Genre: Romantic Comedy / Small Town Romance Cover Design: Jennifer Olson
Tropes: Single Mom, age gap, opposites attract, mistaken identity
Blurb:
I have my fresh start in a new town, this time a widow with a preteen daughter who rolls her eyes enough to make them stay that way. Too bad my past mistake is also here to greet me.
Daxon Hellman. Town a-hole. Hot young contractor hired to build my house in the woods.
It’s only when I’m face-to-face with him for the first time that I realize he’s the mystery man from two years ago. It’s a long story of too many drinks, grief that made me resort to acting out, and an encounter in the dirty bathroom of a bar. Try as I might, I can’t forget that night. And now I have a name to go with that hot body.
Daxon growls at me…I irritate him with my constant social media posting. He orders me to do things…I trample all over his ridiculous commands with a smile and a choice finger in the air. He builds my house with that tool belt slung low on his hips and my cat steals his construction plans. We fit together like rain and exposed drywall.
Between insults and hot stolen kisses, Daxon and I reach a truce: to let our bodies do the talking and keep our hearts locked down. I’m older than him, which means I’m smart enough to keep a clear head. Until I realize when it comes to love, age and common sense do not go hand in hand.
This crazy town has more surprises up its sleeve to drive us apart, which makes me think this might not be our forever home after all…
Praise:
"Dax and Rita are fire together." - Kristen L. Goodreads Review
"Cougar from Hell checked all my RomCom boxes. I smiled so many times while reading this story. I swooned even more." - Lori R. Goodreads Review
"I adored this book. It really gives you all the feels, while having you feeling the heat, and then leave you a swoony, heart melted mess." -Gladys Goodreads Review
Also Available on Book Bub
Excerpt:
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his voice scraping across the inches that separated us. “Thank you for explaining. I, uh, have a bit of a hang-up about married women.”
I tried not to smile too hard. “I could tell. You looked ready to find your nail gun and nail my toes to the foundation.”
“Definitely wanted to nail you…”
My gaze shot over to his. “Are you flirting with me, Daxon?”
“I’m hurt it was subtle enough you had to ask.” His lips were doing that thing again. What would it take to make the man smile fully?
“It’s not you, it’s me.”
Daxon winced. “Ouch. That’s even worse. The pity excuse.”
I talked around the giggle. “No, it’s true. I’ve slept with two men, had one orgasm, and somehow mother a preteen with more attitude than me. I wouldn’t recognize flirting if the dick pic slapped me in the face.”
Daxon huffed what could have been the start of a laugh. “First of all, a dick pic is not part of flirting. And secondly, one orgasm? I’ll be forever wounded if you say that one wasn’t from me.”
Was it getting hot in here? Or maybe it was the low blood sugar combined with the blow to the head making me woozy. “It was definitely you.”
“Of course it was,” he said smugly.
I tried to pull my hands out from under his. “Jeez, ego much, Daxon?”
He held on tighter, somehow inching closer to me on the couch. “Not ego. Confidence. Maybe you need a refresher?”
He was so close I could pick up on the soap he used and the smell of wood. That combination would forever make my stomach swoop. And not because I was hungry. “Daxon!”
He shrugged, his thumb sweeping out a rhythm against the back of my hand. I could feel that touch everywhere. I really was pathetic, finding a simple thumb touch a source of pleasure.
“Would it be so bad? At least you'd know my name this time.”
I was shaking my head before I’d even catalogued all the ways that would be a very bad move to make. Without even putting sex on the table, I was overwhelmed by this man. I could barely be around him without tripping, or putting my foot in my mouth, or having to come home and seek out my trusty vibrator. One drunken encounter in a dirty bathroom had made me obsessed with him for months. Sober, intentional sex might break me.
“Absolutely not. No. Nuh-uh.”
Daxon smiled then, the kind of slow smile you feel across your skin. Like the sun rising over the mountains and heating up your whole body inch by inch. “So what you’re saying is you’ll think about it?”
Author Bio:
Marika Ray is a USA Today bestselling author of steamy and sweet RomComs, spending her time behind a computer crafting stories, walking any beach she can find, and making healthy food for her kids and husband whether they like it or not. Prior to writing novels, Marika held various jobs in the finance industry, with private start-up companies, and then in health & fitness. Cats may have nine lives, but Marika believes everyone should have nine careers to keep things spicy. All her books come with a money-back guarantee that you’ll smile at least once with every book.
More information can be found at www.marikaray.com
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