Title - Three Rivers
Author - Chloe Barlow
Genre - Contemporary Romance
Expected Release Date - March 25th 2014
Synopsis
"A heartbreaking tale of letting go and learning to love again. A jaw-dropping debut novel you have to read.” - Helena Newbury , New York Times and USA
A self-contained bittersweet romance (no cliffhanger ending!) 87,000 words.
How do you start over when you gave everything to one life, one plan, and lost it all?
Althea refuses to allow herself to love again. Imprisoned in grief at twenty-four after her husband’s sudden death, she’s convinced her heart died along with him. She spends her days honoring his memory by clinging to the legal career he helped her to build and to the remaining pieces linking them together.
Griffen’s been running from his past. Despite success as an author and investigative journalist, he’s been traveling through life on autopilot. For a decade, he’s chosen perilous adventures and meaningless sex over the danger of any attachments. When he finally returns home to Pittsburgh
A chance encounter brings them together. Their instant desire for each other – and the bond they discover between them – shocks them both. Despite her best efforts, Althea can’t resist Griffen’s charm or his intriguing proposition – if she agrees to a no-strings affair with him for the two weeks he’s in town, he swears he’ll walk away when their time is up. Assured she can test the waters of a new life while keeping her vow never to betray her husband’s memory by opening her heart to another, Althea throws herself into the escape Griffen provides her.
Their perfect plans go awry when the intensity of their connection overwhelms them. Will they risk it all on the chance of something great together…or will the power of their secrets and guilt tear them apart?
Excerpts
Excerpt #1
“Come over here. Room service won’t be here for a while. Let’s dance,” he said. Griffen backed away and fiddled with his laptop until the soft tones of David Gray started to fill the room. He then reached for Althea, pulling her softly against him.
“Come over here. Room service won’t be here for a while. Let’s dance,” he said. Griffen backed away and fiddled with his laptop until the soft tones of David Gray started to fill the room. He then reached for Althea, pulling her softly against him.
“Um, I’m pretty klutzy, I hope you aren’t terribly attached to your toes.”
“I’m tough. Besides, we can go old school.” He placed her hands around his neck and hugged his arms around her waist, swaying them gently back and forth.
“So, when you said ‘old school,’ you meant middle school,” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah. You can sway, right?” he asked, dipping his head into the crook of her neck, reveling in how fresh and warm she smelled. It was something like jasmine and cherries, but very clean and all Althea. “We can pretend I have a crush on you and finally got the nerve to ask you to dance.”
“Oh boy, the jock asks the nerd to dance. That really was my 8th grade fantasy.”
“I don’t like you fantasizing about other jocks.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I was dreaming of you the whole time. Even though I hadn’t met you yet, you were already a glimmer in my eye. Is that better?”
“Much better,” he smiled. “Now, if we want to be authentic to me in 8th grade, I would be trying to do this.” Griffen gently crept his hands up, curling them under the swells of her beautiful breasts.
She playfully squirmed and nudged his hands down. “Do you want to get me put in detention?”
“I can punish you if that’s what you’re into, but I was more hoping to get to feel these a bit more,” he answered lifting his hands again, this time caressing her breasts.
“If we were really being true to my early teen years — or most of high school for that matter — you’d still be searching for something to cop a feel of.”
“Hmm?” he said leaning forward and pulling the V-neck of her jersey dress down until it revealed her breasts encased in a lacy, pink bra. He licked a nipple through the sheer material and she gasped. “Were you a late bloomer, gorgeous?”
“The latest.”
“Well, good things come to those who wait. You’re amazing,” he murmured as he licked over to her other breast, yanking down her bra and using the straps to hold her arms in place. He pulled her dress further down, kissing and licking her stomach. She expelled a frustrated moan, “Gri-iffen?”
“Need something gorgeous?”
“More,” was all he heard her squeeze out.
“Patience, baby. You ran out on me this morning. Then I had to watch your cute ass scurrying away from me for hours. Made me wait all day to taste, tease and touch you. To make your body mine again. So, I want to take my time.”
“Please,” she begged.
“We’ve already moved well into high school, gorgeous. Are you trying to graduate already?” His strong hands were kneading the cheeks of her ass while his lips kept moving further down her stomach.
“Yes. Please. More.”
“My three favorite words.”
Excerpt #2
Althea looked out the window, marveling at the breathtaking view of the city and the rivers from his suite. “This is one helluva view.” She turned and smiled at him shyly and she could see him swallow in response. Damn, even his Adam’s apple is sexy.
Althea looked out the window, marveling at the breathtaking view of the city and the rivers from his suite. “This is one helluva view.” She turned and smiled at him shyly and she could see him swallow in response. Damn, even his Adam’s apple is sexy.
He stalked toward her, his blue eyes trained on her hazel ones, and she actually shivered. He just stood there in front of her and she could barely breathe. Underneath all his playfulness there was the hint of someone intense and only barely contained, and the combination was driving her deliciously crazy.
Finally, he placed his hands on her shoulders and she released a little gasp. He gently slid them down the bare skin of her arms and she leaned her head back revealing her neck more fully to him as her hair fell away from her. Griffen nuzzled his face in her neck so that his masculine scent surrounded her, while his strong, warm hands rubbed purposely up and down her arms causing her insides to ignite like a wildfire. He gently kissed her neck, then teasingly bit her shoulder, and it was as though an electric shock shot straight to her core and she could feel herself becoming wet already.
“Althea, you’re incredible, you know that?” he asked as he moved his hands to her waist and pushed more fully against her, until his legs were snugly between her thighs and the cheeks of her ass were pressed against the cold glass. It was a stark contrast to the heat of his body and the intense warmth and wetness in her center. She imagined that if she pulled away there would be a steamy imprint of her back and ass against the glass and it made her feel beyond sexy.
They were already breathing heavily when he whispered, “Looking at you against this glass, the city behind you — now that is one helluva view,” he groaned against her ear, licking and nibbling her earlobe until she had to lean her dizzy head back against the cool glass for some relief.
Excerpt #3
“Griffen… Oh! That feels so good,” Althea whispered roughly, her voice slurring a little — whether it was from the drinks she’d had or arousal — she wasn’t sure.
“How drunk are you Althea?” he asked, leaning back, and his surprise growth of a conscience jarred her.
“Excuse me? Don’t you want me?” She suddenly felt shy and embarrassed, like her pretense was ripped away and she was just her same old stable self again.
“Dammit, Althea. I want you like crazy, but I want to know you really want this, too.”
“I know what I’m doing Griffen. I know what I want to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“You.” Whoa. What brazen hussy said that? She asked herself as his answering groan made the muscles in her stomach squeeze tight.
“Shit. You’re so sexy Althea. But you’re a good girl. I don’t have a lot of experience with good girls. I’m not quite sure what to do here.”
Althea smirked at him, grabbing his butt and pulling him tightly against her center. “Something tells me you’ve done this before.”
Griffen laughed, “Yes, that’s true. And I definitely have lots of ideas of what I’d like to do to you…with you. I meant I just want you to be sure.”
It was bizarre to Althea that his man, whom she’d followed to his hotel room after only just meeting him, could tell so easily that she was a good girl. Because he was right — she was one, always had been.
“Yes Griffen. I guess I’ve done my best to be a good girl my whole life. I also try to be a damn great woman. But tonight. Now. Here,” she purred, enunciating each word with the scratching of her nails up and down his smooth cotton shirt, brushing his nipples until he groaned. “I just want to be…with you. What do you say?”
“Yeah, gorgeous,” he said, lightly brushing the fingertips of one hand down her face. Running them across her lips and resting them there. “We can definitely do that.”
About the Author
Chloe is a contemporary romance novelist and practicing attorney living in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and their sweet puppy. She is a native Washingtonian that graduated Duke University Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh Law School
Chloe has always loved writing and although she does do it professionally as a lawyer, she cherishes the opportunity to craft her contemporary romances and share them with the world.
She is an avid romance fan and wrote her debut novel Three Rivers in her spare time. She continues her tireless legal style of research in her fiction work as well. For example, in an effort to bring authenticity to Three River
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Random Question about Chole
1) What has been your worst haircut/style?
I have crazy thick hair and lots of it (I mean, we’re talking use-a-quart-of-conditioner-without-blinking amount of hair). It really only works as a super short or really long. In high school I chopped it off in this cute edgy pixie I loved! Then I spent a semester of my senior year in high school in China
2) In O’s and X’s which do you normally pick?
X’s all the way
3) Bottle beer or draft?
Draft
4) If you could learn any language fluently what would it be?
French. Studying Chinese and living there twice was great, but I love France
5) What is your favorite board game?
I love Clue! I so want to do a grown up Clue dinner party where people have to dress up like the characters. I want to dress up as Miss Scarlet. She has the best outfit and what woman doesn’t want to be a femme fatale for a night?
6) What is your favorite movie?
Lady and the Tramp. I named our springer spaniel Lady, now I just need to rescue Tramp! Second place is The Thin Man.
7) Which song do you hate the most?
Tied between Celebration and YMCA. For our wedding I put those on the DO NOT PLAY list. I think some guests wanted to rebel against my tyrannical refual to abide by wedding music protocol, but, damn, those are awful!
8) Who is your celebrity crush?
I have been in love with Ewan McGregor since I was 15. I swear my husband looks like him. He tells me he doesn’t see it. Good thing, mine is the opinion that matters on that issue.
9) Can you do 10 revolutions of a hula hoop?
Oh dear Lord, no. I can barely do one, and its not a sight anyone wants to see. I am beyond uncoordinated. My friends, family and husband lovingly refer to me as “The Spaz.”
10) What’s the worst pick up line ever used on you?
I was a waitress at the main hangout restaurant my senior year at Duke. We had “big beer night” on Thursdays. It was great for tips but terrible for pick up lines. One guy said to me 4 times: “I’ll have a beer . . . and your number.” He would have asked more times I think, but he couldn’t handle any more big beers after that.
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