Author Angela Hayes: Thankful Author 2017- Katie O'Sullivan

Thank you, Angela, for hosting this annual event. November is a great time to reflect on the year, and count our blessings… before the hectic December holidays arrive to drive us crazy with shopping and hosting and kids home from college and the UPS man losing that one thing we ordered for Uncle Bob and the dogs getting into something smelly the day before Grandma arrives…and all the chaos distracts us from what’s really important and all the reasons we truly do love our families.

((Breathe.)) It’s still mid-November.

2017 has been a tough year on my family in many ways I’m not going to get into right now. The important part is how thankful I am that we made it through still able to laugh and joke and smile with each other. Able to realize you can get through anything if you have people who love you. And able to recognize not everyone is going to accept things the way you’d like them to.

Dr. Seuss said it best:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

As we reflect on the past year, try to remember those words. And hug the people you love just a little tighter, knowing you matter to them and they matter to you.

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About the Book:

Jake Campbell hates rules. Undercover to stop a drug ring at a posh Cape Cod resort, he can’t resist the fiery head chef, Abbie Duncan. She may be on the suspect list, but he can’t keep his hands to himself. With a rising body count, he must keep Abbie safe…but can he trust her with his jaded heart?

Excerpt from Breaking the Rules:

Recognition jolted through Abbie like an electrical surge. Whatever she was about to say to the captain evaporated from her mind while she stared into the most gorgeous blue eyes she’d ever seen.

What was the hot blond god from the bar doing in her boss’s office?

Her first thought was that he’d tracked her down, but she quickly dismissed the idea. They hadn’t even spoken last night, something she’d regretted all the way home. She cleared her throat and was about to introduce herself when Captain Nickerson interrupted.

“Abbie, I didn’t realize you’d already met my, uh, nephew. He’s on Cape looking for a job. We were discussing the possibilities with John.”

She furrowed her brow and dragged her eyes away from the depths of the blue pools. “I didn’t know you had any nephews besides my brother, Uncle Charlie.”

Nickerson chuckled and twisted his silver watch band. “Jake’s dad is an old family friend, just like your dad and me, Abigail. When the boy needed to get out of Boston for the summer, his dad requested my help.”

Her eyes slid back over to Jake, appraising him. He looked like he was about her age, give or take a few years. Strong jawline, sculpted lips, wide shoulders, capable looking hands… she drank him in from top to bottom, every nerve ending in her body kicking into overdrive. Well-dressed and clean shaven, he certainly didn’t look like some punk kid whose father needed to call in favors to find him a job. And those eyes… she dared another glance at his face and found him looking straight at her, amusement twinkling within that sea of blue. She could happily drown in eyes like those. She wondered whether he was seeing anyone. Not that she’d had much time to date recently but for the right guy she could make time. Maybe. Her gaze slid along angular cheekbones to the scruff on his jawline… yeah, she should definitely carve out some time to get to know this guy.

She wondered what those sculpted lips would taste like, how they would feel on the sensitive skin along her neck… her cheeks blazed anew at the sudden and intimate direction of her thoughts. Nerves jangling, heart suddenly beating faster, she almost missed the rest of what Uncle Charlie was saying.

“…and at least now he’s learned his lesson about making time with the owner’s daughter. Unfortunately, come to find out the man has unsavory connections so we all felt it would be safer for Jake to make himself scarce for a few months. Thanks for offering him a position in the kitchen, John.”

Her eyes widened as she processed the meaning behind the words. “Wait a sec, Uncle Charlie. Let me get this straight. You want to hide a playboy who can’t keep it in his pants at work… hide him from the mob… and put him on my kitchen staff?”

Captain Nickerson chuckled. “Abigail, you’re being overly dramatic. No one calls them ‘the mob’ anymore, like something out of a Godfather movie. Besides, the boy is experienced in the restaurant business. Right, Jake?”

The “boy” in question cleared his throat, looking suddenly sheepish despite his rugged good looks. “I don’t think we need to share quite so many details, Uncle Charlie. And yeah, I know my way around a kitchen.” He kept his gaze trained on her, as if willing her to see it was all some sort of misunderstanding.

A strangled noise of frustration escaped from Abbie, realizing the blond was a player. Of course he was. He probably had lots of practice smiling at women in bars and seducing them with the kind of soul-searing kisses she’d just been daydreaming about. Yeah, totally not the kind of distraction she needed this summer on top of everything else.

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About the Author:

Katie O’Sullivan is an award-winning writer, whose ten novels include My Kind of Crazy, Ghosts Don’t Lie, Crazy About You, and the Son of a Mermaid series for teen readers: Descent, Defiance, and the forthcoming Deception. A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and now lives on Cape Cod with her family and big dogs, drinking way too much coffee and inventing new excuses not to dust.