Blogtour + Giveaway: Come Home to Me (Whiskey Creek #6) – Brenda Novak

Welcome to my stop on the Blogtour for Come Home to Me – the sixth book in Brenda Novak’s Whiskey Creek series. If you are a regular visitor here at (un)Conventnional Bookviews, you know I’m a huge fan. I feel like the characters in these novels are my close friends, and opening a new book is like having the time to hang out with them after being busy for a while.

There is a tour-wide giveaway, open for US and Canada residents, and I have to admit I’m a little jealous! The winner will get the three first books of the Whiskey Creek series – authographed! – and a Whiskey Creek tote.

 

When Presley Christensen returns to Whiskey Creek with her little boy after two years away, she has completely changed her life. She’s made peace with her past and overcome the negative behavior that resulted from her difficult childhood. Now she’s back in the small town that was the closest thing to “home” she ever knew—the town where she can be with the sister who’s her only family.

There’s just one catch. Aaron Amos still lives in Whiskey Creek, at least until he moves to Reno to open a branch of the Amos brothers’ auto body shop. And no matter how hard she’s tried, Presley hasn’t been able to get over him. Seeing him again makes the longing so much worse. But she hopes she can get through the next few months, because she can’t fall back into his arms…or his bed. She’s come too far to backslide now. And there’s a secret she’s been guarding—a secret she’ll do anything to protect.

Come Home to Me will be released on March 25th 2014 and you can get it here :
Amazon Print | Amazon Kindle | B&N | Kobo |

Of course, you can also add it to your Goodreads or your BookLikes shelves by clicking the links.

If you haven’t started the series yet, you can find the prior books for sale as well, just click on the title you need : WHEN WE TOUCH,
WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES, WHEN SNOW FALLS, WHEN SUMMER COMES,
HOME TO WHISKEY CREEK, TAKE ME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.

Excerpt

[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”525px” height=”” background_color=”#e0c0d7″ border_width=”3″ border_color=”#674ea7″ ]It wasn’t until she stepped through the curtain and into the dark storeroom where Angelica Hansen, owner of Turn the Page, received her inventory that Presley relaxed. She’d reached safety, a hidden corner where Aaron would be unlikely to look for her. Once he left, she’d pay for her book and get out of there.
But when she turned, intending to peek out at those in the front of the store, she collided with his hard, unyielding chest as he came through the curtain.
He grabbed her before she could fall over the stack of books at her feet, drawing her up against him. “What are you doing back here?”
Breaking his hold before the smell or feel of him could erode her resolve, Presley stumbled, which sent the books flying. She was lucky they didn’t trip her as they almost had before. “I…needed room to breathe. It’s so…crowded out there. I thought I’d wait here for a few minutes, until the line was shorter.”
His eyes narrowed slightly at the way she’d scrambled out of reach so quickly. Or maybe it was her reason for seeking the storeroom that gave him pause. Did he think she was trying to steal Ted’s book?
Or had he figured out the truth? He’d always been perceptive—too quick-witted for his own good…and hers. He was the sensitive Amos brother, the one who’d taken the loss of his mother and everything that’d happened after her suicide the hardest. But he didn’t comment on the fact that she was still backing away.
“I heard you moved into the old Mullins place two weeks ago,” he said.
She had to tilt her head to look into his face. “I did.”
“Then…where have you been?”
Was he asking why she hadn’t contacted him? “I’ve been busy.”
“That means you’re never home?”
Her stomach muscles tightened again. “You’ve dropped by?”
“I didn’t bother to knock. I never see a car in the carport.”
“I don’t have a car anymore.” She’d sold her new Hyundai several months ago so she could get out from under the payments and save enough to be able to lease a studio. She would’ve stayed in Fresno and kept saving to give herself a bigger financial cushion—would’ve opened her studio there, too—but when she found some strange marks on Wyatt, she was afraid his home day-care provider was mistreating him and decided to return to Whiskey Creek. Her sister had offered to help with child care, and once Aaron had told Cheyenne and Dylan he was relocating, going home was finally a possibility.
He hesitated. “How do you get around without a car?”
“For the most part, I walk.” Chey’s house was down the street and around the corner from hers. Her studio was two blocks in the other direction, along with the rest of downtown, making it easy to get wherever she needed to go.
“The exercise has obviously been good for you.”
She wished that compliment didn’t evoke the pleasure it did. But during the past two years, she’d judged everything by how much he’d like what she was doing, how she was changing herself. She supposed the desire to finally be admired by him was too powerful to overcome. “The owner of the thrift shop where I worked introduced me to yoga. That made the difference, more than anything else.”
“Flexible and toned.” His teeth flashed in an appreciative smile. “You look better than ever.”
“Thanks.” There were other things to explain the physical improvements—like her strict eating habits—but she didn’t want to engage him in any more conversation than she already had. He wouldn’t care what she was doing with her life—not after he realized they weren’t going to pick up where they’d left off and fall into bed.
“How have you been?” he asked. “It’s been a long time.”
And she’d felt every painstaking minute of it. She couldn’t count how often she’d almost broken down and called him. Only the risk that he might find out he was Wyatt’s father stopped her.
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Meet Author Brenda Novak:

Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. A New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of fifty novels, Brenda Novak has been nominated for a prestigious Rita Award three times and won The National Reader’s Choice Award, the Bookbuyer’s Best, the Bookseller’s Best, the Writer Touch Reader Award, the Golden Quill, the Hold Medallion and the Award of Excellence, among others.
Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fund-raiser for diabetes research—an online auction held on her Web site (www.brendanovak.com) every May. To date, she has raised over $2 million for this cause.

Social Media Links:
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads

Now, on to the Giveaway fun! One commenter from the entire tour will win a Brenda Novak Mini-tote and an autographed collection of the first 3 books in the Whiskey Creek series (When Lightning Strikes, When Snow Falls and When Summer Comes). This contest is open to all US & Canada residents of the age of majority. Please see full Terms & Conditions on the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Any and all are invited on March 25th for a release day celebration of COME HOME TO ME (Whiskey Creek, #6). Drop in on Facebook between the hours of 4 – 8pm PST (7 – 11pm EST) to read teasers from the new release, chat with Brenda and other guest authors, and, of course, be entered to win some great giveaways! Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1393348987595320/

Thanks again for stopping by today! Good luck in the giveaway.

 

 

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