Can’t
Help Falling in Love
By: Cheryl Harper
Blurb
The staff
of Cheryl Harper’s Elvis-themed Rock’n'Rolla Hotel are back with a funny, fresh
romance that goes undercover—under the covers!
As a former
Marine, hotel manager Tony Ortega has plenty of experience assessing threats,
and the hotel’s newest guest, Randa Whitmore, is a code red. Tall, blonde, and
with legs for miles, she may look like his every fantasy, but he knows she’s
not really visiting for the famed Elvis Week. Though dangerously drawn to his
new guest, Tony will do anything to protect his job . . . especially if it
means sleeping with the enemy.
Business
strategist Randa Whitmore never meant to be undercover in Memphis. In August.
Sweating her expensive spa treatments away. But snagging another perfect hotel
location for her father’s empire means using all the tricks in her designer
arsenal. And even though the sexy, tattooed manager seems oblivious to her
charms, Randa’s prepared to bring out the big guns—just so long as she can stay
objective and out of Tony’s muscled arms. After all, it’s just business, right?
Link to Follow the Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2013/07/now-booking-tasty-virtual-book-tour-for_27.html
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Building
a Series or How I Built the Rock’n’Rolla Hotel in my Mind
To write a novella for a Valentine’s Day
submissions call, I stranded a perfectly happy couple of coworkers at an
Elvis-themed hotel in Memphis, called it “Love Me Tender”, and did a dignified
dance of celebration when it was included in the Kiss Me anthology. I never
thought much beyond the lobby, the restaurant, and the themed hotel room. But
then the most wonderful thing happened. An editor called to ask if I had any
other stories set there. So I had to keep building that hotel!
In Stuck
On You, we explore the hotel’s restaurant, Viva Las Vegas, and meet the
owner, amazing Willodean Jackson, but in
Can’t Help Falling in Love, we meet
the guy running the place. And when Marine
Tony Ortega meets the newest hotel guest, incognito hotel heiress Randa
Whitmore, he’s determined to keep a very close eye on her, even if he has to
spend a lot of time at the hotel’s guitar-shaped pool considering the size of
her bathing suit to do so. Luckily, a visit to Graceland sticks with a person
and the King of Rock and Roll remains larger than life so
I had plenty of inspiration. I’ve had the best time dreaming up the kind of
place I’d like to stay in myself. I hope you enjoy it too. Here’s a little
excerpt of Randa’s first impressions.
When Randa Whitmore pushed open the
limo door, the furnace blast that was Memphis in August nearly knocked her
over. She cursed under her breath about this latest assignment and straightened
her shoulders before she slid over the cool leather seat to stand on the
sidewalk. Thanks to the shade in this drop-off area at the front doors of the
Rock’n’Rolla Hotel, the concrete was solid instead of tarry goo, as she’d
expected. Eggs wouldn’t fry on the sidewalk; they’d sprout legs and run away
screaming.
“Can
I take your bags, miss?” Randa turned to see a tall young man wearing a tacky
Hawaiian shirt. He had a pleasant smile even in this heat. His name tag said Sam.
She
smiled her “Mother Teresa” smile and tilted her head to the side. “Why, Sam, I
would appreciate that so much. Thank you. Could you take them on inside? I want
to take a quick look at this beautiful hotel before I go in.” She pressed a tip
into his hand and nodded as he turned to the sliding doors of the hotel. She
made a mental note that Sam seemed like he would fit in well after the hotel
changed owners. Since she hoped to be the one running the place, she planned to
carefully evaluate all the staff.
“A
very quick look,” she muttered as she forced herself out into the bright
sunshine. The Rock’n’Rolla Hotel was boutique property situated right in the
shadow of Graceland. Approximately ninety rooms, several small meeting areas,
and a full service bar and restaurant . . . all of them
dedicated to the King of Rock and Roll. She shook her head. When the W Group
bought it and renovated it, all that would be washed away in a sea of beige
sameness. Then it would match every other property of the W Group, and every
member of her family for that matter.
She
knew the routine very well. She’d been renovating properties like this for more
than five years. The process for every one since she’d started in Fargo had
been the same. But the Rock’n’Rolla Hotel was different. Up until now, she’d
spent too much time wishing she had her own hotel to run. This time she was
going to handle the renovation and then manage the first Whitmore hotel in
Memphis so well her father would realize he should have given her a property of
her own sooner. Maybe he’d even give up on marrying her to some hotel heir with
more money than sense too. She couldn’t face another disappointing fiancé,
another messy breakup, or another shouting match with her father. She wanted
her own hotel, a place where she was in charge and people listened to what she
had to say.
The
façade of the hotel was acceptable. Pink brick. White columns. It looked a little
like what she’d seen of the pictures of Graceland. But when she turned the
corner to check out the parking lot and the rest of the hotel, she knew she was
in for an experience. Instead of the brick, these outer walls were painted with
black silhouettes of music notes, records, and the King, shaking his hips and
doing his thing. Randa smiled as she tried to imagine hiring a mural painter
who could translate pelvic gyrations. This one had done a damn good job. It was
too bad it was about to be wiped away. This would never do on a Whitmore hotel.
AUTHOR INFO:
Whether she's writing, reading, or
just checking the items off of her daily to-do list, Cheryl Harper loves her
romance mixed with a little laughter. When she's not working, you will find her
ignoring housework, cursing yard work, and spending way too much time with a
television remote in her hand.
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