Breathless in Love, Maverick Billionaires, Book 1, now
available at the following retailers. Kindle Kindle UK Kindle
CA Kindle AU Nook iBooks iBooks
UK iBooks
CA iBooks
AU Kobo.
Also available in Print.
This just in! Share Bella's post about the release --> http://bellaandre.link/BILfb1 to enter to win cool Maverick swag! Check out the photo at the end of the blog to see the fabulous swag!
Meet the Maverick Billionaires: Will, Sebastian, Matt,
Evan, and Daniel. Sexy, gorgeous, self-made men from the wrong side of town.
They survived hell together, and now have
everything they ever wanted. But when each Maverick falls head-over-heels for
an incredible woman he never saw coming, he will soon find that true love is
the only thing he ever really needed...
Breathless in Love, Book 1
Available Now
Will Franconi has a dark past that he’s kept a closely
guarded secret―very few people have ever heard his real story and he plans to
keep it that way. After surviving a hellish childhood, he’s now living the
dream life where everything he touches turns to gold. But something’s missing. He
doesn’t quite know what until a simple letter from a teenage boy brings Harper
Newman into his life. A woman who just might fill up the empty places inside
him…if only he could ever be worthy of her love.
When a man has more money than he could possibly spend in
five lifetimes, Harper has to ask herself what Will Franconi could possibly
want from a woman like her? She’s learned the hard way that rich men always get
what they want no matter the cost. If it was just herself she had to worry
about, Harper would manage, but she’s guardian to her younger brother who
depends on her for everything. After nearly losing his life in a car crash,
she’s vowed never to let anyone hurt him ever again.
Still, sometimes Harper can’t help but long to change her
story from one of an always-cautious woman to an adventurous tale of a heroine
who’s wild and free…especially when Will’s kisses and caresses make her utterly
breathless. And as he begins to reveal his story to her, she discovers that
he’s so much more than just another wealthy, privileged man. He’s kind and
giving, and he fills up all the spaces inside of her heart that have been empty
for so long. Together, can they rewrite their stories into a happily-ever-after
that neither of them had previously thought was possible?
And we’ve got so much more to come! Look for Sebastian to be
enchanted by the beautiful but independent Charlie in Reckless in Love, coming Nov
11, 2015. Then Matt will be captivated by his motherless son’s pretty, young
nanny Arianna in Fearless in Love, coming April 20, 2016.
Preorder Fearless in Love, Book 3. iBooks iBooks UK iBooks CA iBooks AU
Before I give you an excerpt of Breathless in Love, I’ve got
a few announcements.
First, to celebrate the release of Breathless in Love, I’m
making my reincarnation tale, Twisted by Love free from June 12 to
June 14! Three days of free! This offering is only available on Amazon, but I
know there are plenty of kindle-reading apps for other devices. I’ve got one on
my phone and my iPad! You can find Twisted by Love here: Kindle Kindle UK Kindle
CA
And don’t miss my other free book, Dead to the Max, Max
Starr Series, Book 1.
Kindle Kindle UK Kindle
CA iBooks iBooks
AU iBooks
UK iBooks
CA Kobo All
Romance Coffee
Time Romance Smashwords
Lastly, Berkley is putting two of my ebooks on sale for the
first time ever! The Principal’s Office Kindle Nook iBooks Kobo and The Naughty Corner Kindle Nook iBooks Kobo. So take
advantage!
And now what we’ve all been waiting breathlessly
for, an excerpt of Breathless in Love.
Breathless
in Love
Maverick Billionaires, Book 1
Copyright Maverick Oak Press
Chapter One
Will Franconi gunned the engine of his classic 1970 Dodge
Challenger and the rush of speed exploded through his veins.
He had built a billion-dollar luxury goods business by
respecting his customers, his suppliers, his business partners, and his
employees. After he’d learned the hard way as a kid how lies and cruelty could
ruin a life, he’d worked like hell to turn his own around. Today, though his
meeting was with a kid instead of a power player, he was just as intent on
getting there on time.
And if that meant pushing the powerful car even faster, all
the better.
Jeremy Newman’s letter to Will had been scrawled on spiral
notebook paper that looked like it had been ripped out of an elementary school
binder. Having watched Will’s clip on the TV show Hot Cars, Jeremy had written that he loved cars, had seen every
movie and TV show ever made about cars, and begged to see Will’s collection.
The boy’s longing had touched something in Will that he
couldn’t define. And only a total jerk would say no.
Powering into the turn off the freeway, his tires spat
gravel while the back end held firm as he blew through the open gates of the municipal
airport on the San Francisco Peninsula. The speed sent another rush through
him—a rush that he’d always needed, lately more than ever.
Down the row of hangars, the two specks ahead coalesced into
a woman and a young man, taller than she was and younger, too—a teen. The boy
was bouncing on his feet with nervous energy.
Will had been expecting an eight-year-old. Could this
teenager be Jeremy? Will took his foot off the gas and tapped the brakes,
slowing as individual features came into focus. The two had similar bone
structure, but where the teenager had brown hair, the woman was blond, and not
out of a bottle, either.
Rolling to a stop beside them, Will focused on her, the bump
in his pulse having nothing to do with his earlier burst of speed. It was all
about her—the lush lips, the blond hair cascading in waves over her shoulders,
and the business suit that failed to disguise her sweet curves. She wasn’t
dressed Saturday casual the way Will was, but all straitlaced and buttoned up.
The hair gave her away, though, flowing free and sexy in the breeze blowing off
the bay.
“Mr. Franconi, Mr. Franconi!” The teen began waving his
arms, practically jumping out of his sneakers. In one hand, he gripped an
orange spiral notebook, shaking it wildly. It could very well have contained
the torn-out page Will had in his jeans pocket.
So this was Jeremy Newman. He had to be seventeen or
eighteen, even though the printing in the letter had been, at best, at a third
grade level, and the tone was the same, one of an exuberant child on a mission.
Will climbed out of the restored white Challenger. The car
was the reason he’d almost been late. He’d been up in San Francisco that
morning checking over a shipment of caviar. An exclusive from Russia, he’d paid
a fortune for it and had done the inspection himself. Driving the Challenger to
this meeting had been a last-minute decision, and the Bay Area traffic had been
bumper-to-bumper on the detour back to his home in Portola Valley to pick up
the car. Spring was here, and everyone seemed to be out for a drive on the
first clear, sunny Saturday in weeks.
Fortunately, the excitement on the boy’s face as he raced
around the car was worth the extra trouble.
“Wowowowow.” Jeremy spoke so fast it was almost one word.
“Jeremy, calm down,” the woman said, but she was smiling at
the boy as she did so. Her voice was as smooth as the award-winning Japanese
single malt whiskey Will imported.
If Jeremy had been younger, she could have been his
mother—the same nose, the same blue eyes. But at somewhere in her late
twenties, she was far too young to be the mother of an eighteen-year-old.
“I’m Will,” he said as he left Jeremy to his raptures over
the car for a few moments and turned to focus his attention on her. “Will
Franconi.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Franconi.”
She shook his hand and he was struck not only by the
strength of her handshake, but also by how soft her skin was. So soft that he
didn’t want to let go, especially when he caught the flicker of awareness—and
heat—that sparked in her eyes when they touched.
“I’m Harper Newman.” She carefully drew her hand away from
his. “My brother Jeremy is obviously too excited for a proper introduction.”
She smiled fondly again at her brother, who was kneeling to study the rim on
the right rear tire, lovingly running one finger over it. “I really appreciate
your taking the time to show us your car collection. With your busy schedule,
we don’t want to keep you too long.”
“First of all, call me Will. And second, it’s my pleasure.”
He hadn’t expected to meet a gorgeous woman—and single, judging by her bare
left hand—here today. She had no idea just how great a pleasure this meeting
had turned out to be.
Jeremy raced back over to them. “It’s just like the
Challenger Barry Newman crashed in Vanishing
Point.” His speech pattern was slightly off. Not slurred so much as
overpronounced, as though his mouth had to work harder at making the sounds
come out right, and his inflections were out of sync with his words. “Barry
Newman,” he repeated, then poked his own chest. “Jeremy Newman, get it?”
Will was thinking that Jeremy was way too young to know
about the classic movie from the early seventies, when Harper told him, “He’s
watched all the great car chases, from Vanishing
Point to Bullitt and every one of
the Fast and Furious movies.” Her hand lay on the boy’s back, rubbing
between his shoulder blades, a calming gesture. Sweet and simple affection for
her brother.
But Will knew firsthand that there was nothing simple about
affection...and that it wasn’t necessarily a given between family members.
Jeremy was very lucky indeed to have Harper as a sister.
“I’ve also seen the new Transformers:
Age of Distinction.” Jeremy said the last word carefully and Will didn’t
have the heart to correct it to Extinction.
“That chase with the evil bad cars was cool,” Jeremy enthused, his eyes wide.
Harper didn’t correct the movie title, either. Or maybe she
didn’t know the difference, given that Will didn’t see her as a Transformers
fan. Besides, maybe distinction was a
better word in this case, considering that Harper Newman was already a woman of
distinction in Will’s estimation—both because of how well she treated her
brother and the way her natural beauty shone through despite the rather severe
outfit.
“Was having the same last name as the star of Vanishing Point what got you started as
a car enthusiast, Jeremy?”
“Cars are cool. I can’t drive, but if I could, I’d go
fastfastfast.” Jeremy didn’t quite answer the question, and again, there was
that odd cadence in his speech.
“I like to go fast, too,” Will agreed wholeheartedly.
There was nothing like speed to make you feel alive. Will
knew he’d never completely outrun his past, and that he’d always be his
father’s son no matter how much he wished he wasn’t. Nonetheless, he’d worked
long, hard years to put as much of his past behind him as he could, with all
his focus, drive, and energy bent on taking control of his future.
For a good decade or more, success had been enough for him.
Yet in the last few months, something had changed—a feeling of emptiness that
working harder hadn’t been able to fix. When even millions in profits from a
new product couldn’t get him excited, a fast ride was the only sure-fire way to
get his blood pumping again.
Until now, at least, when Harper Newman was having the exact
same impact on him.
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