Shameless
by Cheryl
Douglas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts, but his life has
been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He's desperate to
make amends for the mistakes he's made and convince Sierra their love deserves
a second chance.
Excerpt:
Prologue
Five Years Earlier
The sexy little waitress stretched to offer her neck as Trey
Turner prepared to do another body shot at the urging of his inebriated
friends. He licked the salt off her neck as he felt a small hand grip his
shoulder.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He turned to see his wife, Sierra, staring up at him,
disgust darkening her bright blue eyes. He heard a few of his friends mutter
curses as the crowd broke up and went back to drinking and dancing.
“Baby, I was just havin’ a little fun.” His words slurred
and he wondered how many body shots he’d had before Sierra intervened.
The waitress slid her hand down his chest, hooking a finger
through his belt loop. “That was fun. How ‘bout we pick up where we left off
later?”
Sierra turned away, not waiting for his answer as she began
weaving her way through the crowd.
“Sierra, baby, wait,” he called, trying to push his way
through the throngs of people before she reached the door. He grabbed her wrist
just as she was about to cross the threshold. “Wait. Please, don’t go.”
“It’s over, I’m done with this shit,” she said, trying to
shake loose of his grip.
He had more than a foot and a hundred pounds on her. She
wasn’t going anywhere until he decided he was ready to let her go, which
wouldn’t happen in this lifetime. “What’s that supposed to mean? Where the hell
do you think you’re going?”
“Home to pack.”
He felt the room begin to spin out of control. “What did you
say?”
“I’m leaving you. Our marriage is over.”
His grip on her wrist tightened. “No, you can’t leave me.”
She pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s been over for a long
time. I’m just making it official.”
“We’re not having this conversation out here in front of a
hundred people,” he said, pulling her through the horde of friends he’d invited
to his private party. He opened the door to the small dressing room usually
occupied by the nightly entertainment that performed at Jimmy’s bar. “We’ll
have some privacy in here.”
She was finally able to shake free of his tight grip. “I’ve
already said everything I have to say to you.”
He gripped her waist. “Don’t do this, Sierra.” He bent to
kiss her neck. “I love you, baby. God, I love you so much. I can’t live without
you.” He backed her toward the couch as he lowered himself down on top of her.
“You’ve been living without me for the past year, Trey.
You’ve spent your days on a tour bus and your nights in a stadium or bar.” Her
voice broke. “We lost our baby girl and you don’t seem to care.”
“Don’t say that,” he whispered furiously. “Don’t ever say
that I didn’t care about Callie. I loved her, Sierra. It damn near killed me
when we lost her.”
She glared at him. “Really? Is that why you boarded that
goddamn tour bus a week after her funeral?”
“I’m a musician; it’s what I do.” He knew the excuse was
weak. Sierra was right. He’d been trying to run away from his grief and sadness
instead of staying at home where he belonged, supporting his wife.
She shook her head, looking defeated. “It’s what you do—it’s
who you are. Trey Turner, country music’s award-winning, platinum-selling
mega-star. What about my husband? Callie’s father? Where is he?”
He closed his eyes, feeling disgusted with himself for
letting her down again. “Baby, I’m sorry. Look, I know I’ve made mistakes, but
let me make it up to you, okay?” His hand eased up her shirt to cup her breast.
Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. “No, we can’t
do this. It won’t fix the problem.” Making love to her may not solve all of
their problems, but it would buy him some time to figure out a way to convince
her to give him and their marriage another chance. “Just relax,” he whispered,
licking her neck.
“Hmm, that feels so good.” She wrapped her denim-clad leg
around his. “But then you had lots of practice with your girlfriend right
before I got here, didn’t you?”
He cursed himself for indulging in the adolescent drinking
game and giving his wife reason to question his fidelity yet again.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered, flipping the button on her jeans. “You’re the only
one I want; you know that.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. “No, I
don’t.”
He hated that he had given her reason to doubt herself, to
doubt them. “Let me prove it to you, then.”
His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips until she
finally parted for him. He groaned, taking her mouth with a savage intensity.
His mind raced; fear warring with panic as he realized this may be the last
time they made love, the last time he had the right to touch her.
GIVEAWAY!!
Cheryl
will be awarding: two(2) - $20 Amazon Gift Cards to randomly drawn commenters
during the tour, and one(1) - $20 Gift Card to a randomly drawn host. Also,
Cheryl will be awarding ten(10) trading card/cover flat packs to randomly drawn
commenters during the tour (US/Canada), ten (10)digital books from the
Nashville Nights series (winner's choice) to randomly drawn commenters during
the tour and two(2) Swarovski crystal necklaces to randomly drawn commenters
during the tour (US/Canada).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cheryl began
her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an
early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her
passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from
several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her
first romance novel.
The first
book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been
dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when
the manuscript began taking on a life of it’s own. Characters came to life,
secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a
single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off
series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.
One word
would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when
she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of
her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a
sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and
daydreaming.
Cheryl feels
blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The
thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that
possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy
the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she
couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven
years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows,
she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.
Book Information
Book Title:
Shameless (Book One, Nashville Nights)
Book Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Book
Publisher: Self published (Douglas Publishing)
Release Date:
Currently Available
Buy Links
Amazon Buy
Link for Shameless:
Barnes and
Noble Buy Link for Shameless:
All Romance
Ebooks Buy Link for Shameless:
Other Links
Website:
Facebook:
http://www.cheryldouglasbooks.com
Thanks so much for hosting today. I hope your readers enjoy Shameless!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Sorry for the late post. I’m playing catch-up here so I’m just popping in to say HI and sorry I missed visiting with you on party day! Hope you all had a good time!
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
Sierra...You're better off without him! Don't trust him.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Oooo! This sounds awesome! I would love to read this!
ReplyDeletexo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com
Thank you for the prologue. I'm hooked.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Nice excerpt.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Definitely want to read!
ReplyDeletexo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com
I love finding new authors and books. I will be adding this to my buy list.
ReplyDeletelauratroxelatyahoodotcom