From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes a hot and hilarious standalone romance about what happens when you have one week to convince your best friend’s little sister that you’re the one for her.
What could possibly go wrong? It looks like things are about to get hard in the woods…
Don’t miss the laugh-out-loud and insanely hot story, HARD WOOD!
Now available on all retailers!
Grab your copy today, and get HARD WOOD in your hands!
✮✮✮ HARD WOOD is here! Grab your copy today! ✮✮✮
From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely comes a hot & hilarious new standalone romantic comedy…
Women often say a good man is hard to find. And a hard man is even better.
That’s why I’m quite a catch– good, hard, loaded, and wait for it…I’m ready to settle down too. But the woman I want to pitch my tent with lives clear across the country. Neither of us wants to get lost in those woods. All I have to do is resist her for the week she’s in town.
I try. I swear I try. But yeah, that doesn’t work out.
And after one fantastic night with my good friend Mia, I’m ready to give her years of nights under the stars. What’s a few thousand miles when love’s involved? But there’s a hitch in my plans — she just hired my adventure tour company. If there’s one thing I’m committed to, it’s running a squeaky clean business. Number one on my list of iron-clad rules?
Don’t screw your customers.
But what’s a guy to do when she’s so hard to resist? How hard can it be to keep our hands off each other for a quick group tour down the hills and over the trails? I’m about to find out, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a new badge of honor because things are about to get very hard in the woods.
You can find this sexy standalone romantic comedy available across all retailers now!
✦Kindle US ➜ http://amzn.to/2gudVgq
✦Kindle UK ➜ http://amzn.to/2xXwncq
✦Kindle CA ➜ http://amzn.to/2zsvfdd
✦Kindle AU ➜ http://amzn.to/2gvLhLS
✦iBooks ➜ http://apple.co/2xoVy6k
✦Kobo ➜ http://bit.ly/2tIJoQo
✦Nook ➜ http://bit.ly/2gLRTJ2
✦Google Play ➜ http://bit.ly/2x5DHPH
✦Amazon PB ➜ http://amzn.to/2x8Y54c
✦Amazon Audio ➜ http://amzn.to/2znV6Uu
✦Audible ➜ http://adbl.co/2x5FyE6
✦ The audiobook is narrated by Sebastian York! Get your copy today! ✦
Audible * Amazon Audio
“Hard Wood is the kind of heart-racing, hope soaring, face-flushing love story that I love to read! It was sexy, romantic, funny and an absolute pleasure to read.”
~Red Cheeks Reads
“HARD WOOD was such an adorable love story! A hot guy and his famous cat looking for their happily ever after … Perfect #RomCom!”
~Bianca at BJ’s Book Blog
Review
Lauren Blakely’s newest hero, Patrick, is a man’s man…he’s an outdoorsman who knows how to be one with nature and his investment in experiencing life to the fullest is as endearing as it is swoonworthy. But what sets him even further apart from most romantic comedy male leads is that he’s ready to settle down…he’s ready to find his ‘one,’ and interestingly enough, he believes he’s already found her, and as much as he wants to remain hands-off when it comes to his good friend’s little sister, what he feels for Mia will not lay dormant; in fact, each time she visits Max, he finds himself even more invested and even more in need of claiming the woman who unknowingly has already claimed his heart.
After reading Hard Wood, Patrick is definitely a new favorite book boyfriend. There’s just something about his confidence in all settings and the way he ‘markets’ himself not only when he’s working to push his way into Mia’s heart but in all facets of his life, especially his business. He proves numerous times that he is a man of his word and that he takes the time to get to know each and every person he encounters because that kind of personal interaction is key to his career as well as his quest to find his other half.
Mia is absolutely the best kind of heroine. She’s the girl next door, but she’s also a bit of a temptress underneath, and Lauren Blakely does a great job of illustrating both of Mia’s sides, proving that Patrick is spot on with his thinking that Mia fits him better than anyone else, because not only do they share similar interests and a deep love for animals, but they also complement each other’s personality, being an outlet as well as a shoulder to lean on when it comes to life’s complications.
I would be remiss in my review if I didn’t mention the feline scene stealer; Zeus is quite the character and his role in Hard Wood is of upmost importance when it comes to Patrick’s business as well as bringing Mia and Patrick closer to together when they embark on their woodsy adventure.
Hard Wood continues to demonstrate how well Lauren Blakely writes romantic comedies, and while some readers may need more conflict or angst even in stories where they laugh out loud at the antics of the main characters, I, for one, love that Blakely focuses on the characters and developing their individual personalities as well as building a connection between the hero and heroine that might start off as sexual attraction but quickly turns into so much more because at the heart of the story are two characters who are perfect for one another even if it takes one or both of them a bit more time to realize that fact.
4.5 Poison Apples
“I never fail to fall in love with Lauren Blakely’s stories. Hard Wood is a swoony romance that will warm your heart and possibly other body parts.”
~Peggy Lee, Reading Keeps Me Sane Book Blog
Add it to Goodreads here!
http://bit.ly/2uAoPJW
Excerpt
I haven’t seen Mia in almost a month, since the last time she was in town staying with Max. I didn’t realize she’d be back a full week before her other brother Chase’s wedding, and am I ever glad to see her again.
She makes all parts of me quite happy indeed.
By happy, I mean hard as a rock.
Okay, fine. It’s not like I’m operating at full power this second. I’m thirty-three, not fifteen. I have plenty of self-control in the “when and where to pitch a tent” arena. All I’m saying is this woman gets me going, and I feel that zip down my body when I see her.
She’s on the phone, her eyebrows pinched, her expression harried. She drags her hand through her caramel-blond hair. As I walk closer, I hear her say, “I understand. Yes, I understand. Things happen.”
And that’s the sound of someone being disappointed.
Which is a terrible thing for this sexy-as-a-fiery-sunset woman to experience.
When she stops and ends her call, she spots me. She tilts her head, her eyes piercing, her brow furrowed, and her dimples killing me with cuteness. Her eyes roam from me to Zeus, and then she points at my boy. “I don’t know if anyone has told you this . . .”
I raise my eyebrows. “Tell me. What could it possibly be?”
Her eyes drift to the ground then back up. In a deadpan tone, she says, “But there’s a cat in your hat? Well, on your back, actually.”
“There is?” I crane my neck to peer over my shoulder. “You’re right. How did he get there?”
She parks her hands on her hips. “You’re in big trouble.”
“I’ve been bad, have I?”
She pushes my shoulder then wags her finger at me. “How did you keep this from me?”
I quirk an eyebrow. “The fact that there’s an awesome new Italian place down the street? It opened last month, and I planned to tell you.”
She huffs, rolling her eyes. “I’ve known you for months and you didn’t tell me you had a cat. Friends don’t hide pets from friends.”
She’s not in town that often. She hasn’t ever been to my apartment. And I don’t take Zeus upstairs to Max’s. But I’m not going to state the obvious. I’m going to have a little fun with her. Flirt with her. Because . . . that’s what we do.
“There’s a reason for that.”
Her eyes go wide, and she taps her toe, waiting. I drag a hand through my hair. Evie says my light brown hair is floppy, and she tells me this is a good thing. The ladies love floppy hair, she says. She’s been right so far. My hair’s been a big hit with the ladies, and other parts have, too.
“It’s a good reason,” I add.
“I’m waiting, Patrick. This really isn’t the type of intel you should hold back.”
I heave a sigh as if I’m going to make a huge admission, then I park a hand on her shoulder. Because, well, I’m a sneaky bastard and I’ll look for any opening to touch her. “Look, I’m going to be blunt. If I told you I had a hiking cat who rides shotgun in a backpack and can purr like he’s a jazz superstar, you’d have had no choice but to fall in love with me.”
And don’t miss Lauren Blakely’s other standalone Romantic Comedies!
BIG ROCK
MISTER O
WELL HUNG
FULL PACKAGE
JOY RIDE
✮✮✮ Enter to win this amazing HARD WOOD GIVEAWAY! ✮✮✮
The HARD WOOD Urban Adventure Pack ($380 value) is filled with:
✮ A stylish Michael Kors backpack for when a purse is not enough for your shopping adventure
✮ $50 Gift Card to The Body Shop to pamper yourself after a long day
✮ Your very own plush Zeus to snuggle with
✮ A Smores Making Kit for a backyard adventure
http://laurenblakely.com/hard-wood-giveaway/
About Lauren Blakely
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October, she’ll release HARD WOOD, the final standalone romantic comedy in the Big Rock series. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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