Title: Claiming Carlos
Series: Sanchez Sisters #2
Author: Rachelle Ayala
Release Date: October 22, 2014
Synopsis
Choco Sanchez is stuck in a rut. She’s never hit a softball and has been friends forever with Carlos Lopez, the head cook at her family’s Filipino restaurant. When flashy restaurant consultant Johnny Dee hits her with a pitch, she falls head over heels and gets a makeover.
Carlos Lopez is not about to lose one for the home team. When Johnny launches a full scale change on the menu, Carlos sends him straight into the dumpster. Claiming Choco’s heart proves more difficult, especially when her secrets threaten to doom their love. But never underestimate a man who can cook hot, spicy, and steamy, and we ain’t talking just food.
Steamy love scenes and language. Suitable for readers 18+.
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Excerpt
I stick to par on that hole. Ha, ha. These miniature golf
courses have many trick holes. There’s one where the ball has to go over a
bridge, and of course there are all the curbs to bounce off. But the worst are
the mounds. Carlos sucks at those.
Livy, meantime, maxes out at six shots each hole. “My club’s
crooked. Can we trade?”
“I don’t see anything wrong,” I say.
Carlos takes her club and balances it. “Ah, you see here?
It’s curved and off balanced. Here Livy, have my club.”
Oh no he doesn’t. Then he’ll have an excuse why he lost.
Besides, the clubs were handed out by height.
“Livy, take mine. His is too long for you.”
“Whatever.” She grabs it.
After she’s out of earshot, Carlos whispers, “My club’s
definitely too long for you.”
“You wish.” I tally the scores, my cheeks burning. “You’re
still five strokes behind.”
He bends toward me and waggles his eyebrows. “I’ll make up
those strokes tonight. Where would you like them?”
“You nasty boy.” I wait until he lines up for his putt
before pretending to trip and bump into him. “You’re not even up to par. Tsk,
tsk, tsk. You sure you can keep up with me?”
“I know how you like me driving into your hole.” He winks
and swats the ball. It rolls into the hole, and he does a golfer’s fist pump.
“As for keeping up with you? I can go all night.”
“I don’t know about that. You’re going into the water trap.”
I line up the ball near the windmill.
“If it gushes like you, I’ll gladly take the plunge.” He
bumps my hip and my ball hops and skips into the running water.
“Why you!” I gingerly climb over the fence and duck under
the bridge.
“Ha, you’re all wet.” He helps me climb back. “Just the way
I like it.”
“Shhh … Livy,” I hiss, but fortunately she’s staring at
her smartphone.
The next one is a right angle shot. If I can hit that
diagonal perfect, it’s a straight shot into the hole. I line up my shoulders, square
my hips, and wait for Carlos to jeer. I fake up, about to swing.
“Wait, wait.” He claps his hands right beside my ear. “Your
ball still wet? You better compensate for the drag.”
“I think your club’s all wet.” I quickly take a swing and
whack the ball hard. It flies straight at the diagonal, then rolls down the
green toward the hole. The carpet is uneven, dang. I didn’t account for it, but
it goes closer and plop. It lands in the hole.
“Whoo!” I raise my club in the air and jump up and down. “A
hole in one. Ha, ha, you’ll never catch me now. Loser cooks.”
He puts his finger down his throat, gagging. “The way you
cook, I better lose.”
“You guys are silly.” Livy yawns, bored with our antics.
“Let’s see how silly you are when you fall in love,” Carlos
says. He gives her a noogie and she screams, “Ewww. Love is yucky.”
I screw up the next two holes. Did Carlos say he
was silly because he’s in love? The thought it could be me is so delicious, I
quiver, the same way I do when a dessert is super sweet and cold.
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Author Bio
Rachelle Ayala is an author of dramatic romantic suspense and humorous,
sexy contemporary romances. Her heroines are feisty and her heroes hot. She
writes emotionally challenging stories but believes in the power of love and
hope.
Subscribe to her mailing list for upcoming books and giveaways. http://eepurl.com/lR5kv and find her
books at online retailers Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple iBookstore, and more.
Fiction: Michal’s Window, Broken
Build, Hidden Under Her Heart, Chance for Love Boxed Set, Knowing Vera, Taming
Romeo, Whole Latte Love, Played by Love, Playing the Rookie, A Father for
Christmas, Claiming Carlos
Author Links
Giveaway
Woohoo! Kylie, thanks so much for organizing this and also posting Claiming Carlos's release day blitz. Appreciate it, Rachelle
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