Win a $50 GC: Once in a Lifetime by Jayne Nichols

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jayne Nichols will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Is it possible for a poor hash-house waitress to find love with a wealthy Irish horse breeder? Not as long as he thinks she conned his father into leaving her his cottage on the island of Inish Mor in the Aran Islands. To prove his assumption false, Samantha St. John sells her new inheritance to Kieran McDade for one Euro, receives his thank-you kiss on her cheek, and bids him farewell.

Never expecting to see him again, she is surprised to receive his invitation and a plane ticket to Ireland. He’s had second thoughts and offers Samantha a holiday at his home on FastTrack Farm where she charms not only his race horse, but Kieran himself. For Samantha, it is like a fairy tale, complete with a wicked witch, an elegant ball, and a horse race that could decide whether her Cinderella story will have a happy ending.

Enjoy an excerpt:

She wandered into the barn, taking care not to make any noise. The barn was eerily quiet. Maybe Lifetime was asleep. Niall had said something about the horse not eating and sleeping too much. She tiptoed toward his stall and glanced over the gate. Lifetime was lying flat out in the straw.

“You’re never going to win the Derby if you don’t practice.” She rested her hands on the gate. “I used to run cross country. I know.”

The horse lifted his head, whinnied low in his throat. He stood, shook the straw from his body head to tail, and pawed at the floor.

“Don’t give me that nonsense,” Samantha admonished. “Come here.” The horse eyed her from across the stall. “You heard me. Come here.” She reached into the grain bucket sitting outside the stall and offered him a handful. “Got something for you.”

Lifetime took several steps toward her, stretched his head to sniff at her hand. He moved closer to nudge at her jacket pocket. She stepped back, held her cupped hand beneath his lips. “Dinner, first. Then dessert.” He sniffed at the grain, scooped it up with his tongue, and licked her hand clean. “Good boy.” She gave him a butter mint and patted his neck.

“Don’t be feeding him too many sweets. Fat horses don’t win races.”

Samantha’s heart jumped into her throat. Eyes wide, Lifetime backed away immediately from the gate. He retreated to the far end of the stall, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, Niall. I wanted to see if he’d eat some grain.”

“And did he?”

“Yes, a small handful.” She cupped her hand to show him how much. “Did I do something wrong?”

Niall turned his dumbfounded stare from her to the horse and back to her. “No, lass, you’ve done nothing wrong.” He shook his head, his smile turning slowly into a perceptive grin. “Well now, Miss Samantha, I think you have the gift.”

About the Author:Growing up, I wrote a few things for school—reports and a few creative writing projects for English class—but never really thought about writing novels until after I married my David. Even then, what little writing I did leaned toward Mystery. I didn’t discover Romance until my husband and I traveled to Greece. It was hot—I mean really hot—and we ducked inside the Athens Hilton to bask in their air conditioned gift shop. I was looking at a rack of paperback books and picked up one entitled Born in Fire by someone named Sarah Hardesty. I stayed in our air-conditioned hotel room for two days reading that novel nearly non-stop and decided then and there what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to write Romance. It wasn’t until I was back home and hunting through a Barnes and Noble for more books by Sarah Hardesty that I learned the author was actually Nora Roberts. Truthfully, I had never heard of her. I know who she is now. And who knows, maybe someday, she will have heard of me.

As Jayne Nichols, I write contemporary romance (Wish Fulfilled Series) and romantic suspense (Madrona Point Series), and I love every minute of it.

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