Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Review and Giveaway - Something to Prove by Shannyn Schroeder



Something to Prove
The O’Learys
By: Shannyn Schroeder

eKensington
Releasing January 2014 

Blurb:

Two ambitious people team up to prove themselves to their families—and find there may be more to their partnership than just business…
Elizabeth Brannigan is determined to show her father she’s capable of running the family business. Saving his struggling Chicago bar seems like the perfect project. But she’ll need a little help dealing with the rough crowd. Who better to assist her than the handsome co-owner of a thriving Irish pub? Of course, with so much work to do, there are bound to be a few late nights…
Colin O’Leary’s father passed away before he could prove to him that he wasn’t a screw-up. Now he wants to show his brother he’s responsible enough to own a bar of his own—and Elizabeth may be able to help him. But when their professional aspirations clash, tempers—and passions—flare. Are they mature enough to mix business with pleasure—or will they have to choose between the two?  

Buy Links:
iTunes    B&N    Amazon
 

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Excerpt – Elizabeth and Colin have spent the morning making plans for their bar. It’s been rough and they’ve butted heads multiple times. Elizabeth attempts to smooth things over.
Maybe she’d invite Colin to lunch. She had to be able to work with him. He hadn’t done anything to make her think he wasn’t trustworthy. He’d done nothing wrong. In fact, he’d come up with some good ideas.
            She grabbed her purse and headed back into the bar. He stiffened at the sight of her. Oh, yeah, this was going well. “We missed lunch. I thought maybe you might want to grab something to eat before we have to meet with people.”
            His shoulders relaxed and his mouth quirked. “Is that an invitation?”
            “Yes. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
            “That’s all?”
            What else did he want? She raised her brows, waiting for an explanation.
            “No ‘thank you’?”
            “Why should I thank you for doing your job?”
            He walked around the bar and stood much too close for her comfort. “I think you owe me a thank-you for rescuing you from the biker.”
She rolled her eyes. “You did not rescue me. I handled myself fine.”
His smile broadened. “From where I stood, he was about to handle you.”
 “I didn’t ask for your help.”
“What would you have done if I wasn’t here?”
She debated telling him that the door wouldn’t have been open. The clientele of this establishment made her uneasy, but she wasn’t about to give him that fuel. “I would’ve called the police.”
“Wrong choice. You need me more than you thought, Legs.” He walked past her toward the door.
“What did you call me?”
“Legs.” He tilted his head and his gaze ran down the length of her. “As in you’re all leg.”
“My name is Elizabeth.”
He smiled, and her heart jumped. A smile should not have that effect.
He continued, oblivious to her condition. “Anyway, if you’d made that call to the cops, he would’ve gone into a rage. You have to be able to read people.”
“That’s why I hired you. So we’re back to you just doing your job and no thanks are necessary.” She turned to the door with her car keys in hand. His laugh echoed in the empty bar behind her and she couldn’t hold her smile back. 
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My Review:
I enjoyed this story.  Elizabeth is a strong and determined woman who is trying to prove to her father that she is more than capable of taking the reins of the family business.  She heads to Chicago to turn The Irish Pub from a money losing biker bar into a money making neighborhood pub.  I was fascinated by Elizabeth and her guts to do something she had never done before just to prove herself to her family.  I loved Colin!  He is a sweet, caring and determined man (as determined as Elizabeth).  He needs to prove to his family, especially his brother, that he is not a screw-up. He has been trying to atone for leaving his family after his father's passing.  Elizabeth and Colin have such sexual chemistry as well as stubbornness galore.  The story was moving and enjoyable as well as humorous and sexy.  It flowed nicely and left me wanting to read more about the O'Leary clan.
 

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Author Info:
Shannyn is a former English teacher, who now works as a part-time editor while raising her three kids.
Even though she wrote from high school through college (mostly poetry), she’d never considered a career as an author. Writing fell by the wayside as she focused her energy on creating lesson plans and new and fabulous ways to torment her teen students. One group in particular dubbed her “The Torture Master,” a title she carried into motherhood.
After the birth of baby number two, Shannyn resigned from teaching and fell in love with reading romance novels. She read so many books so quickly that her husband teased, “If you’re going to read so many damn books, why don’t you just write one?”
So she did.
That first book is safely buried on her hard drive, but the process set Shannyn on the path to where she is today—agented with a debut ebook coming out with Kensington in late 2012.
She is recovering from her Diet Coke addiction, fears putting her foot in her mouth on social media, and has a renewed appreciation for the bad girls of the world. 

Author Links:
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Giveaway:
Nook Simple Touch ($79.00 Value), TWO Digital Copies of Winner’s Choice O’Leary Romance or FIVE Keeper Kase with O’Leary’s cards

 

2 comments:

  1. Oh she sounds like a heroine I would LOVE! Will have to grab this one. Thanks for the heads up Sue!

    ReplyDelete