Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Marina Adair (Feature/Excerpt/Giveaway)

Today we would like to share with you an excerpt from contemporary romance author, Marina Adair's, upcoming release - Kissing Under the Mistletoe!

Kissing Under the Mistletoe
A St. Helena Novel
By Marina Adair

Regan Martin stopped believing in Christmas miracles six years ago when she lost everything—her house, her job, and her impeccable reputation in the wine industry—after she fell in love with a man she had no idea was married. Then Regan gets a chance for a fresh start in the Napa Valley. With her dream job, dream home, and her daughter enrolled in a wonderful new school, she starts wondering if holiday wishes really do come true.
But she soon tumbles back down to earth when she learns that her new boss is none other than Gabe DeLuca, the scorned wife’s brother. Gabe wants nothing more than home-wrecking Regan Martin out of his life, his sister’s world, and his family’s business. Mostly, he wants the lush beauty out of his head. Yet his attempts to run her out of town have him thinking twice, especially when he sees that Regan may hold the key to tracking down his sister’s stolen start-up capital. Even worse for Gabe, Regan might just be his Christmas wish and hold the key to his heart.

Available October 16, 2012
Goodreads - Amazon - Kindle - Barnes & Noble - The Book Depository



EXCERPT:

It wasn’t every day that your average girl got to watch her career crumble before her very eyes. For Regan Martin, that day had been on repeat for the past six years. To be reminded of it while she was wearing blinking plastic antlers and a shirt that said “Elves Do It Better,” though—that was enough to make her snap.

The minute Regan spotted her Ghost of Christmas Past, looking primped and relaxed as he lurked behind the condiments aisle, she no longer had to wonder why her career had suddenly gone from Welcome to the Gordon and Associates Family to Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass on the Way Out in under three seconds flat.

Which was why she dropped a pint—make that another gallon—of Rocky Road into her cart and sprinted for the front door. She ignored the clerk reminding her that she hadn’t paid and the Santa clanking his bell for charity.

Fishing her keys from her purse, Regan rounded Picker’s Produce, Meats and More, passed City Hall, and was reaching the community Christmas display—complete with a Santa and all nine reindeer—when she came to a screeching halt. Because there, under the town’s flapping red banner that said “Merry Christmas One and All” and parked next to her 1994 Honda Civic, was a mini-McMansion on wheels, license plate reading: DELUCA1.

Her passenger door was blocked by a cluster of old wine barrels filled with festive poinsettias, leaving Regan’s car completely boxed in. She parked her cart alongside the shiny orange Hummer, sure to test out its ding-free bumper claim, and tried to shimmy her way between the vehicles. Tried being the operative word. She doubted even her daughter could squeeze through that space, and Holly was only five. But there was no way she was willing to ask the man who had made her professional and, in turn, personal, life a living hell to move his car. Especially since she’d just landed a new job.

Pressing her lips closed, Regan swallowed back a frustrated scream and resisted the temptation to kick his car. No sense in ruining her shoes.

Was he serious? How high school could he get, stalking her all over the country? Sure, she’d made a mistake—a big one. Just thinking about it made her stomach feel hollow and her chest tighten to the point of pain. She had been nothing but stupid, entrusting her heart to a man who’d lied to her, played her for the naive fool, never telling her that he was married. As a result, she had unintentionally committed one of the most unforgivable sins ever: she’d become the other woman. It was why she would never trust another man. She had learned her lesson the hard way, tried to make amends, and was, from the bottom of her heart, sorry. But she’d been paying the price ever since.

Enough was enough. Gabe DeLuca, enemy numero uno, had cost her eleven jobs over the past six years. Eleven! At first she’d tried to be understanding and see things from his family’s point of view, but she was fed up. The minute she’d gotten the call from Ryo Wines offering Regan her dream job, she had packed up her life and moved Holly away from her friends and everything that was familiar, with the hope that they could find a fresh start here in St. Helena—and that didn’t include being pushed around.

Regan glanced at the ice cream, perspiring in the afternoon sun, and looked back at her car. She had been in town only a week, hadn’t even started her new job, and already her constant shadow had found her. No doubt he’d followed her here to get her fired—yet again.

Grabbing her cart, she took one, two, three steps backward, and before she knew what had happened, she surged ahead, ramming her cart into the back of Gabe’s overcompensation-with-an-engine. A gigantic crash echoed, sending ice cream flying over the top of the car and landing on the hood with a victorious splat.

She picked up the remaining tub of Rocky Road, ripped back the lid, and squeezed the container until the contents fell to the trunk with a thwack. Still not satisfied, she sank her finger in and then carefully scrawled across the back windshield: Bah Humbug Mother Fuc­—

“Are you through yet?”

Regan froze, her fingers still in the Rocky Road, and closed her eyes. She didn’t need to turn around to see who was standing there; she’d recognize that voice anywhere. She knew she should pull on the big girl panties, apologize, and drive away. Unfortunately, today she had opted for her Rudolph panties, and was sporting a sequined nose on her ass.

Reminding herself that Martin women were fighters used to crawling their way back up, and also that she’d always told Holly turning your back while someone was speaking to you was rude, she mustered what was left of her pride, brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and turned to face the man who had ruined her life.

His gaze dropped to her naked finger and back to her eyes.

“Actually, no, I’m not.” She was just getting started.

About Marina Adair:

Every author can identify the exact moment of inception, when the skies parted, the heavens sang, and a divine being came forth, anointing them one of the chosen, blessed to spend the rest of eternity weaving stories of ‘ever after’ for mass consumption.
For me, it wasn’t so much a moment, but an intervention.
Sophomore year, my fellow Blockheads sat me down and explained that I had an addiction. I was a NKOTB–A-holic. Afraid of becoming enablers, they refused to listen to another one of my never-ending stories about our passionate intrigues with Jordan, Joe, Jon, Danny, and Donnie. What they didn’t understand was that New Kids on the Block wasn’t my obsession—they were my current romance-medium of choice.
Twenty years later, my romance addiction is a hard, bodice-ripping, half-dozen books per week. When I’m not reading it or watching it, I am writing it—or workshopping it—or editing it—or strategizing how my hands to get more of it.
In 2010, I realized I was closer to menopause than prom and got serious about my career, writing my way toward a post-graduate degree in creative writing (in the off chance that the first one didn’t stick) and becoming a published romance author.
January of 2012, I sold my first novel, TUCKER’S CROSSING, to Kensington Books set to release August, 16 2012. Also coming this year from Montlake Romance  is the St. Helena Vineyard series:  KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE hits shelves October, 16 2012, followed  by SUMMER IN THE VINEYARDS in April 2013, and the third in the series releasing October 2013. In 2014 the first in the Sugar Series, BUT SUGAR’S TWICE AS SWEET, will release from Grand Central’s Forever line.
I live in a century-year-old log cabin, nestled in the majestic redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, with my husband, daughter, three kitties, eleven chickens, and the occasional wild turkey.

www.MarinaAdair.com - twitter: @MarinaEAdair - Facebook - Amazon

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Marina is giving away one ARC of Kissing Under the Mistletoe to one reader. (US only, please). To enter,  just leave a comment on this post about the excerpt above and then fill out the Rafflecopter below. Additional entries are available but not required. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway