Christine Young Presents - Smitten At First Sight

Please welcome Marie Astor author of Smitten At First Sight.  Marie will be awarding to five randomly drawn commenters at the end of the tour, one of the following five custom-designed jewelry prizes:

Prize 1: Blue quartz three strand necklace with sterling silver clasp

Prize 2: Jade and prehnite necklace

Prize 3: Green aventurine sterling silver earrings

Prize 4: Smoky quartz sterling silver earrings

Prize 5: Rose quartz sterling silver earrings       

Smitten At First Sight

by Marie Astor

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BLURB:

Maggie Robin has been dating the irresistibly good-looking, successful Jeffrey Preston for two years. But when Jeffrey proposes marriage a week after Maggie’s college graduation, she is no longer sure if she wants to marry a workaholic TV producer.

Maggie’s doubts culminate when during a ski trip to British Columbia, she meets Taylor Denton, a handsome, free-spirited big mountain skier who is the complete opposite of Jeffrey. It does not take Maggie long to realize that she has fallen in love with Taylor and she decides to break off her engagement with Jeffrey. But just when she thinks she has found the love of her life, an ill-fated misunderstanding tears Maggie and Taylor apart.

A week later, Maggie is told that Taylor has died in a tragic ski accident; yet, her heart refuses to believe in Taylor’s death. When Maggie returns to Taylor’s native town, she learns that Taylor is indeed alive, but has been seriously injured. Resolved to bring her lover back to life Maggie stands by Taylor’s side, convincing him to embrace life again.

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

“Well, well – when the cat is away the mice come out to play.” Bethany took a sip of Maggie’s hot chocolate.

As if on cue, Maggie’s cell phone rang – it was Jeffrey’s ringtone. Maggie motioned for Bethany to be quiet.

“Hi, honey.” Jeffrey’s voice cooed in the receiver. “I just wanted to say good morning to my Maggie. Sorry I didn’t say goodbye today – I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Hi, Jeffrey. How is your day going?” Even though she had not done anything wrong, Maggie could not help feeling guilty.

“Oh, everything is fine – just a few things we need to hammer out, but I should be back in four days tops.”

Maggie knew not to press him about the details – Jeffrey was always “hammering things out” and he preferred not to go into specifics. “I thought you said two days before.”

“Well, things got a bit more complicated than I thought – I promise to tell you all about it when I get back. I’ve got to go.” Jeffrey’s voice sounded hurried. “I love you, babe.”

Before she could reply, the line went dead.

“Was that Jeffrey?” asked Bethany. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “I can’t say I blame you – you deserve to have some fun while Jeffrey is off doing whatever it is he’s doing.” Bethany smirked. “But you could have just told me that you were going to hook up with Taylor – it would have saved me the trip up here. But then I should have known – the way Taylor looked at you. Just be careful so that Jeffrey doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Bethany, what are you talking about? I ran into Taylor by accident and I don’t have any plans to cheat on Jeffrey.”

“In my mind cheating is too strong a word – it sounds very judgmental.” Bethany licked the hot chocolate foam off her lips. “Besides, Jeffrey has his fun when he wants to, why shouldn’t you?”

“Are you telling me that Jeffrey cheated on me?” Maggie’s head was swimming. “You knew and you never told me?”

Bethany clasped her hand over her mouth. “That’s not what I meant, it came out all wrong.”

“Don’t lie to me, Bethany. I want to know the truth. If you are my friend, you’ll tell me the truth about him.”

“I am telling you the truth.” Bethany flung her arms. “All I meant was that Jeffrey has been way too busy with work lately - you told me so yourself, and that he has not been paying much attention to you. That’s all - I swear!”

The panicky notes in Bethany’s voice gave her away. Maggie’s heart sank at the realization that she had been a fool all this time. “Say what you want Bethany, it doesn’t matter anyway since I’m not going to marry him.”

“Maggie, have you lost your mind?” Bethany’s eyes widened. “Jeffrey is a real catch - tons of girls would kill to swap places with you. Don’t you think that maybe you could just look the other way? Things aren’t always black and white.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying this.”

“Oh, come on, you knew that Jeffrey was a playboy when you met him – I thought the two of you had an understanding. What did you think – that he reformed overnight?”

“He told me that that part of his life was over and done with and I believed him.”

“Well things don’t work like that, Maggie. I’m sorry to be the one to burst your bubble – I should have kept my mouth shut, but I beg you to think things over before you say anything to Jeffrey. Think about it, Maggie – you could have a charmed life with him – the kind of life few men can provide. So what if you have to turn a blind eye now and then? You can have your own fun on the side. And for Christ’s sake, please don’t tell Jeffrey about this conversation – if he finds out, he’ll guess that Charlie told me and their friendship will be shot. But what am I worrying about - you’d never do anything like that to me, right? And you’re not going to break up with Jeffrey – the two of you love each other. Both of you are in my wedding party.”

“Would you just listen to yourself? What’s happened to you? We used to be friends; we used to tell each other everything. I can’t believe you covered up for Jeffrey all this time, and now that I’m telling you that I want to leave him, all you care about is that I might upset your wedding plans?”

“That’s not true.” Bethany pursed her lips. “I never lied to you. I care about you – you are my best friend. You are the one turning your back on everything. Charlie and Jeffrey are really close. How are we supposed to go on being friends if you break up with Jeffrey?”

“We can still be friends. That is if you still want to be friends,” Maggie retorted hotly, although at the moment, she was not sure of that herself. 

GIFTS:

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Marie Astor is the author of contemporary romance novels Lucky Charm, Smitten at First Sight, This Tangled Thing Called Love, romantic suspense novel, To Catch a Bad Guy, and a short story collection, A Dress in a Window.

If you would like to find out more about Marie’s books, please visit Marie at her website: www.marieastor.com.

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Marie-Astor/e/B004EBDX9Q/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Website: www.marieastor.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marieastorcollection

Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4665230.Marie_Astor


Books by Marie Astor:

To Catch a Bad Guy: http://www.amazon.com/To-Catch-Bad-Guy-ebook/dp/B008W1L5IA/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1344820115&sr=1-5

This Tangled Thing Called Love: http://www.amazon.com/This-Tangled-Thing-Called-ebook/dp/B0078IPNCW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344820073&sr=8-1&keywords=marie+astor

Lucky Charm: http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Charm-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B005BZL3L4/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Smitten at First Sight: http://www.amazon.com/Smitten-First-Sight-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B005TOWI7K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357427954&sr=8-4&keywords=marie+astor

A Dress in a Window – a collection of short stories about love, coincidences, and fate.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Dress-Window-ebook/dp/B004E112TO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Over the Mountain and Back – young adult fantasy adventure novel about a boy who takes his snowboard for a ride and finds himself in a magical, hidden world he never knew existed.
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Mountain-Back-Adventure-ebook/dp/B008WF1Y78/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1350684616&sr=1-6

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