Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Excerpt & Giveaway - At Home With Andre by Kathleen Duhamel


 At Home With Andre

by Kathleen Duhamel

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

New York public relations consultant and self-proclaimed control freak Katie McDowell may have made the biggest career mistake of her life. She’s agreed to temporarily leave her beloved Manhattan to manage the company’s struggling New Orleans office, knowing her biggest client is television chef Andre Thibodeaux, whose massive masculine presence makes her feel hotter than the onset of menopause.

Finding her way in a funky new city and earning the trust of her employees is tough enough without annoying hot flashes, night sweats and ugly mood swings, not to mention the lingering memory of one steamy night she shared with the big man she thinks she can’t have.

Sexy, smart, and successful, Chef Andre has everything a man could want except the right woman, and he’s determined to learn why Katie rejected him. To convince her to stay in Louisiana, he’ll need to find a way to make her fall in love-with him, as well as the vibrant southern city he calls home.



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EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

Devon returns to deliver our barbecue sandwiches—beef brisket for Andre and pulled pork for me, piled high on a soft roll and topped with spicy coleslaw. The combination of tender meat, tangy vinegar sauce, and crunchy cabbage is so delectable it’s all I can do to keep from groaning out loud.

“Ya gotta try this beef,” Andre insists. As he hands over his paper-wrapped sandwich, our fingers brush against each other, sending another bolt of fire through my insides. How am I supposed to make it through the next several months when I can’t manage to have lunch with the man without losing my cool?

I take a bite. The beef is flavorful and fall-off-the-bone tender. If I keep eating like this, I won’t be able to fit into my clothes. Weight Gain! The dreaded words flash in my head like a lighted highway construction sign.

Devon is back at our table. He stands and waits for my response.

“It’s wonderful,” I say after swallowing another mouthful. “Do you have some menus I could take back to my office?” He produces a stack of printed pages, along with his business card.

“We cater, too,” he informs me.

I decline dessert, although Andre swears by the banana pudding. He orders two servings in a take-out container. When we leave, he opens the car door for me again and waits until I’ve adjusted my harness before walking around the vehicle and sliding into the driver’s seat. Denise says he’s always the perfect gentleman, I excuse myself for a bathroom break, pausing in front of the mirror to make sure my lipstick isn’t smeared, before I fluff my curls and return to the common room, where Andre is standing next to the makeshift buffet table, a beer in one hand. Our eyes meet. My stomach clenches as a burst of heat radiates through my body.

He’s dressed in jeans, an open-collared shirt, and custom Converse high-tops in a cartoonish, red and yellow hot dog print. I wave, trying to appear casual, before dropping my gaze and pretending to study something on my phone screen. When I look up again, he’s still staring at me.

In another minute or so, Andre strides across the room, headed in my direction, reminding me a little of that Richard Gere movie where he comes back at the end for Debra Winger, except Andre isn’t wearing a military officer’s uniform, and he’s not going to sweep me off my feet.

He throws a toothy smile my way before saying, “I’d like to pay you a compliment, dawlin’, but I’m worried you’ll either be offended or slap me with a sexual harassment suit.”

My eyes narrow. What the fuck is he talking about?

“Umm…what did you want to say?”

He looks me in the eyes again as the heat rises around us. “That is the sexiest damn haircut I’ve ever seen on a woman.”

My heart pounds and my hands tremble. I feel as though I could melt into a puddle at his feet, simply dissolve onto the hardwood floor. Somebody would have to come along and mop up what’s left of me.

This is what you came for. Rhianna’s voice mocks me through the sound system. So much for my cool and composed persona. I seem to have lost my voice. I stammer, swallow hard, and say, “Thanks. I paid a visit to Jonathan’s salon.”

“The man is a true artist.” Andre takes swig of beer. “But it helps to have great material to work with.”

Why is he being so nice to me? Should I be suspicious of his behavior, or am I paranoid? I wanted him to notice, and now I’m overwhelmed by the attention I’m receiving.

“I like your new look.” His eyes sweep over me. “All of it.”

 his manners above reproach.

If she only knew. He didn’t exactly mind his manners on one scorching hot night last July in Las Vegas. He was hungry and demanding, a big man with a hearty appetite. 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kathleen Duhamel is the author of Deep Blue, Deeper, and At Home With Andre. She wrote and illustrated her first short story at the age of eight, and has been a writer for most of her life. Her love of the written word continued throughout her varied career as a newspaper journalist and editor, public relations executive, freelance travel writer and owner/operator of two small businesses. A native of Texas, she spent most of her adult life in Colorado before relocating to Virginia in 2014, where she lives with her husband, a standard poodle and geriatric cat. She is a lifelong devotee of rock and soul music, contemporary art and pop culture.



Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2q0ceLv 

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GIVEAWAY:

Kathleen will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

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