MORE THAN I COULD by Adriana Locke

Release Date: 02/27/23

Genre/Tropes:

Grumpy + Sunshine, Single Dad + Nanny, Small Town Romance

MORE THAN I COULD by USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke is NOW LIVE!

Grab this all-new grumpy/sunshine, single dad + nanny,small town romance TODAY!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWYLKS9L

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From USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke comes a grumpy, blue-collar single dad that falls hard for his new nanny. This small-town romance is a standalone novel with tons of heat and even more heart.

Blurb:

This nanny makes things hard for her boss.

Chase Marshall is many things:

·               ​An attentive single dad

·               ​Jaw-droppingly gorgeous

·               ​My employer for the next thirty days

He’s also the bane of my existence.

He swears I’m a never-ending headache—the most infuriating woman he’s ever met.  

If I’m so irritating, then what’s up with the lingering looks when he thinks I’m not watching?

The seemingly innocent touches while making breakfast?

The smirk that graces his kissable lips after one of our verbal spars after his daughter has gone to bed?

One minute he’s coming to my rescue. The next second he’s complaining about how I fold his work shirts. Fine. Fold them yourself.

It turns out that the only time I don’t get under Chase’s skin is when I’m under him.

And that’s where things get complicated.

Excerpt #1:

I rap against the glass with the back of my knuckle. “What’s going on?”

My hands go into my pockets, and I wait.

Nothing.

Frustrated, I clench my jaw. “Do you need help?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice muffled. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Okay? “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Out of gas?” I ask.

“I don’t think so.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “Are you confused?”

“No, I’m not confused,” she says as if she’s offended by the question.

I roll my eyes. “Look, if you don’t need help, I’m gonna go.”

“My car was … steaming, and I pulled over,” she says, her voice shaky. “I’m afraid to try to turn it back on.”

“You mean steam was coming from under your hood?”

“Yeah. I pulled over and turned the car off. But I’m panicking because cornfields surround me… and now there’s a man at my window. This is how every horror movie begins, you know.”

I glance around. Tall cornstalks sway on both sides of the road—just like every rural road in southern Indiana this time of year.

“I take it that you’re not from around here,” I say.

“Not sure how that information is pertinent.”

The fuck? “Excuse me?”

“It just feels like a very personal question coming from a man I don’t know,” she says.

“Well, this man you don’t know is only trying to help.”

“I didn’t ask you to stop, sir.”

My eyes go wide, and I half-laugh. Fuck this. “No. No, you didn’t. Good luck to ya.”

I turn to leave when a knock comes on the glass. “Wait.”

Excerpt #2:

As soon as we’re alone, the air shifts. Shadows dance across the tabletop. Megan’s jasmine perfume scents the air, and my body temperature rises.

I struggle to remember our conversation yesterday. I remind myself that my child—the same one that occupied the seat next to me a minute ago—is my priority. Over and over, I replay all the reasons why I can’t afford to get off track.

Why I can’t touch Megan Kramer.

My muscles tighten in my stomach and across the back of my neck as I lift my gaze from the tabletop to her.

She grins. It’s simple, but when coupled with the heat in her eyes, there’s nothing sweet about it. “That was fun.”

I hold her gaze, unable to look away.

This is the first day, Chase. Twenty-nine more to go. Don’t blow it already.

I smirk and push away from the table.

I need to put some distance between us before things get really fun.

BLP REVIEW – Tracy

4.8* – love, Love, LOVE an Adriana Locke book….

Chase and Megan were awesome. Their initial meeting was not great (though Meg’s complaining about him in the bar later that night was amusing) and then the next day Chase was not ready for Megan to turn up on his doorstep (quite literally, she was not the person he was expecting to arrive to help with his daughter – but his mother didn’t tell him about a change in plans!!)

Megan had returned home after her dream job ended but after her mum suffered an accident she agreed to help out with her mum’s best friend’s grand-daughter, Kennedy, for the summer.
The night before she’s due to start she gets a bit lost and a grumpy but hot guy stops to help her – the not so great interaction. Their conversation and thoughts here gave you an idea of how explosive they could be together….

Chase’s biggest problem and the reason why he was so reticent to Meg helping with Kennedy was the strength of his attraction to her.
Megan, once things were decided that she would stay with Chase and Kennedy, tried to quell her attraction to him but after a bit neither of them could deny how they felt and they stop fighting the connection.

I really loved how Meg bonded with Kennedy and that she jumped in to stand up and protect her, listening and doing the right thing where Kennedy was concerned.
This is where it missed 5* for me. I got that chase was tired and all when he got the story of what had happened but his reaction and words completely p’d me off.

I loved Chase’s brothers and I’m looking forward to their books and heading back to Peachwood Falls.

Adriana always hits the mark and ‘More Than I Could’ is another fab example of her great characters, funny banter, and the angst, emotion and heat she writes for her MCs.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.

She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.

Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty-five years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.

Learn more at adrianalocke.com.

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