Book Tour and Giveaway - Knowing Vera (Chance for Love, Book 3) by Rachelle Ayala

Knowing Vera

Chance for Love Book Three

By: Rachelle Ayala

 

Blurb:

Vera Custodio has never fallen in love, though she has strong feelings for her friend and sometimes lover, Zach Spencer. Long-forgotten memories resurface when Vera discovers Zach’s mother was the woman her father supposedly murdered many years ago.

After losing his leg, former triathlete Zach Spencer reevaluates his life—and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera. When she ends their relationship, Zach is determined to prove his love and follows her to Australia in search of the killer.

Caught between a web of family secrets and a deranged adversary, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. Love blossoms, but the truth explodes everything Vera knows about herself. Will she close her heart forever or risk it all for a shot at happily-ever-after?

Knowing Vera is a suspenseful, cross-cultural romance mixing an unsolved murder, action and adventure, and hot, steamy love scenes. 

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Buy Link:   Amazon

Add to:  Goodreads

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Excerpt:

Would I stay if he asked? His touch is driving me crazy, filling me with inappropriate visions of wedding cakes and growing old together.

He presses his nose behind my ear, his lips gently kissing the lobe. My insides are melting like warm honey, and my emotions rumble like a subterranean explosion. I shudder, every cell wanting, demanding more, but fear zaps through my arteries, radiating from my chest to my limbs.

I need to say what I came to say, so I twist around and take a deep breath, fixing my gaze on his clear blue eyes. “It’s not you, or your leg. I can’t get close to anyone.”

He mouths the ‘it’s not you’ line and whispers, “I know it’s not my leg. You didn’t want to get close before my accident.”

“Neither did you. You were too busy.” Between his triathlon training, traveling and active social life, he wasn’t exactly a guy who spent much time with me.

He tangles his fingers in my hair and brings it away from my face. “I’m no longer the same man you had an agreement with. I don’t want the same things. It’s been like a born-again experience.”

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t blame you for being confused.” His forehead creases. “When I lost my leg, all I thought about was what I did wrong. Whether I was being punished for all the hearts I’ve broken—the partying and messing around.”

“No, Zach. You didn’t deserve it. I don’t know why it happened, but it wasn’t because of something you did.” Strange how I had wondered the same thing about my family earlier.

“How can you be sure?” He leans away from me, his shoulders stooped. “There has to be a reason for everything that happens. I’ve lost everything—my hopes, my dreams, my future.”

I press my face against the side of his head, hugging him. “You have me.” The words slip out so I keep going. “You’re brave and caring. And you’re still sexy. A man any woman would want.”

He squeezes me tight, and then releases me. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m okay with it. When I was a famous athlete, people would mob me just to touch me, get my autograph, have me smile at them. I ate it up. Loved it. But now I’m only a guy to feel sorry for.”

“That is so not true.” I stroke the side of his face, unable to keep the lump from blocking my throat. We stare at each other, almost unblinking. Who was Zach Spencer? And who is he now?

Finally he whispers, “What is the truth?”

“You’re a hero and a good friend. Lucas says he’ll always remember the moment you said, ‘I’m coming with you.’ That’s when he knew you were his friend, not just a training partner.”

“Fat bit of good I did. I had to be rescued while Lucas pulled Maryanne out of the water.”

I place a finger over his lips. No use talking. I’ll comfort him the only way I know. Unbuttoning his shirt, I kiss a trail up and down his chest, savoring his scent, a mixture of soap and a sporty musk that is uniquely Zach.

He relaxes into my embrace, lightly stroking my back. It’s all I can do not to undress and straddle him. His touch sends currents around my waist, and his smile, definitely panty incinerating. But he doesn’t wiggle his eyebrows and he doesn’t pull me in to crush my lips. Nor does he probe my nipples and squeeze my ass.

“What do you want?” he asks.

A bevy of flip remarks spin through my mind. What did we usually do while together? Or at least, we did, before his injury. Now, he’s suddenly shy, and it emboldens me.

Jumping off the sofa, I pull him up with both hands. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

 
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Author Info:

Rachelle Ayala is the author of dramatic fiction crossing genres and boundaries featuring strong but flawed characters. She writes emotionally challenging stories and is not afraid of controversial topics. However, she is an optimist and laces her stories with romance and hope.

Rachelle is an active member of online critique group, Critique Circle, and a volunteer for the World Literary Cafe. She is a very happy woman and lives in California with her husband. She has three children and has taught violin and made mountain dulcimers.

Visit her at: Website: http://rachelleayala.me Blog: http://www.rachelleayala.com or follow @AyalaRachelle on Twitter. Subscribe to mailing list for upcoming books and giveaways. http://eepurl.com/lR5kv

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Giveaway

Rachelle is hosting a TOUR WIDE Rafflecopter Commenter Giveaway for a $10.00 Amazon or B&N Gift Card!

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