Spotlight: Ex Appeal by Cathy Yardley
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(Ponto Beach Reunion, #3)
Publication date: November 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
A hacker and a fixer—who just happen to be high school exes—reunite to help each other out in this witty second-chance romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.
Vinh Doan has a problem. Ten million of them, in fact. He’s a high-level fixer for global conglomerates, which means big money…and big troubles. When ten million dollars go missing from one of his accounts, he needs a top-notch hacker to find it. His first thought? Emily MacDonald, his high school ex.
While Vinh has been taking the financial world by storm, Emily has been struggling. After her dad died, she dropped out of college and put her dreams aside. Her job in tech support has seriously tested her sunny disposition and her finances. Now, there’s an unexpected solution: Vinh, the guy who dumped her when she needed him most.
When Emily finally lets herself listen to Vinh’s request, she realizes that this is a desperately needed chance to get paid…and get payback. But the more time they spend together, the more they recognize that even though they’re not the same people they were a decade ago, their off the charts attraction is just as strong as ever. As they give in to their simmering chemistry, can Emily and Vinh let go of their past, figure out their futures—and hack a second chance at love?
Excerpt
“Guess I’d better get back to it,” she said, feeling oddly nervous. She reached for the laptop, and then yelped, wincing.
He’d also gone to the sink, but now he was at her side in a flash. “What? What happened? Are you okay?”
“Neck,” she said. “I should’ve known better. Bad ergonomics. Stayed in the same place for too long. Damn it.”
“You need to learn to take breaks,” Vinh said, but before she could snark at him, he put his hands on her neck and shoulders. Then his thumbs pushed, gently but firmly.
She groaned, her head automatically falling forward as she let out a long, low moan. “Ohmygodthatfeelssogood,” she slurred.
She felt more than heard the chuckle that was deep in his chest. He was giving off heat like a furnace, and she suddenly, inexplicably shivered.
That means I’m cold, right? How she could be cold next to that much heat, she had no idea. Maybe if she just moved a little closer, she could warm up.
Let’s hear it for justifications!
She scooted forward, just a millimeter. He kept rubbing circles, slow, soothing, drugging drags of his hands on her tight muscles. And she collapsed against him.
She felt his breath on her hair. And maybe…
Did he just kiss the crown of her head?
She pulled back enough to tilt her head up and look at him. He looked down at her, smiling, that gentle, fond, gorgeous smile that she knew was hers alone.
And her heart hurt.
Here he was, standing in front of her after all this time, looking at her the way he used to, the way she still sometimes dreamed he did. Part of her wanted to curse him, for teasing her with this.
The other part of her…
His eyes studied her mouth, and that hunger, that glow, seemed to imbue all his features. He leaned forward, just a tiny bit. Leaned down, closer to her.
She stretched, ever so slightly, up. She thought about closing her eyes, but it was a train wreck – she couldn’t look away. She didn’t want to.
Suddenly, there was a loud, rattling wheeze. They both jumped.
“What the hell was that?” Vinh said, looking around.
She sighed, then walked over to the snake enclosure.
“That would be Herman,” she said. “Looks like his asthma is acting up.”
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About the Author
Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin's, Avon, and Harlequin. She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and that sometimes being a little wrong is just right.
She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures, because she's had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society of Creative Anachronism; she spent a New Year's on a three-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles.
Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth of any of said adventures, and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband.)
Connect:
https://www.instagram.com/cathyyardley/
https://www.amazon.com/Cathy-Yardley/e/B001ITYMWY
https://www.facebook.com/CathyYardleyAuthor
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