Excerpt from OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE by Lindsey Brookes

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lyndsey will be awarding a $10.00 Amazon gift certificate to three randomly drawn commenters during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Since her divorce two years before, Kelsie Collins has been determined to guard her heart and steer clear of seemingly ‘perfect’ men. An easy task considering the kind of men her matchmaking mother and her best friend, Nanci, keeps setting her up with. She allows them to set her up, knowing their hearts are in the right place and that there is no risk of her letting any man close enough to hurt her again. Her growing experience in ways to slip out of those ‘dates from hell’ prompts her to start writing a bad date survival guide. One aptly titled - OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE. And it’s during one of those escapes that sexier than sin firefighter Cole Maxwell comes to her rescue.

Cole isn’t sure what to think when the sexy redhead he’s just ‘rescued’ from a bad date informs him that he’s too ‘perfect’ to date. That’s a first. He’s had relationships end because the women couldn’t handle the risks that go along with his chosen profession, but never because he’s too perfect.

When his crew gets called out to rescue someone who is stuck in a tree, Cole finds himself once again coming to Kelsie’s rescue. This time he’s not about to let her get away without agreeing to give him a chance, even holding her high heels hostage to make it happen. She finally gives in and things heat up between them like a 3-alarm fire. But there’s more than passion between them and Cole sets out to prove to Kelsie that he’s nowhere near ‘perfect’, but he is the ‘perfect’ man for her. Can he get past the wall she’s built up around her heart? Or will he end up being just another chapter in her book of men she ran from?

*Operation: Date Escape was a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist as well as a finalist in the American Title III Competition put on by Romantic Times and Dorchester Publishing.*

Excerpt:

Nanci grabbed for her arm, nearly knocking the wine cooler from her hand. “Ooh, ooh! Let the Olympic bedroom games begin.”

Somehow Kelsie managed to keep her drink from spilling. “What are you talking about?”

Her friend leaned closer, saying in an urgent whisper, “I’ve just discovered the next Hunk of the Year centerfold.”

“What?”

Nanci pointed past her to the door.

Twisting around on the bar stool, she discovered the cause of her best friend’s sudden need for a drool bib. There, in the open doorway of Casey’s Bar and Grill, was the closest thing she’d ever seen to a Greek god in Columbus, Ohio.

Only instead of wearing a toga and a crown of gold leaves, he was dressed in tight-fitting jeans that hugged his muscular thighs and no doubt his butt. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see that side of him from where she sat. The Greek god stopped just inside the door to talk to a man and woman who were seated at a table near the entrance.

She actually found herself craning her neck to stare at the sexy hunk of a man across the room. He wore a short sleeve, navy blue t-shirt with the words - Worthington Fire Department – written across the front of it in stark white letters. His dark hair was short with just a hint of sideburns that blended into the five o’clock shadow lining his jaw.

“Mmm...mmm...mmm...,” Nanci mumbled appreciatively behind her. “I’m actually tempted to go outside and climb a tree, meow, and pretend I’m stuck so he’ll come to my rescue.”

Nanci wasn’t the only one tempted to do something foolish to get his attention. Kelsie shifted in her seat, tearing her gaze away from her friend’s fantasy-man-of-the-moment. “I think it’s supposed to be cats they rescue from trees.”

“Hey, I can purr with the best of them. Just let him take me home to bed and see.”

“Honestly, Nanci, is sex all you ever think about?”

“That and shoes,” she admitted. “Sometimes both together.”

About the Author:

Romance author Lindsey Brookes grew up reading romance novels. She penned her first romance, a historical, at the age of seventeen. From there she went on to join Romance Writers of America where she learned the ins and outs of the publishing business and ways to hone her craft. She switched to writing contemporary romance and has finalled in/or won more than 75 RWA chapter sponsored contests with over a dozen different manuscripts. She is also a four time RWA Golden Heart finalist as well as a past American Title III finalist and winner of Harlequin's Great American Romance Novel contest. She's married to her childhood sweetheart, her hero, with whom she has two beautiful daughters.

Check out her websites:
www.lindseybrookes.com
www.possumhollowseries.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lindsey.brookes.9?ref=tn_tnmn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lindsey_Brookes
Buy Operation: Date Escape at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.