<— TEMPTING TALK IS LIVE AND WE. ARE. CELEBRATING!!! Remember that crazy-awesome cake the author gave away a few weeks ago? We’re doing it again, but there’s another option!!!
Today’s newsletter sponsor Sara Whitney has a glorious giveaway to celebrate today’s release of her witty, sexy new contemporary romance Tempting Talk, a 2019 RWA Golden Heart award finalist.
“This was my Golden Heart finalist book, and Mabel and Jake have lived in my heart for years, so I’m thrilled it’s finally going to be available to the world. 🙂 “
Here’s the quick take:
Rock deejay Mabel Bowen doesn’t date, period. Neither does all-work accountant Jake Carey. But when the two meet during the sale of Mabel’s radio station, their chemistry’s too tempting to ignore. Can they turn up the volume on their future, or will they decide the numbers don’t add up?
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Here’s the full playlist for this hot, hilarious read:
Rock deejay Mabel Bowen rules the morning airwaves, but once she signs off, she’s happy going home alone; a long-ago humiliation taught her that women in the public eye should be cautious about dating. Then she meets the Clark Kent-ish accountant overseeing the sale of her radio station and starts wondering if she should break her own “girl, don’t date him” rules.
Since he was teenager, Jake Carey has worked to lift his family out of poverty, and he’s now on the verge of a promotion that’ll secure their financial future. Why, then, is he so quick to set aside his spreadsheets whenever the gorgeous morning show host is around? After years of using work as an excuse to avoid searching for emotional connections, he’s now jumping at every chance to spend time with Mabel and her maple syrup voice.
Despite their initial reservations, Mabel and Jake move from conversations over coffee to flirty office lunches to a night out that obliterates all their previously drawn lines. But when a professional betrayal sends Mabel fleeing back to the safety of her single-girl rules, Jake isn’t ready to give up on this once-in-a-lifetime love and sets out to balance their work/life books.
Giveaway details in a sec, but first, an excerpt:
That girl is single.
The thought materialized like the sharp clang of a bell. Single. It had only taken listening to Mabel’s radio show once for Jake to develop an appreciation for her fast wit, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she was single.
But obsessing about that wasn’t what he’d been hired to do. He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sucked in a breath, picturing that empty partner office on the fifty-sixth floor of his building that was waiting for him to fill it. The image helped push thoughts of Mabel’s voice from his mind, and he exhaled slowly, calm back in place.
“Everything okay?” Brandon was looking at him with curiosity.
“Yep.” Of course. He was reliable, work-first Jake Carey. The same as always.
“So who’d you leave behind in Chicago?” Brandon spoke as if Jake’s thoughts were printed above his head. “Wife? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”
Thumb, meet tender spot.
“Not even a potted plant,” Jake said flatly. “The job keeps me busy.” Which was true, even if it wasn’t the whole story.
Brandon just sighed. “God, you workaholics wear me out. At least I’ve got an ex pestering me about shared custody of the dog.” He pinned Jake with his sharp blue eyes. “Is it worth it?”
Brandon’s suddenly serious tone was a 180 from his normal flippancy, and Jake didn’t even have to think about the answer. “For a partner’s salary? Of course it’s worth it.”
Worth not pledging a fraternity in college so he could spend all his free time taking course overloads to graduate faster. Worth not investing time in his dating life, searching for relationships with the potential for more. Worth every skipped vacation, every weekend in the office, every family holiday where he’d paid for the meal but hadn’t left in time to eat it while it was hot.
F*ck, it had to be worth it.
“What a drag.” The man across from him shook his head as he tucked his phone into his pocket. “In your next life, I recommend being born rich.”
Jake huffed a laugh. How perfectly ridiculous and perfectly Brandon. “Sure. I’ll get to work on that.”
He might not have been born rich, but he’d busted his ass, and now he had a fat 401(k), a condo with a view of Lake Michigan, and enough in savings to allow him to sleep soundly at night. A partnership at his accounting firm would be the keystone in the life he’d been building from the moment he’d realized as a teenager that he wanted more for his worn-down mom and his hungry, big-eyed sister than constant money worries and a shitty walk-up apartment in one of Chicago’s bleakest neighborhoods. And if that required spending a few months sorting out the books at a downstate Illinois radio station, so be it. Nothing was going to knock him off course.
“Knock, knock.”
Jake’s shoulders tightened when the woman with the sharp brain and the supple voice invaded the office. How? How did Mabel summon goose bumps with only a handful of words? He dragged his eyes to the doorway to confirm that the blonde he’d met on Wednesday still vibrated with the same bright energy he’d first glimpsed through the studio window.
Single. The word resurfaced with another clang.
NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY:
We couldn’t decide on the coolest prize for one lucky commenter here, so we decided that the winner gets to choose!!
My first thought for a giveaway: A free review of your taxes! Jake’s an accountant, after all, and he loves whipping financial files into shape. But Mabel would one hundred percent roll her eyes at that suggestion and tell him to quit being a weirdo.
First option: So how about this instead: The Milk Bar cake giveaway I did for the release of Tempting Taste was such a hit, and I was bummed that I couldn’t pick more than one winner. So let’s do it again, hmm? Just take a look at this cake (this time it’s the chocolate version)!!! (<— side note from Maryse: HOLY. MOLY!!!!)
Second option: Or… how about this instead: At one point in Tempting Talk, Jake sends Mabel a potted orchid (no spoilers here; you’ve gotta read to find out the details yourself!) and I thought, well, maybe Jake should send an orchid plant to a lucky Maryse reader, too.
Maryse: Oh but now I just saw the chocolate version of that cake from the first giveaway and it looks just as YUMMY (and just as pretty as the first one)!!!! Two of my friends both said they’d want the orchid interestingly enough, but they love plants. And of course when I saw the chocolate cake MY mind went nuts for that (even though I DO love orchids, especially potted ones that I might be able to keep for years). Decisions decisions… though let’s be honest, I don’t do sugar anymore… so if it were me, I know I’d choose the orchid. 😛
Sara: I kill ev-uh-ree green thing that comes through my door, so I’d probably go cake. But the orchids are so lovely, and not everybody does sugar, carbs, etc. I just hope it brightens people’s days, whichever they choose. It’s such a stressful time right now!
How to enter for a chance to win the cake or the potted orchid?
Hit the comments and let me know what you’re listening to these days! Who’s the current star of your streaming service? Or are you a podcast devotee? An NPR junkie? Do you have a fave song you’re listening to on repeat? Make Mabel’s day (and mine!) by sharing what’s tickling your eardrums at the moment!
And by 10pm EST, Sunday March 22nd, 2020, I will randomly select one lucky commenter as the winner.
The winner will be contacted and will have 48hrs to respond confirming their mailing address (and their preferred choice of the cake or the orchid), so if you are picked, do not delay or you will lose your chance. This beautiful cake or the orchid will be sent directly by the bakery (Milk Bar) or orchid plant seller of the author’s choosing!!
Giveaway open to US!!!
I have to go with cake. I’ve been curious about Milkbar ever since I saw them on Food Network and the cookbook in my library years ago.
I’ll eat all the sugar right now.
What am I listening to. Kpop for sure, still going strong with that. Also, been revisiting my love for Bob Dylan lately.
I love podcast especially NPR’S Pop Culture Happy Hour, this has been a recent revisit too.
Ask Me About Kpop: two best friends who share their love and joy in the genre.
Oh, and The Tablo Podcast. Tablo is the leader of Epik High (some great music) It can be a little rambling but he is so smart and funny.
I’ve posted this before but he and his daughter years ago were on a reality show and his daughter had the hugest crush on G Dragon.
It makes me smile everytime I watch it, so if anyone needs a smile:
https://youtu.be/DTjwYlBYfaU
Okay, I’m a Kpop newbie. What’s the best place for a person to start?
PCHH is one of my faves! I love that Linda Holmes is passionately pro-romance. 🙂
I would definitely go for the cake. And I am definitely going for the book. They both look great. This is all your fault Maryse. You started talking about Linda Ronstadt who is my girl. I pulled out my old album SILK PURSE and have been listening to it constantly the last couple days. My favorite song of hers is LONG LONG TIME. Always makes me tear up. There is a story behind this song for me that I will tell you sometime.
Oh JulieO I want to hear it, And I will listen to the song as I read it. I love that song too.
Will send it to your email bc kind of personal. Will send tomorrow.
I haven’t listened to Linda in ages but will definitely give her a spin tonight. Thanks for the nudge (and the book and cake love)!
That cake, wow, just…wow. That’s a serious splurge I’m willing to dive right into.
Podcasts typically aren’t my thing since I work from home. I usually have YouTube playing in the background. Music though, I’ve been listening to Billie Eilish. She’s not all pretty and pink, rainbows and sunshine. I just completed the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon with “You Should See Me in a Crown” 👑 as my anthem.
LOVE Billie! She’s unapologetically herself, no?
CAKE… for sure cake..! Looks so yummy😋 Thank you for the giveaway 😊
At the moment I’m listening to Taylor Swift’s “Only the young”
Nice! I can’t go a day without listening to “Lover” …
I am listening to Dermot Kennedy’s song Outnumbered. His voice gives me goosebumps!
I have a birthday coming up in April so I would love the cake.
Hey, I’m an April birthday too! It’s a good time of year to celebrate. 🙂
I’m all about some old country right now, like George Strait, Alan Jackson, and Merle Haggard!
Streaming Aaron Watson
That cake looks divine.. I’m currently listening to Marked by P.C. Cast
Baby shark is currently on loop at my house….send help! Cake would definitely ease the pain of the nonstop song! I can’t wait to begin reading Tempting Talk!
Heyyyy! I am always listening to The Heaving Bosoms Podcast! Also, YAY SARA!
I need cake in the worst way right now!!!