Christie
A. C. Gucker
.jpg)
Christie
A.C. Gucker lives in NJ with her husband, two daughters and a menagerie of
pets. Being a mother is one of the greatest joys of her life. She has worked in
the advertising industry for over 20 years as a degreed artist, but also works
in the fine arts, especially sculpting out of stone or snapping photographs.
Christie is also a singer and musician, and can be found singing on a few CDs.
After
the death of her father, Christie searched for something to fill her
desire to make a mark in this world. Her love of the arts and creativity
allowed her to search for a new medium, which she found with a pen instead of a
brush. Being an avid reader her whole life, and with her family cheering her
on, she decided to take her shot, and began writing.
Fascinated by
the supernatural and sharks, Christie studies both avidly. You’ll be sure to
find something spooky lurking somewhere in her stories. Her greatest joy is
sitting on a beach with her family while surf fishing, flying kites or building
sandcastles with her girls.
Author Links
The Cliff by Christie A. C. Gucker
Genre: Steamy Romance
Publisher: Pagan Writers Press
Release: September 28, 2012
Buy Links
Blurb
Can a
childhood pact affect the lives of three adults?
Love and betrayal surrounds the lives of lifelong friends
Lanie Rhodes, Grant Bennett, and Dane Voight. Years ago, they made a pact to
remain together as friends forever. The boys also made another secret pact that
same day—to never vie for Lanie’s love.
Grant
and Lanie have secretly been pining for one another since they were children.
Now grown up, they finally admit their feelings for each
other and what ensues is a twisted tale of deception as Dane does everything he
can to stop them.
The story weaves around this uneven love triangle. What
will happen to the pact? Will friendships be destroyed? Will lovers emerge?
Let's take a peek at a special excerpt from The Cliff...
As the sun began to lighten up the sky, I could
see the bands of clouds over the dark gray sky. They were moving pretty
quickly. I stepped out onto the terrace to feel the warm breeze gently caress
me. I was immediately brought back to Grant's hands on me last night. How
reverently he had touched me while we kissed. As soft as this breeze. Like I
was a china doll he was afraid to break. Did he really think I was so fragile?
I would show him I wasn't today. I was going to give him everything I had pent
up inside.
And then I thought about Dane. We had made a pact
and Grant and I were going to break it. Maybe Dane wouldn't care. He had been
with Lori for four months now, and apparently right before I returned home she
had basically moved in. I had enough on my mind dealing with my feelings for
Grant, and what was happening between us, to worry about Dane right now. I felt
guilty, but I needed to focus on the things at hand.
It was still very early, so I grabbed Woof and my
coffee and headed up to the one place, the one person, I had yet to visit since
I'd been home, the widow's walk, and Nicole. Maybe my mom could give me some
sort of sign. When I got to the walk, I realized it was the one place Grant
hadn't prepared for my return. It was my private place and apparently everyone
respected that. I sat in my big comfy chair and sipped my coffee while watching
the night sky turn to day, while remaining just as dark. This was going to be
one hell of a storm.
“Hi, Mom. I've missed you. I know you saw what
happened between Grant and I last night. Am I doing the right thing?” She never
replied. Well, that wasn't completely true. Thoughts that seemed not mine would
always pop in when I spoke to her. Maybe it was just me working things out. It
was comforting for me to think it was her, just the same.
I picked up my sketchpad and began to draw the
angry ocean and sky. Whenever I drew something, I would go into some kind of
trance. My mind would completely open and communicate directly with my hands; I
was just a bystander watching. Very soon, my image turned into something other
than the storm. There in the clouds were both Grant and Dane's eyes. Huh. Was this the sign my mom was subconsciously
giving me? Showing me the storm on the horizon that would brew between my guys
when Dane found out the direction Grant and I were headed? And where exactly
were we headed? I stayed and sketched for a while longer and then headed down
to get ready.
I
showered and shaved everything all nice and smooth. I applied some light
make-up so I looked pretty but not overdone. I debated what to wear. Right. I guess I really didn't have it
covered. I considered calling Samantha, but it was only seven o’clock, and she
would be sleeping.
I opted for a tight pair of jeans that made my ass
look even better than it normally did. And then I added a cute tight white
v-neck tee shirt with a great push-up bra, jeans jacket and boots.
I still had almost an hour to kill, so I headed
out to the stables early. The stables were situated behind Grant's house. We
each had a horse and there were two spares for Chelsie and Samantha.
My horse, Magic, was a beautiful Palomino. His
coloring was typical of the breed, but his legs were dappled and he had a
gorgeous light cream mane and tail. I decided it had been too long since I rode
and saddled him up.
I took the trail down the cliff and through the
dunes until it opened up to a narrow stretch of beach. Magic moved with me like
we were one. I loved riding him. I imagined it would be the same when I finally
rode Grant. Wait. What was wrong with me? Why was I
thinking like we're going to go all the way today? It was Samantha's fault. In
my head, I kept running over scenarios as to why we needed to ride out the
storm together. Riding. Riding Grant.
There I went again.
I ran Magic back and forth the length of the
beach, which was walled in on either side by our cliff. I looked up and I could
see Dane's house on one side, Grant's on the other and mine sitting cozily in
the middle.
I had spent many days with Grant and Dane on this
beach. This was our private beach. There was no way to get here except through
our land, by boat or swimming. Perhaps one in the wrong frame of mind might
consider cliff diving to get here.
I thought Magic had a good enough workout and
being mindful of the time, I headed back towards the trail and the stables. I
felt like a little girl. The closer we got the more butterflies I felt.
When I reached the stables I was still about
fifteen minutes ahead of Grant's arrival. I had time to remove the saddle and
get Magic hosed off and back in his stall. I then proceeded to feed and water
all the horses. I began to pull some of the equipment into the empty stalls and
noticed I could hear the wind kicking up even more. I loved the wind before a
thunderstorm and was eager to stand in it until Grant arrived. Just as I walked
out, I saw Grant walking down the path with two cups of coffee in his hands. He
beamed at me when he saw me. Beamed.
“Hey,” he said, handing me a cup. It smelled so
good I immediately knew it was Kona coffee, my favorite. I just had a feeling
this was going to be an epic day.
“Kona?”
“You're good.”
“I know my coffee.”
“And I know my stables. I see you've been busy.
What time did you get here?”
“Well, the alarm cat you bought me works great.
Woke me up at five o’clock, so I feel like I've had a full day already.” I ran
my hand through my hair and leaned against the side of the stable.
“So, how was the rest of your night?” I looked at
him through my eyelashes and hoped I wasn't blushing.
“It was quite an interesting night. I spent some
time at my window.” He put his forearm against the wall above my head and
leaned into me. I froze. It was my own fault for leading the conversation. I
looked down, sure I was blushing now, not sure what to say next.
“I was really enjoying the view. Stunning.” He
lifted my chin with his other hand and smiled this quirky grin at me. I could
feel the flush all over now.
“Of course, it's not the first time the view out
from my window has been so beautiful. I've been enjoying it for many, many
years.” He winked at me.
“I—Grant, I, Look, I—” I was at a loss. All I
could do was stutter. This was me not being confident at all.
“Lanie. That is a view I hope to get a much closer
look at. I've wasted too many years being a watcher and never taking advantage
of the scenery.” I smiled and then his was gone. “I didn't mean take advantage of. I meant … .” he
stumbled over his words.
“I know what you meant. And I like what you said.
I'll see if that can be arranged.”
He moved closer to me and pushed a stray piece of
hair behind my ear before running his fingers across my cheek. I felt the
warmth rising between us and then something interrupted the moment. Out of the
corner of my eye I could see …
Enter to win through the rafflecopter below!
Thanks for the giveaway. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDelete