Friday, November 25, 2011

FIRST PAGE FRIDAY: Cat Grant's Once a Marine

Discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, former Marine major Cole Hammond is struggling to find a new identity. But PTSD casts a pall on everything, and his hard-nosed, homophobic father can’t even bear to look him in the eye. To top it all off, he’s pretty sure he’s flunking out of law school. 

Marc Sullivan is a kind, sensitive romance author-slash-waiter with a thing for men in uniform. Cole’s not wearing his anymore, but there’s no mistaking the warrior Marc meets in the diner one rainy afternoon. Cole’s sexy smile and Carolina drawl prove irresistible, but Marc’s played this game before, and he always loses. Once a Marine, always a Marine, and if there’s one thing Marc knows about such men, it’s that they all leave him in the end. It doesn’t help that Cole’s practically closeted in public, or that he refuses to seek treatment for his PTSD.
But like any good Marine, Cole’s willing to fight for what matters. And like the characters in Marc’s stories, he’s certain that if only they try hard enough, together they can find their own happily ever after.

First Page
November, 2009
The second he walked into the diner, I nearly dropped the stack of plates I was carrying. Six foot three at least, with long, long legs encased in jeans worn almost white across the front of his well-muscled thighs. Dripping wet from the freezing November downpour, he unzipped his rain jacket and pushed back the hood. Oh, holy Christ. Lush lips, strong chin, cheekbones that could slice through a rare steak. Nordic-god blond hair in a military buzz cut that instantly made the crotch of my jeans tight. Good thing I had my apron on. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and kept staring.
I wasn’t the only one. Terry’s hand froze momentarily over the cash register as our new arrival gave her a quick nod, grabbed the sports section from the front counter, and headed for the nearest empty table. He didn’t seem to notice us both gaping at him, or maybe he just didn’t care. Drop-dead gorgeous guys like him were probably used to it.
“That’s what I call a tall, cool drink of water.” Terry handed her customer his change and shut the register with a bump of her ample hip. “And lucky you—he just sat down in your section. Unless you want to take your break now?” She flashed me a toothy grin.
“Nice try,” I fired back with a wink. I put my armload of dirty dishes in a tub under the counter and grabbed a mug and a pot of coffee before making a beeline back to Mr. Tall-and-Hunky’s table. The shitty weather had scared away most of the usual Sunday morning crowd, so for once I didn’t get waylaid refilling cups.
Tall-and-Hunky glanced up as I approached. He looked about thirty, with nice eyes—pale blue, but not the least bit icy. Smiling, I gestured toward him with the mug. “Hi, I’m Marc. Would you like some coffee?” He nodded. “Did you want some juice this morning as well, or maybe some water?”



Once a Marine can be purchased by clicking this link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/once-marine
Find Cat Grant on the web:
Author Name: Cat Grant
Email address: bittermint2007@gmail.com
Website URL: http://www.catgrant.com
Blog URL: http://catgrant.blogspot.com/
Twitter: CatGrant2009
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cat-Grant/123354784391947
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1912055.Cat_Grant

6 comments:

  1. I'm hooked. I've added Once A Marine to my must have list.

    Thanks,
    Tracey D
    booklover0226 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really looking forward to reading this one :-) Thanks for the excerpt!

    smaccall AT comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the sound of the book and definitely have it on my wishlist. Thanks for bringing it to us.

    joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the first page. I'm looking forward to reading it.

    mariaml254 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  5. This seriously sounds so great!!! Thanks so much for sharing the first page. \o/

    Judi
    arella3173_loveless@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Already bought it and now it's staring at me to read it! :D

    japoki at inbox dot lv

    ReplyDelete