Par for Cinderella
by Petie McCarty
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
Billionaire Aidan Cross longs to escape his life of celebrity and become a regular guy, if only for a brief time. His chance comes when his yacht breaks down near quaint Cypress Key, Florida—the site of his planned five-star golf resort. The golf resort no one in town wants.
Casey Stuart has given up her dream of escaping to the big city. She refuses to desert her uncle, even when he hires the new stranger in town to replace her at their golf course. Casey vows to steer clear of the stranger called Aidan and the danger their inescapable chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.
When Casey discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful autocrat. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found relationship.
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Excerpt Three:
“I haven’t thanked you properly for saving me.”
“Well, you did at the clinic, but you were pretty out of it. I admit I’m curious what you mean by thanking me properly.”
Casey couldn’t get enough of those warm, dark eyes that now twinkled with mischief. Definitely, mischief.
She tried a smile. “You tell me.”
“Weeelll.” He drew out the word as he rubbed the stubble on his chin with his free hand. The arm braced on the back of the couch allowed him to hover close.
She could feel his warm breath on her cheeks and tried to memorize his scent for later after he was gone. The strange urge left her disconcerted since she’d never responded like this to a man before. At least, never this quickly.
Must be the concussion. Had to be the concussion.
“I’m thinking a kiss would be a proper thank you.”
Her heart skipped over one full beat in its rhythm. And she tried one more smile. “Maybe—”
Hunk grimaced. “I know what you’re going to say.”
“Um, yes.”
“What?”
He’d been whispering all along in deference to her headache, but now he barked. The stab of pain in her skull came and went with the single word. His eyes widened.
“Maybe yes,” she repeated in a whisper.
His eyes narrowed. “No teasing?”
She shook her head, immediately winced.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I should kiss it and make it better since I caused it.”
She inhaled sharply.
“Here.” He placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead. “And here.”
Another kiss brushed across her right eye. “Then here.” The other eye.
Pulsebeats sprinted and blood whooshed through her veins.
Could that be good for a concussion?
Oh, who cares?
“And definitely here.” His voice had gone hoarse, as his lips caressed hers lightly with one smooth stroke.
No, no, no. Come back. That was too fast.
He chuckled low and deep. “I’m not done.”
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Yall, this book. This series. Yes, I’ve read all of the books but this one is my favorite by far. I’ve had a soft spot for Aiden since Rhett’s book and Ms. McCarty delivered a sweet, funny, emotional romance with a bit of suspense and golf (woot!). I was hooked from the first page and this is definitely a re-read for me. Oh yes, a must. I’ll be honest, I don’t re-read a lot of the books that I review for this site but this one…I will definitely do that. Plus, I fell in love with a certain Scotsman named Ian that I’m praying she writes next. Sorry, I love time travel, too but I must read Ian’s story next.
For me what makes Aiden so different from all the billionaire’s in disguise is that he really is a nice guy. He sees wrong and tries to fix it. He’s not doing it for the glory but for the sheer joy that he brings to other people. He sees an injustice and wants to fix it/help someone. Little did he know that fixing things would lead to jail, a town that is owned by a true villain, arson, an evil stepmother/stepsister, a godmother with a hidden agenda and a town that he is ready to call home with the most beautiful green eyes that mesmerized him from the start. *swoon* I was seriously swooning for Aiden throughout the book. I just can’t explain it.
Casey is a good girl from the start. Her past and future are tied to the town and she sees no way out except to fight the mayor and the mayor’s son every chance she can. Plus, dealing with the stepmother and stepsister from hell and making sure her uncle doesn’t have to take a “loan” from the mayor. The baseball references that she and Aiden make about anything sexual is cute but not overly done. This is a sweet romance with plenty of kisses but you can feel the undercurrent just waiting to bubble over between these two. Ms. McCarty writes a beautiful romance that anyone can read but makes it so swoon-worthy, not only with Aiden but you’ll swoon for Ian, too.
Did I mention that there is golf in the book? I love golf. I used to work PGA and LPGA tournaments when I was in my 20’s and living in Dallas. My husband plays golf. Personally, I’m awful at it but I’ll drive the cart, buy the drinks and make sure everyone else is having a good time. Golf is central to the story and I love how Ms. McCarty doesn’t overuse golf metaphors or terms that most people wouldn’t understand. She did her research and it shows. I hate when authors use sports as a backdrop to the romance and they don’t have a clue. She does and it shows.
The secondary characters are too long to list but there isn’t a bad one in the bunch. From the mayor, sheriff, Belle, PJ, DeeDee, Evelyn, and the scrimp captains to the rest of the townspeople, they all tie into the romance and intrigue in the story. I really can not say enough about how Ms. McCarty was able to weave the romance, golf, dirty deals, suspense and swoon-worthy moments in this book. There is never a dull moment and I hated that it ended. If I had one complaint is that I was hoping that Aiden would have been able to deal with his dad on some issues.
Again, this book. This series. You seriously need to read it.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World — “The Most Magical Place on Earth” — where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-elements-of-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband, a spoiled-rotten English Springer spaniel addicted to pimento-stuffed green olives, and a noisy Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in Angel to the Rescue.
Visit Petie’s website online at http://www.petiemccarty.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.
BIO Social Media:
http://www.petiemccarty.com
https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty
https://twitter.com/authorpetie
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty
https://www.pinterest.com/petiemccarty
http://www.amazon.com/author/petiemccarty
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-mccarty-30851412
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Petie McCarty will be awarding an ebook of Betting on Cinderella (Book 2 of the Cinderella Romances series) to 5 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.
Cinderella thanks you for your very kind words, for taking valuable time to read and review our story, and for hosting us on our Goddess Fish Book Tour! Harlie’s Books ROCKS!!
Have a magical week!
Petie
Thanks for hosting!