Blackjack
& Moonlight by Magdalen Braden
Series:
The Blackjack Quartet, #3
Publication
Date: May 25, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sex v. Love—a battle in
the courtroom and the bedroom!
Hotshot litigator Elise Carroll
doesn’t have time for romance—she wants to make partner at her Philadelphia law
firm. Despite her mother’s urging, Elise avoids settling down by keeping her
relationships short and sexy. Her idea of a perfect date? Beer and pretzels at
a Phillies game.
When Jack “Blackjack”
McIntyre—Philly’s super-sexy new judge—falls for Elise in court, she’s
horrified. He “claims” to be in love with her—but that can’t possibly be true.
He doesn’t give up trying to wine and dine her, though, so she devises a new
scheme. Like all men, surely he’ll leave after a short and sexy fling.
Only problem—Blackjack refuses to
sleep with her! They compromise—she’ll go on his romantic dates if he’ll
alternate them with her “just sex” dates. Their contract works surprisingly
well—until Elise can no longer find the line between love and sex.
Can Elise get her life back where she
wants it—in a partner’s office? Or will Jack McIntyre use his superpowers to
win their contest of wits?
“Hey, it’s my favorite client.” Elise Carroll
grinned and dropped her briefcase so she could scoop DeeDee, her secretary’s
four-year-old, into her arms.
Kim looked up from a file open on her desk, her
cheeks striped by dried tears. “Can you play with her for a couple minutes?”
Uh-oh. More domestic drama—the last thing Kim
needed. “Okay, but I cannot be late for that man.” Elise walked into her
office. With the door open, Kim would be able to watch her daughter from across
the hall.
“What man, Auntie Leese?” DeeDee asked, her corn-silk
hair glinting under the office lights.
Elise pointed at the magazine on her
desk. “Him.”
DeeDee reached for Philadelphia Magazine,
the cover showing a handsome man in a black robe. The headline read,
“Philadelphia’s Newest—and Sexiest—Judge” and beneath that, in smaller letters,
“Blackjack McIntyre moves from the US Attorney’s office to his own district
court.”
“Who’s dat?” DeeDee inspected the photo.
Elise laughed. “Just the latest guy to think a black
robe makes him right all the time.” She set DeeDee down on the carpeted floor.
“You want to color, sweetheart?”
“Sure!”
Elise pulled some paper out of the recycling bin,
and after checking what was printed on it, spread it out on the floor, blank
sides up. She found the crayons she kept in her desk for DeeDee’s visits. She
checked her watch.
“Oh, lord, look at the time. If I don’t leave
immediately I’ll be late for him.” She pointed at Blackjack McIntyre,
scowling at her from the cover of the magazine.
Kim grinned. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Details, I want all the details. Is he as good-looking as in his press
conferences?”
“Not you too.”
Elise threw the magazine onto Kim’s desk. Jack
McIntyre’s blue-black hair and chiseled jaw mocked her from the cover. Superman
in a judicial robe. “I don’t plan to be there long enough to look at him. Five
minutes, tops. He grants my motion, and I’m out of there.”
“Oh, please. You know he’s seriously hunky. And the
article says he’s not dating anyone at the moment.”
“Well, based on the women he’s been seen with, I’m
not his type. Good thing because I have no interest in dating him or anyone
else right now. I want to focus on making partner. And you’d better focus on
getting your daughter to day care.”
Another check of the watch. Shit. There’d
better be a cab downstairs or she’d be late. On her way back into her office,
Elise looked at the papers on the floor. DeeDee had drawn a figure in black.
Either it was the Honorable Jack McIntyre or a vampire bat. Hard to tell.
After pairing up lawyers romantically in her head
for fifteen years, Magdalen Braden traded in her job as an attorney to set her
inner matchmaker free. Today she draws on her past adventures in a Philadelphia
law office to write her sexy contemporary romance series, The Blackjack
Quartet.
Blackjack & Moonlight, the third installment
in the series, was a finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of America®
Golden Heart® contest in 2012. All four books contain love, romance, and a
solid dose of legal humor. Magdalen connects with readers at her local
satellite of the Lady Jane's Salon® reading series, and with fellow writers at
her Romance Writers of America® chapter.
When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her
crossword-loving husband, their Rhody-mix dog, and two omnipresent cats in the
Endless Mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania.
*giggles* This sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteMarika/Harlie
Thanks for hosting! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring Blackjack & Moonlight!
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of book too and I love the cover! Eek! Excited!
ReplyDeleteDonna @ BookPforLife
Blackjack & Moonlight sounds like a great romance/ legal novel. I want to read the entire series. I worked as a legal secretary and then a paralegal for over 30 years until I was forced to go out on disability after I was laid off in our large law firm's third set of layoffs in 2 years. That was 2 years ago, and after reading this latest excerpt I was brought back to the close relationship I had with my only female attorney. Thanks for sharing and for bringing back some great realistic memories. I will look forward to the next excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt, sounds like it is going to be a great book. I can't wait to read this as well as the other books in the series. And the cover is very sweet, thanks again! :)
ReplyDelete