Thank you, Christa, for having me! And thank you, readers, for stopping by!

My name is Marianne Rice and I write small town contemporary romance. I first sat down to write about nine years ago…right after popping out my third child. Princess was four and my little tomboy was two when my son was born. Writing became my escape. The McKay-Tucker Men series is my first, and I’m so excited to finally share these brothers with all of you.

In False Start, book 1 in the series, Connor McKay, the retired NFL player, is the quintessential alpha-male who tackles all the obstacles sports hater Meg Fulton throws at him.

In the second book, FALSE HOPE, little brother Mason Tucker conquers his fear of people and finds himself tangled with social queen Emma Fulton as she comes to terms with a family secret and a serious medical condition.

Here’s a little snippet from FALSE HOPE. When you’re done reading, stop on by and say hello on my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. I love to meet new readers (and writers!)

Excerpt:

Mason stood in her kitchen, his hands in his pockets and a sheepish apology on his face. “It was open.” He nodded toward her back door.

“That doesn’t mean you were invited in,” Emma muttered and went over to the front door. “This one’s open too. You can leave now.”

Mason walked over to the door and closed it, but stayed in the living room. When his arm brushed hers, she pulled away, singed from the heat, and pissed at her own reaction.

“This could be considered breaking and entering. I want you to leave.”

“I will. I n-need to say something first.” His hands returned to his pockets as he studied her knees. Better than her toes, but he still lacked in the eye contact department.

They stood in awkward silence again. Emma cocked her head to one side and crossed her arms. “Waiting.”

“Can we sit?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Mason went over to the sofa and sat anyway. Emma stayed in her position by the door, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. She wasn’t sure what scared her. He would never physically hurt her, and he actually wanted to talk with her. She was being foolish by pushing him away, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him, or herself.

“I sh-shouldn’t have pushed you away after we…”

“Had wild monkey sex in your hallway?” Gosh it felt good to be bitchy.

Mason cringed. “Yeah. I was … s-surprised.”

“I believe your memory does not serve you correctly. You are the one who ravished me. I went in hoping for a kiss. You went in for the kill.” Not that she minded, but she wasn’t about to admit that either.

“I’m so, so sorry, Emma. I took advantage of you. It was just … you’re so… I couldn’t help it.”

Dang it, her knees almost buckled. She leaned against the wall in an attempt to hide her softening and to appear more defiant.

“After…” Mason ran his hands through his hair. “I was angry at myself because … I thought … I thought you and Cole …” He made eye contact for a second before dropping his gaze, and shrugged. “I thought I broke the code.”

“Code?”

“Brothers before girlfriends.”

“What?”

“I thought you and Cole were a thing and I s-s-sabotaged it.”

Realization hit her like an airbag to a face. She touched her cheek and nearly collapsed.

“He told me you two aren’t … that you’re friends and not in a, uh, romantic relationship.”

She moved closer to the couch and glared at him. “Let me get this straight. You thought Cole and I were an item, but you had sex with me anyway then pushed me away because you felt like shit for screwing your brother’s girlfriend but just found out your brother and I are not an item and are now coming to apologize?”

Ick, when she said it out loud it sounded tacky and terrible, but her heart interpreted it differently. Kind of sweet. Paige must be wearing off on her, romanticizing a twisted love triangle. Still, she wasn’t about to let him off the hook so easily.

“You’ve apologized, so now what?” Lord bless him, but the man looked completely shocked. She bet he hadn’t thought that far.

“I… I don’t know.”

Never one to complicate matters—Emma inwardly rolled her eyes and snorted at herself—she knew she had to make the next move.

“Do you like me?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

Mason raised an eyebrow and stood up. “No.”

She gasped.

“I think you’re beautiful.”

She melted. “Oh.”

“Do you like me?” he asked.

“I did. And then I didn’t. But I think I do now.”

“Oh. Do you think I’m pretty?” he smirked.

“No.” She waited a beat. “I think you’re so damn hot.” They stood toe to toe, waiting for the other person to make the first move. They’d had wild monkey sex against a wall so kissing shouldn’t have been so anticipating. But it was. And it was well worth the wait.

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