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Excerpt and Giveaway: High Stakes

Monday, March 25, 2013

Former party girl, Alisa Turner, made a deal with her daddy, Trey. He’ll provide the seed money for her new business venture as long as she promises to stay out of trouble. Too bad her good intentions tumble 30,000 feet when she meets a sexy stranger on a flight to sin city. 

Hotel mogul, Liam Bryson, has never believed in love at first sight, but when a sexy little siren twenty years his junior tempts him into a night of high stakes Blackjack, he’s suddenly playing for keeps. 

Alisa wakes up in Liam’s bed the next morning, cursing Tequila and the five carat diamond on her left hand. She demands an annulment before her over-protective father finds out she reneged on their agreement, but her new hubby isn’t prepared to let her go without a fight.

Excerpt

“Have you seen this garbage?” Trey Turner asked, tossing the rolled up newspaper in his daughter’s general direction. “That’s the third time this month I’ve seen your face in some rag, drinkin’ or partyin’ with—” 

Alisa held her hand up. “I’m not having this conversation with you again. I’m twenty-five, not five. That means I get to decide what I do and with whom I do it.” She loved and respected her father, but if he had his way, she’d live under his roof and abide by his rules until she was too old to care about having fun. 

“Oh yeah?” He smirked. “Who bought you that fancy condo you just had to have, or how about that new A7…” His eyes fell to her shoes. “Gucci?” He whistled under his breath. “Must’ve cost a pretty penny. Might be the last pair you buy for a good long while. I hear waitresses are only makin’ minimum wage plus tips. That’s probably not enough to buy designer shoes or purses.” 

“You’re threatening me?” Alisa couldn’t believe what she heard. She and her father had always been close. He may not always agree with the choices she made, but he never threatened to cut her off before. 

“Call it what you want.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you from self-destructin’ the way I did.” 

Alisa knew her father’s history with alcohol. When her parents divorced, before remarrying more than twenty-five years ago, he’d hit the bottle hard and nearly destroyed everything he worked so hard to achieve. But she wasn’t him. She was young and single, trying to enjoy life a little before settling down into the life of domestic bliss so many of her friends seemed to favor. The life she’d almost had, before another woman stole it from her.


Cheryl began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her first romance novel. The first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when the manuscript began taking on a life of its own. Characters came to life, secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation. 

One word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming. 

Cheryl feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows, she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.


Comment and receive...

She'll be awarding the following prizes to randomly drawn commenters during the tour:

* two $20 Amazon Gift Cards
* ten trading card/cover flat packs (US/Canada)
* ten eBooks from the Nashville Nights series (winner's choice)
* two sterling silver necklaces (US/Canada)



31 comments:

  1. fifi said...:

    I read the excerpt before the summary and it sounded pretty common but when I read the summary I was all intrigued, silly me :D

  1. Thanks so much for featuring High Stakes today!

  1. Sounds really good! I'll have to add it to my wishlist! :)
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

  1. Cassandra said...:

    Sounds very intriguing, I thought these books were usually tame. It sounds like it will be a great read :)

    Thanks for sharing it with us :)
    Cassandra
    closkot at hotmail dot com

  1. bn100 said...:

    Nice excerpt

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

  1. erin said...:

    Congrats to Cheryl on her new release! Sounds awesome :) Thanks for sharing!

  1. Cindi said...:

    Great plot!! I would LOVE to wake up in bed with a hot guy and a FIVE CARAT diamond ring on my finger;) Unfortunately, I'll have to live vicariously through this awesome story!!

    cc_clubbs [at] yahoo [dot]com

  1. Amber said...:

    Thanks for the giveaway!!

    alslagle06@live.com

  1. Unknown said...:

    Love the cover!!

    Great giveaway!!



    carriefort29@yahoo.com

  1. andie said...:

    abrennan09@hotmail.com
    Great prize - thanks - I'm always in awe of people who, despite having made an earlier career path, choose to really go for their dreams. Admirable.

  1. Ashfa said...:

    The cover is great- love it. Thanks for the giveaway.
    blackcapballistics(at)gmail(dot)com

  1. Anne said...:

    I'm intereste to see how the 20 year age difference affects Liam and Alisa's relationship. At first I was hmmm, 20 is a bit much, but then I startedto think of the possibilities.

    acm05atjuno.com

  1. Beppe DM said...:

    Thanks for this great giveaway!!1

    beppe_dm(at)teletu(dot)it

  1. laurie said...:

    Sounds really good! I'll have to add it to my wishlist! :)

    parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

  1. Lucinda said...:

    The excerpt was way better than the summary and it looks interesting!

  1. wow this book looks like it would be a fun read! ty for the excerpt!

  1. The cover is nice, and it sounds like a fun story as well. Great.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Sounds very intriguing!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

  1. The excerpt gave me a very good idea of the wealth we are talking about here.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

  1. Rachel said...:

    This book looks great!

    silberman.rachel(at)gmail

  1. Rita Wray said...:

    Great excerpt, sounds like daddy's not happy.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

  1. Heather said...:

    Sounds like a great read. Thanks for this great giveaway!!

  1. Interesting storyline, I don't think I ever read a romance book when the age was so specific and the man was at least 20 years older than his female love interest (even in historical romance books)

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Great sounding book.

  1. donnas said...:

    Sounds great. Thanks for sharing!!

  1. Andra Lyn said...:

    woo..yeah ...the excerpt on it's own is like whatever but when paired with the blurb you get excited!

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

  1. Joanne said...:

    Congrats on the new release. High Stakes sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it. Thanks for the great blurb, excerpt, and giveaway.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Wonderful thoughts! I like the sounds of this one! Thanks for the chance to win!

    Kate

    hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

  1. michedt said...:

    Thanks for the excerpt. You rarely read about a woman who is sqandering away life. Should be a good read.
    Michelle Tucker
    michelletucker at baconnation dot net

  1. Diana said...:

    Thanks for the excerpt! :)

    - Diana
    chaoticreader.blogspot.com