Then
He Kissed Me
Whispering Bay # 2
By: Maria Geraci
Releasing May 19, 2015
TKA Distribution
Lauren Donalan was once Whispering
Bay’s golden girl—the rich, bubbly blonde cheerleader who married the high
school football star. When her mediocre marriage falls apart, she returns home
and starts a vintage clothing business, determined to prove she’s more than
just a pretty face with a trust fund.
Nate Miller may have been a nerd in
high school, but now he has a beautiful girlfriend and is set to take over Doc
Morrison’s medical practice. Still, the good folks of Whispering Bay find his
no-nonsense approach more than a little unsettling, leaving his future in town
a great big question mark. And things go even further downhill when his
well-intentioned marriage proposal goes awry.
Lauren doesn’t need a man to complete
her, yet when she finds herself set up on a date with Nate, she can’t help but
notice how sexy and confident he is. In fact, every time the former introvert
kisses her, she sees fireworks. But, only a big love will make Lauren change
her mind about commitment. As Nate attempts to win Lauren over, a real estate
co-op threatens Lauren’s business—and Nate’s ex still has a thing or two to say
about their previous relationship. Now Lauren has to decide to go big or go
home, in business, as well as in love.
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25180117-then-he-kissed-me?ac=1
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/148420-whispering-bay-romance
Maria Geraci writes contemporary
romance and women’s fiction with a happy ending. The Portland Book Review
called her novel, The Boyfriend of the Month Club, “immensely sexy, immensely
satisfying and humorous.” Her fourth novel, A Girl Like You, was nominated for
Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA ® award. She lives in north
Florida with her family, which includes a very needy chihuahua, an extremely
needy dachshund and a not-so-needy cat (guess which one she likes best?). You
can reach at her www.mariageraci.com
Excerpt
Nate
parked his car in front of Can Buy Me Love. It was almost seven-thirty.
Officially, the shop closed over an hour ago, but there were still lights on in
the store. There was also a black pickup truck parked along the side of the
shop. He recognized that truck. It belonged to Tom Donalan.
His gut
clenched. An odd reaction, really. Lauren and her ex had a friendly
relationship. There was no reason Tom shouldn’t be here. But, there was no
reason he should be here, either.
He glanced
at the single long stemmed red rose and the take out basket from The Harbor
House lying on the passenger seat of his car. He’d ordered the same thing
they’d had on their date—the salmon with the house vegetables for her, and a surf
and turf for him. He’d also bought a bottle of the Pinot Noir, along with two
big slabs of cheesecake. He told the hostess the take out was for a special
occasion and she’d presented him with a wicker basket, complete with top of the
line disposable plates, silver ware, tablecloth and even candles.
He could
keep it all in the car. He could walk into the shop and act causal like he’d
just stopped by to say hello. And if for some reason things didn’t seem…right,
he wouldn’t make an ass of himself.
But his gut
kept telling him that Lanie was wrong. Lauren wouldn’t lie to him. Of course,
his gut had also told him that proposing to Jessica was a good thing. But
Lauren wasn’t Jessica.
The hell
with it. He scooped up the rose and the basket of food. As long as there wasn’t
someone around taping him for the benefit of YouTube, he could survive whatever
happened tonight.
He opened
the shop door. A bell above the entrance chimed. Laughter, hers, mixed with a deeper, masculine laugh, drifted from somewhere
in the back of the store. His ears began to buzz. He gripped the rose a little
too tightly, causing a thorn to nick his finger.
“Sorry!
We’re closed!” he heard Lauren shout. She walked out to the front of the shop
with a grin on her face and her cheeks flushed. She had on a dress he’d seen
her wear to work before, a short sleeved blue thing that brought out the color
of her eyes. But she had on flip flops and her hair was pulled back in a
headband, like she’d dressed down to do physical work. There was a smudge of
dirt on her nose. She startled when she saw him. “Nate. What are you doing
here?”
“I came to
bring you dinner. And this.” He thrust the flower at her. “Happy birthday.”
“Oh!” She glanced inside the basket. “You
brought all this for me? This is incredible.”
She noticed the blood on his finger and grabbed a Kleenex from a box she kept
on the check-out counter, then pressed it against his finger to staunch the
trickle. She looked surprised, but happy. Nate had a sudden urge to pick her
up, lay her across the counter and—
“Hi, Nate,”
Henry said cheerfully. He and Tom came walking out of the back storeroom. Both
of them had dust in their hair, like they’d been working, too. Henry took in
the rose and the basket and his face went blank.
Tom shook
his hand. “Hey, man. Good to see you.” Tom’s gaze was more discreet than his
son’s, but he, too, was checking out the situation with the flower and the
food.
Lauren
glanced between all three males, and smiled. “Tom and Henry came by with some
balloons for my birthday,” she explained to Nate. “Unfortunately for them, I
roped them into moving some stuff out of the storeroom.”
“We wanted
to take her out for dinner, but Mom says she has too much work to do to eat,”
Henry said. It was subtly put, but a message, nonetheless.
Lauren put
her arm around her son’s shoulder. “This guy already surprised me this morning
with breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice. All my
favorites.”
“Ah. Very
nice,” Nate said.
“Do you need
me to walk Hector tomorrow morning?” Henry asked. “Because I can if you do. I
just need to do it early, on account of Dad and me going fishing.”
“As a matter
of fact, I have Hector covered for the morning, so, no worries.”
“Okay,
cool,” Henry said, his tone neither friendly nor unfriendly. He pointed to the
wicker basket. “What’s in there?”
“Just some
seafood. And cheesecake,” Nate said.
“Mom likes
key-lime pie better than cheesecake,” Henry said.
Lauren and
Tom exchanged a look. She gave Tom some kind of unspoken signal with her
eyebrows. He hesitated a moment, then went into action. “Hey, son, why don’t we
go grab that pizza we talked about and let your mom get back to work?”
“On her
birthday?” Henry said.
Lauren
hugged her son. “Oh, baby, you’ve already done so much. And I love my balloons.
Go on with your dad. Remember, we’re officially celebrating tomorrow with
dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
“Okay,”
Henry said reluctantly. “But don’t forget to bring your balloons home.”
“I won’t,”
Lauren promised.
Henry gave
Nate a parting look that said the jury was still out on whether or not he
approved of them. Lauren waited till they were out the door, then she locked it
and flipped the sign to read CLOSED.
She walked
over and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “I love my son to pieces, but I
thought they’d never leave.”
“So, it’s
okay that I came by? Or, should I leave, too?” Just because she seemed happy to
see him didn’t mean she wanted him to stay. He knew how important this
maternity clothing line was to her and how much work she’d already put into it.
Her display at the Spring Into Summer
festival could be a big opportunity for her.
“Okay? Let’s
see,” she teased, “You just brought me a rose and dinner. Yeah, I’d say that’s
okay.”
“What about
Henry? I didn’t think you wanted him to know about us.”
“I don’t
think he’ll have to go to therapy just because you came by with dinner. And a
little break right now isn’t going to kill me.”
“I could
stay and help,” he offered. “Think of it as my present to you.”
“My present,
huh?” She glanced at the locked door and Nate could have sworn her cheeks went
pink. “As a matter of fact, I was lying in bed last night thinking of another present you could give me. But, you’ve
already brought me so much. Dinner and a rose. I don’t want you to think I’m
being too…greedy.”
Flushed
skin, bright eyes, and a huskiness in her voice that hadn’t been there before.
All three signs added up to only one logical conclusion. Lauren wanted him.
Review:
At first when I read the first book of this series I wasn't so sure if I would continue it or not. Now that I have read this book I think this series has a chance to captivate me.
Lauren has been divorced for 2 years and hasn't dated anyone. Her mother is trying to set her up because she deserves to be happy. Although her and her ex Tom are close he is now engaged to Allie. Lauren's family comes from money but she is determined to do well for herself and her son (who she had with Tom).
I liked Lauren not only from the previous book when she helped get Tom and Allie together. You can see she was genuine about it and loved Tom a certain way and it was totally okay with them being together. You can just tell she is a strong person. In this story it's Lauren's turn to have the happily ever after that she has always wanted.
I loved Nate!! When you first see him proposing to Jessica and it goes bad after he did so much I felt so bad for him. So when nates sister and Lauren's mother set them up on a date they both have a great time. You can tell right away he is being himself with her and getting to know her. I thought he was so cute by running into her sometimes and bringing her dinner.
They take their relationship slow as just friends which was nice but they both having certain feelings for each other that you can see as plain as day. I liked that their relationship started slow and it wasn't rushed. They didn't just jump in bed together but they got a chance to really know each other and what they wanted.
Their was a little drama but it wasn't overly done and it also wasn't one thing on top of each other it was spread out over time. I am beginning to like the characters more and more. I am excited to see whose book will be next in this series and what will be next in whispering bay.
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