Stud Unleashed: Barry
Publication Date: 24 February 2015
Each book in the Clover Park STUDS Series can be read as a stand-alone novel, or for more fun read them in order. Characters you’ve loved from past books frequently pop up in other books.
Successful, not-so-great-with-the-ladies, and all around nice guy Barry Furnukle can’t believe his luck when Amber Lewis agrees to date him. But when his attempt to woo her with the world’s most “awesome” date (birding and fro-yo) lands him in the friend zone, he wonders if a guy like him ever had a chance.
On advice from his ladies’ man brother, Barry returns to his acting roots for a little confidence rehab. Suddenly he’s got more female attention than he knows what to do with. But will his new found popularity make him happy? Or will he finally release his inner stud to win the woman he can’t forget?
Excerpt:
“You want a list of reasons why I want to be with you?” Bare asked.
That was ridiculous. Insane. She was not that needy.
“Sure,” she said.
“Do you have a list of reasons why you want to be with me?” he asked.
“No, not right now, but I could make one.”
“Okay, I’ll make a list and you make a list, and then we’ll compare.”
“That sounds like the rational, brainy thing to do,” she said, biting back a smile.
“Mine will have a few equations.”
“Mine will be illustrated.”
“I look forward to it.”
“As do I.”
They took one look at each other and cracked up.
Amber changed the subject, embarrassed she’d ever brought up such a ridiculous topic. She wasn’t in competition with her sister. She didn’t need Bare to tell her why she was special. She asked him about working with Delilah, the older actress who played Ruth. Lately Delilah had spent a lot of time bitching and moaning to Amber backstage about some of the younger actresses.
Bare, being Bare, had no complaints. He seemed to always see the good in people. Seeing her stepmother again, hearing the three of them talk, had put her back in that awful place where she was the outsider. That stuff shouldn’t matter now. She lived on her own, supported herself. She was living the life she was meant to be living.
Bare parked the car at the high school and turned to her. “Look, I could write down equations for you. Compose a few equivalencies to prove the sum of us together is greater than the sum of our parts, but you and I both know the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.”
She did. But what did that mean exactly?
He cradled her face with one hand, and she waited for the kiss, the physical expression of why he wanted to be with her. It was why all men wanted her—her looks, her body. She closed her eyes.
His voice came out in a husky growl. “The short answer is I’m falling for you, not Kate.”
Her eyes flew open. She met his warm brown eyes and saw love shining back at her. She blinked away stinging hot tears, couldn’t even speak past the lump in her throat. She nodded.
“Now you know,” he said softly. His thumb brushed her cheek where a tear had leaked out. “I’d ask what you’d put in an illustration, but I’m afraid to know.”
She found her voice again. “Your big heart.”
He smiled. “My mother always says I’m a gem.”
“You are.”
His thumb stroked down her cheek. “I can’t wait to make you mine.”
“You already have,” she choked out.
He kissed her then, a tender kiss that she fell into slowly, inevitably, where she belonged.
About Kylie Gilmore
Kylie Gilmore was lucky enough to discover romance novels at a young age as they were strewn all over the house (thanks, Mom!). She writes quirky, tender romance with a solid dose of humor. Her Clover Park series features the O'Hare brothers, three guys you'd definitely have a drink with and maybe a little more. The Clover Park STUDS series unleashes three adorable studs into the world--Barry, Dave, and Will. Look out, ladies!
Kylie lives in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she's not writing, wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret chocolate stash.
thanks for having me!
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