{"id":21997,"date":"2017-05-12T15:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T19:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=21997"},"modified":"2019-07-11T17:31:05","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T21:31:05","slug":"excerpt-reveal-shacking-up-by-helena-hunting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=21997","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt Reveal: Shacking Up (Shacking Up, #1) by Helena Hunting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SHACKING UP<\/strong><\/h4>\n

by Helena Hunting<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Releasing May 30, 2017<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pre-order today!
\nAmazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0B&N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo<\/a>\u00a0| GooglePlay<\/a> |\u00a0Paperback<\/a> | Audio<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Ruby Scott is months behind on rent and can\u2019t seem to land a steady job. She has one chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed\u2014and then coughed on\u2014her at a party the night before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, her best friend might have found the perfect opportunity; a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel magnate Bancroft Mills while he\u2019s out of town, taking care of his exotic pets. But when the newly-evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out Bane is the same guy who got her sick.<\/p>\n

Seeing his role in Ruby\u2019s dilemma, Bane offers her a permanent job as his live-in pet sitter until she can get back on her feet. Filled with hilariously awkward encounters and enough sexual tension to heat a New York City block, Shacking Up, from NYT and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting, is sure to keep you laughing and swooning all night long.<\/p>\n

Find\u00a0Shacking Up\u00a0<\/em>on GOODREADS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Excerpt<\/strong><\/h4>\n

She taps the arm of her chair and regards me for a few seconds. \u201cSo . . . that woman you were with at the engagement party, I\u2019m guessing she\u2019s not your girlfriend or anything? I don\u2019t need to worry about her freaking out because another woman is living in your condo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean Brittany? Uh, no. She\u2019s definitely not my girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the travel a girlfriend hasn\u2019t been all that practical.\u201d<\/p>\n

She cocks her head. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I played professional rugby I was on the road a lot. And now it seems like I\u2019ll be on the road more than I anticipated. At least for a while. It makes it difficult to get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh. I understand. Theater is challenging like that, too. The hours are odd since performances are typically in the evenings and on the weekends. Unless you\u2019re dating another actor it\u2019s not very practical.\u201d She dips her spoon in her dessert again. \u201cSo that Brittany chick was just meant to be a hookup then?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Brittany would\u2019ve been good with the hookup part, but I don\u2019t mention that to Ruby. \u201cI went out with her as a favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

She grimaces. \u201cWow, that\u2019s some favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not that bad.\u201d I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019m defending Brittany, other than it seems to irritate Ruby.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe called me a slut!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you were kissing me, so . . .\u201d I have to bite back the smile at her incredulity.<\/p>\n

She points her spoon at me, her annoyance clear. \u201cYou kissed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shift an arm behind my head. \u201cYou didn\u2019t put up much of a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mouth drops open and snaps shut just as quickly. It\u2019s the same reaction I got out of her the other day when I brought the same thing up at the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Her eyes narrow into slits. I bet she\u2019s a real firecracker when she\u2019s angry. I sort of want to push her buttons just to see what happens when she goes off. I bet angry fucking with her would be incredible. I wonder if she\u2019s a hair puller, or a biter, or a scratcher. Wow. That got dirty fast.<\/p>\n

She narrows her eyes. \u201cWe are not talking about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout you kissing me back? I wasn\u2019t going to bring it up, but now that we\u2019re on the subject\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConsider it un-brought-up.\u201d Her cheeks flush.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help myself. I keep pushing. \u201cNo way. You as much as admitted that you kissed me back, right there. You opened the door. I\u2019m walking through it. Why would you kiss a complete stranger?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said I wasn\u2019t talking about this.\u201d The pink in her cheeks rises to the tips of her ears.<\/p>\n

This is way too much fun. She\u2019s got one hell of an angry glare going on. \u201cI\u2019m leaving you in my house for more than a month, alone. I need to be certain you have sound judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have you know my judgment is usually very sound. However, when an incredibly attractive man surprises me with his tongue in my mouth, the most logical response is to kiss back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think I\u2019m incredibly attractive?\u201d<\/p>\n

She rolls her eyes. \u201cOf course that\u2019s the part you choose to focus on. You see yourself in the mirror every day. You can\u2019t tell me you don\u2019t know you\u2019re nice to look at. I\u2019m just stating a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

My ego inflates a little at this. I know I\u2019m not unattractive, but my nose has been broken a couple of times, and there\u2019s a bump I can\u2019t ever get rid of without plastic surgery. I\u2019ve had knee surgery and I\u2019m not great under anesthetic, so I\u2019d prefer to avoid that scenario. I also have a few small facial scars from playing rugby all those years, which, in the environment I grew up in, takes me down a few points on the desirability scale. Not that I give a fuck. It\u2019s my mother who seems to be worried about it, as she does about every line and gray hair. It\u2019s a blessing I don\u2019t have any sisters.<\/p>\n

I see. So you\u2019re telling me if any incredibly attractive man did what I did, you\u2019d respond the exact same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you\u2019re generalizing. It\u2019s circumstantial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean by circumstantial?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I guess I assumed you had to be a guest at the engagement party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that made it okay to kiss a stranger? Because we were attending the same event?\u201d<\/p>\n

She pauses with her spoon at her lips. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like that\u2019s what you\u2019re implying.\u201d That spoons slips into her mouth and she licks it clean before she responds. The entire time I\u2019m thinking increasingly dirty thoughts about that tongue of hers.<\/p>\n

She flounders a little. \u201cIt\u2019s not like I was at some seedy bar with seedy douches. It was an engagement party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that makes me better somehow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you always this antagonistic?\u201d She throws up her hands. \u201cYou kissed me. You smelled good and you\u2019re good with your tongue so I went with it. Stop judging me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not judging, I\u2019m just asking. So on top of being incredibly attractive and smelling good I\u2019m also an excellent kisser.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never said excellent, you added your own adjective. And if you keep talking about how attractive you are you\u2019ll go from a ten to a nine pretty fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

New York Times\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0USA Today<\/i>\u00a0bestselling author of the\u00a0PUCKED<\/a>\u00a0series, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She’s writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

INSTAGRAM<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0TWITTER<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0FACEBOOK<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0FB FAN GROUP<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0WEBSITE<\/a>
\nNever miss an update! Subscribe to Helena’s\u00a0MAILING LIST<\/a>!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  SHACKING UP by Helena Hunting Releasing May 30, 2017 Pre-order today! Amazon\u00a0|\u00a0B&N\u00a0|\u00a0iBooks\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo\u00a0| GooglePlay |\u00a0Paperback | Audio     Blurb Ruby Scott is months behind on rent and can\u2019t seem to land a steady job. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[432,157,710],"class_list":["post-21997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","tag-excerpt-reveal","tag-helena-hunting","tag-shacking-up-world"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Shacking-Up.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-5IN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}