Title: Mabe's Burden
Author: Kelly Abell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb
Hot tempered, Mabe
O'Banyon will do whatever it takes to keep the
family's Irish pub, Shenanigans, out of the mob's dirty hands. She quickly
learns, though, their attorney and the bank will offer no help. So, she calls
in the reinforcements--Mara and Meg. She hasn't seen her two sisters for years,
but her desperate message brings them running.
Commercial real
estate developer, Aaron Shaw has a secret. He arrives in Monticello, FL,
expecting to purchase a quaint Irish pub and move on to his next conquest. But
the transaction doesn't take place as planned--in fact, it doesn't take place
at all. The hardheaded owner--a stunning redhead with curves that
don't quit--isn't selling.
With time running out
and the mob on their heels, Aaron wants nothing more than to
save the woman he's fallen for from impending danger. Mabe is torn
between a man she loves but can't trust and the need to hold on to her family's
pub. Their choices lead them down a path neither could have
guessed.
One-liner
While being threatened by the mob, a
hot-headed barkeep goes toe-to-toe with a real estate
developer who wants to save her and falls head-over-heels...until she
learns he's been keeping a horrible secret.
Author Bio
I can't remember a
time when I didn't want to write. From the time I was learned enough
to string sentences together I liked writing stories. In high school
I was the literary editor of our school magazine Sketches and had a series of
short stories that I'd written even then. I'm published with two
wonderful publishers, World Castle and Solstice Publishing, and on my own as an
Indie.
I live in
Florida with my two adult children and my husband of 30+
years. I have a wonderful dog named Snickers that can even
open her own Christmas presents! (don't believe me? Look
below) When I'm not working full time in the insurance industry, I
write. I believe any writer should write because they love
the craft. The rest will come in time. I hope you enjoy
reading my stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them.
Links
website
Facebook
Twitter
Buy Links
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Link
Excerpt - When Mabe meets Aaron Shaw
for the first time
The door to the pub
swung open for a tall, ebony haired man wearing an expensive tan suit. Mabe
straightened. Riveted, she stared at his strikingly angular face. His chin,
grooved by a slight dimple, struck her as sexy.
His gaze roamed the
bar, settling on her. Warmth radiated through her entire body. Never had she
felt such an intense attraction to a man. Who the hell is he? She didn’t
recall ever seeing him in the pub. Her nerves tingled. Resembling a panther, he
wove his way through the crowd. Slightly ashamed of her attraction to a strange
man at her father’s wake, she turned her back, resuming her position behind the
bar. She spoke to several patrons, mentally noting their drink orders on her
way.
“No one could pull a
pint like your da,” an old grizzled man at the end of the mahogany counter
stated. “Smooth like silk he was.”
Mabe smiled. “He was,
Angus. We’ll miss him.” She handed a frothy mug to the man. “Here you go. Enjoy
that.”
“I will,” Angus
declared, raising his glass to her. “To many years.”
She picked up a glass
of Coke, clinked it against Angus’s mug. “And to you.”
“I’ll have one of
those if you don’t mind,” a deep voice spoke from behind
her.
Turning, ready with a
flirty response on her tongue, she came face to face with her handsome
stranger. His eyes matched the deep rich mahogany of the bar. His smile, while
slightly crooked, seemed genuine and swept the words right out of her
brain.
“Uh…sure. Name your
poison.”
“Guinness?”
Mabe nodded, pulled
the beer, scraping the foam from the top. “I’ve never seen you here before.
What’s your name, and how did you know my dad?”
His gaze caught hers,
sympathy reflected in his eyes. She tried to look away, but she couldn’t. The
man was a god.
“I’m sorry for your
loss.”
“Thanks. He will be
missed for sure.”
“I just realized…this
is his wake, isn’t it? A private party?”
She nodded. “It
is.”
The man smiled
gently. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’m intruding. I should
go.”
She set the beer in
front of him. “Nah, we’re all friends here. It is a private party, but stay if
you’d like.” She gestured. “Those are my sisters Meg and Mara. We own the place
now.”
“It’ll be hard to run
it without your father, won’t it?”
Mabe sighed, leaning
on her elbows. “It won’t be the same, for sure, but we’ll do okay. It’ll take
some work….” She glanced lovingly around the pub with all its Irish
paraphernalia adorning he walls. “Da, loved this place. I grew up here. It’s
our place. We’ll make it work.”
She shivered, feeling
his intense stare. Her skin burned under the laser scan of his eyes. Her pulse
jumped. If the room were empty except for the two of them, he’d be in some
serious trouble. He took a sip of the Guinness, still staring at her over the
mug.
She licked her lips
then broke the gaze. She swiped at the glossy mahogany top with a rag. “What
brings you to town?”
“Business,” was his
response.
“Ooh, cryptic, are
we?” She flirted.
“Suits me for
now.”
A man at the end of
the counter signaled for her. She held up a finger then approached her guest.
She served a few more beers, all the while being extremely aware of his gaze.
His allure was more powerful than any she’d ever experienced. Monticello wasn’t
full of dashing men in expensive suits, but it had its fair share of good
lookers. Lord knew she’d flirted with some from time to time, even dated a few,
but none of them stirred in her what this man did.
No longer needed, she
returned to him, eyeing his empty mug. “Another?”
He nodded, offered
her a smile.
Her knees weakened.
She steadied herself by grasping the smooth wood. What the hell is wrong with
me? She pulled his beer,
but before she handed it to him she asked, “What did you say your name was?”
He chuckled. “I
didn’t.”
She set the mug down
in front of him. “Oh, come on. You’re not going to waltz into my pub during my
daddy’s wake and not tell me who you are. It’s not
polite.”
One dark eyebrow
rose. “Not polite, huh?”
“Not at all,” she
declared, leaning on the bar, offering him her most dazzling smile.
“Okay then…if you
insist.
“I
do.”
He held out his hand.
Mabe reached out, taking his warm palm in hers. The air between them
practically crackled with tension. “Aaron Shaw.”
Her previously heated
blood froze. In one swift moment, all the allure she’d experienced earlier
evaporated. This is the shark
trying to buy my pub. The nerve of this man, waltzing in here, flirting with
me, when all the while he’s casing the joint for a future
purchase. She grabbed his beer
unceremoniously dumping it on his head. The dark brew dripped from his hair all
over his tan suit.
“What the hell?” he shouted, jumping off the
stool.
“Get out of my pub,”
she yelled at him.
Thanks so much for hosting me for this Book Blitz. I really enjoyed writing Mabe's Burden and hope you all enjoy reading it just as much. Keep watching for book two, Meg's Secret coming in the Spring of 2014. Happy Holidays and blessings to you and yours. Kelly
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