Description:
Allison Hamstead
thought it was love, finally, after all the years alone, someone loved
her in spite of the fact she was fat! Not that her size had ever kept
her from being successful, but it had kept her far from personal
relationships. She’d heard all of the fat jokes ever told, all of the
things people in her office said behind her back, and she didn’t miss
not having a boyfriend, or dates every weekend. Did she? But now she was
in love and she couldn’t wait to introduce him to her best friend,
Sarah. And what a mistake that had turned out to be! It wasn’t long
before the love of her life and her best friend were living together and
Allison was humiliated.
Starting over is never easy, but Allison is determined to do so and moves far from Chicago to the warm waters of Biloxi, Mississippi where she accepts a position at one of the floating casinos. For the first time in her life, Allison feels like she’s truly at home. She loves her job, she loves her boss, who is like a father to her, and she loves being a part of all the excitement going on around her. Except for one little thing…
Her boss’s eldest son, Stephen, is probably the most handsome, gorgeous, and sexy man she’s ever laid eyes on…and he knows it! And for some reason he acts interested in her. Then her mother comes to visit and winds up dating her boss. Her accounts start showing large amounts of money missing. And her ex shows up unannounced and says he wants her back. Can anything else possibly go wrong?
Absolutely!
Excerpt:
As she lay back on her towel, a shadow fell across her. She opened one eye to see Stephen standing over her, grinning. “You’re blocking my sun,” she said and shut her eye.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Yes, I do mind.”
“Thanks.”
Turning toward him, she again opened one eye and frowned as she discovered he had removed his shirt and spread his towel beside her.
“There’s a lot of beach here you know, you could pick another spot.”
“Yeah, but I like this one.”
“You’re just trying to make me mad.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because you act like a twelve year old and teasing girls is what twelve year olds do.”
“Yeah, but my toys are much bigger and go a lot faster," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes and went back to sunning herself in silence. Stephen didn’t speak for a long time either, which she thought was a blessing and probably too good to last very long. She was right.
“Have dinner with me.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s fraternizing and your father doesn’t allow it.”
“Not true. We’re just two colleagues having dinner together. The fraternizing rule only applies between management and underlings. He’s afraid an employee would feel their position would be threatened if they refused a date with management.”
“Or perhaps he just didn’t want you dating the entire staff.”
He laughed. “That’s a possibility.”
“You’re shameless.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“I’m not having dinner with you.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Look, Stephen, you don’t have to do this." She sat up and looked at him squarely.
“Do what?" He asked, almost managing to look innocent.
“All of this…” she waved one arm, “this flirting you seem to be doing with me. I’m not exactly your type.”
“What do you mean my type? That’s pretty judgmental and shallow of you.” He grinned at her again.
“And if anyone would know about shallow, it would be you, now wouldn’t it?” She said rather tersely. “Just stop it.”
“Allison…” he watched as she picked up her things and began making her way toward the casino. He blew out a breath and shook his head.
About the author:
Marie McGaha is an author, editor and publisher at Dancing With Bear Publishing, a Christian publishing company. While most of her time is spent editing manuscripts, she does try to find time for her passions. First, the love of the rest of her life, Nathan, whom she has been married to for almost thirteen years, and loves to spend time with riding motorcycles. They are both members of The Patriot Guard Riders. Second, Marie’s passion for shoes has filled several closets, so she decided to start her own shoe line, Girls Got Grit. She and Nathan also like to spend time spoiling grandchildren, traveling, and just being together. “Nathan is my best friend, and I am very blessed to have him as my husband too,” Marie says. And everyone who knows them says it’s quite obvious these two are living out their own romance novel.
Starting over is never easy, but Allison is determined to do so and moves far from Chicago to the warm waters of Biloxi, Mississippi where she accepts a position at one of the floating casinos. For the first time in her life, Allison feels like she’s truly at home. She loves her job, she loves her boss, who is like a father to her, and she loves being a part of all the excitement going on around her. Except for one little thing…
Her boss’s eldest son, Stephen, is probably the most handsome, gorgeous, and sexy man she’s ever laid eyes on…and he knows it! And for some reason he acts interested in her. Then her mother comes to visit and winds up dating her boss. Her accounts start showing large amounts of money missing. And her ex shows up unannounced and says he wants her back. Can anything else possibly go wrong?
Absolutely!
Excerpt:
As she lay back on her towel, a shadow fell across her. She opened one eye to see Stephen standing over her, grinning. “You’re blocking my sun,” she said and shut her eye.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Yes, I do mind.”
“Thanks.”
Turning toward him, she again opened one eye and frowned as she discovered he had removed his shirt and spread his towel beside her.
“There’s a lot of beach here you know, you could pick another spot.”“Yeah, but I like this one.”
“You’re just trying to make me mad.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because you act like a twelve year old and teasing girls is what twelve year olds do.”
“Yeah, but my toys are much bigger and go a lot faster," he smirked.
She rolled her eyes and went back to sunning herself in silence. Stephen didn’t speak for a long time either, which she thought was a blessing and probably too good to last very long. She was right.
“Have dinner with me.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s fraternizing and your father doesn’t allow it.”
“Not true. We’re just two colleagues having dinner together. The fraternizing rule only applies between management and underlings. He’s afraid an employee would feel their position would be threatened if they refused a date with management.”
“Or perhaps he just didn’t want you dating the entire staff.”
He laughed. “That’s a possibility.”
“You’re shameless.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“I’m not having dinner with you.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Look, Stephen, you don’t have to do this." She sat up and looked at him squarely.
“Do what?" He asked, almost managing to look innocent.
“All of this…” she waved one arm, “this flirting you seem to be doing with me. I’m not exactly your type.”
“What do you mean my type? That’s pretty judgmental and shallow of you.” He grinned at her again.
“And if anyone would know about shallow, it would be you, now wouldn’t it?” She said rather tersely. “Just stop it.”
“Allison…” he watched as she picked up her things and began making her way toward the casino. He blew out a breath and shook his head.
About the author:
Marie McGaha is an author, editor and publisher at Dancing With Bear Publishing, a Christian publishing company. While most of her time is spent editing manuscripts, she does try to find time for her passions. First, the love of the rest of her life, Nathan, whom she has been married to for almost thirteen years, and loves to spend time with riding motorcycles. They are both members of The Patriot Guard Riders. Second, Marie’s passion for shoes has filled several closets, so she decided to start her own shoe line, Girls Got Grit. She and Nathan also like to spend time spoiling grandchildren, traveling, and just being together. “Nathan is my best friend, and I am very blessed to have him as my husband too,” Marie says. And everyone who knows them says it’s quite obvious these two are living out their own romance novel. Our short interview:
1. What’s your biggest challenge as a writer?
Finding the time to actually write. I own my own publishing company and that leaves me very little time to write for myself.
2. Which authors have influenced you most?
I get asked this question a lot and I really haven't been influenced by any particular author. I love reading the classic author like Steinbeck, Theroux, and Fitzgerald, and when I was a child I devoured every book I could get my hands on, but I wasn't really influenced to write by those authors because I knew I wanted to write long before I could read.
3. What genre do you think is most vivid now?
It seems we've finally gotten out of the vampire genre and the weres, and it looks like zombies are pretty popular, but I think romance has always been the most popular genre and probably always will be. We all want to fall in love and have that wonderful, romantic relationship we dream about and even if we can't get it in real life, we always have our books.
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Your excerpt makes me want to read more!
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