RELEASE DATE - NOVEMBER 18th
BLURB:
Todd’s my
next-door neighbor—an up-and-coming chef ready to make his mark on the world.
His dreams are bold and limitless, his drive even more so. He offers me
a favor, one that I can’t refuse … only there are strings attached.
Amelia’s my
next-door neighbor—a talented photographer waiting for her big break.
Her dreams
are authentic and intense, her art even more so. I made her
an offer and she accepted … but I asked for something in return.
Two favors
meant to make our dreams come true. Our careers were supposed to change, not
our friendship. Success was the ultimate goal … until we saw each other in a
different light.
EXCERPT:
“Yeah. I was thinking…since he’s definitely into you—”
Her head springs my way. “You think he’s into me?” she interrupts. Her eyes open wide in surprise.
Now, she’s perked up.
“Yes.”
A small smile creeps up the corners of her mouth, and she shakes her head in disbelief.
“I think he was just being a nice boss.” She focuses down and I wonder what’s going on in that head of hers. I sensed her low self-esteem a few times, but she usually smiles through it—at least in front of me.
“Trust me, Noodle. He’s interested.”
She shrugs.
“So, I was thinking that you could keep him distracted and get him to go out—at least, out of the kitchen.”
“What?” She stops, and hurt fills her eyes before confusion sets in. “You trying to whore me out or something?”
Shit. I should have led into that easier. Slower, for sure.
A deep chuckle pours out of me. “No.” I attempt to calm my humor down. “I’m not asking you to screw him. Just flirt a little. Keep him out of the kitchen. You might even like him.”
“Is this a stipulation of you getting me the job?” She crosses her arms over her chest and juts out her hip.
She’s oddly cute when she’s mad and damn—those tits.
“No. I already got you the job. I was thinking this would be more of a thank-you gesture.” My shoulders lift.
She inhales a deep breath. “How about just the ‘nightcap’?” She puts nightcap in air quotes.
“I’ll buy the nightcap. Just put yourself out there, and see if he bites.”
This might be getting worse instead of better.
“Seriously, Todd, you are demented.”
She shakes her head and steadily proceeds toward the subway.
I jog to catch up to her. “Hold up.”
I grip her arm, but she yanks it out of my grasp.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I want to find investors for my own place. He’s always there, never letting me showcase any of my dishes. I’ve tried to go through the chain, asking him to let me create a special here or there, but he’s refused me every time.” I hold her vision with mine until the corners of her lips turn. “Forget I asked.” My shoulders deflate as I realize it was a dick move. I’ve officially lost it. My desperation is definitely clouding my judgment.
“Apology accepted.”
I stop. A warm feeling spurs in my stomach from her ability to forgive me so easily.
I follow her to the top of the subway stairs.
“I saw how he was looking at you in the kitchen, and I just thought it could be good for both of us.”
She giggles and shoves me. “So, you thought, ’yeah, I’ll whore Lia out’.”
“Actually, I thought, ‘I’ll whore Noodle out’.”
Her hand reaches out to shove me again, but I grab ahold of it and pull her in to me. A strawberry scent floats from her hair. This is the first time I’ve hugged her, and from her limp arms, I’m thinking I’ve made another dumbass move by initiating contact.
She laughs into my sweatshirt and steps back. “You’re a rare duck, you know that?” She jogs down the subway steps.
“More like a lone duck,” I mumble behind her.
Her head springs my way. “You think he’s into me?” she interrupts. Her eyes open wide in surprise.
Now, she’s perked up.
“Yes.”
A small smile creeps up the corners of her mouth, and she shakes her head in disbelief.
“I think he was just being a nice boss.” She focuses down and I wonder what’s going on in that head of hers. I sensed her low self-esteem a few times, but she usually smiles through it—at least in front of me.
“Trust me, Noodle. He’s interested.”
She shrugs.
“So, I was thinking that you could keep him distracted and get him to go out—at least, out of the kitchen.”
“What?” She stops, and hurt fills her eyes before confusion sets in. “You trying to whore me out or something?”
Shit. I should have led into that easier. Slower, for sure.
A deep chuckle pours out of me. “No.” I attempt to calm my humor down. “I’m not asking you to screw him. Just flirt a little. Keep him out of the kitchen. You might even like him.”
“Is this a stipulation of you getting me the job?” She crosses her arms over her chest and juts out her hip.
She’s oddly cute when she’s mad and damn—those tits.
“No. I already got you the job. I was thinking this would be more of a thank-you gesture.” My shoulders lift.
She inhales a deep breath. “How about just the ‘nightcap’?” She puts nightcap in air quotes.
“I’ll buy the nightcap. Just put yourself out there, and see if he bites.”
This might be getting worse instead of better.
“Seriously, Todd, you are demented.”
She shakes her head and steadily proceeds toward the subway.
I jog to catch up to her. “Hold up.”
I grip her arm, but she yanks it out of my grasp.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I want to find investors for my own place. He’s always there, never letting me showcase any of my dishes. I’ve tried to go through the chain, asking him to let me create a special here or there, but he’s refused me every time.” I hold her vision with mine until the corners of her lips turn. “Forget I asked.” My shoulders deflate as I realize it was a dick move. I’ve officially lost it. My desperation is definitely clouding my judgment.
“Apology accepted.”
I stop. A warm feeling spurs in my stomach from her ability to forgive me so easily.
I follow her to the top of the subway stairs.
“I saw how he was looking at you in the kitchen, and I just thought it could be good for both of us.”
She giggles and shoves me. “So, you thought, ’yeah, I’ll whore Lia out’.”
“Actually, I thought, ‘I’ll whore Noodle out’.”
Her hand reaches out to shove me again, but I grab ahold of it and pull her in to me. A strawberry scent floats from her hair. This is the first time I’ve hugged her, and from her limp arms, I’m thinking I’ve made another dumbass move by initiating contact.
She laughs into my sweatshirt and steps back. “You’re a rare duck, you know that?” She jogs down the subway steps.
“More like a lone duck,” I mumble behind her.
REVIEW:
“For the briefest moments, our visions lock on one another, and all the chaos around us fades.”
This was a really cute book
that I was not able to put down from the moment I picked it up. And Todd, you
will totally swoon over him. Michelle has a way of writing her books that way,
you will fall in love with any of the guys she writes about, even though you
don’t intend to. Haha
Amelia is an aspiring
photographer who lives in NYC, just struggling to get by. Her neighbor and one
of her best friends Todd models for her. Her boss at the art gallery loves him
as her centerpiece causing him to be go to number one subject. Todd will do
pretty much anything for Lia. We see it in how he looks at her, how he drops
everything for her and just how he treats her. You definitely can tell there is
something underneath it all that he is trying to hide. When one bad news
reaches Lia, he wants to do anything in his power to help him, but his own
goals helps prevent that from happening.
“Don’t lose faith in yourself now. I’ll just keep reminding you of how amazing you are.”
Todd himself is working
towards opening his own restaurant. He an amazing talent for it, however he is
just lacking the financial backing. He is very talented in what he does but he
is not able to express himself to his full potential because his boss Davis
controls everything he does in the kitchen or rather the entire restaurant.
Todd is not able to display his own recipes or be himself while he is there. So
Todd enlists Lia’s help to distract him so he can
showcase what he can offer the guests to potentially gain some investors.
“You pull emotions out of me that I’ve never felt.”
His plan kind of backfires
on him though. He really doesn’t need Lia to distract him. They do it all on
their own. Lia and Davis form some kind of instant connection to each other,
spending a lot of time together and getting to know one another and just enjoying
each other. Though they come from different backgrounds and are total
opposites, they seem to mesh well together. They don’t let that get in the way
of things. Todd pretty much shot himself in the foot with that one. He has to
watch his best friend fall for someone, who isn’t him. While he watches Lia get
all chummy with Davis, he realizes his true feelings for her go beyond
friendship. It makes him question everything.
“Why all of a sudden, is she filling my thoughts with something more than friendship.”
When did it all change? Why
all of a sudden that she becomes unavailable do these feelings come to surface?
Why could they not have happened sooner? Lia was there before him the whole
time and he did nothing. And he can’t do anything right now because she seems
happy. Lia puts an uneasy feeling inside of Todd. What does he do with the
feelings he is harboring inside of him? Does he cross the line of friendship
and tell her how he feels? Or does he hold it all in? Telling her could
potentially ruin what they truly have. But telling her could also make it
exponentially better.
“He doesn’t look up, but his hand reaches out and links with mine. An unspoken connection is made between us.”
Davis is a true born
workaholic, always been his nature. So when something important comes up in
Lia’s life, Todd is always there to be there for her. He is the one person she
can truly count on. But the big confusion in her life. What does she do with
these unexpected feelings for him? Where did they come from? Should she go and
cross that line and ruin what they have?
Will Todd and Lia finally realize what they
have together? Or will they let their fears get in their way? Or is Lia happy
with her relationship with Davis? Will one of them finally give in and put it
all on the line?
“My want continues to increase and I need to distance myself if he doesn’t want to cross our line of friendship.”
I love how the story played
out. Neighbors, turned best friends, who are always there for each other,
helping one another out, going about their daily lives. One diversion turned
their lives upside down. It threw their feelings out of whack. If it wasn’t for
that crazy idea, would they have seen what was in front of them the entire
time? Or would they have continued going about their business? We would never
know. But I think, seeing Lia with Davis was the push that Todd needed. He
always felt something for her, but didn’t know what to do with it until it was
too late. Typically when it’s too late, that’s your que to want it even more.
Lia comes from a big family and I love how involved they were in the story, and
they included Todd in it as well. They welcomed him with open arms even though
he was just a friend. You can see it from the beginning, there is something
between Lia and Todd, they were just afraid to cross that line. This is one
story you’re going to want to read.
This review was done by Jenn. I was given an advanced copy for my honest review.
AUTHOR BIO:
USA Today Bestselling author, Michelle Lynn moved
around the Midwest most of her life, transferring from school to school before
settling down in the outskirts of Chicago ten years ago, where she now resides
with her husband and two kids. She
developed a love of reading at a young age, which helped lay the foundation for
her passion to write. With the
encouragement of her family, she finally sat down and wrote one of the many
stories that have been floating around in her head. When she isn’t reading or
writing, she can be found playing with her kids, talking to her mom on the
phone, or hanging out with her family and friends. But after chasing around twin preschoolers
all day, she always cherishes her relaxation time after putting the kids to
bed.
MEDIA LINKS:
Twitter: @michellelynnbks
Website: http://www.michellelynnbooks.com
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