by Sonya Loveday
Blurb:
Gracen Lowell is on the hunt for a man—but not just any man. He has to be ‘the one’. Her only problem is that no one she’s dated has ever measured up to the charming qualities of her best friend.
Slade Owens knows no matter how much he loves Gracen, he’ll never be what she’s looking for. And he dang sure isn’t going to stick around to watch her fall in love with someone else. Slade leaving the Owens’ family farm for an out-of- state job should put enough distance between the two to allow him to move on with his life and Gracen to search for her happily-ever- after.
Gracen knows asking him to stay isn’t fair. Slade thinks leaving her behind is the only thing to do.
Inexplicably drawn together, the best friends must decide if they have what it takes to own up to their feelings… before it’s too late.
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Excerpt #1
Gracen had no idea how beautiful she was. Dressed the way she was, it was almost impossible to look away. On a normal day, she was the kind of beautiful that robbed my ability to think straight. Every single woman I dated, I chose specifically to be as different from Gracen as I could, hoping that with enough practice, I could make myself look at her and not want her with every fiber of my being.
Even though I’d had years to perfect keeping my face neutral, it would slip every once in a while. She’d get a peek of the raw emotion that bled through because it was too much to contain. When it did, she’d give me an odd look, and then crack a joke to see me smile. I’d heave a huge sigh of internal relief that she’d once again misinterpreted it, because I couldn’t lose her friendship.
The draw to her had gotten to be so much that I knew if I didn’t do something, and soon, I’d
ruin everything with her. Somewhere, there was a lucky bastard who’d eventually steal her right out from under my nose, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do about it. I already hated him—whoever he was.
Excerpt #2
“You coming?” he called to me from the porch. Both our bags were slung over one shoulder and Lucy, tail thumping against the worn boards, was sitting by his feet.
They were a picture, the two of them. Man and beast. My man and my beast, even if only in my dreams, I thought, catching the door handle and getting out of the truck as Slade made his way inside.
Closing my eyes, I pretended I was home and he was mine. He’d welcome me in at the front door with a kiss hot enough to sear my lips and melt me to the floor. We’d make it as far as the rustic living room before shedding clothes behind us in a trail to the bedroom.
I shook my head to clear it. That same moment had flashed through my thoughts so many times before. Like auto play.
Before I could make it to the porch steps, Slade came back out. He caught hold of the door casing and stretched forward. My knees wobbled when his eyes met mine.
“It’s like coming home, every time we come here,” he said.
My steps faltered at his words. “It’s special… this place. You can feel it.” My fingers dipped and swayed against the slight breeze that flitted through the trees.
There was something extraordinary about it, but nothing I could physically point out. It was more like a feeling. A welcoming. Like it was a haven that spoke to something deep inside me.
Lucy poked her nose past Slade, panting with a huge doggy grin. He didn’t look down at her.
“Are you planning to stay out there the whole time?” he asked. There was something different in the way he gazed at me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it almost felt like something more.
“Can’t really go inside when you’re standing in the doorway.” I smirked at him, trying not to show my confusion.
“Tell me something, Gracen. And be honest,” he said, unmoving.
Nervous energy shot through me, every single point of awareness standing on end. Now there was a look in his eyes I thought I’d glimpsed a few times before, but it had always been gone as quick as it came. I’d always brushed it off as my imagination, conjured up because I wanted it so bad. But this time, there was no mistaking it. It held promises unspoken. Secrets long buried.
I could feel the pulse at my neck hammering as if my heart had dislodged itself and was working its way up and out. My arms tingled as if my skin were made of wildly flapping butterfly wings, and my stomach twisted around a giant rock of something molten that emptied itself down into my legs. The two halves of my body were at war with one another—one wanted to fly away, the other to sink into the ground.
For Fun:
Spotify Playlist for What It Takes
BIO
Sonya Loveday is a full time author. Mother of two teenagers. Wife to an amazing man for 18 years. Dog lover. Cat lover. COFFEE addict. Night Owl. She’s a sucker for a good book. Loves the quiet life. Has the bestest best friend in the whole world. Her imagination never shuts off which makes it hard to sleep. The worst cook. Seriously.
Social Media Links:
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Amazon Author Page -- https://www.amazon.com/Sonya-Loveday/e/B00LXD4252/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Website -- http://www.sonyaloveday.com/
BOOKS BY SONYA LOVEDAY
THE SIX SERIES:
THE SUMMER I FELL (BOOK 1)
END NOTE (BOOK 2)
RELEVANCE (BOOK 2.5)
IF EVER I FALL (BOOK 3)
THE VOWS WE MAKE (BOOK 4)
THE CASTED SERIES:
CASTED (BOOK 1)
SPELLED (BOOK 2)
A Multiple Drink Kind of Night
Why was it fancy Valentine's Day drinks were always tinted red? Reminded me more of gore and mayhem than anything to do with romance. Which said a lot, I suppose, for my state of mind when it came to relationships and dating.
No bitterness in Fiona Fleming toward the opposite sex or anything.
I sipped carefully at the mimosa the bartender smilingly handed me and shrugged off the sweetness. It had alcohol in it, so I guess it would do. A few of these and I might even find a way to enjoy myself tonight. Yeah, right.
Fiona Fleming would rather be home, at her bed and breakfast with her pug Petunia snuggled up to her while everyone else celebrates Valentine's Day without her, thank you very much. Instead, she's been recruited to attend another of Mayor Olivia Walker's Reading, Vermont tourism promotion events. But when the young majority stakeholder in the White Valley Ski Lodge ends up dead, she's ready and willing to help Sheriff Crew Turner and her father uncover who killed their victim while a snowstorm cuts them off from the rest of the world.
