Two Truths and a Lie releases tomorrow. It's a little bittersweet for me. I'm not used to having an entire series release so quickly--book one only came out a month ago--and it was so much fun writing these characters--and revisiting my Jersey Shore days--that I'm sad to see it end.
I suspect there will be more Atlas Beach stories in the future, but for now the trilogy is complete.
Blurb:
All work and no play has been the story of Brenda Donovan’s life
for the past few months. Concerned about the future of her family’s inn, she’s
been searching for a buyer for the business—without her cousins finding out
what she’s up to. She has no time for relationships. But pretending to date
sexy Max Murphy, the hotel scout who’s there to assess the property? That’s
totally doable. Especially when games, role-playing, and light bondage are
included in the package. Falling in love was never supposed to be part of their
deal, however, and now her heart’s in play.
Max has no problem with hiding his true identity from Brenda’s
cousins. But are they the only ones he’s deceiving? When all is finally
revealed will the cousins lose the Wild Geese Inn? Or will they add another
member to their growing family?
Loose Id: http://www.loose-id.com/games-we-play-3-two-truths-and-a-lie.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Two-Truths-Games-Play-Book-ebook/dp/B06XKHJPDX
Excerpt:
After dinner, as they were leaving the dining room, Max paused in the entryway.
“So I’ve been hearing about this famous kissing stone of yours. Since we’re
‘dating’ now, shouldn’t we uphold tradition?”
That damn stone. Brenda sidestepped quickly to avoid it. “I have no idea
what you’re talking about.”
“I’m saying that I’d like to kiss you.” He glanced at the floor. “Isn’t
this where we’re supposed to stand? Isn’t the tradition that you kiss your
lover here if you want the two of you to be together forever?”
“We’re not lovers.”
Smiling, he reached for her hand. “I’m hoping that’s about to change.”
So was she. She didn’t try and stop him as he twined his fingers with
hers, but when he tried to pull her close, she balked. Nope. Not happening. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, Max.
But you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
Max slanted her a skeptical look. “It’s your family’s legend, isn’t it?
Won’t it look strange if you don’t kiss me?”
“No, actually. It would look much stranger if I did. It might be my family’s legend, but anyone who knows
anything about me knows I don’t believe in that nonsense. Never have.”
“Never?” he asked, an unexpected note of challenge in his voice. “Not
even when you were younger?”
“Oh, well.” Brenda shrugged dismissively. “Sure. I believed in Santa
Claus once too.”
“Then you grew up and ‘put away childish things’ as they say?”
“Exactly.”
“Ah, c’mon. You’re not really that cynical, are you?”
“How is that cynical? I’m just being an adult.”
“Adulting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Brenda was starting to get annoyed. “Maybe not. But someone has to do
it.”
“But not all the time, right? Don’t you ever want to take a break from
it all?”
Do I? “You have no idea how much.”
“Why don’t we play a game? Just for one night.”
“What kind of game?” she asked, intrigued despite herself. She couldn’t
remember the last time she’d played anything. Maybe that was part of her
problem?
“Let’s make believe we’re lovers who are carrying on a secret affair.
We’re here for the week, we’ve just had dinner, and now we’re on our way back
to our room to make love.”
He was here for the week. They had just had dinner. Two truths. Brenda
frowned. That weird sensation of having been here and done this all before was
back, stronger than ever. Was this still just part of their cover story? “You
know my cousins are never going to believe something like that, right? We only
just met.”
“This has nothing to do with your cousins. This would just be for us.
Haven’t you ever role-played?”
“Not really, no.”
“No,” Max repeated. His smile had a bitter edge. “No, I guess not.
You’ve probably never felt the need to be anyone but yourself your whole life.”
She really hadn’t. At the moment, however, she was kind of liking the
idea. If she were someone else, maybe she wouldn’t feel so weighted down by
responsibility. She wouldn’t have to
calculate the consequences of every action, or worry how things would end. She
could have fun. She was a little surprised at how unexpectedly exciting that
seemed. When had her life become so endlessly dreary? “So how would something
like that start?”
Max smiled. “Like this, I think.”
He tugged on their joined hands, used his other hand to cup the back of
her neck, and pulled her close. This time she let him.
It’s just a rock, Brenda
reminded herself. Just a random block of
inert minerals. It’s no different from the rest of the floor. There’s no such
thing as magic—no spells, no curses, no fucking enchantments. I’m only doing
this to prove to myself that kissing him means nothing. Absolutely nothing.
All the same, she could feel herself trembling as he slanted his mouth
over hers, as though an icy-cold wind had swept over her. And when their lips
touched, she was rocked by something. A shock of recognition. A feeling of
completion. Total nonsense, she was sure; just the product of her overactive
imagination. But if the sharp intake of his breath was anything to go by, it
had just hit them both. What was that
anyway? The touch of a ghostly hand? A harbinger of destiny? An echo from the
past? Or something completely prosaic—like the draft from an open door?
Her money was on the door. But all the same, fear had her on the verge
of pulling away until Max wrapped an arm around her waist. He held her in
place, blocking her flight. He cradled her skull as he deepened the kiss, and
she was lost. Nothing had ever felt this right. She slid her arms around his
waist and kissed him back, and it didn’t even matter where they were.
On the stone, in the restaurant, with a dozen people or more watching. Are you fucking kidding me?
Maybe there was something
special about the stupid stone. Because she’d only ever felt like this once
before—the last time she’d kissed someone here.
Copyright © PG Forte
Copyright © PG Forte
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