Ever since super star, Arial Oakley, could remember, she’s been in love with her hunky co-star Bryce Valentine. The only problem: Bryce has been in a relationship with another actress for quite some time. Not wanting to be “the other woman”, Arial never pursued any of her feelings for him despite how well they connected.
When Bryce suddenly becomes single, both of their worlds are flipped upside down. To help him nurse his aching heart, Arial invites him back home to her family farm for some much needed peace and quiet from the paparazzi.
What neither of them expects is to fall in love: with the calm, with the country, with each other. But how much of it is real, and how much of it is a means to escape a broken heart?
Excerpt:
Arial Oakley gazed up into the dreamy, olive-‐‑green eyes of super Hollywood hunk, Bryce Valentine. Those eyes sparkled with a unique light as he gazed back into her bright baby blues. His strong arms were holding her shoulders tenderly, and his sandy blond hair was gelled playfully at the bangs, giving him a small touch of bad boy flair. The way he filled out the tight black T-‐‑shirt he wore was absolutely divine. He looked back at her with the softness of a man in love.
Unfortunately for her, it was all an act for the part he played.
On their television show, Three Wishes, his character, the dark and troubled Kevin, thought she was the love of his life. Well, not her, but her character Veronica. The drama of the show couldn’t be any further from the truth. Not only was Bryce the nicest guy on the planet, but he was practically married to their co-‐‑star Katie Daniels. Hollywood’s perfect couple — sort of. When it came to all of the glamorous red carpet events, the two were inseparable in an almost sickening kind of way. Behind the scenes, however, was another story. As far as Arial knew, everything was fine between them, but things were far from being perfect. The couple fought more openly on set, and Katie no longer gave him small bits of affection between set time. In fact, they hardly spent any time together outside of the scenes where they had to interact.
The tabloids loved to try and paint all kinds of crazy love triangles involving the cast of the show. In the end, it all amounted to a bunch of ungrounded rumors. Arial may have admired Bryce in secret for the past nine years, but it was clear he only had eyes for Katie, despite whatever bumps were in their relationship.
“I mean it this time, Veronica. I’m staying, forever,” he said.
His face leaned in toward hers, and they shared a kiss. Arial caught the slight taste of his minty breath, and the smile she wore when she pulled away from him was genuine.
Once more her gaze met his. “You told me you didn’t believe in happily ever after.”
“Someone changed my mind,” he said into her ear.
“And cut!” the director called out.
Bryce lingered against her for a moment, his nose in her hair. For those brief few seconds, she savored the feeling of his warm embrace around her. She didn’t know the next time she would get the chance to be in it.
Giveaway:
Sounds like a poignant read.
Okay, I'm a total pushover for this kind of plot. I would love to read this. I hadn't heard of it before, but I'm definitely going to look it up.
Sounds totally sweet. I loved the excerpt! Thank you for the giveaway!