Love and Liability |

To celebrate Chick Lit Chat’s Valentine’s Promo Event, your favorite chick lit writers are sharing romantic excerpts from their books. Look for the Twitter hashtag #ChickLitLove to follow the Valentine’s fun all week long – character questionnaires, fun & flirty facts about the men in our books, excerpts, and entertaining info about our heroine’s BFF (Best FABULOUS Friend). Friday, 14 February is a Valentine’s Day Tweetathon – all day long! Don’t miss the fun – or the romance!

In order to save his family’s ancestral home, Mansfield Hall, rock star Dominic Heath agrees to star in a reality show to be filmed at Mansfield. His girlfriend Gemma is furious. Having recently weathered an embarrassing tabloid expose, Gemma has no desire to be followed by camera crews and microphone booms. She tells Dominic she’s through with him and returns to London.

Can Dominic make her see that the reality show – and the money it will bring – is his only hope to save Mansfield Hall? Here’s a sneak peek at my upcoming Carina UK/Harlequin ebook, “Mansfield Lark.”

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Dominic made his way to the fourth floor of the department store and strode down the hall, ignoring the curious glances as he walked by. He stopped as he saw Rhys Gordon just coming out of his office.

‘What are you doing here?’ Rhys inquired. ‘Run out of hotels to trash?’

‘I’m here to see Gemma,’ Dominic shot back, ‘not that it’s any of your business.’ He regarded Rhys insolently. ‘You oughtn’t to be so rude to someone who helped save your bacon last year. If it wasn’t for me, Dashwood and James would be nothing but a fond memory right now. And you’d be somewhere else.’ He paused. ‘Pity you’re not, come to that.’

Gemma, alerted by their upraised voices, appeared behind Rhys. She came to a stop. ‘Dominic! What are you doing here?’

‘Exactly what I want to know,’ Rhys growled.

Dominic ignored him. Gemma, dressed in a smart cream-coloured suit and black court shoes, looked efficient, professional ‒ and sexy as hell. ‘I need to talk to you, Gems.’ He looked pointedly at Rhys. ‘Alone.’

Not wanting to prolong the encounter ‒ or annoy Rhys any more than he already was ‒ Gemma glared at Dominic. ‘Very well, I can spare five minutes.’ She moved past Rhys and Dominic and strode into an empty office.

‘Thanks.’ Dominic followed her inside and shut the door. ‘Look, babes, I came to say sorry. I know I wasn’t very considerate of your feelings when I agreed to this reality show thing.’

‘No,’ she said frostily, ‘you weren’t.’

‘But you have to understand, I’m doing it for my family. They need the money; otherwise, they’ll lose Mansfield. And I can’t let that happen.’

‘You might have asked me how I felt about it, at least.’

‘You’re right.’ He sighed. ‘I’m a selfish arse sometimes.’

‘Sometimes.’ Her expression thawed slightly. ‘It’s all right, forget it. Sorry I was such a cow. I shouldn’t have taken it personally. I know how important Mansfield is to you and your family.’

Dominic regarded her hopefully. ‘Forgive me, babes?’

‘Oh, Dom, of course I do.’ She threw her arms around his neck and held him close. ‘I missed you.’

He kissed her, loving the familiar feel of her lips and skin and the crush of her breasts against his chest. He lifted his head and murmured, ‘Have time for a quickie?’

Her eyes widened. ‘Dominic, you can’t be serious!’ she hissed. ‘We can’t, this is Nat’s old office! Anyone in the world might walk in, including Rhys―’

‘And that,’ Dominic informed her with a wicked gleam in his eye, ‘should make for a very hot, very memorable quickie, eh?’