Jacqueline's Reads: Giveaway + Book Blast - All In the Name of Love

Blurb

Prominent LA Lawyer, Adrian Hoyle, never knew meeting the hot Hollywood actor, Devon Varick, would be dangerous to her health. But the night she does, everything in her life changes...

Now, after barely surviving a bomb meant to just scare her, she's on the run from an Italian Crime Boss, falling head over heels in love with a handsome actor that should not even be interested in frumpy old her and about to question everything she holds dear.

Join Devon and Adrian in this Action Adventure Contemporary Romance as they fight off the Mob, uncover secrets worth dying for and make the ultimate sacrifice to answer the question, how far would you go, All In The Name Of Love...

Exclusive Teaser

Adrian woke the next morning to the insistent ringing of the telephone. Groaning loudly, she rolled over and tried to burrow under the covers. The answering machine eventually picked up and she heard her best friend's voice in the distance.

"Adrian? I know you're home because you never go anywhere, pick up the phone, sweetie, it is urgent!" There was silence, then, "Come on, Adri...It's really important…pick up!"

With another groan, she rolled over and grabbed at the receiver. With a mouth full of cotton, she answered slowly, a deep growl escaping her when it brushed the empty wine bottle on the nightstand. "What?"

"You sound like hell, doll," Jessica Sterns said with a chuckle. "Everything ok?"

"No. But I'll tell you about it later if you promise to stop shouting."

"Honey, I'm not shouting," her best friend and partner said. "Are you ok?"

"Jess, what is it? What's so urgent that you have to wake me at," she rolled her pounding head enough to see the digital clock through the bottle. "Ten."

She sat up. Her head was going to split open, she just knew it. The reason for Jess' call sank through the fuzz. "Oh, shit," she whispered around a thick tongue. "It's Thursday, isn't it?"

"Yes and you're due before Judge Mackenzie in half an hour," Jessica said. "And considering you haven't even been to the office yet, and you've been late twice in the fifteen years I've known you, I figured something was wrong."

She flopped back on the bed. "Oh, gods, Jess. I forgot," she said, struggling to sit upright again. "Look, call the Judge, tell him I'm sick and ask for a continuance. Send Marcie over to get Jonathon at the courthouse and tell him I'll meet with him at three this afternoon."

Jess’s voice was full of satisfaction. "Already done and done, my dear. The hearing was set back three weeks, though, and you know how Jonathon is, he's not going to be happy about it. Want to tell me what happened last night?"

"Later. I need to get moving."

It didn't dawn on her that Jessica had said something about last night until she was pulling into the parking lot of the firm an hour later.

She hadn't intended to get drunk. Wasn't even considering it in all truth, but when she'd stopped to get gas on the way home, she'd seen the wine. Feeling guilty, she'd picked it up on a whim. She'd drunk the first half with her meal, and once started just couldn't bring herself to stop. Her words kept replaying over and over in her mind as she sat staring at the TV. About three-fourths of the way through the bottle, she was laughing hysterically at her antics.

She was normally so calm and reserved. A quiet conservative, as Jess liked to say. A 'frumpy' quiet conservative, she amended, pulling the Mustang into her customary parking space. Walking into the office, she didn't bother to remove her sunglasses. The light made her head pound all the more. Instead she breezed by her assistant, Marcie, and headed right for her private office despite the younger woman's frantic words and the stack of messages she was waving.

She held up her hand as she passed and opened the double doors of her reserved and quietly decorated office. Done in soft browns and muted black and grays, she loved the inner sanctum of peace and calmness she'd managed to create.

Only today, it was like walking into the gardens at the State Park of California, in full bloom. Sitting on every conceivable surface within the large room were all manner of flowers. Roses, carnations, lilies, dandelions, and daffodils of every color she could imagine had been put into the office. Blinking rapidly behind the dark shades, she shook her head, which only caused it to pound relentlessly, then blinked several more times before easing the doors shut again.

She turned toward Marcie's desk and raised an eyebrow. "Who?" she mouthed silently, then cleared her throat and said in a louder voice, nodding toward her closed door. "What in the hell is that?"

Marcie rose from behind her own desk and came forward to hand her a stack of pink message slips. "Seems that you have an admirer," she stated with a waggle of her own eyebrows. "And from the looks of those expensive flowers in there, I'd say a very well-off admirer." She turned back to her desk, picking up the phone as it rang. "Sterns and Hoyle, may I help you?"

She didn't wait to see who it was but pushed open the doors again, flipping through the messages. All the slips were from clients, lawyers, and a couple from the District Attorney. It wasn't the messages she was concerned with, though. As she moved into the room, she began to pick the small white cards from the flowers one by one. Sliding into the high-backed office chair, she set them aside and called the D.A.

As she spoke with him, she pulled the cards out of their envelopes. She hadn't picked them up in any particular order, but realized they were supposed to be. She cut the conversation with the D.A. as short as possible and laid the cards out on her large desk, hoping she'd gotten it right.

The first said simply, "I'm sorry," and gave his name and number. No doubt he'd expected her to call. When she hadn't, the second bunch had shown up.

"I mean it, I'm really sorry," with his name and number. Obviously he'd still expected her to call.

The third said, "Ok, so I'm a jerk, forgive me?" with name and number.

The fourth said, "Please?" and once more gave his name and number.

She reached over to her intercom and spoke. "When did the last bunch show up?"

"About five seconds ago," Marcie responded, just as there was a stiff-sounding knock on the door.

When she didn't answer, the door opened and in walked the biggest set yet. At least a foot wide and two feet tall, it dwarfed the poor young man having to carry it. He set it in front of her and pushed part of the bouquet out of the way. "Now that you're here, will you please call this guy?" he said breathlessly. "I don't think my back can handle another one like this," he bemoaned. "Not that we mind the business, but lady, he's really, really sorry, so give the guy a break."

She could only stare in amazement at the large bouquet. Every flower that had already been delivered now comprised the newest monstrosity.

She gulped, head pounding, making her feel even guiltier. It was she that should be sending him flowers and begging his forgiveness. Not the other way around!

She was reaching for the phone when the door burst open with a bang and Jessica strode confidently into her office.

"Ok, now…" she said, disappearing behind the wall of flowers as she flopped into the opposite chair. “Tell me what happened!"

There was a comical moment of side-to-side leaning as they tried to talk around the massive vase. Finally Jessica sat forward and all but heaved it out of the way then sat back with a raised eyebrow.

She stared at her best friend and let out a long sigh. There had never been any secrets between them, so it was without trepidation that she relayed the events of the night before. "So I bought a bottle of wine and drank the entire thing when I got home," she finished close to an hour later.

For a moment there was stunned silence as Jess sat there with her mouth hanging open. A bubbling chuckle began to roll of her perfect, lipstick-covered lips.

They were Yin and Yang. Where Jess was the outgoing, bubbly blonde, tall and statuesque, she was the calm, dark, conservative reverse. Where Jess could breeze into a room and take command of just about any situation, she was the wallflower, hiding behind the bushes and out of the way until she was needed.

Where Jess was constantly invited to parties and all manner of social affairs; she was often overlooked, or just forgotten because she was so quiet. So it was no wonder that Jess started to laugh and couldn't stop for almost ten minutes.

She sniffed indignantly when Jess had calmed down. "It's not that funny."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Jess continued to chuckle. "Oh, yes, it is, my dear. It's hysterical. You, Ms. Ice Queen herself, cuss out one of the hottest actors in Hollywood and he's sending you flowers." She laughed again, holding onto her sides.

She gave another indignant sniff and glared at her oldest friend.

"Oh, come on, girl. I've known you since college, dear heart, and you've never said a cross word to anyone outside of the courtroom," Jess said incredulously. "I mean you're hell on wheels inside the courtroom. You can crack the toughest of nuts with merely a glance from those icy eyes of yours, but outside, you…" Jess rolled back in her chair in another fit of laughter. "I just can't see you backing Devon Varick across the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant," she finally managed, before the laughter overtook her again.

About the Author

Margaret Taylor currently lives in San Antonio, TX and is scratching post for her five cats and one puppy. She is an avid writer, a novice photographer and enjoys all things paranormal and science fiction! Just ask her, she'll tell you!

Her list of books include:

Wolf's Paradox - Book 1 of The Layren Series (Paranormal Romance), Purchase - > AMAZON

A First Love Never Dies - Book 1 of The Spi-Corp Series (Sci-Fi Romance), Purchase - > AMAZON

With a little something for everyone, if you visit her blog and ask nicely, she might be persuaded to post some tasty excerpts for many of her other projects! *Bring Cookies as payment please!*

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Giveaway

Win an ecopy of All In the Name of Love