Title: Once More From the Top
Author: Nan Reinhardt
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
What do you do when the one who got away… comes back?
Carrie Halligan never regretted the choice she made sixteen years ago to raise her son Jack by herself in Willow Bay, Michigan. A successful photographer by day, at night Carrie satisfies her musical passions by playing piano at a hotel bar, maintaining a balance that works for her and Jack. Walking away from Maestro Liam Reilly without telling him she was pregnant with his child may have been the hardest thing she’d ever done, but it was definitely the right thing.
When Liam shows up in town to perform a benefit concert with the local symphony, however, Carrie’s carefully crafted life spins out of control. After sending Jack to summer camp, she realizes she can’t keep Liam in the dark forever. Telling the truth to the man she once loved more than life itself isn’t near as hard as spending time in his presence and realizing that the years haven’t diminished his power over her heart. Will her lie be too much to get past, or will the spark of passion between them overcome everything?
Excerpt: Scene where Liam figures it out:
He made his way to his car, drove back to Dixon’s, and headed for the boat. Stopping on the dock, he stared up at the boathouse apartment for a long moment. It didn’t go all that well in the coffee shop earlier, but she’d had time to process his reappearance in her life. Maybe he could try again.
When he knocked on her door, he received no answer, and when he tried the knob, it was locked. Her studio had been closed, too. He gazed around the marina, squinting in the bright sunlight that reflected off the water. The big red barn where he’d filled out the papers for the slip had a bait shop. Maybe Carrie’s Uncle Noah would know where he could find her.
“Hi, can I help you?” The young man behind the counter gave him a smile as he scooped night crawlers into a container.
“No, I’m just wandering around, getting acquainted with the place.” Liam extended his hand. “I’m in berth thirty-eight. Liam Reilly.”
“Brandon Mc—oh. Oh!” The kid’s brows rose. “Very nice to meet you, sir. My mom’s gonna freak when she hears I met you in person. She’s a huge fan. She and Dad already have their tickets for your concert.”
“That’s great. Tell your parents Lawson appreciates their support, okay?” Liam gazed around the shop. “Where’s Mr. Dixon?
“He’s out gassing up a boat.” Brandon jerked his head toward the docks. “He’ll be right back in.”
“Okay, thanks.” Liam wandered among the aisles of fishing gear, amazed there was so much paraphernalia available just to catch a fish. When he and his brothers fished in the farm pond as kids, they had cane poles with balsa wood bobbers.
He walked back to the door and peered out at Noah, chatting with a customer as he filled the tank on a fishing boat rigged out with antennas and fishing poles of all sizes. A bright green bulletin board covered with photographs of people and their catches drew his attention. Right in the center was a print of a young man at the tiller of a wooden sailboat and a girl riding in the bow.
Liam squinted at the photo before pulling his glasses from his shirt pocket. Slipping them on, he plucked the thumbtack and took the picture over to the door to get a better look. God, the kid looked almost exactly like his nephew, Jamie—dark red hair, long, lanky limbs… the boy wore sunglasses, so he couldn’t see the color of his eyes.
How weird.
He shook his head with a smile. Didn’t they say everyone has a twin somewhere? Jamie would probably get a kick out of knowing that his doppelganger was here in Michigan.
He started to pin the picture back up when his heart began to pound in his chest and his mouth was suddenly dry. He knew the girl in the front of the boat. It was Carrie—wearing the same gauzy flowered shirt she had had on at the coffee shop. Stepping out into the sunlight, he stared at it again. Yeah, it was Carrie alright. The boy looked to be about Jamie’s age, fifteen.
Fifteen…oh, Jesus, no way!
His hand shook as he tried to swallow the panic that welled up in his throat and attempted some quick calculations in his head. Fifteen years and nine months ago, he and Carrie Halligan had been in his bed in Montreal.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
It is a seasoned romance with a different twist on the “hidden baby” trope—he’s 15 years old and a piano prodigy. His father, who doesn’t know he exists, is a world-famous symphony conductor. All in all, something very different.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $25 Amazon US or Amazon Canada gift card
Open Internationally. You must have an active Amazon US or CA account to win.
Runs May 5 – May 13, 2022.
Winner will be drawn on May 14, 2022.
Author Biography:
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet 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 49 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.
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