Thursday, February 7, 2013

Smitten at First Sight Excerpt Tour

BLURB:
Maggie Robin has been dating the irresistibly good-looking, successful Jeffrey Preston for two years. But when Jeffrey proposes marriage a week after Maggie’s college graduation, she is no longer sure if she wants to marry a workaholic TV producer.

Maggie’s doubts culminate when during a ski trip to British Columbia, she meets Taylor Denton, a handsome, free-spirited big mountain skier who is the complete opposite of Jeffrey. It does not take Maggie long to realize that she has fallen in love with Taylor and she decides to break off her engagement with Jeffrey. But just when she thinks she has found the love of her life, an ill-fated misunderstanding tears Maggie and Taylor apart.

A week later, Maggie is told that Taylor has died in a tragic ski accident; yet, her heart refuses to believe in Taylor’s death. When Maggie returns to Taylor’s native town, she learns that Taylor is indeed alive, but has been seriously injured. Resolved to bring her lover back to life Maggie stands by Taylor’s side, convincing him to embrace life again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:
The Dusty Boot bar stood a few blocks away from the Owl Lodge. The bar’s exterior was unassuming: the wooden steps leading inside felt wobbly under one’s feet and the slanted roof indicated a need for repair - the atmosphere inside, nevertheless, more than made up for the battered facade. It was still too early for big crowds, but already a good-sized group of locals had gathered by the bar, swapping stories of their daily victories and occasional setbacks on the slopes. Taylor’s and Maggie’s entrance elicited a round of boisterous greetings from the bar patrons.

Taylor nodded at the loud reception, his face coloring slightly. He knew most of the people at the bar stand and could tell that they were curious about Maggie – this was a 
small town, and every time he was seen in the company of a new girl, there was bound to be talk about it. The townsfolk never tired of jeering Taylor about his dates, maintaining that he should get hitched with Hannah. The fact that Taylor did not have a steady girlfriend, allowed the town people to keep thinking that only Hannah was good enough for Taylor. Personally, Taylor found this notion ridiculous and dismissed it as nothing more but a silly joke – he and Hannah had practically grown up together, and she was like a sister to him, and it had never crossed Taylor’s mind to think of Hannah as anything more than a friend.

Taylor could tell that Maggie felt uncomfortable under all the curious stares and quickly steered her toward the bar.
“Hey, Shawn.” Taylor was surprised to see Shawn behind the bar stand on his day off. “I thought today wasn’t your shift.”
“Oh, the manager asked me to fill in at the last minute – what the heck; I could use a couple of extra bucks.” At the sight of Maggie, Shawn’s expression tightened. “Hello Maggie. I’ve got to say that I’m a bit surprised to see you here,” added Shawn.
Taylor had to restrain himself from shaking his head – Shawn usually disliked out-of-towners and was never subtle about his emotions. “Maggie and I ran into one another on the mountain.”

Shawn nodded, eyeing both Maggie and Taylor, as though looking for clues. “Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked, busying himself with clearing away empty beer bottles from the bar stand.

“It was great,” Taylor answered. “Maggie is a natural – skiing with her was a pleasure.”
“I bet,” Shawn spoke without looking up. “Now what can I get you?”
“I’ll have the house draft,” said Taylor quickly - it always took Shawn time to warm up to strangers, but today he was acting way off base, and Taylor wanted to get Maggie out of the line of fire before things got any weirder. “What are you having, Maggie?”
“The same.” She nodded.
Shawn filled their glasses from the tap and placed their drinks on the counter.
“Thanks Shawn.”
Maggie reached for her wallet, but Shawn stopped her.
“No need – these are on the house,” he added, looking straight at Taylor.
Taylor took the beers. “It’s way too crowded here - I think we’ll drink these at a table.”
“You do realize that people will start talking…” Shawn muttered.
“So let them talk.” Taylor shrugged, “I can’t keep a cover over everyone’s mouth.”


Marie will be awarding to five randomly drawn commenters at the end of the tour, one of the following five custom-designed jewelry prizes:

Prize 1: Blue quartz three strand necklace with sterling silver clasp
Prize 2: Jade and prehnite necklace
Prize 3:Green aventurine sterling silver earrings
Prize 4: Smoky quartz sterling silver earrings
Prize 5; Rose quartz sterling silver earrings

So, visit the other tour stops and comment for more chances to win!
February 1:  Andi's Book Reviews 
February 4:  Sugarbeat's Books


Bio and Links:


Marie Astor is the author of contemporary romance novels Lucky Charm, Smitten at First 

Sight, This Tangled Thing Called Love, romantic suspense novel, To Catch a Bad Guy, and a short story collection, A Dress in a Window.

If you would like to find out more about Marie’s books, please visit Marie at her website: www.marieastor.com.
Lucky Charm
Smitten at First Sight
A Dress in a Window – a collection of short stories about love, coincidences, and fate.
Over the Mountain and Back – young adult fantasy adventure novel about a boy who takes his snowboard for a ride and finds himself in a magical, hidden world he never knew existed.
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5 comments:

  1. Goddess Fish PromotionsFebruary 7, 2013 at 5:10 AM

    Thank you for hosting today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary PrestonFebruary 7, 2013 at 7:52 AM

    I do so hope it all works out for Maggie.

    I love the name Maggie.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emiliana25February 7, 2013 at 11:24 AM

    From what I've read so far, she had the right idea to chose the other guy!

    emiliana25(at)web(dot)de

    ReplyDelete
  4. JibrielFebruary 7, 2013 at 12:57 PM

    Love the excerpt!

    jibriel.o(at)web(dot)de

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marie AstorFebruary 7, 2013 at 11:01 PM

    Thank you for featuring Smitten at First Sight today!

    Thank you All for Your wonderful comments!
    I hope to see you at the next stop!

    Marie

    ReplyDelete

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