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A Friendly Engagement
A Friends First Novel #1
Christine Warner
Released June 2015
Entangled Publishing
Omar
Esterly is married to his job. But when Omar sets his sights on a potential,
family-oriented client, his confirmed bachelorhood becomes a problem.
Fortunately, his friend and employee, Devi Boss, has the perfect plan…
Okay,
so it wasn't exactly Devi's plan to become her friend's fake fiancée. Lies
aren't her style. However, Omar offers her a big, beautiful raise—enough to
track down the missing father she's never known—and Devi reluctantly agrees to
the whole engagement hoax…
This
was supposed to be a no-strings-attached win-win for both Devi and Omar, but
when they cross the line between friendship and…well, something more, Devi
realizes she’s made a huge mistake that just might cost her both job and
friend—falling for her fiancé.
“You’re game for anything,
right?”
Devi compressed her lips
and studied Omar through a narrow gaze, taking in the way his overly bright
eyes concentrated on her face as if memorizing every pore. Her gaze traveled
south to the non-existent rise and fall of his chest and how he pushed his suit
jacket aside as he placed his hands low on his hips. He’d stopped breathing
while he waited for her reply. That made her more nervous than anything.
“Normally I am game for anything, but considering the man asking the question,
I’m a little nervous.” She licked her lips.
Omar shook his head,
swallowing her hands in the warmth of his. “No. This is a great idea. I can’t
believe I didn’t see it before.”
“I’ll hold back on saying
I’m glad I could help until I know what you’ve got pinging around your brain.”
She tried to pull free of his grip, but he only grasped her fingers tighter.
Her inner voice told her whatever plan he’d cooked up included her and she
wouldn’t be thrilled with the role.
“Bartow wants a
family-first firm. He wants a planner who is married, blah, blah blah.” He
dismissed his unfinished words with the thrust of his chin.
Devi nodded, her mouth
going dry. Was he planning to hire a wife, or about to propose?
“I might not be married,
but what if I were engaged?”
She didn’t want to jump to
conclusions about the proposal so she pasted on a tight smile. “Do you have a
serious girlfriend hidden away I don’t know about?” The thought unsettled her,
but she pushed aside the heaviness in her gut. Omar and relationships mixed
like fire and ice. Not that women didn’t find him attractive and vice versa,
but his true love would always be work. Most sane women wanted something more
than a workaholic commitment-phobe.
He shook his head a bit
too vigorously. “No. No.” His grip tightened, and she flexed her fingers so
he’d loosen his hold. “Hear me out before you shoot me down.”
“I’m more curious than
ever.” Again, she threw sand over that niggling feeling in her belly. She never
jumped to conclusions. Living by the seat of your pants didn’t allow it, but…
Why start now? She rolled
her shoulders in an effort to relax. Omar pulled her off to the side and out of
the crowd moving past them on the sidewalk. His hands shook with excitement,
and he swallowed hard before clearing his throat. Always calm and collected,
his buildup unsettled Devi, and she tugged one hand from his grip and pressed
it against the gurgle growing in her stomach.
“How about we announce our
engagement? I could pull in some favors and have it in the press Monday
morning. That’d still give Bartow enough time to invite us to the meet and
greet. And—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Devi’s
stomach did a nosedive, and she yanked her other hand from his death grip and
stepped back. She twisted one of the bangle bracelets on her wrist. “Our
engagement? First off, I didn’t even know we were dating. And second, I am not
going to help you get ahead by lying.”
Omar and Devi's relationship has moved past boss/employee to friendship. She helps him the remember that there is more than just work. So of course, Omar figures that they can pretend to be engaged so that he can try to land a huge account. We all know what comes next - fake romance becomes real. Of course it's not all smooth sailing, but there the drama is not over the top. There are lots of romantic and sexy moments as well as an emotional reunion that I figured right away. Overall a cute, fun and sexy read that left me wanting to read the following books about Omar's brothers.
I received an ARC via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
On sale 10/12-10/18!
A
Friendly Arrangement
A Friends
First Novel #2
Christine
Warner
Releasing
Oct 26th, 2015
Entangled
Publishing
Holly Haggerty and Roth Esterly are two besties with everything in common—they’re neighbors, career-driven, and commitment-phobes. Tired of always being set up on dates by well-meaning friends and family, they take matters into their own hands: they will be the other’s plus one—a little friendly arrangement between friends.
Easy…until a steamy night where they cross the line. But that’s okay, they’ll add an addendum—one that includes a little action between the sheets…on top of the sheets…and without the sheets. But there are rules. Dating and sex are exclusive until one of them decides to terminate the agreement. No slumber parties. And if either party becomes emotionally involved they will break things off with no hard feelings.
When unexpected news changes their plans and turns their fun arrangement into something more serious, Holly and Roth must come to terms with what’s more important—what they thought they wanted, or what they really need.
Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her family, one laptop, and a much loved assortment of furry friends.
Besides laughing and a good dose of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing, but no arithmetic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes, and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.
A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on facebook, twitter and her website at christine-warner.com
I liked the excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for featuring A Friendly Engagement on your blog and helping me spread the word about the .99 sale :) And thank you as well for taking the time to read and review xoxox
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