Professional runner, Ryan Grant, blows out his knee training for another attempt at the Boston marathon and the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. Ryan retreats home, not looking for anything more than a fast recovery, but he finds solace in the arms of his tax preparer, Tara Mansfield.
Tara’s cheerleading career ended abruptly and she faces an upward climb beating the stereotype as dumb blonde in her new calling as an accountant. Framed with defrauding the IRS during the last weeks of the tax season, Tara’s tentative confidence is shaken, but Ryan coaches her in ensnaring the true perpetrator. She cheers him on in discovering his identity as a coach rather than an athlete.
With the help of the junkyard king and a mechanical bull, can Tara and Ryan find the courage to climb Heartbreak Hill together?
A portion of my proceeds from Climbing Heartbreak Hill will be donated to the One Fund Boston to help those injured at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. https://secure.onefundboston.org/page/contribute/default
Buy Links:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/climbing-heartbreak-hill-joselyn-vaughn/1115383380?ean=2940016558783
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318504
Contact Links:
Email: joselynvaughn@gmail.com
Website: http://joselynvaughn.com
Twitter: @joselynvaughn
Facebook: http://facebook.com/joselynvaughn
Bio:
I live in the Great Lakes state with my husband, three rambunctious children and two barking Beagles (I suppose that is redundant.) When not suffering the woes of potty training three toddler/preschoolers, I enjoy reading, running (sometimes it's fleeing the craziness at home), reconstructing clothing, thrift store shopping and surfing Pinterest.com. (I spend way too much time there and am getting all kinds of exciting ideas for projects for my husband to do. He is less than thrilled by this.)
I love writing romance because I enjoy stories where everything works out all right in the end and the main characters have a happily ever after. My stories are set in small towns with quirky characters that take on a life of their own.
Excerpt:
A lanky, sandy haired man on crutches elbowed his way
through the door, alternating between pushing the glass door open
and inching his crutches forward. He wore a red windbreaker with
Lakeshore Track Club embroidered on the chest. Clutched between
his left hand and the handle of his crutch was a wad of papers. It
wasn’t the worst presentation of receipts she’d seen in the last three
months, but it would make the top ten.
She experienced a brief wave of déjà vu. A flash of his face
laughing in the dark. Had she seen him before somewhere? His
physique didn’t match any of the football players she had been in
contact with. Surely the strange bend in his nose would stand out
enough in her memory. It gave him a reckless air she found
appealing.
“Let me help you with that.” She hurried over to the door
and kicked the stopper down to hold it open while she relieved him
of the fistful of paper. A quick scan of the parking lot told her
Mark’s truck hadn’t arrived yet. “Do you have an appointment?”
“Your sign said walk-ins were welcome.”
His voice had a pleasant timbre. Tara didn’t miss the once-over he gave her. She
was used to those. It was one of the side-effects of having breast
implants not written in the tri-fold brochure from the plastic
surgeon: every male and one in three females will stare at your
chest. At times, Tara wanted to wear a name-tag that said ‘and yes,
they are fake' under her name.
“Walk-ins are always welcome. We have a small break in the
rush right now, so why don’t you have a seat by my desk?” Tara
released the door then made her way around her desk and righted
her chair.
The man put the two crutches together and gingerly lowered
himself into the seat. He kept his left leg extended, and Tara could
see the outline of a brace around his knee through his warm-up
pants. She dropped the pile of receipts into the middle of her desk
and opened a new client file on her computer.
“Have you been here before?” When he answered in the
negative, Tara said, “Okay. Then we’ll need to go through the
basics first. I’ll need all your vital stats.”
“Excuse me?”
“Name, address, phone number, etc.”
“Oh, I thought you meant age, weight, heart rate, and blood
pressure. Guess I’ve been to too many doctors lately. Ryan Grant.”
He rattled off an address she recognized as one of the Ladies Night
Out members. Had Yvonne been holding out on her? They owed
her a favor after she had helped them get Leslie and Mark together.
The last names matched so he must be family. Perhaps Yvonne’s
son?
Sweet, small town romances
Help OneFundBoston - Climbing Heartbreak Hill - Astraea Press
Thanks for having me today!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a unique set up. I like the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI read this excerpt previously on another blog and didn't comment at that point, but now I guess I can't help myself.
ReplyDeleteHad to chuckle at those lines about the implants -- her reaction to the reactions she gets now.
I go to the 'Y' here 3 days per week. I noticed one particular woman mostly because she had several tattoos on her legs. But up "top" she was not especially noticeable. She always looked rather grim, I thought, or perhaps in a bad mood for some reason. Then one day, she entered the exercise room, with a dramatic change: un-mistakable implants. Those "girls" were at least 3 cup sizes larger and her outfit showed plenty enough flesh that there was no mistaking the size increase with padding alone.
So, did I stare?
Well, what do you think? How could anybody NOT notice all that increase in size/volume AND the additional display of considerably more skin?
So, anyway, I guess my point is: some people (whether real-life or characters in books) make it nearly impossible NOT to "notice".
Does Tara ever explain why she got them and how she fees about it? Love the excerpt, but I'm trying to read between the lines to figure out if she likes all the stares her enhanced figure gets her or whether she's tired of it. (But then, maybe that depends on who's staring.) Go ahead. You can say it. Tell me to buy the book if I want to find out. :)
ReplyDeleteHeather, go buy the book! :-)
ReplyDeleteShe does talk about it. It wasn't because she wanted bigger breasts.
Jeff, that's hilarious!
Congratulations on the release, Joselyn and big kudos to you for donating some of the proceeds to the Boston Fund !
ReplyDelete