A Model Engagement
by Charlotte
O'Shay
GENRE: Contemporary
Romance
BLURB:
Lacey Reed jumps at the chance for independence with a career in
the big city. But her naivety and ambition blind her to the lure of a blackmailer.
With her savings gone, she has nowhere to turn when she literally runs into
financier Connor Devlin.
Though dazzled by Lace y, Connor sees the desperation she tries
to hide. His gut tells him to help, and he hires her as his fake fiancée. Now
Lacey has a job, and Connor has put a bandage on a family crisis.
When the blackmailer ups the ante, Lacey resolves to face him
down—no matter what the consequences. Does that mean Lacey will lose the only
man who’s ever seen who she truly is?
Excerpt:
Lacey
took twenty minutes to decide which pasta she wanted to eat. Then they both
devoured their entrees in about five silent minutes.
“I
love a girl who enjoys her food.” Connor mopped up some of his spaghetti sauce
with a chunk of the right-off-the-grill Italian bread.
“I
did scarf that down fast.” She shrugged, not in the least embarrassed. Then she
waved her wine at him. “Hey, save some of that bread for me.”
She
grabbed a piece from the basket between them and ripped it into small pieces
before popping each of them into her mouth with abandon.
The
restaurant occupied the first floor of a charming old world 1880’s brownstone.
Mellow piped in mandolin music was just the right volume to cover but not
overwhelm private conversation. Much later festive live music and dancing in a
small open space on the burnished old pine floor would usher in the New Year.
But
Connor didn’t know how long Lacey would want to stay. He had to be content with
this moment.
He’d
chosen this secluded corner table with care. Lacey hadn’t been recognized and
right now the night was a win. Was his luck beginning to turn? Was she starting
to relax with him a little? He wanted—damn he wanted so much but he wouldn’t
rush her.
Don’t
screw this up, Devlin.
“Okay
so what’s your pleasure for dessert? Tiramisu? Tartufo? Cannoli?”
He
watched as she poked her tongue out and perused the menu. In that silver dress
she looked like the angel on top of his Christmas tree. And right now she might
as well be perched that high and far away.
Because
she had to be the one to decide to resume their sexual relationship—or not. And
yeah, the waiting sucked.
“You
may’ve noticed I’m wearing this tunic dress.” She gave a little shimmy in her
chair and the loose fabric glittered and sparkled. “It was skillfully chosen,”
she waved a hand, “because as you can see,” she shimmied again, “there’s no
waistline. I can have two desserts if I feel like it.” She tilted her head and
winked.
“Didn’t
you wear that on Thanksgiving?”
“Very
observant, Mr. Devlin. Give this man another drink.”
Lacey
in teasing mode was something he hadn’t yet experienced. And he liked it. Oh
man, he liked it a lot. And he had another reason to despise Bixby seeing how
much of her vibrant personality was hijacked by her dealings with that asshole.
Now
he could see how constrained she must have felt, how her obvious natural
buoyancy was squashed as the victim of a predator and a blackmailer. If he ever
came face to face with that piece of crap...he shut that thought down. Because
tonight he had everything he wanted right in front of him and he wasn’t wasting
a second thinking about anybody but Lacey.
Lacey
was in a teasing mood and it was New Year’s Eve.
Thank
you, God.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
NYC
girl Charlotte O'Shay was born into a big family and married into another big
family.
The drama! The
noise! The inspiration!
Negotiating skills
honed at the dinner table led her to a career in the law. After four beautiful
children joined the crowded family tree, Charlotte gladly traded her legal
career to write about happily ever afters set in and around NYC.
When Charlotte isn't
reading or writing steamy contemporaries featuring heroines in crisis and
swoony heroes, she's on the hunt for that perfect pair of sunglasses. She loves
to hear from readers.
The City of Dreams
series are all standalone books linked by the wedding that takes place in The
Marriage Ultimatum.
Book 1, The Marriage
Ultimatum ~ Sabrina & Vlad
Book 2, A Model
Engagement ~ Lacey & Connor
Book 3, An Illicit
Affair ~ Honey & Jake
Buy
links for A Model Engagement
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better
your chances of winning.
26 comments:
Thank you for hosting me.
A question for your readers: A Model Engagement is a fake fiancée story. What's your favorite romance trope? Friends to lovers? Employee/Boss? Enemies to Lovers? Marriage of Convenience? Secret Baby? Or something else?
congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
Congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win.
Thanks for sharing the excerpt, sounds like a great book!
I liked the excerpt, thank you.
Thanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt. :)
What is your favorite book of all time? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
This sounds like my kind of read.
I really enjoyed reading the entire post, thank you!
Sounds Great.
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