Contemporary Romance
Release Date:
15th June 2016
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Natasha embarks upon the holiday of a lifetime with her brother,
looking forward to exploring the ancient sites Egypt has to offer. What she
hasn’t bargained for is spending her holiday cruising along the Nile with Kyle
Richardson, a handsome but moody archaeologist. Despite taking an instant
dislike to Kyle, Natasha finds herself increasingly drawn to the man,
particularly as his interactions with her brother reveal a gentler, more caring
side to his character.
Having lost everyone he has ever loved, Kyle is a loner, believing
himself to be cursed. He now spends his life moving around Egypt, ensuring he
never lingers anywhere long enough to form meaningful attachments. Despite his
better judgement, he finds himself drawn to this feisty young woman, but is
afraid of the deeper feelings she stirs in him.
Can his feelings for Natasha convince him that it’s worth taking a risk
on love?
Excerpt
“Natasha,
darling!” The rather stout woman levered herself from the chair and swiftly
crossed the room to throw her arms around her niece.
Breathing
in the familiar perfume and leaning into the protective embrace of her aunt,
Natasha’s irritation dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, and she closed
her eyes against the sudden and unexpected tears of relief at having finally
arrived at their destination. “Oh, Aunt Lucy, it’s so good to see you.” Her voice
was muffled against Lucy’s shoulder and she took a deep breath before stepping
back and smiling. “It’s been so long. I can’t believe we’re actually here at
last.”
“It’s
wonderful to see you, Natasha. I’ve missed you both so much.” Lucy lifted a
hand to cup her niece’s face before turning to Nicky, hands on her ample hips
as she scrutinised him critically.
“Oh,
you always were like two peas in a pod. And, Nicky, you have grown into a very
handsome young man. You have no idea how happy I am that you came.”
“Hello,
Aunty Lucy, how are you?” Nicky briefly returned his aunt’s embrace before
securing the baseball cap a little tighter on his head and asking the question
foremost in his mind. “Can I have something to eat?”
Lucy
shook her head with a smile and glanced at the man, who had so far remained
silent throughout. “Kyle, this is my nephew Nicky, and my niece Natasha. I’m
pleased to see that at least one thing never changes, and that is Nicky’s
appetite.”
She
caught Nicky’s arm and led him off to the far side of the room. “Come on, I’ve
got some of your favourite biscuits over here in this cupboard.”
Natasha
could see Kyle watching her younger brother, his eyes narrowed, and she felt
the familiar churning in the pit of her stomach, trying to anticipate at what
point he would realise Nicky had learning difficulties. Automatically, she
tried to deflect that scrutiny, moving further into the room and feeling a
sense of relief as Kyle’s gaze immediately swung towards her.
“Natasha
Morgan,” she introduced herself, and held out her hand.
“So I
gather.” His face was unsmiling and Natasha was uncomfortably aware of her
earlier, rather waspish response to what was probably quite a reasonable
conversation he had been having with her aunt. He pushed himself out of the chair
to tower above her, his hair shining blue-black in the pale moonlight which
streamed through the open window. Tall as she was, Natasha had to tilt her head
back to meet his startlingly blue eyes. He was younger than she had initially
thought, probably in his mid-thirties — just a few years older than herself.
There
was a pause before he replied. “Kyle Richardson.”
He
took her hand briefly, offering a firm cool handshake, before returning to his
chair, long legs stretched out before him and crossed at the ankles.
“I’m
sorry you overheard our conversation; I had no idea you were there.”
His
voice was deep and husky, and his gaze once again followed her movements as she
sank into the seat Lucy had recently vacated.
She
nodded and spread her hands expressively, shrugging her slim shoulders. “I’m
sorry if I sounded… irritated. It’s been a really long day and I hadn’t
expected Aunt Lucy to arrange a personal guide for us. Please, it’s not a
problem, we don’t want… we don’t need a guide, and I’m sure you have better
things to do with your time.”
Kyle’s
mouth twitched as if in amusement at the inadvertent slip of the tongue, but
whatever he was about to say was lost as Lucy and Nicky returned, the latter
clutching a packet of chocolate-covered biscuits.
“Oh,
you’ve introduced yourselves. Excellent.” Lucy beamed at them, clapping her
hands together. “I’m sure we’re all going to have a wonderful time together.”
“I was
just explaining that Nicky and I are quite happy to find our own way around
Egypt,” Natasha cut in quickly. “There is no need for Mr. Richardson to trouble
himself.”
“Nonsense,”
cried Lucy, fixing Kyle with a rather piercing gaze. “I’m not letting you
wriggle out of this one, Kyle. You owe me rather a lot of favours and I am now
calling one of them in. Heavens, man, I haven’t seen you in close to two years,
and I happen to know for a fact that you haven’t taken a break for longer than
that. It’s high time you did.”
Natasha
observed this outburst with some surprise, having hardly ever heard her aunt
speak so sharply. She risked a glance towards Kyle and saw that he was still
reclined in his chair, arms folded over his chest, and a somewhat amused gleam
in his blue eyes. He remained silent, obviously expecting Lucy to continue her
reprimand.
BUY LINKS
ABOUT ELLIE GRAY
Ellie is a contemporary
romance author and lives in the beautiful East Riding of Yorkshire with her
partner, David, and two children, Joe and Abbie.
Love on the Nile will be
her second novel published with the lovely Tirgearr Publishing – her debut
novel, Beauty and the Recluse was released in February 2016.
A proud member of the
Romantic Novelist Association, Ellie currently works full-time in public
services and is studying for an MSc in Public Management, although she hopes
one day to be able to write full time.
A few random pieces of
information about Ellie:
- Favourite
TV shows – The Walking Dead, The X-Files, Nashville, Dr. Who, The Great
British Bake-off!
- Favourite
Music – I’m an 80’s girl!, country, sixties, Elvis, classical (when I’m
writing)
- Favourite
Food – Indian, tapas, crisps, cheese
- Favourite
Drink – black coffee – copious amounts when I’m writing, Sauvignon blanc
when I’m not.
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Thanks so much for hosting Love on the Nile's release promo.
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