Michelle Dayton – TBR Book Blog

Cover Reveal ~ Tech-nically Love Series ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

Join us for the cover reveal of the Tech-nically Love series by Michelle Dayton. Fans who love Trope Romances will sink their teeth into these sexy, contemporary romances. Keep scrolling for more details about this sexy cover.

Technology complicates everything, including love.

Fans of Emily Henry will swoon for this nerdy chemistry …

Just when Tess Greene’s life is finally almost perfect, her past springs one last surprise on her. Targeted by an internet predator whose sleazy website is known for publicly humiliating women, Tess has one month to stop his ambush before her reputation is forever ruined.

As an IT disaster recovery specialist, Tess has always handled challenges on her own, but this calls for serious geek backup.

Max Hampshire, a brilliant hacker, is exactly the lifeline Tess needs. But she’s pretty sure she doesn’t need Max himself—certainly not his quick wit, sexy black-framed glasses, or all-around sweetness. The last guy who helped Tess left with his life crushed and his heart broken, so she knows that keeping her emotional distance from Max would be safer for both of them. But safety isn’t an option when love gets involved.

Previously Published as Disaster Girl.

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The internet complicates everything—especially love.

Jo Harper isn’t always who men think she is. Every day she dons her psychology PhD and above-average computer skills like a super cape to right love’s wrongs. She and her team of four young women run an elite, undetectable online romance scam designed to trick 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. And their compatibility is off-the-charts sexy between the sheets. But enemies-to-lovers is only a fantasy.

Or is it?

Previously Published as Scammer Girl.

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You can’t divorce yourself from love…

Attorney Emily Saturn needs to drown herself in work and turn off her feelings for her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bobby March. A wave of insanity swept them into an intense whirlwind romance last fall, but the whole marriage was a mistake.

But Bobby is certain he can fix whatever has gone wrong. He’s been working on his new career and personal growth, determined to be the man his wife deserves. Confident he can get her attention, he invites Emily to a series of individually designed virtual escape rooms, each one a moment from their love story. Hopefully, the sexy, romantic trip down memory lane will spark their second chance.

Emily has never been able to resist a puzzle. Or, frankly, Bobby. The more she interacts with her husband online, the more she wants to see him again in person. Which is beyond stupid because Emily knows he’s not Mr. Right. Unless she’s wrong about everything.

Previously Published as Escape Girl.

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It’s the classic holiday movie set-up, but there’s mischief behind the scenes…

Jane Zielinski plans to create her own present this Christmas. She throws herself into directing a homemade reality dating web series, Single Bells, as a publicity stunt to keep her struggling small town competitive with the ritzy resort towns luring holiday tourists. It’s the perfect way to pair up with her crush—Michael, the boy-next-door-turned-most-eligible- bachelor–and be a hometown hero.

But gorgeous Bella Bradley, Jane’s childhood BFF who skipped town when times got tough, returns with handfuls of cash and a smoking-hot business partner, Nate Wright. It’s bad enough that Bella immediately upstages Jane’s attempts to save the town’s Christmas, but she also uses the Single Bells activities to rekindle her high school romance with Michael. Furious, Jane is not above sabotage, cheating, or flirting with the mischievous Nate to win.

Maybe it’s the Christmas shenanigans, maybe it’s the holiday magic … but suddenly, Nate is a lot more than a tall, dark, handsome stranger. But is he just a mistletoe fling.

Previously Published as Grinch Girl

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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.

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR

Release Tour ~ Grinch Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

Jane Zielinski has her hands full this December. The last thing she needs is to be upstaged by her former childhood BFF, Bella Bradley, who blows into town with handfuls of cash and a sexy business partner, Nate Wright. But a little competition never hurt anyone, and Jane’s ready to do whatever it takes– including flirting with Nate–to get Bella to pack up and leave. Fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne will love Grinch Girl, a spicy and humorous Christmas Romance from Michelle Dayton.

“The love story itself is stirring and emotional, and Emily and Bobby’s second chance feels well-earned.”—Publishers Weekly review for Escape Girl

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Sometimes, the real story isn’t the beautiful city girl returning to her small town to save Christmas—it’s the townie chick who never left.

Jane Zielinski has her hands full this December, working three jobs and directing a homemade reality dating web series, Single Bells, as a stunt to keep her small town competitive with the ritzy resort towns luring tourists. Then the gorgeous Bella Bradley, Jane’s childhood BFF who had no qualms about skipping town when times got tough, returns with handfuls of cash and her smoking-hot business partner Nate Wright on her arm.

Jane can’t believe she’s being upstaged again, especially when Bella uses the Single Bells activities to rekindle a romance with her high school boyfriend—the man Jane had envisioned her future with. So if a little competition could convince Bella to leave town—again—Jane is ready to take the mittens off. And she’s not above sabotage, cheating, or flirting with Nate to win. Let the reindeer games begin…

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Excerpt

Nate’s eyes lowered from the heavens to my face. His expression shifted away from embarrassment as his eyelids lowered a centimeter and his jaw shifted.

Why was my breathing so shallow? Why was I focusing so much on the bottom half of his face?

“Are you familiar with the term ‘competence porn’, Jane?” he asked.

I was so distracted by his use of my actual name and how his night-quiet voice had gotten all roughed up and gravelly that it took me a moment to grasp his actual question. Before I realized I didn’t grasp it at all. “Huh?”

“Competence porn—” he paused to cock his jaw in the opposite direction and take a half step closer to me “—is when a viewer takes great enjoyment in watching someone do something well. Marveling at someone who is insanely good at something.”

I blinked a few times, confused and mesmerized. My lips formed into the shape they needed to make a W sound, but I couldn’t think of the right question to ask him. What does this have to do with me? When did you get so close?

“You fix things and make things and solve situations,” Nate all but whispered. “You order people around, and they do what you say.” He shook his head, as if in bewilderment. “There hasn’t been a problem you couldn’t solve.”

He might have looked frustrated if he didn’t look so…intent. “I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for competence porn, but I’ve never seen it embodied so much in one individual.” Those intense dark eyes became fixated on my parted lips. “So I didn’t know how apt the term actually was.”

“Let me get this straight.” I took a shuddering breath, so warm in my thin coat that I wondered how I could have felt cold earlier. “You’re turned on because I’m so competent?”

This might have been the oddest conversation I’d ever had with a man. A very odd, very hot conversation.

His lips quirked up at the corners. “It surprises me too.”

We were now only separated by inches, and his face was exactly as it had been in the video. Hungry. His gaze made my mouth water, and we were both breathing so hard that our breath made little white clouds around our faces.

I should have been backing away. I should have been rolling my eyes. But his eyes had their own gravity again, and their magnetic force was pulling my mouth to his.

“This is so stupid,” I whispered.

“I know,” he agreed.

About Michelle Dayton

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR

New Release ~ Grinch Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

“The love story itself is stirring and emotional, and Emily and Bobby’s second chance feels well-earned.”—Publishers Weekly review for Escape Girl

Blurb

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Excerpt

The stranger had a British accent, dark hair, funky glasses, and wore both an expensive cashmere sweater and a bored expression. He couldn’t have looked less local if he’d tattooed “I’m from away” on his forehead. “Do you know the Wi-Fi password, by any chance?”

Of course I did; I’d installed it. “Nope.”

OK, that was unnecessary. Don’t piss off the tourists, Jane. Jim’s pub couldn’t handle a one-star Yelp review from some asshole.

He threw up his hands. “No sign posted with the Wi-Fi info. Nobody pouring drinks.” He let out an exasperated huff. “No wonder this place is a dying shithole, right? The bar, the whole town.”

Strong words, stranger. Maybe I agreed, but I was allowed to think so because I lived here. He, however, could take his opinion and shove it straight up his ass.

The need for caffeine was real. I stood, put my palms on the bar, and boosted myself over it.

The stranger put his phone on the bar with an angry slap. “Are you kidding? Are you the bartender? You’ve just been sitting there ignoring me the whole time I’ve been here?”

I almost wanted to say yes. Because that haughty, entitled tone in his prettily accented voice made his face a prime candidate for a fist.

“I don’t work here,” I said flatly, although I did pick up shifts in the summers sometimes. “I just know the owner.”

The stranger cocked his head and considered me. Changed tactics. “Do you know him well enough to grab me a beer?” He smiled, and it changed his whole damn face. He went from haughty and bored to…zing! There was a teasing tone in his wry voice now, complimented by curved lips and a flash of white teeth. A knowing, flirtatious glint in his dark eyes.

Hmm. This was a person used to getting everything he wanted.

Too bad for him that I hated people like that.

Maybe I didn’t want a soda after all. Maybe I wanted something else. I slowly took a pint glass from the shelf and pulled a draft of Spotted Cow, all while making extreme eye contact with the stranger’s amused gaze.

But instead of sliding the beer over the bar, I walked around it, grabbed my laptop, and strolled slowly to the back office, enjoying an enormous gulp of the beer on my walk. I ignored his “what the hell” and called over my shoulder, “Enjoy your stay in our shithole town.”

About Michelle Dayton

New Release ~ Escape Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

Emily Saturn’s world is spinning out of control. When she isn’t working on an impossible lawsuit, she’s trying to avoid her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bobby March. But Bobby is determined to prove to Emily that he can be the man she deserves and has a very creative plan to win her back. Fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne will love Escape Girl, a spicy second chance romance.

“The love story itself is stirring and emotional, and Emily and Bobby’s second chance feels well-earned.”—Publishers Weekly review for Escape Girl

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Emily Saturn’s world is spinning out of control. An intellectual property lawyer, she’s gone rogue from her firm, dealing with a major lawsuit against a predatory software company’s CEO pro bono. When she isn’t looking for elusive evidence she can use—legally, of course—she’s trying to avoid her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bobby March.

After their whirlwind courtship and wedding, Bobby can’t pinpoint what went wrong between them. He’s been working for months on his new career and personal growth, determined to be the man his wife deserves. Desperate to get her attention, Bobby invites Emily to a series of individually designed virtual escape rooms, each one a moment from their love story. Hopefully, the sexy, romantic trip down memory lane will rekindle their intense connection—and clue him in on how to fix this.

Emily has never been able to resist a puzzle. Or, frankly, Bobby. The more she interacts with her husband online, the more she wants to see him again in person. Which is beyond stupid because Emily knows he’s wrong for her. Right?

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Excerpt

The sun was low in the sky by the time he drove me back to my father’s house in Pacific Heights. He pulled his Jeep to the side of the road and turned off the ignition. I reached for the door handle. “Hold up!” Bobby said. “I’m a gentleman. I’ll walk you to the door.”
Grinning like an idiot, I dropped my hands in my lap and watched him jump out of the car and scramble to the passenger side. Anticipation rose like a cloud in my throat. We’d spent the entire day inches from each other without touching. I’d been able to feel his body heat near my skin for hours, but I still didn’t know how his hands felt. Or how he smelled. Or much at all about his lips. I mean, I’d memorized their exact shape and the many expressions they made when he laughed or spoke. But I was very interested in how they might move against mine.
I glanced around my father’s street and up the sidewalk to the door. If I accepted the job offer I had in San Francisco and moved back here permanently, I’d choose a place in a lively neighborhood instead of this rarified, ultrawealthy corridor. I preferred sidewalk seating at nearby cafés, people walking dogs, apartments with tiny, oft-used patios. But here, on my father’s street, it was quiet. The only sounds were that of landscaping and an occasional walkie-talkie blast from a neighbor congresswoman’s Secret Service patrol.
My father’s next-door neighbor was watering her plants on a spacious second-floor outdoor patio. She had a perfect view of my father’s front door, which absolutely sucked.
I wanted a kiss.
Not a peck on the cheek or forehead. Not a lingering handshake. I wanted a kiss to match the singeing heat I felt every time I looked in Bobby’s general direction. A kiss that would steal the breath from his lungs. A kiss where I could show him just how wound up he made me today.
Bobby opened my car door, and I resigned myself to a short walk up the sidewalk and a quick goodbye. But to my surprise, he didn’t open the car door wide and offer a hand to help me out. Rather, he opened it and then stepped inward, bracing himself with both arms and blocking anyone on the street from seeing into the car. “If I walk you to the door,” he said in a low voice, “there’s going to be an audience.”
My skin started to burn under my cashmere sweater. I wished I was wearing…less. My lips curved up at him as my gaze greedily roamed over his shoulders, neck, and lips. “An audience for what?”
“Our goodbye,” he whispered.

About Michelle Dayton

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR

New Release ~ Escape Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

“The love story itself is stirring and emotional, and Emily and Bobby’s second chance feels well-earned.”—Publishers Weekly review for Escape Girl

Blurb

Add to Goodreads Here!

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Excerpt

One Year Ago

The painting was so ludicrous that I chewed the inside of my top lip—hard enough that the next sip of gin was going to sting. But if I didn’t control my mouth, it was going to shape itself into a judgy, bitchy smirk at our poor hostess’s expense.
The painting was of a woman’s back, butt, and legs as she lounged on a blue velvet settee. It didn’t reveal any part of the subject’s face. But it was clearly supposed to be Selma. Selma was a big fan of strapless gowns and asymmetrical shirts. The triangle of small moles on her left shoulder blade was as familiar to me as the shade of dark pink lipstick always highlighting her formidable lips. The woman in the painting sported an identical isosceles mole triangle, as well as a spill of hair in a variety of blonde shades ranging from honey to platinum. I’d once heard Selma boast that it took three colorists four hours every six weeks to keep her signature blend of hair colors perfect.
I cocked my head as my eyes traveled to the problematic part of the woman in the painting. She may have had Selma’s geometric moles and she may have had Selma’s intricate hair. The ass, however…
“Do you think this painting is a prophecy?” A question spoken so low that only I could hear.
I snapped my gaze away from the painting’s exquisite ass and looked up in surprise at the man suddenly next to me. “Huh?” I didn’t recognize him, but that wasn’t surprising as I’d only been back in the Bay Area for a couple of weeks.
I would have remembered him if I’d seen him before. He was one of those unmistakable people. (Us generic-looking people often resent his kind.) He was probably mid-thirties, over six feet tall with thick, golden hair, grown at a shaggy length that would look stupid on most men, but it decidedly did not look stupid on him. He was tan like he’d just come back from a beach vacation, and he had deep smile lines around his eyes and mouth. They were crinkled now around his bright blue eyes.
My own were crinkled too, not with mirth but with confusion. “A prophecy?”
“A prophecy is a prediction, a forecast,” he began, eyes twinkling. Was he teasing or mansplaining?
“Yes, I know what a prophecy is,” I said. Snapped, really. I’d been around at enough of these nights to be familiar with the typical male attendees. The men near my age usually fell into particular categories: boastful start-up tech founders, schmoozy sales and marketing execs, and lots of “I know everything” lawyers. Most of them treated these nights like networking events or auditions for a TED Talk instead of parties.
I’d been so dreading my possible seating partners for dinner that I’d snuck into the dining room to see the place cards when we first arrived. Thank God I was seated next to my father.
“Excellent.” He waved his negroni toward the painted naked lady. “So I was just wondering if this painting is a heads-up from our hostess about certain impending changes.”
Oh. The mischief in his voice made my lips twitch. He’d been teasing, then. This wasn’t some stuffy ibanker or insufferable crypto bro. Inexplicably, this was someone fun.
I raised an eyebrow at him and spoke softly. “Meaning, Selma wants everyone to know that she’ll soon be getting butt implants?”
He grinned down at me, almost with relief, as though he’d been hoping to find someone snarky. “Perhaps the buttock augmentation is already complete.” He pointed directly below the painting. I hadn’t noticed the blue velvet settee against the wall, an identical twin to the one in the portrait. “Perhaps she’ll settle herself right there later and let us compare art to reality.”
It was just too perfect of an image: ludicrous, of course, but if Selma had one too many negronis, you could almost see it happening. Oh God, please let that happen. I’d suffer through twelve boring dinner parties if Selma would cross that bizarre, hilarious line.
A significant snort-laugh erupted from my nose before I could stop it. “Sorry,” I gasped.
His answering laugh was deep and delighted. “Don’t be. I love it when people snort when they laugh. It’s literally one of my favorite things in life.” Well, I loved when people got tears in their eyes at the smallest of chuckles, and right now, there was a sheen of moisture covering his.
“I don’t know you, and I usually know everyone at these things,” he said, like an invitation.
Sigh. Now I would introduce myself, and he would get that look in his eye when he realized who my father was.
I opened my mouth, but to my surprise, he cut me off. “So I asked four different people here who you were and what you’re like.”
My mouth closed abruptly. Why would he do that? Also, I could guess what the four people had said, and they were all sure to be wrong. I swallowed a sigh. “Oh?” This encounter had started so fun. Now I wondered how soon I could excuse myself.
He took a slow sip. “You’re Sven Saturn’s daughter.” Yep. For the entirety of my life, that would be the first—and sometimes the only—thing most people cared about. “You’re intensely smart and have some sort of big, important job.” OK, he totally embellished that point. I’m sure whoever he talked to actually just used the word workaholic. To be fair, that was also correct. Work was my place, my cathedral, my sports arena. Work was home.
He cocked his head. “And you’re very quiet and sweet.”
Of course that’s what they said. Quiet was correct; sweet was not. But when you’re a little shy with a heart-shaped face and round eyes, people always make the leap to sweet. In actuality, Resting Bitch Face would have suited my internal personality much better. I’m sure people were trying to be kind, but why is sweet a good thing to call someone? In our hyperaggressive, competitive world, who the hell wanted to be sweet?
To the man beside me, I ducked my chin. “Well, that was nice of them.” Where was the tray of negronis? Maybe I’d survive this night with a nice little buzz. Or maybe I could put on headphones and go into another room on the pretense of taking a call. I had Netflix on my phone.
His blue eyes were so bright. “It’s bullshit though, right?”
His gaze and forthright tone gave me a buzz that had nothing to do with gin. He tapped his temple. “There’s a lot going on in there, but I’m guessing that very little of it is sweet.”
Correct. Either he was extremely astute or… “Is this your schtick?” I retorted. “Find the quiet girl in the room and make her feel like she’s some sort of secret badass that only you can see?”
He laughed. Hard. A surprised, loud, genuinely elated laugh. I did that, I thought proudly.
“Who are you?” he asked, and suddenly his blue eyes were…intense.
The direct stare right at me, the timbre of his voice, the way he drew a microinch closer. My skin went warm from head to toe and my pulse went thud, Thud, THUD.
I swallowed, and his gaze went to my throat and back to my eyes. He leaned even closer, then apparently realized that was not dinner-party-appropriate, so he backed up so quickly he banged into someone behind him. A slight flush crawled up his jaw as he recovered, but his embarrassment didn’t make him look away or change the intensity of his expression.
Did I do that to him? I wasn’t the kind of woman that made men clumsy, but I could sense it. He felt the thud, Thud, THUDDING too.
“I’m Emily,” I managed, remembering to offer a hand.
His warm hand took hold of mine, not like a greeting shake, but as if he intended to keep it.

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About Michelle Dayton

New Release ~ 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

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.

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About Michelle Dayton

New Release & Review ~ Disaster Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

Readers who love Christian Lauren and Jasmine Guillory will love this spicy, humorous contemporary romance.

Read Now!

Amazon→ https://amzn.to/3b0AN2X

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/3d70eCF

iBooks→ https://apple.co/3jKXTOV

Google Play→ http://bit.ly/378Ahik

Kobo→ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/disaster-girl

Bookbub→ https://www.bookbub.com/books/disaster-girl-by-michelle-dayton

Synopsis

Tess Greene knows disaster—dating disasters, computer disasters, family disasters, you name it. But just when her life is finally almost perfect, she’s targeted by an internet celebrity who runs a revenge porn site admired by douchebags across the country. She has one month before the entire world will have an up-close-and-personal view of her sexual history. Tess has always handled everything on her own, but for this disaster, she needs backup.

Max Hampshire, a brilliant hacker, is exactly the lifeline Tess needs. What she doesn’t need is Max himself. She does not need his quick wit, sexy black-framed glasses, or all-around sweetness. The last guy who helped Tess left with his life crushed and his heart broken, so she knows that staying far away from Max would be safer for everyone.

But safety isn’t really an option when dealing with sleazy predators—or love…

Add to Goodreads!

Excerpt

He looked between the lash and my face, laughing along with me. “Ditto.”

He blew the lash away very deliberately. Had he made a wish? Did wishes made on false lashes count? “Lie on your stomach,” he said.

Curious, I obeyed, curling my toes over the end of the mattress. Max pulled the sheet down, exposing my bare back. “You have a tramp stamp.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“You already knew that from the countdown picture on the Sex Ghost website.” I tried to yank the sheet back up to cover the tattoo at the base of my spine, but he wouldn’t let me.

“When did you get it?” he asked, dancing his fingers over the decorated skin.

I snorted. “When every girl gets a tramp stamp. I was eighteen.”

“Why did you choose an anchor?”

Normally, I deflected when someone asked this question. I’d say, “I just liked the design” or “I have a pirate fetish” or “I dream of sailing around the world someday.” I always found it kind of funny-sad that no one ever looked at me skeptically and commented that none of my explanations sounded like me.

Maybe that was why I didn’t lie to Max. If he hadn’t been skeptical, I would have been so disappointed. Which would have been idiotic since I’d known him for a matter of weeks.

Daniel and Kat were the only two people to whom I’d tried to explain why I’d chosen that particular image. Daniel had immediately co-opted the meaning, which I didn’t appreciate. Kat didn’t really understand, but that was my fault because my explanation to her was incomplete.

So I didn’t lie to Max. I didn’t tell the truth either though. Instead, I deftly changed the subject. I gave a dramatic sigh. “I’d like you to know that the phrase ‘tramp stamp’ was not in the common vernacular when I was eighteen. If it had been, I would not have chosen to get a tattoo on my lower back.”

I was rewarded with his laugh. His hand rubbed harder, from the base of my spine all the way up to my neck. I arched my back like a cat. I hadn’t had an unprofessional back rub in years. I meant to make a flirtatious comment, something along the lines of “You’re good with your hands.” But what actually popped out was “I like the way you touch me.”

I immediately stiffened. That sounded both goofy and way too serious. I should probably get up and go now. It was definitely time to make a graceful exit. But Max just chuckled again and lay next to me, so close that we brushed against one another from shoulder to toe.

“Good.”

This story was not quite what I was expected but it kept me sucked in and I read it all in once sitting WAY later than I should have stayed up. Tess intrigued me so. She was so confident and unapologetic for doing what she wanted to when she wanted to. And I loved that about her! She was unapologetically herself and living what she thought was her best life. Until NCP (which I didn’t know was an acronym for non-consensual p0rn) and a former one-night stand (ONS) is threatening her happiness.

Enter Max, hacker extraordinaire. Tess gets linked up with Max via a coworker to hack into the ONS’s server to delete her video. Tess and Max have insane amounts of chemistry which makes Max’s entrance into Tess’s life a little more awkward.

I loved the different layers to Tess. She seems so footloose and fancy free but she is really responsible and taking care of her mom and her sister and looking out for those around her. All that Tess is dealing with, and being open and honest in the narrative about her therapy, was a refreshing change to read.

5 stars!

About Michelle Dayton

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR

New Release ~ Disaster Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

The only thing Tess knows better than walking into a disaster is digging herself out of one. But when she becomes the victim of a revenge porn site, she needs help — from brilliant and sexy hacker, Max. Falling for him could lead to another epic disaster… Readers who love Christian Lauren and Jasmine Guillory will love this spicy, humorous contemporary romance. “… a deeply satisfying romance with real stakes and a realistic look at caregiver burnout. Readers won’t want to put this down.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review

Blurb Tess Greene knows disaster—dating disasters, computer disasters, family disasters, you name it. But just when her life is finally almost perfect, she’s targeted by an internet celebrity who runs a revenge porn site admired by douchebags across the country. She has one month before the entire world will have an up-close-and-personal view of her sexual history. Tess has always handled everything on her own, but for this disaster, she needs backup. Max Hampshire, a brilliant hacker, is exactly the lifeline Tess needs. What she doesn’t need is Max himself. She does not need his quick wit, sexy black-framed glasses, or all-around sweetness. The last guy who helped Tess left with his life crushed and his heart broken, so she knows that staying far away from Max would be safer for everyone. But safety isn’t really an option when dealing with sleazy predators—or love… Add to Goodreads Here!

Buy Now!

Amazon→ https://amzn.to/3b0AN2X

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/3d70eCF

iBooks→ https://apple.co/3jKXTOV

Google Play→ http://bit.ly/378Ahik

Kobo→ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/disaster-girl

Bookbub→ https://www.bookbub.com/books/disaster-girl-by-michelle-dayton

Excerpt

Sometimes when out at a restaurant or the park, I’d see a couple smiling at one another. Not speaking or laughing, but just solely connected to one another from the eyes and lips. They didn’t feel you watching because they were seeing only each other. These smiles were private moments happening in public, and you almost felt like a voyeur watching it. On the few occasions I’d witnessed that kind of smile, I’d felt odd, physically. A pain my chest, a shortness of breath, a sting in the eye. At this moment, smiling at Max, I knew what those physical symptoms represented: jealousy. Because I’d never experienced one of those shared smiles that spoke of pure enjoyment and appreciation and connection and all that sappy bullshit. Until now.

Buy Now!

Amazon→ https://amzn.to/3b0AN2X

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/3d70eCF

iBooks→ https://apple.co/3jKXTOV

Google Play→ http://bit.ly/378Ahik

Kobo→ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/disaster-girl

Bookbub→ https://www.bookbub.com/books/disaster-girl-by-michelle-dayton

About Michelle Dayton

Cover Reveal ~ The Disaster Girl ~ by ~ Michelle Dayton

Join us for the cover reveal of Disaster Girl by Michelle Dayton. Fans who love Second Chance Romances will sink their teeth into this spicy, humorous romance. Keep scrolling for more details about this sexy cover.

Title: Disaster Girl

Author: Michelle Dayton

Release Date: May 20th, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction

Trope: Sexy Hacker, Second Chance Romance, Will They or Won’t They, Stand-Alone Romance