Blog Tour Stop: Interview with Laura Chapman, author of Going for Two

Hello all my lovely book peeps!  I have the awesome opportunity to sit down with the amazingly talented Laura Chapman here on One Book at a time!  I have had the chance to read several of her books and I can't wait to read more!


Let me begin by saying hello Laura!  I am so happy to chat with you this lovely Tuesday afternoon!  I have always wondered what made you get started writing Chick Lit? Was there a specific book that grabbed your attention and made you think "I can do this!"?
Like a lot of my fellow chick lit enthusiasts, I discovered the genre via "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding. I read it over a sick day my junior year of high school and fell in love. I don't know if there was a specific moment when I decided I wanted to write chick lit. I always knew I wanted to be an author, and there are several genres I'd like to explore. But ultimately when I sit down to write a story it isn't really with the mind-set that "I'm going to write a chick lit." It's more about a set of characters and a story speaking to me. I write them in the way they need to be told. For the Queen of the League series, I could just hear Harper’s voice so well that I knew I had to write her in this format. (And, man, do I ever feel pretentious when I talk about hearing a character’s voice!) I dug into this topic in greater detail recently when I shared why I enjoy reading and writing chick lit on my friend Meredith Schorr’s blog. Basically it comes down to this: There is a lot of bad, scary stuff in the world, and sometimes it’s nice to spend some time focused on the good. You can read the post here (http://meredithschorr.com/2015/12/18/author-laura-chapman-on-why-she-reads-writes-and-needs-chick-lit/) if you’d like the long-winded version.

-----Well let me just add that you are an amazing writer and I look forward to more books from you in the future no matter what the genre may be!  

Where did you come up with the concept of writing about Fantasy Football? You go pretty in depth with it, have you played before?
I actually came up with the concept for this series after completing my first fantasy football draft in 2012. My then co-workers were starting a league, and having watched my brothers—who I was living with at the time—participate for several years, I figured I should give it the old college try. (At the very least, it seemed like a good way to make spending every Sunday watching football with them more interesting.) I've since had one or two teams every season since. While I'm by no means an expert—I still haven't won that coveted (and figurative) championship trophy—it has given me a good background for the story. My own fantasy football experience has been a lot less dramatic—and exciting—than Harper's. I've also sadly never been swept off my feet by a super dishy league-mate. I shared some of my best tips for drafting a solid fantasy football team here (http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/09/first-goal-by-laura-chapman-book.html) and  some of my biggest fantasy football fears here (http://asoutherngirlsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/11/guest-post-and-excerpt-first-and-goal.html).

-----Such a fun concept!  I will say I have never tried but it does seem like it would make watching football a little more exciting!

I love the pictures you have posted of your amazing writing space! Is this a full time job for you or do you have a "day job" so to speak?
Thanks! I had a lot of fun decorating my office, and it's very me. I do have a "day job." I am the communications coordinator at a museum. Basically I oversee all internal and external communications including, but not limited to, our social media channels, press releases, website content, media relations, etc. We’re a small enough staff that I also help hang exhibitions, give tours, and other odds and ends that come up during the course of the day. Before that I worked as a corporate journalist writing articles and taking photographs for industrial magazines and company websites. I’ve also worked for a few local newspapers. All of these experiences have been beneficial in some way. They’ve connected me with people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, and I’ve had many unique experiences, which is always welcome for a writer.

-----WOW!  You have had so many great experiences!  I LOVE you "day job", that would be the dream location for me! 

If the series was picked up by say Hallmark, what actors would you pick for the roles of Harper and the rest of the gang?My kingdom to write a movie or TV series for Hallmark! (I’m a big fan.) I’ve always imagined Garrett Hedlund—of the movie version of Friday Night Lights fame—playing Brook MacLaughlin. He’s about the right age and has the right look. I’m more flexible on the casting for Harper Duquaine. She needs to be some who can play uptight and let loose. I kind of see her as someone like Lyndsy Fonesca, but I’d love to see the open casting call for her. And because I’m a big fan of Friday Night Lights the TV show, I’d really love to bring Zach Gilford on board to portray Wade. And to make it a full FNL reunion, let’s at least bring Adrianne Palecki to read for the part of Amelia, Brook’s baby sister and Harper’s BFF. I struggle most with the casting for J.J. But because this is my book, and I can do whatever I want, I’m going to move heaven and earth to bring Oscar Isaac in for a screen test. And then maybe we can grab lunch after. With his Star Wars fame, he might not want to take the role, but I hope he’d at least consider it. But in all seriousness, if the series was ever picked up by anyone like Hallmark, I’d just be delighted to see a greater audience enjoying the story and would probably love whoever they cast.

-----I am a Hallmark mega fan!  I watch everything I can and my children pic on me for it! I would love for your series to be picked up by them, it's the perfect story line!

Lastly, When you aren't busy writing your next book, what do you like doing for fun?
So many things. Like Harper, I crochet—though I typically do that almost exclusively during the winter months. I just finished up a baby blanket for one of my friends, and I’m working on an afghan right now. Also like Harper, I am a football fan in real life. I try not to miss any of the Huskers or Packers games throughout the season. I like crafting—I recently made new pillows for my living room, word art for my hallway, and I have some canvas and fabric just waiting to be used. I like experimenting in the kitchen—particularly with baked goods, though I often yield mixed results. I’m a lifelong reader. Right now, in preparation for my 30th birthday this summer, I’m re-reading my 30 all-time favorite books, which has been a lot of fun so far. I am also in a deeply committed relationship with my Netflix and Hulu accounts, and love binge-watching TV shows and movies on my couch, cuddled up with my cats, Jane and Bingley.

Thanks so much for having me as a guest today. And thank you for following along Harper’s adventures in the Queen of the League series!

THANK YOU for joining myself and your many fans today!  It's been so much fun chatting with you and getting to know the back story with this fun fantasy football series!

HAVE A GREAT DAY BOOK FRIENDS AND I WILL CHAT WITH YOU SOON!

Bethany XX









 



 

Review - Going for Two by Laura Chapman

SUMMARY
Harper Duquaine is back for another season of fantasy football! This time she’s a year wiser and prepared to dominate the league. But while she finally seems to have her fantasy life in order, reality proves more challenging.

Her plans to peacefully play house with her boyfriend come to a halt when the high school suddenly names Brook its head football coach. The promotion comes with more responsibility on the field and less time at home. It also unexpectedly means more work for Harper, who already has her hands full helping a friend pull off the perfect proposal (while dodging questions about when she and Brook are going to get hitched already). Plus, a new development at work could leave her—and half of the fantasy league—jobless.

With the complications of her career and being “Mrs. Coach” adding up, Harper wonders if she’s committed to the life she’s already building or if there is something else out there.

MY REVIEW
What a fun sequel to First & Goal! (Pictured Below)

Harper is back for another season of Fantasy Football and she is ready to go all the way!  She is researching each player, and is determined to get the team of her football dreams! She has picked the team of the season (in her mind) but her relationship with Brook isn't quite what dreams are made of these days!

When an unexpected health issue plagues the head coach, Brooks steps up and takes on the responsibility.  Harper doesn't know what it entails to be a coaches girlfriend, all the practices, the late night video reviews, the weekends full of meetings and the fundraising and networking involved as well!

Harper is doing great with her second business, and she is even finding time to help with Brook's sisters proposal (which almost gets her in trouble when it looks like she and the future groom are cheating with each other!  Oy!).

And if life wasn't crazy enough, Brook signs her up to run the craft fair this year, chaperone trips and bake dozens of cookies for the boosters spaghetti dinner...Oh the life of a coach's girlfriend!

But with all this free time alone, Harper is starting to wonder if she will ever be #1 in Brook's life or has she taken a backseat to football?

Grab a bottle of wine and watch the craziness unfold and see if Harper and Brook have what it takes to make it past football season let alone stand the test of time!

WINE SELECTION
Grab a glass (or several) of yummy Sangria.

MY RATING
I would give this crazy fantasy football sequel 5 wine glasses for sure!  It's worth every drop!

Blog Tour Stop - Excerpt from The Juggling Act by Carol Maloney Scott

EXCERPT

“Claire…are you drooling on the window?”

I jump. “No, of course not. I was just looking out the…holy shit, we’re in the air?” I stare into Justin’s emerald eyes, with the whites as clear as Aidan’s at this ungodly hour. “I didn’t sleep through takeoff!”

“Well, actually you did. I fastened your seat belt and put your phone away, and stowed your tray to the upright and locked position. At one point your head smacked against the window a bit and I reached over with this pillow—”

“Would you like a beverage?” I now notice that the flight attendant has been waiting for me to give my drink order during this exchange.

“I’m sorry, yes, can I have some orange juice, please?” I hate orange juice, but I hate coffee more.

“Hmm…are you sure you don’t need a jolt?” Justin tries to pinch my arm and I flinch, almost knocking over the juice I’ve just been handed. The unamused server suppresses a sigh as she rolls her cart onto the next valued guest. I guess Justin’s hotness only goes so far with a woman who’s expected to be perky at work in the wee hours. I get it…I hide in my office until ten, if I can.

I glare at my traveling partner and he begins rifling through the magazines in front of him. “Did the baby keep you up last night? Wait, I know. You had to give your husband a proper goodbye and that took most of the night.” He smiles and chuckles to himself as he browses through overpriced gadgets that don’t look real.

“Yep, that’s it. So if you will excuse me, I am going to take a small nap. Please wake me if I sleep through landing as well.”

I recline my seat the extra centimeter and close my eyes.

I wish Brandon and I were having wild sex all night to say goodbye. Instead we have been arguing for the past two weeks about babies, adoption, birth mothers, trash cans, nannies, neighbors, music, business trips and a book designed to make me look like an uncaring shrew.

I don’t even know where to begin to solve all of these problems. He said he was sorry for not discussing the e-mail from Chastity, but she did copy both of us. I suppose technically it was my own fault for not opening it, but it was clearly his sole decision to set up a meeting with her before consulting me. He said he would cancel if I was opposed, but he knows damn well that I can’t legally oppose it.

And he’s right that I don’t want to be there, but I also don’t want my son getting to know his birth mother behind my back. Brandon knows how I fear losing Aidan to her, even though that is unrealistic, given her circumstances as a young, single woman struggling to make it. Unless she has found a man and he is encouraging her to…I cut off that train of thought before I need the vomit bag.

I do have a tendency to get worked up over nothing, but on top of Brandon hiding Chastity’s visit, he has been writing a book fictionalizing our lives for the past few months and hasn’t told me. My company is going to publish it, and I didn’t even know about the topic. I recognize that I can be difficult to approach with sensitive matters, but he can’t hide his head in the fucking sand and avoid every issue.

He is younger than me, but eight years is not such a great difference. He is thirty years old, not eighteen. He knows better.

And as if all of that wasn’t enough to fight about, we have a nanny who behaves very inappropriately around my husband when I’m there. Obviously it is worse when I’m at work, and now I will be away all week.

We also have a neighbor with a painfully apparent desire to jump his bones, and he just acts like it’s all fine and I’m overreacting.

Last night was the worst clash of wills when he started in on my trip with Justin. This is a business trip. The person who provides our health insurance and stable income was told that this is a required activity. Does he really think I like leaving Aidan for a whole work week, particularly with our marriage in shambles? I didn’t choose Justin to accompany me on the venture, either. 

Sleep is alluding me, so I decide to open my eyes and see what Justin’s doing. He has headphones in and his eyes are shut. He has those impossibly long eyelashes that so many men are blessed with and don’t deserve.

I almost tap him on the shoulder, but decide to leave him alone. We have all week to talk, and I need to pace myself for a bumpy ride.

And I am not referring to airplane turbulence.

AUTHOR BIO

Carol Maloney Scott, author of the Rom-Com on the Edge series, is a frazzled new bride and wiener dog fanatic. She is a lover of donuts, and a hater of mornings. Recently unearthing a childhood passion for writing, she can once again be seen carrying around a notebook and staring into space. Her stories are witty, fresh and real, just like life.

BLOG TOUR STOPS 

January 18 – CheryllynnWrites – Excerpt

January 19 – Aroundthe World in Books – Excerpt

January 20 – Changethe Word – Interview

January 21 – MyPretty Little Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

January 21 – BookLover in Florida – Review & Excerpt

January 25 – Chick Lit Plus – Review

January 26 – Living Life With Joy – Excerpt

January 27 – The East Village – Review

January 28 – Granny Loves to Read – Review

January 28 – One Book At a Time- Review & Excerpt

January 29 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt 

LINK TO BUY
Amazon

Review: The Juggling Act by Carol Maloney Scott

SUMMARY

Now that her dating days are finally behind her, Claire is enjoying a blissful life with her new husband and baby boy. Gone are the drunken nights in impractical shoes, and Internet dates with men who lose their hair…and their pants. 

Unfortunately, she’s discovering that life as a married, working mom isn’t turning out to be the perfect happily ever after she dreamed about. She adores her little boy, but her husband’s behavior is about to make him eligible for the Most Disappointing Spouse of the Year Award. 

His unwillingness to help around the house and his slacker work ethic are frustrating enough, but the constant parade of beautiful, single women in his life has Claire in a constant state of distress. Didn’t she realize that the cute front man of a popular cover band would attract hot, young women with perfect cellulite-free legs? And whose idea was it to hire the curvy nanny with the sexy accent? 

When an unexpected business trip pops up – with a super-hot, much-too-young former love interest, Claire’s own loyalty is put to the test. A publishing conference in Key West may be the ideal escape from her troubles, but will she be tempted by the forbidden in a town full of swingers and breakfast alcohol consumption? And why does everyone they meet think the business colleagues are on their honeymoon? 

Scrambling to cover up innocent, but suspicious circumstances, the couple struggles with honesty, loyalty and what to share with each other. As they sink deeper into their marital gloom, will they find their way back to wedded bliss, or finally succumb to the enticement of new…and uncomplicated romance? 

MY REVIEW 

WOW, where do I begin?  At the beginning I really thought I needed a notebook to understand all the different directions this book was going in.  The characters are so in depth and so vivid - you will feel like you know each and every one to the depths of their beings.

Claire seems to have everything that she could ever want.  The handsome, young, talented husband, the perfect son and (many) cute little doggy children.

But marital bliss isn't quite what it's cracked up to be.  Brandon seems to be at odds with her and they seem to be mad at each other more than happy these days.

Claire works out of the home full-time for a publishing company while Brandon stays home with their son, writes a book and is the front man in a local band.  (I personally got the feeling that he was somewhat of a freeloader most of the day - sleeping in, has a nanny to take care of his son and seems to be flirting more than working.)

The the next piece in the ticking time bomb that is their life - Claire is going on a work trip - with her ex-boyfriend,  Oh boy, this is so not going to end well is it?

Justin is hot, younger than Brandon, kid free and in the same industry that Claire is and clearly in love with her (or at least was), what does Brandon really have to worry about?  (Yea, right)

Don't get me started on the tenant across the street (always wanting to get in Brandon's pants) or the nanny from your worst nightmares? (why would they hire her in the first place?)

The story will have you wondering what will happen next - from hot tub nights in paradise, to karaoke singing, neighbors always dropping by and half-naked nannies, you will not know what hits you until your saying, did that REALLY happen?  

Will Claire cheat with her ex-boyfriend?  Will Brandon cheat with the girl across the street or heck the one working in his own house?  Will their marriage stand the test of time or go down like Ben and Jennifer?

Grab a bottle of wine or two (you'll need it) and sit back and take it all in!

WINE SELECTION

I would match this crazy love story with a deep red wine, Toublemaker Red Wine to be specific!

MY RATING

I would rate this crazy whirlwind of a story 4 wine glasses - it had me wondering what in the world would happen next and hating some of the characters along the way!  

Guest Post: LAURA MCNEILL, author of CENTER OF GRAVITY

 

How Important are Amazon Reviews to an Author?

Think back to the last amazing book you read. If you’re like me, being inexplicably drawn into a fantastic story often means the rest of the world comes to a screeching halt until you get to that last page.

You can’t help but care deeply about the characters, you fret about the heroine’s plight, and have a burning urgency to find out what happens next, and next, and next. I’ve been known to skip dinner, stay up half the night, and arrive, bleary-eyed, but happy, book finished, at work the next morning.

My first thought is always to tell my best friends about the amazing novel I just read. I am so fortunate to have a circle of girlfriends, all voracious readers, who share the same enthusiasm for books. It is, most often, from their recommendations, how I decide what’s next in my reading queue.

That said, if it’s a new writer that’s been suggested, or someone I’m unfamiliar with, I often jump on Amazon to scan the novel’s summary, check out the cover, read the author bio, and yes, peruse the reviews—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Certainly, it’s great to see a novel with hundreds of five star reviews (especially if you’re the author) but readers can be a tough audience with high expectations, and not every single book is going to capture the hearts and minds of everyone in the world.

In fact, I prefer to see a smattering of three-star, and even an occasional 2-star review, mixed in with the four and five-star write-ups. That’s balance. That’s life. And it’s reality.

In my opinion, an honest, well-thought out review, short or long, is truly gold to an author. I think that marketer and writer Noah Kagan says it best in this blog post:

“Amazon reviews are most important to your book’s success, arguably more than anything else. As long as your reviews keep going up, your product is being validated.”

Validation, by the way, does not equal perfection. A review means the reader cared enough about the book, or felt strongly enough about the content, to share his or her thoughts.

So are Amazon reviews important? You’d better believe it.

Reviews give potential readers a glimpse inside each book—insight that a publisher’s summary or professionally written blurb can’t offer.

For example, did a book strike an emotional chord too close for the reader’s comfort level? Was the writing lovely, but the reader didn’t quite jive with the genre? Could the book have been shorter? Longer? Did the reader want more dialogue, or greater character depth? Or, if the book was close to perfect, why?

That sort of feedback, those thoughts and ideas, are gold. A smart author will read, weigh, and consider reader reactions to grow and develop his or her craft.

After all, our job, as writers, is to entertain, thrill, delight, and evoke emotion. It is also to transport, inform, and pose tough questions that linger long after the last page is read. It’s our job to leave readers wanting more. And to me, there is no higher calling.

So, readers, let your voice be heard. We’re listening!

Never written an Amazon review? It’s easy, I promise! Here’s how to do it in 3 Easy Steps!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura McNeill is the author of Center of Gravity.  When she is not running, reading or drinking coffee - she is hard at work on her next book.  Look for SISTER DEAR on 4/19/16.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Website

Twitter

Facebook

I would like to thank for stopping by One Book at a time today, please stop back anytime!  

Bethany XX

 

Friday Reads - FOR FREE

Hello Everyone!!!  I have another exciting edition of Friday Finds!  I hope you have a great weekend and take advantage of these great deals!  xx (Free at time of publication)

SUMMARY
Alyce flew 4,000 miles to learn French, sophistication, and inspire jealousy in her ex-boyfriend. Enter the très different, exasperating Jean-Luc.

Fleeing to a total-immersion language school in the idyllic South of France, Alyce puts love and her failed career on hold to do an extreme makeover on herself. While she struggles to learn French and attain some degree of chic, she attracts the attention of several locals, with disastrous results. Tension escalates to a new level when she’s forced to stay at the guest cottage of the enigmatic author Jean-Luc. She finds herself strangely attracted to him, though he seems to despise her and they communicate mostly through bickering. Soon, Alyce must choose between what she thought she wanted and something totally different. Set against the alluring background of the Mediterranean with recipes inspired by Provence, Opposites Attack is a fast-paced romantic comedy with a French twist.


Link To Download:
Amazon

SUMMARY
Claire Kennedy, aka internet sensation NiceGirl, is the anonymous author of a steamy sex blog. She's an expert at writing about sex, but little do her fans know that bookish Claire isn't quite as experienced in the bedroom as her online persona. But everyone makes stuff up on the internet, right?

Except that NiceGirl attracts the attention of London publisher Mark Bell. Handsome, charming and successful, Mark is offering Claire the life she's always dreamed of - a steady relationship, the literary world of London and a hot book deal.

But when Claire enlists the help of brooding artist Luca to brush up on her sex skills before she's discovered for a fraud, things begin to get complicated...

Great sex, friendship AND love - can't a girl have it all?

Link To Download:
Amazon

SUMMARY
Four jackets of varying weights, enough socks for the entire Confederate Army, three umbrellas, most of the antacid aisle from the local pharmacy, and six pairs of old people sneakers that all look exactly the same.

Have you ever helped your parents pack for a weeklong cruise?

No? I didn't think so. So shut it.

So begins vacation for Summer Hartwell - twenty-six years old, living with her anxiety-ridden parents, and unwillingly booked by her brother on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Despite the nightmare of being trapped aboard a cruise ship with Mom and Dad, Summer sees a rare opportunity to fulfill The Prophecy – her mother’s declaration that she will live at home until she gets married. With two thousand passengers onboard, at least one of them must be husband material, right?

The only problem is Graham Blenderman – her brother’s best friend who is joining them for the week, in all of his tall, blonde, extroverted glory. Graham doesn’t believe Summer needs a husband in order to break free from her parents. He thinks she just needs a little bit of nerve. And to Summer’s introverted horror, he’s willing to spend the entire week proving that he’s right. 

Link To Download:
Amazon

SUMMARY
[Book 1 in the "Year of the Chick" series. There's a bit of a cliffhanger to end this book, but the sequel addresses any unanswered questions]

An awkward family homecoming at Christmas.

A humiliating public weigh-in, with two judging parents as the audience.

The announcement of a deadline for arranged marriage doom.

And that's just the first two chapters.

In "Year of the Chick," Romi Narindra must find love before her parents find her a husband (a seemingly absurd concept that's the norm in many cultures).

To escape her fate, Romi wades through the waters of secret-dating, where self-consciousness is at an all-time high, and experience at an all-time low. It's the sort of thing that would turn almost anyone into a man-crazy freak with romance tunnel-vision, and that's exactly what happens to her. All the while, a lack of inspiration in her corporate job leads Romi to her love of writing, in what quickly becomes a man-quest play-by-play.

From whiskey-breath scum bags to uni-brow creeps and everything in between, Romi and her wingmen come up empty time after time.

And that's when she meets a fellow writer. On the Internet.

So will it be arranged marriage doom, or an Internet affair that's not as creepy as "To Catch a Predator"? Time will tell in the "year of the chick," a twelve-month quest to find love.

Tick-tock. 

Link To Download:
Amazon

SUMMARY
A night of magic turns into a night of murder.

It's Halloween night and the normally unhappy co-workers of the Straker Toy Company are eagerly looking forward to the celebration of their tyrannical boss' fiftieth birthday. None more so than Grace Holliday. After all, it's not every day she gets invited to the annual costumed bash at the Dragon's Lair, the premier magic theater in Manhattan.

What promises as a night of magic and mystery, quickly turns into a night of mayhem and murder when the boss' equally tyrannical wife dies on stage.

According to the police, it was an obvious suicide. Now it's up to Grace to discover which one of her co-workers pulled off the trick of the year before she becomes the killer's next victim.

Link To Download:
Amazon

Have a great weekend ya'll and read away! 

Bethany XX

BLOG TOUR STOP: Excerpt from Peri in Progress by Cat

SUMMARY
You know what they say about best-laid plans... After a disastrous thirty-first birthday party where she gets stood-up by a man she isn't supposed to be dating, Peri McKenna decides it's time to change what hasn't been working-which is pretty much everything. Her love life is going nowhere fast, she's bored to tears by a job that makes her the office pariah, and the lifelong junk food addiction that used to be somewhat quirky is now positively problematic. To top it all off, her newly-purchased home is falling apart and wishful thinking hasn't done much to fix the leaky roof. It's time be an adult now that she's officially 'thirty-something.' But when the first step of Peri's self-improvement plan backfires, she starts to wonder if change might be overrated. Enter Milo Preston, an up-and-coming chef who's in town to take over a local restaurant. When Peri and Milo begin working together, she finds it hard to ignore his easy charm and captivating emerald-green eyes. Since Milo is her best friend's estranged brother, Peri has to keep reminding herself that he is completely off-limits. As they grow closer, Milo introduces Peri to new foods, the joy (and pain) of jogging, and makes her think her luck might finally be turning. But when the past catches up with them, Peri finds herself back at square one. Will she be able to sort herself out-or will the roof cave in on her once and for all? 

EXCERPT 

By the time the Messina Grill closed its door at eleven, I was ready to keel over. My feet and back were sore and my head was buzzing with all the information Harriet had given me. I’d made a ton of mistakes and messed up orders, but she still wanted me to come back the following day. Part of me hoped she’d fire me after the end of my shift. Being a waitress was hard and I had a newfound respect for every waiter and waitress who’d ever served me food. But working at the Grill was doing what it was meant to do—it distracted me and I hadn’t thought about Declan or Frost Financial the entire time I was there.

“Heading home?” Milo asked, coming out of the kitchen. He pulled out a chair and started putting on bright red sneakers.

I nodded. “Harriet says I need to learn the menu by tomorrow.” I waved the folded up paper in the air. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to tell the difference between grilled swordfish and tilapia or distinguish between couscous and quinoa.

“I can help you study while we make our way back home,” Milo said. “I pretty much know that thing by heart. What do you say, neighbor?”

“I don’t know. I think I need to keep my eyes on the road. My luck has been a bit iffy lately and the last thing I need is a car accident.”

Milo finished putting on his sneakers and jumped to his feet. “Oh. I ran here, so I figured you might like to join me.”

“You ran?” I asked. The Grill wasn’t too far from his mother’s house, but I couldn’t imagine why Milo would have to run to work. “Did your car break down or something? You could have asked me. I would have driven you.”

He shook his head and smiled. “Thanks. But I don’t own a car. I like running. It helps me clear my head.”

And, as evidenced by his muscles, it helped him stay in shape as well. I guess you have to when you make cream sauces on a daily basis. “What do you do when it’s raining? Or if you don’t feel like it?”

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “I just do it. Sometimes I have to kick myself in the butt, but once my feet start pounding the pavement and the blood starts rushing through my veins, it’s the best feeling in the world.” Wow. I didn’t think anyone could ever make running sound sexy—but Milo had done just that. “Oh, and I wear a jacket if it’s raining. There’s a shower at the back of the break room if you’re wondering how I keep from being sweaty and stinky. Did Harriet show you?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“It’s tiny and the hot water is completely optional—on most days you’re lucky if you get a few drops of warm water—but it does the trick. Although sometimes I feel like skipping the shower and letting Gary enjoy my runner’s aroma.” He winked and flung his backpack over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”

“Umm. Car,” I stammered, pointing to the door that led to the parking lot.

“Right,” he said, heading toward the exit. “I almost forgot. I’ll see you tomorrow, Peri McKenna. You better know my menu by heart or I might just have to hide your keys and make you run with me.”

“Have fun trying,” I called out. There was no way I was going to run. Ever. But even though I wasn’t the one jogging into the dark night, I felt a bit breathless and my heart started to race as I watched Milo leave. I waved good-bye to Sam, grabbed my keys, and got into my car.

Get it together, Peri. You need to focus on learning the menu, not the man cooking the food. And stop picturing Milo cooling off in the shower after his morning run.

TOUR STOPS

January 4 – Chick Lit Plus - Review

January 6 – Cherllynn Writes – Excerpt

January 8 – The Book Chick – Review & Q&A

January 12 – Chick Lit Goddess – Q&A & Excerpt

January 14 – Books Etc – Review & Q&A

January 14 – Living Life With Joy – Q&A & Excerpt

January 15 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Q&A & Excerpt

January 15 – One Book At A Time- Excerpt

January 18 – Around the World In Books – Excerpt 

ABOUT CAT 

Cat Lavoie lives in Montreal, Canada with her tempestuous cat, Abbie. She is the author of BREAKING THE RULES, ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZEN, and PERI IN PROGRESS. 
If Cat isn't reading or writing, she's most likely watching too much TV or daydreaming about her next trip to London. 
To find out more about Cat and her books, please visit www.CatLavoie.com and follow @Catenabi on Twitter.

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