Review & Excerpt: When Girlfriends Make Choices

BLURB: A novel about forbidden love, the choices you make, and discovering what's important in life.

Lara Kearns has it all. She has her MBA, a successful career in advertising in Seattle, and she's even living with her best friend and single mom, Robin. Reliable, dedicated, and eager, Lara is the resident go-to-girl, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Lara's that girl who has everything going for her...everything, that is, except for true love. With the big 3-0 on its way and no man in sight, Lara wonders if she'll always be married to her career, or her cat, and never find the One.

But then, when she least expects it, a handsome and suave executive at her firm, Paul Mackenzie, makes a pass at her. Hesitant at first about striking up an office romance, Lara eventually finds herself falling for her charming colleague. And the best part? Paul is falling in love with Lara, too!

What happens, though, when the man of your dreams loves you...and his wife?

Battling with what the head and the heart want, Lara finds herself in a precarious situation. Life is spiraling out of control, but with the support of her therapist and friends, Lara must make a choice. Is she really prepared to chase after love...at all costs?

This is a provocative story about struggling between right and wrong. About what you will or won't do for true love. About what happens when girlfriends make choices.

EXCERPT:


“What are you drinking?” came a voice from behind. I stopped picking at the corner of my cocktail napkin and turned on my barstool.
“Excuse me?” My mind was transfixed on the Spokane company the firm was working on landing, Hoppeller, Inc. I’d done what I thought was a smashing job during my branding team’s main pitch that afternoon in the hotel’s stuffy conference room, but now that I was seated at the hotel’s bar, spending time pondering the day’s events, I wasn’t so sure.
“What’s your poison?” It was Paul Mackenzie, the handsome executive. He’d done a fine job with his team that morning. If we were going to lose the Spokane deal, it wouldn’t be because of his performance.
“Oh, white wine spritzer,” I said. “Lame, I know.”
He took an uninvited, although not unwelcome, seat next to me and asked the bartender for a martini, extra dry.
“You sound so down. Someone die?” he asked. He gave me a wink. His blue eyes were beautiful.
“Oh, I’m thinking about the pitch today. I really hope we—I mean I didn’t screw it up. I want Hoppeller.”
“We all do. It’s a big account. Haven’t had one like this since late last year, I think.” Paul took a draw of his martini as soon as it arrived. “I don’t think you sucked it up. I think you did a fantastic job. But you always do, Lara.”
“Ha! You’re being nice.” I took a sip of my own drink. “We rarely ever work together. What do you mean I ‘always do’?”
“Well, from what I’ve seen, you always do fine work. I tell you, if half the people on my team were as committed as you, Cooperton would be far more profitable. You’re a pit bull.”
“Now there’s a compliment every woman loves to hear.” I said with a small grin.
“I thought a big career woman like yourself would find that to be complimenting.”
I sensed a hint of flirtation in his voice, and I liked it. Yes, I wasn’t one to go against my anti-workplace-relationship stance, but I was also dry on the relationship front. I hadn’t had a single date in months. I hadn’t had a boyfriend in what seemed like forever. Zero serious prospects in years. So what was a little shameless flirting going to do, even if he was a co-worker? Besides, he was the flattering and complimenting party here. He approached me. I was just minding my own business, mulling over the day’s suddenly dismal events. I was slowly putting on my drunk girl goggles. A girl can always blame them.
“If pit bull is a little rough, how about firecracker?” he said.
I raised my eyebrows bewilderingly. Was he serious? Was he trying to amend the feminist faux pas situation or take this flirting thing to a new level?
“Firecracker?” I asked, slightly dubious. “Firecracker?”
He smiled slyly and I felt tiny butterflies flutter in my stomach.
He leaned into the bar on his elbows, then over to his right, closer to me. “Yeah, firecracker,” he said coyly. “Lara, you were a firecracker back there. You’ve done the firm proud.”
“Well,” I said, shifting somewhat uncomfortably in my seat. “I wouldn’t go that far. But I’ll take this ‘firecracker’ thing as a compliment.”
“As you should.”
I gave him a half-smile, thinking how precarious the situation was getting. Then rational Lara—good old, reliable, and rational Lara—popped up in my mind.
You’re at a bar. You’re drinking. You’re on a work-related trip. Talking—no—flirting, with a co-worker. It’s time to set down the wine glass and go to bed. It’s back to the office tomorrow. Business is business.
“I think I’m going to turn in for the night,” I said wisely, giving in to my sensible side. “Have a good one, Paul.”
He gave me another wink and bid me good night, before telling me, “Sweet dreams, firecracker.”

Review rating: 4 LIGHTNING BOLTS

Review: Love comes at a high price, but is it worth it?

I enjoyed the first book in the girlfriends series, and now, Lara gets her turn in the spotlight. But it's definitely not all wine and roses. She's got a big dilemma- she's in love with a man that has been deceiving her!  But now is the time her heart has already gone and given itself away to the man.....

It's a story of love, loss and leaning to make the right choices, even if it hurts. Lara's best girlfriends are surrounding her and will find a way to help her through this rough patch in her life.

Witty, fun and smart, When Girlfriends Make Choices is another juicy delight. I have gone and gotten myself hooked on this series!


Author Bio:  

Savannah Page is the author of the continuing When Girlfriends… collection and her travelogue and first book, Bumped to Berlin. When she isn’t writing, Savannah enjoys a good book with a latte and jazz tunes, Pilates, and exploring her home of Berlin as an American expat.

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