A Better Man
Sunshine Creek Vineyard #1
By: Candis Terry
Releasing March
29, 2016
Avon
Avon
Blurb
In Candis Terry’s first novel in her Sunshine Creek Vineyard series, the handsome Kincade brothers convene to rescue their legacy-but the last thing they expect to find is love….
Sooner or later…
Hockey star Jordan Kincade wasted no time ditching Sunshine Creek for the NHL, but his sports career has overshadowed everything else-a truth Jordan confronts when his parents’ deaths bring him home. Now his little sister Nicki is flunking out of school, and only one teacher can help Jordan save her-the shy but incredibly sexy Lucy Diamond, the same girl whose heart he broke years ago. But he’s determined not to make the same mistake twice. If only Lucy would give him the time of day.
Love has a way of catching up with you.
Lucy has no intention of drowning in Jordan’s deep blue gaze again, even if he seems to have turned over a new leaf. Still, his devotion to his sister is impossible to ignore. As they team up to salvage Nicki’s future, Lucy soon discovers that Jordan’s sweet caresses and lingering kisses might just be everything she needs.
In Candis Terry’s first novel in her Sunshine Creek Vineyard series, the handsome Kincade brothers convene to rescue their legacy-but the last thing they expect to find is love….
Sooner or later…
Hockey star Jordan Kincade wasted no time ditching Sunshine Creek for the NHL, but his sports career has overshadowed everything else-a truth Jordan confronts when his parents’ deaths bring him home. Now his little sister Nicki is flunking out of school, and only one teacher can help Jordan save her-the shy but incredibly sexy Lucy Diamond, the same girl whose heart he broke years ago. But he’s determined not to make the same mistake twice. If only Lucy would give him the time of day.
Love has a way of catching up with you.
Lucy has no intention of drowning in Jordan’s deep blue gaze again, even if he seems to have turned over a new leaf. Still, his devotion to his sister is impossible to ignore. As they team up to salvage Nicki’s future, Lucy soon discovers that Jordan’s sweet caresses and lingering kisses might just be everything she needs.
My Thoughts:
In Candis Terry's new series we meet the Kincade family. They have recently lost their parents, but with the lost they gain a vineyard and a family secret. Candis certainly knows how to hook a person in on a series, especially when their is a family secret involved. By the end it sure sounds like doozy. It seems like there's a scandal a brewing. By the end of the story we are hitting the tip of the iceberg. Of course now I'm sucked in wondering what could this secret involved and how it impacts the family. When we start the story, the family has been going the separate ways for sometime, it's amazing how a tragedy can bring everyone together. Each of the siblings have to find a way back home in a sense. I mean they all have to reconnect and become a family again. First off is Jordan. He's the first to really leave the nest and never looked back, so when he returns everyone is waiting for him to say adios. However, he remembers how they use to be, and he aims to fit back into the family. Fifteen years is long time to try to reconnect with family. Even some of the members have a chip on their shoulder. He has to work hard to earn his sister's trust, after all he's never been part of her life. He has a lot to make amends. Not only with her, but with her teacher Ms. Diamond.
Lucy Diamond is Nicki's teacher, but Jordan and her had past. There wasn't anything romantic about these two when they hung out together, but Lucy thought there could be after all he did ask her to a dance. Then again she was use to be rejection, when he stood her up. Now Jordan would like to get back into her good graces cause he did actually liked Lucy in high school.
A Better Man is a great start for Candis Terry's Sunshine Creek. I did like the fact we have a family secret that ties all the books together. We have a fracture family that needs to mend after all these years, and hopefully will be stronger in long run. We have one family relationship that is on the mends. Of course there is romance. We see the banter between Jordan and Lucy. I could relate with Lucy. You have the popular jock, and invisible girl. She doesn't understand why Jordan would want to be with her. Overall, a pretty good story. Plus, there is one scene that totally made me melt, actually a couple. Those who love Candis's previous books will enjoy A Better Man and Kincade family.
Copy provided by Avon via Edelweiss.
Excerpt
Today, she was a
different person. Stronger because of the things she’d lived through. Smarter
because she’d found a way to survive and come out the other side in a happy
place. She knew exactly where she belonged, and that was teaching and helping
students like Nicki. Which was why, right now, she was going to pull on her big
girl panties and face the boy who had disappointed her head on.
Lucy managed to pull
herself together as Jordan removed his sunglasses and slid them to the top of
his head. His smile lifted a masculine pair of lips that somehow managed to
look cruel and sexy at the same time.
The boy had turned
into a man times ten.
Tall and broad
shouldered, his chest looked a mile wide. Judging by the smooth ripples beneath
his snug shirt he was packing muscle, not pounds. Jeans, worn and frayed at the
stress points, accented his long muscular legs and trim waist. His longish
nearly black hair gleamed beneath the overhead lights. And his sharp blue eyes
focused intently on her.
It was all she could
do to keep her heart at a normal pace and her legs solidly beneath her. If ever
a man could be described as delicious, Jordan Kincade would be a menu’s
specialty of the day.
Too bad he was such a
jerk.
“Ms. Diamond?” He
came forward and stretched out his very large hand. “Jordan Kincade.”
And clearly he didn’t
remember her.
Lucy smiled as a
funny little tickle moved through her chest. Maybe this was going to be fun
after all. Rarely was she ever given the upper hand or the opportunity to have
even the slightest edge.
When he moved closer
his warm palm engulfed hers and her triumph died with a sizzle.
Close up she got a
better look. She inhaled his sexy scent of worn leather and warm man. Every
square inch of her female DNA perked up like it was party time. She hated to
disappoint the little darlings but today was all about helping someone else.
“Please.” She kept
the handshake brief and formal before she disengaged and motioned toward the
chair in front of her desk. “Have a seat.”
He glanced at the
standard school chair with a you’ve got to be kidding me lift of his brows.
When he sat down, the orange plastic chair creaked and seemed ridiculously
small beneath the scope of his height and muscles.
Lucy took her own
seat and noticed that the difference in chairs made her tower over him and
seemingly give her another advantage. But when he leaned back and crossed an
ankle over a knee, he appeared completely comfortable.
So much for
one-upmanship.
“I apologize if I
seemed taken aback just now.” She opened the folder and pulled out Nicole’s
progress report as well as several exams and the few assignments Nicole had
actually turned in. Late, of course, but complete nonetheless. “I expected your
brother Ryan.”
“He had business at
the vineyard and sends his regrets.”
She couldn’t help
notice how very deep and smooth his voice had become. Like hot buttered rum on
a cold winter night. He had the kind of voice a woman could imagine whispering
sweet nothings in her ear while he caressed her in places that tingled beneath
his touch.
“I understand.”
Snapping out of the fantasy, she imagined the enormous scope of duties Ryan
Kincade must need to tend to after the death of their parents. Her heart sank a
little further for the family. Especially for Nicole, who was so young and
really needed the love and guidance of her mom and dad. “I hope you’ll accept
my condolences. And I sincerely apologize for having you come down at this
sorrowful time to deal with what might seem insignificant but—”
“Anything regarding
my sister is important, Ms. Diamond. Now more than ever.” His brows dipped in a
no nonsense fashion. “So don’t judge me when you don’t even know me.”
Oh, she knew him.
Knew he was the type
who’d make a promise then shatter it without ever looking back.
But that was then,
and this was now.
“My apologies, Mr.
Kincade. That was certainly not my intent.”
His piercing eyes
perused her face for a long, uncomfortable moment and she had to admit that the
look did something funny to the beat of her heart.
Especially when with
a slight tilt of his head he asked, “Why do you look so familiar?”
“Do I?” That erratic
heartbeat kicked up another notch as she let go a chuckle to cover up what was
really going on inside. “People say that all the time. I guess I just have one
of those faces.”
She pushed Nicole’s
schoolwork in his direction. “If you’ll take a look at these projects, you’ll
see that even though she didn’t complete the assignment exactly as it was
defined, Nicole has an enormous gift.”
“I’m pretty sure
that’s a lie.”
“Excuse me?”
Irritated, Lucy’s gaze shot up to the slight smile curling his lips. “How can
you say that without even reading anything? I guarantee your sister has a
multitude of talent.”
“I’m not talking
about my sister’s work. I’m talking about you just having one of those faces.”
He uncrossed his long, muscular legs and leaned forward without even looking at
the papers she’d put in front of him. “So now I’m wondering why you sidestepped
my question.”
Good God the man was
intense. There was something in the combination of that nearly black hair that
fell over his ears and his nape in perfect waves and those deep blue eyes that
seemed almost otherworldly. She could imagine how he’d intimidate an opponent
on the ice.
And it had nothing to
do with his size.
But as far as
admitting who she really was? Not going to happen. No need to dredge up a bad
memory when all she really wanted was to help his sister.
“I apologize.” Her
heart beat erratically as she avoided the intensity of his gaze. “But I would
like to stick to the subject of your sister’s grades—or lack thereof—that may
prevent her from graduating with the rest of her class. I genuinely care about
her which is why I noticed a problem way before the loss of your parents.”
“And now you won’t
even look at me,” he said. “Why is that?”
As he leaned in, his
intoxicating scent came with him. Normally such things didn’t affect her. Well,
at least not with her colleagues who tended to wear either too much aftershave
or worse, too much body odor. Jordan wore his masculine scent like a sexual
promise and Lucy swore he should come with a warning label.
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