Title: Late Bloomer
Author: Meg Benjamin
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Strong Blooms Take Time.
Gray Temple is an angry man. He’s been suspended from the family law firm over a disputed divorce settlement, and he’s hiding out in Konigsburg, Texas, working at his brother’s BBQ joint and living in his cousin’s old apartment. Even as he nurses his fury at the injustice of it all, Gray suspects he needs to pull himself together. He just doesn’t exactly know how.
Amanda Sunderland is a little angry herself. She’s short two employees at her garden store and trying to deal with the possibility that her son’s wealthy father may want custody for himself and his new fiancée. When Gray offers his services as temporary help, Amanda’s happy to grab him.
As the two get to know each other better, grabbing takes on a whole new meaning. The heat between them makes Gray begin to see Konigsburg’s charms and Amanda begin to rethink the advantages of staying single.
But when Amanda’s son Vic and his best friend Daisy Toleffson disappear, panic hits Konigsburg. Can Gray and Amanda find the kids? Can Gray win back his reputation? And can he stay with Amanda if he goes back to the family firm?
It’s Konigsburg, y’all. Anything can happen.
Excerpt:
The Friday night crowd at the Faro was bigger than Gray had anticipated. Couples moved around the dance floor in front of the bandstand while children played on the plastic playground set and dug in the sandbox. A few grayhairs sipped beer at the tables scattered around the edges of the cement slab.
Gray found his bartender skills returned after a bit. He was the assistant bartender to a guy named Harry, who’d worked at the Faro for a decade at least. Anything too complicated could be sent inside since the outside bar wasn’t equipped for cocktail culture.
He supplied three longnecks to a trio who looked barely legal. Gray felt a slight prickling across his Officer of the Court nerves. Fortunately, their IDs had been checked before they’d been allowed in.
The band for the evening pumped out roots rock and country swing with equal enthusiasm. They were good. He should be enjoying himself. He was enjoying himself. Sort of. At this point, enjoying himself involved a lot of forgetting, and he needed to work on it.
Tom Ames stepped in behind him. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” That was Gray’s automatic answer to a whole range of questions these days. “Good-sized crowd.”
Ames nodded. “About typical for a Friday night in spring. By summer we’ll be sending people away. So I’ve got a question for you.”
“Yeah?” Gray tried not to let his shoulders tense. If Ames asked him why he’d been kicked out of his law firm, he’d tell him. Or at least he’d tell him some of it.
“Are you free for another job?”
Gray blinked. Not what I was expecting, Ames. “Depends, I guess. What kind of job are we talking about here?” He wasn’t quite ready to go into murder for hire. Yet.
“Deirdre’s got this friend,” Ames began, then paused. “Deirdre’s my wife. She’s friends with Amanda Sunderland, who runs Sunderland’s Garden Center over on Pin Oak. Amanda’s down a couple of employees, and she needs somebody to fill in.”
“Working with plants?” Not that Gray had anything against plants, but it wouldn’t have been his first choice.
“Got me. The guy who used to be the assistant in the nursery quit a couple of weeks ago. Amanda’s getting run ragged.”
Gray paused. “Sounds interesting. I could go by tomorrow and talk to her.”
“You could. Or you could talk to her tonight. She’s over there.” Tom nodded in the general direction of a picnic table full of people.
“Um…sure,” Gray said slowly. “If we get a break here.”
“Harry can handle it for a few minutes,” Tom said. “Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
They pushed their way through the crowd, and he saw two women sitting on the near side of the table. One, a blonde in a denim sundress, was clearly pregnant. Gray could see how getting around a plant store would be tough for her. He started a tentative smile when something careened into his knees. He stared down into dark blue eyes and an indignant pout.
“Daisy,” the pregnant lady said quickly, “you ran into him. You need to say you’re sorry.”
The little girl looked like that was the last thing she wanted to say. “Sorry,” she muttered and then rocketed away again.
The blonde sighed. “Sorry about that. We’re working on manners, but we’re not there yet.”
“No harm done.”
“Hey, Jess,” Tom said. “This is Gray Temple, Harris’s brother. Gray, this is Jess Toleffson.”
Jess Toleffson wasn’t the name of the nursery owner Tom had mentioned before, but at the moment, Gray couldn’t remember what the right name was.
“And this is Amanda Sunderland,” Tom continued.
Right. She was the one with the staffing problem. He stepped toward her, smiling, only to be skewered by a raised eyebrow. She was an attractive woman, chestnut hair with hints of gold, a complexion like thick cream, and eyes somewhere between brown and copper. She didn’t seem all that delighted to meet him, however. “Hi,” he said, which sounded lame, even to him.
“Deirdre said you needed someone to help out in the nursery,” Tom said. “Gray’s helping us out, but we can spare him if you need someone to tote gravel.”
That made him sound like a high school kid trying to make a few bucks in his spare time. Gray considered melting into the background, but he wasn’t sure he could pull it off.
At least Ms. Sunderland’s skepticism had shifted to confusion. “Oh, well, yeah. I mean I really need somebody to fill in for a while. And Ezra needs help in the nursery. Do you have any experience with plants?”
Gray shrugged. “Not much. I used to help my dad with his garden, but that’s been a few years.”
“Plants don’t change much.” Ms. Sunderland gave him a guarded smile. “Can you come around tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great. We open at eight. If you can make it, fine. Otherwise, I’ll expect you at a more civilized hour.”
Gray wasn’t sure if that was a dig or not, but he decided to accept it as a personal challenge. “I’ll be there.”
“Wonderful.” She directed a somewhat warmer smile in Tom’s direction. “Thanks, Tom. I was at the end of my rope.”
“Can’t have that,” Tom said amiably. He patted Gray’s shoulder. “Back to the bar.”
“Right.” He gave Ms. Sunderland a half-smile. They hadn’t talked about any of the things you usually talked about when you’d just hired somebody. On the other hand, he hadn’t been hired in the normal way. More like he’d moved from one temporary fill-in position to another. He had no idea whether he even got a salary. Of course, he also had no idea if Ames was paying him to tend bar, so maybe it was par for the course.
Bide your time until this shit clears up. “See you tomorrow.” He followed Ames through the crowd, telling himself he didn’t sense a pair of female eyes boring into his back.
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November is a time to be thankful. What are you most thankful for this year?
I’m always thankful for my family, but this year I’m thankful that I’m still here and plugging away. No kidding. This has been a really stressful year for a lot of us, for a lot of reasons, both personal (knee surgery and the death of an aged cat) and universal (the election, natch). I’m glad we’ve made it. And I hope we can keep going even when things get tough.
Why is your featured book worth snuggling up to?
Late Bloomer is a Konigsburg, Texas, book which means it’s part of a series but can be read on its own. These were some of my favorite books to write and some of my favorite books to come back to. Konigsburg is a resort town in the Texas Hill Country where everybody knows everybody and everybody wants to help. Gray and Amanda, my h/h, are both people who’ve had a few bumps in the road but who really want to get back on their feet and get moving. And Konigsburg is a great place for that. It may take them a little while to get together, but the town is always there to assist. And by the time the last piece falls into place, I hope you’ll be part of the Konigsburg crew. Settle back, grab the beverage of your choice, and join the locals. Welcome home!
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs November 1 – 30, 2024
Drawing will be held on December 2, 2024.
Author Biography:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
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Website: http://www.MegBenjamin.com/