Spotlight & Giveaway: Save the Date by Monica Murphy

Posted June 24th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 41 comments

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Monica Murphy’s new release: Save the Date

 

Spotlight&Giveaway

 

Caroline Abbott loves her job—helping engaged couples pick out the perfect save the date cards and invitations for their dream wedding. Working at Noteworthy means she has to deal with the occasional bridezilla, but Caroline’s always up for the challenge.

Until one particular bridezilla walks into the stationery store who’s fiancé happens to be the boy Caroline shared her first kiss with. Alexander Wilder is all grown up now, helping run his family’s successful luxury hotel chain, and is somehow even better looking than she remembers.
 
When Caroline just happens to catch Alex’s fiancée half naked with another man well, of course she has to tell Alex. Of course, he breaks off his engagement.
 
And of course, the ex-bridezilla has gone completely bonkers.
 
At least Caroline has her friends to save her from crazy ex-fiancées. But she also has the sudden interest of…Alex? Caroline knows they share a connection, but is he on the rebound? Or after seeing her all these years later, does he really want something more?

 

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Save the Date 

“I wish I could just—escape from here, even for just a few days,” I admit, my tone wistful.
“I could probably make that happen.” His smile is tight. “I have a problem that I’m hoping you could help me with.”
Um, somehow those two sentences don’t necessarily belong together?
“What’s wrong?” Without thought I reach out and touch one of those sexy forearms. His skin is warm, his arm hard. For a guy who’s such a workaholic, I get the sense that he’s pretty muscular underneath that sweater and those jeans.
Whoops, there go my cheeks. I can feel them catching fire.
“Promise you won’t freak out when I ask you a question?” He raises his brows as he waits for my answer.
My heart leaps to my throat and I nod, offering a croaky, “I promise.”
He exhales loudly. Reaches for my hand still resting on his arm and places his big hand over it, holding me there. His gaze is locked on mine as he says, “Want to go to Paris with me in two days and pretend to be my fiancée?”
I blink at him once. Twice. Three times, before I manage to say, “Come again?”
Another ragged exhale leaves him while he squeezes my hand. “We’re trying to acquire an old hotel in Paris, and we’re in the midst of negotiations, though we were confident it was already ours. Now, my father’s not so confident—there’s another company trying to outbid us, and my father asked me to go to Paris to talk to the original owners so we can seal this deal. And he wants my fiancée to go with me.”
“Um, he knows you and Tiffany broke it off, right?”
“Yes, he knows. But he’s also disappointed that we broke it off. Not because he loves Tiffany, more so for the image of me being a man who’s about to get married and start a family.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
“Let me explain.”
We go sit on the couch and he launches into his story. The Descheaux family owns a crumbling old hotel building the Wilder Corporation is desperate to acquire. They were a family-run business nostalgic for the old days, when the father and his sons ran their three hotels in Paris. Times have changed, one of the sons passed unexpectedly, there were some mismanaged funds, and business tanked. All of the hotels were eventually closed. One building has already been sold and one of them is in a highly prized location.
“It’s right across from the Louvre, down the street from the Ritz and the Place Vendome. High-end shopping, high-end restaurants mixed with touristy spots. It’s in an ideal location, and we want it. It would be the perfect start for the first Wilder Hotel in Europe,” Alex says.
“That sounds amazing.” I pause. “I still don’t quite understand why you need a fiancée when you meet with these people, though.”
“My father thinks it’ll be just the advantage we need to lock in this deal. Portraying us as a family-run business ready to create more generations is the message he wants to send,” Alex says, his expression vaguely uncomfortable.
His words, of course, make me think of us working on creating that next generation. In case you don’t get where I’m coming from, I’m imagining having sex with Alex.
My cheeks are still hot, no surprise.
“So he wants the picture-perfect fiancée by your side. The adoring future wife,” I say, hoping I’m on the right track.
“That’s exactly what he wants.” Alex nods. “I know you have a full-time job at Noteworthy. I’m guessing it’ll probably be difficult for you to get the time off.”
“The schedule is already out for this week.” I have Friday off—unusual—and back to back to back appointments on Saturday. Wedding fever is kicking in.
“How easygoing is your boss?”
“Iris is pretty wonderful.” But is she so wonderful that she’ll give me a week off at the last minute so I can go to freaking Paris?
Maybe.
“I guess the question I need to ask is, do you want to come to Paris with me?”
I stare into his eyes, noting how hopeful his expression is, how much he’s reminding me of early teenage Alex right now. I would’ve done pretty much anything for that boy back then. Those old feelings come rushing back, filling me with longing, and I say without thinking…
“Yes. I’ll go to Paris with you.”

Excerpt. ©Monica Murphy. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
 

Giveaway: 1 paperback copy of Save the Date by Monica Murphy

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and post a comment to this Q: What did you think of the excerpt spotlighted here? Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Meet the Author:

Meet Monica:
Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Connect with Monica:
Facebook: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyFB
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyGR
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1YUl0Vm
Twitter: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyTW
Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/IW5U0y
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2ZAthV1
Instagram: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyIG
Twitter: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyTW
 
 
 

«
»

41 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Save the Date by Monica Murphy”

  1. Mary Preston

    A bridezilla or even an ex-bridezilla certainly captures my interest right off.

  5. laurieg72

    It sounds like Caroline and Alex have a second chance at starting a relationship and eventually fall in love. How cool that the start will take place in Paris, one of the most romantic cities in the world. I love the whole storyline.

  6. Marcy Meyer

    I think the excerpt sounds good. I like the idea of the fake fiance’, and going to Paris should be a lot of fun.

  7. Karina Angeles

    Wow. What an attention-getter! I can’t wait to read what happens when Alex whisks Caroline to Paris.