Title: Second Chance, The Chances Trilogy Book One
Author: Martha O’Sullivan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Lindsay Foster has convinced herself that marrying Paul Webster is the right thing to do. But she and Brian Rembrandt have some unfinished business. And now that Brian is suddenly standing in front of her again, she finds herself torn between the life she's always wanted and the man she'll always love.
But this love triangle has an extra side. Lindsay's lifelong best friend Moira Brody has a heart-wrenching secret. And she isn't the only one struggling with an epiphany. The chain of events set in motion on the placid shores of Lake Tahoe come to a head on a foggy San Francisco night. And alter the course of four lives forever.
Excerpt:
It was only because he was here again that she kept crossing his mind. He was long over her, Brian Rembrandt reminded himself with borrowed conviction, imbibing the brisk mountain air. All he needed was a stiff drink, a thick steak and a dealer having a bad night. Pushing down the past, he crossed the street under a cloak of pine trees draped in velvety, gray light.
He knew the way.
This wasn’t his first time in Lake Tahoe, especially on the Fourth of July. Summer before last, he and Lindsay had watched the fireworks illuminate the basin before making some sparks of their own on the beach. Lindsay had always wanted to make love on the sand, when the night was still but for the aspens whispering in the breeze and the occasional swoop of a gull’s wings.
Brian had been happy to indulge her. Several times.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Good evening.” Brian replied, stepping through the threshold of the huge mahogany doors. The floor-to-ceiling window wall gave way to a panoramic view of the lake cradled by the Sierra Nevada. “Rembrandt for dinner.”
“Yes, Mr. Rembrandt.” The hostess consulted the chart on the podium, then directed him to the lodge-style restaurant at lake level. "Right this way.”
He began to oblige, but stopped midway down the stairs, momentarily mesmerized by the breathtaking fusion of pastels coaxing the crimson sun into the pristine lake. So much so that when he resumed his stride, he inadvertently collided with someone. Careening on the staircase as if in slow motion, she attempted to grasp the banister for ballast. Instinctively, Brian hooked the waist of the woman half his size and pulled her to him. The force of his reach threw them both into the corner of the landing. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, mortified.
She shook back a mane of blonde hair, revealing porcelain skin and a glossy mouth parted in surprise. And cobalt eyes that twisted Brian’s stomach muscles into braided dough. “Lindsay?” Her name catching in his throat, he stroked her cheek with the back of his free hand, holding her eyes in his for fear blinking would make her disappear. “My God, Lindsay.” Their faces were so close together that the air her sharp breaths took in had no doubt been in his lungs first. She gaped at him, as if she’d seen a ghost, as all color drained from her face. Heart beating out of his chest, Brian gulped back the shock and righted them both, taking her hand in the process. It felt soft and damp, like a morning rose. Or maybe that was his palm sweating. “Are you all right?”
She gave him a slow, affirming nod. “Brian.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “What are you doing here?” She took her hand back and lifted her chin a notch.
Brian shook off the stupor. “Putting out a fire.”
“A fire?”
“Work. Long story.”
“Oh.”
He wondered if she meant to sound that disappointed. “I can’t believe you’re here. I was just thinking about you.”
That seemed to surprise, then please her. Her mouth opened, but before she could articulate the thought, a man wearing a puzzled expression and a concerned frown arrived. “Linds? You okay?”
She swallowed the words, but her gaze remained fixed on his. “Yeah. I just lost my balance for a second.” She paused, then added, “Paul, this is Brian Rembrandt. Brian, Paul Webster.”
Brian tore himself away from her and extended his hand perfunctorily. “Nice to meet you.”
Lindsay’s companion met his firm handshake head-on.“Likewise.”
“Are you visiting your grandmother for the holiday weekend?” Brian returned to her, biting back the urge to break the arm now girdling Lindsay’s waist.
Her face clouded and her eyes hinted of tears as she shook her head from side to side. “She passed away last year.”
“I’m sorry,” he told her from the heart. “I know how much she meant to you.”
“She did indeed.” Her tone was wistful. “She was my only family.”
Silence hung over them for a few steady beats. Then her companion cleared his throat conspicuously and broke it in an even voice. “Our food has probably arrived by now. We should get back to our table.”
Lindsay’s eyes seemed to hold his a moment longer than she liked. Then she shifted her attention to her date and responded graciously, “Yes, of course. I never made it to the ladies room, though.” She excused herself and started up the stairs.
Brian found himself reaching for her. “Lindsay…”
She finished taking the step, then stopped. “It was nice to see you, Brian,” she tossed over her shoulder, swallowing hard. “Good luck with those fires.”
Brian could do nothing but watch her walk away in stunned silence. Then his gaze drifted to Webster and a tacit message passed between them. With a superior smile and a chuckle in his eyes, the other man pivoted on his heel and retreated.
“Mr. Rembrandt?” called a voice from below. “I can seat you now.”
Brian turned his head and nodded to the woman not much older than his daughter. He made quick work of the remaining stairs and fell into step beside her.
She showed him to a high-top table in the bar area. “Just one for dinner, right?” she confirmed politely, removing the second table setting.
“Yeah,” Brian confirmed around a grunt. “Just one.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads):
Grab your e-copy on sale for only 99 cents!
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/marthaosullivansecondchance
The digital versions of the other two books in the Chances Trilogy, Chance Encounter and Last Chance, will be on sale for .99 each for this promotion.
What makes your featured book a must-read?
Second Chance is a spicy, reunion, happily ever after contemporary romance with an underlying love triangle set in Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. It’s the first installment of Martha O’Sullivan’s Chances Trilogy but can be enjoyed as a standalone novel as well.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $20 Amazon gift card:
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Runs April 11 – April 18, 2023.
Winner will be drawn on April 19, 2023.
Author Biography:
Martha O'Sullivan has loved reading romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing her own books is the realization of a lifelong dream. She is a graduate of Illinois State University where she wrote for the school newspaper and was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha. She is also a former Acquisitions Editor at MacMillan Computer Publishing. Martha writes contemporary romances with male/female couples and happy endings. Her Chances Trilogy—Second Chance, Chance Encounter and Last Chance—and new standalone novel, Christmas in Tahoe, are available in print and digital formats at online retailers everywhere. Her next book, Sierra Fall, will be released in 2024. A native Chicagoan, she lives her own happy ending in Florida with her husband and daughters.
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