Title: Secret Crush Seduction
Author: Jayci Lee
Tropes/genre: Contemporary romance, friends to lovers, billionaire, dynasty, office romance, reunion
Imprint: Harlequin Desire
On-sale date: September 1, 2020
Price: $5.25
Format: mmp/ebook
ISBN: 9781335209214
Book description: She’s done waiting for what she really wants. Aspiring fashion designer Adelaide Song wants to prove she’s more than just a pampered heiress. All she needs is a little courage—and the help of deliciously sexy Michael Reynolds, her childhood crush and her brother’s best friend. But when her secret crush turns into an illicit liaison, Adelaide realizes mixing business with pleasure spells trouble for all her plans.
Temporary
Wife Temptation by Jayci Lee, Excerpt #1
###
What
the hell kind of boy band medley is this?
A
handful of young women—much younger than Adelaide Song’s twenty-six years—were
spinning around in a circle on the dance floor at Pendulum, screaming along to
some bubblegum pop song. It was early in the evening, and they were sloppy
drunk.
Adelaide
was most definitely not in the mood to play Ring Around the Rosie at her cousin
Colin’s nightclub. After the face-off she’d just had with her grandmother, she
needed to lose herself in good music and dance off her frustration.
What
was the Tuesday DJ doing up there on a Friday night anyway? She hunted down
Tucker, the top DJ and manager-in-training, to remedy the situation.
“Hi,
Tucker.”
“Hey,
Adelaide. You haven’t been in for a while. How are you doing?”
“I’ve
had better days.” She smiled wryly. “Why is Ethan up there? I can really do
without the over-the-top pop tonight. It’s a Saturday night. Let’s get some
real jam going.” Adelaide looked over her shoulder and out into the club. “By
the way, where’s Colin?”
“He
had a meeting and asked me to hold down the fort.” The heavily pierced and
tattooed DJ stared at his shoes and fidgeted under her scrutiny. “Ethan begged
me to let him play for an hour, and I felt bad for the guy. He’s a good kid.”
“A
good kid who is playing Tuesday night pop on a Saturday night.”
“I got
you. I’ll take over,” he said with a shy smile. “Thank you. You’re the best.”
And
it was true. He was an immensely talented DJ, and he should be proud of his mad
skills. Within minutes, the sensuous, liberating strains of Tucker’s magic
filled the air and calmed the tremors of frustration quaking under Adelaide’s
skin.
For
the last two years since she’d finished her MBA, Adelaide had been begging her
grandmother to let her take her place at Hansol Corporation—the family’s
multibillion- dollar apparel empire—but her answer was always, “Maybe next
year.” It broke Adelaide’s heart because those words really meant that
Grandmother still hadn’t forgiven her for her wild years in college.
It
had been a time of switching from boyfriend to boyfriend, partying too hard to
care about classes and distancing herself from the family. It wasn’t until her
last year in college that she’d rediscovered her thirst for knowledge. She had
cleaned up her act and learned to balance her responsibilities and recreations.
That was nearly six years ago. But to her family, she was still an
irresponsible wild child incapable of contributing any-thing of worth to
Hansol. She felt a twinge of shame at her desperate plea to her grandmother.
I’m not that kid anymore.
Refusing
to let herself drown in sadness, Adelaide strode to the dance floor with sharp
clicks of her stilettos and headed for a corner stage raised three feet from
the floor. She gripped the railing when she reached the top and exhaled through
pursed lips. Then she closed her eyes and let the music flow through her. The
rhythm always grew in the pit of her gut and spread to her hips, legs, then the
rest of her body. When it filled her to the brim, she danced.
Everything
disappeared as it always did. Her loneliness. Her insecurities. Her grandmother
with her dis-missive words and disappointed eyes. They all shrank and blurred
as she moved her body, carried away by the music and its beat.
Her
song came on. The bass in the music shook the dance floor and pounded in her
blood. Primal and raw. She closed her eyes and lifted her arms above her head,
tracing the outlines of the song with her body. She no longer existed. There
was the song and she was its instrument. Adelaide wasn’t there anymore. She
just danced. Danced until she was erased.
She
heard a rough growl from beside her. The sound merged with the music in its
feral possessiveness. It wasn’t until a pair of strong hands grasped her upper arms
that she realized a person had emitted the sound. A very tall, blazingly
furious man person.
“Goddammit,
Addy. What are you doing here?”
“Good
to see you, too,” she said with cool detachment.
Inside,
she shivered with awareness and need that refused to be stilled. Michael
Reynolds. Her older brother’s best friend, and her first love. Unrequited, of
course. He treated her like she was his kid sister for the most part. In the
meantime, she was burning up from his innocuous touch.
“Let
me take you home,” he said. “Your grandmother’s worried about you.”
Damn
it. She wasn’t finished flushing out the anger and melancholy from her system.
Her insecurities were rampaging in her mind, and she couldn’t handle any more
heartache tonight. So she closed her eyes again and danced to make Michael
disappear, as well.
Since
he still held her arms, she placed her hands on his broad chest and assumed the
junior high slow dance position. But rather than shift awkwardly from foot to
foot, she swerved her body in languid waves in time with the music. Michael
stood frozen for a few beats, then expelled a sound between a cough and curse.
“I’m
taking you home. Now.” He abruptly picked her up off the floor with an arm
under her thighs and the other cradling her back, frowning down at her with the
same look everyone bestowed on her. Disappointment.
Enough.
“Stop
with the Kevin Costner impersonation, and put me down,” she said, pushing
against his shoulder.
“No
way.” A hint of humor sparked in his eyes. “I remember how fast you can run. I’m
not in the mood to chase you.”
Adelaide
spied movement from the corner of her eyes. The club bouncers were heading
toward them with fists clenched. They knew she was Colin’s cousin and were a
protective lot, and Michael was carrying her out of the club, looking angry as
hell.
“Oh,
for God’s sake. I’m not a ten-year-old, Michael.” She struggled in earnest. If
the idiot didn’t put her down, he would get beaten to a pulp by the bouncers
before she could de-escalate the situation. “You need to put me down. I’ll walk
out with you.”
“Adelaide?
You all right?” Too late. Four of the loyal bouncers had surrounded them. “I
suggest you get your hands off of her, buddy.”
“I
suggest you go back to your posts, gentlemen.” Michael’s arms tightened around
her, and a dark, recklessness entered his eyes. Why was he acting like this?
“I’m escorting Ms. Song home.”
###
Praise for author Jayci Lee:
“Lee crafts an electric will-they-or-won’t-they between two well-developed characters who come together as a convincing and passionate couple. Readers won’t want to put down this sexy slow burn romance.” -Publishers Weekly on Secret Crush Seduction
“This book literally ticks all the boxes…BAM! Fireworks! The attraction is INSTANT and palpable. And to make it even better, the two have unwittingly been presented with the solution to their individual conundrums: each other.” -Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
“38 romance novels that are set to be the best of 2020” – OprahMag.com
“If the fake relationship trope leaves you swooning, you won’t want to miss this first book in the Heirs of Hansol series. Garrett Song and Natalie Sobol strike a deal to pose as a married couple, and end up growing closer than they ever could’ve imagined.” -Bookish.com
“Jammed with popular romance tropes such as familial duty, fake engagement, and corporate espionage… a quick, enjoyable read. A competent debut from an up-and-coming author.” - Kirkus
“This formulaic story is well-executed but contains little surprise. Readers looking for a fluffy take on a favorite trope will be pleased.” -Publishers Weekly
“If you like Harlequin billionaire books, if the familiar rhythms of those plots suit you or are a comfort read for you, this will be exactly what you like.” - All About Romance
“I was hooked from the start….Garrett’s and Natalie’s internal monologues are funny…I really enjoyed the Korean culture that was excellently included and hope for (much!) more in the next story about Garrett’s younger sister who, I feel, is going to surprise the family when she’s let loose.” - Dear Author
“Jayci Lee artfully combines the marriage of convenience trope with Korean culture in Temporary Wife Temptation, a sizzling romantic debut that takes place within Hansol Incorporated, a successful LA-based fashion empire.” -PaperbackParis.com
“Ms. Lee wrote a wonderful, emotional and sexy story that should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with sexual chemistry, family devotion, and endearing characters giving Natalie and Garrett a chance at forever love. I highly recommend Temporary Wife Temptation to other readers.” -Lorlelie’s Lit Lair
