Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Irresistibly Yours by Lauren Layne Blog Tour


Meet the men of Oxford magazine! In the first captivating spin-off of Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series, a not-so-friendly battle of the sexes turns into a scorching office romance.

Hotshot sports editor Cole Sharpe has been freelancing for Oxford for years, so when he hears about a staff position opening up, he figures he’s got the inside track. Then his boss drops a bombshell: Cole has competition. Female competition, in the form of a fresh-faced tomboy who can hang with the dudes—and write circles around them, too. Cole usually likes his women flirty and curvy, but he takes a special interest in his skinny, sassy rival, if only to keep an eye on her. And soon, he can’t take his eyes off her.

Penelope Pope knows all too well that she comes off as just one of the guys. Since she’s learned that wanting more usually leads to disappointment, Penelope’s resigned to sitting on the sidelines when it comes to love. So why does Cole make her want to get back in the game? The man is as arrogant as he is handsome. He probably sees her as nothing more than a barrier to his dream job. But when an unexpected kiss turns into a night of irresistible passion, Penelope has to figure out whether they’re just fooling around—or starting something real.

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Book 1
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“First game?” he asked.

Brown eyes flicked to him, barely. “What?”

“First baseball game?”

That got her attention. For the first time, she seemed to really look at him. Her eyes drifted over him slowly, before returning to his, her tone just slightly annoyed. “No. Not my first game.”

“Ah,” he said, already mentally maneuvering into a backpedal. “Bad assumption of me. You were just so into the game . . .”

“So you figured I must be trying to figure out how it all worked?” she asked. “That I must be trying to understand why some of the field is green and some is brown, and whatever could those white squares on the dirt be, and why-oh-why are those men running toward the white squares, but only sometimes . . .”

“All right,” Cole said with a laugh. “I’m an ass. You know baseball.”

Her smile was quick and easy, and he was relieved to see that she wasn’t one of those snippy, hold-it-against-him-forever types. “I know baseball.”

Is that what’s in your notebook? Baseball stuff?

She took a huge bite of her hot dog, completely unabashed at her bulging cheeks, and Cole hid a smile, pretending instead to be fixated on the game.

Hell. When had he ever had to pretend to be fixated on the Yankees?

“You were partially right,” she admitted, after swallowing.

He glanced at her. “Oh yeah?”

She grinned. “This is my first Yankees game.”

“I knew it,” he said, matching her grin full on. “I knew there was something virgin about you. But tell me, how come a baseball fan like you never made it to Yankee Stadium until now?”

“Well . . .” She licked a spot of mustard off her finger, but not in the slow, deliberate way that most women he knew would have done it. “It’s a long way from Chicago . . .”

Cole tore his eyes away from the way her lips closed around her thumb, sucking off that mustard. “You’re from Chicago?”

“From there, yes,” she said. “But let’s just say that as of two weeks ago, I’ll be spending a lot more time here than at Wrigley.”

“Ah. You’re new to New York.”

“Quite.”

“How do you like it?”

She hesitated. “It’s . . . intense.”

“Meaning . . . we New Yorkers are scary as hell?”

She smiled. “Well, it’s not as hostile as I’d been warned, but yeah. We Chicagoans are a bit more openly friendly than you New Yorkers.”

“I’m friendly,” he countered.

Tiny Brunette laughed. “No. You’re just incredibly charming. And a smidgen good-looking.”

He gave her his best bedroom look. “Am I?”

She smiled. “You know you are.”

Their eyes held for a moment, and Cole was startled to realize it was the most relaxed—the most himself—he’d felt around a woman in . . . hell . . . he didn’t know.

Mostly he was used to throwing out a couple of witty lines, a few slow smiles, and watching women counter with moves of their own.

There were no moves with this woman. She merely was.

Cole realized he didn’t even know her name.

“So tell me, as a Chicago baseball fan, are you Team Cubs or Team White Sox, Ms. . . .”

“Pope,” she said. “Penelope Pope. And both.”

Cole’s subconscious acknowledged that Penelope Pope was somehow exactly what this woman’s name should be. Perky and alliterative. His consciousness, however, latched on to another fact. “Both?”

It was not a typical answer. Most people had one baseball team, even if you were from a city with two teams, as Penelope was.

She shrugged. “Baseball’s not about who wins. It’s not even about who’s playing. It’s about the game. The consistent flow of it, the smack of the ball against the glove when you’re lucky enough to be sitting along one of the baselines, instead of stuck up here in this stuffy box—”

He stared at her. The words so closely echoed his own thoughts from just moments before that he wanted to kiss her.

She might just be his dream woman.

“That explains the hot dog,” he said.

“What?”

He nodded his chin at the last bite of hot dog, ignored in her left hand. “The hot dog. You’re in a luxury suite in Yankee Stadium with a whole buffet of gourmet foods, and yet you went and fetched the most basic hot dog you could find.”

She grinned. “Guilty.”

Cole turned his body all the way toward her now. “Tell me, Penelope Pope, what brings a Cubs and White Sox fan all the way to New York where you’ll face a whole new dilemma of choosing between the Yankees and the Mets . . .”

Tiny Brunette never got to answer.

The shadow of someone coming up behind their seats caused them both to turn. It was Alex Cassidy, Oxford’s editor in chief, looking down at them with a half-amused, half-worried expression.

“Cassidy,” Cole said. He lifted an eyebrow and silently added, Nice of you to show up.

“Sorry I’m late,” Cassidy said, not really sounding sorry at all. “I got held up.”

Automatically, Cole’s eyes scanned the luxury suite until he found the pretty woman he knew was likely to be somewhere around here . . .

Yup, there she was.

Emma Sinclair, Cassidy’s long-ago runaway bride, with whom he’d recently reconciled, was surreptitiously wiping smudged lipstick from the corner of her mouth.

His eyes returned to his boss, this time looking closer . . .

“Third button, dude,” Cole said wearily.

The always polished Cassidy glanced down, and without so much as wincing, fixed the misaligned buttons of his shirt.

Cole should have known. A naked Emma Sinclair was the only thing that could throw Alex Cassidy off his rigid timetable.

But Emma and Cassidy’s sex life was where the predictable part of the evening ended, because Cole was absolutely not prepared for Cassidy to reach out a hand to Tiny Brunette, a polite smile on his usually impassive face.

“Alex Cassidy. I’m so sorry I’m late, Ms. Pope.”

Cole glanced between the two of them. They knew each other?

“Not a problem,” she said, turning an easy smile on Cassidy. It was the exact same friendly smile she’d given Cole, and it very much made Cole want to punch his friend in the mouth.

“It’s refreshing to see you two playing so nicely,” Cassidy said with a droll look at Cole.

He narrowed his eyes at his boss, not sure what he was missing, but certain that he was missing something.

Cassidy answered Cole’s silent question with his usual professional businessman smile. “Cole, this is Penelope Pope.”

“We’ve met,” Cole said slowly.

“Excellent. So then you know that Penelope is our late-stage applicant for the sports editor role at Oxford?”

Very slowly, Cole turned toward Tiny Brunette. Took in her friendly smile even as he took in the sorry-not-sorry glint in her eyes.

This was his competition. This was the person standing between Cole and the job he so desperately wanted.

“I suppose I should have been more thorough when I introduced myself,” she said sweetly. “Penelope Pope. Sports editor.

Plus side? At least now Cole knew what was in her damn notebook.

The downside? Everything else.






Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela☆☆☆☆☆
Do you want to know what the biggest problem with Irresistibly Yours is? It’s that I have now added four more books to my ever-expanding to-be-read list because I must read the Sex, Love & Stiletto series from which the Oxford series seems to have spun-off. Is it because I was lost while reading Irresistibly Yours and need to read the SL&S series first to know what’s going on? Nope, not at all. The Oxford series is set to focus on the men who work at Oxford magazine and it is my hope that the SL&S series contains the same level of humor, romance, and steam as the ladies from Stiletto magazine make several appearances in Irresistibly Yours and I want their stories. But I digress…

Irresistibly Yours brings us the story of Cole Sharpe, soon to be Senior Sports Editor of Oxford magazine, and Penelope Pope, soon to be Senior Sports Editor of Oxford magazine. Yeah you read that right – Cole and Penelope are vying for the same position at Oxford magazine. A position that Cole thought he had in the bag as he’s been freelancing for years as a sports writer for the magazine and is close friends with the magazine’s editor in chief. But there’s competition for the position and Cole is only mildly concerned until he meets said competition. He’s just not sure what upsets him more – that Penelope is competing for the same job or that she’s off limits because she’s the “enemy.” When Cassidy makes his decision, the two former competitors must figure out if they can work together for the sake of the magazine. As they work closely together, their bond builds and their friendship strengthens. As does their chemistry. Boy howdy! These two are HOT together. They do a good job of keeping their work lives and personal lives separate – until they don’t. Fun times, fun times. But when tragedy strikes and Cole strikes out at Penelope, he has to figure out how to man up and get his girl back once the dust settles.

I loved Penelope! She was an absolute hoot. I was laughing a lot as I read Irresistibly Yours and loved the banter between her and Cole. And Cole? Oh my goodness. Cole was a dream come true who was made even more heavenly by the love for his brother, Bobby. As if the chemistry and romance between Penelope and Cole were not enough, the men of Oxford and the women of Stiletto made for an amazing cast of friends that left me wishing I was part of the gang. And they’re why I have four more books to read. This is only the second book by Ms. Layne that I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last as I enjoy her writing style and hope to find her sense of humor infused into more of her books. At least I have an entire series to read as I wait for the next book in the Oxford series to be released, Playing for Keeps.


Ruthie☆☆☆☆☆
This is a wonderfully fun and highly entertaining book – and heralds great things for the new series.

The writing is good, and the ease into the world of publishing is smooth and understated. Great start and it never falters. I read it straight through the night (which I may be regretting later today!) because I was invested in the outcome, and the journey to get there from the very beginning. By having most of the men in happy relationships, it was so easy to make the office atmosphere full of banter and wit, rather than excessive angst – which was both refreshing and great fun. I enjoyed the sports side too, which was interesting from the journalism viewpoint. As the story progresses and things heat up, it is impossible not to be swept along, and by hearing their thoughts, it adds both to the amusement and the frustration at them both.

If you want an entertaining, fun, sexy and very satisfying read – this will definitely bring a smile to your face. Thank you Ms. Layne for a winner!






Lauren Layne is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.

Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Irresistibly Yours (Oxford #1) by Lauren Layne to read and review for this tour.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for hosting IRRESISTIBLY YOURS (Wait for After the Kiss...you will be SOO in love with Mitchell)

    ReplyDelete

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