YvonneAs February draws to a close, I have just two more stops to make on my hectic round of Blog Tours, so once again I would like to extend my thanks to Aria Fiction, for making this opportunity possible.
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A funny romantic comedy about how opposites definitely do attract…
Sara Di Giovanni is a successful lawyer in New York City: she is the star of her profession, an excellent role model to her very vivacious little sister, but has so far been unlucky in love…
Ethan Phelps is the rich playboy trouble-maker whose only talent in life is spending money and dating women… That is until Ethan’s father dies with no will to his name, leaving his two sons the legal heirs to his billion-dollar company.
Sara is forced to become the court-appointed guardian to handle Ethan’s share of the fortune, as his family do not trust him to manage it himself. Sara thinks it should be easy, but it’s not so simple when Ethan is determined to get rid of her by whatever means necessary…
What ensues is a dramatic and hilarious power-play between Sara and Ethan… but what will happen when feelings start to get in the way?
Clicking on the book title will link you directly with the relevant Goodreads page
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ANNA PREMOLI
Anna was born in 1980 in Croatia, but moved to Milan in 1987. In fact she now feels rather Milanese. During the glorious years of high school she met what then, in 2005, became her husband, aka the man who self-published her novels instead of giving her flowers.
She graduated from Bocconi in Economics of financial markets and has always worked in the sector: She started at JPMorgan in the field of asset management and risk management, then moved to private banking where she dealt with investments in banking for over a decade, while for some time now she has been responsible for financial investments for a private equity holding company.
The writing arrived in 2009 by chance, after a terrible period of mad volatility due to the failure of Lehman and as an ‘anti-stress method’ during her pregnancy. The volatility of the markets since then has never abandoned her, not even in her writing. The two things in some way balance her days.
She works and lives in Milan with her husband Alessandro and her son Marco, the two men of her life.
Catch up with all the latest news at Anna’s website
Connect with Anna on Facebook
I’m a big reader: I’ve read so many books in so many languages that it’s impossible to fully understand what book influenced my life. All of them, I guess. Sometimes it feels like the best sort of combo. I dedicate my books to family and friends, because they have all been helping me since day one in this crazy journey.
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This is an extract from the book which Aria Fiction and Anna Premoli have asked me to share as my stop on the Blog Tour. The words are taken from just a couple of pages into the story and form a part of the prologue.
Kirk considered himself a calm man. He hated heated confrontations, especially family ones, but the question of who was going to take up the reins was something that he really shouldn’t have ignored in such an irresponsible way.
He still couldn’t believe that Markus had not left a will. Nothing, not even a couple of lines written on a sheet of toilet paper or on the back of a receipt from some bar. He had searched every single corner of the house and the office and contacted all the notaries and lawyers in the country and beyond before resigning himself to the truth. It was obvious that his brother had not expected to die so suddenly and that he must have thought he had all the time in the world to deal with the delicate question of his succession.
He should have known, though, that life is always full of unexpected surprises – rarely pleasant.
An intelligent man like Markus should have got his affairs in order and made some decisions. And instead he had done nothing. It was unbelievable.
And now it would be all of them who would pay for this lack of foresight.
Kirk wiped his forehead nervously with his hand as he watched the crowd in front of him getting noisier and noisier by the minute. Even James, sitting serious and composed on his right, did not seem to be handling it much better than he was. He was wearing, as always, his work uniform – a grey suit and a dark tie – but his expression was much more agitated than usual.
“He can’t not come,” he whispered tensely. His uncle gave a nervous laugh, playing for time before answering.
“Of course he can,” he replied, pretending to be calm. “It’s his right to ignore us, guaranteed by nothing less than our most beloved constitution. Even though, to be perfectly frank, his not turning up would be the best thing that could happen…” A part of him actually hoped that the damn lunatic would decide to stay away from the meeting. His absence might cause some small problems when it came to the moment of voting, given the share of the company he possessed, but at least that way they wouldn’t be exposed to public humiliation.
“And leave us like this, without a majority?” hissed James, gripping the pen he held in his hand so tightly that he almost snapped it in two.
Kirk turned to look into his eyes, where all of his agitation was clearly visible. James, who had been a rock in recent years, was still not used to hiding his feelings when it came to family matters – but he would be forced to learn how to, just as many others had done before him.“There is every probability. But we must not show concern. Smile –at the end of the day, that’s what they’re all here for.”
“What do you mean, to see us suffer?” his nephew asked resentfully.
“Exactly, and we must not let that happen.” And so, Kirk smiled as if he had only one problem in the world – that of trying to set a good example.
In the meantime, a man who all present knew very well stood up. Ed Turner, who immediately silenced the audience with his menacing presence.
“Kirk, what the hell are we waiting for?” he asked as if all present weren’t perfectly well aware. “I mean, this meeting was due to start at half past ten and it’s nearly eleven – we’ve been patient for long enough, don’t you think? Everybody who wants to participate in our humble little meeting is here. And they’ve been waiting for quite some time, if I may say so…” He finished his sentence with a theatrically sarcastic laugh.
Turner was a billionaire who had never hidden his desire to sooner or later gain a controlling interest in Phelps & Phelps. He collected shares the way other people collected snow globes and didn’t like being told ‘no’ – and that was a word that Markus and Kirk had said to him repeatedly over the last decade.
As we all know, though, the wheel of fortune never stops turning, and this time it seemed that it had suddenly turned for Turner. Old Markus had been a pleasant enough fellow – perhaps not particularly profound, he thought, and perhaps with a slightly excessive taste for young beauties, but he had always been cheerful and happy to be the centre of attention. He’d claimed that he only did it for the sake of the company, but in Ed Turner’s modest opinion, narcissists always managed to find some excuse that calmed their very slight sense of guilt. Kirk sat up straight in his chair. “We will be commencing very shortly. What’s all the hurry?” he asked, feigning indifference.
Turner turned to him. “Everyone knows that Ethan will never come,” he said glacially, with just a touch of satisfaction. The fact that he had dared to pronounce that name did not escape the attention of the crowd, which immediately resumed its murmuring …
I have so much love for Sara and Ethan, as characters but also as people. I really hope that whoever embarks on this journey and starts reading their story will find it amusing, sweet and heart melting. This is a story about giving yourself a second chance, about appreciating yourself. Have fun!
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What an interesting journey this author’s life has taken! It causes me to approach her writing (and this excerpt) with a different attitude.
Kelly – If you enjoyed this short extract from the book and would like to ‘experience’ (I choose that word very carefully!) a slightly longer excerpt, which follows on almost directly from my own, then link across and join Margie @ ‘Margie’s Must Reads’ and check out her stop on the Blog Tour.
https://margiesmustreads.com/2018/02/accidentally-love-anna-premoli/
You will then be able to tell just how much author Anna Premoli needed de-stressing and to take a slightly more lighthearted approach to life 🙂 🙂
Thanks for sharing the link, Yvonne. Still not something I’d probably choose for myself, but I think it would be quite entertaining to read! 🙂
I’m still not sure myself whether this will have simply been a promotional exercise for this book, or whether I shall actually read it at some point in time.
I do quite enjoy Blog Tours and promotion work, as there is generally a book out there to suit everyone and if I can match a book with its ideal reader, then I shall be happy 🙂
I di love your enthusiasm for blog tours, Yvonne. Anything that encourages people to pick up a book… *any* book… is great in my opinion. Well done you.
Thanks for those kind words Cath, although you might not have thought it was enthusiasm if you could have been here at midnight and 5am most days in February, which is just about the only time I have had to prepare the Blog Tour posts. It has definitely been a manic month, but should get easier from now on, as there have been some ongoing ground rules set!
I definitely enjoy chatiing with authors and my mind has been opened to a few new genres, which I have hitherto put on the back burner, although I still prefer to stay well clear of fantasy and sci-fi.
If you are still into your ‘French’ period, then I have a new book to feature on Monday. It might be a little too contemporary for your taste, but given that I haven’t picked up a book for a week, I decided to bump it up my list and read it straightaway, as I could do with a little light relief 🙂
Gosh, that’s dedication when you’re having to do blog posts at unsociable hours… mind, I myself am always here at midnight.
Oh excellent, thank you for the advance warning, I’ll keep an eye out for that on Monday. To be honest I’ll try most things (not keen on dystopian fiction) so we’ll see what you have there. LOL!
With the new data protection laws being introduced in May to the UK and Europe, we are busy evaluating the merit in keeping the blog going. If there is going to be an annual fee to register the site and the possibility that the ‘comments’ function may have to be switched off so that no personal data is collected and stored, we are wondering if it is going to be feasible any more.
Still, that isn’t going to affect anything for the next few weeks, so I shall see you on Monday 🙂
I know I’ve seen this one mentioned on your blog before and it does sound good.Happy weekend and happy reading!
There have been a good number of ratings and reviews for this book on Goodreads and whilst not the highest ranking book, everyone is making pretty much consistent remarks about the good points and the failings of the story, which on the whole, most people enjoyed for the harmless fun it is billed as.
I hope that all is well with you and thanks for stopping by 🙂