Whoo Hoo! It’s another launch party in the lair! I’m so excited to be celebrating the release of my eleventh book for Harlequin Superromance! Talk of the Town is the first story in my new series, In  Shady Grove. The fictional town of Shady Grove, Pennsylvania is based on my own hometown and I had so much fun coming up with ideas for the series.

Talk of the Town is a reunion story about a professional hockey player and the girl he left behind. Here’s the back cover blurb:

Shady Grove – where everyone knows your secrets

Once, Neil Pettit was the only thing Maddie Montesano wanted. She tried every trick in the book to keep him, but no luck. It took some time – and a lot of holding her head up while the town gossiped – but she’s made a good life for herself and her daughter.

Now, Neil’s back and is trying to be the father he never was. Maddie so doesn’t need this kind of disruption. Not when the crazy attraction she’s spent years ignoring still sizzles between them. The temptation to give in and have Neil again is strong. And when he offers that dream of forever she’d abandoned, well, she might give this town something new to talk about…

I won’t say it was easy writing Neil and Maddie’s story but I’m very happy with how it turned out! Here’s a peek at their first kiss in over twelve years:

She should do something, Maddie thought, frantic. Shove him on his ass or dump her beer in his lap. All viable options, options she should take. Instead she let him pull her, oh, so slowly, toward him. It was shock, she told herself, that had her thoughts fuzzy, her chest tight. Not anticipation. Not hope or excitement. Certainly not fear.

His eyes, hot with want, dropped to her mouth. Her lips parted. Her throat dried. Oh, God. She stiffened but his fingers delved into the hair at the nape of her neck and he held her head. Just like he used to. His hand large and warm, his thumb brushing against the sensitive skin on the underside of her jaw. And he was looking at her as if she was the only woman in the entire world, the only one who mattered.

The only one he wanted.

It was a lie, one she’d fooled herself into believing years ago. One she couldn’t afford to believe now.

His face filled her vision, his head blocking the light from the lantern. He became her focus, all she could see was the blue of his eyes, all she could feel was the warmth of his breath on her mouth. He hesitated, his lips a hair’s breadth from hers, and that feeling she’d insisted wasn’t anticipation built until she was afraid she couldn’t take it anymore. That if he didn’t close the distance between them, the unthinkable, the unfathomable, would happen.

She would.

He saved her ego and her pride, let her keep believing the lies she told herself by brushing his mouth against hers. Her breath stuttered out, her heart pounded, the sound echoing in her ears. She froze, her hands clenched in her lap, as his lips settled against hers, warm and firm. He kept the kiss gentle. Sweet. Like their first.

Like their last.

Time to party! Roll out the Gladiators and bring on the Hockey Hunks…er…I mean roll out the party favors and bring on the tasty snacks! What are your favorite party snacks? Do you have a favorite reunion romance story?