{"id":56152,"date":"2020-11-25T08:47:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T13:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=56152"},"modified":"2020-11-25T08:47:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T13:47:10","slug":"excerpt-reveal-loverboy-the-company-2-by-sarina-bowen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=56152","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt Reveal: Loverboy (The Company, #2) by Sarina Bowen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we have a sneak peek at Sarina Bowen’s upcoming book, Loverboy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A second-chance-romance with a suspenseful twist, this is the second book in The Company series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Releasing 1 December 2020<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Apple\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Kobo\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Nook<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

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

Earlier, I\u2019d spotted him even before he came into the bar. I watched him get out of that cab and then check the time. I saw him look toward the pub, weighing his choices.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My heart had thumped along with only one word. <\/span>Please<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fine\u2014not my heart. It was other parts of me who were doing all the begging. Silently, of course. Speaking up seems impossible right now. What if he laughs in my face? Or\u2014this might even be worse\u2014what if he says yes? And then we get naked and I can\u2019t satisfy him?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re not very adventurous<\/span><\/i>, Spalding said. <\/span>You\u2019re not very good in bed<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

My ex is the only person I\u2019ve ever been naked with. And thanks to him, I\u2019m afraid to try again with someone else. If another man tells me I\u2019m no fun, I don\u2019t know how I\u2019d come back from that.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, if I don\u2019t get out of this rut, then Spalding wins. Maybe I sound melodramatic, but I don\u2019t want to die before I experience terrific sex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s really no surprise that my drink disappears quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook, you don\u2019t have to tell me what\u2019s on your mind,\u201d Gunnar muses, and I realize I’ve been silent for some time. \u201cBut something has you deep in thought.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRhubarb,\u201d I blurt. \u201cIt\u2019s, uh, something I\u2019ve used in springtime pies. But, um, I wonder if I could do better than strawberry rhubarb\u2014that’s been done, you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His smile widens. \u201cIs that an occupational hazard? You can’t eat or drink anything without reconfiguring it in your mind?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYep.\u201d I wave at the bartender. \u201cAnother round of these if you wouldn’t mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you trying to get me drunk?\u201d Gunnar asks. \u201cPlease say yes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My pulse picks up, because it\u2019s hard to miss the innuendo there. But I dodge the question, because I\u2019ve never been brave. \u201cAs if two cocktails and a beer would put you under my spell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I’m easy,\u201d Gunnar says, giving me an intentionally sleazy wink. \u201cBesides, your pies have already made me slow and agreeable. That key lime and Thai basil pie was amazing. That stuff is dangerous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou like my key lime and Thai basil?\u201d I ask, hearing pleasure in my own voice. It never gets old when people tell you how much they like the product. \u201cAnd I guess it figures that you\u2019d be one of <\/span>those<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of what?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have an adventurous palate.\u201d I prop an elbow on the bar and try to explain. \u201cPeople fall into two distinct groups. There\u2019re the ones who <\/span>always<\/span><\/i> order the weird flavors. And the Dutch apple pie crew, who always stick to the basics. They don\u2019t cross over. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve been thinking about a lot lately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to Spalding. He basically accused me of being a Dutch apple pie in bed. The whole reason I\u2019m reading my sister\u2019s romance novels is to try to learn what the other flavors are like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d Gunnar says. \u201cSo, you can just guess which other pies I\u2019ve tried?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSure, I can. Did you try the pine nut and salted honey?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, hell yes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My smile grows wide. \u201cHow about the matcha green tea tart?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d he shakes his head, \u201cI gotta say I haven’t quite gone there yet. But I did enjoy the vinegar date pie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAh! And the ginger mango cream, right?\u201d I press.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Does that make me predictable?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit,\u201d I say, enjoying myself immensely. \u201cHave you started doing that thing where you try to guess each customer\u2019s guilty pleasure?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He laughs. \u201cGet out of my head. It’s my new favorite game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow’s your accuracy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPretty bad. I started off trying to use clothing as a clue. I expected somebody wearing a navy blue suit and boring shoes to order the apple crumble. But that theory bombed. And then I tried to assume that people in workout clothes wouldn\u2019t pick something sugary. But they totally do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to look deep inside their souls,\u201d I tease. \u201cIf you look at the shell of a person, you’ll never get their pie order right. In fact, you have to look at their auras.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He snorts. \u201cWhat color is my aura?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIndigo, like tattoo ink. But with a streak of red because you\u2019re contrary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He narrows his eyes. \u201cYou\u2019re just fucking with me now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I am.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, lady. But I have an issue with something you said earlier.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Guilty pleasures<\/span><\/i>.\u201d He lays a hand over my wrist. \u201cI don\u2019t believe in those. I don\u2019t think pleasure should make you feel guilty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d He\u2019s barely touching me, but goosebumps run up my arm anyway. Now would be a great time to make a joke and diffuse all the tension I\u2019m suddenly feeling. But I feel too tongue-tied to pull it off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gunnar removes his hand, which is a disappointment. But the next thing he says stuns me back into goosebump territory. \u201cYou know, I always had it bad for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u00a0\u2026\u00a0what?\u201d I ask stupidly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBack when we were tending bar, I had a big crush on you. And sometimes I thought you were on the same page. I usually have good instincts about these things. But not that time. You ended up with Mr. Pretty Boy Preppy instead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My heart is thumping wildly now, and I take a sip of my cocktail to steady my nerves. The truth is that I don\u2019t really trust this little revelation. We used to annoy each other, for one thing. But maybe that didn\u2019t matter to Gunnar\u2019s libido. He was a horny college boy. He probably had it bad for all the girls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still. \u201cWhat if I\u2019m the one who has terrible instincts? Did you ever think of that? And did you miss the part where I divorced Mr. Preppy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMmm,\u201d he says thoughtfully. \u201cI suppose that might explain a few things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the one who left, anyway.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His eyes narrow. \u201cDo you really think if I\u2019d stuck around, things would have turned out differently? I spent three months giving you the fuck-me eyes, Paxton. But you didn\u2019t take me up on it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh mother of God<\/span><\/i>. His gaze is turning hot, and I think it might incinerate me. And then I remember why we never hooked up in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The Company<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Moonlighter (#1)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: \u00a0Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Apple<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Kobo\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Audio<\/a><\/p>\n

Loverboy (#2)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Apple\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Kobo\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Nook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback\u00a0 <\/a>|\u00a0 Audio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out more great reads at our Sarina Bowen Author Spotlight<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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

Today, we have a sneak peek at Sarina Bowen’s upcoming book, Loverboy A second-chance-romance with a suspenseful twist, this is the second book in The Company series   Releasing 1 December 2020 Amazon\u00a0 |\u00a0 Apple\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55135,"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":[301,378],"class_list":["post-56152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","tag-excerpt","tag-sarina-bowen"],"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\/2020\/10\/Loverboy.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-eBG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56152","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}