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RELEASE BLITZ – Scammer Girl by Michelle Dayton
Jo is a professional online romance scammer and Jamie is The Conscience of Silicon Valley. They don’t trust one another, and when they meet in person, they quickly discover that not everything appears as it seems. Fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne will love Scammer Girl, a spicy enemies to lovers romance.
Blurb
Five years ago, Jo Harper did a bad thing. Dumped, injured, and in crippling debt, Jo did what any desperate woman with a PhD in psychology and above-average computer skills would: become an elite, undetectable online romance scammer. Now Jo and her team of four young women bring in enough cash to keep them securely afloat. Their targets? Married cheaters.
Jamie March, Bay Area royalty known as “The Conscience of Silicon Valley,” hates every aspect of online crime, especially those who defraud people. And when it appears that his brother is the victim of a sophisticated romance scam, he can’t stand idly by.
What’s weird though, is that when Jo and Jamie meet…they don’t hate one another. Not at all. He makes her laugh and feel alive again. She challenges his intellect like no other. But they can’t trust one another, right? And you can’t fall in love with someone you don’t trust—or can you?
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Excerpt
Copyright 2022 Michelle Dayton
Chapter One
It is a truth universally acknowledged that to trick a rich man out of a large sum of money, one must be very clever and very patient.
In the hotel coffee shop, I stopped drumming my fingers on the table and with great effort stilled my twitching foot. I’d been born clever, but the whole patience thing was taking a lot longer.
Across the room, Heather sat serenely, her rolling suitcase beside her, nose buried in a book on the politics of Silicon Valley. Her thick, dark hair was pulled into a high ponytail and the tortoiseshell glasses perched on the edge of her tiny nose gave her a studious air. She wore a tattered gray Boston Red Sox T-shirt that dwarfed her in an adorable way.
She looked perfect. It had taken me forever to come up with the character’s exact look, but it was going to work. I just knew it. The team had made solid progress with our new San Francisco targets; I estimated we’d hear from half of them within the next week, which was pretty typical. But nabbing this one would make the road trip an unqualified success.
“How’s the book?” I murmured. The miniscule mic, invisible below my dress’s collar, transmitted to an equally covert bud in Heather’s ear.
“Incomprehensible,” Heather muttered without moving her lips. “Did you actually read this?”
Blech. I grimaced. “Every word, unfortunately. He’s babbled about it non-stop on LinkedIn.”
I looked between the shop’s door to the lobby and its door to the street. Since he lived in a building around the corner, he’d most likely enter from the street. Glancing down at my watch, I sat up straighter. It was 8:45 a.m. In the past year, Linc Townsend had posted three times before 9:00 a.m. on his Twitter page that the only proper way to start a Friday morning was with a flat white from this particular coffee locale.
There! The door to the street swung open, revealing a tall man in his late thirties. His trademark white-blond hair was cropped close to his head. “Showtime,” I whispered to Heather. “Turn slightly so that the book is more obvious and he can see your shirt.”
Heather took a sip from the cup on her table and angled herself to face the counter directly. She raised the book so that it rested on the table, the front cover obvious. Then she pushed back her shoulders; the logo on her shirt floated above the book.
Townsend strode to the register and smiled at the barista. “My usual.” After paying, he walked to the edge of the counter to wait for his drink. Damn it, he was pulling out his phone. If he got immersed in scrolling, he might not look up. He might not see her at all.
My gaze lit on the tray of lids, pitchers, and sugars at the edge of the counter. “Get up and get some milk for your drink,” I whispered. “Bring the book.”
Heather stood, her eyes still looking down at the pages. Then she transferred the book to one hand, keeping her finger inserted halfway, the picture of someone who couldn’t bear to lose her place. She picked up the coffee cup with the other and glided across the shop, looking very much the intense grad student she was pretending to be.
“Excuse me,” she said softly to Townsend without looking at him. She put her cup on the counter and poured milk with the same hand, propping the book on the counter with the other.
As he moved a foot away to allow her some space, he gave a fleeting look at her face and at the book on the counter.
I grinned. Five, four, three, two …
“What do you think of this book?” he asked Heather, tapping the hardcover. “I’m very familiar with it.” I bit my smile under control and waited for Heather’s opening line. I’d worked hard on it.
Heather looked up at Townsend, hazel eyes wide as if he’d startled her. Then she let her brow furrow and her mouth fold into a cute purse, as if she were seriously considering the question. “It’s uneven,” she finally said, meeting his gaze directly. “Some chapters are engaging and thought-provoking. But others are much less impressive.”
Nodding to herself as though her opinion was the final word on the matter, she gave him a small dismissive smile and took her coffee and book back to her table. I suppressed a laugh. Heather was such a pro. I might write the lines, but Heather always nailed the delivery.
Townsend gaped at her, his mouth slightly parted. His gaze traveled from the beat-up sneakers on her feet, up the length of her faded jeans, and rested on the Red Sox T-shirt. Then he looked at Heather’s face, once again absorbed in the book. His gaze softened on the glasses and ponytail.
Gotcha. I had agreed with one of Andie’s key assessments from her deep dive into Linc Townsend’s life: even though high school was twenty years in Townsend’s past, he was still nostalgic about the bespectacled brunette beauty he’d dated his senior year. Before she dumped him on her way to Harvard.
He was so distracted that the barista had to say “Linc” twice when his flat white was ready.
Here we go. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins. I cleared my throat, ready. Townsend hesitated for only a moment before crossing the room and sitting, uninvited, in the other chair at Heather’s table. She looked up, annoyance clear on her face. “Wh –ah, can I help you?”
His words transmitted clearly through the mic clipped to Heather’s bra. “You’ve intrigued me. I want to know which chapters you found worthwhile and which were lacking.”
Taking a deep breath, I spoke as quickly and clearly as I could. Heather was used to the ventriloquist act, but if I flubbed a word, she would sound unnatural. “I enjoyed the chapters about how Silicon Valley types are extreme idealists. How life is just a matter of discovering great ideas through conversation, innovation, and education.” I paused so Heather could catch up. As soon as Heather spouted “education,” I started again. “But I think the book’s conclusion that Silicon Valley is a libertarian-like ideology within the Democrat Party—well, that’s a bit of a stretch.”
Heather delivered the last sentence flawlessly and raised her eyebrows. “Satisfied?”
Linc Townsend set his flat white on the table and leaned forward. I waited for a quick lecture of approval, especially since, as the creator of a successful tech start-up, he’d been quoted at length in the parts of the book that Heather said she liked.
But he asked her an important question before mansplaining. “What is your name?” He offered a manicured hand across the table.
We’d hooked him already.
Buy Now!
Amazon →https://amzn.to/3mfc7up
iBooks→https://apple.co/3CgjYNX
Kobo → https://bit.ly/3Em470Z
Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/3pM6qX0
About Michelle Dayton
There are only three things Michelle Dayton loves more than sexy and suspenseful novels: her family, the city of Chicago, and Mr. Darcy. Michelle dreams of a year of world travel – as long as the trip would include weeks and weeks of beach time. As a bourbon lover and unabashed wine snob, Michelle thinks heaven is discussing a good book over an adult beverage.
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RELEASE TOUR – Flag on the Play by Kay Gordon
Carson Ward goes from star Quarterback to single dad the second his ex drops a newborn off on his doorstep, he needs help, and luckily for him, his best friend’s sister, Abby Lauder is ready to rise to the challenge. But can the two go from secret crushes to dirty diapers and late-night feedings without ruining the walls that have been built or will they realize that love is worth the risk? Readers will swoon for this Best Friend’s Sibling romance featuring a sexy doorstep dad. Fall in love with your next book boyfriend with Flag on the Play by Kay Gordon, the next book in the Single Dad’s Romance series.
Carson Ward’s life might seem glamorous but he’s a simple guy. He loves football, his family, and spending time with his friends. His biggest flaw might just be the fact that he has a secret crush on his best friend’s little sister and has for years.
Abby Lauder is a free spirit and loves seeing life through the lens of her camera. As the photographer for a professional football team, she’s used to being just one of the guys. Whether she’s taking pictures of nature or pictures of football players, she never fails to catch the perfect image. So what if her camera lingers on her brother’s best friend a bit longer than others?
When Carson’s ex-girlfriend drops a newborn baby off on his doorstep, he’s caught completely unaware. He never dreamed that he would go from star quarterback to a single dad in an instant. Luckily, he has help from those around him- including Abby. But, taking care of a newborn baby isn’t easy and it’ll require the quarterback and the photographer to spend even more time together.
Amidst the diaper changes and late night feedings, hiding their feelings from each other will be harder than they think. Besides, their relationship is taboo in far too many ways for things to really go anywhere between them…right?
Or maybe Carson and Abby will realize that sometimes love is worth the risk.
Excerpt
Copyright 2021 Kay Gordon
Silence fell over us as we headed out of the locker room and to the tunnel. I was running through a list of things I needed to get from the grocery store when I heard the unmistakable click of a camera.
Normally that sound gave me a bit of a fight or flight reaction. After years of being in the media spotlight, I still wasn’t as used to it as some might assume. It was a necessary evil with my occupation, though, and I did my best to ignore them completely.
Inside the stadium, though, the sound gave me a different type of reaction. When I glanced over, my eyes landed on where a big professional camera was pointed right in our direction. The person behind the camera, however, was what grabbed my attention.
Abby was easily the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her shiny, light-brown hair fell halfway down her back and looked so damn soft. She had eyes that were such a light brown color that they almost appeared gold. She didn’t usually wear makeup and didn’t need to. Her natural beauty was enough.
She was also tiny. She couldn’t have been an inch over five-four with a curvy body that matched her small stature well. She caught eyes of people wherever we were and it irritated me more than it should’ve. Despite her small appearance, Abby had a big personality. She laughed all the time and made friends with everyone she met.
You’d think after working with her for more than two years and knowing her for almost six, I’d be over my infatuation with her, but it never seemed to go away. Not really. I was good at ignoring and pretending, though.
Because I had to. Trevor made it clear to everyone when she started working as the Wildcats official team photographer that his little sister was off-limits.
It sucked.
“Hey, Abs.” I offered her a bright smile, pushing back my attraction to her. “Make sure you pick the best ones of me and the worst ones of this troll to use, okay?”
Trevor let out a bark of laughter and used one hand to shove me back as he approached his little sister. “She would never do me dirty like that, would you, short stuff?”
“You know better than to ask that question,” she replied with a snort as she lowered her camera and ducked away from her brother, who was probably about to give her a noogie of some kind. “I pick only the ugliest of your ugly face.”
“Don’t make me call Mom,” he warned, laughter in his voice. “She won’t take well to you hurting her baby boy’s feelings.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “The sad thing is that you’re right.”
It was weird to see the two of them together and to think that they were related in anyway. Other than the color of their hair, Abby and Trevor looked nothing alike and the contrast between their overall appearance was almost laughable.
Watching them together always made me miss my own little sister. Parker and I were close but while I was in Denver playing football, she was in Sacramento and working for a pro-hockey team. We were close and always had been, so it sucked that we didn’t get to see each other more. The little brat was happy, though, and that was all that mattered.
“Exactly.” Trevor flashed his sister a smug smile before jerking his chin towards her. “What are these pictures for?”
She shrugged and glanced down at the camera she was holding. “Everyone wants to see what the Wildcats are doing to prepare for the season, so I’m snapping a little bit of everything.”
“Are you ready for another season?” I asked as I adjusted the duffel bag on my shoulder.
Abby nodded and a bright smile crossed her face, making her even more beautiful.
“I enjoy the traveling, but I get more time to explore than you guys do.” She glanced behind her when we heard others coming down the tunnel. “Let me go snap some photos of these guys. See you both later?”
“See you at home,” Trevor confirmed with a nod and I just smiled at her.
“See you later, Abby.”
About Kay Gordon
Kay Gordon is a married, mother of two living near the west coast. She spends her days teaching young, impressionable minds in public school and evenings typing away furiously once her children are in bed. She loves to take her characters on a journey, making that happy ending even better!
Her favorite genre to read is Contemporary Romance but won’t hesitate to try anything with promise. One of her favorite past times is to read the book and then go see the movie while forcing her husband to listen to her point out all of the differences in real time. She’s still not over what Harry did to the Elder Wand in DH2.
When she’s not teaching or writing, Kay loves to spend time with her family and friends, although she doesn’t ever say no to a good nap. She’s an avid lover of hockey and can be seen cheering for her beloved Nashville Predators- no matter how much they frustrate her.
Kay always welcomes feedback and comments (or even just a healthy argument about why Backstreet Boys are better than *Nsync) so please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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About the Single Dad’s Romance Series
Seven single dads, all from different walks of life and doing the best they can to raise their children – are ready to make you fall in love.
From the celebrity dad just trying to protect the ones he loves from the spotlight…to the silver fox who’s out to prove it’s never too late to have a family of your own – this single dads collection guarantees to bring you a whole lot of love and of course, a happily ever after.
Look no further, your next book boyfriend is here!
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