Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Love's Last Call by Beth Matthews! Today I have a great excerpt from the book to share - and don't forget to enter the giveaway! To follow the rest of the tour, click on the banner above.
Love's Last Call (Ladies of Jezebel’s #1)
Author: Beth Matthews
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 20, 2014
Description:
Lucy
York is an aspiring mechanical engineer working as a shot girl serving
watered-down drinks to drunken frat boys at Jezebel’s Bar & Lounge.
The job isn’t so bad—it pays her bills, and she’s managed to make a
surrogate family for herself at the bar. But now she’s ready to spread
her wings and fly north to attend a university and, maybe, distance
herself a little from the all-consuming social scene at Jezebel’s.
Then her boss hires a new bouncer, Norm, a literature dork who seems like everything a bouncer shouldn’t be: tall, gangly, sweet (and, you know, named Norman). But as she gets to know him, ol’ Norm turns out to be everything Lucy never knew she wanted and the best friend she’s ever had. He’s not a bad bouncer either.
One obstacle to their happily ever after: the owner has a strict no-dating rule for employees. If anyone at Jezebel’s finds out she’s dating a bouncer, Lucy will lose her job, her surrogate family, and the money she needs to go to college.
But, if she loses Norm, is she losing her best chance at happiness?
Then her boss hires a new bouncer, Norm, a literature dork who seems like everything a bouncer shouldn’t be: tall, gangly, sweet (and, you know, named Norman). But as she gets to know him, ol’ Norm turns out to be everything Lucy never knew she wanted and the best friend she’s ever had. He’s not a bad bouncer either.
One obstacle to their happily ever after: the owner has a strict no-dating rule for employees. If anyone at Jezebel’s finds out she’s dating a bouncer, Lucy will lose her job, her surrogate family, and the money she needs to go to college.
But, if she loses Norm, is she losing her best chance at happiness?
He blinked at the non-sequitor. "I was working at a bookstore, but the place went bankrupt and closed down. I have to eat and pay my half of the rent, so when I saw Hank's ad on craigslist I dragged myself down here. Me as a bouncer seemed a bit of a long shot, but I begged and Hank said yes."
"Begged?"
Norm tipped his hand in a so-so gesture. "Asked nicely. I get the impression you guys go through a lot of bouncers?" Which is why a scrawny beanpole like me had a shot.
She rolled her big blue eyes heavenward. "God, yes. It's as bad as the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Actually, most of the staff has a high turnover. Bouncers are just the worst. Working in a bar can be hard, you know? The hours interfere with the rest of your life. You're spilled on and stepped on and hit on and sometimes, if you're a bouncer, actually hit. It's not an easy job. But, for some reason, lately we keep hemorrhaging bouncers. They fall asleep half way through their shift and Hank fires them. They steal the good booze and Hank fires them. They get an acting gig and they quit. Their girlfriend visits the bar, takes one look at Ronnie and orders the guy to quit--"
"Won't be a problem for me. I'm footloose and fancy free."
Her eyes crinkled at the corners with pleasure. "Fancy free, huh?"
"Oh, yeah." He tweaked his shirt collar to demonstrate. "Fancy, right?"
Lucy laughed.
He loved making her laugh, and decided, whatever the risks, that he would try to make it happen as often as possible. "What about you? How long have you been working at the infamous house of fallen women and false prophets?"
"Since I turned twenty-one." She leaned forward, her face serious, her voice earnest. "It's a great place to work. As much as I bitch about Jezebel's, I make good money, and work doesn't interfere with school."
Norm craned around as a bustle of voices filled the bar. The main door opened and a crowd of employees shuffled in together, taking seats at the tables clustered before their boss and the stage.
"Better go down." Lucy flipped her textbook closed, sandwiching her notebook and pencil in between the book's pages. She stuffed everything into a black backpack spotted with rainbow colored polka dots. In the cluster of half dozen buttons on her backpack, there was a simple black one with "HAN SHOT FIRST" in bold white letters.
A woman after my own heart.
Norm, entranced and attracted by this tangible sign of geekery, realized he was helpless to resist her--whatever his financial difficulties. He followed her to the seating area for the meeting, feeling like one of the hypnotized rats trailing after the Pied Piper, doomed and elated all at once.
Beth Matthews is a California girl, born and raised. She’s a total geek,
a movie buff, and a mediocre swing dancer. She lives in sunny SoCal
with her boyfriend and two of the neediest housecats on the planet.
Buy Links:
Tour Wide Giveaway (US Only):
Black zip tote back from Romantic Times 2014 Convention in New Orleans
(6) Contemporary Romance Paperbacks:
Love’s Last Call by Beth Matthews
A Midsummer Night’s Fling by Beth Matthews
Fire Inside: A Chaos Novel by Kristen Ashley
Inn at Last Chance by Hope Ramsay
Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis
Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe
