A desperate espresso café owner, a determined coffee franchise rep, a quiet Midwestern town, anonymous threats out of the blue—where does the true danger lie?
Welcome to Book Hooks, a Wednesday offering by members of Marketing For Romance Writers to share a little taste of our work and entice you into wanting more! Click on the links at the end to travel to other Book Hook posts, and enjoy!
This week’s excerpt comes from our latest release, I Am Not for Sale. Kevin is back home in the Twin Cities after his first effort to scope out Nadja’s coffee shop.
Excerpt
Kevin spied the book he’d borrowed sitting on the end of his counter. He leaned over to retrieve it. KIEV was its title.
He hadn’t really paid much attention to what he’d pulled off the shelf. His interest had been much more focused on Nadja’s reaction.
He chuckled, remembering how she’d wanted to get rid of him. He opened the book and studied numerous pictures of majestic, gilded onion-domed buildings and snow-covered fields. There were no words. He flipped to the back of the book and frowned. It had words all right, but in letters totally unfamiliar to him.
He went back to the front of the book and found a map. Kiev/Kyiv. Kiev, Ukraine. He scrunched his mouth. Did that mean Nadja was from Ukraine?
Not necessarily. But it did fit. If someone had asked him where Ukraine was located, he probably would’ve said Russia. He peered at the map. He wouldn’t have been too far off.
He leaned back on his kitchen stool. He’d heard about the stereotypical sexy blonde bombshell from Russia but figured that was just so much smoke or hype.
He shook his head and sighed audibly. That image didn’t fit her—not really. Sexy? Absolutely. No debate about that. But she’d done nothing to flaunt her natural sexiness. If anything, she’d tried to hide it behind an ill-fitting wardrobe. And she’d taken great umbrage at the thought that she might be for sale. Not that he’d ever suggest such a thing—to her or any other woman.
Her sophisticated, blunt-cut blonde hair was efficient as well as sexy. He’d noticed three or four broken fingernails. A woman wanting to flaunt her sex would’ve taken better care of her nails.
BUY LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L7WQH12/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1140503297
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/i-am-not-for-sale
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1115419
https://www.extasybooks.com/I-am-Not-for-Sale
REVIEW
Five Stars from N. N. Light
“The romance is so hot, you may have to call the fire department. But it’s the character development throughout I am Not for Sale which makes this such an incredible story.”
BLURB
It’s nothing personal…
It all seems simple enough—Ukrainian immigrant Nadja Petrov is determined to hold on to her thriving new coffee shop, Nadja’s Literary Cappuccino, and Java Beans District Rep Kevin Langley is equally determined to move into her North Iowa town with a franchise and run her out of business.
He scopes her out, she keeps a watchful eye on him, and the sparring begins. But there are other players involved, and the web of intrigue soon threatens Nadja, her shop, and her aunt as well as Kevin, his potential franchise, and his son.
Within this cauldron simmers a sexual attraction between Nadja and Kevin that catapults them to overcome their fears of intimacy and commitment. Their lovemaking is tender and raw. Their love is nearly lost in tragedy—can it survive doubts, fire, and even a death?
