Swing Zone by Jodi McClure @punklit #review

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

Synopsis:

In the year 2229, cash-starved prospector Mia Blancharde uncovers a valuable relic while digging around the swing zone, a shared forest area that lies between two cities. To the north is Freedale, a polluted militaristic metropolis on the cutting edge of high technology. To the south sits picturesque Lakeside, a quiet rural community of earth-loving purists.

A delicate accord between the two cities has allowed their peaceful coexistence, but as activists from Lakeside start taking potshots at Freedale, Mia’s brother, Colonel Zavier Blancharde, calls for an attack to retaliate against them. With the swing zone fast becoming a battle zone, Mia rushes to excavate her find with the help of Coltis Lawson, an archeology enthusiast from the purist side. His knowledge and almost magical capabilities only serve to confuse her further, as she finds herself unwittingly falling for a man she’s not sure she can trust. With her opinion swaying back and forth along with the tide of the conflict, Mia comes to learn there’s more at stake than she could possibly imagine. Torn between her love and her city, she struggles to uncover the mysterious truth while trying not to get trapped on the wrong side of a very dangerous line.

Review:

This is another author I feel like people are missing. From the Homebound story to this post apocalyptic book, she needs to be recognized. The book is in the year 2229. This is after the world had almost succumbed to natural apocalypse. The city is teetering on a major conflict. Mia, the main character who is trying to discover treasures. Between her and her dad, they are depending on this money to help him survive. I really loved the character of Mia and her transformation. She becomes more and more outgoing and loses a lot of her fears. I realized that Mia was going for the gusto and she wont stop until she gets it.

As with her other books, the style and overall plot were great. She did a wonderful job of beginning the tall tale of a new society. This should be a series and I would love to experience more of Mia. I hope to get a glimpse of the conflict between the purist and the soldiers of Freedale.

Author

Jodi McClure

I strive to create stories no one has seen before. To stand way off the beaten path, far outside the box. I want my readers to walk away thinking, “Well, that was new…” in a good way. Jersey shore native living in Durham, North Carolina. I am a novelist by nature, an artist by desire, an electronics tech by profession. Lover of large empty spaces, glass, plants, sunlight and ridiculously evil men.

Whenever I write, I try to imagine what the reader will expect and then do the exact opposite. I am always striving to create a story no one has seen before, to stand far off the beaten path…well outside the box. Beneath my stories there are debates that look at old issues from fresh perspectives. Realistic characters with all the good and bad that entails. Settings that take you someplace else and tease your imagination. I want the reader to walk away thinking, “Well, that was new.” …in a good way.

Smashwords

Website: http://killergourmet.blogspot.com/
Facebook: Facebook profile

Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6420136.Jodi_McClure/blog

Jodi McClure

@punklit

The Cargo Man’s Tale

A bored, young man’s life is thrown into turmoil when he hooks up with a raucous gang of boys on the docks in ancient Rome. His path thrown to fate, he struggles to succeed in a world where hierarchy is everything and he’s on the bottom rung.

Homebound

Bedridden after an accident, ailing businessman John Adams finds himself at the mercy of Cloey Jacobs, his country bumpkin aide. Miserable and jaded, John wants little to do with the woman until she mentions an old mystery she’s been unable to solve. Determined to unravel the puzzle himself, John assists the barely literate aide in following a string of clues hidden in classic books.

4Aug2013

The Fab Life by Mercy Amare @MercyAmare #excerpts @TessMWatson

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

Blurb

It’s the life I was born to live: billionaire’s daughters, living amongst the rich & famous. But my mom kept me a secret from my dad. Until now.

I am so out of my league. Fancy parties, expensive cars, and a private school for the elite… It sounds like a dream. But everything is not as perfect as it seems on the outside. Here, the secrets are dirty, and the lies comes easy.

fab life

Stalk Links

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

The Fab Life Links

Goodread

Amazon

Author Bio

I am a YA/ NA author, with an addiction to NOS & Red Bull energy drinks. My guilty pleasure is the TV series The Lying Game and The Vampire Diaries. I’m 23 years old. I currently live in St Louis, with my husband of 2 years.

Excerpt #2
I stick my toe in the water to see how cool it is. In St. Louis, a pool in August would feel like a very warm bath, but Mountain View is a whopping seventy five degrees today. I am surprised to feel that the pool is warm.
“You’re not supposed to feel of the water before you jump in.”
The voice makes me jump. I turn around to see a guy who looks about 20 standing there. He’s not wearing a shirt, and to say he has nice abs is an understatement. I try not to stare too long, but I’m pretty sure he has a six-pack. He’s tanned, so I can tell he’s spent a lot of time outside this summer.
“Who are you?” I question.
“Brian. I’m the pool boy,” he answers. “And you must be the daughter. Kihanna, right?”
I nod. I’m still trying to avoid looking at his perfectly chiseled body. Why can’t high school boys look like that? Damn he’s hot. And from the way he’s smiling at me, I think he knows what I’m thinking. He has a nice smile.
I look him in the eyes. He has beautiful, dark brown eyes – they’re the same color as his hair. He has messy, just got out of bed hair, but it works for him.
“The pool is heated. You can swim year round,” he explains. It’s then that I realize I am still staring at him.
“Cool,” I say lamely, then jump in the pool. When I come out of the water, Brian is still standing there looking at me. “So, Brian, how often are you here?” Oh my god. My voice was flirty. What the heck? I feel my face grow warm. “I mean… I just don’t want to bother you…”
“You don’t bother me. I think things are going to be a lot more interesting around here with you around.” He winks at me, and then walks off. My heart is beating fast, and I take a deep breath trying to calm down.
I’m going to have to swim more often.

3Aug2013

The Fab Life by Mercy Amare @MercyAmare #excerpts @TessMWatson

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

Blurb

It’s the life I was born to live: billionaire’s daughters, living amongst the rich & famous. But my mom kept me a secret from my dad. Until now.

Stalk Links

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

The Fab Life Links

Goodread

Amazon

Author Bio

Excerpt #1

My palms are sweating, and my heart literally feels like it’s going to beat it’s way out of my chest. I decide that I may vomit before the night is over, but hopefully it won’t be on myself or Ty. I run my hand over the bannister was I walk down the stairs. I keep in there incase I trip, which is very possible. I try to focus on the steps and not on the fact that I’m about to go out of my first date.

Gah. I hate that word. Date. It’s too gray. I like black and white. Nothing about this night is black or white.

I count the steps as I walk down. There are exactly 32 steps from the top floor to the bottom floor. When I get to the bottom, I am forced to look up at Ty. He looks good. Really good. Dammit. He doesn’t look nervous at all. In fact he looks completely cool. Of course he’s cool. He’s probably been out on like a million dates before. Why should he be nervous?

I am relieved to see that he’s wearing jeans and a concert shirt. I didn’t underdress or overdress, and I’m glad I decided to wear jeans. I’m going to ask Toby’s advice more often.

“You look beautiful,” he says, and then hands me a bouquet of purple flowers.

Flowers = date, right?

Ugh, why does this suddenly feel awkward?

I take them from him. I have no idea what kind of flowers they are. I feel like I should know, but it’s not like I frequently get flowers from guys. “Thank you. They are beautiful.”

What am I supposed to do with the flowers? Am I supposed to take them with us? Or am I supposed to leave them here? There should a Dating for Dummies book that covers this. Maybe there is. Memo to self – look it up. I will be more prepared next time.

Next time? Calm down, Kihanna, I tell myself. Let’s get through tonight before we start thinking about a second date.

3Aug2013

Stupid by Choice by Leighton Summers‏ #interview

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

**Reading Renee, Q & A with Leighton Summers: Stupid By Choice Book Blog Tour**

Thank you so much for having me as a guest author. I truly appreciate it and want to thank all of you who read this post as well as my new novel, Stupid By Choice. I hope you enjoy it!

I know this is not really a spoiler but…Why did Melanie leave David? He was her (first) love—and when she was told that it was him or money, she took that bracelet. Why?

I know to some people that might have seemed harsh, but the character of Melanie was really making her first big decision of her life in that scene, and it was “one person vs. her whole future” I was looking at, for it wasn’t just the bracelet—it was her whole trust fund that it represented—and in this kind of wealthy, upscale world that’s an amount of money that can last you a lifetime. (And you never really know if someone else is ever going to stick around for a whole lifetime, no matter how “in love” you are at the moment.)

Also, Melanie was a teenager at this point in the story, and even at that young age she would still know you wouldn’t risk your whole future on only one person for such a large amount of money—or at least in my affluent social circles I’ve never seen that happen at any age—and though this is a novel, I was still trying to reflect the characters doing what most people from my world would do in a situation like that. *****I liked him and when she took the bracelet

Was it hard to write Oldie? I mean, I know a writer is good when she writes a character like him and you hate the man.

Actually no, for I had never thought about Oldie as someone a reader wouldn’t like, but I do respect your opinion if you didn’t like Oldie. (I only hope it’s the kind of “love to hate” emotion like people thought of J.R. on the TV show Dallas.) (**OMG I though JR the whole time when it first started. You loved to hate him, like Oldie he was good, then bing something was wrong and he was hard as nails) I really loved Oldie and thought he was great fun to write. He was a strong character with strong opinions, and in Texas you see a lot of real men just like that, so it could also be that I’m just used to this type of male personality more than other people are.

Was it hard to write Melanie? (Being a glutton for punishment… bad men and poor choices?)

In a story you always want to see characters put in challenging situations to see how they grow or change, and I put the main character of Melanie St. John into as many interesting, challenging situations as I could to help show her overall growth as she (hopefully) learned from her past each time as the story evolved, and she then (eventually) made better decisions.

I felt Melanie was also the type of person who needed a challenge too, and she also really wanted to get out of her hometown. She could have stayed in her “safety zone” in Texas her whole life if she wanted to and settled down with a typical “trust fund brat” like the one she was with, but instead I wanted to show how she wanted to move to NYC to get away from that truly toxic relationship in Texas. I felt it was the best way to handle that situation in the story too, for it gave the character of Melanie a chance to really grow on her own for the first time in her young adult life when she was still in her twenties, which is important for all women to do I feel. (And even though this is fiction, I still hope that part inspires them to also do that if they ever want to leave a bad relationship and just start over somewhere else!)

How did you come up with the acronyms like BDL (Bad Date List), FF (Fearsome Foursome), T.O.P, (Texas Oil Princess)? I loved them!

Thank you! I just made them up—and I’m very happy you like them!

(They were fun to think about and ponder over too.)

Did you like writing Whitney, “Miss Barbie Doll,” and Eva, “Miss Exotic”?

What great questions, for these two characters really were written to be the opposites of each other in many ways…

Eva was very hard to write and I often got very sad when I did, for she was my most tragic character. She was meant to show a person’s dark, painful choices and bring out their troubling emotions at times, especially if they felt they didn’t really “fit in” wherever they were in life like Eva always did… whereas Whitney was the fun, carefree “party girl” with nothing to worry about except her next glass of bubbly most of the time because everything was always handed to her easily, though I did try to show her growth too by the end.

In my upscale world there are all types of people, but I see this kind of “Whitney” character a lot, and I wanted to show that in the book. There are also a lot of “Eva’s” in regards to how they’ll do anything to be included in this high-society world, but they actually come from all walks of life and aren’t limited to just being “exotic types.” I mainly created Eva to be that to make her the opposite of Whitney in appearance.

Lastly, who inspired Barc? I MUST know!

No one in particular, for like Whitney and Eva’s character’s, there are a lot of “Barc’s” in this upscale, elite world. I actually created the character of Barc as an example of how you can be fooled by someone’s appearance, their “story,” pedigree, or even their charisma (and even for a long time), and you have to be careful to see what is really inside the initial package you are first presented with. For like a well-wrapped gift, it could look lovely and shinny on the outside, but sometimes opening it up is really like opening Pandora’s box—and the actual gift you’re left with isn’t what it “appeared” to be. I unfortunately run across this all the time in my social circles (with both men and women), so I had no trouble creating a fictional version for the book. He’s a character I hope women will learn from though!

This was my Barc

James Spader from Pretty in Pink, oldie (HA HA) but a goodie

SBC-Cover

Buy it at Amazon

2Aug2013

Stupid by Choice by Leighton Summers‏ #review

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

I have to say this was my cup of tea! Back in the day I would walk into the book store and go to my genre of choice and actually choose the longest book. Nothing was worse than being on the good old F train going into Manhattan with nothing to read. Sadly you have to look at the people on the train with you, not good! Anyways This book had a lot of great elements. Melanie St. John was a Texas Oil Attorney’s daughter. Most of the story she struggles with wealth and whether she wants it or hates it. Her and her parents and sister have a lot of emotional turmoil in their lives. The books shows a side of Texas that isn’t usually shown. The oil business is as big as their hats! Oldie is the typical wealthy attorney who loves with his heart and his wallet.

iStock_000001392817_Small

Melanie thinks she is getting away with a secret and her boyfriend David. I know this is a mini spoiler but….Oldie confronts her and wahooo does he have the goods on his little virgin daughter. It broke my heart and this is where I loved to hate Oldie. He was genuine in his care and concern for Melanie but it tore my heart out. She loved David. Yes there wouldn’t be a book if she chose David. I know that, but the characters were really real to me and spoke to me. I grieve the loss of David!

As Melanie decided to go to UT and with her sister and her friend Eva they start college life. Eva was the daughter of Helmut. OH my did that man scare me! I really liked the dark side of her. Her life, chances, and the experiences she was famous for were priceless, scary and tragic. When the family goes to Europe and discovers what a colossal mess Eva and Whitney have gotten into.

Melanie watches Whitney have fun and never let college consume her. She seemed to consume, champagne and men. I liked all of her. She was not superficial, she knew what she wanted and was a semi alpha girl. I guess I appreciated her vision. I enjoyed all the fearsome foursome and their antics. All the college and angst of growing up were were played out well. I liked how descriptive she was with the areas. Whether in Texas, New York, Paris or Italy the author was descriptive with the areas letting you visualize it.

Melanie was a wonderful and rich character and so was the book. This is a great weekend at the beach book.

This was my Barc

James Spader from Pretty in Pink, oldie (HA HA) but a goodie

SBC-Cover

Buy it at Amazon

About the Author:

Leighton Summers is a sixth generation Texan who has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe her whole life. During her travels she was always surrounded by interesting, successful (and often eccentric) people who encouraged her to find her passion and live life to the fullest. Writing novels always intrigued her, and so one day while in New York City she took out her laptop in a café and decided to jot down some notes about how a female character created from her own world could “love smarter.” Over the next four years the notes turned into both funny and sad adventures of a women’s quest for finding friendship, love, self, and family and she weaved them all together into this, her debut novel.

2Aug2013

Stupid by Choice by Leighton Summers #debut #spotlight

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

High Society, High Style, & High Drama!

BIG, RICH, TEXAS: WHAT REALLY LIES BEHIND THE GLITTERING FAÇADE OF DEBUTANTE LIFE?

Beautiful, bold, and born with a silver spoon firmly planted in hand, Melanie St. John is, by all outside accounts, the picture-perfect Texan Oil Princess. An independently wealthy daddy’s girl through and through, Melanie has spent her adult years flitting from one exotic, exclusive locale to another, being wooed by handsome, successful men, and in the dizzying center of dazzling, diamond-encrusted society life.

But behind the glittering façade of her debutante life lays a very different story.

In Stupid By Choice, this summer’s must-have beach read from author Leighton Summers, we follow the fictional and fabulous Melanie as she attempts to find true, lasting love amongst the wealthy, jet-set, spoiled, sought-after playboys in the elite social circles of Texas, Monte Carol, Manhattan, Newport, and Palm Beach.

Facing one destructive love affair after another, as well as financial troubles, family drama, unplanned pregnancy, and more, Melanie and her friends traipse through the high high’s and low low’s of elite society, all while negotiating the blows they’re dealt with vulnerability, extravagance, and a resilience that every woman, regardless of social strata, will recognize as her own.

“Stupid By Choice is pure fiction, but it’s entirely inspired by the affluent, privileged world that I grew up—and still live—in,” says Summers. “All that glitters is not gold. It’s easy to get caught up in the glamour of it all, but no matter what your age or station in life, we all have to learn—as Melanie does—to not be ‘stupid by choice’ and stay stuck or settle if we’re not happy.”

A celebratory romp through the lives of ladies who have, lose, and ultimately triumph over it all, Stupid By Choice is as juicy a summer read as they come—equal parts entertaining, thought-provoking, and emotionally gripping. Among the topics and themes explored in it are:

Don’t mess with Texas! An insider’s look—good and bad—at what socialite American society life is really like from a Texans’ P.O.V.
The ‘problem-free’ lifestyles of the rich and well groomed: does money solve as many issues as one might think? Or does it just create more?
Handling divorce, infidelity, family problems, motherhood, and career goals with grace and fearlessness
Finding courage in the face of the unknown, taking risks, and following your heart!

About the Author:

Leighton Summers is a sixth generation Texan who has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe throughout her whole life. During her travels, she was always surrounded by interesting, successful (and often eccentric) people who encouraged her to find her passion and live life to the fullest. Writing novels always intrigued her, and so one day while in New York City she took out her laptop in a café and decided to jot down some notes about how a female character, created from her own world, could “love smarter.” Over the next four years, those notes turned into both funny and sad adventures of a woman’s quest to find friendship, love, self, and family and became Stupid By Choice, Summers’ debut novel.

Stupid By Choice is available as an e-book from Amazon.

Buy it at Amazon

Website http://stupidbychoice.net/

2Aug2013

Save Me From Me by Erika Ashby @erikaashby #cover #reveal

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

Title: Save Me From Me

Author: Erika Ashby

Release Date: October 2013

Goodreads Link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17281558-save-me-from-me

Synopsis:

Dani refuses to lose another parent due to her absence from their life. After pulling herself back together following the death of her father, she moves back to her childhood town to live with her mom. She’s instantly pulled back into the lifestyle she worked so hard to get away from ten years ago. She accepts that this is the life she has always been destined to live. Getting a job at the store down the road and hooking up with an ex fling seem to be the logical way to go…that is until Holden Reynolds shows up in town.

Now that Holden is finally back home from the Navy he plans on following in his father’s footsteps. Still trying to move on from the one woman who had his heart, he busies himself in work and returning to the country boy lifestyle he’s always loved. The best way to get over someone is to be under someone, right? That’s his mindset as he travels town to town with his job perfectly content with being a rambling man…that is until he meets Danielle Brooks.

Excerpt:

*Dani*

If first impressions are really everything, then my first encounter with Holden will forever be engrained into my mind. Like seriously. I will never be able to get the look of his face as that slut bag was going down on him out of my mind. The way his head dropped back against the outside wall of the bar and the moan that slowly eased its way out of his throat was the hottest damn thing ever. The thought of wishing I was the one causing it quickly passed my mind. It would have stayed a bit longer if he would have never lifted his head making eye contact with me. He wasn’t fazed at all by me checking out the show. No, instead he just griped the chicks head harder pushing her faster and deeper onto what I’m sure is a very nice cock. It’s sad and maybe a little sick that this is making me horny. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m in a desperate need to get laid. It’s been forever. So long that I can’t even remember.

*Holden*

I push back the head of the girl whose name apparently is Loralee. It’s not like I would have given two-shits and even asked. I could care less to be honest. I just got into town today and was just looking for a release and she was more than willing to comply. But now, ever since that hot little thing openly watched me getting my dick sucked and enjoyed the show, this chick is just feeling like a dog licking up slop.

“Enough.” I say trying to adjust my now deflating dick back into my boxers.

She huffs, “Wait, why? Is it because of what Dani said?” Dani, I let the sound of her name play in my mind. “Because what she said isn’t true. I’m gonna beat her fuckin’ ass.”

I lift my hand to shut her up, “Listen here sweetheart. This has nothing to do with her. It has to do with me not getting anything out of your mouth. I lost interest…my dick lost interest. I could lie and say that I have a case of whiskey dick, but we both know that isn’t true. Maybe you just suck at sucking tonight. It’s okay.” I pat her shoulder, “We all have our off nights.”

Book Trailer:Link

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEAshby

Twitter: @erikaashby

Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/ErikaAshby

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6625020.Erika_Ashby

Author Bio:

View author pic.jpg in slide show

Being born an “Army Brat”, Erika Ashby has been residing in Oklahoma the last 10 years finally putting an end to the nomad tendencies she had grown accustomed to. She’s a happily married woman who has 5 kids between her and her husband. She has an insane passion for music and embraces her Inner Groupie any chance she has. It wasn’t until the age of 29 that she realized she also had a hidden passion for reading; before then she claimed to have hated it. Six months after unlocking that deep desire she never knew she held, she turned the key to another chapter of her life which has become the desire to write. And the rest is still history in the making.

Amazon Links

Moving Forward

No Going Back

1Aug2013

Something’s Cooking by Meg Lacey @entangledpub #spotlight

Posted in Book Titles by ReadingRenee

Title: Something’s Cooking
Author: Meg Lacey
Genre: Contemporary Series Romance
Length: 182 pages
Release Date: August 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62266-174-9
Imprint: Indulgence

“Meg Lacey’s sizzling romance sparkles with wit and humor. You will fall in love with all of her characters.” Annie Seaton

Tess Banyon has turned her brilliant recipe and crafting ideas into a multimedia empire. Landing her own TV show throws her into a panic. If she’s not careful, the public will discover she isn’t the domestic diva everyone thinks she is.

Investigative reporter Josh Faraday smells something smoking in Tess’s world. His goal to expose the real Tess goes into overdrive when she lands a television show deal. He secures an assignment to shadow her, reporting on her program, but what he’s really doing is getting dirt for his expose. Things get even stickier when Tess’s family play matchmaker. There’s no shortage of fire between them, and after an impulsive night together, Josh discovers a story he never expected–or bargained for.

Excerpt:

Josh Redmond Faraday’s Little League baseball team was behind by six runs when it was Joey Murray’s turn at bat. The little boy looked over his shoulder at Josh. His pale face reflected his terror, and the groan of the other kids added to the pressure. Josh could relate. He’d been terrible at sports, too. That’s why he’d agreed when his best friend asked him to coach this Little League team. It was T-ball, and the kids were just learning, but to him it was more important that the boys and the two girls on the team learned confidence as well as skills.

“You can do it, Joey,” Josh said, walking over to clasp the little boy’s shoulder. “Just take your time, and wait for your pitch. When you see it coming, take a swing.”

Joey’s lips trembled for a minute, and then he said, “Coach Josh, I think I’m going to throw up.”

He squatted down to eye level to look at the chubby little boy in the too-big uniform. “I know how you feel. When I was a kid, I was the worst player on the team. I missed every time I tried to hit the ball.”

“I always miss.”

“It doesn’t matter if you miss. The important thing is you try your best. Will you do that for me?”

“Okay,” Joey said with a resigned shrug. He picked up his bat and stepped to the plate.

“You can do it,” Josh said as he backed up to join his best friend, Marty Logan.

“Think he’ll hit it this time?” Marty asked, leaning back against the fence.

“Man, I hope so. I’ve been working extra with him. The poor kid’s never even seen a baseball, much less tried to hit one.” Josh felt his stomach clench as Joey took a swing and a miss, and then another. “Shake it off, Joey. You can do it.”

The little boy set his jaw, took a better grip on the bat, and swung, this time connecting with the ball, which dribbled forward a few feet. Joey was so shocked he stood there staring at the ball instead of running, resulting in the other team’s catcher scooping up the ball and tagging Joey out. That’s when a parent started yelling his displeasure from the stands.

Josh glared up at the man who was commenting on Joey’s lack of ability. “Leave the kid alone. It’s not the World Series.”

He walked over to Joey. “Good hit, kid. I’m proud of you.”

“I’m still out,” Joey said, with a disgusted look.

He gave him a high five. “Doesn’t matter. You tried. That’s what counts.” Then he walked back to Marty. “Did you hear that guy yelling at the little kid? I’m going to write about parents who put too much pressure on kids at sporting games.”

“You are, or your alter ego, JR?”

He shrugged. “My column’s under JR’s byline.”

“When are you going to junk that idea and write as yourself? Aren’t you getting tired of the unknown journalist routine?”

“Yeah, sometimes I wish I’d never started it. But until I can get my other ideas off the ground, JR pays the rent.”

Marty nodded. “And from what I’ve seen, pays it pretty well.”

“That it does, but I earn every penny of it. I’ve worked my butt off to get where I am.”

“That’s not news, you’ve been doing that since we met in prep school.”

Josh watched as their team took the field for the last inning. “You know how it goes. Snooze you lose. Today, competition is worse than ever. Someone’s always snapping at my heels. I don’t have any choice but to go after what I want every way I can.”

Marty heaved away from the fence. “You’re your own worst enemy most of the time.”

“You should talk. I’m amazed you found a woman to put up with you,” Josh said, as they walked toward the team bench.

“Speaking of that, Liza has this friend who’s perfect for—”

“No deal,” Josh said, holding up his hands like a traffic cop. “Not after that last blind date. The woman almost had us married before dinner was over. I’ll damn well find my own woman, thanks.”

“I wish you’d hurry up so Liza will get off my back.” Marty looked toward the field. “Great. The other team just hit a home run. There goes the ballgame.”

Shaking his head, Josh said, “That’s seven in a row. At least they’re improving. This time we only lost by eight runs.” He chuckled. “I call that progress. I think we should celebrate. How about we take them out for pizza? My treat.”

“Anything to avoid cooking, huh?” Marty said, picking up the bag of bats.

“You got it. When I find my perfect woman, she’s going to look like an angel and cook like a dream.”

Josh shoved a stack of papers aside and hitched a hip onto the corner of his desk, preparing to read his latest newspaper column. He opened up the spread and eyed a photo of his nemesis, Tess Banyon, the so-called “diva of domesticity”, taking up the lion’s share of the page.

“What the—”

He stared at the paper, rage blurring his vision. The irritating image of the gorgeous usurper pulsed in and out of his mind.

“They had the nerve to edit my article so the media’s newest golden girl could take over my page?” He adjusted his tortoise-shell reading glasses and scowled as he stared at the photo. I’ve been working my butt off for years. What makes her so bloody special?

Unable to pull his gaze away, he studied the headshot more closely. He concentrated on her pert little nose, sitting square in the middle of a perfect oval face with high cheekbones, a ripe mouth, and wide blue eyes. The damn woman is way too perfect. His expression darkened. He didn’t trust people who rose to the top of the heap as quickly as she had. Where was the thought, the hard work, and long hours he’d put in for the past ten years?

He stared at the perfection of her hair, falling onto the top of her shoulders in such a smooth, curved style, and his fingers twitched. He wondered if it would feel as silky as it looked. His scowl deepened.

What the hell do I care? Even as he thought that, his eyes zeroed back on her picture, on the full lips that teased the reader. An unexpected rush of blood raced south. His imagination drifted to Tess Banyon dressed in a kinky maid’s costume, with a container of whipped cream in one hand and handcuffs dangling from the fingers of her other, her luscious mouth moistened by—

He sighed in exasperation, drawing the attention of his editor as he walked through the newsroom on the way to his office.

Sam Melnick stopped, reluctantly it seemed to Josh. “Problem, Faraday?”

“Nope.” Josh turned the paper, flicking it so Sam could pay the proper attention to his grievance. “Nothing beyond the Domestic Goddess commandeering my space, jamming my column into this miniscule, bottom corner of the page.”