Review & Giveaway: The Wedding Gift by Cara Connelly
The
Wedding Gift
Save The Date #3.5
Save The Date #3.5
By:
Cara Connelly
Releasing
May 5, 2015
Avon
Blurb
What's
the New-Jan-Plan? Discover the answer in Cara Connelly's newest Save
The Date Novella, and see how mousey Jan Marone gives herself the
gift of living, laughing, and finally loving … all under the hot
Key West sun.
She'd
come to Key West for a wedding, only to discover the hotel had messed
up her reservation. So although Jan Marone has to share a tiny room
with sexy Mick McKenna, it shouldn't really be a problem. Mick's her
best friend, and he doesn't think of her "that way" … or
does he?
Mick
McKenna loves hard and plays hard. His thick black hair, chiseled
jaw, and hard, muscled body make him irresistible. But when
once-innocent Jan walks into his hotel room, Mick can't believe his
eyes. Now she's wearing a sexy bikini and telling him it's time for
her to "get lucky," making him protective and tantalized at
the same time.
Worried
she might be in over her head, he decides never to leave her side …
and suddenly their hotel room seems smaller—and hotter—than ever.
Mick's always been hands-off with Jan—but has the right woman been
under his nose the whole time?
Excerpt
A
quick glance around revealed the limited amenities: modest flatscreen
on the wall; dorm-sized fridge; and a tiny bureau that doubled as a
nightstand, holding a digital clock and small lamp. At the foot of
the queen bed, Mick’s suitcase flopped open on a narrow bench.
Jan
sidled along the bedside and closed herself in the world’s smallest
bathroom: a budget-sized toilet wedged between a teacup sink and a
phone-booth shower stall.
Everything was clean as a whistle,
but one wrong move and she’d have black and blue funny bones in the
wedding photos.
Washing
her hands in the teacup, she made the mistake of looking into the
mirror above it.
“Hello,
palest person in Key West. And your hair.” Six hours on three
airplanes, and her bun straggled like spaghetti.
Unwrapping the scrunchie that bound
it, she ran her fingers through the light brown waves. Humidity or
not, she was wearing it down this weekend.
In
fact, she was wearing it down from now on. “I’m done with the
bun,” she rapped to the mirror, and tossed the scrunchie into the
trash.
Day
One of the New-Jan Plan.
Out
in the bedroom, she found Mick stretched out on the mattress, hands
locked behind his head, watching a Simpson’s rerun.
“You’re
getting the bed wet,” she said automatically.
“It’ll
dry.”
That
was Mick, never worrying about anything, while she worried about
everything. And where had it gotten her? Out on the street, that’s
where, while he was tucked up in Paradise.
Which
was exactly why she was changing her old, boring ways. They weren’t
working for her. At. All.
“Wow.”
From Mick. “Your hair got long.”
“Eh.”
She plopped down next to him. “Hair grows.”
“It’s
just that you never wear it down.” He reached out and rubbed the
ends between his fingers. “Soft.”
She
eyed him. Sometimes she wondered about Mick. They’d been friends
since kindergarten, through the years when boys and girls were
supposed to hate each other, even through high school when he was the
quarterback and she was a dork.
Twelve
years out, he was still captain of the team, so to speak. Fire
Captain at his Engine Company, a bona fide hero with a shiny new
Medal of Valor, and a mother’s lifelong gratitude for rescuing her
eight-year-old.
Meanwhile Jan was still fighting
dorkyness. Still too skinny, too nerdy, too plain to be anything more
than his buddy, his pal.
But
sometimes … sometimes when he looked at her the way he was looking
at her now
…
Nah.
She locked it down. She wasn’t Mick’s type. And truthfully, he
wasn’t hers either. If she ever found a guy, he’d be white collar
all the way. A lawyer or an accountant. Not someone who risked his
life every day.
Her
mother had that much of it right. Yes, she was controlling, neurotic,
and paranoid. But about marrying a man with a dangerous job, Jan’s
mother could speak with authority.
Knuckles
rapped the door, and Mick hopped up and opened it to the blond from
the desk. “Hey, Barbie.”
Barbie?
Seriously?
Barbie’s
gaze tracked slowly from Mick’s bare chest up to his lips. “Hi,
Mick.” Breathless.
Jan
rolled her eyes and did a finger wave. “Looking for me? Did you
find me a room?”
Barbie
dragged her gaze away from Mick. “Um, no. No rooms.”
“Nowhere
on the island?” Mick dragged a hand through his hair. “This is
bullshit,” he declared to the world at large.
“I’m
so sorry.” Barbie sounded genuinely sympathetic—on Mick’s
account, not Jan’s. “The whole island’s been booked for months.
Even if someone cancels, everyplace has a waiting list. There’s
nothing I can do.”
“Thanks
for trying.” Mick melted Barbie with a smile. “I’m turning my
room over to Jan. I’ll figure something out for myself.”
Jan
popped up. “Wait just a minute—”
Barbie
steamrolled her. “I’ve got a spare room at my place,” she said
to Mick. “You can crash with me.”
“No.”
Jan wagged her head definitively. “No no no no no.”
Mick
had a way of pissing women off. Not completely his fault, since he
never made any promises. The problem was, Mick loved women. He
couldn’t help making them feel special, and their imaginations ran
away with it.
Then,
when he didn’t fall in with their plans, things went downhill with
a bullet.
All
Julie’s wedding needed was Barbie storming the reception and
dumping the cake over Mick’s head. Julie would lay the disaster at
Jan’s door, because Mick was her wedding guest.
But
Barbie was clueless, batting lashes as long as her namesake’s.
“Really, Mick, I don’t mind.”
“I
mind,” Jan said, sounding more possessive than she meant to.
Mick
must have picked up on it, because he flicked his gaze her way, a
quick bolt of blue that could steal an unsuspecting woman’s breath.
Her
clothes were sure to follow.
But
Jan wasn’t an unsuspecting woman. She’d been there from the
beginning, keeping herself out of harm’s way as Mick learned to
handle his sexual mojo, wielding it like a blunt instrument in high
school, and like a light saber ever since.
Sometimes, like now, he carelessly
swung it in her direction.
Ignoring
the sting, she took one for the bride and groom.
“Thanks
anyway,” she said to Barbie, “but Mick’s staying right here
with me.”
Author
Info
CARA
CONNELLY is
an award-winning author of contemporary romances. Her smart and sexy
stories have won high praise, earning Cara several awards including
the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart, the Valley Forge
Romance Writers’ Sheila, and the Music City Romance Writers’
Melody of Love. Cara, who lives in rural upstate New York, works as
appellate court attorney when she’s not crafting steamy novels of
love and romance.
What I thought...
I know not everyone is a fan of novella's within a series. Some feel its a great way to get your fix until the next book, others a waste of time and would rather just have the full size book. I'm a fan of them for a few reasons. I like to be able to try a author at a discounted price. I think novella's give you a taste without the whole meal. Plus it does satisfy my fix until the next mass-market book comes out. If you haven't figured out yet that I'm a addict you haven't been paying attention. If you haven't yet tried a book by Cara Connelly then this is the perfect one to pick. You will be able to get a feel for her writing (which is wonderful) and a taste of her characters (can't live without them) In the Wedding Gift you have Jan & Mick, best friends...that is until Jan decides it's time for her to come out of her cocoon and Mick decided he liked her to show her colors, but only next to him. I think you'll love both Jan and Mick and their struggle to find themselves and to realize the person they always wanted is each other. It's fun ride that we get to enjoy with them. This is the perfect vacation read. In fact her whole Save the Date series is the perfect vacation read. I'm sure you'll enjoy The Wedding Gift. Happy reading!
Giveaway Time! a Rafflecopter giveaway
Nice review. You can tell how you enjoy her writing. It also has a beautiful cover.
ReplyDeleteShe's very good. You'd like it.
DeleteThank you so much for hosting THE WEDDING GIFT!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome.
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