Hello Bookdragons!
Guess who read 8 books so far. Me, of course! đ I will be off to a tiny little vacation. I am stepping outside house after almost a year (except for small city visits) đ and I can’t wait to be in my vacay mode! Make sure you’re follow me on Instagram because I’ll be sharing a lot of pictures there đ
Now coming on to the post, today’s my stop for the blog tour of Mismatched in Mayhem hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to reveal the excerpt of Mismatched in Mayhem.
BOOK DETAILS
Book Title:Â MISMATCHED IN MAYHEM
Author:Â L.E. Rico
Publication Date:Â January 13, 2020
Publisher:Â Entangled Publishing, LLC (Bliss)
Formats:Â Paperback, eBook
Pages:Â 248
Find It On: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo
Welcome to Mayhem, Minnesota, with its sweater-wearing cats and ultra-competitive trivia nights. Where love really does conquer all…if youâll let it.
Walker OâHalloran is finally ready to shed her âwild childâ persona. Bartending at her familyâs pub, babysitting her adorable niece and nephews, and getting her degree during the day. What she doesnât do is date–or even think about dating. Ever. Until he walks into her bar, looking like a former Mr. Quarterback of the Football Team and Student Council President all rolled into one. No, thank you.
Mason Stevens has a secretâand it prevents him from knowing if someone is truly interested in him, or just what he can do for them. Until he meets Walker. Sheâs the first person in ages who doesnât recognize him, and her grouchy attitude feels like the greatest challenge of his life. And heâs ready for it.
But the more time they spend together, the more heâs desperate to come cleanâitâs just never the right time. Until the paparazzi do it for himâŚ
EXCERPT
EXCERPT 1
When he glances back down again, he finds me staring. At him.
âCome here,â he says quietly, opening his arms to me.
For a second, I fell bashful, and itâs such a foreign feeling for me. I loathe the feeling of vulnerability. But itâs not just a feeling. Itâs what I am. And somehow, thatâs never a problem when Iâm with him.
I step forward and he draws me against his large, broad body, making me feel delicate and fragileâlike a bird. A bird he could easily crush. I know this now. But I go to him anyway. Because my heart wonât let me not go to him. So I stand on my tiptoes, wrapping my arms around his neck, and pressing my lips to his. This is my answer to his apology. This is my promise to him. This is the moment that finally frees me from the self-imposed curse thatâs plagued me for so long.
When we finally stop kissing, weâre still attachedâevery part of me touching every part of him. Weâre staring at each other, and I feel an intensity between us that sends a wave of heat throughout my entire body. He puts his hands on either side of my face, stroking my skin with his thumbs.
âHowâd I get to be so lucky?â he whispers, more to himself than to me.
âI donât⌠What do you mean?â
âYou have absolutely no idea, do you?â
I donât. Maybe Iâm dense, but I donât have any clue what it is that heâs trying to tell me. âMason, I donâtââ
Before I can finish, heâs scooped me off my feet and into his arms. âJohnny Walker Black OâHalloran, you have well and truly stolen every bit of my heart. And, if youâll have me, it would my great honor to spend tonight showing you just how much that means. Just how much you mean to me.â
I want to believe him. ButâŚ
âLook at me,â he commands, sensing my reluctance. âLook at my face.â
I do, scanning every inch from forehead to chin.
âLook in my eyes.â
I do, settling my gaze there.
âDo you see it?â he asks. âDo you see how much I care for you, Walker?â
My acknowledgment comes slowly. Itâs a nod that arrives only when I do see it for myself.
âI do. And IâŚI think IâŚI mightâŚâ
His lips are on mine again before I can struggle with the words for too long. And then, I press my lips against his ear, and I whisper.
âStay.â
EXCERPT 2
I head to the only place where I seem to be able to clear my head. The roof. At nearly two in the morning, the entirety of Main Street is dark and deserted. I sigh and close my eyes, hoping maybe Iâll doze off. And I doâŚbut then Iâm dreaming that someone is calling my name. It takes a few seconds to realize that it isnât a dream. Someone really is calling my name.
âWalker! Are you up there? Walker!â
Startled, I jump up and follow the sound to the edge of the roof overlooking the alley between our building and the one next door. Looking up at me is Mason Stevens.
âMason? What are you doing here?â
âI have to talk to you. Can you please come down here?â
I shake my head.
âUh-uh. No way. Go home, itâs late.â
âPlease! Just let me talk to you.â
âI am not coming down.â
âOkay, then let me come up and see you thereâŚâ
âDude! Youâre not listening to me. I donât want to talk to you. Thereâs nothing to say.â
âOf course there is! I have to explain about Cassandra. And I know what my mom said to you at the pub. Walker, thereâs so much I have to say to you. Please, donât make me do it from down here.â
âNo.â
Iâm about to turn around and go inside when he does something incredibly bizarre. He grabs the long drainpipe that runs down the side of the building. And he starts to climb.
âHey!â I holler down at him. âHey, stop that!â
âWalker OâHalloran, I love you!â heâs saying as he passes the first floor windows and starts on the second floor.
âMason! That thing is not going to support your weight. Stop! Please! Just go down before you kill yourself!â I hear myself getting louder and shriller. A light comes on across the street in an apartment over the newspaper office.
âNo. I wonât stop. Not until we get our H-E-A.â
âOurâŚwhat?â
âHappily ever afââ
I presume he was going to say âhappily ever afterâ right up until the moment that the brackets holding the pipe against the brick façade break free and the pipe starts to bend backward, taking Mason with it.
âOh, shhhââ I hear him mutter just before I lose all sense of time and place.
Heâs falling. Heâs high enough up that heâll surely break his back, or his neck, or crack his skull open. Oh, sweet Jesus, he could die! He came here to see me and I wouldnât let him up. So he climbed the wallâŚand now heâs going to die! Iâm going to kill someone else.
âMason!â I hear myself screech as he continues his backward descent, still clutching the pipe with his arms and legs.
Itâs all happening in slow motion and, for a brief second, heâs almost horizontal, like a pig hanging off a spit at a luau.
âMason!â I shriek again, running back and forth along the ledge of the building, my eyes scanning the roof around me for inspiration. But thereâs nothing. And itâs too late, anyway.
I can only watch in horror as he falls out of my reach. And out of my life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-Winning author Lauren Rico also happens to be  one of the top classical music broadcasters in the country. Her voice is heard nationally on SiriusXMâs Symphony Hall channel, as well as on radio stations in New York City, Charlotte, and Tampa. Sheâs even been known to accompany travelers as they fly the skies over Thailand, Oman, and China as part of the in-flight entertainment on several airlines. Her love and passion for classical music have allowed her to breathe new life into the stories of the great composers.
And now Lauren is telling some stories of her ownâŚ
Beginning with her erotic thriller, Reverie (Harmony House Productions, 2016), she set out to âput the sexy back in Bach,â creating a riveting tale of passion, deception and redemption set against the backdrop of an international music competition. She rounded out the trilogy with Rhapsody (Harmony House Productions, 2016) and Requiem (Harmony House Productions, 2017).
From there, Lauren partnered with Entangled Publishing, LLC, to create the first in her Symphony Hall series of romance novels, Solo (Entangled Publishing 2017). Her most recent release, Mistletoe in Mayhem, is the third in the five-book Whiskey Sisters series (Entangled 2018). Upcoming projects include two more Whiskey Sisters romances, a follow-up to Solo and a super-secret, as-of-yet-unnamed thriller.
Lauren hopes to bring classical music to a new audience by showcasing it in twisty, steamy stories that grab the reader and keep them turning pages â and YouTubing the music â into the wee hours.
When sheâs not on talking on the radio or typing on her laptop, Lauren enjoys time with her husband and spectacularly spoiled mini-schnauzer.
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