Stepdog by Nicole Galland - Excerpt + a Giveaway

Yesterday marked the release of Stepdog, the latest from Nicole Galland, and I couldn't be more excited to share a piece of it here with you! I've got TWO copies of the book to offer up here for a giveaway as well so be sure to read through to the end to enter to win.

Before all of that, though, here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

What's the difference between puppy love and dogged devotion?

When Sara Renault fired Rory O'Connor from his part-time job at a Boston art museum, and in response, Rory—Irishman, actor, musician, reformed party-boy— impulsively leaned over and kissed her . . . she kissed him back. Now, as Rory's visa runs out on the cusp of his big Hollywood break, Sara insists that he marry her to get a green card. In a matter of weeks they've gone from being friendly work colleagues to a live-in couple, and it's all grand . . . except for Cody, Sara's beloved dog from her troubled previous relationship. Sara's overattachment to her dog is the only thing she and Rory fight about.

When Rory scores both his green card and the lead role in an upcoming TV pilot, he and Sara (and Cody) prepare to move to Los Angeles. But just before their departure, Cody is kidnapped—and it is entirely Rory's fault. Desperate to get back into Sara's good graces, Rory tracks Cody and the sociopathic dognapper to North Carolina. Can Rory rescue Cody and convince Sara that they belong together—with Cody—as a family? First they'll need to survive a madcap adventure that takes them through the heart of America.

I've been a fan of Galland's work for quite some time now so any new release by her is automatically on my must read list. This one does mark a bit of a change for her in terms of both setting and subject - and I have to admit my curiosity is extra piqued as a result!

Stepdog

Nicole Galland

(Excerpt from Chapter 1)

So there I was in peril of my life because, at the end of the workday eight months earlier, my lovely brunette boss sacked me (not my fault, I’m great at what I do—it was the funding) and I’d panicked, same as that. I read in the Boston Globe horoscopes that Aries people are supposed to be impulsive and maybe there is something to that, because before I knew it, sitting across Sara’s little cubicle from her on that stupid little plastic chair with hollow metal legs, I’d grabbed her and was kissing that beautiful face, rather than just saying something reasonable like, “But, Sara, if you sack me, I’ll miss seeing you every day.”

It was an amazing kiss—she had gorgeous lips—but then it was over, and I pulled away and saw her startled green eyes and realized what I’d just done, and I was mortified. “Jesus, I’m sorry, Sara,” I said. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what got into me.”

Her eyes were practically popping out of her head, and for a moment I thought she would slap me. But she burst out laughing. Took it really well. Especially because then she rolled her chair closer, moved her face in close to mine, and her gaze moved back and forth between my eyes and my mouth, and then fuck me if she didn’t kiss me. So then I kissed her and then she kissed me and then I kissed her and then we slid right off our chairs onto the industrial carpet.

“Goodness.” She grinned. “I didn’t see this coming. I should have fired you sooner.”

“I wish you had,” I said heartily. “I’d much rather be snogging the prettiest bird in Boston than fiddling Ravel for a bunch of tossers looking at oil paintings.” She burst out laughing again, charmed by my Irish eloquence.

So on the heels of that—which honestly took me by surprise no less than her—we obviously had to leave the museum together and figure out what the hell had just happened. I’m not sure which of us even suggested it.

Well, I suppose, it must have been me, as I’m usually the one does all the talking.

It was about the last thing I ever would have expected an hour earlier, but there I was nearly skipping up the employees’ exit ramp, next to a gorgeous short-haired brunette with teasing green eyes. I knew those eyes so well. They were my friend Sara’s eyes, my boss’s eyes. I’d always loved their beauty, but somehow now all of a sudden I was mesmerized by them. I was so giddy and in that kind of humor that I left my fiddle behind in her cubicle and didn’t even notice. She slipped off her suit jacket and tucked it under her arm—and suddenly her outfit was no more than a green linen sundress. Sacking aside, the day just kept getting better.

Stepdog promises to be fabulous fun, readers, and I am so looking forward to diving in. I'll be participating in the TLC book tour here on August 13th, so be sure to check back for my review then. 

And now for the giveaway. Again, I do have two copies to offer up this time. To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, August 24. Open US only. 

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