Erin McLellan has a new contemporary romance out this week and I've got an exclusive excerpt to share with you! Then do yourselves a favor and go buy this book. Oh, and it's available in KU. :)
Publisher: Erin McLellan (June 15, 2020)
Series: So Over the Holidays, 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Queer, M/F)
Freshly single Rosie Holiday is on the hunt for passion and excitement. This leads her to Leo Whittaker—a bad boy who waltzed out of town, and her life, thirteen years ago. Leo isn’t the type to stick around, but Rosie’s not going to let a no-strings opportunity pass her by.
When a business trip sends Leo back to his hometown, the last thing he expects is for his first love to hand him a list of scorching-hot escapades and a deadline. He’s happy to help Rosie discover her bossy side in the bedroom. Or in a fireworks stand. Or at a Fourth of July barbecue.
Their chemistry burns bright and fast, but what tore them apart years ago is still between them. They are polar opposites. A reserved kindergarten teacher and an irreverent artist. A nester and a wanderer. It will take a spark of imagination and a lot of love to keep their second-chance romance from flaming out.
When a business trip sends Leo back to his hometown, the last thing he expects is for his first love to hand him a list of scorching-hot escapades and a deadline. He’s happy to help Rosie discover her bossy side in the bedroom. Or in a fireworks stand. Or at a Fourth of July barbecue.
Their chemistry burns bright and fast, but what tore them apart years ago is still between them. They are polar opposites. A reserved kindergarten teacher and an irreverent artist. A nester and a wanderer. It will take a spark of imagination and a lot of love to keep their second-chance romance from flaming out.
Warnings: explicit sex and language; discussions of cheating, gaslighting, and divorce. More info HERE.
Where to Buy*:
Kindle
More Info:
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Bottle Rocket by Erin McLellan
Excerpt
“Hold tight. Let me get my sketchpad.”
When he returned, she asked, “What should I do?”
“Why don’t you find a comfortable position?”
She slipped her sandals off. Then she took a deep breath and dragged her top over her head. She’d worn her sluttiest bra for a reason.
Leo dropped his entire sketchpad. “Oh.”
“Is this okay?” Rosie asked, nervousness, excitement, and arousal vying for her attention.
Leo fumbled his charcoal pencil next. “Yeah. Fuck. Better than okay. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else you want to take off?” he asked, his voice rough and deep.
She’d made his voice sound like that. The power of it lit her up.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Lie back on the cushions there.”
She did, and goosebumps bloomed over her arms. Speaking of. “What should I do with my arms?”
He studied her, his gaze lingering on her breasts and abdomen. Self-consciousness threatened to sway her—she was very aware of the years that had passed since Leo had seen her in any state of undress—but this was Leo. Her Leo.
“Close your eyes and pretend you’re going to lie there and chat with me. Where would you put your arms to be most comfortable?”
She let her eyes flutter shut and breathed deeply for a few seconds before slipping one arm behind her head and letting the other rest at the waistband of her jean shorts.
“You’re fucking hot,” Leo said as she opened her eyes.
“Really?”
“Yes. You deserved to be worshiped, Rosie.”
Leo didn’t start immediately, his eyes flickering all over her from head to toe. She felt his gaze as if it were his tongue. He was playing with his lip piercing, biting it and letting it slip through his teeth, again and again. Finally, he huffed and put his pencil to the paper.
“I do this at conventions,” he said. “Fast-track commissions. They’re normally super stylized. A lady drawn as a sexy superhero. Two men—one as a jacked Santa, the other an elf. That sort of thing. Do you want that?”
The question felt loaded. “Do you enjoy creating the stylized stuff?”
“I love it. It’s fun.” His eyes swept over her again. “People expect boldness from me. Bright colors and sharp lines.”
She glanced around the trailer. That wasn’t at all how he’d decorated. There was a definite boldness to his pastel pictures, but more intimacy and vulnerability too.
“I have no expectations. Just draw it how you want to,” she said.
His smile warped into something cocky and warm. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to draw someone.”
“Sure.”
“I’m serious. My best work comes when I’m connected to the subject, when I can infuse it with my own feelings. I have lots of feelings about being able to do this for you.”
He was staring at her hip and that intense focus paired with his words made heat pool between her legs. She tried not to squirm but didn’t quite succeed.
He looked up. “You okay?”
“Yes. Sorry.”
“If you’re uncomfortable, want me to stop, or need to move, let me know.”
She laughed softly. “It’s none of those things.”
“What is it, then?” he asked.
“I’m hot.”
“I can get a fan.”
“No. Not like that.”
He grinned the dirtiest grin she’d ever seen. It was at once familiar and totally new, an echo from her past but rounded out by maturity and self-assuredness.
His focus returned to her hip. “We can talk while I do this.”
“I can try.” She was dubious she’d be able to concentrate. “Tell me about the control stuff.” She couldn’t keep the question in any longer.
His breath was speeding up, and hers matched it. He was drawing quickly, the scratch of pencil to paper sending shivers through her.
“I’m not into intense pain, but I love to be put in my place. To be ordered around. To be used. Playfully slapped. It’s … freeing, and it turns me on.”
She squirmed again, and his smile went wolf-like. She enjoyed hearing him talk about it, but more than that, she wanted to see him give up control.
“I haven’t had sex that was freeing since … damn, not since you.” She laughed at the realization. They’d been awkward and fumbling, but it had been so sweet.
Leo grunted. “That just makes me mad at your ex-husband. You deserve good sex, Rosie. You deserve everything you’ve ever wanted.”
She’d heard her sister talk about what sex could be, what it could mean, and Rosie had always felt as if she was missing something. She liked sex. Orgasms were great. But sex with Landon had been fraught for so long.
“He cheated, and I knew he was doing it.”
“You don’t have to talk about it.”
“Talking exes has to be the biggest mood killer ever. Unless we’re talking about your stacked Air Force pilot.”
“You’re lying there in the hottest sheer lace bra known to man. You could be talking about taxidermy, and I’d still be drooling. I was hard before you started talking. I’m harder now.”
Huh. Taxidermy? She’d add it to her list of potential hobbies.
“He said I was frigid. During one of our fights he called me a cold fish.”
“Oh, Rosie. That’s not true.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I have eyes. Because I don’t think the same girl that kissed me until our lips bled when we were eighteen could ever be frigid. Because you stripped off your top like a fucking rock star earlier. Because, if I’m being perfectly honest, I have no doubt that you could take control of any and every situation you were put in, and I find that incredibly sexy.”
“I’m not so sure.” Rosie wanted to believe him, but her confidence had taken major hits in the last few years.
“I am.” He stopped drawing and met her eye.
“I want to get off with someone who cares about me. Landon didn’t.”
“I care about you.”
Rosie’s heart hammered in her chest. This was the direction she’d been hoping this would go, but she couldn’t quite believe it was happening.
“I know you do.”
“Ball’s in your court, Rosie. What happens next?”
She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. She was wet … really wet.
She let the sound of Leo’s sketching wash over her. She squeezed her legs together, trying to relieve the ache there. It didn’t work.
She opened her eyes. “Keep drawing me,” she said and popped open the buttons of her jean shorts. “And watch.”
Erin McLellan is the author of several contemporary romances, all of which have characters who are complex, goodhearted, and a little quirky. She likes her stories to have a sexy spark and a happily ever after. Originally from Oklahoma, she currently lives in Alaska and spends her time dreaming up love stories set in the Great Plains. She is a lover of chocolate, college sports, antiquing, Dr Pepper, and binge-worthy TV shows.
Where to Find Erin:
Website | Facebook Group | Twitter | GoodReads | Newsletter | IG
Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
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