Thanks for having me!
I’m Alexis Alvarez, and I’d like to share an excerpt from my new romance
novel, Dream Girl. I got the idea for
this book while I was watching an American reality TV dating show, The Bachelor.
I wondered what would it be like to star on the show, and what kind of guy
would I prefer to see as the hero?
He’d have to be intelligent and witty, a little sarcastic,
with a great sense of humor. He’d be extremely handsome and sexy, with
impressive muscles and a six-pack. A bad
boy past would be good, and some tattoos on his chest. Dark hair and eyes,
check.
Billionaire? Not necessary, but
certainly a bonus. And then I started to
reconfigure myself, too, into the kind of woman who could capture this ideal
man’s heart. And out of those fantasies came my novel, Dream Girl.
In
this excerpt, Chloe strikes up a conversation with a sexy man while waiting in
the lobby for her final interview for the Dream Girl television reality show.
She tries to mask her nerves and her attraction to him by making fun of the
show, and explains that she’s only applying for fun and adventures, because the
Dream Guy is bound to be a stupid, media whore who just wants to mess around
with some pretty girls on TV. Unfortunately
for Chloe, the sexy man turns out to be…can you guess?
“You have me at a disadvantage,” Chloe said
imperiously. It sounded like something from an old British film, and it seemed
perfect for the spectacle in progress. “You know my name, but I don’t know
yours.”
“I’m Dominic Harrington,” he told
her and his smile turned predatory. “I’m the dick-head poser who’s looking to
further his second-rate career and screw some stupid girls on TV. I’m the Dream
Guy on the Dream Girls show. It is so nice to meet you, Chloe.”
Chloe’s face burned and she grabbed
her hand back, and Dominic crossed his arms over his chest. Did he assume she
was going to start fawning over him now and babble an apology? Well, she was
not. This was a traffic wreck, sure, but hell, she was going to see it through,
Chloe-style.
“You forgot tool,” she replied,
crossing her arms in mimicry.
“What?” Dominic raised one eyebrow.
Chloe enunciated, raising her
eyebrow back. “I also called you a tool. If you’re not familiar, tool—although
it refers to something useful if you’re in the construction business—is not a
compliment when it comes to describing men.”
“I’m familiar with the colloquial
meaning,” said Dominic, thinning his mouth into a line.
“Good,” she exclaimed with a bright
smile. “That saves me the trouble of having to explain the tricky words, like I
had to do for some other people,” and she hitched her shoulder backwards at the
reception desk. She added, “I just hope you’re not going to be a total tool
box. I don’t want to be dealing with the entire inventory of the Craftsman line
at my local Kmart. I mean, I signed up for dating, not home improvement.”
Dominic took a step closer. It was
small, but it felt predatory, and Chloe felt her neck prickling. She casually
took a step backwards.
“So…” Dominic said, “let’s review
your goals, shall we? Basically… you’re a user. You just want free travel?
Maybe I should call you Miss Trip Advisor.” He shot her a dangerous smile that
made her heart flutter.
“Not fair.” Chloe glared. “Why
should you get to enjoy a big paycheck, publicity, and perks—regardless of
whether you find your true match— and in the same breath denigrate me for
honestly saying that I want something more than true love? Hypocrite much?”
Dominic scowled and Chloe soldiered on. “I’m here for interesting
opportunities. I don’t think that’s wrong.”
“Interesting opportunities?” He
drawled it out, sounding sexy and dirty, and suddenly Chloe could think of
nothing but what an opportunity would be like with Dominic. “Oh, that’s right.
You did mention an affair, didn’t you?” His smile was intense. He looked her up
and down.
“I said a fling,” Chloe shot back.
“And that doesn’t mean I’m a slut. The last thing I planned to do was come on
this show and sleep with someone, okay? I was thinking some flirtation. Maybe a
few kisses before I got booted off. But believe me, I’m not going to throw
myself at you.”
Dominic’s lips curled into another
smile. “Why would you think you’d get kicked off after a few kisses? Are you
that bad at kissing?”
Chloe made an unintelligible noise.
“That’s not—I’m an excellent kisser. I just mean that I don’t actually expect
to make it onto the show, and—you know, this is not really any of your
business.” She could feel her face all hot and flushed as she looked at his
lips, then back to his eyes, then at the floor.
Dominic mused in a low voice,
“Seeing as how you’re a contestant for my show… wouldn’t that make it my
business?”
“No,” she said haughtily. “Because
I’m not planning to kiss you. You’re being a total arrogant rude… jerk. And I
don’t kiss jerks.”
“I think you want to kiss me a hell
of a lot more than you’re willing to admit.” His eyes locked onto hers and for
a moment Chloe could see nothing but her desire reflecting from the dark depths
of his pupils.
“Maybe we should do a test run,” he
murmured, his smile wicked. “Just to see how bad you really are. I’d be happy
to give you some pointers.” And for one crazy moment, as his face drifted
closer, she almost thought—
The moist man—the one the
receptionist had called “Kyle”—cleared his throat, sending guttural phlegm
bullets ricocheting around the room. Chloe jumped, and Dominic pulled his head
back with a small smile.
“I think,” Kyle said, his smile at
once oily and excited, “you are a perfect candidate, Chloe Barnes. Greg, please
take her back and get her started on the paperwork. Did you get that footage,
Michelle?” The woman with the camera did an A-OK sign and Kyle smiled.
Greg’s brow wrinkled. “Please follow
me, Ms. Barnes,” he called, gesturing down the hallway with his clipboard.
“We’re on a tight schedule.”
“Okay,” Chloe agreed, then turned to
Dominic. “I guess I’ll see you around, Tool Box.”
“Oh, I’m counting the minutes, Trip
Advisor,” he replied in a low voice, a smile tugging at his lips.
Chloe tried not to flush or stumble
as she followed Greg’s pink glow down the hallway. Her mind was consumed with
erotic images of exactly what she wanted to do the next time she was alone with
Dominic Harrington—and how, especially if she somehow got herself onto the
show, she absolutely could not allow herself to do them while being filmed and
still maintain any decent level of self-respect.
Dream
Girl is a light-hearted, fun romance with steamy sex, laugh-out-loud humor, and
an HEA.
Thanks for having me, and I hope you enjoyed
the excerpt!
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He’s sexy and intelligent, handsome and witty… and Chloe’s
body lights up with sparks at his touch. And when he looks into her eyes and
whispers naughty sexy things into her ear, she wants to melt into him and enjoy
the mind-blowing passion he promises.
Too bad he’s the star of the popular reality show Dream
Girls, and he’s also dating nineteen other girls in addition to Chloe — girls
who are sexy and so talented that their Nobel Prizes should arrive any day now.
Chloe’s sure he’s just amusing himself with her, and there is no way he’d pick
her as his final Dream Girl — especially since she gets into so many crazy
scrapes on the show.
She promised herself she was only doing this for adventure,
travel, and new experiences…not to make a fool of herself on national TV. But
he’s so sexy and persuasive! Would it be so bad to say yes to all of his dark,
dirty requests? And most important of all — what will happen if she risks her heart?
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You can find Alexis Alvarez at her
blog, which she share with her two real life sisters. She’s also available on
Goodreads and Facebook.
Thanks so much for hosting me! XOXO
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DeleteLovely blog thanks for taking the time to share this
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