Spotlight: Don’t Tell Me You Love Me by Holly Kerr
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Publication date: October 27th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
The only thing stopping Shae from living her best life is the fact that she’s dying.
Together with her social media followers, popular travel vlogger Shae hides her illness from the world and lives every day like it’s her last. Her picture perfect life is only missing one thing—love, because for Shae, it’s not better to have loved and lost—it’s better not to love at all.
Emmett knows all about loss—he had it all until the death of his wife sent his life spinning out of control. It took him three years to pull himself together, trading ball diamonds for the strawberry patch and sweet corn fields of the family farm but now it’s time for him to take another chance at love.
After Emmett escorts Shae down the aisle at his sister’s wedding, he falls hard. One glimpse of her fun-filled life and Emmett knows he’s ready to be a part of it.
As they spend more time together, Shae fights against her feelings. How can she let him love her when it’s only going to lead to more heartache? But it’s hard to keep her distance, especially when Emmet is fighting for her heart.
Is love the one thing Shae can’t live without?
Don’t Tell Me You Love Me is the first book of the Don’t Sweet Romance series, a picture-perfect tale of first love, second chances, and living your best life. Fall in love with Shae and Emmett today.
Excerpt
We’ve moved up another spot in line by the time Pink Hair takes her place behind me. Celebrity or not, pink hair or not, I stare straight ahead and resist the urge to glance over my shoulder. It’s tough because only moments ago, I watched a video of her zip-lining upside down. While naked.
She is fully clothed now.
Rufus, on the other hand, can’t help himself from staring.
He looks and looks again. It’s not until the third time when he’s downright gawking at her that I nudge him to stop.
And then I have to look. She’s scrolling through her phone, and with the pink little hair buns and rolled-up ankles of her jogging pants, she doesn’t look too much older than Rufus.
Tiny. Cute.
Definitely cute.
“Are you…?” Rufus asks her in a tremulous voice.
She looks up from her phone. “Hey,” she says with a lopsided grin, almost like she knows us.
“You are!” Rufus cries. “I can’t believe it. I saw you naked!”
She blinks with surprise. “Zip-lining!” Rufus waves his phone at her. “You’re the Shae, aren’t you? I’ve seen all your videos.”
Shae—if that is who she really is—grins from ear to ear, like Rufus just handed her a million bucks. “A fan! That’s so great!”
“I’ve seen all your videos, and follow you on Insta, and TikTok—the one with the dog is so funny.” Rufus is bouncing up and down, practically vibrating. I haven’t seen him this excited since I gave him his first LEGO set when he was four. Shae listens with interest as Rufus details his favourite videos. This is one time where being a third wheel isn’t a bad thing as I watch the expressions flash across her face.
She meets my gaze and smiles. I quickly look at the back of the person in front of us, at the display case, at the big guy manning the coffee maker. Anywhere but at her, because it must be so obvious that I’m checking her out.
I’m plain staring. Blink, Emmett, for God’s sake.
Two women sitting in the corner of the shop stop by Shae on the way to the door and comment on the concert video. In this little bakery, she really is a celebrity.
Maybe it shouldn’t surprise me. There’s definitely something about her. A light within, or a happy glow…I can’t explain it, but there’s something. Just listening to her talk to Rufus makes me feel like a gust of cool spring air has slipped into a winter-stuffy barn.
“Why are you here?” Rufus finally finishes. “You were in Thailand, like, yesterday.”
“We just flew back,” Shae says conspiratorially. “In fact, I haven’t even been home yet. I made Adam stop here because Reuben over there—” She points at the big guy behind the coffee maker. “He makes the very best lattes, always puts hearts in the foam.”
I take a deep breath like I’m diving into a pool. “Good to know,” I say drily. “I can’t drink a coffee without a foamy heart.”
When Shae turns her attention to me, it’s like all the air is sucked out of my lungs. Her eyes are big and beautiful dark pools in a tiny face and the way she looks at me under her long lashes is jolting. More than jolting; it’s like she sucker punched me in the stomach.
“Foamy hearts are the best,” Shae says after a slight pause, enough for me to have a glimmer of hope that I’m not the only one reacting this way.
Or else she thinks I’m an idiot.
I give myself a shake to continue the conversation. “Sounds like you’re a regular. I didn’t get hugs when I came in.”
“You could always ask nicely,” she says hesitantly.
“Okay!” Without a moment’s pause, Rufus launches himself on Shae.
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Holly Kerr is the author of fifteen chick-lit, romantic comedy, and women's fiction novels, but don't ask her to explain the differences in the genres. She grew up a farm girl but now calls Toronto home, where she lives with her three very tall children, following their sports exploits like any dutiful mother.
She's a lover of Marvel movies, Star Wars movies...really, any movies, and has a surprising amount of worthless pop culture info stored in her head. She likes oceans over mountains, tea over coffee, and can mix a darn fine dirty martini, with extra olives, of course.
Connect:
https://www.facebook.com/HollyKerrAuthor
https://www.instagram.com/hollykerr.author/
