Despite a
wonderful family, a career she loves, and great friends, a void has existed in
Lauren McDonald's life ever since her best friend Callie married billionaire
Dylan Talbot. Although they have remained close, Lauren and Callie now lead
very different lives, that is until Lauren meets wealthy CEO Kevin Walsh.
Lauren believes he could be the man who will help make her life whole again. That is until the night Nathaniel Callahan,
her high school sweetheart and the one man she has always loved, shows up.
Although Nate
ended things with Lauren before heading off to The Naval Academy and his life
with the Marines, he never stopped loving her. Now 15 years later he is back to
correct the mistake he made all those years ago.
With Nate back
in town, Lauren must decide between the man who promises her the world and the
man who has the power to crush her heart again.
Some short
Teasers:
1) The one man
she never stopped loving is back in town.
Now Lauren McDonald must decide between the man who promises her the
world and the man who has the power to crush her heart again.
2) Lauren
McDonald never stopped loving Nathaniel Callahan even though when he left it
nearly destroyed her. Now with him back
in town, she must choose between playing it safe or risking her heart again.
3) After
graduation Nate Callahan left Lauren McDonald behind when he entered The Naval
Academy and his life with the Marines. Now fifteen years later he's returned
with one goal, to win back the woman he never stopped loving and failure is not
an option.
EXCERPT:
All
messages between her brain and muscles stopped. For that brief moment she could
only relish the feel of his firm lips once again against hers after all this
time. Then the paralysis wore off, and she placed both hands on his chest and
shoved him hard. "That didn't happen."
Nate
folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, Lauren it did."
Her
eyes traveled down his face to his arms where his biceps strained against his
shirtsleeves. Back in high school he’d been fit and muscular, but the years
since then had taken his unrefined body and sculpted it to perfection.
Don't
get distracted. "I'm seeing Kevin."
He
took a step closer. Despite the warning bells in her head, a flash of heat and
excitement burst through her body.
"Simple.
Stop seeing him."
Nate's
rich timber voice washed over her, triggering both desire and annoyance at the
same time. Lauren latched onto the annoyance. "Kevin makes me happy."
It's not a lie. He may not set her on fire, but they had fun together, and she
felt safe with him. "Just because you're back changes nothing. I have a
life, Nate. I didn't just sit around while you did your part saving the
world."
Nate
unfolded his arms then reached for her hand. "Lauren, give me a chance to
explain. I—"
Rough
calluses rubbed against her hand, a reminder of the different lives they had
led since high school. "Nate, I'm glad you're home safe, but our
relationship ended a long time ago. Maybe we can be friends again. That's it,
though." Her last sentence came out almost as a whisper. If he'd come back
into her life years ago, maybe her response would've been different. Now,
though, too much time had passed.
Nate's
jaw clenched, the only outward sign he felt anything. No big surprise there.
Even as children he had been great at hiding his emotions. "I need some
air.”
He
disappeared out the front door onto the porch without his jacket. Ah, the
wonderful Nathaniel Callahan avoidance. How many times had she seen that over
the years? Oh well, at least it brought an end to their conversation.
INTERVIEW:
-
Where did you get the
idea for the novel?
I knew after I completed book 1 in
my series that at some point I wanted Lauren, who appeared in that book, to
have her own story. Since her best
friend in book 1 married a billionaire, I wanted to make Lauren’s book
partially about making a decision.
Should she follow her heart and give her high school sweetheart another
chance or marry for money and find herself living a life much like her best
friend’s.
2.
Your title. Who came up with it? Did you ever change your title?
For this book as well as the second and
third in the series, I let the readers help me pick a title. I came up with four or five possible titles
and then I set up a survey and asked my readers to vote on which title they
liked the best. The title The
Billionaire’s Best Friend won, although to be honest it was not the title I
liked the best.
3. Why did you pick this
genre? What do you like about it?
I
picked this genre for a couple of reasons, the first being because I enjoy
reading contemporary romance. I also
picked this genre because as much as I love historical romance, I know that at
this point in my life I do not have the time needed to properly conduct
research. I believe that once all my
children are in school full time I will be able to do research and hopefully
write a historical. I also enjoy writing
about people I can imagine being friends with.
I think a lot of people, including myself, like to read about people
they can connect with.
4. Since becoming a
writer, what’s the most exciting thing to ever happen to you?
Since becoming a writer I think the most
exciting thing to happen to me is when a reader asked to meet me. It has actually happened twice now, and it
was exciting to meet people who enjoyed my books so much.
5. What book are you
currently reading or what was the last book you read?
Currently, I am reading Honor’s
Splendor by Julie Garwood. I have read
the book many times. When I picked it up this time I wanted something I knew from
the start that I would enjoy because the previous two books I read were by
authors that were new to me, and I did not enjoy either of them.
-
What is your writing
process?
Before
I start writing a new book, I do a character outline. This outline includes such things as their
physical characteristics, their family background, and their
personalities. Then I just start to
write. I do not do long outlines for my
books.
7. At a book signing, do you just sign your name or do you
write a note? How do you come up with stuff to say?
I
have never done a book signing.
8. What is something people would be surprised to know about
you?
People
may be surprised to know that I am a certified scuba diver and have been rock
climbing in the White Mountains.
9. How do you react to a bad review?
When I get bad reviews, I tend to get down. Often I have trouble writing anything that
day.
10. How did you celebrate the sale of your first
book?
Honestly, I did not do anything special that day. I knew it was only the beginning.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
I wrote my first story with
characters similar to those in the Sweet Valley Twins books at the age of 10 on
my grandmother's manual typewriter. As I got older my stories and characters
became more mature. During my freshman year at UMass Dartmouth, I read my first
romance novel and fell in love with the genre. I have been writing contemporary
romance ever since.
Today I live with my
husband, three beautiful daughters and two dogs in Massachusetts. Whenever I
have a free moment you'll find me either reading a romance novel or working on
my most current story.
Author Links:
Twitter: @cgricci
Buy Links:
http://bit.ly/1dBP4i2 (BN)
http://bit.ly/16u7OAy KOBO)
http://bit.ly/14xrBMh
(Smashwords)
http://bit.ly/18mMwCZ ITunes
GIVEAWAY:
Encourage your readers to follow the tour and comment; the more
they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found
here:
Thanks for hosting! Readers, don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance at a $25 Amazon/BC Gift Card!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really fascinating story line. I guess I will have to read it to find out who she chooses.
ReplyDeleteIf you do, I hope you enjoy them.
DeleteOooh I can see I would have some moments ftrue anger treading this book! Great review and excerpt. Thanks forvthe giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by
DeleteI enjoyed reading your interview. I am a big fan of historical romances and read them almost exclusively. You mentioned you would one day like to write a historical romance. Do you have any ideas floating around such as: what time period and what place would you like to set your story?
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
If I did write one, it would most likely be set in Regency, England but no I do not have any ideas yet.
DeleteGreat interview, I enjoyed learning more about you.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you for reading it.
DeleteSound like a great book. Thanks for sharing the excerpt and giveaway. Happy New Year! evamillien at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year.
DeleteSounds like a good book. I liked finding out that the author let her readers help her pick the titles of her books. How cool!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy romances because I like to see how the love story turns out. :)
Thanks for the great interview and giveaway.
~Jess
Thank you for visiting.
DeleteThank you for hosting me today.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved this book and the whole Sherbrook series - one of the best series I have ever read!!! Thanks for highlighting one of my favorite authors!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou've never done a book signing?! As a librarian, I've been fortunate to attend a lot of book signings, especially at library conferences. When you do have a book signing, and I'm sure you will, make a note. Come up with an easy tag line/phrase/word that you can write. I've always enjoyed those the best.
ReplyDeletefor the HEA
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
I do enjoy the escape. Great interview.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Good interview. I enjoy reading about the obstacles the characters have to go through to achieve their goals, including romance.
ReplyDeletequeendsheena(at)hotmail(dot)com