Please join me in welcoming new Secret Cravings Publishing author Misty Matthews to my blog today! Misty has a hot new release, COMING HOME.
COMING HOME
Home is where the heart is.
Motorcycle riding attorney Alana Stewart is a far cry from
the shy teenager who left Chance determined never to look back. Family
obligations force her to return to the town that only holds bad memories for
her. A stop at her former sanctuary brings an unexpected surprise...the new
manager just might be what she needs to get her through the holidays.
When sexy, leather-clad Alana walks into the bookstore,
Connor Tate has a feeling he may be in for the ride of his life. Despite the
fact that their lives are headed in different directions, they are drawn to one
another. Connor is determined to prove to Alana that Chance isn’t the place she
remembers, but will his efforts fail when she discovers he hasn’t told her the
whole truth about himself?
Can they trust each other enough to take a chance on love?
Buy links:
Barnes
& Noble
EXCERPT:
Gone was the shy, skinny girl in glasses the other kids
teased and the town folks ignored. If she had
been recognized, no doubt one of the concerned citizens was on the phone right
now setting her mother straight. Mom probably wouldn’t be impressed she’d made
a familiar stop on the way home, but what else was new?
Alana smiled wryly. Well,
they may not have noticed me then, but it looks like they’re seeing me now.
Those on the street craned their necks, and she felt their
gazes following her as she sauntered over to Tate’s Bookstore, helmet hanging
casually from her hand the way another woman’s purse might. Someone inside the
bookstore looked out the front window, probably as curious as the others were,
but they quickly pulled back as she approached.
Alana stood on the sidewalk admiring her old hangout,
letting the past claim her before pushing the brass handle to open the door.
The antique bell tinkled, announcing her arrival just as it had years ago.
Memories of the hours spent in this place washed over her. The familiar aroma
of old books, a scent she loved, surrounded her. Eagerly, she stepped forward,
anxious to see Mr. Tate again. They’d spent hours together discussing her
favorite books.
Sadness filled her. Things had changed. No matter what he’d
been doing, Mr. Tate had always come at the sound of the bell. Another thought
struck her. Perhaps he didn’t own the bookstore anymore. It was common practice for new owners to keep a business’s
original name. Goodwill was a marketable commodity these days.
“Hello, is anyone here?” Her voice echoed in the emptiness
of the shop.
A touch nervous—the insecurity of the past catching up with
her—she moved deeper into the store, and started when a man cleared his throat.
Looking in the direction of the sound, she was pleasantly surprised when a
stranger stepped out from between two rows of shelves. The man was most definitely
not the one she’d expected.
Dressed in jeans that hugged him in all the right places, a
white T-shirt, and a gray and black striped sweater vest, he took her breath
away. Clean shaven with striking green eyes peering at her from behind large
black framed glasses, he was gorgeous.
His look was totally geek-chic and it drew her as no other did. Even
though she never acted on the yearning guys like that sometimes evoked in her,
she could appreciate a masterpiece when she saw it. His expensive, spicy,
tantalizing cologne aroused a sudden desire that pulsed through her.
Usually shy around males, a holdover from her teen years,
she stared at him openly. The man was pure eye candy, and she loved candy! From
the way he stood, she could tell there was a toned and fit body hidden under
his clothes. Finding herself wishing she could see more of it, she felt her
cheeks grow hot at the implication of her thoughts.
The man seemed vaguely familiar, and she rattled her brain
trying to place him, but try as she might, she couldn’t imagine anyone she knew
back then looking like this today. Had she seen this god before, she’d
certainly have remembered him.
“Can I help you?” His bold gaze took in every inch of her.
The look on his face said he liked what he saw.
“I was looking for Mr. Tate. Is he around?” she asked,
amazed her voice sounded normal when her heart was beating so fast he must
surely hear it.
“I’m sorry. Dad isn’t here right now. Is there something I
can do for you?”
Lots! Her brain
screamed as her raging hormones threatened to take over and destroy what little
common sense she had left. Peering at him closely, she tried to zone in on the
familiarity she’d sensed. Dad? It hit
her.
Holy crap! Connor
Tate.
He’d changed so much she hadn’t recognized him, which was
crazy since she’d had a huge crush on him in high school. While she’d never
been the girl who ogled the captain of the football team, she’d liked the smart
guy—the one who carried books around and wanted to learn things the way she
did. Mesmerized, her eyes searched his face for a sign of recognition. Gone was
his acne and hundred-pound weakling
scrawny frame. Instead, she stared at perfection. Her brain screamed at her to
say something—anything.
“It’s Connor, right?” she asked as if seeing him again wasn’t
flooding her with memories, not all of them pleasant. “I’m sorry I missed him.
Where is he?”
“My parents are visiting my sister in Florida. They travel a
lot these days.”
“That’s wonderful. I’ll bet he’s having a grand time. He
always wanted to travel.”
Mr. Tate had spoken about all the places in the world he’d
like to visit, and since she’d assumed she’d never get out of Chance, she’d
traveled in her books while the shop had kept her friend’s feet firmly planted
in Chance.
“You know my father?” His voice was tinged with curiosity
and confusion.
“I do.” Alana smiled. “We were really good friends when I
was growing up in Chance. This place was like my second home.”
“Alana Stewart?”
Surprised he knew her name, she nodded. “Guilty as charged,
your honor.”
“I heard through the rumor mill you were coming home; you’re
a lawyer now, right?” Connor looked her up and down again.
“Corporate, specializing in litigation,” she added. “Nothing
gets by the small-town gossips, does it?” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, and
she was unable to keep her disdain from coming through clearly. She was sure he
noticed her tone, but to his credit, he didn’t comment.
“Did you want something? Or did you stop by just to see my
father?”
“Well, I did, but I might as well pick up a new novel or two
to read while I’m home. I feel naked without a book on the go.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MISTY MATTHEWS
Misty Matthews is a
newly formed writing partnership between Susanne Matthews and Misty Cail. These
authors have never met and the book was created by grace and virtue of email
and Internet chats. It's a true twenty-first century miracle.
Misty and Susanne
met in an online Facebook chat group back in December, 2012 and have become
fast friends and partners. Misty, the plot genius, had the idea for the book,
but found it hard to do the research and polishing necessary for the story.
Susanne loved the premise of the story and offered to handle that aspect of it
in partnership with her. The name seemed a natural choice. The rest as they say
is history.
Never
Say Never
Most people who grow up in small towns dream of
leaving them for the excitement and glamor of the big city. When she was a
teenager, part of Misty Matthews felt the same way. She desperately wanted to
leave her hometown, and find love and adventure somewhere else. It wasn’t that
there was anything wrong with her hometown, and she loved her family, but she
craved something more.
She got her chance to escape the confines of her
birth place when she moved away from home to go to school. She went to Ottawa,
Canada’s national capital, and attended Carleton University. What a wonderful
adventure that was. She earned her degree in English and history, but more
importantly, she met the love of her life. She and her husband have been
married 43 years and have three children and five grandchildren. Their
adventure isn’t over yet.
In Coming
Home, the first book in the Taking a
Chance on Love series, written by Misty Matthews, as a teenager Alana’s
hopes and dreams were similar. Growing up in Chance, Arizona, a small town
where everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business, and where she felt as
if she didn’t fit in, she couldn’t wait to escape from the narrow confines of
small town America. Like part of Misty, she left home to go to school in
Austin, Texas and was determined to stay there. Now, a high-powered attorney,
she’s on the fast track to promotion. Although there isn’t love in her life,
she’s proud of the career and lifestyle she’s created for herself. There isn’t
anything she’d rather do in her spare time than ride her motorcycle or read a
good book, especially on written by J.T. Connor. The last thing she wants to do
is go back to Chance, even for a visit, but family obligations have a habit of
forcing you to do the things you’d rather not. Never say never!
Connor, like the other part of Misty, on the other
hand, never aspired to leave his home town, but he did. He moved to New York
City for school, and then to Los Angeles to work for a publishing house. Unlike
Alana, he hated the big city and when the opportunity presented himself to move
back to Chance, he jumped at it. There’s nothing he likes better than riding
his motorcycle into the desert and helping out with the Chance Volunteer Fire
Department. His secret career as an author gives him the financial freedom to
visit anywhere he likes, but Chance always draws him back. The only thing
missing in his life is love.
Time has a habit of changing your perspective. Like
Alana, part of Misty swore she’d never return to Cornwall, and then ten years
later, she did just that. Small cities have a charm of their own. Although
Cornwall is considerably larger than the imaginary town of Chance, it’s located
near enough to the big cities around it to provide some excitement. When Alana
returns to Chance, some things are the same, but through the lens of time, she
realizes that things may not have been exactly the way she remembers them. The
other part of Misty grew up in the big city and still dreams of returning home,
yet she’s made a good life for herself in a distant part of the country where
she too had found love. Sometimes we don’t realize that where we are is exactly
where we’re meant to be.
You
can follow Misty Matthews and the Taking a Chance on Love series.
