Book excerpt for The Billionaire's Matchmaker Anthology by Jump, Meier, Braun, and Wallace

Today is a book excerpt from The Billionaire's Matchmaker Anthology and an introduction to the authors: Shirley Jump, Susan Meier, Jackie Braun, and Barbara Wallace.

The authors will award a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. To be entered to win, leave a comment below. To increase your chances of winning, visit other tour stops and leave comments there, too!

Blurb:

Can a feisty four-legged matchmaker help four best friends find the romance of their dreams?

When a handsome man from Gabby’s past agrees to a cross-country road trip, her master plan to re-launch her art career quickly morphs into an unexpected, romantic reunion.

Marney’s 9-1-1 emergency help arrives in the form of a rugged, blue-eyed cop. Now she has the perfect bodyguard to keep her safe during those dark, steamy nights…

The last thing Mia wants is a relationship…yet the headstrong florist can’t keep her hands off her sexy-as-sin ex-boyfriend.  Will she open her heart before he leaves town for good?

Jenny is a woman on a mission – she’ll even resort to dognapping to make her point! But can she teach a reclusive, emotionally-wounded tycoon that love heals all things?

Excerpt from “Driving Mr. Wrong Home” by Shirley Jump in The Billionaire’s Matchmaker:

“That’s what friends are for.” Though he wanted more than that and had for a long, long time. He wasn’t on this trip with Gabby to see if he should forget her. He’d come to see if she loved him like he’d always loved her.

“Is that what we are?” she asked. “Friends?”

“Are we?”

The two-word question hung in the air. Hell, the question had sat between them for years, ever since the day they’d met. There’d always been this magnet that drew him to her, a magnet he’d attributed to her being so different from him, so wild, so unpredictable. When really, what he wanted more than anything was Gabby herself.

“I think we’ve always been more than that,” he said. He reached up, let his hand trail along her jaw. Her eyes widened, and her pulse leapt in her throat. “Don’t you?”

“T.J….” She turned away. “I don’t think we should take this any further. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Okay.” He lowered his hand.

A heartbeat passed, another. The temperature rose, heating the space between them. She caught his hand with hers, her fingers warm and tight against his. “I want you,” she said softly. “But I’m so afraid. Of a thousand things, of making a mistake.”

“Oh, Gabby.” Her name slid from his lips, part groan, part whisper. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

A long slow smile curved across her face. She splayed her fingers, pressed her hand on his chest. Her touch trailed down the front of his shirt, skipping over the buttons, dancing along the ridges of muscle beneath the cotton fabric. “You’ve changed.”

“We both have. We’ve grown up.” His attention drifted to her curves and the desire that had been on a slow simmer began to burn hotter, brighter.

She laughed, a deep, throaty sound. “I don’t know if I have. But you have grown up. In very nice ways.” A flush of pink invaded her cheeks, nearly as bright as the streak in her hair.

“I’m not that geek you remember.”

“No, T.J., you definitely aren’t. But underneath it all, I think you’re still the same guy. You’re down to earth and honest. At your core, you’re the T.J. I remember. I’ve missed that person a lot.”

“You missed me?”

“More than I realized. You’ve always…tempered me. Brought out the best in me.”

The words filled him with joy. She saw who he was underneath. She always had. “And you’re still the same person who pushes me to step out of my comfort zone, to take chances.”

“I could say you’ve turned the tables in that department this week.” Her gaze softened when she looked at him.

“Maybe we should take this beyond just a road trip. To something more.” He’d said nearly the same thing years before. Back then, she’d rejected him. But this time, he sensed the undercurrent of attraction, the simmer of want, warring with whatever battles Gabby had inside her.

“But…” She got to her feet, and shook her head. “We’re just traveling together for a few days. It wouldn’t be smart to complicate that. What’s going to happen when we get to California? You stay there, I go back to Illinois? We have something long distance?”

“Honestly, I don’t know what will happen then.” He wanted more, wanted it all, but to have that, he had to tell her the truth about who he was...about why he stayed away all these years.

Author bios and links:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romance and women’s fiction to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Look for her Sweet and Savory Romance series, including the USA Today bestselling book, The Bride Wore Chocolate, on Amazon and Nook, and the debut of her Sweetheart Club series for Berkley, starting with The Sweetheart Bargain in September 2013. Visit her website or read recipes and life adventures on her blog.

The Billionaire’s Matchmaker - “Driving Mr. Wrong Home”

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Blog

Jackie Braun is the author of more than 30 contemporary romance novels.  She is a three-time RITA Award finalist, a four-time National Readers’ Choice Award finalist and was nominated for Series Storyteller of the Year by RT Book Club in 2008. She lives in Michigan with her husband, their two sons and a former shelter dog named Pip.

The Billionaire’s Matchmaker - "Love Unleashed"

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blogging 2 Tuesdays each month on The Chocolate Box. 

In 2013, Susan Meier lived one of her career-long dreams. Her book, The Tycoon's Secret Daughter was a finalist for RWA’s highest honor, the Rita! The same year, Nanny for the Millionaire's Twins was a Book Buyer’s Best Award finalist and National Reader’s Choice finalist.

Susan is the author of over 50 books for Harlequin and Silhouette, Entangled Indulgence, and one of Guideposts' Grace Chapel Inn series books, The Kindness of Strangers.

One of eleven kids, Susan never lacks for entertainment or amusement from her over thirty nieces and nephews. Her family’s Wednesday Morning Breakfasts are the highlight of her summer. And with lots of her nieces and nephews now in their twenties, wedding season is in full swing!

Susan lives in west central Pennsylvania with her husband, son and two crazy cats.

The Billionaire's Matchmaker - "The Sheriff's Secret" 

Connect with Susan at: Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Barbara Wallace has been a life-long romantic and daydreamer so it’s not surprising she decided to become a writer at age eight.  However, it wasn’t until a co-worker handed her a romance novel that she knew where her stories belonged.  Her first Harlequin Romance debuted in November 2010.

Barbara loves writing sweet, smart, ‘it-could-happen-to-you’ style romances.  She lives in Massachusetts with her other loves – her husband, their teenage son, and three very spoiled pets (as if there could be any other kind).  She also loves hearing from readers. 

You can find her at her website, on Twitter and on Facebook.