Meet the Author:

About the Book:

Addison Murphy is the funny friend, the girl you grab a beer with—the girl voted most likely to start her own sweatshirt line. And now that one of her best guy friends is getting married, she’ll add “groomsman” to that list, too. She’ll get through this wedding if it’s the last thing she does. Just don’t ask her to dive for any bouquet.

When Tucker Crawford returns to his small hometown, he expects to see the same old people, feel comfort in the same old things. He certainly doesn’t expect to see the nice pair of bare legs sticking out from under the hood of a broken-down car. Certainly doesn’t expect to feel his heart beat faster when he realizes they belong to one of his best friends.

If he convinces Addie to give him a chance, they could be electric…or their break-up could split their tight-knit group in two.

Hiding the way he feels from the guys through bachelor parties, cake tastings, and rehearsals is one thing. But just as Tucker realizes that Addie truly could be the perfect woman for him—he was just too stupid to realize it—now she’s leaving to follow her own dreams. He’s going to need to do a lot of compromising if he’s going to convince her to take a shot at forever with him—on her terms this time.

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Excerpt

The concern faded as a smile curved her red lips, somehow unsmudged despite the kissing and drinking. “Will just talks about your games so much, and I’d like to try my hand at it. I don’t think I could get my mother on board for poker at the reception, though. Pretty sure she’d have a heart attack if I even mentioned it. She thinks I’m crazy to be getting married here and moving here, and basically, she just thinks I’m plumb crazy. Which, when it comes to that sexy man over there…” Her gaze drifted to Shep and a dreamy quality entered her features. “I am.”

“It’s nice to see, actually. And the townspeople will love you forever for having the wedding here and letting them be part of it.” Addie picked up one of the stray coasters and spun it to give her fingers something to do. “And I’m sorry about saying that wedding planning is boring. It just…”

“Is,” she supplied. “I mean for me it’s overwhelming, but like I said when I asked for your help, I know it’s not your thing.”

“I seriously don’t mind helping. But admittedly teaching you poker is something I’m way more qualified for.” It also gave Lexi more bonus points. Clearly she was embracing small town life and trying to fit into the group, and hopefully that meant things wouldn’t have to change too terribly much after they were married. It also gave her an excuse to text Tucker and ask him to bring by a deck of cards if he happened to swing by the bar to catch some of the game.

While Addie waited for his response, she and Lexi made yet another to-do list from the master to-do list. Addie took the items she thought she could handle, or at least could find townspeople willing to help make them happen. In a lot of ways, discussing everything that needed done and how they’d go about handling them highlighted their differences, but along the way, they also connected.

Which was probably why, when Tucker showed up and tossed a deck of cards across the room to Addie, Lexi felt comfortable enough to ask if she thought Tucker would be interested in Brittany. Evidently, the meticulous brunette couldn’t stop talking about the way he’d swooped in and offered his car, and how sexy he was.

What Addie wanted to say as she pulled the deck of cards out of the well-worn box was I’m not sure she’s his type. But his type had always been pretty Southern belles, ones who didn’t understand or care for Addie. So honestly, the bridesmaid was right up his alley, and now she was remembering that during the whole car-breakdown debacle, he’d requested she put in a good word. “Yeah, he’d probably be interested,” Addie said, and why did that make a pit form in her stomach?

It had to be because she’d been thinking about “what would happen if all her friends coupled off and she got left behind. But she forced herself to push that worry aside and say, “I’m sure he’d give her a call if you gave him her number.”

More gut sinking immediately followed, which was stupid. Well, not exactly stupid. They’d been apart for two years and it sucked. With him in a different city, and communication between them slowing to a trickle, there’d been a few times when she wondered if she was forgettable. Replaceable, even.

Mostly just on dark days when she’d been missing Tucker more than usual, or when she’d felt especially lonely. Part of the fault belonged to her, too. The roads went both ways and she could’ve made more of an effort. So she resolved to do better, even if he got a girlfriend. She’d also try to ignore the jealousy—jealousy she’d feel for anyone who took away any of her time with him.

She met his gaze, and he winked at her, a smug, semimocking grin on his lips that made it clear he was teasing her about her current wedding-planning situation. It also made her heart stutter the tiniest bit.

Underneath the table, she thumbed out a text.

ADDIE: FYI, I’m going to drag you with me to at least half these tasks, so wipe that smug look off your face.

TUCKER: Why don’t you come wipe it off for me?

A swirl went through her stomach. Because of the challenge—she loved a good challenge.

ADDIE: Oh, I’m coming for you. But it’ll be when you least expect it. Be afraid. Very afraid.

TUCKER: Unlike most guys, I’m not afraid of you.

Her mouth dropped. He did not just go there.

Giveaway:

• $15 Amazon Gift Card

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Meet the Author:

About the Book:

Addison Murphy is the funny friend, the girl you grab a beer with—the girl voted most likely to start her own sweatshirt line. And now that one of her best guy friends is getting married, she’ll add “groomsman” to that list, too. She’ll get through this wedding if it’s the last thing she does. Just don’t ask her to dive for any bouquet.

When Tucker Crawford returns to his small hometown, he expects to see the same old people, feel comfort in the same old things. He certainly doesn’t expect to see the nice pair of bare legs sticking out from under the hood of a broken-down car. Certainly doesn’t expect to feel his heart beat faster when he realizes they belong to one of his best friends.

If he convinces Addie to give him a chance, they could be electric…or their break-up could split their tight-knit group in two.

Hiding the way he feels from the guys through bachelor parties, cake tastings, and rehearsals is one thing. But just as Tucker realizes that Addie truly could be the perfect woman for him—he was just too stupid to realize it—now she’s leaving to follow her own dreams. He’s going to need to do a lot of compromising if he’s going to convince her to take a shot at forever with him—on her terms this time.

Purchase: Amazon Paperback | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

Tucker cut across the town square, glancing around for the familiar blond ponytail. He’d put in a solid three days on the boat, and as he’d been forcing his stiff muscles to power through this afternoon, it felt like his arms were a hair from giving out. Now they were in the limp noodle range. Addie had teased him about being out of shape after sitting behind a desk for so long, and while his gym sessions had kept him fit, he was feeling the burn. There was just something different about manual labor, gym or not.

He’d been wanting an excuse to stop while telling himself he couldn’t start his own business and make it successful by taking half a day off partway through the week when his phone had rung.

“So, you know how you’re a bum now?” Addie had asked the second he’d picked up.

Glad for a legitimate reason to take a break, he’d dropped his tools and leaned against the wall of the shed. “Really? A bum?”

Her laugh had carried over the line and made him smile. “It’s my day off, but Lexi roped me into helping her plan the wedding—”

“She asked you to help with wedding stuff?” It was too funny, picturing her picking out dresses and flowers—hell, he bet if any guy tried to buy her flowers she’d hurl them at his head while yelling something like How dare you treat me like a girl!

“Okay, Mr. Incredulous, I had the same reaction, but apparently, much like Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’m someone’s only hope. And it’d help me not be so bored if you came along for the ride.”

Damn, how could he resist such a solid Star Wars reference? Not that he wouldn’t make her work a little harder for it. “What’s in it for me?”

She made an offended noise. “You get to hang out with yours truly, and we might actually get a chance to catch up without being interrupted every five minutes—well, since we’ll be in town, that’s not entirely true, but you get what I’m sayin’. Plus, we can give the rumor mill a push and scare all the older people that we’re together again and most likely plannin’ shenanigans. They’ll bar up the windows, bring their pies in off the sills.”

“So we’re bears?”

She growled, the weakest-sounding bear ever, then snort-laughed. “Pretend I didn’t do that.”

“Not sure I can unhear it.” He’d glanced down at himself, thinking he could use a shower. You know, for shenanigans reasons. Not because he cared about being sweaty and covered in sawdust in front of Addie. He’d told her he’d meet her in thirty, and he even wore the beat-up Saints hat she loathed to keep himself in line. Maybe that would also keep her in line, which was a moot point, because she didn’t seem to be having any trouble.

The shops lining the streets appeared very much the same. A few had new paint and new names, but not much had changed. Not much ever did here, and after years of too much change, too much traffic, and too many people, he took a moment to enjoy the slower pace and nostalgic timelessness.

Then the blond ponytail came into view. She’d paired a simple T-shirt with frayed, cut-off shorts that displayed a whole lot of leg, and he quickly jerked his gaze back to the unchanged buildings.

Now if he could only keep his feelings for one of his best friends from changing, that’d be great. Apparently it was going to take extra effort. “How do you feel about the fact that I’m only here because I had literally nothing else to do?” he joked as she approached.

“Relieved,” she said, without a hint of teasing. “I thought maybe Nonna Lucia would wanna help, but she informed me she has a social life, and then added that I needed to get one, too.”

“Real subtle, your grandma.”

“Right?” Addie pulled a folded paper out of the back pocket of the shorts that he absolutely wasn’t looking at. “Okay, so first up, I need to figure out how many strings of lights and yards of tulle we need to decorate the gazebo.” She looked from the list to the gazebo and then back to the list. “I’m assuming yards means tulle is a fabric?”

He shrugged. “Sounds right to me,” he said, although he was totally out of his league, a feeling he could see reflected in Addie’s expression.

Giveaway:

• $15 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway