Summary:
Two years ago, when Ivy Emerson bailed from the tiny fishing village she’d
grown up in to go to Columbia, Sawyer McCallister was the only thing she was
sad to leave behind, and she still didn’t look back. But when her mother guilts
her into coming home for Christmas, she crashes headfirst into Sawyer, who’s
also returned after being away.
Now that they’ve both been dragged back
to Saltwater, Maine, they might just realize it’s where they belong. Together.
EXCERPT FROM CHRISTMAS CATCH:
“Need
some help?” This is not happening.
I
turn around slowly. The first thing I see is a truck I haven’t seen since high
school. The second is the guy I haven’t seen since high school.
“Ivy?”
His hair’s a little longer, and his face is a little leaner. He looks . . . older.
But his eyes. They’re still the same.
“Sawyer,”
I whisper, because I can’t believe it’s him. What the hell is he doing here?
A
car drives behind Sawyer, honks, and he waves them on. The two of us are
frozen, unable to move. At least I am. He recovers first.
“I
have a chain in the back. I can get you out of there.”
“Okay,”
I say as he pulls in front of my car and then gets out. He seems taller, but
that can’t be. He’s wearing a thick blue Carhartt jacket, torn jeans and work
boots. He moves to the back of the truck and gets a chain out, which he hooks
to the tow hook on the back of my car and then to his truck. He hasn’t said a
word.
“Okay,
get in,” he says and I get back in my car. With a minimum of revving of his
engine and mine, we get my car out of the ditch. I get out to thank him.
Instead,
I say, “What are you doing back here?” He wraps up the chain and doesn’t meet
my eyes.
“My
dad died,” he says as he tosses the chain in the bed of the truck. “Bye, Ivy.”
And as quickly as he appeared, he’s gone, and the only remnant of is being here
is the cloud of exhaust from his truck.
I
slump against my car and raise my head. Snow is just starting to fall, melting
as soon as it hits the pavement.
This
goddamn town.
CHRISTMAS CATCH BUY LINKS:
CHELSEA M. CAMERON’S AUTHOR LINKS:
OFF
THE MARKET by Magan Vernon
Summary:
Etta Davis didn't have showing a house penciled into her
Christmas plans, but with the other realtors already off enjoying their
holiday, she'd been stuck with the task. It wasn't all bad though, the house up
for grabs used to belong to the family of her high school sweetheart, Andrew
Lawson. Though now dilapidated, thanks to its current owners, it still held the
power to bring back forgotten memories and turn the routine showing into
something else entirely.
Particularly when Andrew shows up,
wanting to buy the house. Now Etta must decide whether a second chance is worth
taking the house, and her heart, off the market.
EXCERPT FROM OFF THE MARKET:
I
looked over the garage at the now rusted backboard. It seemed like only
yesterday that Andrew stood on the ladder, wearing his new Bulls jersey, forcing
me to stand in the driveway to make sure he got it centered over the garage.
The backboard was still crooked, just like it always was since I didn't have a
keen eye for getting it level. But Andrew didn't move it. He said he loved it
just the way it was because it was my version of straight and he loved me.
Love.
That was a word I hadn't heard in a long time. I had a brief string of bad
dates in college and my mom always tried to set me up on dates with her
friends’ or co-workers’ sons, but none of them worked out. None of them had
that spark. That thing that made my stomach do somersaults.
I
stepped out of the car, shaking the thoughts of my past life out of my head
while my heels dug into the freshly fallen snow. I cursed myself for not
putting on some sort of winter footwear. It was a holiday after all, so the
client couldn't have complained about my footwear when he was the one
inconveniencing me.
I
walked up the small path way, now lined with broken solar powered lights, to
the big white door. Quickly, I swiped my broker card in the realtor lock box.
The green light blinked and I pushed open the door.
There
hadn't been more than a handful of showings in the year the house had been
listed, but I never once showed it. I was always afraid to come back. Afraid it
would have the same feeling as it had now. Like I was coming home.
I'd
spent more time in the now faded foyer, underneath the broken chandelier, than
I did in my parents’ house. There were prom pictures taken on the grand
staircase and nights I spent cuddled with Andrew on the living room couch
across from the now dilapidated fireplace.
Mrs.
Lawson used to keep the house so nice. She always had candles burning and every
single light fixture would shine. The owners after the Lawsons obviously didn't
have as much pride in their home. It didn't take long for the bank to foreclose
on it and for my real estate company to get tapped to re-sell it. I almost
wished I could buy it myself, fix it up and restore it back to its former
glory. But I had neither the money nor the time for such things. My life had
become my work and without a family of my own there was really no need for the
grand four-bedroom house.
A
soft knock came at the front door.
"That
must be the client. He'd better put in an offer," I muttered, smoothing
out my skirt and walking to the front door.
"Hello,
I'm —"
I
stopped, my mouth still wide open, because standing in the doorway was one of
the former residents of the house, Andrew Lawson.
OFF THE MARKET BUY LINKS:
MAGAN VERNON’S AUTHOR LINKS:
GIVEAWAY:
Chelsea
M. Cameron and Magan Vernon are teaming up to give away a $10 Gift Card, a tub
of Redvines and 10 signed postcards from the cover models of Off the Market.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
