Spotlight & Giveaway: Chick Magnet by Emma Barry

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Emma Barry’s new release: Chick Magnet

From Emma Barry comes a clever romance about a hot veterinarian and a chicken-loving influencer who can’t help but ruffle each other’s feathers.

Nicole Jones needs a fresh start. “Chick Nic” to millions of internet fans, the social media star and her flock of chickens bask in the spotlight―until she’s publicly dumped by a YouTuber for clout. She has no choice but to round up her birds and move on.

But when one of her hens has an emergency, Nic gets her first taste of her new stomping grounds―and it isn’t good. Veterinarian Will Lund is wildly attractive, yes, but he’s also surly. In fact, he comes right out and calls her a menace for parading her chickens on social media.

As neighbors, Nic and Will can’t exactly avoid each other. Then again, maybe they don’t want to. The two can’t deny their smoldering attraction, and it isn’t long before late-night confessions lead to backyard shenanigans.

Is this the start of a neighborly relationship―or could something more be hatching?

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Chick Magnet 

Her past experiences with veterinarians and chickens hadn’t been good. The only other time she’d taken a hen in, the vet had chided her about her overreaction and insisted everything was fine. Then the hen had died a few days later from what Nic now suspected was a tumor, probably caused by a virus. Nic’s guilt had been crushing, and she’d decided then and there that she had to learn everything about chickens and to share it with as many people as possible.
But this, this was a situation when she needed the kind of help only a professional could provide, and the only professional in the county wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Nic cupped her hand against her face and squinted against the glass. The lights in the lobby were off. “Argg.”
Against Nic’s chest, Camilla shuddered with every exhale. When Nic switched the bundle to her other arm to try the door again, the hen quirked her head, trying to turn her face to the light. Her dark-gold eyes blinked, but they were duller than they should be. Even her comb was pale against the revolting mint green of the towel, a relic of the 1970s Nic had found when packing up Granny’s house and had kept for sentimental reasons.
Camilla gave another minute rumble, something Nic felt more than heard. In her “Top Ten Chicken Noises (and What They Mean)” video (830,000 views and counting!), she had explained this precise noise. The hours Nic had spent awkwardly crouching in the coop to capture all those different squawks and cries, which had been followed by the hours Nic had spent editing—she hadn’t been as good with tech then—had resulted in one of her more punchy, informative videos. She’d said this sound was a difficult one to parse. This purring could mean distress or deep contentment. It was obvious which this was.
Nic had been distracted with unpacking and juggling appoint- ments, and she hadn’t paid enough attention to her flock. This was her fault. More so than the messes with Rose and Brian, more even than Mitzi getting out the other day, Nic should have handled this differ- ently. Should have handled it better. Camilla was paying the price for Nic’s mistake.
For lack of anything better to do, Nic pressed the small black but- ton by the door frame. A mechanical buzz sounded in the lobby.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the hen, jamming the button a second time. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
A light flickered on the hallway visible beyond the lobby, and an absolutely hulking mass came into the glow.
“Hello! Are? You? Open?”
The mass unlocked the first set of doors, entered the breezeway, and stopped being an undifferentiated colossus. It was a he, and he was the neighbor who, two days prior, had chased Mitzi with Nic in the rain.
Nic gasped. Stupidly. Loudly. If it had been Brian, if it had been Santa Claus, she would’ve been less surprised. The Viking worked at the vet’s?
“You.” He sounded even more unhappy than he had the other day.
“Me.” She tried to dispel the shock with a toss of her head. The power of her hair didn’t extend that far, though. She wasn’t She-Ra. “I need some help.” Surely it was obvious she wasn’t selling Tupperware.
“Another chicken problem?”
Nic bristled. She’d been chastising herself—she knew she was responsible—but she majorly disliked him pointing it out.
“Yes.” She boosted up the bundle, tipping it so that he could see inside. “She’s egg bound. Or maybe the egg’s already broken, I’m not sure.” Camilla could be bleeding internally, she could have an infec- tion . . . and Nic needed to stop jumping ahead to the worst-case scenario.
“Since when?”
Nic didn’t want to get into the full history before crossing the threshold of the practice, especially if he wasn’t going to treat her bird. “Awhile. Are you still open?”
While she could put on an imperious tone, Nic didn’t have a lot of cards. What was she going to do if he said no? There wasn’t an emer- gency vet for fifty miles. Camilla might not have fifty miles.
“Yeah,” he finally said. “We are.”
He unlocked the front door, and Nic followed him inside. She was suddenly, sharply aware that no lights were on save for in the hallway and no one else was around. She and this massive guy were proba- bly alone. Unlike two days prior, they weren’t out in public now, with whatever measure of safety that might offer. Her well-honed alarm bells weren’t going off, but they likely should be.
“So are you the vet? Or is, um, the vet here?” she asked. “Because she might have internal injuries, and—”
“What happened?” As it had the other day, his voice had absolutely no softness, which would make him perfect for raiding coastal villages and whatnot.
It was comforting that he led with rudeness. The people who meant you harm, who did the most harm, were often charming. They lured you in with sweetness, and then they pounced. This guy had no sweet- ness, hence he wasn’t a threat . . . she hoped.

Excerpt. ©Emma Barry. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
 

Giveaway: 1 Print copy of CHICK MAGNET by Emma Barry (US. only)

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Meet the Author:

Emma Barry is a teacher, novelist, recovering academic, and former political staffer. She lives with her high school sweetheart and a menagerie of pets and children in Virginia, and she occasionally finds time to read and write.
 
Buy Link: Amazon | IndieBound |