Series: A Gamble on Love Mom Com #1
Publication date: May 5th, 2022
Synopsis:
Life in Hollywood is easy to hate...
Accordingly to Hollywood insiders, Harper and Brett Kennedy have the perfect family life--an image that has been carefully cultivated by an army of PR experts at Galaxy Studios. The truth is, their relationship has been on the rocks since Brett cheated when Harper was pregnant with their youngest child. Four years later, he's still cheating, but this time with the nanny.
When the tabloids find out, a media frenzy ensues, all but making Harper and her kids prisoners in their Pacific Palisades mansion. Needing time out of the spotlight to regroup, Harper rents a cabin in the last place the press or anyone else would ever think to look for her -- Gamble, Alaska.
There, she finds peace, solitude, and Digger McKenzie. Will the gruff lodge owner, who goes out of his way to make Harper feel like she doesn't belong, realize he's about to miss out on his one chance at happiness? Will Harper's kids adjust to small-town life and heal from the chaos of their parents' separation? Will Harper learn how to shoot a bear?
Find out in the deliciously funny and dishy first installment of the Love is a Gamble Mom-Com Series.
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Excerpt
Dear Readers,
Is it just me or are you hankering for the next Hollywood scandal too?
This town has become so dull, I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning.
Enough with the plastic surgery mess-ups. Hard pass on who's a pain in the bootay to work with--spoilers--everyone is.
Daddy needs some real drama, so somebody out there better give it to me before I shrivel up and die from boredom.
Dish,
Ferris Biltmore
HARPER
You know how you can have a nightmare so vibrantly bizarre that you're one hundred percent certain there really is an axe murderer looming over your bed, about to serve you pigs in a blanket before he kills you? That's how I feel right now, except in reverse. I'm currently trying to convince myself that what I'm witnessing is nothing more than a horrific dream.
Standing in the doorway of my Mediterranean-style living room--lovingly decorated in earth tones, with pops of orange and rust reminiscent of the Tuscan sunset--I'm watching my husband bone the nanny. I realize bone is a word that lacks class, but believe me, there is nothing classy about what's occurring over the back of my cocoa-colored leather sofa. A couch I must now burn. Possibly while they're still on it.
I should be devastated and rocked to my core, but sadly, this is not the first or even the second time I've caught my husband in a compromising position.
"Oh. My. GOD. Right there!" Justine yells.
Brett responds with, "You're so tight I can barely hold back!"
I'm about to insert myself into the conversation with something along the lines of, "You give birth to two children who inherited your giant head and see if you bounce back to normal." Instead, I glance outside to make sure my kids are safe in the backyard. Thankfully, they are.
"Oh, yeah, Brett, you're so... soooo..."
"Scummy? Deplorable? Cliched?" I suggest loudly.
Brett jumps off Justine and scrambles to pull up his pants. Unfortunately for him, there's no blood left in his brain, which obviously messes with his equilibrium. He staggers around for a few moments before falling, his butt making a slapping sound against the terracotta tiles. I think of all the wonderful sounds I could make hitting him with an assortment of art pieces around the room.
Justine mumbled, "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy. I'm so sorry. I was just... I mean... I was choking... and Mr. Kennedy was giving me the Heimlich maneuver."
"He needed his pants down for that?"
She opens her mouth, then closes it.
That's right. Shut it. "Justine, you're fired," I say with a superhuman calm I do not feel. "Get out now, and don't bother to pack your bags. I'll have your things delivered to the agency."
"Please don't tell them," she begs, pulling up her underwear. Which looks suspiciously like my underwear--Agent Provocateur, Taisia. At nearly $700 a pair, I'm pretty sure they aren't in my nanny's budget. And while I can certainly afford them, I would never waste that kind of money on underwear. They were a gift. "They won't find me another position if you know that--"
"You needed my husband to give you the Heimlich maneuver with his penis?" This girl is about six eggs short of a dozen.
Brett finally gets to his feet, "It isn't what you think, Harper."
I'm pretty sure it's exactly what I think. My movie star husband has a major problem keeping it in his pants. In the past, he's assured me he was seeking professional help for his lack of impulse control, but I don't even care anymore.
Every time he's promised it's the last time, he's moved one step closer to being permanently expelled from my life. I've tried to forgive him for the sake of our children, but now that he's brought his philandering into our home--my safety zone--it's the last straw.
"You can go with her, Brett. You no longer live here."
"You can't kick me out!" He's hopping around on one foot while he attempts to tug his jeans up. "I paid for this house."
My spirit shoots out of my body and hovers somewhere around the ceiling. I'm seriously experiencing a Twilight Zone moment here. "I had a hit television show for six years, Brett. I assure you a good deal of my money has gone into this house as well."
"What about the kids?" It's a question that hits so close to the cavity of my heart that I feel an almost electric shock of pain course through me.
"Do you mean the two innocent children currently playing in the yard? The ones who could easily have walked in to watch as you dogged the nanny?" I'm pulling out all the unsavory terms now.
"I knew they weren't going to come in," he says, sounding surprisingly offended for someone still sporting a chubby.
"Because kids are so predictable?"
"Because I told them if they got an hour of fresh air, I'd buy them hoverboards."
In lieu of launching myself at his neck, which, let's face it, is just begging to be snapped. I let out a long, disgusted sigh.
"Sounds like an absolutely fool-proof--and highly premeditated--plan. Not to mention, stellar parenting there, Brett. Now get the hell out before I bludgeon you to death with my Emmy."
Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries--not always in that order.
Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.
She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.
Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017.
Silver Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016.
Finalist RONE Awards, 2016.
Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017.
Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017.
Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017.
Melanie made a name for herself with her debut novel, Break in Two, a contemporary romance that cracked the Top 10 Paid on Amazon in both the UK and Canada, and the top 50 Paid in the USA. Her highly acclaimed Full Hearts Series was picked up by both Piatkus Entice (a division of Hachette UK) and HarperCollins Canada. Her first three books have been translated into Czech and Slovak by EuroMedia. Since 2013, she has written and published three novellas, and eight novels (of which seven have been published). She has sold over a quarter of a million books around the globe.
In her previous life (i.e. before having children), Melanie got her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, then went on to work in the soul-sucking customer service industry for a large cellular network provider that shall remain nameless (unless you write her personally - then she'll dish). On her days off, she took courses and studied to become a Chartered Mediator. That designation landed her a job at the R.C.M.P. as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for 'K' Division. Having had enough of mediating arguments between gun-toting police officers, she decided it was much safer to have children so she could continue her study of conflict in a weapon-free environment (and one which doesn't require makeup and/or nylons).
Melanie resides in Edmonton with her husband, three young children, and their adorable but neurotic one-eyed dog. When she's not writing novels, Melanie loves reading (obviously), snuggling up on the couch with her family for movie night (which would not be complete without lots of popcorn and milkshakes), and long walks in the woods near her house. She also spends a lot more time thinking about doing yoga than actually doing yoga, which is why most of her photos are taken 'from above'. She also loves shutting down restaurants with her girlfriends. Well, not literally shutting them down, like calling the health inspector or something--more like just staying until they turn the lights off.
She is represented by Suzanne Brandreth of The Cooke Agency International.
