The Reluctant Gigolo by Grace Risata
It’s been said that love sneaks up on you when it’s least expected.
Whoever came up with that phrase was spot on in my case. After being stood up by a blind date, I accidentally met the man of my dreams.
The only issue?
He’s a former male escort… an ex-gigolo… a retired prostitute… a… well… you get the picture.
Complicating matters is my socially awkward best friend and partner in crime, my overprotective obnoxious brother who does not approve of my budding relationship, and a few other major players that do their part to stir the pot.
With the deck stacked against us, what’s it going to take to find my happily ever after?
Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/102028-77823.cloudwaysapps.com/jqxysxqutc/public_html/wp-content/themes/megashopNEW/inc/theme-functions.php on line 1233
Description
Find more from this author on:
Amazon
Author SiteAbout the author:
I would first and foremost like to thank everyone for taking the time to give my stories a chance. My goal is to take you out of your world, and all the stresses that go along with everyday life, and bring you into my world of romance and humor. I have a special weakness for hot alpha males and the feisty heroines who love them. Above all else, I hope you got a laugh out of my book. I aim to incorporate as much comedy into my romance as is humanly possible.
Here is a short sample from the book:
The sound of the bell jingling as someone walked into the restaurant instantly drew my attention away from the text screen. Since I was seated facing the door, I had a great view as the man entered and promptly took the very first booth by the entrance, which happened to be right next to mine.
The newcomer tossed a briefcase on the table, slid into the seat with his back to the door, and waved to the waitress.
“Hi, Rosie. I’ll have the usual, but add a strong cup of coffee and keep them coming. I’m studying for an important exam.”
I stared at the guy while sizing him up. He was dressed in black pants, white button down shirt slightly rolled up at the wrists to expose tan skin, black glasses that gave him a nerdy professor look, and topped off with a red baseball cap tightly perched atop his head. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties, so I was curious as to what exam he might be taking.
Nothing about him screamed, “I am Rudy, your date,” but I decided to ask anyway.
“Um… excuse me, sir, but your name wouldn’t be ‘Rudy’ by chance, would it?” I asked shyly, half hiding my face behind the large plastic menu.
The man turned his attention on me and quickly shook his head.
“No. You have me confused with someone else,” he insisted coldly, pulling the hat down in an effort to conceal his identity as though part of the witness protection program. “A lot of people mistake me for other people. I look familiar.”
Huh? Who mistakes people for other people? Well, one random stranger sharing an elevator ride once told me I looked like Chelsea Clinton, but I don’t consider that a compliment. The lady meant that I reminded her of the frizzy-haired girl who hadn’t yet transformed from an awkward adolescent into a polished adult. My large ski slope nose didn’t help matters in the slightest.
But I digress.
“I didn’t mean that you looked familiar,” I explained patiently, somehow feeling the need to elaborate. “I’m supposed to meet someone here and I don’t know what he looks like.”
“It’s not me.”
“Yeah, I figured that out, thanks. You’re not wearing tan pants, a blue blazer, or holding a rose.”
This confession suddenly piqued his interest, because the man’s lip turned up in amusement.
“Don’t tell me… a blind date? You met on a matchmaker app and hope to fall in love at first sight?”
“No,” I sighed, glancing at the time on my phone and realizing Rudy was now fifteen minutes late. “It was a set up. A co-worker of my client. I think love at first sight is out of the question at this point. I can’t handle tardiness.”
“Let me give you a little bit of advice,” he offered. “Any man that invites you to a dive like this and then doesn’t have the decency to show up on time… he’s not a great catch by any means.”
“How did you know he’s the one that picked the place?”
“I come here all the time and I’ve never seen you before. You would have chosen a place that you’re familiar with for a first meeting.”
Wow. He was rather intuitive.
Not willing to admit that I felt like a complete loser or that I’d potentially been stood up, I sullenly examined the menu. The night wasn’t getting any younger and my stomach was growling.
Another ten minutes passed, no word from Rudy, four texts from Carla, and the situation was beginning to bother me. It didn’t help matters when the mysterious stranger’s food arrived smelling like Heaven on a plate. He saw me ogling a particularly long French fry on the way to his mouth, and shook his head at me.
“What time was Mr. Right supposed to show up?”
“Eight o’clock.”
“What time is it now?”
“Almost eight thirty.”
“What are the excuses he keeps texting you?” he asked, obviously hearing all the dings from Carla’s messages and assuming they were from my missing date.
“That’s not him. It’s my best friend checking up on me.”
“Why do you keep frowning at the phone instead of replying to her? Good friends that genuinely care are hard to find.”
“Why do you keep spying on my business?” I retorted, surprised that he was paying any attention to the pitiful lady that had been abandoned by her date.
“Because I would like to eat my meal in peace without looking up to see you drooling over my food,” he admitted suavely, raising an eyebrow as though daring me to deny that’s exactly what I was doing. “Rosie, can you please come over here and take her order? Her date isn’t going to show up and the poor thing is about to starve to death.”
Related products
-
Reverb by J. Cafesin
James Whren is brilliant, beautiful, rich, and taken—with his genius for creating music. Desired by many, he commits to no one but his muse. On the eve of his brother’s funeral his father shatters his life, and James is left abandoned in hell with no one real to save him.
Until Elisabeth, and her son, Cameron.
Reverb is a love story, a psychological thriller paced with romantic suspense. Spun from The Magus (John Fowles), also about a man who learns to love someone other than himself, and way beyond 50 Shades of Gray (E.L. James), Reverb is told like Crime and Punishment, modern, tight, dark, edgy verging on sharp. It’s like nothing you’ve read, guaranteed.
5/5 Stars / Top Pick! “This is one of those stories that pulls you in immediately and has you frantically turning the pages to see what happens next.”–Diana Coyle, Night Owl Reviews
Taste by Cambria Hebert
One taste is never enough…
Spencer Waller’s main purpose in life is to protect and serve. After spending years in the military, he gets a coveted spot on the Secret Service detail protecting the president. Spence doesn’t have time for women or all the work having a relationship with one requires. But just because he isn’t looking for a lady doesn’t mean he can’t appreciate a beautiful one when he sees her.
And he makes it a point to see one in particular every single day.
Elle Bond has literally chopped and fried her way to the top of the food chain. Earning a coveted position in the White House as the president’s personal chef, she figures her professional life can only get better. Her personal life, on the other hand, could use a little bit of an overhaul, and because of that, she tries to ignore the charm-dripping cookie thief every time he comes into her kitchen. After all, she knows better than anyone that just one taste of something good is never enough.
One night after work, Elle is assaulted, threatened, and given an ultimatum. She can’t go to the police, and she sure as hell can’t do what she was ordered.
But she has to. Or else.
Pale, shaken, and scared to death, Elle confides in Spence, and his protective instincts take over. Together, Elle and Spencer have to uncover a sinister plot and stop it before someone ends up dead.
Prescribed by D.D. Parker
Emma Wells thought she had it all figured out. She went to college wanting a brand new lease on life, thinking she was going to become a doctor and make her mom proud. She just wasn’t planning on passing out her first day of volunteering at the hospital because she couldn’t handle the sight of blood.
After banging her head on the floor, she’s taken care of by Dr. Ryan Matthews, an unfairly hot specimen of a man. Even after waking up in a cloudy, post-concussion daze, she can’t take her eyes off of him and their chemistry is becoming undeniable.
Strong. Handsome. Charming.
Even that couldn’t encompass everything Ryan had to offer. There was just one problem; Emma already had a boyfriend.
One that would never let her go.
Ever.
Will Dr. Matthews still be able to prescribe Emma just what she needs or will Emma’s own demons come to threaten more than just their relationship?
**Recommended for 18+ due to sexually graphic scenes and adult language.
This is Book One in The White Coat Series (New Adult Romantic Suspense). It can be read as a stand-alone story without a cliffhanger.
Sophia by Nigel Cooper
A story of love, loss, and mania
Sometimes your state of mind has a dark side…
SOPHIA: 22-YEAR OLD CONCERT CELLIST, SOON TO BE ENGAGED, A PERFECT BOYFRIEND, A PERFECT FAMILY, A PERFECT LIFE
But Sophia’s picture-perfect life is about to take a drastic turn for the worse. After the tragic untimely death of her beloved boyfriend, Spencer, something happens to her – something dark.
After a period of post-traumatic stress, Sophia develops a severe personality disorder. Gone is the gracious upper middle class girl. In her place stands a dysfunctional young woman on a frenetic path of self-destruction and mayhem.
Sophia’s world starts to fall apart. Something dark has got a grip on her mind and it refuses to let go. Her psychologist has never seen a case quite like it and is at a total loss. Sophia has recoiled into a dangerous and sinister place in her mind, but now it’s spilling out into the real world with a vengeance.
She proceeds to tear her family apart, alienate her friends and destroy her career; soon there will be nothing left.
Can her new best friend, Delphine, save her before it’s too late?
Ride Me Hard (A Biker Romance Serial) by Shari Slade
When a big scary biker shows up at Jimmy’s Diner fifteen minutes before the end of my shift–covered in tattoos and looking at me like I’m on the menu–I should flip the open sign to closed.
But I don’t.
I’m too used to doing what I’ve been told. Too used to working and struggling and surviving to do anything different. A closed sign wouldn’t stop him anyway. He’s here to collect a debt. And I’m the only one left to pay.
RIDE ME HARD is just the beginning. The wildly erotic journey continues with BREAK ME IN. These are short, hot reads, sure to leave you panting for more.
DESTROY ME. (The Obsession Series Books 1-3 Complete.) by Laura Bailey
How can someone save you when they threaten to break you in two? My captor, My enemy, My everything. He promises to save me. He tells me to leave while I can. A man as menacing as he is seductive, a man whose touch scorches me, a man whose moments of devotion are more heartbreaking than his callousness. From the moment his eyes held mine I had no choice but to surrender to everything he was; his dark desires, his passion, his strength. A powerful obsession and forbidden needs consume us both. Bound to his dark sexuality, we embark on a battle of wills. He pushes me to the edge. He seeks release in me, momentary escape from the pain and loneliness that fills him. He carries the scars of the haunting legacy of dark secrets. His desires are undeniable, our obsession inevitable, but he doesn’t trust me. Whatever it takes, he says he will protect me… but he will never let me in. He promises to save me. He tells me to let go. We can’t be together. Enemies are like ghosts and what he does for me will either bind us closer…or destroy us completely. (With strong scenes of an explicit sexual nature, this is suitable only for those eighteen and over) An erotic haunting powerful love story, with strong scenes of sexual acts. The Complete ‘Obsession Series,’ featuring ‘Surrender to Me’, ‘Break Me,’ and Part Three, ‘Destroy Me.’
DESIRE & PREJUDICE by Jean-Louis McMillan
Desire & Prejudice promotion: $0.99 (instead of $ 2.99) From Fri. 03/28/14 to Fri. 04/11/14
Desire and Prejudice is about the healing power of true lovemaking and the damning power of ethnic bias.
When Jasmine and Adam first meet, they are both totally caught by surprise; their inner feelings are the magnetic force that draws them to each other. Their burning desires toward one another are unstoppable, but they are condemned by their separate lives – he is a French official and she is a Muslim.
They find ways to be with each other when they couldn't.
The poetic letter takes the reader into the minds of two lovers desperately wanting one another, but each holding back because of their cultural backgrounds and the fear of getting caught in their dangerous game.
The erotic descriptions are vivid enough, but scarcely the right quantity of description to know precisely what is going on.
Desire and Prejudice is much more than “boy meets girl, they fall in love”; it tells a realistic, believable story that readers haven't heard before.
These characters, nor the twisted end of the story, are definitely not the stereotypical a reader can predict.
“Desire & Prejudice” climbed to #1 on free Erotica category and #11 on free Fiction, during the last KDP Free Days Promotion.
Sweet Perdition by Cynthia Rayne
She’s been a good girl too long–now she’s ready to be bad. And on the back of a Harley is the best way to get there.
Elizabeth Williams, single small-town librarian, knows she doesn’t belong in the notorious biker bar, Perdition. Especially not alone, in a frilly pink bridesmaid dress. But after watching her best friend marry her ex-boyfriend,she’s ready to drink her cares away. And break out of the good girl mold she’s been stuck in most of her life.
Ryker,member of the Four Horsemen MC, can’t take his eyes off the gorgeous, curvy redhead at his club’s bar. He suddenly has a taste for pink … and he’s going to get him some. Just for one night, of course, because Ryker doesn’t do relationships. Ever.
One night turns into more–until a wild party and a pair of naked blondes get in the way. Now she’s ready to run, and his pride demands he let her go. But when Elizabeth’s ex begins to stalk her, Ryker realizes he’ll do anything to keep her safe. Can a rough, tough biker hang onto both his pride and his woman?
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.