by Trixie More
He frowned, the objections asserting themselves quickly.
“But! But, even if he does, which I don’t think he will, you’ll have a very, very smart lawyer on your side.” She looked at him. “I’ve never been more serious, Doug. I’m with you all the way.”
“Okay,” he said. “Then, yes.”
“Yes?” Now it was her turn to look puzzled.
“I’ll let you marry me...”
“What?” It was Sophia’s turn to look confused.
He pulled her into his arms. “Because I’m more than sure you’re tough enough.”
After that, the boat rocked, and the world turned, but on the Boarder Jumper, love held the day.
Shameless Begging ~ Promises of Free Stuff
If you've read this far, thank you. Believe me, I wrote it all for you.
Please, please, please, if you didn't know it, reviews are the best thing an author can get and so difficult to acquire. If you wouldn't mind, could you select a star?
Better yet, pop over to the site where you got this book or your favorite reader site, and put up an honest review?
My goal is to have 100 ratings. Very tough to do, but you can help! Go you!
Every word, every star - the ones, the fives and all in between - matter. Thank you so much!
I've finished a series now, so I guess I'm no longer a new indie author. Can you imagine? When did that happen?
If this is the first book of mine you've read, you can find out more about Ed, Dorothy, and her wild ride in my book Tough Sell. If you like your hero big, and your heroine strong, you can try Derrick and Allie out in Tough Going.
If you've read the whole series—Seriously? I love you!—and are reading this before my next series comes out, then there is really only one thing for you to do—head over to my website at www.TrixieMore.com and check out my "free stuff" page.
While you're there, make sure to sign up for my email list to get pre-launch emails and release day notices.
Please do, the pre-launch contests are epic & great fun. Here's the link to sign up:
https://trixiemore.com/new-releases/
AND last but not least, you can connect with me on Facebook - @TrixieMoreWrites. That's where you can find an invite to join my awesome, wonderful street team, get teasers from the next book and just give me grief about the graphic nature of my books.
You are, seriously, the best reader ever.
~ Acknowledgments ~
Back of the Book Stuff
~ Acknowledgments ~ Back of the Book Stuff~
I hope you enjoyed this book. I hope it made you laugh and cry.
I wanted so much to make this a big, powerful romance with a happy ending and all the feels.
With every book I write, I try to get better—for you.
I'm an independent author.
I work for you—my reader.
Thank you so much.
You are, seriously, the best reader ever.
I'm writing this at 5:00 p.m. on January first, 2020. My husband is in his chair sniffling. He's got a cold. I think he had a frozen waffle and a tomato sandwich today. I'm going to go out there soon and make him soup. He is, as always, the great love of my life.
My brother has been messaging me the names of boat parts today. We've agreed to call him my nautical consultant, despite the fact that we grew up sailing together.
This first draft weighs in at a mind bending one hundred sixty-two thousand words. I'm sure my editor is going to fall on her head when I tell her. I've written eight thousand of them today. Sophia wouldn't be shortchanged and neither would Marley. I had to write it all. If the final draft comes in trimmer, you can thank Olivia for that.
You, dear reader, have been on my mind for a year while I wrote this. I worried about you. I worried about what you would think of me as a writer, allowing a man like Doug to be forgiven. I wondered if you could learn to forgive him. I worried that I might send the wrong message in this age of #MeToo. I'm with you all; I really am. I know what it's like to be harassed on the job. I can remember the way my mind expanded as I watched Anita Hill testify before congress. If what Clarence Thomas did was wrong, what was happening at my work place was beyond the pale. I've been assaulted three times in my life, all before I turned eighteen. I am a survivor of things I won't speak of and I understand the cost of that silence for our society. I'm proud of, and humbled by, the women with the strength to speak out. I also know what it's like to be held in the grip of shame and guilt, unable to forgive myself. I don't wish any of these things on anyone, male, female, innocent or not so much.
It's taken me a long time to understand that I'm one hundred percent lovable, endlessly valuable, and that this unlimited worthiness extends to all of us. You, dear person, who have just read this book, are lovable and loved, forgivable and forgiven. Of that, I'm most emphatically certain. None of that means that justice doesn't need its day. We can be held accountable and still be loved.
And now, all the thanks -
Thank you to my Facebook followers and street team—I've been so often AWOL while I wrote this, but you always welcome me back when I come up for air. You are the most generous of friends.
Thank you to my mother who asked me, "Well, did he apologize?" I sat right down and wrote the scene with the videotaped confession before a single house exploded.
Thank you to Lisa Kleypas, whom I have never met. Her book, The Devil in Winter contains one of the best-loved villains turned hero ever.
Thank you to Sarah Maclean, on whose podcast, Fated Mates, I learned a thing or two about making a villain suffer before he's redeemed. I hope I got it right.
Thank you to Olivia, Call of the Word, who patiently waited for me to finish the damn thing and then made me do it all over. Thank you for making each book better than I ever could alone.
Thank you to Vicki, Platinum Book Reviews & Promotions, who will promote the living daylights out of this and beta read it and cheer me on. I wish you all the happy endings.
Thank you to Adrijus, Rocking Book Covers, who pulled down a book cover he made using the same model. You are so good to me. I love the covers you've created.
Thank you to Marla, Proofing with Style, I can already imagine her email saying "You went there?" I'm so grateful you work with me no matter how many famous authors you proofread for.
I can't believe we've done three books together. Is that tough or what?
Without the support of my family, who seem to be all okay if I write these steamy novels, I could never have done any of this.
Most of all, thank you to my friends, who appear to still like me, even if I've been hiding for a year. Let's go hiking now.
Totally grateful,
Trixie
1/1/2020
About the Author
Why anyone would want to know more about me, flummoxes me. But I do like to read about other authors, so here goes. I live in New Jersey, a state that is way more beautiful than TV makes it out to be. I work a day job, and my favorite kind of weekend comes when one of the authors I love releases a new book. I come home relishing the idea that from Friday night until hopefully very late on Saturday, I will be off living another life, having adventures and hot romance.
My house is never clean, and my office looks like a recycle bin of old bills exploded in there. When I’m writing, I’m listening to a loop of sexy songs. If I’m not reading, writing, or working, then if I’m lucky, I’m out hiking with my crew. Otherwise, I’m with my family and our Doberman, remembering with love all the family and dogs that have gone before. And yes, the dog sleeps on the bed.
Connect with me ~ Why not?
[email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trixiemorewrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Trixie_More
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