P.G. Forte's Blog, page 54

Release Day! Never Have I Ever

It's release day for Never Have I
Ever, the second book in my Games We Play trilogy.




http://www.loose-id.com/games-we-play-2-never-have-i-ever.html
 




It's also Mardi Gras! So here's a
Mardi Gras themed  (well, sort of)
excerpt. Laissez le bon temps rouler!




Mardi Gras…




By Tuesday evening, Kristy was
back to barely speaking to Luke. And Luke was back to wanting to kick himself
up and down the street a couple of times for having let that happen. He’d meant
to upset the status quo—sure. But in the opposite direction. He guessed he
could blame the boggart for that. And maybe his cousin for putting stupid ideas
in his head.




He hadn’t been scheduled to work
the day before, but he’d shown up at the bar anyway, intending to give Kristy a
break so she could get some dinner. Kristy was busy when he’d arrived, and Luke
was surprised to see that the ladder Cam had been using to hang up the
decorations, and which Luke had watched him put away the previous day, had
reappeared—right in the middle of the fucking galley.




 “What’s this doing here?” he
asked, annoyed at Cam for leaving it there and at Kristy for not moving it out
of the way. Unless it was there for some other reason. Had something else gone
wrong, some new problem that no one had thought to mention to him? In that
case, he was still annoyed with Cam and Kristy—and with the boggart, for
causing trouble, and with whoever had taken it into their own hands to solve
the problem without involving him.




When Kristy didn’t respond to his query, Luke raised his voice to ask
again. “Hey, DiLuca! What’s with the ladder?”




Kristy started. She turned in his direction and frowned. “Oh, I don’t
know. D’you want help moving it?”




Luke shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I got it.”




It wasn’t until he’d taken hold of the ladder to close it that Luke
noticed the plastic bucket that had been perched on the top shelf and which was
already tipping and raining down five gallons of water and ice chips on his
head.




What the fucking fuck?




It was all Luke could do to keep from cursing out loud, especially when
laughter broke out all along the bar from patrons who’d obviously enjoyed the
show he’d just put on. He fought through the shock and the anger and was still
trying to put a self-deprecating smile on his face when Kristy scurried over,
nearly skidding to a stop at the sight of him.




“Luke…what happened? Are you all right?”




Luke nodded. “Yeah, it’s just this bucket…” He snagged it off the
floor, ignoring the impulse to kick the offending object across the room with
enough force to put it into orbit. Or at least through the front window. More
breakage was the last thing they needed right now.




“Oh, so that’s where it went,” Kristy said in surprise.




Luke stared at her. “What?”




“The bucket. I couldn’t remember where I put it.”




“Wait…you did this? You put a bucket of water on top of a ladder?”




“No, of course not. It was filled with ice.”




“Ice?”




“I guess it must’ve melted.”




Luke stared at her. Maybe Gwyn was right. Maybe Kristy was behind at
least some of the pranks. “Are you saying you wanted to dump a bucket of ice on
my head? Seriously? What are we, twelve?”

If she wanted to play games, he had a good one for her. A little
temperature play, a little restraint. He could trap her up against the bar and
run a couple of those ice chips over her nipples till she begged for him to
warm her back up again with his tongue.




“Luke, of course I didn’t.”




“Clearly, you did.”




She leaned in close. “Have you lost your mind? You’re making a scene.”




“Trust me; this isn’t me making a scene. Me putting you over my knee,
on the other hand—that’d be a scene.”




Kristy reared back like he’d struck her. The look in her eyes was more
than just surprised—and nowhere close to being interested. She looked stricken,
betrayed. Luke could only stare at her in dismay. Obviously he’d said the wrong
thing.




“I’m going on my break now,” Kristy announced. She grabbed her things
from beneath the bar and fled, leaving Luke, already cold and uncomfortable in
his wet clothes, to deal with everything else.




By the time she returned, he was too angry to say anything else to her.
He went home to change, and when the time came to head back to the bar to help
with the cleanup, he stayed right where he was. 




He reasoned that Monday night
was slow, that it wouldn’t hurt her to close by herself for a change, that a
little space, at this point, was the best thing for both of them. But the truth
was that he was just too frustrated to deal with her sanely.




He told himself that he didn’t
want to make things worse, but almost twenty-four hours later, he had to admit
that he might have chosen the wrong tactic.




He was still trying to figure out
how to get back in her good graces when his cousin Brenda stopped by the bar,
accompanied by a red-headed guy who looked vaguely familiar, though he couldn’t
place him.




“Hey, Luke,” she said. “How’s it
going? It looks like we’ve got a good crowd in here tonight.”




“Yeah, it’s good.” They were busy
as fuck, which would have been great, except that it only made Kristy’s rigid,
cold, distant politeness all the more annoying. He was too busy, too rushed,
and too annoyed to tease her out of her bad mood—in part because he was forced
to ask her for everything he couldn’t immediately put his hands on because she
refused to anticipate his needs, refused to do anything more than the bare
minimum. He hadn’t even realized until now how much she did, what a very good
team they made, how effortlessly they worked together, and how they balanced
each other out.




If she ever spoke to him again,
he’d have to be sure she knew how he felt.




“Okay, well, that’s good,” Brenda
said, her voice hesitant.




Luke sighed. “Yeah. It is. Sorry.
We’ve just been swamped. Can I get you something?”




“I’ll have a limeade. Thanks.”
Brenda turned to her companion. “Max? You want anything?”




“Uh…sure. How about a Guinness?”




“A man after my own heart,” Luke
said as he grabbed a pint glass. For some reason, Max’s drink choice was also
ringing a bell somewhere in the back of his mind, but he had neither the time
nor the inclination to track it down.




“Max is a writer,” Brenda told
him, still sounding ill-at-ease—something else he had no time tonight to think
too much about. “He’s researching hotels and bars and…and whatever…for a book
he’s going to write.”




“Very cool,” Luke replied
politely. In reality, he couldn’t care less.




“Yeah, so, if he has any
questions about anything, you think maybe you can help him out?”




“Sure thing.” He slid Max’s glass
across the bar to him, then went to work on his cousin’s drink. He mixed lime
juice and sugar in a glass, then realized there were no lime wedges on his
station. He picked up the soda gun and called to Kristy, “Hey, can I get some
limes over here?”




“Here you go,” she said as she
brought them over.




“Thanks, hon.” He smiled at her,
trying to warm her up, and was relieved when a little of the haunted look left
her eyes. But even as the first hint of a smile curved her lips, he pressed the
trigger and then gasped in shock as seltzer sprayed everywhere, soaking
Kristy’s face, her hair, her shirt. “Uhhh…”Shit.






Laughter erupted along the bar.
Tears appeared in her beautiful eyes. The need to fix things, to make her smile
again, to erase the hurt expression on her face overrode Luke’s common sense.
“Wet T-shirt contest anyone?” he joked lamely, wincing as color flared on her
face and the tears spilled over. It occurred to him that he’d just made things
worse.




Kristy ran from the bar, and Luke
would have followed if Brenda hadn’t stepped in his path.




“What the fuck do you think
you’re doing?” she whispered fiercely. “I understand you two are supposed to be
friends, but why do you always have to be such a dick to that girl?”




“I—” What the fuck? “I am not!”




“Luke, you embarrassed her in
front of the whole bar! Did she just quit?”




“Don’t be ridiculous. She
probably just went to change into some dry clothes.”




“Well, I hope that’s all it is. I
swear, I don’t know why she puts up with you. We’ll be lucky if we don’t get
hit with a harassment suit or something.”




“It was an accident,” he
insisted. “And stop overreacting. We’re fine. She dumped a bucket of ice water
on my head just yesterday. You don’t see me freaking out, do you?”




“She did what?” Brenda’s eyes
widened. “Here in the bar? So you thought you’d retaliate? What the fuck, Luke?
I don’t know what either of you are thinking. And I don’t understand why you
think Gwyn and I should put up with this nonsense either. This is a business.
Not a…not a frat house.”




And you’d know about those,
wouldn’t you? Luke thought as he glared at his cousin. For once, he managed to
rein in his wayward tongue. “It was an accident,” he repeated coldly. “Now, go
away. I’m busy.”




Luke walked away from his cousin
and concentrated his attention on the far end of the bar for the next few
minutes, until Brenda and her friend had left the bar. He loved his cousin, but
she took bossiness to a whole new level. And she absolutely was overreacting.




An hour later, however, Kristy
still hadn’t returned, and Luke was starting to wonder if Brenda hadn’t been
right after all. Could Kristy have quit? She wasn’t answering her phone—that
much was certain. Or maybe she just wasn’t taking his calls? When Gwyn appeared
a half hour later, looking concerned and asking, “What the hell did you do to
Brenda?” Luke was in no mood to make conversation.

“Cover the bar for me,” he said
as he all but pushed Gwyn into the galley. “I’ll be right back.”




* * * * *






After having been
friend-zoned by Kristy when they were kids, Luke has mostly resigned himself to
being "just friends" with her, but working together, night after
night, is shredding his self control.

Kristy loves Luke but if anything was clear to her back when
they were kids, it was that gawky, awkward, tomboys didn’t stand a chance with
the king of the schoolyard. She watched her older brothers set their caps for
Luke’s glamorous cousins, and get shot down. So she did what she had to in
order to salvage her friendship with Luke. She hid her true feelings and her
need for him to take control.




Luke wants Kristy in the worst way--actually, in all the
worst ways: tied up, held down, bitten, whipped. But he can either keep her as
a friend, or take her to bed and lose her forever. His biggest mistake--so
far--was in hiring her to work alongside him in the bar he and his cousins
inherited from their grandmother. He knows Kristy needs the money and the job,
but Luke’s self-control can’t take the constant contact with the girl he wants
to dominate--both in and out of the bedroom. Something has to give--and soon!




Loose Id: http://www.loose-id.com/games-we-play-2-never-have-i-ever.html



Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XCKDPJZ



Read
more about the series: http://www.pgforte.com/GamesWePlay.htm

Cover Reveal and Excerpt from Never Have I Ever

Never Have I Ever, the second book in the Games We Play trilogy, releases next week!  The lovely purple on the cover is a nod to Mardi Gras, which is the holiday around which it's set...and which, not coincidentally, happens to fall on February 28th this year. Release Day.



Don't you love it when things work out like that?



Here's a sneak peek:




The Saturday before Mardi Gras…

“Hey, DiLuca,” Luke called to Kristy as he helped her close the
bar—cleaning tables and stacking chairs. “D’you know what a drunk’s idea of a
balanced diet is?”

“Wait, I do. I know this one.” Kristy looked thoughtful as she
straightened up from the table she’d been wiping down. “Uh…a drink in each
hand? Something like that?”

“Yeah.” Luke frowned. “A beer in each hand, actually. Did I tell you
that one already?”

Kristy smirked. “Well, you must have, right? I don’t know anyone else
with your encyclopedic knowledge of corny jokes.”

“Oh.” That was a relief. But why was that the case? It shouldn’t have
mattered all that much if other people were telling her stupid jokes. It
shouldn’t have mattered at all, come
to think of it. It wasn’t right that he was so invested in keeping her to
himself. But he was just the same.

“So, this memory problem you’re having, is it age-related or due to
alcohol consumption?”

“Don’t be a brat,” Luke admonished as the urge to punish her—never far
below the surface anyway—rose up to tempt him. He loved her all the more for
being bratty, but the whole not being able to do anything about it? That
royally sucked. “And cut the crap. You’re only a year younger than I am, and—”

“And I can drink you under the table. Yes, I know.”

Luke shook his head. “You’re really asking for it tonight,” he muttered,
wishing she were. Oh, if only she were doing it on purpose. If only she really
wanted what she was tempting him to give her. “Keep it up and I’ll go home and
leave you to finish closing on your own.”

“Is that supposed to frighten me?”

“Ha-ha.” It was an empty threat, and they both knew it.

One of the main reasons he’d hired her to tend bar was so that they
could split the shifts between them and give him a couple of nights off each
week. But the sad truth was that, these days at least, he didn’t really have
much of a life outside of the bar. So more often than not he’d stop in to check
things out even on his days off. He’d tell himself he’d only stay a few
minutes, that he’d leave after a drink, maybe two. He never did. Some nights he
and Kristy would hit a diner when they were done, sometimes they wouldn’t, but
at the very least, he’d always help her close.

It was part of their routine. He’d flirt with her and tell her stupid jokes.
She’d laugh at him and call him an idiot. Afterward, he’d go home and fantasize
about all the ways he’d like to punish her for being such a brat, all the ways
he’d like to have her.

It was pathetic—he knew that. But the upside was that he got to spend
time with her nearly every day, to indulge his hopeless passion for the girl,
to watch her laugh. He got to take care of her, to make sure no one hit on her
inappropriately…or at all, for that matter. Because that’s what friends did.
Because that’s what kept them friends, kept her from cutting him out of her
life or drifting away.

The downside was his sneaking suspicion that he was keeping them both
from moving on with their lives.

“How about this one? Why can’t anyone ever find a place to sit at an
Irish family reunion?”

Kristy slid him a sly smile. “I don’t know, Luke. Why?”

“Because the rooms’ll be filled with Dores, Walls, and Curtins.”

“Huh?” The smile disappeared, replaced by an expression of puzzlement.
“I don’t get it.”

“Dore, Wall, and Curtin are all Irish family names,” Luke explained.

Kristy shook her head as she turned back to her work. “You people are
weird.”

You people? Weird? Luke shot her another stern glance. She didn’t even see it. She was
bent over another table, arm extended as she stretched to capture a stray
coaster that seemed stubbornly determined to remain just slightly out of reach.

Every time she got a finger on it, it slipped from her grasp and scudded
farther away. Luke watched as she wriggled and stretched, going up on her toes
in her efforts to reach just a little bit more, which only served to put her
ass—already showcased by the snug, stretchy pants she always wore—on tempting
display. Something he was sure she was completely unaware of.



She’d better be unaware of it, damn it. Because if he ever found out she
was doing it on purpose, teasing him to the point where he thought he’d lose
his mind…but no. He knew better. She had no idea the kind of effect she had on
him. She never had. Or, if she did, she didn’t want it.








NEVER HAVE I EVER

Games We Play, book 2




After having been friend-zoned by Kristy when they were kids, Luke had mostly resigned himself to being "just friends" with her, but working together, night after night, is shredding his self control.




Kristy loves Luke but if anything was clear to her back when they were kids it was that gawky, awkward, tomboys didn't stand a chance with the king of the schoolyard. She watched her older brother set their caps for Luke's glamorous cousins and get shot down. So she did what she had to in order to salvage her friendship with Luke. She hid her true feelings and her need for him to take control.

Luke wants Kristy in the worst way -- actually, in all the worst ways: tied up, held down, beaten, bitten, whipped. But he knows he has no chance of ever having her. They'd been childhood friends and sweethearts, until she friend-zoned him in the fifth grade. He knows he can either keep her as a friend, or take her to bed and lose her forever. His biggest mistake--so far--was in hiring her to work alongside him in the bar he and his cousins inherited from their grandmother. He knows Kristy needs the money and the job, but Luke's self-control can't take the constant contact with the girl he wants to dominate -- both in and out of the bedroom. Something has to give -- and soon!




http://www.loose-id.com/games-we-play-2-never-have-i-ever.html

Excerpt from Truth or Dare--available now!

Truth or Dare is the first book in my new trilogy--Games We Play. The series revolves around three cousins (no, that's not them on the cover, btw! Each cousin has his or her own book. ) who've recently inherited a quirky old hotel/bar/restaurant complex in the fictional town of Atlas Beach, NJ.



Here's a peek:






The last of the
dishes had all been put away. The last of the guests had departed. The memorial
for Moira Walsh Gallagher was well and truly finished. At the large staff table
in the kitchen of the Wild Geese Inn, the small hotel Moira had owned and
loved, her three grandchildren shared a last glass of whiskey and a last slice
of apple pie. Pumpkin pie might have been a more traditional choice, given that
it was now just days after Thanksgiving, but Moira had never cared for pumpkin.

“If we’re really
gonna do this,” Brenda Donovan said in her usual bossy tones, “there are a few
things we’re gonna have to get straight right from the start.”

Her cousins, Luke
Kelly and Gwyneth Carmichael, exchanged a long-suffering look. Brenda was two
months older than Luke, five months older than Gwyn, so they’d never really
bought into her whole I-know-best-because-I’m-the-oldest superior attitude. You
might think after twenty-eight years, Bren would have figured that out, but say
what you will about Jersey girls, they’re stubborn as fuck. Once an idea gets
stuck in their heads, there’s very little chance of it shaking loose.

“What do you mean if we’re going to do it?” Luke glared at
his cousin. “How is that even a question? We’ve talked about running the inn
together since we were kids.”

Gwyn nodded in
agreement. “Grams could have sold the place numerous times over the years. It’s
not like there weren’t offers. She turned them all down.”

“She kept the
place going for us,” Luke added.
“Until we were ready to take over.”

“And you two think
we’re ready now?” Brenda protested. “Seriously?”

Luke scowled.
“That’s not what we’re saying. But what other choice is there?”

Brenda shook her
head. “I don’t know. Maybe we should look into some of these offers, see if any
of them are still on the table. I mean, look around you. There’s no one here.
How’re we supposed to stay in business if we don’t have any customers?”

“Of course there’s
no one here right now,” Gwyn snapped. “You didn’t expect us to have Gram’s
dinner here today and keep the restaurant open to the public at the same time,
did you?”

“And the hotel?
Did you close that too?”

Gwyn rolled her
eyes. “Don’t be dense. It’s winter. No one vacations here in the winter.”

“Exactly,” Luke
agreed. “They go to Florida or the Bahamas, places like that. That’s why so
many businesses in town are only open for the season—or only open weekends the
rest of the year.”

“We do that too,
in a way, with the rental units,” Gwyn said. “Most of them are only open in the
summer.”

“That’s right.”
Luke nodded. “Maybe we should close the hotel in the winter as well? Or only
take reservations for the weekend?”

“Oh, sure,” Gwyn
glared at him. “Great idea. The staff’ll love that.”

“It won’t help
anyway,” Brenda said, sounding gloomier by the minute. “I looked at the
numbers, you guys. We can’t afford the upkeep if we’re only open part of the
year. We need to figure out a way to bring in more customers somehow, not less.”

“The bar’s still
open,” Luke pointed out, adding, “Not tonight, obviously, but in general. And
we have customers who come in all year round.”

“But even that’s
not pulling in enough,” Brenda told him. “Sure, the bar’s helping to keep us afloat
in the off months—for now—but we’re hemorrhaging money. I don’t know how Grams
made it work without going bankrupt or taking out a mortgage. But I don’t think
even she could have kept it going much longer. She hadn’t drawn a salary in
years. Her savings are nearly gone. If this place is going to survive—not to
mention pay the three of us—we’re going to have to make some hard choices.”

“We could
advertise,” Gwyn suggested. “You know, ‘spend a romantic weekend at one of
Atlas Beach’s most historic hotels’ and that kind of thing? Or offer special, prix
fixe dinners for some of the winter holidays like, I dunno, Valentine’s Day,
for instance?”

“We could hold
special events in the bar too,” Luke added. “New Year’s, Mardi Gras, St.
Patrick’s Day.”

Gwyn beamed at
him. “We could do dinners for all of those too. Also Christmas and maybe
Groundhog’s Day and—”

“Groundhog’s Day?”

“Sure. We could
make it like the movie, with a dinner dance, or auction, or whatever that was.
We could even have a screening in the game room.”

“C’mon, Brenda,”
Luke urged. “What do you say? Don’t you want to do this?”

“Of course I do.
It’s what I went to school for, isn’t it? But with the economy the way it is
and the weather we’ve had the past few years, I don’t know if it’s feasible.”

“Stop with all the
defeatist bullshit,” Gwyn said. “We need you, Brenda. I can take on a larger
role with running the hotel and everything, and Luke’s got the bar under
control.”

“Well, mostly.”
Luke shot Gwyn an apologetic look. “It could do with some repairs, new
furniture, new equipment, et cetera. And don’t look at me like that, Gwyn.
She’s not entirely wrong. There’s a lot that hasn’t been kept up with.”

“Which is why we
need Brenda,” Gwyn agreed. “Someone has to deal with the business side of
things.”

“It would be a big
adjustment,” Brenda pointed out. “I’d have to quit my job and move down here
from the city.”

“Oh, please,” Luke
said. “You’ve been telling us for years that you miss it here, that you wish
you could move back. Well, here’s your chance. And don’t even try and pretend
like you wouldn’t get a nice severance package, because I know you would.”

“Think how much
money you’d save on overhead,” Gwyn added, “if you were living here rather than
in the city. If it doesn’t pan out, you could always go back.”

Brenda sighed. “I
guess.” She eyed the others uncertainly. “So you really want to do this, huh?”

“Hell, yes, I want
to do this,” Luke assured her. “I’ve always wanted my own bar, even if it is
haunted.”

“Don’t be silly,”
Gwyn told him. “The bar’s not haunted.”

“Of course it’s
not!” Brenda agreed.

“It’s the hotel that’s haunted,” Gwyn continued.
“The bar is infest—”

“Stop that,”
Brenda interrupted angrily. “That’s what I started to say before. If you really
want to do this, there are conditions. We have to stop with all the
hocus-pocus.”

“For example?”
Gwyn asked.

“Number one,”
Brenda said, “the hotel is not
haunted. It’s an old building, Gwyn. I know you love it. But you have to admit
it’s not in the best of shape. The walls are too thin, the stairs creak, the
pipes make noises, the lights flicker, it’s drafty—that’s all normal.

“And maybe you
think it sounds romantic, but when you tell our guests that the hotel is
haunted—”

“Which it is.”

“—you’re just
calling attention to the hotel’s deficiencies.”

“What else?” Luke
asked, jumping in before the girls got into it. Too much of his childhood had
been spent watching the two of them fight and make up.

“Number two. There
is no boggart in the bar.”

“Okay, stop,” he
said, starting to get annoyed himself. “Now you’re going too far. You don’t
know that for a fact.”

Brenda shook her
head. “C’mon, Luke. How’s that even make sense? It’s an Irish bar; what would a
mischief-making Scottish spirit even be doing there?”

Luke grinned. “Making
mischief. Obviously. Besides, it’s people they attach themselves to, I think.
They’re family spirits, like the bean
sidhe. Who’s to say there’s no Scotch-Irish somewhere in our family mix?
There’s some funny stuff goes on in that bar, Bren. I’ve seen it.”

Brenda nodded.
“I’m sure there is. Do you know why people go to a bar in the first place?”

“To have a drink?”
Gwyn suggested.

“Exactly. And what
happens when people have a few too many drinks?”

“We make money?”

“They get clumsy.
They trip over their own feet. Sometimes they fall down. They misplace
things—their keys, their wallets, their phones.”

“Their clothes?”
Gwyn smiled at her cousin. Brenda ignored her.

“They make stupid
jokes and play stupid pranks and generally act—”

“Stupidly?” Luke
supplied.

“And that’s all
there is to it. There’s no supernatural troublemaker behind it. The only
spirits in that bar are the ones that come in bottles.”

Gwyn gasped.
“There’s a genie there now too?”

This time Brenda
glared at her.

Luke sighed. “Is
there a number three?”

“Yes.” Brenda
pointed toward the restaurant’s dining room. “You know that odd-colored stone
floor tile in the entryway?”

Luke and Gwyn
exchanged a smile. “You mean the Blarney Stone?” they asked innocently.

Brenda glared.
“No, I don’t mean the Blarney Stone,” she repeated mockingly. “For fuck’s sake,
guys. The Blarney Stone is right where it’s always been. In Blarney Castle.
It’s part of the friggin’ wall. No one chipped it out and shipped it across the
ocean.”

“Okay, fine,” Gwyn
said. “I’ll give you that one. I always thought that was crazy. What would the Lia Fiál be doing here?”

“The what now?”
Luke asked.

“The Lia Fiál,”
Gwyn repeated. “The Stone of Destiny? That’s what they used to call it.”

“Oh. Well, then
that actually does make sense, doesn’t it?”

“What does?”

“That business
about how if you kiss your true love while standing on the stone you’re
destined to be together. Destined—get it?”

“Yes, Luke.” Gwyn
rolled her eyes. “We get it. It’s still crazy.”

“Number four,”
Brenda continued without waiting for the others. “There is no family curse.”

Luke and Gwyn
looked at her in pained surprise. “Well, of course there isn’t,” Luke said.
“You mean the ‘nothing will prosper the family Walsh in Atlas Beach until the
Wild Geese return and are reunited with their loved ones’ nonsense? Yeah,
that’s bullshit.”



Copyright © PG Forte

To read about the other books in the series check out my website: http://www.pgforte.com/GamesWePlay.htm



Gwyn has her hands full these days trying to help save the family business--a quirky hotel on the Jersey Shore. She has no time for romance. But when the two men with whom she once spent a drunken ménage weekend show up with a sexy proposition, how can she resist? Berke and Cam might have broken her heart seven years ago, but Gwyn is older now and wiser. She’s not looking for forever. She just wants a good time. And, after all, it is Valentine’s Day.



For Berke and Cam, the weekend isn’t just about fun, or adding some spice to their marriage; it’s about winning back the woman who got away, and convincing her to give a committed three-way relationship a shot. They each have skills that could help make the hotel a success—and they’re not above bartering to get what they want. but first they have to get past the walls Gwyn’s built to keep them out. But while Cam’s biggest concern is making sure Gwyn doesn’t break Berke’s heart a second time, Berke is worried about what Cam will think if he learns about Berke’s part in screwing things up the last time around.

 http://www.loose-id.com/games-we-play-truth-or-dare.html  




https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VW2DMWN/




http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/truth-or-dare-pg-forte/1125795236?ean=9781682522981




https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/truth-or-dare-69

Going Wild by Sydney Somers

Going Wild by Sydney
Somers

A
Spellbound/Sapphire Falls Story




Love at first sight, or a past they don’t remember?




More about the story!

Artist Angel
Lancaster is determined to get out on her own, and away from her overprotective
family and their secrets—at least for a little while. Sapphire Falls is the
last place anyone would expect her to go, and the perfect spot to map out her
new life. If only she knew what that was supposed to look like. The one thing
it doesn’t include? Men, like smokin’ hot country boy Cade Marshall.




Cade doesn’t
really believe in love at first sight…until Angel walks into his life. From the
first moment he lays eyes on her vibrant smile, pink-tipped hair, and
mysterious green amulet, he’s sure they’ve met before. Angel doesn’t quite see
it that way, but he’s not letting that minor detail stop him from uncovering
the truth behind their too-hot-to-handle connection. Angel might be hiding
something, but so is Cade. It’s October in Sapphire Falls and he knows his
hometown’s reputation, especially when it comes to falling in love.




More about Sydney!



www.facebook.com/sydneysomers




Going Wild

Going for Brook, by Kinsey Holley

Today I'd like to welcome Kinsey Holley, my partner in crime! Aiken the hero of her story, Going for Brook plays an integral part in my book, Going Back to Find You. And my hero, Jason, does Aiken a couple of favors in return in Kinsey's book, Going For Brook. There's also a cat that we share. lol! Jaiken is the best bromance ever, yo!




He can’t live with her, he can’t leave without her.







Brook’s
parents passed away four years ago. They were happy in Sapphire Falls, but
because they, and Brook, were…different, they didn’t let her spend as much time
with kids her age as she wanted. Grown-up Brook is enjoying the friendships
she’s formed with Hope Bennett, Peyton Wells, Delaney Bennett, and others. She
loves Sapphire Falls and doesn’t want to leave.




Aiken
Kavanagh came to Sapphire Falls from Silicon Valley right before the car wreck
that claimed Brook’s parents’ lives. Charlie Lyall was one of Aiken’s closest
friends. They went back a long way—a very, very long way. Aiken promised
Charlie he’d stick around Sapphire Falls until Brook was ready to leave.




Because she
has to leave. She’s only got a few more years before people start asking
questions she can’t answer.




More about Kinsey!



http://kinseyholley.com/




Going for Brook

We're Going to Make It by PJ Fiala

Today I'd like to welcome author PJ Fiala to my blog. My character, Liz, from Going Back to Find You , appears in PJ's book We're Going to Make It . PJ's characters Viv and Sage were
some of Liz’s first customers, and she remains very grateful for their
patronage. Thanks again, PJ and welcome!





A special thank you to Pg for allowing me to hop on her blog today and a warm welcome and thank you to all of her readers for stopping by.




Working on this story was a journey for me.  First of all I am excited to be included with all of these wonderful ladies.  Secondly, I love Sapphire Falls.  But, I had the added stressor of creating new characters to me, who will also spin off on their own journey in a new series for me titled the Bluegrass Security Series.  So, there were many elements to work around and with.  I found myself stressed out at times and then so excited at others that I couldn't type fast enough.  I hope you all enjoy my story of Sage and Levi and their escapades.  Oh, and how about a little excerpt?




Blurb:





In the security business things can happen fast – the same is true in the business of love.




Levi Jacobson spent 25 years serving his country in the Army. After his fiancée and the love of his life sent him a Dear John letter telling him she was marrying his best friend, he dug into his career with a vengeance, marching up the ranks to Major, right after vowing to stay away from women. Now retired from the military, and managing his security firm in Sapphire Falls, he can finally spend his days as he wants, earn a bit of money and enjoy small town life.




Sage Reynolds joined the Army at 18 to escape her small hometown and finally live her life as the woman she was – a tomboy. She excelled in everything Army; shooting, interrogation and surveillance. When her father became sick, she found herself back home in the small town she’d left as a teenager. A year later, her father gone, she needs a job and preferably in the big city. Overdue bills and no prospects force her to accept a job in Sapphire Falls for a man who is sexist, obnoxious and terribly attractive.




Levi and Sage need each other, at least as far as business is concerned. But, what about personally?




Excerpt:




















Standing in front of the door to LJS, Sage took a deep breath. She needed this job; she had to keep reminding herself of this fact. Once it was over, she could head south and open her own security firm and walk her own path. Opening and closing her fists she dipped her head and continued.

She opened the door and stepped into the office. The atmosphere was…non-existent.  Pale green walls, two metal desks from the fifties strewn with papers and empty coffee cups sat to the left of the front door. To the right was a little rolling cart with a coffee maker, sugar and creamer, both of which had been spilled and not wiped up, and a stack of Styrofoam cups. The wooden coat rack screwed to the wall next to the door was graced with one coat and three empty brass hooks. Her stomach dropped. Living in Army barracks over the years, the one thing drilled into her head was neat and tidy. Orderly. Unplanned inspections kept her on her toes.

A creak sounded, and she turned to see the man from the diner sitting behind one of the desks, his soft brown eyes sizing her up. She watched as his eyes traveled the length of her body, not in an overtly sexual way, just an assessment. Probably trying to determine if she was armed. She smirked when she saw the recognition register on his face. She stepped forward and held out her hand.

“Sage Reynolds reporting for duty. I assume you’re Levi Jacobson.”

His brows raised into his hairline, his jaw tensed, and his back turned rigid. “Is this some sort of joke?” His voice was deep, edgy, and tinged with unhappy.

“Excuse me? Joke?” She tried keeping the edge from her voice but wasn’t all that successful by the look on his face.

He stood, and instead of taking her hand, placed his on his hips. “I hired a man named Sage Reynolds to work security here with me.”

The snark tinted her voice. “You hired me—Sage Reynolds. We never discussed my gender. Quite frankly, it shouldn’t matter. I’m trained, dependable, reliable, and ready to work with you. For two weeks, that is.”

He took a deep breath, seemingly to keep his irritation in check. “I don’t think this is a job for a woman. I hired a security specialist. A black belt in Jujitsu. An expert in surveillance.”

She placed her hands on her hips and dug her fingers in to keep herself in check. She needed a job and a paycheck. “Maybe not any woman. But then again, I’m not like most women. I’m your security, Jujitsu black belt, and surveillance specialist.” Her heart hammered. Sexist. Figured.

The door opened, and a cool blast of air circled the room and turned up the corners of the papers sitting on Levi’s desk. A large man breezed into the room. That is, he breezed as much as a man his size could breeze. He was six-foot-four, broad as a refrigerator, and weighed about 320 pounds. He had sparkling blue eyes and blond hair in need of a trim, but he had a face that looked…happy.

He skirted around Sage and stopped at the coffee maker. Pouring a cup, he laced it with sugar and turned toward her. He glanced down to her Army boots and then back up to her eyes. A big smile creased his face as he held out his hand. “Chuck.”

She turned to face him head on, glanced at his offered hand and placed hers in it. She squeezed as she shook his hand. A firm handshake is the best introduction you can give someone, her father would say. “Sage.”

Chuck’s eyes grew big and round. With disbelief in his voice, he said, “You’re the new guy?” He turned his gaze to the man behind the desk.

“She’s not working here,” he clipped.

“You hired me to do a job, yet you’re firing me because I’m a woman? I’d say you’re a sexist and about ready to be served with a lawsuit.”




Thanks again and welcome to Sapphire Falls!






About the Author




I am a wife of thirty years, a mother of four grown children and the grandmother of four lovely grandchildren. When not writing a new story, I can be found riding my motorcycle and exploring this fabulous country of ours. My writing revolves around people anyone would love to spend time with. No self-absorbed billionaires for me.




Earning my Bachelor's Degree later in life fulfilled a dream for me. Then, I found the courage to write and I haven't looked back. I have several published books and continue to write daily. I have served as the VP of Communications for WisRWA and devote a large amount of my time helping other authors slog their way through this thing called publishing. 




I come from a family of veterans.  My grandfather, father, brother, two of my sons, and one daughter-in-law are all veterans.  Needless to say, I am proud to be an American and proud of the service my amazing family has given.




I love to hear from fans, so look me up and touch base.





PJ Fiala

We live in the land of the free, because of the brave.










Website:  https://www.pjfiala.com 




Newsletter:  http://smarturl.it/ReaderClub 




Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pj-fiala




Facebook:  www.facebook.com/pjfiala1




Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/pfiala 




Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/pattifiala/ 




Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/patti_fiala/ 




Authorgraph:

https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/pfiala 




Goodreads author:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7866768.P_J_Fiala   




Amazon Author Page: 

http://smarturl.it/PJFiala-Amazon 




Google+:

https://plus.google.com/+PJFiala/ 

Going Haywire by Rachelle Ayala

Today's special guest is Rachelle Ayala, whose character, Honey Meyers, had an interesting encounter with my character Liz. Check out Going Haywire to read
more about Liz’s encounter with Honey, and a zombie! And also, to find out what was really going on
Saturday night at the bonfire!



Welcome, Rachelle!



Giving up sugar right before Halloween. Brilliant.

Going on vacation with an ex. Not so bright.



Honey and her ex-husband, Max, travel to Sapphire Falls to give their two young children the perfect Halloween treat. Max wants Honey back, and he’s counting on the magic of Sapphire Falls to seduce her into a second chance.



Honey is leery of Max and his tricks, but when he woos her with a Halloween romance complete with bonfires, hayrides, parties, and paintball, Honey warms to the idea of a new beginning.



Unfortunately, there's something off about Max that Honey can't put her finger on. When their vacation goes haywire, Honey must decide whether the treat of true love is worth all the terrible tricks life can play.



Excerpt:





Honey Myers had never been known for making good decisions.

If she had, she wouldn’t have:

1. married and divorced Max Wolff

2. agreed to go to Sapphire Falls with her ex-husband

and

3. decided to give up sugar right before Halloween.

So here she was, waiting at the taxi stand at a tiny airport in the middle of Nebraska with her son, Mattie, age four, and baby daughter Sara, barely sixteen months.

Problem? The last taxi had left the stand, the other passengers were busy piling into assorted pickup trucks, jeeps, and large jalopy sedans.

“Mommy? I’m hungry,” Mattie whined.

Sara babbled, chewing on her fingers and drooling, clearly overdue for a feeding.

“Where are we?” Mattie’s voice grew more high-pitched. “Why isn’t Daddy here?”

Good question.

When ex-Max, that was her nickname for him, had suggested a fun, family-filled vacation to the annual Sapphire Falls Halloween festival, Honey had been resistant. After all, ex-Max grew up in that small town and couldn’t escape it fast enough. He’d hated it and told her a million reasons why he would never, ever set foot in that boring one cow town till his dying day.

Clearly, he wasn’t dying, or one could hope. But as ex-husband’s went, ex-Max wasn’t too bad. He paid child support, he didn’t flaunt his dates around her, if any, and he even affirmed her decisions for Mattie’s preschool. He was also a good father during the few weekends he was around.

And not being around was his major failing.

Like now.

“I’m cold and I want a hotdog.” Mattie looked up at her with the pale blue eyes he inherited from his father. “Please?”

Sara squirmed in her stroller and her face scrunched, letting out an irritated cry for food.

Honey scrambled in her bag and handed both her children juice boxes, yes, full of sugar, but being abandoned by her ex-husband at a Podunk airport called for emergency rations.

She barely felt guilty as she fumbled with her cell phone for the Uber app to find a driver. They’d had a long flight and she had to get to the Rise & Shine Bed & Breakfast and find food or risk a double toddler meltdown.

“Ma’am, I can take you where you want to go,” a deep, booming male voice said, as a man jumped out of his extended cab pickup truck.

“Are you an Uber driver?” Honey narrowed her eyes at the broad-shouldered man who’d started picking up her luggage. As country boys went, this guy wasn’t bad at all. Square jaw, pale blue eyes, and dark brown hair made him quite the package. She could easily see him on a billboard selling tractors.

“Nope, this here’s Ford country.” He hefted her suitcase into the truck bed.

“Wait, I can’t go with you if you’re not from Uber.” Honey grew up in the big city, and she wasn’t about to become another statistic.

“I’m hungry,” Mattie shared with the towering farm boy who wore bib overalls, a plaid flannel shirt and a brown corduroy jacket.

“Here, have a Tootsie pop.” The man dug two wrapped Tootsie pops from his pocket.

Honey held up her hand. “I’m afraid we can’t accept that or the ride. Please take my luggage from your truck.”

But did anyone pay attention to her? Her son took the candy and gave the man a high-five.

Her daughter squealed with delight and clapped her hands, and her suitcases were soon joined by her roller bag and Sara’s stroller.

“It’s getting dark,” the man said, helping her into the cab. “Max said I’d find you here. He’s already at the Rise & Shine waiting for you.”

Which was why he was the ex-husband and she was going to need a lot of chocolate to get her through this haunted Halloween weekend. Except she couldn’t have chocolate—at least the kind with sugar in it.

“I’m Troy Caine, Max’s best buddy growing up.” The man introduced himself after making sure both Sara and Mattie were strapped into their car seats.

If it hadn’t been for the kindness of strangers, Honey wouldn’t have even made it to the taxi stand with luggage, children, and all their paraphernalia. But then, this trip had been the first time Max was able to leave his investment banking job for four days straight, and he wanted the kids to enjoy a small town Halloween.

Honey, too, had always been curious about Max’s love-hate relationship with Sapphire Falls, so when he'd mentioned an all-expense paid trip to his hometown, she’d jumped at the chance—right after she’d bet her sister, Candi, that she could kick her sugar habit, cold turkey.

“Well, thanks for picking us up.” Honey remembered her manners. “How far is it to Sapphire Falls?”

“About thirty minutes.” Troy steered the pickup onto the interstate.

They drove by miles and miles of empty fields with grain silos sticking like sentinels every so often. The sky was a cloudy gray and the landscape was flat.

“Is there really a waterfall in Sapphire Falls?” Honey imagined a trickling spray of bright blue water.

“No actual waterfall, but we do have an awesome river.”

“That’s not the same thing. How can you get away with the name Falls in a town without an actual waterfall?”

Troy snickered and rubbed his nose. “That’s because it’s not water that’s falling at Sapphire Falls.”

“Come again?” Honey noticed the sign on the turn off for Sapphire Falls, population 1221. Someone had put a line through the 1221 and painted 1388.

“It’s people.” He slowed down as the road narrowed. “They come and fall in love, and they never leave.”

He ended that sentence with a wicked laugh.



Read the rest of the chapter HERE





About Rachelle:



Rachelle Ayala is a bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She writes from sweet to steamy and believes that everyone should find love as often as possible, even if it's within the pages of a book. Rachelle is working on a sweet series of romances with pets and firemen, Have a Hart Romances, and one full of bad boys, Bad Boys for Hire. She also writes sports romances in both football and baseball, as well as many holiday romances, both sweet and spicy. She has won the 2015 and 2016 Readers Favorite Gold Award and the 2015 Angie Ovation Award.



Newsletter: http://bit.ly/RachAyala

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/rachelleayala

Website: http://rachelleayala.me

Going Back to find You

Today is release day! Whoo-hoo! The Sapphire Falls Kindle World Halloween novellas are finally here--including my own book, Going Back to Find You .



My hero, Jason, made a very brief appearance in the first Children of Night book, In the Dark. Ever since then, I've wanted to tell his story. But it just didn't happen. Until now!




Because even a vampire deserves a second chance.




When Jason Cook boarded the train to
San Francisco, he didn’t plan on coming back. He never really thought he’d see
Nebraska or Lizbeth Petersen ever again. But when an unexpected turn of events
threatens the woman he’d loved and lost, he has no choice but to go back and
try to make things right.




Lizbeth never thought she’d see Jason
again, either—and she’s not so sure she wants to see him now. Her life’s a
mess, but at least it’s her mess. And after a lifetime of other people making
decisions for her, she’s looking forward to finally figuring out some things on
her own. Besides, Jason already left her once when she needed him. Why should
she trust him not to do the same again now?






Warning: This is not a drill. Vampires
are invading your favorite, small Nebraska town this Halloween. Does this mean
Type-O flavored booze will soon be the new rage in Sapphire Falls? Hopefully,
it won’t come to that. But you never can tell…




Excerpt: 




The Friday before Halloween…

Jason
scanned the area around Sapphire Falls’ town square, searching for others of
his kind and coming up blank. Not a huge surprise. He’d been hanging around
town for over a week, following up on a tip he’d received from Nate, a former
nest-mate, and he had yet to find any sign of vampires. He was starting to
wonder if perhaps Nate’s informant hadn’t been bled a little too hard. It was
possible the man had been making stuff up toward the end, or no longer knew
what he was saying.

Oddly, there
was no dearth of paranormal activity occurring in and around Sapphire Falls
this Halloween season. Jason had already had some interesting encounters. Just
the other night he’d come to the aid of a Sidhe lord, a woman and…and something
else. Something that looked human but was probably an elemental of some sort.
They’d been in trouble and asked for his help, so he’d driven them all (along
with a full complement of dogs) down to York to get medical help from some
other creatures he hadn’t immediately recognized.

That had
been an eye-opening experience. But as far as vampires went, they were scarcer
than ghosts. There didn’t even seem to be any rumors floating around.

It was still
pretty early, however—just coming on sunset—and most of the people currently
enjoying the festival were families with young children. Not the most promising
of settings for anyone wishing to feed unobserved. But just because Jason
couldn’t sense any other vampires in the vicinity didn’t mean they weren’t
here. Or that they couldn’t sense him.

He growled
softly in frustration. Time was running out for the Allen vampires.  If he didn’t catch up with them soon—before
they were too far gone or before they did something irredeemably stupid—they’d
be screwed. He should have already contacted Marc, or even Conrad, and told
them what he’d learned. But it wasn’t much and it wasn’t good. So he’d waited.

He
understood why he’d been chosen for this mission. Given his familiarity with
the area, and his past relationship with some of Felicia’s family, it made
sense for Conrad to have sent him here, rather than one of the others. And, if
he were honest with himself, he’d wanted this. He’d have asked for it, if it
hadn’t been offered. He’d have been disappointed as hell if the assignment had
gone to anyone else. But, his personal feelings and experience aside, surely
there must have been someone they
could have found better suited for the task?

He wasn’t
supposed to confront the ferals, he was merely supposed to track them and
report back. To track them, for fuck’s sake. 
Might as well hire an opossum in place of a bloodhound.

It wasn’t
often that Jason wasted time bemoaning his fate. Things were the way they were,
and all the wishing in the world wouldn’t change that. He’d never asked to be a
vampire. He hadn’t thought it would be “cool” to live forever. He’d felt no
need to be faster or stronger—or, lord knows, more flammable—than nature had
intended. It had happened, all the same, without regard to his wishes; and he’d
accepted that. Along with all the pluses and minuses that were part of the
package. Because, what other choice did he have?

But, if he
had to be made Vampire, was it really
too much to ask that he be made a moderately competent one?

In his human
life, he’d at least had that. He might never have been the best at anything,
but he’d still managed to be better than most at pretty much anything he’d
tried his hand at. Becoming Vampire had taken that away.

So many of a
vampire’s individual abilities were dependent upon the strength, at the time of
his turning, of the vampire who’d sired him. The ease and distance at which he
could recognize other night-walkers; his susceptibility to sunlight; even the
frequency at which he must feed—all were determined by that one event.

Attempting
to create too many spawn in too short a timeframe could wear a vampire out,
leaving him or her temporarily the worse for wear. But for the unlucky spawn,
the weakness was permanent. Not that Floyd had cared about that.

Floyd Hall
had been a pompous ass; greedy, opportunistic, unwarrantedly cruel. Jason
didn’t think he’d ever been particularly strong, even at the best of times, but
when he’d sired Jason, he must have been abysmally weak. A fact Jason hadn’t
been in any condition, at the time, to even comprehend. It was only after he’d
begun to have dealings with vampires who actually were powerful that he’d learned to tell the difference.

His current
sire, Conrad Quintano, was generally acknowledged to be one of the strongest
vampires alive. It was only natural that those he’d turned would be
exceptionally strong as well—or even uniquely gifted, like Marc, possessing
skills that not even Conrad could lay claim to. Useful, potentially
life-changing abilities. Such as the talent for rehabilitating vampires who’d
gone feral.

It was that
particular ability, and the fragile hope that hung from it, that had brought
Jason back to Nebraska, that had brought him here to Sapphire Falls just in
time for Halloween. Of all the rotten luck. Talk about bad timing!

Everywhere
Jason looked, he saw reminders of the holiday. From the artificial
jack-o’-lanterns grinning at him from every lamppost, to the amiable scarecrows
and sheaves of corn that lined the sidewalks. There were gauzy ghosts hanging
from the branches of trees in the park, comical “gravestones” in front of the
haunted house. It was all so charming and picturesque and playful--and
depressing as hell.


Read more HERE



More about PG! 



Going Back to Find You

Character Interview with Katey Hawthorne and Kinsey Holley

We’re here with Matt
Antonin and Thackeray from Katey Hawthorne’s Praesidium, Aiken Kavanaugh from
Kinsey Holley’s Going for Brook and Jason Cook from PG Forte’s Going Back to
Find You.




Welcome gentlemen. It’s
good of you to join us.  It seems you’ve
all been involved with paranormal incursions, of one sort of the other this
Halloween season.  So let’s start our
questions there. Why
don’t you tell us one thing that you found particularly challenging this
Halloween?




Matt: Thackeray.




Thackeray: Matt.




Aiken: My mother. And vampires.




Jason:  Um, let’s see…there were feral vampires, evil
fae, enchanted potions, shifters—yeah, I can’t decide. Let’s just say ‘all of
the above’ and be done with it.







I understand that some of you are romantically
involved with each other, while others are not, but I believe you all saw a
little romantic action this Halloween. So why don’t you tell us a little bit
about that?




Q#2:
Do you believe in love at first sight?




Matt: No.




Thackeray: Definitely not.




Aiken: No. Lust, yes. Love takes a bit longer.




Jason:  I don’t know if it was love or lust—call it
what you want. I’m going to say ‘yes’ to the question because all’s I know is I
took one look at Lizbeth and I was a goner. Of course, she was naked at the time… Yeah, I’m sticking with ‘yes’.







Q#3:  Describe your perfect date?

Matt: Oh, you know, stopping crazy witches from
inviting demons into our world.

Thackeray: Anything that doesn't involve
stopping crazy witches from inviting demons into our world. Or demons at all.




Matt: Is Seir pouting in your head?




Thackeray: Oh yeah.




 Aiken:  Home, in bed, with wine and Brook. She says I’m
boring, I say why not just skip to the good part, yeah?




Jason: A blanket by the
river, a snack that’s big enough for the two of us to share. Maybe a threesome,
if we’re in the mood and/or the snack gets lucky…




 Q#4 Finally, why
don’t you tell us a little more about yourself? 
For example, do you prefer daytime or night?




Matt: Night. It's
quiet at night. And no one wants you to work.




Thackeray: Day.
Less shit demonic goes down during the day. Usually.




Aiken: Night,
definitely.




Jason: Night, for
sure. I am a vampire, after all. Um…it’s
okay to say that here, right?










Q#5:
 What is your typical day like?




Thackeray: Look at
the internet, map out paranormal activity, let a demon annoy me.




Matt: Work.
Programming. Consulting. Witching. Laughing at a demon annoying him.




Aiken: A lot of
time on the computer with clients. Nights in with Brook. Sometimes dinner out
with friends.




Jason: Wake up at
dusk. Go out and see what I can scare up for breakfast. Make love to Liz
whenever I can. Try and stay out of Conrad’s way.







For more of this
interview, please visit authors Katey Hawthorne:
  and Kinsey Holley: 

Going the Extra Mile by Katy Alexander

Today's very special guest is Katy Alexander. And Going the Extra Mile marks Katy's debut as an author. So please give her a great big welcome! Congrats, Katy! 




Small town. Big hearts. But can one little
secret tear it all apart?




Abby is a
vivacious student teacher in the charming little town of Sapphire Falls,
renting a room in the quaint B&B and flirting with Mike, the hunky coach
who makes her heart flutter. When a tipsy post-game kiss leads to more, Abby
quickly finds herself falling for the small-town charmer.




But however
sweet his kisses and however badly she wants to stay, Abby knows the secret
she’s keeping will change the way he sees her forever. Unless she can trust the
townspeople enough to open up her heart, Abby will have to leave Sapphire Falls
behind and never look back.



Excerpt!



Abby glanced up at the clock in the hallway. She had about twenty minutes before most of the faculty would start arriving. She’d learned several weeks ago what time to get to Sapphire Falls High School for uninterrupted copy machine use. Even so, she walked a little faster than necessary. The average person would probably find it comical what a hot commodity a copy machine was in a school. And private, uninterrupted, “no one tapping their foot as they wait” time was almost unheard of. If you were lucky enough to find that magical time, you took advantage of it and kept it a secret, like a fisherman’s sweet spot.



She’d hinted to the students that there would be a pop quiz on the first three chapters of Lord of the Flies today, and if she didn’t follow through, she’d lose all credibility with them. Being a student teacher was tough enough, but she’d learned quickly from veteran teachers that not following through would only make it worse. Abby had stayed up late typing the quiz and arrived extra early to print it out, then headed as quickly as she could without flat-out running to the copy room.



Abby felt a tap on her right shoulder. Someone had certainly snuck up on her, because she hadn’t heard a thing. When she turned to look, no one was there. She didn’t have time to contemplate that weirdness. Thinking it must have been her imagination, Abby had turned to continue her fast walk to the copy room when Mike jogged by her on the left, letting out a “Woot!” as he passed.



“Damn it, Mike!” Abby said, loudly enough for Mike to hear but not loudly enough that anyone nearby would.



Mike turned around and jogged backward down the hall. “You snooze, you lose,” he said with a smirk.



Abby was glad she’d worn flats, because heels totally would have sucked when she took off running after him.



Mike stuck his arms out to block her way with a grin on his face. Abby faked left and ran to the right, swiping at the papers in his hand, and she giggled as she passed.



Abby slowed back to her fast walk and called, “I hope you have a good defensive coordinator helping you with that football team, Coach!”



“Ah, Miss Sanders, it’s nice to see you can do smartass so early in the morning,” Mike called with a chuckle.



Abby glanced back to see him snatching his papers off the floor and rising into a run like a sprinter out of the starting blocks. Unable to contain her squeal and laughter, Abby took off running. They were almost to the copy room and she wasn’t taking any chances he’d beat her.



They arrived at the door at the same time and crashed into each other as they both tried to fit through.

“Ladies first,” Abby sing-songed as she slipped under the arm he’d used to stop himself in the doorway.



“Aw, come on, Abby. I’ve got these health tests I need to get run off for today, and you English teachers take forever,” Mike said as he accepted defeat and walked toward the teacher mailboxes.



“You shouldn’t have waited if you needed them today,” Abby said with a smirk, and pushed the buttons on the machine. She was truly thankful for secretaries who arrived early and turned the machine on so there was no wait for it to warm up.



“What about you?” Mike asked as he checked his mailbox.



“Mine is a pop quiz, so it was a last-minute thing,” Abby said smugly. “Plus I’m new. I’m just learning.” She batted her eyes and punched the start button.



Mike held up several catalogs for dancewear, prom decorations, fundraisers, and office equipment. “I want to again thank you for signing me up on catalog.com for all these wonderful catalogs I’ve been receiving daily.”



Abby laughed. “You started it when you covered my Jeep in Post-it notes.”



“The look on your face… Man, I wish I’d had a camera.” Mike smiled as he scanned the mailboxes with the catalogs in hand.



Abby knew what he was up to. He was going to put them in the mailbox of some unsuspecting teacher, who would be thoroughly confused.



“Don’t stick your junk in my box,” Abby said with an eyebrow raised and pursed lips.



Mike flashed a grin her way and started to put the magazines in her mailbox.

“You don’t want me to fill your box with my junk?” Mike asked with eyebrows raised of his own.



“Oh Coach, you know you don’t have an adequate amount of junk to fill my box,” Abby said, feigning a pout and shaking her head.



Mike chuckled and put the magazines in the box above Abby’s. It was the business teacher’s mailbox. Abby was impressed. Not only was she the senior sponsor for the prom, but she was often found pulling catalogs out of the trash for economics lessons. Mike paid attention to his coworkers. That was nice. He’d turned what could just have been a silly prank into a genuinely thoughtful gesture.

Abby gathered her stack of quizzes and headed for the door. “It’s all yours.”



“Is it, now?” Mike looked her up and down from head to toe and winked.



“Don’t you wish?” Abby laughed and turned for the door.



“Hey, Abby, I did want to ask you if there was any improvement in Brody’s English grade,” Mike said.



Abby stopped and leaned on the door jamb. “A little. He seems to be making more of an effort, so hopefully he’ll bring it up by the end of the semester. How about for you?” Abby asked.



“Same for me. I’m going to stay on him. There’s no excuse, he’s a smart kid.”



“Agreed. I gotta run and finish my coffee before the kids get here. Will I see you later?” Abby asked.



“I don’t know. It depends.” Mike gestured toward the copier. “You know what sucks about giving a health test?” he asked as he pushed start.



“What?”



“Grading them.”



“I hear ya.”





Abby headed out the door.









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Going the Extra Mile