The
Wedding Gift
Save The Date #3.5
Save The Date #3.5
By: Cara Connelly
Releasing May 5, 2015
Avon
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?
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/04/the-wedding-gift-save-date-5-by-cara.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22439569-the-wedding-gift?from_search=true&search_exp_group=group_b&search_version=service
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/119195-save-the-date
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.
Excerpt
* * *
She did
not just say that.
Mick froze
like a statue. Holy shit. Three days—and two nights!—in this shoebox with Jan?
Impossible.
He opened
his mouth to say so, then snapped his jaw shut. He’d cut off his left nut
before he hurt Jan’s feelings.
She
obviously had no qualms about a platonic roommate arrangement. So if his
frustrated fantasies of getting her naked kept him climbing the walls all
weekend, that was his problem, not hers.
Barbie
raked her with sullen eyes. “Your suitcase is in the lobby. The hotel can’t be
responsible if someone walks out with it.”
“I’ll get
it.” Mick used the excuse to duck out from between them.
In the lobby, he hit up the water
cooler, gulping an icy cupful down his parched throat.
Christ,
rooming with Jan was the last thing he needed. He’d loved her for twenty years,
while she’d never seen him as more than a friend. Sharing a bed with her would
be torture.
As if that
wasn’t bad enough, the timing couldn’t be worse. He already had one foot in
crazytown and the other on a banana peel. And all because of the rescue, the
one that earned him the medal for valor.
Valor. Ha. People wouldn’t think he was
so brave if they knew about the nightmares. Or rather, one nightmare, always
the same every night, replaying the collapsing ceiling that missed him by
inches.
Except in
his dreams, it didn’t miss. In his dreams, the sheet of flames caved in on him,
ripping from his arms the little girl who’d counted on him to save her. Pinning
him to the floor, broiling him alive.
He came
out of the nightmare screaming, lungs on fire, skin melting off his bones.
Not
exactly pajama-party material.
He
shivered in the heat.
Barbie
said his name, and he turned, his smile automatic, a conditioned response to
estrogen proximity that she apparently took as encouragement, because she
tapped his chest with one finger.
“You
didn’t look thrilled back there,” she said.
Was it
that obvious?
“I get
it,” she went on. “You don’t want to hurt her feelings. But honestly, is it
worth your weekend?” Lavender eyes blinked slowly, invitingly. “I can show you
parts of Key West tourists don’t get to see.”
Her tone
said the parts she wanted to show him were up under her flouncy skirt.
The truth
was, another time he would’ve taken her up on it. But not this weekend.
For better
or worse, he’d be spending every minute with Jan.
And here
she came to the rescue, hands on her hips jealous-girlfriend style. “Damn you,
Mick McKenna, I can’t let you out of my sight for a minute.” She blistered
Barbie with a step-off glare.
It was an
old ruse, dating back to high school, and very effective at fending off the
girls who thought nothing of elbowing Jan out of their way to get to Mick.
Playing
his part, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her to his side.
“Thanks for the offer,” he said to Barbie. “But we’re here for a wedding. No
time for sightseeing.”
Barbie
crinkled her pert nose. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
She disappeared through a door behind the desk.
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Review:
I really enjoyed this novella. I love books when best friends get together. Although I haven't read the other books in this series, now I am dying to. I loved each and everyone of the characters. I loved how Mick has been in love with Jan forever and has never done anything about it, but now that he has to share a room with her well him keeping his hands to himself might not work.
Mick was super sweet that he liked her the way she was and didn't want her changing the way she is. I fell in love with him more and more as the novella went on. You can tell from the beginning of the book that they were more then best friends in a way. They had a kind of spark about them. Although they end up getting together they still aren't certain about each other and where they friendship will go from crossing the line. I enjoyed how everyone knew that Mick has been in love with her but she was the only one that didn't know. Super cute!
The Wedding Gift was a fun, fast read that will put a smile on your face. The one thing I do wish is that this would have been a full length book. Because they were friends it didn't seem like their relationship was rushed but I think a full length book would have drawn out both of their attraction to each other and kept you more on the edge of your seat to see how they would have worked out.
Thank you so much for hosting THE WEDDING GIFT!
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