Blog Tour: Loverboy: Sarina Bowen
Loverboy
Secrets, desires, and exquisite pie. It’s all in a day’s work at The Company.
Growing up, I was the rough guy from the wrong neighborhood who couldn’t catch a break. Posy was the pampered girl I tried to impress. But all she gave me was a single kiss before I had to skip town.
Now I’m back, and the tables are turned. Posy runs a struggling pie shop. I’m the VP of a secretive billion-dollar security company.
Not that I can tell her.
There’s a murderer on the loose in New York, and he seems to spend a lot of time at Posy’s shop. It’s my job to identify him before he can harm a hair on her pretty head.
Going undercover as Posy’s new barista wasn’t my idea. I don’t even drink coffee. But now I have to call her “boss,” and do everything the curvy perfectionist asks of me. I’d forgotten how much we infuriate each other, and that she somehow fills me with both irritation and desire in the same breath.
There’s nobody more skilled at stealth ops than me. I can bring this killer down. Right after I take a cold shower. And just as soon I figure out how to make a skinny peppermint latte with milk poured in the shape of a kitten...
Gunnar Scott just got a new assignment from The Company so he is heading from the West Coast back to New York. He knows something is up when his coworkers are a bit secretive about it. Turns out he is going undercover as a barista in a pie shop to try to trap someone using their wi fi for some illicit and dangerous purposes. Perhaps fortunately for Gunnar he already knows the owner. Unfortunately, fifteen years ago they were rivals, fought constantly, and have conflicting stories on how the whole situation ended. He is confident, charming, intelligent, and a highly-skilled operative and part-owner of the top-secret security company.
Posy Paxton used to try to please her rich daddy and that was one reason she was pitted against Gunnar at her dad's bar. But these days she lives life on her own terms and runs her pie shop and helps her sister and nephew. She is no longer the pampered princess and has lost her trust in men. She is sassy, overworked, stressed, and a perfectionist. Hiring Gunnar is the last thing she wants to do but is desperate.
These two still spark off each other, and the mutual attraction is evident. Gunnar is highly adaptable and things seem to be going okay although Posy is blissfully unaware of the covert ops in progress. Her own life was messy enough, but when strange things start happening around her, it just gets more and more suspicious and complicated. And eventually, some of the secrets come out.
As these two get closer, Gunnar has even more reason to catch the bad guys and keep Posy safe. Although the end of the mission could also be the end of his time with Posy. But it is hard to see who is coming for them and what they are really after.
This is a witty, sexy, mysterious, second-chance, romantic suspense story with various subplots and twists. There are layers to the story that have to be peeled back. I really fell for Gunnar's charm. He is protective, but also supportive and helps empower her. Posy is a delight and I liked seeing him try to get her to let loose a bit. This can be read as a stand-alone, but it brings back some of The Company employees and enemies. I am really interested in more with Max, Scout, and even Duff. But what I really want now is pie...lots of different kinds of pie...and a fancy latte'.
These two still spark off each other, and the mutual attraction is evident. Gunnar is highly adaptable and things seem to be going okay although Posy is blissfully unaware of the covert ops in progress. Her own life was messy enough, but when strange things start happening around her, it just gets more and more suspicious and complicated. And eventually, some of the secrets come out.
As these two get closer, Gunnar has even more reason to catch the bad guys and keep Posy safe. Although the end of the mission could also be the end of his time with Posy. But it is hard to see who is coming for them and what they are really after.
This is a witty, sexy, mysterious, second-chance, romantic suspense story with various subplots and twists. There are layers to the story that have to be peeled back. I really fell for Gunnar's charm. He is protective, but also supportive and helps empower her. Posy is a delight and I liked seeing him try to get her to let loose a bit. This can be read as a stand-alone, but it brings back some of The Company employees and enemies. I am really interested in more with Max, Scout, and even Duff. But what I really want now is pie...lots of different kinds of pie...and a fancy latte'.
Posy Paxton grew up trying to please her father, to jump through every hoop he set for her just so she could run the family restaurant when he retired. Years later, she is done bending to her father’s wishes, especially after he sold the family company without letting her know. Now she is building her own dreams in a pie and coffee shop in a trendy New York neighborhood. But needing to hire a new barista has her desperate. When Gunnar shows up on her door asking for the job, she might not want to say yes, but she needs the help.
These two have instant chemistry - the kind of chemistry that has them initially thinking they can’t stand each other. It doesn’t help that when they first met, they were effectively in competition for the same job, with Gunnar having the experience, but Posy having the family connection. Now Posy is the one with the experience and Gunnar is the fish out of water making coffee. But as they work together the sparks begin to fly.
These 2 characters are great compliments. Posy is sharp, determined, and loyal. She takes care of the people around her, and does everything she can to help her sister and nephew. Her pie shop may barely scrape even, but it is her baby and she loves everything she is building in that little shop. Gunnar is protective, bossy, and also determined, though their determination takes them in different directions. He feels the pressure to find whoever is sending the messages from Posy’s shop, and grows frustrated when he can’t find an answer right away.
This was a fun, fast paced, sweet story. The combination of pie shop and murderer hunt is such a perfect, out of this world combination that I was pulled into the pages to see where Gunnar and Posy’s story would take them. The side characters were a perfect combination of supportive and interesting (their friends), and hideous and hair-raising (her ex and his new flame).
I enjoyed returning to the world of The Company, where no one knows the actual name of the company, but everyone has a special set of skills. The team members who work with Gunnar have interesting teasers about their qualifications, and I can’t wait to see who else takes center stage in the hunt for justice.
Earlier, I’d spotted him even before he came into the bar. I watched him get out of that cab and then check the time. I saw him look toward the pub, weighing his choices.
My heart had thumped along with only one word. Please.
Fine—not my heart. It was other parts of me who were doing all the begging. Silently, of course. Speaking up seems impossible right now. What if he laughs in my face? Or—this might even be worse—what if he says yes? And then we get naked and I can’t satisfy him?
You’re not very adventurous, Spalding said. You’re not very good in bed.
My ex is the only person I’ve ever been naked with. And thanks to him, I’m afraid to try again with someone else. If another man tells me I’m no fun, I don’t know how I’d come back from that.
On the other hand, if I don’t get out of this rut, then Spalding wins. Maybe I sound melodramatic, but I don’t want to die before I experience terrific sex.
It’s really no surprise that my drink disappears quickly.
“Look, you don’t have to tell me what’s on your mind,” Gunnar muses, and I realize I've been silent for some time. “But something has you deep in thought.”
“Rhubarb,” I blurt. “It’s, uh, something I’ve used in springtime pies. But, um, I wonder if I could do better than strawberry rhubarb—that's been done, you know?”
His smile widens. “Is that an occupational hazard? You can't eat or drink anything without reconfiguring it in your mind?”
“Yep.” I wave at the bartender. “Another round of these if you wouldn't mind.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Gunnar asks. “Please say yes.”
My pulse picks up, because it’s hard to miss the innuendo there. But I dodge the question, because I’ve never been brave. “As if two cocktails and a beer would put you under my spell.”
“Oh, I'm easy,” Gunnar says, giving me an intentionally sleazy wink. “Besides, your pies have already made me slow and agreeable. That key lime and Thai basil pie was amazing. That stuff is dangerous.”
“You like my key lime and Thai basil?” I ask, hearing pleasure in my own voice. It never gets old when people tell you how much they like the product. “And I guess it figures that you’d be one of those.”
“One of what?”
“You have an adventurous palate.” I prop an elbow on the bar and try to explain. “People fall into two distinct groups. There’re the ones who always order the weird flavors. And the Dutch apple pie crew, who always stick to the basics. They don’t cross over. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”
Thanks to Spalding. He basically accused me of being a Dutch apple pie in bed. The whole reason I’m reading my sister’s romance novels is to try to learn what the other flavors are like.
“Huh,” Gunnar says. “So, you can just guess which other pies I’ve tried?”
“Sure, I can. Did you try the pine nut and salted honey?”
“Oh, hell yes.”
My smile grows wide. “How about the matcha green tea tart?”
“Well,” he shakes his head, “I gotta say I haven't quite gone there yet. But I did enjoy the vinegar date pie.”
“Ah! And the ginger mango cream, right?” I press.
“Yeah. Does that make me predictable?”
“A little bit,” I say, enjoying myself immensely. “Have you started doing that thing where you try to guess each customer’s guilty pleasure?”
He laughs. “Get out of my head. It's my new favorite game.”
“How's your accuracy?”
“Pretty bad. I started off trying to use clothing as a clue. I expected somebody wearing a navy blue suit and boring shoes to order the apple crumble. But that theory bombed. And then I tried to assume that people in workout clothes wouldn’t pick something sugary. But they totally do.”
“You have to look deep inside their souls,” I tease. “If you look at the shell of a person, you'll never get their pie order right. In fact, you have to look at their auras.”
He snorts. “What color is my aura?”
“Indigo, like tattoo ink. But with a streak of red because you’re contrary.”
He narrows his eyes. “You’re just fucking with me now.”
“Maybe I am.”
“Okay, lady. But I have an issue with something you said earlier.”
“What?”
“Guilty pleasures.” He lays a hand over my wrist. “I don’t believe in those. I don’t think pleasure should make you feel guilty.”
“Oh.” He’s barely touching me, but goosebumps run up my arm anyway. Now would be a great time to make a joke and diffuse all the tension I’m suddenly feeling. But I feel too tongue-tied to pull it off.
Gunnar removes his hand, which is a disappointment. But the next thing he says stuns me back into goosebump territory. “You know, I always had it bad for you.”
“You … what?” I ask stupidly.
“Back when we were tending bar, I had a big crush on you. And sometimes I thought you were on the same page. I usually have good instincts about these things. But not that time. You ended up with Mr. Pretty Boy Preppy instead.”
My heart is thumping wildly now, and I take a sip of my cocktail to steady my nerves. The truth is that I don’t really trust this little revelation. We used to annoy each other, for one thing. But maybe that didn’t matter to Gunnar’s libido. He was a horny college boy. He probably had it bad for all the girls.
Still. “What if I’m the one who has terrible instincts? Did you ever think of that? And did you miss the part where I divorced Mr. Preppy?”
“Mmm,” he says thoughtfully. “I suppose that might explain a few things.”
“You’re the one who left, anyway.”
His eyes narrow. “Do you really think if I’d stuck around, things would have turned out differently? I spent three months giving you the fuck-me eyes, Paxton. But you didn’t take me up on it.”
Oh mother of God. His gaze is turning hot, and I think it might incinerate me. And then I remember why we never hooked up in the first place.
The Company
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Only in my family could a professional hockey player earning seven million dollars a year be considered a slacker.
I’m at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don’t even know its name.
Pass, thanks. I don’t need a summer job.
But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.
So guess who’s on a flight to Hawaii?
It’s going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we’re torturing each other. It’s all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.
Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Contains: hackers, hockey players, and a hotel room with only one bed.
Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over thirty contemporary novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller's list in January, with Overnight Sensation. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.
Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.
Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.
Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.
Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.
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