Release Blitz, Excerpt & Review: 608 Alpha Avenue by Adriana Locke
We are so excited to announce the release of Adriana Locke's new novella, 608 Alpha Ave. This is a total standalone story about a grumpy, small-town mechanic and a pocket-full-of-sunshine heroine that gets under his skin.
Basically—read this now!
Even better is that the novella (did we mention that it's a standalone?) is available in Kindle Unlimited.
Things heat up (and take an unexpected turn) when a self-proclaimed romantic requests the help of a broody small-town mechanic.
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Buy Now for $2.99 or Read Free in Kindle Unlimited.
EXCERPT
“I don't get it,” I mutter.
My hand stills against the countertop, a white bar rag clutched firmly in my grasp.
Natalia Barlow leans across the end of the bar, putting her ass and the top of her thong on full display for the table of bikers behind her. An unlit cigarette is perched between her cherry-red lips, threatening to topple to the floor as she catches me looking and smirks.
I roll my eyes and turn my back to her.
“I don’t get it,” I say again, louder this time.
My gaze fixes on the man—the only man—occupying a barstool on this side of the restaurant. Grayson Blake. Black hair, scruffy beard, tall, and oh-so muscular with tattoos etched into his tanned skin. Word has it that he has flames inked on his right hip, and when he moves, they dance as if they’re alive.
I’ve mentally filed that away because it’s something I’ll (sadly) never know for myself. Guys like Grayson Blake? They go for women like Natalia. Vixens. Women who give as good as they get. Women who understand them or, at the very least, the games they play.
I’m not one of those women. It will be both my personal and professional downfall.
Grayson lifts his beer bottle, and as if it pains him to do it, he slides his gaze to mine.
I swallow. Hard.
It doesn’t matter that I’ve worked at Fireside Bar and Grill for two years or that I’ve spent countless hours behind this very bar while Grayson sits on the other side, I can’t think straight when he looks at me. I also can’t look away. It’s quite the predicament.
“It just perplexes me,” I say, sinking my gaze into the steely depths of Grayson’s eyes. My voice isn’t quite as confident as it was a few seconds ago. It’ll come back around, though. It just takes a moment to get my bearings.
Grayson’s features are void of humor. Or emotion. Or curiosity. He watches me as if I’m a toddler and he’s in charge of making sure I don’t choke on a peanut or small coin.
I bite my lip. “I just … Natalia …” I shrug, my voice fading into the rock music playing overhead.
Grayson’s thick, engine grease-stained fingers grip the bottle. “Am I supposed to ask?”
The grit of his tone washes against my skin, leaving a flurry of goose bumps in its wake. It’s this way every time he talks to me. And whenever he talks to Corbin, the bartender who’s training me in the art of bartending so I don’t have to just waitress anymore. Come to think of it, I also have the same physical reaction to him when I’m in the Cherry Street Market Grocery Store buying bagels and I hear him talking from an aisle over.
Who am I kidding? I react this way every time I’m in Grayson’s proximity. Hell, I shivered in my flip-flops when I caught wind of his cologne outside of Pearl’s Pawnshop and Liquor Store last week.
“Are you supposed to ask what?” I ask him.
“About whatever you keep jawing about other there—about Natalia, I reckon.”
“Well, since you asked—”
“I didn’t.” He smiles a lopsided, amused smile that makes me wonder if he’s smiling with me or at me. “I asked if I was supposed to ask. I didn’t ask.”
I narrow my gaze. “You know what, Grayson Blake? You’re an asshole.”
He brings the beer bottle to his lips, hiding a satisfied grin, and pulls his gaze back to the hockey game on the television in the corner.
4.5 stars for 608 Alpha Avenue!
Adriana Locke has done it again! I love everything Adriana writes and 608 Alpha Avenue is no different! Although this is a novella, Adriana’s writing has made this feel like a full length novel, nothing in this story feels rushed.
This is a cute and quick grumpy/sunshine trope read with Grayson being a grumpy mechanic who has a thing for Haley and has for a while but won’t allow himself to pursue anything with her since he think’s he’s not the relationship time of guy. Haley is the bartender at the bar Grayson visits every night and she’s had a crush on him since they first met but she doesn’t think he sees her as someone he could be with that is until things heat up a little making Haley question whether they could be more. Haley was sassy and stood up for herself even when she wasn’t the most confident with herself and I loved that.
I also loved the side characters in this story. One of the reasons I love small town romances is because of all the side characters we get to meet and although we only saw them for a short time, Adriana Locke wrote them in a way that already has me thinking about what their stories are.
I loved Grayson and Haley together, they bring out the best in each other and you could feel their happiness of being together come off of the pages. I could feel their chemistry simmering straight away as we were introduced to them and seeing them let go and explore that was a joy to read. I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to go back to Cherry Falls for more!
*ARC was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
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