Short Order Daddy,
Surprise Billionaire
by Tabitha Foster
Contemporary Multicultural Romance
Published by Chances Press, LLC
Released on September
19, 2011
Heat Level: Steamy
Length: 162 pages
Available
at:
B&N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/short-order-daddy-surprise-billionaire-tabitha-foster/1105817650
All Romance eBook -
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shortorderdaddysurprisebillionairearomance-601922-149.html
Smashwords - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/90347
Blurb:
Stranded on a sweltering Arizona roadside, billionaire CEO, Max Van
Buren, is rescued by the gorgeous, independent, and sometime tow-truck driver,
Allie. For several years her life has been devoted to raising her young son and
running a very successful restaurant. When she offers the seemingly
down-on-his-luck traveler a temporary job, she may not want to resist opening her
heart for much longer.
Excerpt:
Maxwell Van Buren had
never been this hot in his entire life. Sweat poured from his body and
highlighted his defined biceps and pecs while also soaking his old Guns N’
Roses t-shirt. His muscles tensed. It felt like he was on fire. In some scenes,
his appearance might even be sexy at that moment. Wet. Hot. Breathing heavy.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a damn thing erotic about his current situation.
“Piece of junk!” he
exclaimed kicking the tire of his steaming rental car in frustration. This is
what he got for renting a car from some place called Rent-A-Deal. The luxury
convertible he had ordered for this trip had been mistakenly given to another
customer, and all rental car places in Phoenix
were booked due to ten simultaneous conventions except for...you guessed
it...Rent-A-Deal which specialized in rental cars that had passed their prime
many years earlier at other companies. If Max was going to continue with his
trip, he had to have a car...any car. So, the 2001 Corolla seemed reliable
enough at the time.
Now, he stood along a
deserted highway in northern Arizona
right smack in the height of summer. Max couldn't even begin to guess the
temperature out here. He took off his sweaty t-shirt, wiped his brow with it,
and tied it around his waist. He looked at his watch. When he called them, his
auto club had said a tow truck should have been there ten minutes ago.
“Stupid idiot,” Max
muttered under his breath. This whole plan had been his own cockamamie idea to
get back in touch with “the people,” to find out where his company went wrong,
and to see where they could inject new energy into their restaurants. But it
looked as if things would be a bust from the word “go.”
His family, the Van
Burens, owned a chain of Mexican restaurants called Tio Jose's, or TJ's for
short. The initial business had been started by his Mexican great-grandfather,
Jose Hernandez Gonzalez, who sold fresh tacos from a cart in Los Angeles before upgrading to a small
stand. His daughter was Max's grandmother, Carmen Santana, a woman said to be
so beautiful and voluptuous men would skip a breath at the sight of her. She
married Carlson Van Buren, much to the moneyed Van Buren family's shock and
dismay. When great-grandfather Jose died, Carl Van Buren suddenly noticed how
successful the little taco stand had become and additional dollar signs flashed
before his eyes. Carl, with Carmen's blessing, took the initial restaurant idea
and turned it into what would become a 200 location national restaurant chain
specializing in mid-priced Mexican food, using Jose's old recipes of course.
Years later, Max had
inherited the CEO position, but under his watch and with the downsizing
economy, TJ's had begun to lose ground and fast. At the last board meeting, Max
had been told to turn things around quickly or expect to be replaced.
Maxwell Van Buren,
thirty-two years old, six foot two, dazzling smile, well-defined body and charm
that could talk a Catholic nun into giving up her habit had never grown
accustomed to failures of any kind. Failure had simply not been a word in his
vocabulary. He sure as hell would not start now. After studying piles of
customer survey data with his younger brother, Stuart, Max noticed a trend.
Customers felt that TJ's offered nothing special that could not be found
anywhere else and for a cheaper price. The customer service rating also left a
lot to be desired.
That's when Max had
what he hoped would be the saving idea to turn things around. He gathered a
team of assistants to research small-town Mexican restaurants that were
thriving, even in this economy. He wanted to see firsthand what these
establishments were doing that his big chain company didn't do. No contracted
out research company for him. Max wanted to get into the nitty-gritty himself.
A one-week trip with
ten stops through Arizona , Nevada ,
and California
was planned. Max instructed his staff to only contact him in an emergency and
left everything else in Stuart's hands. He wanted to have a clear head during
his expedition. He wanted to see what was needed to bring the heart back to
TJ's and its customers back to the dining room.
“So much for careful
planning. And I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty…,” Max said to himself,
glancing down at his watch, feeling hot and tired.
He hadn't even made it
to his first stop in Primrose, Arizona .
Finally, in the
distance, he saw a tow truck approaching.
“About d--n time,” he
growled, his mouth feeling as dry and rough as the surrounding landscape.
The tow truck skidded
to a stop behind his Corolla and to his utter surprise, a tall, alluring Latina , with long curly
dark hair hopped down from the bed of the truck. She wore a green t-shirt which
read “Find THE Flan at Tia Maria's” and a pair of worn jeans. She sauntered up
towards him and called out, “Having some problems?”
About the Author:
Tabitha Foster grew up in the Santa Barbara wine country and not far from the beautiful Pacific Ocean coastline.
She currently lives in the Los
Angeles area and is hard at work on the next
installment in the Van Buren Brothers series.
Connect with Tabatha Foster:
Win your own copy of this book by entering the rafflecopter below. But enter by January 27th!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the whole tour here.
Would love to read this!
ReplyDeletelovefreestuff17(at)gmail(dot)com
would love to read the book too
ReplyDeleteparisfan_ca@yahoo.com
Very nice excerpt.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful emotional read!
ReplyDeleteivegotmail8889(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hi My Devotional Thoughts...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for highlighting my book, Short Order Daddy, Surprise Billionaire. I greatly appreciate it, and I hope everyone enjoys the book!
Tabatha