From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes a hot and hilarious standalone romance about what happens when you have one week to convince your best friend’s little sister that you’re the one for her. What could possibly go wrong? It looks like things are about to get hard in the woods…Don’t miss the laugh-out-loud and insanely hot story, HARD WOOD!
Now available on all retailers! Grab your copy today, and get HARD WOOD in your hands!
✮✮✮ HARD WOOD is here! Grab your copy today! ✮✮✮
From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely comes a hot & hilarious new standalone romantic comedy…
Women often say a good man is hard to find. And a hard man is even better.
That’s why I’m quite a catch– good, hard, loaded, and wait for it…I’m ready to settle down too. But the woman I want to pitch my tent with lives clear across the country. Neither of us wants to get lost in those woods. All I have to do is resist her for the week she’s in town.
I try. I swear I try. But yeah, that doesn’t work out.
And after one fantastic night with my good friend Mia, I’m ready to give her years of nights under the stars. What’s a few thousand miles when love’s involved? But there’s a hitch in my plans — she just hired my adventure tour company. If there’s one thing I’m committed to, it’s running a squeaky clean business. Number one on my list of iron-clad rules?
Don’t screw your customers.
But what’s a guy to do when she’s so hard to resist? How hard can it be to keep our hands off each other for a quick group tour down the hills and over the trails? I’m about to find out, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a new badge of honor because things are about to get very hard in the woods.
You can find this sexy standalone romantic comedy available across all retailers now!
✦ The audiobook is narrated by Sebastian York! Get your copy today! ✦
Audible * Amazon Audio
Excerpt:
I haven’t seen Mia in almost a month, since the last time she was in town staying with Max. I didn’t realize she’d be back a full week before her other brother Chase’s wedding, and am I ever glad to see her again.
She makes all parts of me quite happy indeed.
By happy, I mean hard as a rock.
Okay, fine. It’s not like I’m operating at full power this second. I’m thirty-three, not fifteen. I have plenty of self-control in the “when and where to pitch a tent” arena. All I’m saying is this woman gets me going, and I feel that zip down my body when I see her.
She’s on the phone, her eyebrows pinched, her expression harried. She drags her hand through her caramel-blond hair. As I walk closer, I hear her say, “I understand. Yes, I understand. Things happen.”
And that’s the sound of someone being disappointed.
Which is a terrible thing for this sexy-as-a-fiery-sunset woman to experience.
When she stops and ends her call, she spots me. She tilts her head, her eyes piercing, her brow furrowed, and her dimples killing me with cuteness. Her eyes roam from me to Zeus, and then she points at my boy. “I don’t know if anyone has told you this . . .”
I raise my eyebrows. “Tell me. What could it possibly be?”
Her eyes drift to the ground then back up. In a deadpan tone, she says, “But there’s a cat in your hat? Well, on your back, actually.”
“There is?” I crane my neck to peer over my shoulder. “You’re right. How did he get there?”
She parks her hands on her hips. “You’re in big trouble.”
“I’ve been bad, have I?”
She pushes my shoulder then wags her finger at me. “How did you keep this from me?”
I quirk an eyebrow. “The fact that there’s an awesome new Italian place down the street? It opened last month, and I planned to tell you.”
She huffs, rolling her eyes. “I’ve known you for months and you didn’t tell me you had a cat. Friends don’t hide pets from friends.”
She’s not in town that often. She hasn’t ever been to my apartment. And I don’t take Zeus upstairs to Max’s. But I’m not going to state the obvious. I’m going to have a little fun with her. Flirt with her. Because . . . that’s what we do.
“There’s a reason for that.”
Her eyes go wide, and she taps her toe, waiting. I drag a hand through my hair. Evie says my light brown hair is floppy, and she tells me this is a good thing. The ladies love floppy hair, she says. She’s been right so far. My hair’s been a big hit with the ladies, and other parts have, too.
“It’s a good reason,” I add.
“I’m waiting, Patrick. This really isn’t the type of intel you should hold back.”
I heave a sigh as if I’m going to make a huge admission, then I park a hand on her shoulder. Because, well, I’m a sneaky bastard and I’ll look for any opening to touch her. “Look, I’m going to be blunt. If I told you I had a hiking cat who rides shotgun in a backpack and can purr like he’s a jazz superstar, you’d have had no choice but to fall in love with me.”
Tracey’s Review
As I walk along the trail, the lightening sky keeping me company, I think of Mia, and all the times we’ve shared. I think of our nights, our days, our moments. I’ve been so caught up in whether they’ll become more than that, that I’m not sure I’ve seen them completely for what they are. My perfect days…Mia is the life I’ve imagined. She’s the dream I want to make real.
So, Patrick Milligan. He’s no stranger to fans of Lauren Blakely, having made his first appearance in JOY RIDE, as upstairs neighbor and friend of Max Summers, the very same Max Summers who’s got a sister named Mia…Yes, I am totally in love with Patrick. Why? Because he knows what he wants, and he’s ready to go after it, whether it’s creating the life he wants, or winning the girl. There is no, erm, pussyfooting around for Patrick (yep, see what I did there?). He’s had it bad for Mia from their first meeting, and is all about going all in to make sure that she knows it.
Lauren’s heroines are always strong, self-sufficient women, and each of them has won me over. I adore that Mia is so down-to-earth, making her the perfect foil for Patrick. She’s funny, loyal, and passionate, and her personality shines. Like the ladies in the other books in Lauren’s series of romantic comedies, Mia is someone that I would love to call a friend.
And, then, Zeus. Because, this story would not be complete without Zeus the hiking wonder cat. His inner dialogue is spot on, and, seriously, who else but Lauren would have, as a main character, a cat, let alone one that hikes, rides around town in a backpack, and has his very own Instagram account? We all need a Zeus in our lives.
Lauren is the undisputed queen of the romantic comedy, and HARD WOOD rounds out this series of standalones perfectly (And, as an unabashed fan of epilogues, let me just say that LB never disappoints!). Although Patrick and Mia are the last in this group of friends to get their HEAs, I hope that we’ll see more of everyone in future books. 5 sexy, swoony, ‘oh, my, that shower scene!’ stars for Patrick, Mia, and Zeus.
And don’t miss Lauren Blakely’s other standalone Romantic Comedies!
✮✮✮ Enter to win this amazing HARD WOOD GIVEAWAY! ✮✮✮
The HARD WOOD Urban Adventure Pack ($380 value) is filled with:
✮ A stylish Michael Kors backpack for when a purse is not enough for your shopping adventture
✮ $50 Gift Card to The Body Shop to pamper yourself after a long day
✮ Your very own plush Zeus to snuggle with
✮ A Smores Making Kit for a backyard adventure
About Lauren Blakely:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October, she’ll release HARD WOOD, the final standalone romantic comedy in the Big Rock series. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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