New Beginnings (53 page)

Ember Whitfield was well on her way to living the life she always envisioned for herself. She received her degree in photography from a prestigious New York university. Her best friend, Jake, was her roommate and photo assistant. And after fleeing the tough competition of New York City for Seattle, she had high hopes of being able to obtain her dream as a professional photographer. But most importantly, Ember was perfectly single. And after having dumped her not so perfect, philandering boyfriend, Ember planned on staying perfectly single. But as Ember soon discovers, things don’t always go as planned.

Ember’s assistant secretly enters her in a local contest, winning her a gallery showing. She’s hopeful this will get her and her work quickly noticed. While out celebrating her impending show, Ember gets hit on by the most annoying, arrogant man, who is also the most attractive man she’s even seen. He’s tall, built, and ruggedly handsome. He’s perfect, but he’s also not part of her plan.

After landing a photo shoot for a popular fashion magazine, in strolls the up and coming male model, Evan Ryan James, the perfectly annoying, arrogant, gorgeous man from the bar. Evan had been immediately captivated by Ember, but after getting her heart broken by her former philandering boyfriend, Ember vowed she would never get involved with another model again. But Evan won’t take no for an answer. He believes he found the perfect woman in Ember, and he is determined to make her see it. Just as Ember starts to let Evan in, both of their careers take off. Soon, their tenuous relationship is quickly put to the test when they are both pulled in different directions by the high demands of their jobs.

To my entire family for your unwavering support, encouragement, and enthusiasm. Special thanks to my husband, Michael, for understanding when I am lost in one of my many writing frenzies, and for reading every single chapter after it’s completed. Special thanks also to my Mom and sister, Linda, for their mad editing skills.

To my BFF, Benora, for continuing to encourage me every step of the way, and for always being there when I stumble and fall.

To Rachel Q. for all your support and encouragement.

To Diana R. for your wonderful feedback and enthusiasm. Thank you for embracing Xavier and Ella so passionately.

To Kim K. for the tremendous amount of support you have given me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. You have some pretty mad editing skills too. ;)

To Lynn C. also for the tremendous amount of support you have shown me. I appreciate all that you have done to get the word out about my books. Your enthusiasm always kept me going as well as your many words of encouragement. You also have some pretty mad editing skills, and I appreciate all your help with New Beginnings. ;)

To Karen E. for being a beta reader for both Starting Over and New Beginnings. I appreciate your help, kind words, and honest feedback. I’m still smiling from your enthusiastic response to New Beginnings! Thank you!

To Ebony and This Mommy Loves To Read for all of your support, and for including me in your wonderful project of Books For Troops. You’re an amazing woman!

To Arijana with Cover It Designs for all your hard work on both the beautiful cover for Starting Over and New Beginnings. You rock!

To Angela with Fictional Formats for your beautiful work with both
Starting Over
and
New Beginnings
. You gave my work a professional look like no other. Thank you!

To everyone who took the time to contact me to let me know how much you enjoyed Starting Over and were looking forward to New Beginnings. I appreciate each and every one of you. Your kind words and awesome reviews are invaluable to small indie authors like me, and I LOVE hearing from you! Thank you!

Hi, I’m Lori Elen Maguire. I am a born and bred Jersey Girl who is currently living just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. I am married with two daughters and two grandsons. I am an avid reader with a passion for romance novels. When I’m not reading, you can usually find me writing. I also have a special love of photography, football (Go Giants!), and all things vampire.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. If you’d like to know what other stories I’m working on, or just want to stop by and say hi, you can connect with me on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/lemaguireauthor
or email me at
[email protected]
.

Other Works by L. E. Maguire

Starting Over
(Hart of Seattle, #1)