Spotlight & Giveaway: Flying Gold by Vanessa North

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Vanessa North’s new release: Flying Gold

Hard Chrome, is the first book in the American Heavy Metal series, available now from Vanessa North and Carina Press!

 
American Heavy Metal is Tiffani Ellis’s sanctuary, or at least it was before her dad died. Being in charge means her own dreams are firmly on the back burner. Now she spends as much time fixing problems as she does the cars she loves. She’s already struggling to find her feet; the last thing she needs is the man who broke her heart showing up at her shop with a car he doesn’t deserve to touch, much less own.
 
Matt Adams left town, moved to the west coast and became a big shot. But his passion for cars never waned, and neither did his regret over how things ended with Tiffani. Now he’s back, his dream car in tow. He’s gearing up for a big race, he needs help and he knows exactly where to find it.
 
Tiffani won’t turn down a paying job, but working with Matt stirs up feelings best left buried. What was left behind them is irresistible, but it doesn’t take long to realize that a few hot nights will never be enough. Sex is easy, but forgiveness is not…
 
Don’t miss Hard Chrome, the first book in the American Heavy Metal series, available now from Vanessa North and Carina Press!

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Flying Gold 

We creep forward, each mile a small victory as the drive-time DJs talk over the end of every song. I hate that. The sun hangs low in the sky, painting it red and reflecting off the cars in front of me to create a glit¬tering blanket over the highway. Pretty, though sitting through Atlanta rush hour is a high price to pay for the sight.
The car in front of me inches forward, and I move to do the same, but the car shudders, and the engine stops.
Shit. My immediate thought is that I stalled it, but this is an automatic. I twist the key and wait for the engine to turn over. Nothing happens. A horn sounds behind me, and a car to my left glides in front of me. I try to start the car again.
Nothing. Dammit.
I smack the steering wheel once, then fumble around the steering column until I find the chrome button for the flashers, and I pick up my phone.
“Siri, find a tow company near me.”
I pick the first number offered up and call to ex¬plain my location to the good ol’ boy who answers the phone. Then I put the car in Neutral, open the car door, and step out to push, turning the wheel to the right and cursing under my breath. At least I’m in the right lane.
A car pulls over behind me, flashers blinking. I glance over my shoulder as a guy in a baseball cap and a Georgia Tech shirt puts his hands to the back of my car and gives me a brisk nod. He shoves as I steer, and we manage to get the Chevelle onto the shoulder.
“Thanks, man.” I offer my hand for a shake, but he just waves and climbs back into his own car, driving off now that I’m out of his way.
It takes an hour for the tow truck to arrive. The driver steps out of the truck, a big man in denim overalls with a red beard and a shaved head, and looks over my car in frank admiration.
“Wow. She’s a beauty.”
“Thanks—I just bought her. Thought she’d at least get me home.”
“Ouch. That’s rough.” He hands over a clipboard.
“I need your info, the delivery address, and payment method. Cash or credit.”
I fill out my home address, then scribble my tempo¬rary apartment address into the margin. “Um, I don’t know where to have it towed to.”
He appraises me with a raised eyebrow, and I wonder what he sees. I have no illusions about my looks. I’m or¬dinary bordering on nerdy. My glasses, which I’ve worn my whole life, are now trendy, but that’s more an acci¬dent of fashion than me being anything special to look at. And while I’d put my backyard mechanic skills up against anyone on set, out here on the side of the road, I have nothing to show for them.
“Car shop?”
Yeah, he’s got my number. “You know a good one?”
He looks at his phone. “It’s after six, so they’ll be closed, but American Heavy Metal’s where you want her. They’re out of town a ways; I can deliver her in the morning.”
American Heavy Metal. The shop name hits me with a jolt of nostalgia, and not the kind it was meant to evoke. Tom Ellis’s shop. Tiffani’s dad’s shop.
The memories hit me like a swarm of angry bees, each with it’s own sting. Wide hazel eyes and a cleft in her chin that my thumb would ache to touch. Laughter. Kissing—hearts racing—against the front door of her house. Handfuls of dark hair and creamy skin. Study¬ing in her room, my head on her pillow and hers on my stomach. Skipping school to drive her car fast. Laugh¬ing. Laughing. Laughing. Prom night, and all the epiph¬anies under her dress. Loving and laughing, driving fast and feeling invincible, untouchable. Love. Laughing. Graduation night. Betrayal. Crying. Mascara running down her face as she shoves me off the front steps. Her voice cracking under the pressure of hating me.
Tiffani Ellis.
I close my eyes and suck in a sharp breath. She hates me. But what are the chances she’s still in Royal? The smartest, kindest, prettiest girl in our class? No way.
I close my eyes and suck in a sharp breath. She hates me. But what are the chances she’s still in Royal? The smartest, kindest, prettiest girl in our class? No way.
“Up in Royal?”
He grins at me. “You know the place. And you even pronounce it right. I wouldn’t’ve pegged you for a Geor¬gia boy.”
“I grew up there. In Royal.” I scribble American Heavy Metal across the section asking for the delivery address and hand the clipboard back. “Used to date the owner’s daughter.” I fumble my credit card out of my wallet and hand it over.
He raises his eyebrow again, studying me, and yeah, I know I’m no prize, but once upon a time, Tiffani Ellis loved me, and that fills me with equal parts pride and shame.
“No shit, local boy. Well, then you know they’ll take good care of her. Write your phone number on here, they’ll call you when they take possession. You need a ride?”
“If you can drop me off just inside the perimeter, I’ll call an Uber.”
I sit in the cab of the tow truck while he loads up the car, texting my PA and letting him know I’ve been de¬layed. My fingers fly over the touch screen, then still.
Tiffani Ellis. Maybe, after all these years, she’ll ac¬cept my apology.
The thought is terrifying. I never deserved her kindness or her love, but I don’t know if I’m man enough to face her wrath. But my stupid heart can’t help beating faster at the thought of seeing her.
When I try to picture what she would look like now, I draw a blank, my imagination filling instead with her seventeen-year-old face, red under her freckles, streaked with tears and mascara.
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll have a chance to make a new memory of her face to replace that one before I go back to California.
If she’s even still in Royal. And why would she be?

Copyright © 2020 by Vanessa North

Excerpt. ©Vanessa North. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
 

Giveaway: One (1) ebook copy of FLYING GOLD by Vanessa North (open internationally)

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Meet the Author:

Vanessa North is a romance novelist, a short fiction geek, and a knitter of strange and wonderful things. Her works have been shortlisted for both the Lambda Literary Award and the RITA© Award, and have garnered praise from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Publisher’s Weekly. She lives in Northwest Georgia with her family: a Viking, twin boy-children, and a very, very large dog. For up-to-date information on new releases and special projects, sign up for Vanessa’s newsletter or follow her on social media:

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