THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING SWAP
by Allyson
Charles
GENRE: Small
Town Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
Allison Stuart has
always been the odd-woman-out of her family. She wears her jeans a little too
tight, colors her hair a little too blonde, and instead of going into medicine
and law like her sisters, she runs a diner. She’s also the only single sibling
left. And while she won’t change her style, and her meatloaf is to die for,
thank you very much, she wouldn’t mind her share of wedded bliss. So she makes
an early New Year’s resolution: No more meaningless flings.
Drop-dead sexy Luke
Hamilton is everything Allison has sworn off. His only serious relationship has
been with his five-star restaurant, Le Cygne Noir, in Chicago. When he’s
threatened by a lawsuit, Luke decides to hide out in Pineville, Michigan, until
the statute of limitations runs out. The small town is filled with Christmas
charm, but he can’t imagine living there. Heating things up with the hottie who
owns the local diner would make his exile bearable—if he can convince her to
give up her ridiculous resolution . . .
Excerpt:
“Is this restaurant a step down for
you?” Allison asked sweetly. She twirled the tip of the cleaver in a circle.
“Is my kitchen not up to your usual standards?”
Luke appeared to have more balls
than brains. He stood firm. “A kitchen can always be improved. Yours is no
exception.”
He was giving her an ulcer.
Allison’s stomach grumbled in complaint, and she knew just how it felt. There
were some things that just weren’t done, and criticizing your boss’s kitchen
was one of them. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to piss off a woman holding
an eight-inch blade?”
“That’s a solid piece of advice,”
Delilah said in agreement.
Luke threw his hands in the air.
“Fine. I think you’re making a mistake, but it’s your restaurant.”
“I’m glad you remember that,”
Allison said.
Luke’s lips twitched, and he rocked
back onto his heels. “I’d heard your nickname was the Tyrant, but I couldn’t
see it till now.”
Allison spluttered.
“I mean it as a compliment,” Luke
said. “You don’t let anyone push you around. There’s absolutely nothing wrong
with that.”
Luke traced a finger along the slick
metal surface of the counter, his eyes hot, and Allison felt it as though his
finger danced along her spine. She could see in his expression that he meant
it. He did find her take-charge attitude a turn-on. And damn if that didn’t
make her go a little weak in the knees. Still, she couldn’t let that claim go
unchallenged.
“My name is n—”
“No?” Delilah jumped in.
Luke chuckled.
Allison’s jaw grew stiff. If she
could incinerate people with the heat of her glare, her restaurant would be
down two cooks. They’d be nothing but little piles of dust. “Not no. And not
Tyrant. My employees love me.”
Peals of laughter rang through the
kitchen.
Allison wagged the knife in the air.
“Delilah, that advice about being nice to the woman holding a knife? It goes
for you, too.” Spinning, she hammered the cleaver into her cutting board, the
blade plunging a quarter inch into the wood. She stepped back, and the cleaver
stood upright, quivering in its new slot. With a pointed look at her cooks, she
stormed to her office.
The hoots of amusement behind her
back rather diminished the effect of her exit.
AUTHOR Bio
and Links:
Allyson
Charles lives in Northern California. She’s the author of the "Pineville
Romance" series, small-town, contemporary romances published by Lyrical
Press. A former attorney, she happily ditched those suits and now works in her
pajamas writing about men’s briefs instead of legal briefs. When she’s not
writing, she’s probably engaged in one of her favorite hobbies: napping,
eating, or martial arts (That last one almost makes up for the first two,
right?). One of Allyson’s greatest disappointments is living in a state that
doesn’t have any Cracker Barrels in it.
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2 comments:
Thanks for hosting. I really appreciate it!
Allyson
This book sounds adorable! I can't wait to read it!
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