COMING
FRIDAY
7 PM PST.
NAN REINHARDT
AUTHOR OF:
Can a near-tragedy help two best friends realize they’re meant to
be so much more?
Best
friends since grade school, high-powered Chicago attorney, Sean Flaherty, and
small-town mayor Megan
Mackenzie has always shared a special bond.
When Sean is shot by a client’s angry ex, Megan rushes to his side, terrified
she’s about to lose her long-time confidant.
Upon his return to River’s Edge to recuperate, Sean discovers that
his feelings for his pal have taken an undeniable turn for the romantic. While
Megan struggles with an unfamiliar longing for Sean, she worries that he may be
mistaking a safe place to land for love.
Can Sean help her realize that they are truly meant to be so much
more than friends?
The silence was killing him. Meg hadn’t said
more than six words since they’d left the diner. Not on the walk to her
apartment, not while they piled into her ancient Honda Accord. Nada. Beyond
telling him to feel free to set the seat back if he needed more legroom, she’d
been uncharacteristically silent. They were almost to Char’s and her lips were
still pressed together in a tight line.
Oh, she’d had plenty to say at the diner when
they went back out to their table to collect her purse and sweater. Sean
chuckled to himself remembering Vinnie’s face. The guy had been gobsmacked when
Megs lit into him. Using her smiling mayor voice, she’d skinned him alive,
riding over his protestations of innocence, while Gia shrank back into her chair
and cringed. Meg had ignored Sean’s blind date until the very end when she’d
simply turned to Gia and said, “Enjoy the rest of your date, Gia. You two
deserve each other.”
Of course, Vin was clueless and acted, once
again, as if he were the one being wronged. Sean had watched from the steps of
the courtyard, not even bothering to say anything to Gia, although their eyes
met while Meg shredded Vinnie. Gia’s face showed part terror and part regret,
so Sean had simply shrugged his shoulders and given her a brief nod.
He glanced over at Meg, who appeared focused
on navigating the curvy driveway into the winery property. “Here’s the
thing”—he side-eyed her as she pulled into Char’s driveway—“Vin is like... like
that dog in Up.”
She switched off the car and turned to face
him, her expression incredulous. “What?”
“You know the dog in that movie Up? We watched
it with Ali at Christmas?” His point was valid if she would just open her mind,
so he explained further. “The dog had a great ball that he was playing
with—having fun, enjoying himself. Loved that ball. Then a squirrel ran by and
he was completely distracted, dropped the ball, and chased the squirrel.” He
grinned, hoping to get some kind of positive reaction.
She rested her elbow on the steering wheel and
cupped her chin in her palm. “So, I’m the ball in this scenario?”
“Yeah.”
“And Vin is the dog?”
He nodded. She was getting it.
“And Gia is what? The squirrel?”
He threw his hands up in exultation. “Yes,
exactly.”
She gazed at him for a long moment, “I’ve
heard you say some really dumb stuff over the years, Sean Flaherty, but that
has to be the dumbest. Stop defending him.” She yanked the keys from the
ignition and opened her door. “Come on. I’ll walk you in.”
Winemaker and single
father Conor Flaherty is determined to make this Christmas holiday special for
his daughter even though his family’s winery, Four Irish Brothers, is facing some
challenges.
High-octane Chicago
attorney Samantha Hayes is looking forward to some delicious food, fine wine,
small-town charm, and a break from her hectic big city life when she agrees to
do a favor for her boss and help his younger brother with a lawsuit that’s been
slapped on his family’s historic winery in River’s Edge. She’s not expecting
that her sexy new client will have a smile that will melt her heart and remind
her that there’s more to life than work.
Sam falls hard for Conor,
his daughter, and the small, friendly town, but can she trust her instincts and
risk her heart? Sam hasn’t seen a lot of happy-ever-afters in her life, but
Conor and the magic of Christmas make her want to believe.
The winery was dim and vast with a high beamed ceiling and a
fieldstone fireplace that took up one entire end of the room. A round dark wood
tasting bar stood in the middle, surrounded by several high-top tables and
stools. One corner was the store with shelves of wine-themed tchotchkes of all
kinds, while the back wall was nothing but racks and racks of bottles. A light
shone from an office just to the right of the front door and plastic totes were
piled haphazardly in front of an open closet nearby.
Sam cleared her throat. “Mr. Flaherty?” Her voice echoed
slightly in the immense space.
She marched over to the office, her heels clicking loudly on
the hardwood floor. Nobody was there, although several photo albums and
scrapbooks lay open on a rather cluttered desk. She glanced at her watch and
then at a large wooden clock above the mantel. Nine on the dot. Obviously, someone was here.
The door was unlocked; lights were on in the office. “Mr.
Flaherty?”
“Oh, baby!” The deep voice came from somewhere below and she
turned with a start, looking for the source.
“Excuse me?” She scanned the room, catching sight of a pair
of double doors leading to a stairwell in the corner nearest to the office.
Following sounds that could have been either ecstasy or pain, she descended the
steps with trepidation.
“Oh, man.” The voice became a moan.
“Um . . . Mr. Flaherty?” Sam reached the bottom of the
stairs, a bit concerned at what she might encounter.
Nan Reinhardt is
a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their
prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She
is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother. Nan has been a copyeditor
and proofreader for over 25 years, and currently works on romantic fiction
titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press,
Kensington Books, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.
Although she loves her
life as an editor, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. Her latest novel, Meant to Be, Book 2 in the Four Irish Brothers Winery
series from Tule Publishing releases on July 18, 2019. A Small Town
Christmas, which is the first book in the Four Irish Brothers Winery
series from Tule Publishing, is available now, and she is currently hard
at work on Book 3.
Visit Nan’s website
at www.nanreinhardt.com, where
you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby
Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every sixth Wednesday
at Word Wranglers,
sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors and is a frequent
contributor the RWA
Contemporary Romance blog, and she
contributes to the Romance
University blog where she
writes as Editor Nan.
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