On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Prince of Granola
(Plantation of White Treasure #1)
by L.A. Sartor
by L.A. Sartor
Contemporary Romance
ebook, 229 pages
March 25th 2018The fabled Costa Rican Plantation of White Treasure, source of the rarest form of the cacao bean, is up for sale. Though two fierce competitors have been invited to bid on it, only one can win.
For Drew Hopkins, purchasing the plantation is the perfect solution to escape a life she never wanted.
For Robert Prince, it’s the perfect route to revenge.
Drew, the founder’s daughter and now CEO of HH Chocolate, heads a company whose sales are waning. Robert, CEO of Prince Organics, a man driven by excellence, despises everything and everyone labeled Hopkins.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Will their forced proximity at the lush and exotic plantation rekindle old flames or will it fan the fires of antagonism?
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EXCERPT:
EXCERPT:
Breathing hard and feeling damp from the humidity and exertion, Drew climbed the plane’s steps and entered the Cessna Caravan. There were four other passengers in the plane that held eight seats. She was the last to board and as she headed to the empty seats at the rear of the plane, she heard the airplane’s door close and lock behind her.
A blond, incredibly handsome man who looked enough like Owen Wilson to be his twin, with the exact same “I don’t have a care in the world” attitude, turned around in his seat and smiled at her.
Drew returned his smile before she could help herself. His grin was infectious, open and without guile.
“Here for surfing?”
She glanced down at her linen capris, then back up to him with what she knew was a wry expression twisting her lips. She didn’t look like she was here for surfing, did she? Her pants, a once-crisp black big shirt and her favorite espadrilles didn’t feel like surfer attire to her. But then she’d never really been around surfers except those seen at the cinema, so what did she know?
Anyway, surfing wasn’t her adrenaline fix. Scuba and skydiving were her choices for physical and mental challenges. “Ah, no.”
He raised his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “High-end clothes don’t automatically rule you out of wanting to ride the waves. We get all types of people in all sorts of clothes. You come here one kind of person and leave another. Promise.”
What, he was reading her mind? That’s exactly what she was hoping for, but not in the way she thought he meant. “Do you live here?”
“Yup. I work and play in Costa Rica.”
Teaching surfing lessons? It would fit with his blond hair and tanned face. The shorts and the Maui Jim sunglasses hanging from the neck of his T-shirt didn’t hurt his image of a surfer either. And for a second she was so jealous of his apparent freedom she was sure she’d turned green.
“You?”
Just then the plane started its takeoff acceleration down the runway. “I live back East and I’m here plantation shopping,” she yelled back over the roar of the engine.
“Mangoes?”
“No, something else.”
“Coffee, bananas?”
She shook her head.
“Well it can’t be weed,” he yelled.
Drew blinked and then chuckled as she shook her head. No, definitely not marijuana. The plane was too noisy to talk more until they reached whatever altitude they would cruise at.
Blondy kept looking back at her as if trying to decide what she was up to. Secrets were good, and she was keeping this one. She still had no idea how many other chocolate company CEOs would be at the plantation. And since she’d never heard of this remarkable source of cacao, it must be a closely held family secret. But surely somebody in the industry knew of the premium cacao beans. Surely the beans were sold to some prestigious chocolatiers?
About the Author
I started writing as a child, really. A few things happened on the way to becoming a published author … a junior high school teacher who told me I couldn’t write because I didn’t want to study … urk … grammar. I went to college, moved a few times, came home and found the love of my life (that is another novel worthy story, but for later), and got married.We were super busy with our respective careers, mine a custom jewelry business with my mom, who was also teaching metalsmithing at the time, and my husband a crazy law career. We had two fur babies, Fudge (and briefly her brother Smudge, but sadly he didn’t live very long) and Two. Our cats would sleep with us and when they’d stretch out to their full length, we’d end up sleeping on the edge of the mattress.
I have always been a voracious reader and one night after throwing a particularly bad book at the wall (even putting a small ding in said wall), I realized that I could do better. I told my husband, and he said go for it. I called Mom and she revealed the junior high teacher story and she told I’d been writing all the time up to that point.
That blew me away. I didn’t remember any of it. But I started writing again, nearly the next day, pen and paper, learning, making mistakes, winning contests, nearly getting an agent, becoming disenchanted with the publishing industry and moving away from novel writing to screenwriting, getting a contract for a script and doing really well in screenwriting contests.
But none of that was making me much money. After numerous scary robbery drills I wanted to move away from my bank job (yes, this is many years later and a lot of stuff in between) and write full time for the green stuff.
My husband told me repeatedly that independent publishing was becoming a valid way to publish a novel and people were making big dollars. I didn’t believe him even after he showed me several Wall Street Journal articles. I thought indie meant vanity press.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I started pursuing this direction seriously, retired from the bank and hit the keyboard, learned a litany of new things and published my first novel. My second book became a bestseller, and while I’m not rolling in dough, I’m absolutely on the right course in my life.
So if you have a dream, pursue it as hard as you can. Life can get in the way, but never give up.
Please come visit me at www.lasartor.com, see my books, some pictures, some screenplays and sign up for my mailing list. I have a gift I’ve specifically created for my new email subscribers. And remember, you can email me at Leslie@LeslieSartor.com.
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Tour Schedule
March 26th:
March 27th:
March 28th:
March 29th:
March 30th:
March 31st: Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
- US PRIZE PACK: $25 Amazon Gift Card and book one in the Star Light, Star Bright Series, BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT (winner has choice of print or ebook)
- INT PRIZE PACK: $25 Amazon eGift Card and an ebook of book one in the Star Light, Star Bright Series, BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT
- Ends April 4th
Thank you for hosting me on your site. Prince Of Granola was a fun and hard book to write. You’d think by my 7th novel it would get easier.
ReplyDeleteHugs, L.A. Sartor
You're so welcome!! Thank you for stopping by :)
DeleteL.A., I'm fascinated by your mention of Mom's junior high story -- what on earth IS that? (Talk about a great teaser!)
ReplyDelete