Welcome Today's Featured Author
Skye McNeil!!
Timberline
Book Blurb:
After
leaving heartache in the Midwest, Jessamine Davis ventures to the
mountains of New York City to pursue her dreams of editing best-selling
novels. At the top of her game, Jessie sees no pitfalls in her future
until a wedding invitation makes its way from Colorado. After her
assistant mistakenly sends her RSVP, which includes a plus-one to attend
her ex-fiancé and sister’s wedding, Jessie searches for a
picture-perfect date to drag across the Rockies.
Asher
Whitaker is in a writing slump. The words that usually flow screeched
to halt a year ago. Hoping to gain inspiration, he takes a part-time job
at his favorite coffee shop. Nothing could have prepared him for the
unusual meeting with a gorgeous tea fanatic. Despite his reservations,
Asher agrees to accompany Jessie to a week of family time on Mount
Princeton.
Hilarity
ensues as the two strangers attempt to pass off their faux relationship
to the onslaught of her family. Torn between wanting to keep her
distance from the ex-Army Ranger turned barista, Jessie begins to feel
something other than repulsion for the opposite sex. Asher isn’t the
typical Wall Street type, so her attraction to him startles her. With
his bold tattoos and teasing demeanor, Asher mirrors everything she
didn’t think she craved in a man. His dimpled smile and tall stature
puts her at ease and creates havoc in her celibate mind.
Between
fishing and four-wheeling, Asher’s connection to Jessie deepens along
with the tall tales he spins regarding the real reason he left his
mundane side job. Every hour he spends at Jessie’s side only furthers
his desire to be more than a boyfriend. Yet, his secret identity holds
him back from fully disclosing the truth.
Though they had ulterior motives for their hiatus, the two discover something greater in each other.
In
a moment of irony, Jessie discovers who the tattooed barista truly is—a
well-known author of novels that leave women weak in the knees—but more
importantly, the man she was supposed to sign with her publishing house
before leaving New York City.
Jessie’s time spent with Asher forces her to choose between being scorned by love or transforming her heart for the future.
Teaser:
The commercial airplane taxied down the runway while
Asher studied the sports magazine in his hands. It was opened to an article
about baseball, a subject that enraptured him a majority of the time. Any words
he read were lost to him. He couldn’t keep his attention fixed on anything with
Jessie so close. She smelled like books. Freshly printed books with a hint of
lemon. He might have been able to handle karma’s bitch-slap if she wore her
hair up in a bun again.
Swiveling his eyes to her in a stealthy manner, he
steadied his breathing at the sight of her mildly curled hair, which fell below
her shoulders by a good four inches. That, coupled with her deep blue blouse
and tan capri pants that exposed toned calves, sent him reeling. Today, Jessie
didn’t look like the uptight executive who spilled her tea over them both. She
looked normal. Well, normal for a New Yorker. The knowledge that she wasn’t
born and raised in the city startled him at first. Her go-getter temperament
and drive was typical for the bustling hub. Not many outsiders thrived under
the circumstances. Many moved to the suburbs to escape the havoc, but she
admitted to living in the heart of the city that never sleeps.
“What did you say you do for work again?” he
pestered when he realized they never touched on the subject other than her
offering to get him a job. He was shocked at her proposition, but then again,
she knew him as a barista and that was all. He would never accept her job
offer, but she didn’t need to know yet. Though he didn’t want to divulge his
mainstream of income, he was interested as to hers.
Jessie tucked
a curl behind her ear. “Oh, I um.” She stumbled as if in search for the right
words. “I work in the publishing sector. Nothing too fancy. Books, magazines,
websites, etc.”
Asher let his face relax, but only slightly. The
little research he did online of her was somewhat satisfactory. In her personal
life, she was an internet ghost, save one social media account which was marked
as private. As to her occupation, Brecon Books boasted her as an established
editor. Her titles varied were predominately romance, but a few mystery, and
non-fiction titles had her name attached to them. A stray thought filtered
through his mind, but he shoved it aside. Jessie didn’t recognize him, so she
couldn’t be the editor who was supposed to meet with him from the publishing
house.
“What about you? Is barista your sole job title?”
Jessie asked, shuffling through pages of the latest fashion magazine.
“As a matter of fact, no. I’ve dabbled here and there
with other professions,” he clarified, skirting the whole truth. She didn’t
need to know the reason behind his coffee shop experiment. It would make things
awkward.
“So a nomad hippie?” she asked with a disconcerting
tone. “They will love it.”
The seatbelt sign flipped off, so Asher turned in
his seat to face her. If she knew the truth, her family would love him. He
didn’t like to deceive her, but the exposure on the other end was a far cry
from the quiet getaway he longed for. “Yeah, it’s not a very stable occupation,
but I’m fond of it.” She flipped another page. Her cavalier nature unnerved
him. “Since you’re not a fan of me being a barista, what should we tell your
relatives? Should we make up a profession? I can play along.”
Closing the magazine, Jessie eyed him from head to
toe. As a rule, he would encourage such exploration, but the way her icy blue
eyes slid over him was in no way seductive. “You’re an actor too? I guess it
works to our advantage.”
Asher opened his mouth to explain, but slammed it
shut as she continued. “Nothing pretentious. My mom will look you up online the
instant she hears your name, so a quiet profession would be best.”
Asher grinned at the thought of a maternal form of
Jessie. He pictured her now as a warm and nurturing type who had a bit of a stalking
tendency when it came to the men her daughters dated. “Don’t worry. There isn’t
much online to find about me. I’m not very active on the social media platforms.
I like my privacy,” he concluded in partial truth. Her mom wouldn’t find
anything about Asher Whitaker that wasn’t positive. Without a doubt, she would
discover his military history, but it wouldn’t be so bad.
“So do I.” She unbuckled her seatbelt. “It looks
like we have one thing in common.”
“Oh, I’m sure there’s more than one.” He plastered a
grin on his face and it deepened when her face turned a shade of red. “Anyway,
my occupation.”
Jessie tapped her index finger against her knee,
deep in thought. “You were in the military, so what about a facet off that? A
security company or military recruiter?” she proposed with a hopeful smile.
Thinking over those options, Asher figured they were
safer than business. He was horrible at business. He had Mike to deal with the
money side of things. “I could pass for a recruiter.”
“Perfect.” Jessie produced a book from her oversized
satchel and handed it to him. “This should give you a rundown on what you need
to know, although, I’m certain you already know most of it.”
Staring at the thick book, Asher held in his
surprise. It was apparent that she’d thought this through last night. She
managed to find a book on his fake career named The Basics of Recruiting. The
humor wasn’t lost to him on the title either. Opening the bright green cover,
he sucked in his breath. He could pass as a recruiter without reading this
mumbo jumbo, but she seemed adamant he read it. “Thanks, Mina. It was real nice
of you.”
Jessie’s blue eyes darted to his face at the
nickname derived from her full name. “It’s Jessie not Mina.”
“Whoa, calm down there, Mina. Why the temper? It’s
part of your name after all,” he prodded, skimming her features with his eyes.
She was frustrated at his attempt at a nickname. He’d never met a girl named
Jessamine before, and though he was surprised she chose Jessie instead of Jessa
as a nickname, he liked to play with names. It was one of his favorite parts of
his real job. The way her eyes turned to fireballs was irresistible.
“Because he called me Mina.” She somehow seethed
through clenched teeth.
Asher understood the dilemma, and right off hated
the man who turned Jessie to stone. It wasn’t fair of her ex to monopolize her
future. He liked the nickname and he wouldn’t stop because another man tainted
it.
Leaning toward her, he lowered his voice. “The best
revenge is to move on and be happy. If your ex sees a new man calling you the
same name, one I know you secretly love, he will accept the fact you’re over
him.” Opening his mandated book to a new chapter, he added, “Plus, I like the
name.”
He watched as her face went from prissy to
understanding. “My dad wanted boys, but he didn’t get them, so he named us.
Jessie for me and Bobbi for my sister. My mom was the one who fancied the names
up so people knew we were girls.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “I don’t
know why I told you. Just forget it and read your book.”
Asher watched with vigilance as she jammed ear buds
into her diamond-studded ears. The accidental tidbit told him quite a bit about
his week-long girlfriend. She didn’t want to be a woman with a flowery name.
She wanted to be mistaken for a man. A woman whose desire was to run with the
big dogs of New York City.
He smirked when she all but scooted to the edge of
her seat as though her insight somehow changed his perception of her. It did,
in reality. Her slip up still resonated through her slender frame. The more he
learned about her, the more Asher was enthralled. She would make an excellent story
character.
Settling back into his seat, he skimmed the pages of
the book which was altogether worthless. He was positive his date had also
stuffed a book about the security profession in her bag, in case he opted for the
other route. Holding in a grin when she mouthed the words from the song playing
in her ears, Asher did his best to mind his own business. When she crossed her
legs and sat upright like a jolt of lightning hit her, his focus was on her
alone. “Everything all right?”
“The list. I forgot to go over the list with you,”
was her stammered reply.
“What list?”
Her hands dove into her carryon and produced a
notebook with scribbled handwriting in black ink. “I wanted to go over some
ground rules for this week.”
Intrigued by her incentive to write out rules, he
set his homework aside. “All right, shoot.”
Jessie licked her lips and kept her eyes on the
book. “No ifs and or buts on not sleeping together.” She looked up and
explained, “My family has this rule where you can’t sleep in the same bedroom
unless you’re engaged.”
Asher couldn’t help but insert, “We could pretend to
be engaged.” The flush on her cheeks was worth the glare that followed.
“No.” She ticked the sentence off her list. “I’m not
a real touchy feely type of person, so limiting our physical interactions would
be appreciated.”
Crossing his arms, he shook his head. “Well, I’m a
very hands-on person. If your relatives are supposed to believe we’re together,
some touching will be required.”
She narrowed her eyes but then relinquished her
prude statement. “Fine, but minimal.”
“Unless you beg for more,” he said under his breath.
“What was that?”
Asher hid a smirk. “Nothing, Mina. What’s next?”
It was clear the use of his nickname aggravated her,
but she didn’t correct him. “My mom is nosy, so try not to make up some
outlandish story about us.”
“Duly noted.” He pointed to the next one. “No
showering together? What? Now, that’s just irresponsible.”
Jessie’s face smeared in panic. “What? It’s not on
there.”
“Oh, so we can shower together to conserve water? I
know it’s important in the mountains.”
Her eyes flashed annoyance. “Not what I meant when I
put ‘abide by mountain rules.’” Lickety-split, she scribbled more words after
the sentence. “Yes, we need to conserve water and the like, but not by doing so
together.”
“Mhmm, you say so now.”
“Asher, be serious.” Jessie offered him a stern
glance.
“Proceed.” He held out his hand, giving his
approval.
For the next five minutes, the beauty next to him
rattled on about the dos and don’ts of the week ahead. Well, five days, but who
was counting? It was clear Jessie was a control freak, and her tendencies
didn’t stop when they flew over the Midwest states.
By the end, he was somewhat peeved at her
requirements. “If I’m getting this right, you want a perfect boyfriend for the
week. Sound accurate enough?”
Jessie stuffed her notebook into her purse. “In
essence, yeah. I mean, not too perfect though, because they’ll see through you.”
“Right, because that would be horrible.” He let out
a frustrated breath. “I don’t know why you want perfect, Mina. No one is
perfect.”
“It’s what I want,” she said, her mind obviously set
on that fact.
“And now I know why you’re single,” Asher pointed
out, settling back into his seat. He didn’t bother to look over at the expression
of malice which covered her face. It was an intentional jab. She desired
perfection in an imperfect world. Though sad, it opened his mind to the real reason
why her fiancé cheated on her.
The pilot announced their turbulence over the
intercom and Asher buckled his seatbelt. He was in for one hell of a ride,
beginning with navigating the dicey waters running through Jessie’s veins.
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://a.co/eLphdga
About Skye McNeil:
Skye
McNeil began writing at the age of seventeen and has been lost in a
love affair ever since. During the day, she moonlights as a paralegal at
a law firm favoring
criminal law. Skye enjoys writing romantic comedies and cozy mysteries
novels that leave readers wanting more and falling in love over and
over. She writes contemporary and historical novels ranging from sweet
and sassy to steamy and sultry. Her constant writing companions are two
cats and two dogs. When she’s not writing, Skye enjoys spending time
with family, photography, volleyball, traveling, and curling up with a
cup of coffee and reading.
Interview With Skye McNeil:
1. Can you tell us a little about your books?
I write books I want to read, so my characters include every day flaws
and situations that could arise. I tend to use humor in my stories
because I love to get that cheesy grin on my face when I'm writing.
I wrote my first novel when I was 17 years old. If you ask my mom, I've been scribbling stories since I was a kid. After experiencing life as an adult, I discovered the desire to share stories and create a legacy for my daughter.
3. When you write do you write the first draft on a computer or paper and pen?
The first draft is always a yellow, legal notepad and a pen. I've tried it the other way, but it just doesn't work for me.
4. Do you have a favorite food or drink you must have nearby when writing?
Coffee, either iced or hot, is a must when I write.
5. Do you have a favorite spot to write?
I tend to write wherever inspiration hits me. One of my favorite spots is my chaise at home that overlooks the backyard.
6. For a reader who hasn't read your books yet, which book do you suggest they start with?
I would say Timberline is an excellent step into my world. It gives you a sense of my personality and hopefully makes the reader yearn for more.
7. If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?
I've always been envious of any superhero who can kick major booty then walk away like a champ. That's probably not a super power, but I'd like to think it is.
8. What are you working on next?
I have an exciting book coming out in September, Appointed by Fate, with Hot Tree Publishing. It's about a criminal attorney and the mobster she's been tasked to guide through a homicide case. I am also working on the second book in the Collegiate Peaks series, which is currently in the writing and editing stages.
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