Title: Make You Mine, book 1 in the Walkers of River’s Edge series
Author: Nan Reinhardt
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
When his family’s company is on the line, business and pleasure definitely don’t mix, but maybe they should…
Madeline Ross left the city and a career glass ceiling behind, hoping to build a new life as the crew supervisor for Walker Construction in River’s Edge. She’s qualified and experienced, but new CEO Jackson Walker hires someone else. Even as she searches for a different job and builds a life in River’s Edge, the sexy memory of Jack teases.
After a rough year, Jackson Walker’s family business is still struggling. He needs a new construction crew supervisor, and Maddie Ross is perfect, except for the first time in his life, player Jack is suddenly smitten with the curvaceous redhead. He wants her in his bed more than on his payroll.
When his second-rate new hire is a disastrous mistake, Jack humbles himself on Maddie’s doorstep with an offer she can’t refuse. Maddie could be the key to saving his company as long as he hides his heart. But does he have to?
Excerpt from Make You Mine, Book 1 in the Walkers of River’s Edge Series
by Nan Reinhardt
“She’s great. Perfect, actually.”
“There you go.”
Jack didn’t reply as he stared out the window at the sun setting over the river.
“You aren’t thinking you can’t hire a woman super, are you, because that’s just redic—” The word dropped when Jack turned to face his brother.
He was certain his cheeks were rosy—probably his whole face—because it felt hot right to the roots of his hair.
“Aw, crap, Jack.” Eli’s tone was full of . . . not disgust, exactly . . . more suspicion. “It’s not somebody you’ve—” He made a rude gesture.
“Hell, no!” Jack’s hackles rose. Trust Eli to think the very worst right from the get-go. “No, I’d never actually met her before she stepped into this office today. But . . . here’s the thing. She’s Gerry Ross’s daughter, and I may have hit on her at Whitney’s last night.” He hated where this conversation was heading, but better his brother think that he was embarrassed that Madeline Ross had shut him down so flat and then had seen him in the elevator with his hands . . . well, that didn’t matter. But he wasn’t ready to admit the real issue. That he was so blown away by her when she entered his office, he couldn’t even catch his breath.
“You may have hit on her?” Eli crossed his arms over his chest, his lips a forbidding line. “Did you or didn’t you?”
“Okay, I did, and she turned me down. But then she saw . . .” Why the hell couldn’t he simply spit it out? Eli knew he dated around, and that, sometimes, the dates were just one-night stands. But that was his own business. He started over. “I had another drink after Madeline Ross left the bar and I met a woman—a very nice woman—and I ended up going upstairs and . . . Madeline saw me in the elevator with her in a . . . compromising position. Then later, when I left, she was at the front desk.”
“So, Gerry’s daughter saw you groping a perfect stranger and then witnessed your walk of shame,” Eli concluded with a grim laugh.
“Yeah.” Jack slammed back the rest of the bourbon and poured another. “And don’t call it a walk of shame. It was no big deal.”
“Except that Madeline Ross’s first impression of you, which is just as important as yours of her if you’re truly interested in hiring her, is that you’re a hound dog.” Eli stood, strode to the credenza, and poured himself a shot. “How good is this Madeline Ross? Too good to pass up?”
Jack turned, grabbed Madeline’s résumé from the desk behind them, and held it out for Eli. “Take a look. She’s exactly what we need to keep the crews organized and on the move, particularly if we end up getting the housing contracts and have to hire more people.” He chewed his lower lip as Eli perused the résumé. “I called Pete Feeney a little while ago. He couldn’t say enough great things about her. Apparently, she developed this app that Pete said was amazing. It keeps track of crews and materials, receipts, and schedules and timesheets for each project.” He sipped his drink. “She built the app, Eli.”
“Damn impressive résumé.” Eli tossed it back on the desk and picked up his glass. “Did she say anything about recognizing you?”
“No. In addition to being totally the perfect person for this job, I guess she’s also quite circumspect. Or maybe she didn’t put it together.” Jack plopped down in his desk chair and spun around once, then blinked. That was a mistake after nearly two drinks on an empty stomach. “Nah. She’s smart and observant. She knows, and I know she knows, and I know I shouldn’t give a damn what she thinks about me personally. I’ll be her supervisor, and as such, her opinion is immaterial to our working relationship. But . . . dammit, Eli, I . . .” Heat filled his cheeks again. Blushing . . . Holy shit.
Eli held up one hand. “Okay, right off, who are you and what have you done with my bad-boy big brother who rarely gives a damn about what other people think?”
Jack scowled. “I-I. . .” Crap, stuttering? Seriously? He took a deep breath. However, before he could get his act together, Eli’s eyes widened and his lips turned up into a knowing smile.
“Oh, good lord!” Eli pointed one finger at him. “You’re smitten.”
“Smitten?”
“Cupid knocked you upside the head, didn’t he?”
“Cupid? Who did . . . did what?” Jack blinked.
“Is she beautiful, brilliant, and bold?” Eli plopped down in the chair on the other side of the desk.
The bourbon must’ve gone straight to his little brother’s brain. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember? It was about a year after I lost Amy. We were slightly buzzed at the double H. You told me I’d fall in love again, and I asked you how you could know that since you’d never been in love a day in your life.”
“Oh, bull. I never said that. I’ve been in love!” Jack denied hotly, even though, right offhand, he couldn’t name a single woman he’d ever truly considered spending the rest of his life with.
“Yeah, right,” Eli scoffed. “Anyway, you told me that if you ever fell in love, the woman would be the three Bs—beautiful, brilliant, and bold—and that you wouldn’t have to search for her. She’d magically appear one day . . . your gift from the universe.” Eli grinned. “Your very words, I swear on all that’s holy. Why you thought the universe was going to gift you a woman like that is still beyond me. But I remember the three Bs, and brother, you can’t even say Madeline Ross without turning red as a beet. You’re smitten. I gotta see this woman.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen, while Jack simply leaned back in his chair, trying to absorb Eli’s insane accusation.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
A breaking-the-glass ceiling story when CEO Jackson Walker believes he can’t risk hiring a woman he’s intensely attracted to. But when he realizes Madeline Ross is perfect for the job, they start building a strong foundation for his company — and possibly something more…
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Author Biography:
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet, small-town romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled, woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 51 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.
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