Something
to Prove
The
O’Learys
By:
Shannyn Schroeder
eKensington
Blurb
Two
ambitious people team up to prove themselves to their families—and find there
may be more to their partnership than just business…
Elizabeth Brannigan is
determined to show her father she’s capable of running the family business.
Saving his struggling Chicago bar seems like the perfect project. But she’ll
need a little help dealing with the rough crowd. Who better to assist her than
the handsome co-owner of a thriving Irish pub? Of course, with so much work to
do, there are bound to be a few late nights…
Colin O’Leary’s father
passed away before he could prove to him that he wasn’t a screw-up. Now he
wants to show his brother he’s responsible enough to own a bar of his own—and
Elizabeth may be able to help him. But when their professional aspirations
clash, tempers—and passions—flare. Are they mature enough to mix business with
pleasure—or will they have to choose between the two?
Buy
Links
My Review
The Love of a good man...
4 stars!
hotness factor: As good as an Irish coffee
I received this ARC in exchange of the honest review
I
haven’t read the first two books of The O’Learys series but I had no problem
following this one. Oh Libby, Libby,
Libby… you’re giving me an ulcers! Elizabeth Brannigan
is a workaholic who has been trying to prove her self-worth to her brother and
her father for a decade. She’s a little paranoid, kind of clumsy and apparently
a snorer. Then along came Colin O’Leary,
he’s handsome, totally into her, good in bed. down to earth…. And Catholic (my mother would approve). If she could
just let him in and not keep screwing things up!
That book gave me my
first 2014 fictional male crush in Colin O’Leary. He’s the real star of this
book. We all want a find a man who will stick around after he’s seen you throwing
up blood. A man who loves your neuroses and your snores! Libby! Now I want to
read Moira’s story, with her being a journalist, I can see a mystery or scandal
coming our way! Get your copy now and try not to fall in love you Colin too.
Excerpt
Elizabeth has been researching bars in the area and has just
arrived at O’Leary’s. This is the first time she meets Colin.
This bar was doing
something right.
The bartender came
over as she was reading the menu. “Hi. What can I get you tonight?”
She looked up and
swallowed hard. The man in front of her was
mouthwateringly gorgeous. His mussed black hair framed a face dominated by a
happy-go-lucky smile. She lost her ability to form coherent sentences. “Uh…”
He tilted his head and
studied her face. “You look beat. Tough day?”
She nodded. What was
wrong with her? She didn’t do this around men. She’d had no fewer than eight
different men try to pick her up tonight. This one was just doing his job, and
she had to fight for focus.
“How about an Irish coffee?”
Dark brows arched over navy eyes.
She cleared her
throat. “Sounds good.”
He walked away. She
studied the menu. It wasn’t fancy. Like the rest of the bars, it offered
burgers and hot wings, but they had more traditional pub fare, like fish and
chips and shepherd’s pie. Her mouth watered at the thought of real food. The
drink menu was plain as well, but at least displayed a list of drinks with the
basic ingredients. Pictures and descriptions would’ve been better, but this bar
had already exceeded the competition from the other Chicago neighborhood pubs
she’d visited.
The bartender returned
with her Irish coffee. She sipped and found it perfect. The whipped cream
puffed and floated on top and she used her straw to scoop some up. She ran her
tongue over the cream-laden straw and heard a groan.
She looked up to find
the bartender looking at her. Replacing the straw, she waited for an
explanation.
His mouth quirked up
at the corner. “Sorry. I couldn’t help it. That was downright sinful.”
Her cheeks flamed. She
was blushing? No. The alcohol from earlier in the evening was catching up with
her and colliding with her exhaustion. He broke eye contact and mumbled, “Give
me a holler if you need anything else.”
He walked away and
picked up a conversation with other customers. She tried not to be obvious in
studying him and the way he interacted with people. This was something the
other bars had been missing as well. A personal touch.
She finished her
drink, tossed cash on the bar, and took a few moments to wander toward the back
of the bar. There was a small stage, a jukebox, and dartboards. Down a dimly
lit hallway were the bathrooms. Too tired to think, she opted to leave. Part of
her wanted to talk to some of the patrons, get their perspective as to why they
came here, but it would have to wait.
By morning, hopefully
Meg would have information about The Irish Pub and, with any luck, the books
wouldn’t be as bad as she imagined. As she wound her way back toward the front,
raucous laughter exploded at the bar. The sexy bartender was enjoying
something.
He caught her eye as
she passed. His laughter made his eyes twinkle with mischief, his smile
lighting his face, like he had the best life in the world. She wondered what it
would be like to feel that even for a night. It wasn’t that she was unhappy;
she liked her life very much, in fact, but it had been too long since she’d
experienced a laugh that shook her whole body.
Author Info
Shannyn is a former
English teacher, who now works as a part-time editor while raising her three
kids.
Even though she wrote
from high school through college (mostly poetry), she’d never considered a
career as an author. Writing fell by the wayside as she focused her energy on
creating lesson plans and new and fabulous ways to torment her teen students.
One group in particular dubbed her “The Torture Master,” a title she carried
into motherhood.
After the birth of
baby number two, Shannyn resigned from teaching and fell in love with reading
romance novels. She read so many books so quickly that her husband teased, “If
you’re going to read so many damn books, why don’t you just write one?”
So she did.
That first book is
safely buried on her hard drive, but the process set Shannyn on the path to
where she is today—agented with a debut ebook coming out with Kensington in
late 2012.
She is recovering from
her Diet Coke addiction, fears putting her foot in her mouth on social media,
and has a renewed appreciation for the bad girls of the world.
Author Links
GIVEAWAY
(Nook
Simple Touch ($79.00 Value),
TWO
Digital Copies of Winner’s Choice O’Leary Romance or FIVE Keeper Kase with
O’Leary’s cards)
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