Bikers and Pearls
by
Vicki Wilkerson
Blurb: Who said tempting a sweet Southern belle would be easy?
When rebel biker Bullworth Clayton gets tangled up with pastel-and-pearls-clad April Church, sparks fly. Sure, April would clearly rather work with anyone else, but if teaming up with Bull means a successful charity event for a sick little boy they both care about, then so be it.
April is baffled at how drawn she is to the leather-wearing, tattooed Bull—he just doesn’t fit with her simple, safe, country-club life. And as much as the handsomely rugged man tempts her, she still can’t shake the images of the tragic motorcycle accident from her past, which left her scarred and her father broken.
Bull tempts her to don a pair of leather pants and go for a ride with him, while April desperately tries to resist her attraction to the wild side and keep her exploits hidden from her small town. Will they be able to navigate their differences and find a middle road to love?
Buy Links
My Review
I've read nothing but great things from the Bliss line and that absolutely includes Bikers and Pearls.
I grew up on the back of my dad's bike so I do have my own personal feelings and fears about motorcycles so I felt a kinship with April. And then there's Bull, what's not to love about him.
It's a funny statement, 'opposites attract' and in this story these two complex characters couldn't be anymore different but the attraction is most definitely there. April is so desperately seeking the prestigious socialite status while Bull (an awesome name btw) owns a garage and rides a motorcycle.
Ms. Wilkerson created a great emotional base perfect for a budding relationship, pushing both characters to overcome obstacles from their past to have a possibility at a future, together. They learn what they really want in life and what truly makes them happy while working to know each other.
Such a sweet story, I loved it !
Praise for Bikers and Pearls
“A sweetly Southern story with a
deep heart.” –Deborah Smith, New York Times bestselling author of A Place to
Call Home
Excerpt from Bikers and Pearls
© 2013 Vicki Wilkerson
Chapter One
Motorcycles were everywhere.
April Church had never seen so many in one place in her entire life. Row after
row and side by side, they had been lined up like opposing armies. Was there
some kind of biker rally in town that she didn’t know about? No. That couldn’t
be. Surely, something like that would have been announced in the Summerbrook
Gazette.
She looked for a well-lit parking
spot near the door of the buffet steakhouse, but after circling the bikes three
times, she finally squeezed her car into the last space at the rear of the dark
lot. Motorcycles flanked both sides of her car. Flames embellished the tank of
the bike immediately to her left and razors decorated the one to her right.
She was trapped.
Trapped like she had been in her
father’s car the night he’d accidentally hit a motorcycle—the night the dead
man’s “pack” had surrounded them like wolves. And here she was again, encircled
by bikes. She looked toward the building. In that steakhouse were the same kind
of people who had left her father with a limp, bound to a cane for the rest of
his life.
Why on Earth did she tell Mr.
Houseman that she’d go to the meeting? Well, for many reasons, but the most
important was Ben. He was special. Every time he saw her, he gave her a hug.
Started out when she first helped him learn to climb a tree when the Humanity
Project volunteers built his home. When he dropped down from that tree and into
her arms, he also dropped into her heart. Ever since that day, he drew pictures
of trees and gave them to her as gifts. Yep. He was special, and she had to do
something to help the little boy’s parents with the mounting medical bills. Mr.
Houseman was her mentor at the Humanity Project, and she owed him, too. She
also thought about Miss Adree, the sweet, elderly lady in her condo building
who taught Ben music lessons every Thursday evening. April loved picking up the
little guy and remembered Miss Adree doing the same for her when she was a
child. It was time to return favors.
Inside would be all the
civic-minded organizations from town that were helping Ben, including the
Summerbrook Ladies League. The bikers were probably at the restaurant for a
completely different reason—some ride or party they had to plan. She glanced
around at all the motorcycles again. There were so many.
Taking a deep breath, she
gingerly opened the car door. But before she got the chance to put her foot on
the asphalt, the painted flames on the motorcycle next to her pitched—almost
imperceptibly at first. Or perhaps she was simply denying what was happening.
Down it went. The mirrors tilted
and flashed the light of a distant streetlamp over the body of the beast. Stop!
Somehow, it appeared to have picked up momentum on its way to its death. And
then it crashed against the pavement, the clang grating up her spine as
it hit. No! She couldn’t have touched that bike. She had been so
careful.
As she stepped outside the car, a
shiver iced down her spine in a cold gust of March air. The motorcycle lay
there like a fallen soldier. The crash had amputated its rearview mirror, which
was now in the middle of the lane. She looked all around her.
For a brief moment, she thought
about bolting. But she’d never do that. She worked at a local insurance company
as a risk assessment manager. Assessing her own risk, she determined that she
was in real trouble.
Author Bio:
Vicki is a native of the Charleston, South Carolina, Lowcountry and loves to share her enchantment with the area with readers through her writing. Even in childhood, she enjoyed penning stories and poems—no doubt fueled by her grandfather's enthusiasm for telling tales himself. Where else—but in the South—could one find the interesting blend of salt water, eerie swamps, unwritten traditions and unique characters? In her spare time, she loves traveling, spending weekends at her family's lake house, playing golf and cooking (with lots of wine). Visit Vicki at http://www.vickiwilkerson.com .
There is a tour wide giveaway of this Pearl Necklace (US winner only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for the review, Krista!
ReplyDelete