On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Nice to Come Home To
By Liz Flaherty
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 384 Pages
August 1st 2018 by Harlequin Heartwarming
Will an apple a day…
Keep love at bay?
For Cass Gentry, coming home to Lake Miniagua, teenage half sister in tow, is bittersweet. But her half of the orchard she inherited awaits, and so does a fresh face—Luke Rossiter, her new business partner. Even though they butt heads in business, they share one key piece of common ground: refusing to ever fall in love again. But as their lives get bigger, that stance doesn’t feel like enough…
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Other Heartwarming Books
About the Author
Liz Flaherty was a little nervous about retiring from her day job, but making quilts, more family time, traveling at the mere mention of “why don’t we go…” and becoming a Harlequin Heartwarming author have made the past years more fun and exciting than she could ever have imagined.
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Tour Schedule
August 6th:
Launch
Nicole’s Book Musings
Declarations of a Fangirl
Reading is my SuperPower
Hearts and Scribbles
August 7th:
Andi’s Book Reviews
Remembrancy
Among the Reads
Inside the Mind of an Avid Reader
August 8th:
E-Romance News
Splashes of Joy
Book Lover in Florida
Britt Reads Fiction
Handcrafted Reviews
August 9th:
Book by Book
Becky on Books
Thoughts of a Blond
My Life, Loves and Passion
August 10th:
My Devotional Thoughts
It’s All About the Romance
Rockin’ Book Reviews
underneath the covers
August 11th:
Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
5 PRIZE PACK WINNERS WILL RECEIVE: a backlist book, dish towel, magnet, and notepad (picture includes an example – not a complete prize)
US only
Ends August 15th
~ Excerpt ~
When Cass finds out where the music is…
Later that day, walking through the orchard with Misty keeping her company, Cass looked through the branches of a pear tree, loving the picture the nearly leafless limbs made against the pale blue sky.
She eyed the tree trunk where it divided. It made her wish she had one of the orchard’s ladders out here. It had been a while since she climbed a tree just for the sake of climbing it. The last time had probably been when the volleyball team camped near the creek at the back of the Worths’ farm.
There weren’t enough leaves left on the tall Bartlett pear tree to offer the whispering accompaniment to her thoughts she remembered from those days, but still…it had been a while.
A few minutes later, she knew she hadn’t lost the knack. With only one slightly scraped anklebone, she settled into where the tree’s trunk divided, giving herself a back scratch against its bark in the process. Misty crawled into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt and fell asleep. Cass pulled out her phone and opened a notes app. She never used voice-activated programs, but her fingers were so slow on the phone’s keypad that she tapped the little microphone on the screen and dictated story thoughts.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sun was dangling low over the western horizon and the kitten had wakened and was sitting on her shoulder grooming herself when a voice came from below. “Please tell me you don’t need to be rescued.”
She loved the sound of Luke’s voice. Even with an ear of tin like hers, she thought she could hear the music in it. “I’m good,” she called. “I’ll be right down.” She scrolled through the notes on her phone. And scrolled and scrolled.
So this was why she couldn’t finish the book she’d started. Evidently Cassandra G. Porter needed some time off. The words on the screen came directly from Cass Gentry’s heart. There were a lot of them, and she could hardly wait to get to her computer to put them to good use.
She climbed down, Misty clinging to her shirt. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. I was at the apple barn pleading with the cider press to get us through this season. So far, it’s agreeing, but there’s no telling how it will go tomorrow. If our relationship were a marriage, we’d have been divorced years ago.”
She grinned at him. “Too high maintenance for you?”
“Sure is.” He flinched when Misty made the leap from Cass’s shirt to his shoulder. “Want to go to a movie tonight?”
She started to agree, then stopped. “Actually, I’ve got some paperwork that won’t wait. I know we talked about reducing our hours, but we haven’t done it yet. You worked this afternoon and I’m opening the coffee shop in the morning. I really need to do this tonight.”
“Okay. Not a problem.”
He looked disappointed, which sent a happy chill scampering down her back. “Aunt Zoey’s teaching Dad and Damaris how to play euchre. I’m sure they’d be glad for a fourth if you’re not doing anything. Royce hates it, plus she’s always grumpy when Seth spends the weekend with your parents.”
“He is, too. He’d rather Mom and Dad stayed down here every weekend. He doesn’t quite get that they have a life up there.”
Cass scooped Misty into her hands and tucked her into her pocket. “Want to come home with me for supper even if you don’t play euchre? Aunt Zoey’s cooking, so it will be good.”
“You talked me into it.” He caught her hand as they walked. “How’s it going with your dad? Is he going to stay here until Damaris is well?”
“It’s all right, I guess. He’s leaving this week. He wants to have dinner with Royce and me by ourselves before he goes. That should be quite an experience.”
“Think he’s trying to make up for time lost while you were growing up? I don’t know him well, and neither you nor Royce says much, but there’s no sense of warmth in the conversation. All your memories seem to revolve around your mothers—or in your case, Zoey and the lake.”
“I don’t know.” Cass shook her head. “I keep telling Royce he loves us the only way he knows how, but I’m not sure he does.” It was no wonder she was weird about men. She’d never been loved by one. Not exactly the norm when a person’s father was living and she’d been married as long as she had.
Luke didn’t argue her point. “It happens, although I admit I don’t understand it.”
Cass thought fleetingly of her perfect alter ego who didn’t have issues like unloving fathers or debilitating guilt. If Cassandra had shown up in childhood, life would probably have been much easier.
“Wait!” Luke drew them to a halt, standing still in the crunchy autumn grass. “Do you hear it?”
“Hear what?”
“The music. Somewhere, someone’s playing an apple orchard waltz.” He swung her into his arms. “Come on, let’s dance.”
She tried to pull away, both laughing and embarrassed. “Don’t tell me you’ve missed Royce calling me Sister Two-Left-Feet. She’s not kidding.”
“Don’t worry about your feet.” He held her closer and smiled into her eyes. “Dance from your heart—that’s where the music is.”
