Thrill me by Susan Mallery Excerpt Tour

Follow along the excerpt tour beginning in July, with long excerpts in consecutive order at each tour stop! 

A review tour will take place in August!

Series: Fool’s Gold Mass Market 
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (July 28, 2015)

Meet the Mitchell brothers of Fool’s Gold, California—five gorgeous men who’ve left a trail of broken hearts in their wake… 

Maya Farlow learned the hard way to depend only on herself, so when she fell too deeply for the bad-boy charms of Del Mitchell, she did the only thing she could—she ran. Stunned, Del left Fool’s Gold to make his name and fortune in extreme sports.

Now ten years later, Maya’s been hired to promote her hometown’s new slogan, The Destination for Romance. The celebrity spokesman is none other than Del, the man she dumped but never forgot. Awkward!

Although Del’s not the type to hold a grudge, he’s determined to avoid falling a second time for the woman who broke his heart. He’s a daredevil, not an idiot. Trouble is, in all his adventures, he never found a rush as exhilarating as Maya’s kiss. Maybe risking his heart will prove to be the biggest thrill of all…

 

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Excerpt

While the Mitchells couldn’t claim to be one of the founding families of Fool’s Gold, they’d only missed that distinction by a single generation. They’d been around longer than most and had the interesting family history to prove it.

Maya had first met Elaine Mitchell over ten years before when she’d applied for a part-time job with Mitchell Fool’s Gold Tours. The friendly, outgoing woman had promised fair pay and flexible shifts. As Maya had been saving every penny for college, she’d been thrilled with the offer. There wasn’t going to be any help from her family, so it was up to her to get scholarships, grants and loans, then supplement the rest with whatever she could save.

Two unexpected things had happened that fateful summer. Maya had met and fallen in love with Del—Elaine’s oldest son. But she’d also made a friend in the Mitchell matriarch. Elaine was married to famous glass artist Ceallach Mitchell and was the mother of five boys. She’d been born and raised in Fool’s Gold. Her life was the best kind of chaos—one defined by a growing, happy family.

Maya had been the only child of an exotic dancer who had married for money and suffered the consequences. While Maya had felt badly for her mother, she had loved moving to Fool’s Gold and being a relatively normal teen for the first time ever.

On the surface the two women had little in common, Maya thought as she hurried out of City Hall and headed for her car. They were worlds and lifetimes apart. Yet they’d always seemed to have something to talk about and, despite how Maya’s relationship with Del had ended, she and Elaine had stayed in touch.

Now she got in her car and drove the six miles out of town toward the Mitchell family house. It stood on acres of land, separate from the town. Ceallach needed quiet for his creativity and space for his huge glass installations.

So the family lived outside of town and the five brothers had grown up on the side of a mountain, running through the rugged terrain, doing whatever it was young boys did when outdoors and unsupervised.

Maya thought back to all the stories Del had told her, when they’d been together. And what Elaine shared in their frequent emails. She knew her friend missed having all five of her sons at home. Del and the twins had moved away and while Nick and Aidan were still in town, neither lived at the family house anymore.

Maya turned left and headed up the long driveway. When she finally reached the house, she was relieved to see Elaine’s SUV parked in front.

She’d barely made it up the front porch stairs when the door opened and Elaine smiled at her.

“You’re an unexpected surprise. What’s up?”

Del had his mother’s eyes. The rest of him—his size, his build—came from his father, but those brown eyes were pure Elaine.

“You didn’t know?” Maya asked, climbing the porch stairs. “Del’s back.”

Elaine’s openmouthed surprise confirmed what Maya had expected. Her friend hadn’t known. Which was so like a guy. Why tell your mom you were coming home?

“Since when?” Elaine asked, hugging her, then motioning her inside. “He could have called. I swear, he’s the worst of them.” Her mouth twisted as she led the way to the kitchen, her athletic shoes making no sound on the hardwood floors. “And the twins. I should disown all three of them.”

“Or post their embarrassing baby pictures on the internet,” Maya offered, stepping into the huge kitchen.

“That would be a better solution,” Elaine said as she crossed to the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea. “Then I’d hear from them for sure. So what happened? Where did you see him? What did he say?”

“Not much. I was too surprised to ask many questions.”

Maya took her usual seat at the big kitchen table. The overhead light fixture was made up of five pendant lights—each a rainbow of colors that swirled and seemed to move, even as they were perfectly still. She’d earned decent money as a senior producer back in Los Angeles, but there was no way she would have been able to afford those pendant lights. Or the stunning piece in the corner of the family room. Ceallach’s work was scattered throughout the house. One of the advantages of being married to a famous artist, she thought, accepting the glass of tea Elaine passed her.

Her friend already knew about Maya’s new job as the Fool’s Gold communications director. Now Maya told her about the meeting with Mayor Marsha and the plans for the various videos.

“We agreed there should be a host,” Maya continued. “Someone good on-screen.”

“I know where this is going.” Elaine gave her a sympathetic glance. “What about you?”

“You’re sweet to pretend I had a chance, but being in front of the camera…” Maya wrinkled her nose. “Anyway, I thought about some of the athletes who live in town. I mean why not? Or maybe Jonny Blaze.”

“Too young for me, but still sexy.”

Maya grinned. “I agree on the latter, if not the former.”

Elaine laughed. “And that’s why we’re friends. So not Mr. Blaze?”

“No. As if he’d been listening in the other room, in walked Del. I couldn’t believe it.”

Elaine pulled her cell phone from her jeans pocket and glanced at the screen. “Me, either. I wonder how long he’ll be in town. He’s not texting me about staying here at the house, which means he’s bunking somewhere else.” Her mouth twisted. “Apparently I did a bad job with my boys.”

“Don’t say that. You were a great mom.”

Maya would know. Her own mother had been on the dark side of awful, so she had a frame of reference. While her mother had been busy making sure Maya understood that she was the reason for her every disappointment, Elaine had been raising happy, loved children.

“Besides, isn’t the point of raising children to get them to where they’re contributing members of society?” Maya asked gently. “You did that times five.”

Before her friend could answer, the doggie door moved a little. Maya caught sight of a brown nose, followed by a happy blur of colors as Sophie, Elaine’s beagle, raced into the kitchen.

About Susan Mallery
 
New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery has won the hearts of millions of readers around the world with books described as “immensely entertaining, intensely emotional” (RT Book Reviews), “hilarious” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and “heartwarming” (Publishers Weekly). One major retailer recently described her as “the queen of romantic fiction.” 

While she deeply appreciates the accolades of critics and booksellers, Mallery is even more honored by the enthusiasm of her readers and the word-of-mouth that catapults her toward the top of the bestsellers lists time and again. Mallery lives in not-so-sunny Seattle with her husband and a toy poodle who makes her laugh every day and who’s not even a little bit impressed by her growing fame. 

Connect with Susan
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Thrill Me EXCERPT TOUR:

Monday, July 6th: Why Girls Are Weird
Tuesday, July 7th: Book Mama Blog
Wednesday, July 8th: The Sassy Bookster
Thursday, July 9th: Mom in Love with Fiction
Monday, July 13th: girlichef
Tuesday, July 14th: From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, July 15th: Raven Haired Girl
Friday, July 17th: Always With a Book
Monday, July 20th: Mignon Mykel {Reviews}
Tuesday, July 21st: Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, July 22nd: Urban Girl Reader
Thursday, July 23rd: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Friday, July 24th: Books & Spoons
Monday, July 27th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy