Title: Gabby Revealed (Finding Perfect #2)
Author: Amy Gregory
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
Event Organized By: Literati Author Services, Inc.
~Synopsis~
Gabby James didn’t have the idyllic childhood many in her little hometown of Renlend, Kansas had. High school was a living hell, but when she graduated she couldn’t bring herself to leave Renlend. The town was her prison, but her family’s bookstore, The Looking Glass, was her one true love. It was the place she could run to, and escape the prying eyes of the ones who taunted her.
Shane Compton was a literary agent in one of the most prestigious publishing houses in New York City. He found no greater rush than finding the next big talent, someone who could take the written word and turn it into an art form. In the span of one rude phone call Shane was drawn into the mystery of just who the fiery new author from Kansas was. When everyone else in the office refused to deal with her, Shane willingly accepted the challenge. There was no logic to the madness, but every time he had contact with her, she drove him wild.
Gabby tried every trick in the book to keep Shane at arm’s length, but he had made good on his promise to come to Kansas. He wanted to pull her out of anonymity, he wanted her in the public eye. Now here he stood, on the sidewalk in front her bookstore, and one look told her he was everything she was afraid he’d be. Too bad she was anything but who he thought she was.
Gabby quickly discovers Shane has more on his mind than just books and with a little help from an ornery matchmaker, he shows her a whole new life through her looking glass.
Purchase Links
Mike’s Way Back: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
~Excerpt~
Steeling herself, she pushed off
the bench and spun to open the heavy glass door. She startled, and stepped
back, not expecting to see a man with his arm outstretched, his hand already
gripping the door handle.
“Shit!” Her palm flew to her
heart and she narrowed her eyes at the stranger while waiting for her pulse to
even back out. Gabby wasn’t going to open the store for another twenty minutes
at least, and she had been looking forward to a little peace before then. “Can
I help you?” she snapped.
“Gabrielle James?”
His voice flowed smoothly over
her—too smoothly. Her chin rose in time with her eyebrow. She knew that voice,
but only the voice. His black dress slacks hung off his hips, fitting him so
perfectly, they appeared to be tailor-made. His pale lavender dress shirt was
crisp, and even though the sleeves were rolled up, he wasn’t able to feign
casual. A purple shirt, even a light one like his, wouldn’t be found here
around her neck of the woods. His light brown hair puzzled her, it was
contradictory to his ensemble. The cut was short, but the hint of curl gave him
a boyish charm his clothing couldn’t cover up, even if he was going for the
consummate professional.
“Yes? Do I know you?” she bit
back, but she did.
Oh…no, no, no. Why God? Why the
hell does this guy have to be him? With her brow furrowing, sadness bloomed in
her heart. She had so much to be grateful for in her life, despite her younger
years and the occasional run-in with the bitches of Renlend. “Well, that
depends on how you define ‘know’.”
His smartass retort interrupted
and his impish grin deflated the stiffness running through her. “Great. You’re
early.”
“How could I be early when you
would never tell me when was a good time to be here?”
“I did.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Yes. I. Did. I said never.” She rolled her eyes and turned
to open the door. His hand was already on the handle, but it was too late.
Twenty-some years of the same move had her already reaching for the handle, her
hand landing on his before she could stop it. The bite of electricity at the
contact made her jerk back instantly.
Her elbow landed hard against a
six-pack.
“Ah. Damn, Gabby,” Shane said
with a grunt. “Do you always try to beat up your customers upon entering your
store? Isn’t that bad for business?”
She dropped her hand from the
tarnished brass handle and turned once again. An almost sincere apology was
poised on the tip of her tongue, but she found herself too close to him to
speak.
Gabby drew in a sharp breath, his
scent encircled her, clouding her judgment. Eye-to-eye with the second button
on his shirt, her gaze traveled upward. As he swallowed, his Adam’s apple fell
back into place. His jaw was smooth, the stubble gone for the day. She was too
close. He was too close. It was too hard not to take in his strong features,
his light brown eyes, and the way his mouth slowly tipped as she drank in the
sight of him.
Letting out a huff, she twisted
away for a second time. “Screw you, Shane.”
“Okay.”
She growled as she pushed at his
arm, trying to knock him out of the way. “Oh my God, that was not an offer!
You’re impossibly frustrating, did you know that?”
“Darling, I do believe you are
the first woman to ever to tell me that.”
“I am not. Your. Darling.” Her
hand flew to her hip and she glared at him. His smile widened and there was no
way to mistake the twinkle in his eyes. Gritting her teeth, she snarled again,
“I cannot even believe you haven’t pissed off at least one woman in this
world.” The man was enjoying himself immensely, if the twitching of his lips
was anything to judge by.
“No…I would have to say, I think
I’m pretty good company.”
“Well then—”She twirled her
finger around in a circle. “—Whoop-de-do-fucking-da. I get to be the first.
Lucky me.” Gabby turned, reaching out again to open the door, but drew her
fingers away seeing his hand still possessing the knob. “Are you going to open
the door, or what?”
“Or what.”
“What?”
“Or what.”
“Oh my God. Just open the damn
door, Shane. Why do you have to be so damn irritating?”
“Are you always this lovable…or
is it just me?” he teased back.
~What inspires Amy Gregory~
My two biggest sources of inspiration…
These are going to sound maybe a bit boring, but music and
lyrics are huge to me. Also, the existing books I’ve written. Let me explain.
First, thank you to my husband for understanding my iTunes
necessity-addiction-same thing, right? I can’t tell you, mainly because I’ve
lost count, how many scenes, or as in today, an entire book, listening to music
has inspired. I am so bad at “plotting” out a book. Instead, I will take a
kernel of an idea from a song or multiple songs and go from there.
The other lead for me is the book I’m writing at the time. I
prefer to write in a series because it allows me to develop the characters and
or setting more in-depth. As I just said, I was driving this morning, listening
to Dierks Bentley’s new album Riser
and three songs struck me. One colored a complete picture of a scene I’ll write
for Drew’s Hope, book four in the Finding Perfect series. Another was the
perfect song for an additional book I am going to add to the ever-growing
series. The third was a heart-gripper I think will be the base for a
stand-alone. And so it continues.
Are most country songs? Yes. Not all, but yeah, I’m a
country girl. The stories they tell are sometimes the missing pieces of the
puzzles I’m working on. If you’ve read my work, you’ve now figured out where
the relationship Alex and her iPod came from. (chuckling) That’s another post
completely, but yes there is something of me in all the books.
I keep a list of all the songs I’ve used for different
books, and it’s funny, how hearing them now, is so different. I can see a
perfect picture in my head of the characters I attached to each one, what they
were doing, what they were going through and where they were at the time.
Sometimes they were good times, some sad, some just plain heart-wrenching and
I’ll tear up. Months and months after the books have been for sale.
I wish someday I could meet at least one of the artists and
explain how profoundly their work has affected my life and my own work. I would
hope they’d think it was cool to think they inspired a book, eh, never know
until they’re looking at you like a crazy person I guess. J
About the Author
When asked ‘when do you have time to write’, Amy Gregory simply laughs. The real answer is, “in bits and pieces”. She and her husband live in Kansas City with their three fantastic kids that keep them running in three very different directions. Because she sits so much, she always carries a notebook with her at all times.
She has an off the wall, snarky, off the cuff sense of humor that often shocks even those who’ve known her for years. And she loves that her children have all been blessed that ability to make others laugh as well. At least she’s grateful most of the time! Her husband often teases her about how she “makes this stuff up” when he’s reading a piece of her work. … The answer—“it just comes to me when I’m typing”. Scary thought, huh!
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2 comments:
Thank you so much for telling all your followers about my snarky bookworm! I truly appreciate the support!
Hugs,
A
You're very welcome, hun! Hugs!
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