Cheryl
began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started
at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to
pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive
criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to
write her first romance novel.
The
first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been
dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when
the manuscript began taking on a life of it’s own. Characters came to life,
secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a
single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off
series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.
One
word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her
writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the
periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she
escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting,
outlining, and daydreaming.
Cheryl
feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The
thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that
possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy
the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she
couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven
years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows,
she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.
BLURB:
Trey Turner may be topping the country music
charts, but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years
ago. He's desperate to make amends for the mistakes he's made and convince Sierra
their love deserves a second chance.
Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time
since her divorce. She has a career she loves, and a man who loves her.
Unfortunately, the man she intends to marry isn't the only one professing his
love for her. He may be able to offer her safety and security, but will she
decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Taste of Cheryl:
A Taste of Cheryl:
Prologue
Five Years Earlier
The sexy little waitress stretched
to offer her neck as Trey Turner prepared to do another body shot at the urging
of his inebriated friends. He licked the salt off her neck as he felt a small
hand grip his shoulder.
“What the hell do you think you’re
doing?”
He turned to see his wife, Sierra,
staring up at him, disgust darkening her bright blue eyes. He heard a few of
his friends mutter curses as the crowd broke up and went back to drinking and
dancing.
“Baby, I was just havin’ a little
fun.” His words slurred and he wondered how many body shots he’d had before
Sierra intervened.
The waitress slid her hand down his
chest, hooking a finger through his belt loop. “That was fun. How ‘bout we pick
up where we left off later?”
Sierra turned away, not waiting for
his answer as she began weaving her way through the crowd.
“Sierra, baby, wait,” he called,
trying to push his way through the throngs of people before she reached the
door. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to cross the threshold. “Wait.
Please, don’t go.”
“It’s over, I’m done with this
shit,” she said, trying to shake loose of his grip.
BUY |
“Home to pack.”
He felt the room begin to spin out
of control. “What did you say?”
“I’m leaving you. Our marriage is
over.”
His grip on her wrist tightened.
“No, you can’t leave me.”
She pressed a hand to his chest.
“It’s been over for a long time. I’m just making it official.”
“We’re not having this conversation
out here in front of a hundred people,” he said, pulling her through the horde
of friends he’d invited to his private party. He opened the door to the small
dressing room usually occupied by the nightly entertainment that performed at
Jimmy’s bar. “We’ll have some privacy in here.”
She was finally able to shake free
of his tight grip. “I’ve already said everything I have to say to you.”
He gripped her waist. “Don’t do
this, Sierra.” He bent to kiss her neck. “I love you, baby. God, I love you so
much. I can’t live without you.” He backed her toward the couch as he lowered
himself down on top of her.
“You’ve been living without me for
the past year, Trey. You’ve spent your days on a tour bus and your nights in a
stadium or bar.” Her voice broke. “We lost our baby girl and you don’t seem to
care.”
“Don’t say that,” he whispered
furiously. “Don’t ever say that I didn’t care about Callie. I loved her,
Sierra. It damn near killed me when we lost her.”
She glared at him. “Really? Is that
why you boarded that goddamn tour bus a week after her funeral?”
“I’m a musician; it’s what I do.” He
knew the excuse was weak. Sierra was right. He’d been trying to run away from
his grief and sadness instead of staying at home where he belonged, supporting
his wife.
She shook her head, looking
defeated. “It’s what you do—it’s who you are. Trey Turner, country music’s
award-winning, platinum-selling mega-star. What about my husband? Callie’s
father? Where is he?”
He closed his eyes, feeling
disgusted with himself for letting her down again. “Baby, I’m sorry. Look, I
know I’ve made mistakes, but let me make it up to you, okay?” His hand eased up
her shirt to cup her breast.
Her head rolled back and she closed
her eyes. “No, we can’t do this. It won’t fix the problem.” Making love to her
may not solve all of their problems, but it would buy him some time to figure
out a way to convince her to give him and their marriage another chance. “Just
relax,” he whispered, licking her neck.
“Hmm, that feels so good.” She
wrapped her denim-clad leg around his. “But then you had lots of practice with
your girlfriend right before I got here, didn’t you?”
He cursed himself for indulging in
the adolescent drinking game and giving his wife reason to question his
fidelity yet again. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, flipping the button on her
jeans. “You’re the only one I want; you know that.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she
shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
He hated that he had given her
reason to doubt herself, to doubt them. “Let me prove it to you, then.”
His tongue traced the soft fullness
of her lips until she finally parted for him. He groaned, taking her mouth with
a savage intensity. His mind raced; fear warring with panic as he realized this
may be the last time they made love, the last time he had the right to touch
her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheryl's LINKS:
Amazon
Buy Link for Shameless: click here Barnes
and Noble Buy Link for Shameless: click here All
Romance Ebooks Buy Link for Shameless:click here
Pleasure to host you, Cheryl!
Cheryl will be awarding the following prizes to randomly drawn commenters during the tour: * two $20 Amazon Gift Cards * ten trading card/cover flat packs (US/Canada) * ten eBooks from the Nashville Nights series (winner's choice) * two Swarovski crystal necklaces (US/Canada). LEAVE A COMMENT TO ENTER THE DRAW
Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting today. I'd love to hear what your readers think of Shameless!
ReplyDeleteI am most interested to see how SHAMELESS plays out. Which way will Sierra go?
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Interesting and different plot. The excerpt makes you want to know more.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds fabulous.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
OOOH WOWWWWWWWWWWWW THE DRAMA BECKINS ME ON :0!!! I NEEDDDDDD 2 KNOW WHAT HAPPENS Sierra& Trey Turner . ThanQ 4 sharing.
ReplyDeleteredz041@yahoo.com
Hi Cheryl!
ReplyDeleteGreat reactions to Shameless. I wish you every success with the book.
Thanks so much for the enthuasiastic responses and well wishes, everyone. Shameless was the book that started it all for me! Nashville Nights was supposed to be a six book series, but my readers wanted more, so I added two more books. They wanted more still, so I added a spin-off series, Nashville Nights Next Generation, which features the children of the original cast of characters. Twelve books into this journey, people often ask me which is my favorite book in the series. I have to say Shameless because it was the book my sub-conscious had been begging me to write for years and Trey Turner was the character that would not let me rest until his story was told!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge country music fan and love all things Nashville! I know I'm going to love reading your books.
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
Every time I read this excerpt, I think, "What a jerk" and that she's so much better off without that lying cheat! I love it when a good book gets me riled up.
ReplyDeletecatherinelee100 at gmail dot com
This was a wonderful excerpt...going to buy this one and check out the rest of the series! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteivegotmail8889(at)yahoo(dot)com
YAY, love the story from 5 years earlier. Can't wait to dive into this series! Just downloaded Shameless today!
ReplyDeleteuilani25(at)hotmail(dot)com