Hi everyone! The time has arrived to show off the new pretty cover added to my collection of published (and soon to be published) works…
Here’s
the gorgeous, shiny new cover for Could Have Been (Feathered Tartan 4):
Cover Art by Martine Jardin.
What
I loved about this is… Everything! It’s how I would have designed the cover,
had I been allowed to do it myself. It’s my new favorite by Martine, I love it
that much!
Coming
soon from Extasy Books!
Could
have Been…
Tagline: What happens on vacation, stays on vacation…
Or does it?
Blurb:
Fighting regret and grief over his wife’s death, Joshua Campbell is sent to a resort in the Bahamas by his brothers as a way to recharge and unwind. All he expects to do is relax, and maybe play a few games with his fellow vacationers. The last thing he wanted was to hook up with anyone while memories of his late wife still haunted him.
Newly single Lauren Richardson’s ex-husband’s betrayal was enough to call an end to anything commitment wise for a while. Relaxing on a tropical beach was a great way to rebuild her flagging confidence. She didn’t want any more ties, especially with a sexy Siksika man she runs into on a secluded part of the beach.
Joshua gives Lauren a fake name to hide his background, and a spark
ignites that sets their libidos on fire. A few more encounters lead to a night
of erotic pleasure, forging a bond that makes them wonder if their fun could go
beyond their excitement in the sun. Tragedy strikes, ripping them apart,
sending Joshua into a deeper sense of despair, and Lauren wondering if she’ll
ever see the father of her child again.
Just outside of the bar, in the crowd,
someone hit his side, and he automatically reached out to hold them steady.
Soft, silky skin touched his
fingers, and a cloud of strawberry-blonde curls hit his face, sending a whiff
of something soft and feminine into his nose.
“Whoops, sorry!” The woman in his
arms turned her head to look up at him. Her smile instantly turned sheepish as
her azure gaze met his. “Oh. Hi there.” She saluted him with her drink, a blue
concoction in a tall glass.
Joshua grinned. It was the gorgeous
redhead from the beach. He glanced down and with an inward sigh of relief,
noted she was wearing a strapless crimson dress that hugged every luscious
curve to her knees, and matching high-heeled sandals. Her lips were painted in
bright red lipstick, and her eyes were outlined in brown liner, with lash
extensions. Not many redheads could pull off a crimson dress, especially one
that tight, but she did, beautifully.
She tucked a curl behind her ear and
the pink on her cheekbones highlighted her runway-worthy looks. A long, gold chandelier
earring winked at him for a moment.
He smiled at her kindly, feeling an
unknown emotion rise in his gut. “No problem.” He dropped his hands. “Did you
get snorkeling?”
The redhead’s eyes went wide and she
giggled. “Not yet, maybe tomorrow.” She stared up at him with a bigger smile.
Her gaze moved downwards before meeting his again. “Want to join me?”
Joshua blinked. As gorgeous as this
woman was, he didn’t want companionship, only relaxation. He averted his gaze
and scratched the top of his left forearm. “Uh…”
Her blue eyes turned cloudy and her
smile faded. “You’re not interested in women.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that,
it’s―”
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry
about it. You’re a gorgeous man, and I thought since you recognized me in something
other than my bikini, I thought it meant you wanted some company.”
Fire creeped along his cheeks. He
was used to attention from men and women, but never had anyone outside of his
late wife been so blatantly honest with him about how they liked his looks.
“Thank you,” he mumbled and shoved his hands into his pants pockets with an
awkward shuffle of his deck shoes on the stone walkway, unsure of how to
respond other than gratitude.
She gave him a smile that seemed to
light up her face, bringing the smattering of freckles along her cheeks into
sharper focus. “If you were interested, I’d ask you to go salsa dancing with
me.” She flipped her hair over her left shoulder with a hand, the bright lights
along the path catching the sparkle of stones set in a ring on her middle
finger. She wasn’t wearing a wedding band, but he knew that sometimes married
people liked to pretend otherwise, so they could mess around. It was common in
his parents’ circuit, and his own generation, although most of his attached cousins
and siblings adored their spouses and didn’t play games.
Unconsciously, he fisted his left
hand and the quiet bite of his wedding ring dug into his fingers, a sharp
reminder that he was only there to relax and recharge his drained batteries. He
smiled at her and sighed. “Honestly, I swam all day and it’s starting to catch
up with me. I didn’t realize it until a few minutes ago.” It wasn’t a lie. He
hadn’t been able to sleep properly in over a year, not since that fateful night
that he lost his beloved.
She nodded with a slow blink, her
eyelash extensions creating a smudged crescent on her cheeks for a second. “I
understand. I’m still feeling a bit jet lagged myself.” With a shrug, she took
a sip of her drink and smiled again. Her lipstick left a red ring around the
blue straw, creating a splash of crimson. “Get some rest. Maybe we’ll run into
each other again.”
Many thanks to my bestie, Heather, for giving me the idea for this duology; my editor and longtime pal Jon for his insight and amazing editing skills; our beloved cover artist Martine for once again giving me another winner in her cover art; our Editor in Charge at Extasy Books, Jay; Angie, and everyone else at Extasy Books including my fellow authors from Dawn and Jon to Tim, Carol, Mel, Jo, AJ, and more. Love you guys, tons!
Leaving all of you with the beautiful and haunting "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton.
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