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LEAVING YESTERDAY
Laurel Falls #1
Zoe Dawson
Releasing on February 9, 2016
Loveswept
If you love Susan Mallery, Kristan Higgins, or Rachel Gibson, don’t miss the start of this captivating small-town romance series!
Laurel Falls, Montana, features spectacular mountain scenery—but it takes a rugged cowboy to convince one woman to slow down and enjoy the view.
Laurel Falls, Montana, features spectacular mountain scenery—but it takes a rugged cowboy to convince one woman to slow down and enjoy the view.
Rafferty Hamilton doesn’t plan on putting down roots anytime soon. With her divorce final, the hotel heiress has left Manhattan behind to scout new locations for her family’s chain of resorts. Which is why it’s so frustrating to be stranded in Laurel Falls while a good-looking, slow-talking, Stetson-wearing mechanic takes his sweet time with her overheated coupe.
A decorated vet who paid his dues in Afghanistan, Trace Black can fix anything with an engine and get it revving—even Rafferty’s ridiculous sports car. He’s couldn’t say the same for the knockout driver, who looks like she’s never gripped a gear shaft in her life. Women like Rafferty don’t usually stick around in Laurel Falls, but Trace finds himself showing her everything his hometown has to offer before she cruises on down the road.
As the days pass, Rafferty finds herself charmed by the pace of life and the openhearted warmth of the residents. She’s even tempted to trust again—and it’s all thanks to Trace. He’s not the kind of guy she’s used to falling for, but he just might be the man she needs.
Rafferty
Hamilton had been running as fast as she could, but now, figuratively
and literally, she was going nowhere just as fast.
Spinning
her wheels, even in beautiful Montana, was still spinning her wheels.
She
was on the side of the road, still waiting for the tow truck after
her new car stopped working and she’d been forced to coast to the
shoulder, an acrid odor coming from the dashboard.
She’d
been tooling along, thinking how she would be checking the divorced
box from now on. No longer Mrs. Sean Duncan. For a year she’d
gotten used to no more guaranteed dates at parties and shindigs, the
opera, or the theater. No more museum jaunts or gallery openings. Now
there was free time after work, meals eaten alone, and an empty side
of the bed where she’d once snuggled up to her charming and popular
husband.
Popular
with the ladies.
The
smack of betrayal—the wrenching pain that had dulled over the year
adding punch, nonetheless—blindsided her, and tears welled.
The
lying, cheating, shove-his-dick-into-any-woman-who-was-willing pig.
She
sniffed. Okay, that made her feel so much better.
The
beginning of the end had gone something like this.
“You
cheated on me.”
“I
need something more.”
She
liked to think he whined like a petulant child. “Something more?
What is missing, Sean?”
He’d
stepped up to her then. “You. You’re missing. You don’t need
me, Rafferty. That’s the bottom line. I might have an easy time
with women, but I married you. You’re always so careful, holding
back. Always doing some deal for your dad. You’re his closer, his
hit woman. I’m not really sure where I fit into your life.”
“And
that translates to infidelity instead of communication.”
He
laughed harshly and looked away. “It translates into you not being
present. We’re supposed to do this together, not live separate
lives. I needed more. I went and found it.”
“Flinging
your dick all over Manhattan is my fault. Typical.”
That
confrontation conversation had happened almost a year ago. The papers
were now signed. She was no longer connected to Sean.
Sean
had accused her of being absent in both heart and home. She did
travel a lot, and those trips had increased over the year since he’d
moved out of their penthouse. She hadn’t kept the place after that.
She
had gone over it in her head so many times since she’d separated
from him, wondering how everything had gone wrong. How he could have
so callously betrayed her.
She
groaned over the soft notes of violins and French horns. Classical
music played on her dashboard receiver in the sleek, new British
sports car she’d bought on a whim when she’d left New York City
five days ago on this impromptu, crazy road trip out west. No radio
and the risk of a love song to remind her that she was no longer
married.
Was
there a reason she hadn’t opened up to him? A reason she traveled
more?
These
thoughts had consumed her as she’d whizzed down the highway. A
small sign let her know she had been getting close to Laurel Falls.
The name sounded pretty, probably one of those idyllic, little gems
tucked away with its hominess and wholesomeness spilling over the
edges of pretty tree-lined streets and apple-pie hospitality.
Before
she’d left the roadside motel, she’d put the top down on the
snazzy blue sports car, tying her long blond hair into a tight
ponytail, leaving her long bangs to blow around her forehead. When
there hadn’t been livestock trucks trundling along, the air had
been brisk and smelled amazing.
In
the wide-open spaces of Montana, the wind always seemed to be
blowing—even sitting on the side of the road, her hair was never
still. A clear backdrop of postcard-perfect mountains rising up
around her, snow still on their towering peaks even in the middle of
October when the temperature was a brisk forty-nine degrees. She
couldn’t have seen those from the air.
Now,
almost to her destination of Sanderson, Montana, she’d decided that
she was out of breath from running.
Zoe Dawson had always dreamed of becoming a full-time romance writer, and with determination, persistence, and a little luck that wish came true. Her other passions include traveling the world,
owning a beach house (she believes she was a mermaid in another life), and seeing her books in movies. When she’s not writing, she’s painting or killing virtual MMORPG monsters in World of Warcraft. She lives in North Carolina with her two grown children and one small, furry gray cat.
owning a beach house (she believes she was a mermaid in another life), and seeing her books in movies. When she’s not writing, she’s painting or killing virtual MMORPG monsters in World of Warcraft. She lives in North Carolina with her two grown children and one small, furry gray cat.
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