easier said than done.

This book was definitely grittier than Matt’s story. There was a darker edge that both characters seemed to carry with them. Hannah’s story was tragic and heart wrenching but she was so much stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. She made the choice to come out of hiding and that takes strength. Stephen’s past was just as heartbreaking. He had so many defense mechanisms you wonder if he will ever let them down but once he starts it endears you to him even more.  Because they were both broken and charting new territory it made them both vulnerable. The stumbling they went through in the beginning of their relationship was nice to watch. Stephen treated Hannah with care and reverence, the way she needed to be treated which made me love him even more.

Their story was a special one even though it wasn’t easy. There were many obstacles that these two needed to handle together and overcome but it made their journey painfully beautiful. This was an amazing book by Claudia Connor that left you with tears in your eyes as well as sighing happily. I would definitely recommend this series to romance readers.



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COVER REVEAL: Losing at Love By, Jennifer Lacopelli

book2-publicity-front


Today we’re having a cover reveal for Jennifer Iacopelli’s Losing at Love. And—bonus points!!—we’re also revealing the new redesign for the first book in the series, Game. Set. Match. Jennifer is sharing an excerpt from Losing at Love, as well as a giveaway, so be sure to check it all out.


Title: Losing at Love

Author: Jennifer Iacopelli

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Day: February 24th



book2-publicity-full-2




Synopsis
Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning.

Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well.

When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell.

For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams? 




Excerpt:
Stepping into the sunshine, Indy shouldered her bag and turned towards the OBX library, her mind running through the assignments she still had to complete when a shadow crossed over her path, a large body falling into step with her, close, but not touching, their strides matching.

“Jack,” she said, glancing up at him sideways, a small smile threatening at the corner of her mouth.

“Indiana,” he said, echoing back her name, sending a shiver down her spine. He was the only one allowed to call her that, the only person who made the name she’d hated since forever sound friggin’ good.

They walked together without another word, turning the corner that separated the courts from the residential area of the complex, but her stride was suddenly cut off when Jack shuffled his feet, sliding his arm around her waist and pulled her into a shady walkway between buildings. Her bag slid off her shoulder, but he caught it before it crashed to the ground and smashed her laptop to smithereens. He let it settle on the ground gently before leaning over her, forcing her to step back into the wall.

Walls were their thing. Their first kiss had been against a wall in a random hallway at Roland Garros, their second pressed against the wall of their hotel in Paris and now that they were back in North Carolina, they found any excuse to push each other against a wall and kiss until they were gasping for air and their bodies begged for relief. Jack’s lips trailed from her temple, using the wall behind her as an anchor before bending his head to hers. Pushing up onto her toes, Indy met him halfway. 

She’d never been so grateful for every millimeter of her five feet ten inches as she was when she was kissing Jack. His hands slid through her hair, twisting it around his fingers, then cradling the back of her head, drawing her mouth more firmly against his. Indy brought her hands to his torso, gripping his t-shirt, letting her palms press against the cut of muscle that disappeared into his cargo shorts. 

The skin on skin contact made his breath hitch, his mouth opening just enough to allow her tongue to slide in, deepening the kiss, before letting her teeth nip at his bottom lip. A groan rumbled in his throat as he stumbled forward, pressing his body full length against hers. He wrenched his lips from hers, trailing his mouth over the line of her jaw to the spot just behind her ear. It was her turn to gasp and her head fell back as she arched into him. No one had ever kissed her there before. Jack smiled against her skin as her fingertips dug into his sides and she let a moan slip free as he focused his attention on that spot, scraping his teeth against it then soothing that small pain with a flick of his tongue. Her hands scrambled to get purchase against his shoulders, desperate for some leverage, anything to help her slide her body against his. 

Then he was gone, his hand gone from her hair, his mouth gone from her neck and his body inches then feet away. Indy blinked at him, trying to figure out what happened when the voices echoing down the pathway towards them finally reached her ears.

Bending down, he lifted her bag as she ran her fingers through her hair, knowing he’d made an unholy mess of it. “You’re fine,” he muttered, handing her the bag, then keeping the distance between them as a group of junior boys stomped past them, none giving them a second glance.

“You have good ears,” Indy said, biting her lip at the close call. If those boys had seen them, the news would have spread like wildfire through the OBX campus and everyone would have known by the end of the day. She was only seventeen for another few months, but that wasn’t really the problem, seventeen or eighteen wouldn’t matter to other people. She was a young tennis pro, he was an up and coming agent. The last thing either of their careers needed was the heightened publicity of a controversial relationship, even if Jack Harrison was far more of a gentleman than any guy she’d ever met. Sometimes a little too much of a gentleman, truth be told.

Jack shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder again before facing her fully. “I’m sorry about this.”

She reached out and took his hand, “We both agreed,” she said, entwining their fingers together, “it’s just between us for now. It makes sense for the both of us.” Pressing his lips together in a thin line, he nodded, but she knew he wasn’t entirely convinced. “Jack, we talked about this. You said you were okay with it.”

“I just wish it were different,” he said, tugging her closer, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. His hands released hers and dropped to her hips, the edges of his thumbs brushing against her hipbones in slow circles sending shivers over her skin.

“Me too.” She wanted to scream it from the rooftops that this amazing guy was hers. That he had deep green eyes and a smile that brightened them whenever he looked at her. That he was brilliant in ways that she couldn’t even fathom with his degree from Harvard. That he’d fought their attraction for so long because of that ingrained sense of honor, like one of those heroes in a fairy tale, except Jack was real, flesh and blood.

"Have you thought...maybe we should tell Penny?" Indy asked, her fingertips landing on his forearms, gently stroking up to his elbows and back down to his wrists.

Jack let out a heavy breath. "Penny has a lot on her plate right now."

"I know, I just feel funny keeping it from her. Jasmine knows."

"We'll do whatever you want to do. This is your show, baby."

"I don't need a supportive…" she hesitated, almost using the word boyfriend, but that didn't really fit, did it? Not if they were keeping it a secret, "I need honest Jack."
He leaned back, looking her in the eye. "Honest? Honestly, my sister doesn't do well with change. It freaks her out and right now, I'm not sure that the idea of you and me will go over that well. On the other hand, if we don't tell her and she finds out?"

"She'll be pissed."

"Yep."

"Maybe we wait a little longer. We could tell her in London?"
Jack nodded, "Face to face instead of over the phone."

“There’s always Skype,” she said, not really sure if she wanted to know what Penny, the only girl who’d made an effort to befriend her when she first arrived at OBX, would think if she found out she and Jack were together.

“There’s that.”

Indy shook her head. They should do it in person. They should have done it before they left Paris, but Penny had been so devastated by withdrawing from the tournament that it hadn’t felt like the right time then either. “In London. We’ll be there in less than a week. We’ll tell her then.”

“Okay, in London.” They stood there for a moment, just breathing each other in until Jack leaned away. “I’ve gotta go. I have a meeting with a potential new client this afternoon and I’ve got to prep.”

Indy snorted a laugh. “Right, like you don’t already have a complete profile worked up along with potential sponsors to contact if they sign.”

“You know me so well,” he said, leaning around the building, checking the pathway for any more unwanted spectators. “I’ll go this way.”

Indy nodded back in the opposite direction. “And I’ll go that way.”

With a bow, he was gone, around the corner and out of sight, so she turned and adjusted her bag over her shoulder, heading out from between the buildings and towards the library. She’d have about half the time to get her Calc done than she originally planned. Fingertips pressing against that spot on her neck lightly recalling the feel of his mouth and the way her entire body was lit on fire by his touch, it was totally worth it.

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” a voice rang out from just a few steps behind her, the French accent giving its owner away, if the superiority and condescension weren’t enough of a clue. Indy spun around and came face to face with her agent, tall, blonde, perfectly put together in a silk blouse and linen skirt, somehow looking completely cool and calm despite the blaze of the sun. She was in town before they all left for England, mostly to go over her plans for Indy’s future off the court.

A denial formed on Indy’s tongue, but she knew it was useless. Caroline had seen them and it probably just confirmed what she’d suspected for a while. Her agent was damn good at her job and it wasn’t like she and Jack had been super careful about keeping private moments behind closed doors. “Good idea or not, it’s none of your business.”

Raising her eyes to the sky and shaking her head Caroline said, “You are my business, Indiana.”

“How many times do I have to say it? Don’t call me that, and my tennis is your business,” Indy corrected. “Keep your nose out of everything else.”

“It is not that simple,” Caroline insisted, her voice inching up in pitch.

“It really is.” She turned on her toe and walked away, wanting to look back, hoping that Caroline’s brow was furrowed and her hands were on her hips, lips pursed in aggravation. But looking back would ruin the moment because despite getting in the last word, Caroline now had the upper hand and it was only a matter of time before she used it to her advantage.





To celebrate the cover reveal, Game. Set. Match. (Outer Banks Tennis Academy Book 1)  is on sale for .99!!


Nestled along the North Carolina coast, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the world's most elite training facility. In this pressure-cooker environment, futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant.

Penny Harrison, a rising female star, is determined to win the French Open and beat her archrival, Zina Lutrova. But when her coach imports British bad boy Alex Russell as her new training partner, will Penny be able to keep her laser-like focus?

Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. The daughter of two Grand Slam champions, she's hell-bent on extending her family’s legacy and writing her own happily-ever-after...until her chosen Prince Charming gives her the just-friends speech right before the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.

With a powerful serve and killer forehand, newcomer Indiana Gaffney is turning heads. She’s thrilled by all of the attention, especially from Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and hot older brother, except he keeps backing off every time things start heating up.

With so much at stake, dreams—and hearts—are bound to break. Welcome to OBX: Where LOVE is a four-letter word, on and off the court.




PROLOGUE REVEAL: Undeniable Love By, Kelly Elliott













Synopsis:

Tristan Williams thought the path of his life was on the right journey. He had a successful career, good looks, and a carefree lifestyle. One conversation changed Tristan’s way of thinking forever as his father presented him with a bottle, representing his journey and forcing unwanted thoughts of a lasting relationship to the surface. Running from the fear of commitment, he pushed away the only woman he ever had feelings for and turned to the one girl he knew he didn’t love.

Ryn Webster was finally putting her past behind her. Moving to Texas and concentrating on the success of her own company, she had her life almost where she wanted it. One thing was missing though…love. She thought she had found love with Tristan until he casted her aside.

After being hurt by Tristan, Ryn does whatever she can to push him from her heart, even if it means being with a man she doesn’t love.


Regardless of the path one thinks they are on, the journey of life can cause unexpected turns, altering the planned course. Will Tristan and Ryn’s bottle be tossed about, lost in the rocky waves of life? Or will calm seas prevail to help Tristan and Ryn finally find their journey of love…together?
love…together?
















Prologue

I had been sitting on the beach for the last hour just staring out at the black ocean. I tipped the beer bottle back and drank the last of my beer.
“Well hell. Looks like I have to go back,” I said as I got up and brushed the sand off my pants. I turned and looked back at the house. My brother Lark and his new wife, Azurdee had left two hours ago for their honeymoon and I couldn’t take watching Ryn another second.
I sucked in a deep breath of salty air and slowly let it out. My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket. I let out a deep breath when I saw it was Liberty.
Liberty: Just letting you know I’m thinking about you. If you want me to join you I’ll come down. Just text me back and I’ll be there.

Me: I think I just need some time to think, Liberty. We need this time apart.

Liberty: I didn’t mean to push you. I’m always pushing you, I know. I just really wanted to see your parents and would have loved to have seen the wedding but I understand you have your reasons for going alone. Things haven’t been so great with us lately. I’ll work on that. Promise.

Me: We’ll talk when I get back to Austin.

Liberty: Okay. I love you, Tristan.

I let out a sigh and shook my head. I’ve never told Liberty I loved her. I wasn’t sure anymore how I felt about her. We had been on again and off again so many times I was beginning to lose count. Currently, we were off. All she had been doing is pushing an engagement ever since she found out Lark and Azurdee were getting married. When I thought of my future I didn’t see Liberty. I only saw ... Ryn. And that scared the piss out of me.
I turned my phone to silent and shoved it in my pocket. I started heading back to the house and began putting on my game face. The one I’d been wearing for the last ten months. The one where everyone thought I was happy, but deep down inside I was the unhappiest I’d ever been in my life.
I walked up the stairs to the deck and the first person I saw was Ryn. She was leaning against the railing with her head back and her eyes closed. There was no one else out here.
She looked tired. I smiled when I thought about what I had overheard earlier when Mom and Azurdee’s best friend, Jessie, were talking. Ryn had taken a two-week vacation and was renting a house on the beach just two houses down from here. I already began planning ways to ‘run in to her’ while we were both here.
She hadn’t talked to me in over ten months. No matter how many times I called and left her messages begging her to call me, she never would.
Her cell phone rang and she quickly answered it. I walked around to the other side of the deck and sat down to where she couldn’t see me.
“Hey, Dodge. Are you on your way? Yes. I thought I could, but I can’t. I need you.”
Dodge? Who the fuck is Dodge?
She laughed at something he said and then she let out a sigh. “Well, considering I still need my RFB, I’d say yes ... it’s been a sucky last three days.”
I peeked around the corner and saw her smiling. She reached her hand up and began playing with her nipple.
What the fuck?
“That sounds like heaven. Yes. I’m going to need it a lot. I don’t know, you’d think after all this time you’d have been able to fuck him out of my head and heart. Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are?”
My mouth dropped open and I quickly turned back and stared out in the night sky.
She laughed again and said, “I’m still at the wedding. Yes. It was hard to see him. I don’t know. Maybe, I’ve thought about that. Yes. I realize I only use you for sex to forget about Tristan, but maybe I’m falling for you and just want your company. You ever think of that?”
My heart started beating faster and I wanted to pound this asshole’s head in.
She let out a sigh and said, “Okay. I’ll see you then. Oh trust me. I’ll be waiting and I will most certainly be ready for you. Yes naked. Hey, Dodge? Hurry please. I need to be fucked in a bad way. Bye.”
She let out a sigh and then I swore I heard her crying. I slowly stood. She was looking out toward the ocean. Her shoulders were moving up and down and when I saw her wipe away her tears, my knees about buckled out from underneath me.
I started making my way toward her. I didn’t want to walk up on her crying, so I cleared my throat and asked, “May I join you?”
She quickly wiped her tears away and looked the other way. “It’s your house,” she whispered. “How have you been, Ryn?” She turned and looked at me. If looks could kill, I’d be on the floor right now. “You’ve ignored me for three days and now you ask how I’ve been?”
I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I wasn’t sure you wanted to talk to me.” She let out a small laugh.
“Usually people attempt to talk to a person before they make that assumption.”
“Well, considering I’ve been calling you for months, and you ignore my calls—” She took a step back and shook her head.
A look of hurt moved across Ryn’s face as she slowly said, “You’re seeing ... another ... girl.”
“It’s not like that. We are kind of off and on. I mean ... I’m not seeing her right now.” She rolled her eyes before looking into mine.
“Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?”
My heart felt like it was physically hurting as I swallowed and said, “I just thought ... I wasn’t planning on—” I looked away and then back into her eyes. “I thought you just wanted to have fun, Ryn. Then you started acting different and I started having these feelings and ... I was confused.”
Anger replaced the hurt in her eyes. “The only thing that confused you is why you brought the wrong girl to meet mom and dad.”
She turned and began walking into the house. I wanted to call out for her but I couldn’t. My heart felt like it was squeezing in my chest as I stood there and listened to her retreating footsteps.

I turned and stared out at the dark ocean again. That’s what my heart felt like.A dark deep sea of ... darkness.






January 29, 2015

REVIEW: Unexpected Eden (Eden #1) By, Rhenna Morgan






Paradise, love, power…and a prophecy with a price. 

Most people believe Eden no longer exists. Lexi Merrill’s about to learn they’re wrong. A hard-working bartender with a self-sufficient backbone and a wary nature, she knows pickup lines like a second language. So, when Eryx Shantos barges into her world with too-smooth words and a body to back it up, she locks up her libido and vows to keep her distance. 

Eryx has other ideas. As king of the Myren race, Eryx is duty-bound to enforce the laws preventing exposure of their existence to humans. Yet The Fates have led him through his dreams to Lexi, a temptation he doesn’t want to resist. The question--is she Myren, or human, which makes her forbidden fruit?

When Eryx’s nemesis tags Lexi as his next target, Eryx insists on taking her home where he can keep her safe. Lexi had no idea “home” would mean the one-and-only land of creation…or that she’d trigger a prophecy that could doom her newfound race.



Review
I am not a reader that hates insta-love in my books. Some stories it fits and I love it, some stories it doesn’t. My favorite insta-love books are the forever mate/soul-mate type of thing. So when I read the synopsis I knew that I had to pick this one up. I was definitely pleasantly surprised when I read this book. It had so much more than I was expected and I was hooked right from the beginning.


“While it scared her seven ways to silly to admit, part of her had come to life the moment she’d seen him. Stretched and blossomed in a burst of color.”

Lexi Merrill is a bartender just trying to make it through two jobs and college. Lexi grew up in multiple foster homes and learned to become really distrustful of people and especially men. The only friend she has is an older cop who is still grieving and looking for his missing wife and child. On one of her shifts a man shows up and can’t take his eyes off her. Lexi ignores him, knowing he is a man that comes with a warning label. When he finally gets her to talk to him there is something different about him. She agrees to go to breakfast with him. What she doesn’t know is that her whole world is about to change.


“A sexy, indrawn breath above her. “You belong with me.”

Eryx Shantos is the Malren, the king of the Myren race. He lives in Eden a different world filled with supernatural people who look like human but are so much more. For ten years he has been having dreams of his mate. The problem is Myren don’t allow humans to know about them and Eryx isn’t sure if Lexi is human or Myren until he meets her. When he finally finds her he knows he has to bring her to Eden. That is where she belongs but now he isn’t the only one who has found her. Maxis, traitor and rival, has learned of her importance and will stop at nothing to get her and weaken Eryx so he can take over Eden.


“I want you as my baineann, Alexis. I’ve wanted it from the first time I found you in my dreams. I’ve wanted it since I first saw you in the flesh. I want you in a way a starving man wants food. In a way that is completely irrational and insane.”

This was an interesting story. Morgan really creates a whole different world filled with dominate sexy men and bad-ass women. Eryx is perfect. He is dominate, completely alpha male but there is also a vulnerability he shows us. He genuinely cares about Lexi and his people. Lexi is a strong character but it is more subtle. She has been through so much and she is still a functioning human being (not really human but you know what I mean). She has this whole new world thrown at her and she takes it in stride. She doesn’t toss and turn between going with the love she feels for Eryx and fighting it. I can definitely see her becoming a bad-ass fighter in the coming books.


“This was more than sex. It was intimacy. Two people mingled into one, combining ever God-given sense. Inhibition flittered into nothing, her heart laid bare.”

The writing was great. Morgan created a world that I couldn’t help but devour. We had multiple POVs throughout the book. I am ok with having the villain’s POV but I didn’t really care for how much we saw of Maxis. I feel like it was easier for me to guess what he was going to do before it came in the story. I did like how we get both main characters and Galena’s POV There might be more but I’m not sure right now, either way the way the story was presented was great and the flow worked. I think we could have done without so much Maxis, a few chapters would have been better.


“Beautiful.” He guided her to face the mirror, his front to her back. “And mine.” He skimmed her rib cage and palmed her swollen breasts. He raised them gently, the subtle shift in weight heightening her vulnerability. “You can’t deny what’s between us. I won’t let you. Not anymore.”

I can’t wait for the next book. I am dying to know about Galena and Reese. Really I want to know more about them all.



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SALE: The Beauty Series By, Georgia Cates



















Synopsis

The New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Best-selling Beauty Series is now available in a single volume.

BEAUTY FROM PAIN: Aussie winemaker Jack McLachlan and American musician Laurelyn Prescott agree to a three month relationship while keeping their true identities secret.

BEAUTY FROM SURRENDER: A heartbroken Laurelyn Prescott returns to Nashville to pursue her music career and finds the success she’s always dreamed of. Jack Henry McLachlan spends three months searching for his beloved but their reunion doesn’t come easy. Will she be able to see beyond the glitz glamour and visualize a life that includes him?


BEAUTY FROM LOVE: Life for Jack Henry and Laurelyn is beautiful until their post-wedded bliss is cut short when his dark past springs into their present happiness. He wants to shelter Laurelyn but keeping her untainted by his previous life proves impossible when yesterday’s sins insist on returning to haunt him. Will it be possible for them to find happiness in their forever with a past like his?













































Beauty from Pain Excerpt
Jack McLachlan’s POV

I sit in the dark corner and scan the room like a starved predator searching for prey. I haven’t chosen her yet, but the woman who will share my bed for the next few months is in this room right now.

I watch a lovely blond approach my table. “What can I bring you?” Hmm. A waitress—not at all my usual taste.

I have a type. Attractive. Mature. Refined. This barmaid meets the attractive requirement well enough, but she’s void of refinement or maturity as displayed by her choice of apparel—a white, barely there tank top and frazzled cutoff denim shorts. She doesn’t do it for me. Plus, my last two companions were blond. I want a different flavor this time, but no redheads. I want a brunette. A beautiful one.

I remind myself I’m not in Sydney where I have an endless variety of sophisticated women from which to choose. My choices are more limited in the small town of Wagga Wagga, but that doesn’t mean I have to settle for the first attractive woman I see.

“I’ll have a Shiraz.”

I’m prepared for a more prolonged relationship this time—three whole months instead of the usual three or four weeks. I’m looking forward to keeping this one around a little longer, and that’s all the more reason to be certain I make a wise choice.

I begin my search of the club with the first table toward the front of the room. A brunette beauty sits with a group of women. I watch her for a while, but decide she’s too friendly with the woman sitting next to her. Lesbians aren’t in my repertoire.

I spend the next hour scanning the club and come up empty-handed. I’m discouraged. No one stands out as the one and this club is by far my best bet for meeting single women in this town. Maybe I should consider coming back another time when it’s not open mic night. Tonight, the place is crawling with boozed college students.

Tonight’s search has been a failure, but at least the karaoke was entertaining.
I’m finishing off the last of my wine before I leave when an announcer from the club takes the stage and asks for the next singer to step forward. A small group of people across the room nominates one of its own. My view of the poor bastard is blocked by the crowd of intoxicated kids standing between us, but I’m certain this is going to be another delightful train wreck.

The club erupts into cheer and chants. “Do. It. Do. It. Do. It.” A young woman walks onto the stage and stands with her back to the crowd as she lifts a guitar from its stand. She lifts its strap over her head and then tosses her long brown hair over one shoulder. When she’s finished settling the guitar into place, she circles around and sits on the stool in the middle of the stage.

She’s beautiful. And somehow overlooked during my search.

She’s wearing a short ivory dress and a denim jacket with brown cowgirl boots. She bares her thighs as she lifts her feet to rest on the bottom rail, but she’s careful to push her dress between her legs so she doesn’t provide a peep show to the crowd.
She strums the borrowed guitar a few times and then leans into the microphone. “Is everyone having a good time tonight?”

She’s American. I think. Her accent sounds different—not like what I’ve heard in the past.

The crowd erupts into a drunken cheer and I hear a man’s voice yell over the crowd, “It’s better now, sweet thing!”
She smiles and adjusts the mic. “I’m not from around here. It’s my first night in Australia.”

“Leave with me and I’ll make you feel right at home!” a man shouts from the back of the room.

She ignores the fat, ugly bastard yelling at her. “I don’t know what kind of music Australians like, but this has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember.” She strums a few more chords. “This is ‘Crash Into Me’ by the Dave Matthews Band.”

She sings it slower than the original, putting her own twist on it. Her voice is raspy and sexy, her eyes closed. She oozes eroticism. She tilts her head and opens her eyes when she begins to sing the chorus. I swear it feels like she’s looking right in my direction, singing to me. “Oh, and you come craasshh … into me. And I come into … you … And I come into you … in a boy’s dream … in a boy’s dream.”

The stage lights shine in her face and common sense tells me she can’t see me sitting in the dark corner at the back of the club, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping.


She finishes the chorus and shuts her eyes again. Her long legs bounce against the rail of the stool to keep rhythm and I fall victim to her siren’s song. She has bewitched me. And I want her. She’s the one.









Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful
husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a
labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an
author and hasn’t looked back yet.





When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. When
she’s being domestic, she’s listening to her iPod and visualizing scenes for
her current work in progress. Every story coming from her always has a song to
inspire it.





Representation: All questions regarding subsidiary rights
for any of my books, inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights
should be directed to Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich.













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