Quote-Tastic: Who Did They Think She Was, Medusa?

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Crush on You by Christie Ridgway


The taller young woman took her life in her hands and stepped between the invisible blades swishing through the air. She held out her hand to Penn. “Stephania Baci—Stevie. That’s my older sister, Giuliana, and the strangely dressed creature is Alessandra, the youngest of the three of us.”

“Penn Bennett,” he said, accepting her firm shake.

“The bastard,” she added, then grimaced. “Sorry. Maybe you don’t care for irreverence.”

“I’m a big fan of irreverence,” he assured her. He liked this forthright Baci, though his gaze wandered toward Wedding Dress Girl again. She’d left off manhandling the construction foreman in order to reach into the truck bed and lift out one of the items just loaded.

“You’ll need this to get back to work.” She was so little, the air compressor nearly toppled her over.

Penn found himself stepping forward again, only to halt as Newton plucked the heavy contraption out of her hands. “Alessandra, I don’t have time for this.”

“I don’t have time to find someone else to do the job!” she countered, and wrapped her hands around a 2 x 4 that she drew from the top of a stack of wood resting in the truck’s bed. As she pulled, a sparkly thing caught in her hair fell free. She tripped on it, going to the ground in a tumble of white skirts and striped-cotton legs.

Penn closed half the distance between them before she was up on her rubber thongs again, her temper at fever level if the flush on her face and on her over-exposed breasts was anything to go by. She had a small mouth with puffy lips that were two shades redder than her cheeks. It was one of those mouths that had a man thinking of something more than kissing. Put that together with the dark wavy hair, and he could just imagine twisting his fingers in those silky strands to urge her forward and, well...

If he wasn’t a guy burned out on trouble and women, then he might have been seriously turned on by the small, sexy package. Except he was a guy burned out on trouble and women and if the odd outfit she was wearing was anything to go by, a bad temper wasn’t her worst fault.

She was trying to get to the items in the truck again, but Newton was blocking her way. Steam came out of her ears and she stomped a foot, scattering gravel. “This isn’t right!”

“We agreed, Allie. The price I quoted you was so cheap you told me I could take a better offer if one came my way.”

“One wasn’t supposed to come your way!” Gravel flew beneath her rubber thong again.

Her sister Giuliana made a cautious approach. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure out something.”

Alessandra’s head whipped around. “Like forgetting about our promise to Papa? Like selling the winery? Is that what you mean?”

Stephania started forward. “Allie—”

“You, too?” The girl in the wedding dress and pajamas spun to confront her other sister, anger still blazing across her delicate features. “You’re willing to let go of our birth-right, our heritage, our history? This place is our heart, Stevie.”

Liam stepped forward. “Still, maybe it’s time to call it quits.”

At his quiet words, all the fire in Alessandra was quenched. Her gaze took in the united wall of her two sisters and Penn’s half brother. Her shoulders slumped, her head dropped.

A moment passed, then she took a long breath and turned to Newton again, looking up at him through her tangle of dark lashes. Her voice was husky and halting. “You can’t leave me like this,” she told the man.

The atmosphere instantly changed. Where minutes before it had been charged with the rioting atoms of Wedding Dress Girl’s fit of pique, now it was a different emotion coloring the air.

Bemused, Penn crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the Range Rover again to take in the little show. Alessandra’s small face tilted up and she turned those velvety brown eyes—was that a sheen of tears?—on the construction worker. “Please, Newton. You can’t leave me like this,” she repeated.

Newton appeared on the verge of crying himself. “Allie...” he whimpered. From the other side of the truck, Penn heard the two guys muttering to each other in Spanish. Idiot! he heard one say to the other. He’s looking her in the eyes. Everyone knows not to look her in the eyes.

Who did they think she was, Medusa?


I was recently in the library looking for some paperbacks to read during my lunch time. (Why paperbacks, you may ask, when I have a ereader full of books that need to be read and reviewed? Well because the company I work for has this insane policy about no electronic devices in the building. None. No phones, no ipods, no tablets, no ereaders. Nothing. And since I need a paycheck I have to follow their Fascist *ahem* rules.) I ran across the second book in the series and thought it sounds fantastic, so I requested the first one to read as well. I really enjoyed the sisters and the town. This book had me snickering out loud in the break room and blinking back tears. There are some great secondary characters and I can't wait to dive into book 2.

She made knitting sexy.

Now she's taking on a dilapidated winery, three sisters, and the bad boys next door.

The Baci sisters are on a mission to save the winery that's been in their family for generations-by transforming it into the perfect wedding destination. If only Alessandra Baci-affectionately known as the "Nun of Napa"-didn't need the help of tempting neighbor and business rival Penn Bennett.

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     BN    Kobo

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