Paradise
Hops
By
Liz Crowe
BLURB: A brutal
attack left Lori Brockton convinced she
was damaged goods. By the time she emerges
from hiding two
years later, ready to run her family's famous brewery, she's
determined to be independent--never rely on anyone ever again. Nearly a year of working in
every corner of Brockton Brewing Company, from warehouse to pub, front office
to kitchen,
teaches
her all she needs to know about the business.Then, she comes face-to-face with masculine perfection in a suit and her world is rocked in more ways than one. Garret Hunter is the new Brockton business manager who takes one look at the beautiful, sad young woman and his entire existence coalesces around winning her heart.
But standing between
Garrett and what he believes is his true love, is a six-feet
six-inch blond-haired bad boy brewer.
Eli Buchannan
is a craft beer rock star, recently hired by Brockton to drag the
company into the 21st century. He brings innovation and attitude plus a
prima donna ladies man reputation. But he's sworn off
anything resembling commitment, personal or professional, after getting burned at his last job on both
fronts.
Garret Hunter
is “The Perfect
Man” -- handsome,
successful, stable, eager to settle down. Eli
Buchannan... is not. Compelling, smoking hot, creative and elusive,
he represents everything Lori Brockton should avoid. But just as she
makes a difficult choice, a drastic life-changing shift occurs, and nothing is
ever the same again.
BOOK
VIDEO LINK:
EXCERPT PG 13 for language:
Lori wrestled open the back brewery
door, ears already ringing from the curses that echoed through the large,
brightly lit room. The brewery boys, and three second brewers stood in a line,
like they were in a marine barracks all looking as nervous as mice observed by
a very hungry cat.
“And who the fuck,” boomed a voice,
“might you be? No one told me there was a girl brewer in this place.”
As a reflex, Lori looked around,
seeking out the girl who’d pissed off the faceless angry voice that must belong
to Eli Buchanan their new master brewer. She’d been instrumental in convincing
her father to hire the guy. He was a brewing celebrity, a genius, temperamental
and prone to quit perfectly good breweries if the mood suited him. He was
exactly what Brockton needed. They had to to get past their staid, complacent
attitude in a rapidly changing craft beer environment.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you. The one
who showed up fifteen minutes late for my morning staff meeting.” She flushed,
frowning at the line of men, many of whom had worked for her father for years
as they shuffled their feet and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Who the hell are you, and why are you on
my brewery floor?”
She cleared her throat, squared her
shoulders and channeled the anger building in her chest. “I’m Lori. Lori
Brockton. This is the first day of my brewery rotation.” She hated how thin her
voice sounded.
“Your brewery rotation eh?” She
stepped back at the vision that emerged from between towering stainless steel
fermentation vessels. “What is this?
Brewing Day Camp? I’m supposed to babysit the Brockton kids?” He glared at her,
making her blink in the glare of his bright, steely blue gaze. Eli Buchanan was
larger than life. At least six foot five, with long blonde hair held back by a
small piece of leather. Clad in light blue jeans and a Brockton Brewing grey t-shirt, the
span of his shoulders and definition of his torso forced an exhale from Lori’s
lips. He kept quiet as her eyes took him in, from rubber boot clad feet to the
light red hair covering his jaw. “Well? See anything you like?”
“Uh, no, I mean, it’s not camp. I
mean, you are…I’m…” she stuttered, then stopped. The man stood stock still,
glaring as if challenging her. She stood up straighter. “I’m here for the next
six months to learn this part of the business. You know, so I can be your boss
someday.” The man frowned at her. She frowned back.
Then he tilted his head back and
laughed, stepped into her personal space and smacked her ass so hard she
yelped. “I look forward to that day girl Brockton. Yes, I do.” A couple of the
men started forward as if to protect her but she waved them back. This asshole
had another thing coming if he thought she’d be intimidated by him. As much as
she might have been at one point, something about him was as non-threatening as
Garrett, but in a different way—a much more spine-tingling way.
The following ten hours of back
breaking work nearly made her throw in the towel. But after an hour scraping
out the last of a twenty barrel’s worth of wet, heavy spent mash—the leftover
grains from a batch of beer made on their smaller system, she felt sore as
hell, but invigorated. The smells, sounds and sights of this place, the
heartbeat of the entire operation, the reason all three hundred of her father’s
employees came to work every day, this she loved.
“Brockton!” An angry voice behind her
made her jump and turn. Wet, sticky malt grains dripped from her face where
she’d accidently splashed some onto herself as she cleaned out the large
vessel. She swiped at them, smearing even more of the mess across her cheeks.
Without warning, Eli wiped her face with a clean white towel, his touch
surprisingly tender, lingering longer than necessary. But his frown stayed
stuck in place. She stepped away from
him even though her body reacted, compelling her to move closer.
“Some guy in a tie is looking for
you,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder but didn’t move. Lori had no
experience with hypnosis, but she’d swear at that moment he’d done it to her.
They locked eyes, then the sound of harder heeled shoes on the concrete floor
forced her look past him. Garrett’s bright smile was familiar, yet strange in
the highly charged environment.
“I’m actually here to see you, Eli.”
Garrett stuck out a hand and the other man looked at it, glancing over to Lori
then back over before gripping it without a smile. “Glad to have you on board.”
Eli took his hand back, and swiped at
it with the towel he’d used on her face. If he noticed the rude gesture, Garrett
didn’t indicate it in the slightest. Impressed, Lori moved a step closer to him
and glared at the tall, blonde man.
Eli shot her an unfathomable look, but spoke
to Garrett. “Sorry, but no suits in the brewery. Wouldn’t want to get you
messy.” He walked away, waving over his shoulder. “Glad to be on board, boss,
thanks.” The sarcasm dripped from his words like venom. Garrett turned to her,
his handsome face calm, as if the odd exchange with the rude employee had never
happened.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Microbrewery
owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three
teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town. Years of experience in sales and fund
raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her
way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as
erotic romance author.
When she isn't sweating inventory and sales
figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional
efforts for her latest publications.
Her groundbreaking romance subgenre,
“Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are
interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)
Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally
recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her
books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and
in high-powered real estate offices.
Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.
THANKS so much for hosting me on Book Blast Day!
ReplyDeletecheers
Liz
Great excerpt, thanks.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Liz - this is great! I love it!!
ReplyDeletethanks guys~ hope you get a chance to read it!
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt!
ReplyDeleteVery nice excerpt.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com