IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Introducing…Ronnie and Diego #FridayReads

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…The Right Time ... What’s new from special guests Nia Fo...

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Introducing…Ronnie and Diego #FridayReads

Book 5 of the Love Unexpected series, One of the Guys, is about Ronnie Taylor and Diego Molina. But before I dive into an update, I have a few things to share with you.

Just Friends and The Rules made Romance in Color’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards for the top books in 2015! Of course I was very flattered and excited to get the news. I’m in good company among some great authors. Visit Romance in Color for the entire list of winners.

The Hawthorne Family series was my first African-American family series. Just like the Hot Latin Men series, I’m working on a box set that will include all four books and will put it on sale for a limited time.

The set will go on sale for 99 cents on July 1st. Mark your calendars!

CONTESTS/GIVEAWAYS

Goodreads members, visit the giveaways page and enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of One of the Guys. It’s open to U.S. and international entrants.

You also have a chance to win by entering my contest. Open to U.S. and international entrants.

Prize: two entrants will receive a $25 gift card and autographed copy of One of the Guys

Deadline to enter: June 30, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST

Eligibility: You must be a newsletter subscriber. You can subscribe to my newsletter here => SUBSCRIBE. Please make sure that you enter the email address you use to subscribe to my newsletter.

How to enter: Click the link and fill in the form. Winners will be contacted via email.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Introducing…Ronnie and Diego

I have a little bit of a girl crush on Ronnie Taylor because she’s so different from my other heroines. She’s a smart-mouthed mechanic who loves sports and hangs out in barbershops. But despite the tomboyish exterior, she’s still a woman. Like the rest of us, she wants to feel desired just the way she is, and although she can take care of herself, doesn’t mind if a man is willing to look out for her. That’s where Diego Molina comes in.

Diego owns the towing company located on the same lot as Ronnie’s mechanic shop. He’s a terrible flirt and no matter how many times Ronnie shoots him down, he comes right back at her with a smart remark or inappropriate comment. He also sees Ronnie in a different way than other men. He appreciates all facets of her appearance and personality and loves the fact that she can go from a T-shirt and jeans to a figure-hugging jersey dress. After pursuing her for over a year, he finally gets a chance with her.

Along the way, you’ll meet Ronnie’s father, Ezekiel. He’s old-fashioned and a bit overprotective, but he and Ronnie have a great rapport, and she wants him to find love again. Tomas and Talia from The Wrong Man make an appearance, along with brief appearances by Ryan and Shawna from The Blind Date and Sophie from The Right Time.

Overall, I think you’ll like this couple. They’re a perfect match. They both carry baggage that creates trust issues in their new relationship, but of course, they work through it eventually and get to their happily ever after…

BLURB

He makes her feel like a woman…

Mechanic Ronnie Taylor spends most of her time with men. As such, she’s always been tough, but Diego Molina makes her feel the opposite of tough. The big Cuban is brash, bold, and gets under her skin. She finally has to admit the reason he annoys her isn’t because she dislikes him. It’s because she likes him a little too much.

When Diego turns the tables on Ronnie, he uncovers the sensual woman hiding underneath. But past regrets threaten to derail their new relationship. Before they can get to forever, they must trust that they’ve found what they’ve been looking for all along.

EXCERPT

“I need to talk to you.”

He groaned and let his head fall back. “What do you want to complain about today, Veronica Pain-In-My-Ass Taylor?” He stuck a toothpick in his mouth and folded his arms over his chest.

She dragged her eyes from the way his muscles bulged into more prominence.

“Haha, very funny.” Pressing her hands onto her narrow hips, Ronnie glared at him. “Why do you always have to park your truck like that and take up the limited parking available for customers?”

“Is that what I did?” He scanned the almost empty parking lot they shared, chewing on the toothpick so it bobbed up and down between his full lips.

“You know good and well that’s what you did. I’ve told you plenty of times before. Since you bought this place, you’ve created a mess. You take up extra parking spaces, you block my garage bays—”

“Only when they’re empty,” he pointed out.

“You have no right to do that! Your guys leave trash in the back lot, and when are you going to move all those abandoned cars?”

At least ten cars sat in the fenced lot at the back of the buildings that hadn’t been picked up by their owners, and he appeared in no hurry to get rid of them.

“Let me handle my business, and you handle yours.”

“I try to handle mine, but as you can see”—she made a broad, sweeping gesture to showcase the lot—“someone doesn’t understand how to be a good neighbor.”

He tossed the toothpick to the ground and narrowed his eyes on her. “Are you the one leaving bad reviews for my business online?”

“Of course not!” The accusation stung. Not only was it unethical, her business and his were intertwined. She benefited if he did well.

Diego didn’t only bring her customers. He used Taylor Automotive to fix up cars he’d towed that were abandoned by their owners, and he in turn sold them for a profit. From what she could tell, that was a nice side business in addition to the towing company.

“I would be disappointed in you if you did.” Diego came closer and she held her breath. Dropping his voice, he said, “However, your whining and bitching is getting out of hand.”

“Under the circumstances, I’m very calm.”

“I’ve seen calm, and you’re not it. I’ve told you before I could fix you up and knock that bad attitude right out of you.”

“First of all, I don’t have a bad attitude.” Except with him. He provoked the worst in her. “Second of all, I thought I made myself clear that you’re not my type.”

“You’ve never tried my type.”

“How do you know what I’ve tried?” Ronnie asked, knowing she entered dangerous waters with the direction of the conversation, but unable to stop the slide into the unknown.

He sucked air between his teeth. “Ay no, you’ve never been with a Cuban man, mami. That much I know. It will change your whole life. You know what they say, once you go Cuban, you never go back.” He chuckled to himself, rubbing a hand over his shirt, and she couldn’t help but notice his massive hands and broad chest.

“That’s not the saying.”

“It is now.” His voice was low when he spoke next. “I keep telling you, a little horizontal salsa will do you some good.”

The air squeezed from her lungs and Ronnie’s chest tightened. She took a quivering breath. “I promise you, that will never happen,” she said, in her coolest voice possible.

The lids of his eyes lowered over his pupils as he did a lazy scan of her body. The brazen inspection made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. A sensation, light and airy like a shadow, crept over her, compelling the hairs on her neck to stand on end.

“Oh, mami, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Not even if pigs fly and hell freezes over.” Icicles dripped from her voice.

“So that’s a maybe?”

She laughed a little. If there was one thing she could say about Diego, he was consistent. For over a year she’d had to deal with his lascivious smile and cavalier attitude. No matter how many times she shot him down, he came right back with a new line.

“That’s a never.” She moved closer to him and stood on tiptoe to get in his face, their heads mere inches apart. She made her face into a mask of sweetness and lowered her voice to a seductive purr. “Stop parking your damn truck in the customer parking spaces or I’m calling the landlord.” She often threatened to sic the landlord on him but never actually had.

He moaned and shivered, like a man who’d experienced something so exquisite he could barely stand it. “Oh Veronica, I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

Diego dropped his eyes to her chest, but this time the brazen inspection didn’t only fill her with unease. Heat burned her cheeks, and her traitorous breasts tightened in excitement at the attention. Fortunately, he couldn’t see their reaction under the loose-fitting gray overalls.

Ronnie curled her fingers into fists. There was no getting through to him. “Ugh!”

She swung around and stormed away. Yanking open the door, she hurried inside her shop. The sound of his amused laughter only disappeared when the door finally closed behind her.

____________

Pop on over to Pinterest so you can see my inspirations for the story and a few pics that demonstrate my personal obsession with short hair.[image error]

Have a great weekend!