I'm thrilled to share this great news! Christi Barth, fabulous writer and my awesome critique partner, has a new release and it's perfect for your summer beach read, a weekend read...or any excuse you can come up with to enjoy this book. Even better news, too...this book is the first in a trilogy which means there's a lot more romance coming up.
Hope you enjoy this blurb and excerpt and be sure to get your copy today!
Up To Me ~ Book 1 of the Shore
Secrets trilogy
Ella
Mayhew’s always appreciated the beautiful view of Seneca Lake from the spa
window of her family’s hotel. But the view improves dramatically when a hot
stranger runs across the grounds—shirtless. He’s the first man to kickstart her
hormones in the three years since she lost her parents, and she doesn’t even
know his name.
Graydon
Locke’s on his umpteenth undercover assignment. The routine’s always the same:
assess a business, recommend it for closure, then roll out before anyone
discovers his decisions impact hundreds of lives. He’s always believed nothing
good comes out of small towns. Why would this one be different? Then he makes
two classic rookie mistakes—falling for the sweet, sexy girl who owns the very
business he’s on the verge of axing. And letting the town’s residents get
involved in both his life, and his relationship with Ella.
Ella’s
the best thing to ever happen to Gray, but he’s lied to her from the start. If
he pulls the plug on Mayhew Manor, the entire town may crumble. Ella couldn’t
save her parents, but it’s up to her to save their hotel. Even if that means
turning her back on true love.
Excerpt:
“Come do yoga with me tomorrow.”
“I’m a guy. We’re all about being hard and stiff,
not soft and bendy.”
Ella blinked rapidly to clear the images of a
naked, hard-muscled Gray that popped into her mind. And hardness…other places.
“Don’t be so close-minded. Didn’t you end up enjoying the massage I gave you?”
“Yes.” He sounded adorably sulky at being forced
to acknowledge it. Why was it that men found it so hard to admit when they were
wrong? Definitely a topic of discussion for her next margarita night with the
girls.
“See? You can’t dismiss something out of hand
without at least trying it.”
Gray wrinkled his nose. “Do I have a choice?”
“No.” Ella brought up her other hand to cup his
face. “You deserve to be looked after. It’s not much, I know, but let me help
you in the only way I can.”
“I’ll do it—”
Ella bounced a little. “Terrific.”
“—on one condition. I’ve just come up with a
good plan for stress release. Let’s try my way first.” Gray wove his fingers
through the loose knit of her turquoise sweater. In one swift move, he pulled
it off over her head and tossed it into the corner. “Come swimming with me.
Right now.”
Was he serious? To stall for time while she
processed the preposterous suggestion, Ella stammered, “We…we don’t have
suits.”
“You said the pool’s still officially closed. No
one will interrupt us.” He toyed with the strap of her matching tank. “You’ve
got this thing. I’m wearing boxer briefs. We’ll be more covered up than in
suits. Unless you don’t think you can control yourself around me?”
That was it in a nutshell. Not that she’d admit
it to Gray. Not when he had that sharp eyebrow arched and a smug quirk to his
lips. If he was trying to shock her…well, he had, no denying that. But what
better way was there to embrace life fully than to embrace a dripping wet,
mostly naked Gray? While she’d never work up the courage to tell him, this was
the kind of activity Dr. T. would probably applaud. Or at least give her a gold
star. He had asked her to email him with progress reports if anything big
happened. Unable to resist, she glanced down at Gray’s crotch. Ella expected
something very big, indeed, was about to happen.
“Water’s extremely therapeutic,” she said in her
most serious, I’m massaging you but not
judging your naked body in any way professional voice. “Swimming is a good
counterpart to yoga. They use the same long muscles.”
Yup. Her matter-of-fact delivery dropped his
eyebrow back to its usual straight line and wiped the smug from his lips. Ella
kept the surprises rolling. She stood, unbuttoned her skirt and let it slide
the floor into a big blue puddle. Then she reached out, grabbed his wrist, and
yanked him sideways into the pool with her.
The simultaneous body flops slapped noise and
water all around the room. Ella recovered first, treading water while waiting
for Gray to get his bearings and surface. Keeping her head above water was
easy. Breathing, however, was not, as she was laughing her head off at catching
him off guard. Finally, with much thrashing and churning of the water, Gray
popped up near the middle of the pool.
“What the hell?” he yelled, his voice bouncing
off the rocks with a hollow echo. “I’m wearing clothes!”
“So take them off,” she yelled back. Geez, it
was his idea. Ella had just implemented it without talking it to death first.
She’d thought he’d appreciate her spontaneity.
Gray stared at her for a minute, totally
unreadable. Then his head disappeared beneath the water again. In fact, he sank
straight to the bottom. It worried her. But just until a heavy, sodden pair of
jeans landed like a giant blue spitwad in front of her. Laughing, she tossed
them over her shoulder in the general direction of their shoes. Then Gray’s
shirt appeared, floating near the filter. Something she’d have to remember to
retrieve before morning when maintenance would make their final sweep before
reopening the pool.
She felt Gray first. His head brushed against
her stomach. Using her body like a swim ladder, he climbed it with his hands
until just those brilliant blue eyes broke the surface. Blinked at her once.
Then he tilted his head back and arced a stream of water from his lips to the
dead center of her forehead. Laughing even harder, Ella reached under his
shoulders to pull him the rest of the way up.
That’s when the laughter stopped. When buoyancy
slammed his oh my God so hard cock
right against her. When it was the most natural thing in the world to wrap her
legs tight around him to keep him nestled against all her heat and what felt
like every freaking nerve ending in her body. And when she twined her arms
around his neck just for the thrill of rubbing her breasts across his chest.
With two powerful kicks, Gray propelled them to
the wall. He sandwiched Ella against it and hung on to the rocks to keep them
both afloat. “I’m on board with your idea. As you can tell.” He ground against
her in a way that absolutely proved not only that he was enthusiastic about
stripping, but that there was definitely nothing between them other than two
thin, skintight layers of cotton. Gray’s impressive length was no longer just
an impression or wishful thinking. It was hard and long and she couldn’t wait
to impale herself on him. For now, she locked her ankles together and let the
water do most of the work of bobbing her up and down in a rhythmic, full-body
caress.
Water glistened at the tips of his lashes. Ella
kissed it away, then just kept heading south. Over his early-evening stubble.
Down past the Adam’s apple that jerked reflexively. She’d always thought them
sexy. So uniquely masculine.
A nibble in the hollow of his collarbone. Down
till her lips were just underwater, closed around his nipple. Ella flicked it
against her teeth. Gray…growled? Whatever the noise was, it came from deep
inside him and turned her core body temperature up by about twenty percent.
Bio: Christi Barth earned
a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage.
A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she
succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes award-winning
contemporary romance. Christi is President of the Maryland Romance
Writers and lives in Maryland with her husband.
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