Monday, March 26, 2018

Prince of Granola by L.A. Sartor Excerpt & Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Prince of Granola
(Plantation of White Treasure #1)
by L.A. Sartor
Contemporary Romance
ebook, 229 pages
March 25th 2018

Cacao – long a symbol of wealth, love, and power – now the center of a powerful rivalry.

The 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:

“So, as you make your way in the world, don’t be a part of the status quo …”
Drew Hopkins tuned out the commencement speaker’s voice as a flock of swallows flew overhead at Stanford’s stadium.
She envied their freedom on this warm June morning, wishing she had the ability to fly away from all the responsibilities that kept her mired in the morass of financial statements and sales charts that had been her life for the past fourteen years at HH Chocolate. She was part of the speaker’s status quo, and not by her own choosing.
“I am happy to confer publicly upon you …”
Drew realized that the school of business candidates were standing, and she zeroed in on her brother, Theodore, decked out in his commencement gown. The lei from his classmates around his neck and an MBA hood lined in Stanford’s cardinal red draped across his shoulders filled her with immense pride along with the ever-present worry and guilt.
Graduating top of his class, Theo had offers from Fortune 500 companies to startups. He could take his pick, but he said he wanted to work at HH. After all, he said, it was a family business.
Drew certainly knew that top honors from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and fresh blood were just what HH needed.
Along with someone who really wanted the job.
Just as the new business graduates sat down, Drew felt the vibration of the cell phone she’d tucked into the pocket of her linen slacks. Pulling out the phone, she read the text: Call me.
Damn, her secretary knew this was Theo’s day and shouldn’t have interrupted. Then as soon she realized this was Sunday, she checked the date of the text.
Today.
What on earth? Drew scrolled back and saw that there were two texts on Saturday and two on Friday. How had she missed them?
Standing with the rest of the guests at the culmination of the graduation ceremonies, she rocked on her heels waiting for an answer as she watched the newly minted graduates file out of the stadium behind the faculty and administration.
No fire. Just need to check on this with you.
A sigh escaped. Drew wasn’t allowed to simply not be available. Guilt hit her that she’d stolen a weekend away to be with her brother.



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.


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

5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed getting to know your book; congrats on the tour, I hope it is a fun one for you, and thanks for the chance to win :)

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  2. Congrats on the tour and I appreciate the excerpt and the great giveaway as well. Love the tours, I get to find books and share with my sisters the ones I know they would enjoy reading and they both love to read. Thank you!

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  3. Hi Lisa and James, I tried to reply separately to you. Good luck on the drawing and I hope you LOVE Prince Of Granola. It was a fun book to write, Robert was a tough character to get nailed, but I hope I did it.
    Hugs,
    L.A.

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  4. This book sounds like a really great read. And I love the cover art.

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  5. Hi Debbie, Thanks for mentioning you love the cover. I hope you signed up for my newsletter so you can be a part of my writing world.
    Hugs, LA

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