Winner Takes All by Cheryl Harper

Happy Saturday! If you'd like to spend part of it with a book, here are 10 THINGS ABOUT WINNER TAKES ALL (too loud for Saturday morning? Sorry for the shouting.)

10. It's the first in a new series: Lucky Numbers. Three women who've been best friends since the trials of high school hit the lottery.

9. And, in the way of old friends who know you best, Jen and Rebecca refuse to let Stephanie wimp out. She's dreaming big. They're going to hold her to it.

8. Our hero Daniel is Rebecca's older brother. I've never written the best-friend's-older-brother story. This one was fun.

7. He's also working hard half a world away while they're plotting with a map and his set of darts. Rural medical clinics in the Andes are the perfect escape from his mistakes.

6. There is a very close encounter with a lizard.

5. No bulls were harmed in this story. In fact, the bull turned the tables. No people were harmed, either.

4. Coca Cola really is universal. Someday, we will find it on Mars. Just waiting for us to get there.

3. Good, kind people who work hard are global (because I'm not sure about life on Mars. Just Coke.). In Spanish and so many other languages, teachers do their best to pass on the education that is the key to kids all over the world following their own dreams. Stephanie is a teacher. She understands this.

2. Sometimes the only way to find your happiness is to take a risk that scares you. Stephanie is scared. She's climbing literal mountains here and staring hard at a big fall, but Daniel knows she can do anything.

1. Being a hero isn't about never making a mistake. In Daniel's case, his own arrogance has lost him his job and keeps him working too hard and too alone in the Andes. Stephanie is going to teach him how much more they can accomplish together.

Want to make my day and pick up Winner Takes All? Here are some handy links:
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1csf7we

If you aren't quite convinced...
Check out my Pinterest board for this series. See if you can guess what happens in the next book, Heart's Refuge, coming in October. (You don't have to guess. It's DOGS. So many DOGS!) I'll be posting a little sneak peek in my next newsletter so...sign up here!
And here's an excerpt:

If he’d wanted peace and quiet for his drive to Alto, he was totally going to get it. She couldn’t have made inane conversation about sports teams and weather if her life depended on it. She was too busy swallowing back pleas to slow down and be careful. Be more careful. Please be more careful.

Then the truck lurched, heading for the wall instead of the drop, and Daniel cursed. Before she could gather her breath to scream, before the movie of her life began flashing in front of her eyes, he had the truck stopped. “Flat tire.” Instead of shouting it like it might be the thing that spelled the end, his voice was flat with annoyance.

Like a flat tire while clinging to the side of a mountain was the same as a hangnail.

Here it might be.

Stephanie glanced wildly over both shoulders as if something might have changed in the two seconds she’d had her eyes squeezed shut. “Here?”

Daniel rested his chin against his chest for a second and then handed her his bottle. “They hardly ever happen on nice, level spots, especially around here.” He slid out of the truck, and she put both bottles in the cup holders before she inched her way out between the truck and the dusty mountain.

“But you know how to fix it?” Her fingers ached and she realized she’d tangled them together in a tight ball. At this second in this place, she was as equipped to change that tire as she was to fly back to Lima. Eventually she might figure it out, but not before they were flattened into more Peruvian dust.

Daniel wrapped both hands around hers, the ones she didn’t know she was wringing like a true damsel in distress, until some of his calm and warmth seeped through her skin. He’d always been able to do that, break through her worry and give her some peace.

“Relax. This is business as usual. I can change it. Haven’t I always kept you safe? You and the other Holy Horrors have trained me well. Big brother to the rescue again.” 


Comments

  1. Love the "Top Ten List", Cheryl! Can't wait to read this one...especially since there are BULLS in the story! (When my maternal grandfather was a teenager in his Italian village, he was gored by a bull. It left a horrible gnarly scar on his left bicep...)
    Wishing you and yours a happy Saturday! :-)

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    1. Thanks, Loree! The bull doesn't have a big part, but I think any time you have a story with any bull, it deserves a mention. :)

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  2. Yippee! Just got my subscription of June books. Now I have to find time to read since they all are so intriguing. And I love your initial concept of three friends winning a lottery. Wow a dream of everyone. Animals and exotic places, what's not to like about that? Have a good weekend. Are all three books finished?

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    1. Thanks, Roz! The series took a little turn and book two is about the money manager the winners hire, Jen's stepbrother. The sibling rivalry is intense, but Will also has to deal with the mean girl from high school and her big brown DOG. I'm still ironing out the proposals on the other two, but Jen is a grumpy heroine and I love her.

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  3. Omg! I love Daniel already. And the Andes. Sigh. I'm so glad I placed my order. This sounds fabulous, Cheryl. I lived in Ecuador for 3 years so when I saw the cover I was reminded of my South American home... Even if the shot Iis of the Rockies. Thanks for your very fun list. Love the coke on Mars!!!

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    1. Yay! Yes, the Andes are much browner. It was so much fun to visit Peru.

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  4. Love this. And where do you go to subscribe for the monthly books! I've looked, but obviously in the wrong places. But for now, I will go order online. :-)

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    1. Would that be the Harlequin Reader Service program I believe? They have a great blog too!

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    2. Yay! Reader Service or good ol' online orders, I'm a fan of both!
      Here's a link: http://www.readerservice.com/content/

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  5. I don't need any convincing to read your books Cheryl. I absolutely loved your Heartwarming books. I love the way you write and I'm sure this new one and the one to come will be no exception. So...what happens with that lizard? Did I mention how a few years ago a lizard fell from my garage rung onto the top of my head and I was so distracted I didn't realize it until a few minutes later? The rascal didn't move and....well, that's a story for another time. Anyway, love the sound of your new book. I don't play the Lottery myself, but wouldn't mind reading about friends who did. ( :

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    1. Thanks, Laurie. You do so much to promote Heartwarming. We appreciate you. I don't buy lottery tickets, either, but I sure wish I could land in a pile of money somehow and have spent fortunes in my head. The lizard...yeah, your story beats mine but only by a little. There was no lizard-to-head contact! I'm glad you survived yours!

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  6. Cheryl - I love your teaser. The big brother hero is a favorite of mine. I'm curious about the lizard, too. Our granddaughter once saw one on the wall when they were visiting in Arizona and she shouted, " Mom! There's an alligator on the wall!" Got everybody's attention. Most of my books are full of bull. Does that count? Congratulations on the book. I love your writing style.

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  7. Cheryl - I love your teaser. The big brother hero is a favorite of mine. I'm curious about the lizard, too. Our granddaughter once saw one on the wall when they were visiting in Arizona and she shouted, " Mom! There's an alligator on the wall!" Got everybody's attention. Most of my books are full of bull. Does that count? Congratulations on the book. I love your writing style.

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    1. Thanks, Muriel! Competing to see who had the most bull was practically a family tradition in my house. Frogs and lizards, I'm surrounded by them (although they don't come in the house, because I would MOVE) and I swear every time I see one, I think a snake has got me.

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    2. Okay, there must be a Mini-me wanting in on the fun. I swear, I did not do this twice.

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  8. Cheryl, fantastic post! Love this lottery-winning concept so much I'm already hooked. Loved your Tall Pines stories so I CAN"T WAIT for these. Congratulations!!

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    1. Thanks, Carol. I just caught up on your last post. I'm still recovering from the men in suits!

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  9. Bulls! Cool. I love animals in stories and all the hints you gave :) Looking forward to reading it.

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    1. Thank you! I hope I haven't oversold the bull... :)

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  10. I look forward to visiting the Andes with your characters, Cheryl. We're going to be sharing a book birthday in October!

    Best wishes for your new release!

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  11. So looking forward to this book, Cheryl! Congrats! And...I can already picture Coca Cola on Mars commercials lol ;).

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