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| Cover art by EJR Digital Art |
Untamed Safari, #2
Leigh Archer
ISBN: 9781311298850
ASIN: B00ZPB4ZNM
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Price: $3.99
Buy Here: Tirgearr Publishing
Conservationist, Sophie Kyle, takes up a position on a private game farm outside Cape Town in the hopes of paying off her student loans and adding a glowing reference to her resume, while getting the chance to indulge her passion for wildlife conservation.
Reuben Manning is a British business tycoon who has bought a game farm in Africa which he intends to use as a venue to entertain friends and business associates.
With all the suddenness and intensity of a bushfire, a powerful attraction ignites between the conservationist and the tycoon. But their lives are set to play out on opposite sides of the world. Sophie has only ever wanted to spend her days in the African bush, while Reuben’s life is corporate London.
As the wild and sensuous bond between the two grows, they must overcome many obstacles to find common ground or they are doomed, despite their passion for each other, to spend the rest of their lives a continent apart.
• • •
‘It’s not funny, you little savage!’
The baboon screamed defiance at her. A moment later, he scooted along the branch and was lost in the foliage. He reappeared suddenly and before Sophie could blink, something exploded against her chest—a large, over-ripe guava. Juice, pips and flesh soaked into her shirt and dripped down her front.
With a shout of triumph, the baboon disappeared along the branch, still clutching the tyre iron. Sophie decided to give up. She’d go back to the truck and radio for help, after she’d changed her shirt. She had a spare in her vehicle.
She took the shirt off to avoid the sticky mess seeping through to her bra and stomped off across the grass. She was several metres from the vehicle when she noticed a man standing beside it. He was in tailored chinos that sported perfectly pressed seams. His shirt was pale blue and the shoes were probably Italian leather.
Sophie tried with as much finesse as possible to unfurl the shirt scrunched into a ball in her hands as the veld began to run out between herself and the vehicle. She pressed the material to her chest, ignoring the squelch of guava flesh against her skin.
A more pragmatic part of Sophie’s brain said: not your fault, can’t be helped. She strode towards the man, doing her best to carry off her approach with as much dignity as her white, lacy bra would allow.
When she got within a couple of feet of him, her heart began to jump up and down like that crazy baboon. The man waiting at the vehicle was Reuben Manning. Sophie groaned.
She recognised him from the photos she’d seen on the internet. If he’d been handsome in photographs, in person he was devastating. For one thing, those pictures hadn’t given the full effect of his broad shoulders and height of at least six foot three. And it wasn’t his height alone that was impressive: it was also the high forehead, sculpted cheekbones, square jaw, thick dark hair; the early morning sun glinting off an undulating wave. No wonder he’d done so well in business. She didn’t think there was a man or woman alive who could possibly say no to him.
But it was the eyes that started a pounding in her chest: they were the closest to navy blue she had ever seen. There was an unusual intensity to them as they slid towards her chest, narrowed and lingered there. Her chest!
Sophie pressed the shirt to her sternum, trying to control the breathlessness that made her full breasts even more noticeable as they moved up and down, up and down.
Neither spoke. His eyes met hers and Sophie quickly looked away from the energy that flashed from them. Not a man to be trifled with. The thought flitted through her mind as she watched the breeze ruffle his hair. She glanced at the sensuous mouth, now drawn into a hard line, the strong jaw. Everything about this man exuded power and success. She hoped he wasn’t cruel.
You’re a professional, Sophie told herself. You’ve worked hard for this, so show him who you really are.
‘Hello, Mr Manning. My name’s Sophie Kyle. I’m your new conservationist.’
• • •
Leigh, who writes romance novels set in her native South Africa, has always had a great love affair with Africa’s wild, open spaces, the intensity of its people and sunsets. Her love of storytelling began as a child when she spent every spare moment of her childhood playing barefoot in golden grass, watching meerkats, tracking Eland spoor and dreaming up heroes and heroines exciting enough to stand out in the all the beauty and drama of the African landscape.”Find Leigh Online:
Website - http://leigharcher.net
Blog - http://leigharcher.net/index.php/blog
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leigh-Archer/299910886869499
Twitter - https://twitter.com/LeighArcherBook
Tirgearr Publishing - http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Archer_Leigh
