Today is the excerpt reveal Just One Year by Penelope Ward. Read on for an excerpt and a teaser of the book.
Title: Just One Year
Author: Penelope Ward
Series: standalone
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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Blurb:
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.The beginning of my sophomore year in college was off to a rough start.
On the first day of orientation, I had an altercation with an infuriating British dude. (In the menโs room. Donโt ask.)
I got home later that night and realized that the foreign student we were expecting to rent a room in my parentsโ house was allergic to our cat.
So, the spare room went to someone else: Calebโthe British guy from the menโs room.
And so it beganโฆmy love-hate story with Caleb Yates. Or was it hate-love in that order?The guy knew how to push every one of my buttons.
Sometimes Iโd email him to express my aggravation and disdain.
Heโd actually rewrite my own words and send them back to me.
That was the type of infuriating person Caleb was.
So frustrating.
Andโฆ
Sometimes incredibly funny and endearingly sweet.
And hot.He eventually grew on me, and Caleb soon became one of my best friends that year.
Too bad he was headed back to England soon, so nothing could happen between usโfor so many reasons.
I definitely couldn’t fall in love with him, especially since all we had was just one year.
Excerpt Reveal:
Copyright ยฉ 2019
By Penelope WardI stormed up the stairs and headed straight to my old roomโhis room. But when I got to the top of the stairwell, I swallowed the words Iโd been prepared to unleash. The unexpected sight of Caleb doing pull-ups met my eyes. He used a bar affixed to the top of the door to lift himself up. He wore a T-shirt that rode up each time he rose. His hard abs were now staring me in the face, ripples of carved muscle. He had black wrist wraps on. Heโd turned my old room into a home gym.
He was a bastardโbut there was no denying he was beautiful.
I cleared my throat. โDid my father give you permission to put that thing in the doorway?โ
The house shook as he landed on his feet. โWell, hello, Teagan. Amazing how easy it is to walk up the stairs, isnโt it? He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead. โAnd yes, in fact, your father did give me permission to put the bar up.โ
I came out with it. โYou think you know it all, donโt you? Who are you?โ
He glared at me. โWho am I? Well, nice of you to ask, Teagan.โ He threw his towel down on the desk. โYouโve had no interest in getting to know me from the moment I walked in the door. But since you finally did inquireโฆ Hi, Iโm Caleb Yates. Happy to be here. I have no clue what Iโm doing with my life and have a somewhat crappy family situation back in England. So, I came to a strange country for the first time to get away for a bit. I miss my mum, but the good news is, Iโve just moved into moved into a house where everyone is cordialโexcept for the cranky girl in the basement.”
Wow.
โThatโs a bit harsh, donโt you think?โ
He came closer, and the smell of his cologne mixed with sweat wasโฆinteresting. Couldnโt say it was a bad thing, thatโs for sure. โYou didnโt have to write me a snooty email, Teagan. You can come talk to me if I do something to piss you off. If you write me emails like that when Iโm right
upstairs, thatโs the kind of response youโre going to get, each and every time.โ
He had a point. The email was a bit cowardly of me. Yet Iโd still managed to convince myself it was a good idea. He was right. Anything I needed to say to him, I should be able to say to his face. Quite honestly, the benefit of that was also his faceโgetting to look at it, I mean. It turned out, looking at him was a lot more fun than avoiding eye contact had been. Thank goodness he canโt read my mind right now.
Seeing that he actually seemed angry as opposed to amused caused me to change my tuneโthat and perhaps his scent going straight to my head as it followed my mind right into the gutter.
He held out his hand. โGive it to me.โ
I looked down at my empty hands. โGive you what?โ
โThe stick in your arse. Take it out and give it to me.โ
I crinkled my forehead. โWhat?โ
He wiggled his fingers. โCome on. Hand it over.โ
Genuinely curious as to where he was going with this, I motioned with my hand, pretending to remove the imaginary stick from my derriere and throwing it over to him.
He pretended to catch it, then let it weigh him down. โItโs bigger than I thought.โ Looking around he said, โIโm gonna find a space for it. Hang on.โ
I laughed, against my better judgment. He shoved the imaginary stick under his bed and wiped fake dust off his hands.
โNow that thatโs out of the way, why donโt we start fresh?โ
Penelope Ward:
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
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