Par for Cinderella by Petie McCarty (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Par for Cinderella

by 
Petie McCarty

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Billionaire Aidan Cross longs to escape his life of celebrity and become a regular guy, if only for a brief time. His chance comes when his yacht breaks down near quaint Cypress Key, Florida—the site of his planned five-star golf resort. The golf resort no one in town wants.

Casey Stuart has given up her dream of escaping to the big city. She refuses to desert her uncle, even when he hires the new stranger in town to replace her at their golf course. Casey vows to steer clear of the stranger called Aidan and the danger their inescapable chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.

When Casey discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful autocrat. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found relationship.

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EXCERPT

With the last guest safely off and headed for the parking lot, Casey turned to face the trespasser.

She stopped.

Swallowed hard.

Swallowed again, but her dry throat persisted.

The boater was drop-dead gorgeous. Light-brown hair with sun-blond streaks, long enough to thread fingers through along his collar, and chocolate-brown eyes that trapped and held you, like puppy-dog-cuddlable brown one minute and sensuous, you’re-not-safe-from-me hazelish the next.

Like now.

She fought for the presence of mind to smile at all that hunkiness.

Then came the fireworks.

His smile—straight, perfect white teeth—held a hint of mischief and seduction and the power to kick her feet from beneath her as she tiptoed down the gunwale to secure the back canopy and check gas-tank levels. Mostly for a reason to get a closer look at this hottie. The sound of the second boat flying into the marina barely registered. Her eyes were still locked on the hottie’s take-me-I’m-yours mouth.

By the time her brain had caught up with her girly parts, the vast wake from the second boat’s way-too-fast approach had set up a tsunami strong enough to rock her big tour boat and knock those aforementioned metaphorical feet right out from under her. Unsuspecting and still enthralled by the stranger, Casey went blindly over the side.

At an angle. Not straight and backward.

Her skull clipped the stern on her way over the side. The beautiful masculine smile she had fixated on disappeared when everything else went black.

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World -- "The Most Magical Place on Earth" -- where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-elements-of-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband, a spoiled-rotten English Springer spaniel addicted to pimento-stuffed green olives, and a noisy Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in Angel to the Rescue.

Visit Petie's website or her Facebook page.

Social Media:

Website

Facebook page

Twitter

Goodreads

Pinterest

Amazon author page

LinkedIn

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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway



The tour dates can be found here


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My review

4 out of 5 stars

“Par for Cinderella” by Petie McCarty is a sweet contemporary romance that provides a golfing twist on the familiar fairy tale. Casey Stuart and her uncle are struggling to keep afloat in the small town of Cypress Key. Golf resort developer Aiden Cross doesn’t expect his brief incognito foray to explore the site of his proposed resort to include rescuing a damsel in distress but he’s enchanted and quickly drawn into the challenges of the close-knit town. Unfortunately, there’s something sinister undermining the local businesses and his investigation and deception threaten to derail the relationship that is growing between him and Casey. She demands trust and honesty while he wants to know he is loved just for himself and not his money. Their dreams may take them on separate paths unless they find a way to take a leap of faith.

This story is part of ‘The Cinderella Romances’ series and has plenty of golfing references to tie the story together while the romance builds between the main characters. I thought Aiden was charismatic and a sweet guy but Casey frustrated me at times even though I admired her affection for those in her life. I think she may be a little too naïve and insecure to be an equal partner in the relationship but hopefully she will continue to mature. There are several intriguing secondary characters who hopefully will continue to show up as the series progresses. I had no trouble reading this as a stand-alone story although I figure this couple will make appearances in a subsequent tale.

For me, some of the motivations are a bit murky and I thought the resolution was a little too tidy. I also take issue with the solution for Aiden’s name since I think a search would have turned up pictures of him despite the additional letter and given the number of busybodies in town, I’d have expected his secret to be exposed long before it happens. Despite all of this, I enjoyed the story and I’m interested in seeing that hunky Ian gets his own happy ever after. Those in search of a sweet light romance should enjoy this, even if it’s starting to be too cold for a beach read!

A copy of this title was provided to me for review