Another busy day! Β I hope you find something that tickles your fancy …
False StartΒ looks like a great choice – I’m ready to get my hands on a copy.
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False Start
An Assignment:
Romance Novel
Romance Novel
Barbara Valentin
Gemma Halliday Publishing
Contemporary Romantic Comedy,65,555k
Mattie Ross is probablyΒ the last person who should be doling out good counsel to anyone on anything.Β Still smarting after being left at the altar two years earlier, she is strappedΒ with debt, has sworn off men and, despite her well-proportioned figure, remainsΒ haunted by childhood taunts of “Fatty Mattie.” But to her publisherΒ at the Chicago Gazette and readers, she is their latest advice columnist, TheΒ Plate Spinner, a self-assured working parent to adorable fake children and is aΒ multi-tasking savant.
Enter Nick
Derosa, the twin brother of Mattie’s cold-footed fiancΓ© who is trying to getΒ back on his feet after his brother steals his identity and implicates him in anΒ illegal investment scheme. But thanks to Nick’s legendary running career, theΒ publisher of the Chicago Gazette proposes a wager: If Nick can train anΒ out-of-shape working parent to compete in the Chicago Marathon, he willΒ contribute enough to help Nick launch his own non-profit running club forΒ homeless kids.
Derosa, the twin brother of Mattie’s cold-footed fiancΓ© who is trying to getΒ back on his feet after his brother steals his identity and implicates him in anΒ illegal investment scheme. But thanks to Nick’s legendary running career, theΒ publisher of the Chicago Gazette proposes a wager: If Nick can train anΒ out-of-shape working parent to compete in the Chicago Marathon, he willΒ contribute enough to help Nick launch his own non-profit running club forΒ homeless kids.
SuddenlyΒ “Fatty” Mattie and Nick are thrust together as the most unlikely ofΒ pairs and under a deadline to put their trust issues aside and avoid anotherΒ false start in their lives.Β
Buy Links:Β Β AmazonΒ Β Β B&NΒ Β SmashwordsΒ Β iTunes
Excerpt:
Β Β Β Β Β Nick DeRosa. Why EddieΒ chose his estranged twin brother to be his best man over any of his esteemedΒ colleagues at his LaSalle Street investment firm, she had no idea. TheΒ awkwardness of their greeting the night before was matched only by itsΒ impropriety. Mistaking him for Eddie, Mattie had pulled his face down to hersΒ and, with all of the exuberance of a jubilant bride-to-be, planted a passionateΒ kiss on his surprised lips.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β ThatΒ he had the same chiseled Mediterranean features and wore his chestnut-coloredΒ locks in the same style as his brotherβs was hardly her fault.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β ThatΒ he kissed her back was his.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β HoursΒ later, as she was leaving the rehearsal dinner, Nick managed to confirm, if notΒ worsen, the bride-to-beβs opinion of him when she overheard him ask Eddie, βWhyΒ do you want to marry somebody like Mattie?β
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β SomebodyΒ like Mattie.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β TakenΒ out of context, that question could be twisted any number of malicious ways andΒ twist it Mattie did. But, given that she was less than a day away from becomingΒ Mrs. Eduardo DeRosa, co-owner of a custom-built Gold Coast penthouse and aΒ cherry red Ferrari, she simply added the insult to the already long list ofΒ offenses Nick had incurred against her over the years and filed it away forΒ future reference.
Author Bio:
Barb isΒ a freelance writer, over-scheduled parent, and connoisseur of fine chocolate. AΒ second-generation journalist, her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune andΒ its affiliates. The exploits of her five boys provided fodder for her column,Β The Plate Spinner Chronicles, a long-running feature in the Chicago Tribune,Β which snagged her a runner-up spot in an Erma Bombeck Humor Contest. A memberΒ of RWA’s Windy City chapter, she still dreams of the day when her to-do listΒ includes “Send NY Times book critic thank you note” and “AcceptΒ Godiva’s request to be a taste-tester.”
Contact links:
email:Β spinninginburbs@gmail.com
Facebook:Β https://www.facebook.com/Platespinner
Twitter:Β https://www.facebook.com/Platespinner
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Giveaway:
$10 Amazon GC and an eCopy of False Start


