Gloria's Secret
By: Nelle L'Amour
Synopsis:
Gloria Long is the beautiful, self-made CEO of Gloria’s
Secret, the world’s largest retailer of lingerie. While her global emporium is
famed for selling erotic fantasies, Gloria’s emotional scars inhibit her own
sexual desires. Her powerful defenses melt when she meets Jaime Zander, the
devastatingly gorgeous advertising guru, who is determined to win not only her
account but also her heart by awakening her sexuality.
A man who has never heard the word “no,” Jaime takes his
creativity to the limit to make Gloria fall apart and fall for him. But as
Gloria reaches new levels of sensuality, she discovers that Jaime is a player
and wonders--is the man whose name means “I love” in French capable of love?
Other major obstacles stand in the way--Gloria’s Secret’s
ruthless Chairman, who covets Gloria and is out to destroy Jaime, as well as
his manipulative sexpot daughter, who wants both Gloria’s job and her hot, new
love. Complicating matters further, Gloria harbors a dark, horrific secret, that
when exposed, will shatter both her empire and her life. Will she be able to
have it all or will the walls come tumbling down?
About Author Nelle L'Amour:
Nelle L’Amour lives in Los Angeles
with her Prince Charming-ish husband, twin teenage princesses, and a bevy of
royal pain-in-the-butt pets. A former executive in the entertainment and toy
industries with a prestigious Humanitas Award to her credit, she gave up
playing with Barbies a long time ago, but still enjoys playing with toys…with her husband. While she writes in her
PJ’s, she loves to dress up and pretend she’s Hollywood royalty. She aspires to
write juicy stories with characters that will make you both laugh and cry and
stay in your heart forever.
She is the author of the
bestselling erotic love story, Undying
Love, and the erotic romance series, Seduced
by the Park Avenue Billionaire.
Under another pen name, she has also written the highly rated fantasy/romance Dewitched: The Untold Story of the Evil
Queen and the sequel, Unhitched.
Social Media Links for Nelle:
Excerpt:
#1 GLORIA’S FIRST “OFFICIAL” MEETING WITH ADVERTISING GURU
JAIME ZANDER
Composing myself, I began by
telling him that I was seeking an outside agency to bring my company, Gloria’s
Secret, to a new level of sales and sensuality.
He folded one long, muscled leg
over the other and relaxed back in his chair with his sculpted forearms
casually crossed over his crotch--I mean, lap. “Gloria’s Secret. The #1
lingerie retailer in the world. 2,045 stores worldwide. Estimated annual sales revenue:
6.2 billion dollars.”
He had indeed done his homework.
But there was no way in hell that I was going to let him know that I was
impressed. My expression remained impassive while I responded.
“Yes. We’ve enjoyed phenomenal
success. But we can’t stop here. Imitators are springing up. We’ve got to stay
on the cutting edge, ahead of the competition.”
I paused. Okay, now the test. “Did you read Fifty Shades of Grey?”
He grinned. “Of course.”
Ha! I didn’t believe him. He was
bullshitting me. I could tell by the wry look on his face.
“Okay, then what’s the full name
of Christian Grey’s adoptive mother?”
“Are you testing me, Gloria?”
“It’s Ms. Long, and yes, I
am…Well?”
Without wasting a second, he
said, “Grace Trevelyn Grey. And she’s a pediatrician.”
Dammit. Score one for him. Except
for one feminist copywriter who pooh-poohed the book for demeaning women, none
of the Madison Avenue suits had read it. I had to hand it to him. But exam time
wasn’t over yet. “Mr. Zander--”
“Please call me Jaime.”
“Okay, then, Jai-me, tell me, what, in your opinion, has made the book so
popular with women?”
He leaned into me, looking
straight into my eyes. His gaze was mesmerizing. As much as I wanted to divert
my eyes, they stayed on him.
“Truthfully, while the sex is
hot, I believe women fall for the romance.”
“What do you mean?” I was all
ears.
“Well, Ms. Long, wouldn’t you
like me to scoop you up in my arms… tell you that ‘I want you, body and soul,
forever’ and make insane love to you on the couch?”
Inwardly, I gasped. He had actually quoted
Christian Grey. My eyes took in his mountainous biceps, jumped to the couch,
and then back to his crotch. My temperature had just risen ten degrees.
Confession: I had the burning urge to shrug off more than just my suit jacket.
He leaned in closer and growled
into my ear. “Or would you prefer me to throw you over my desk… or perhaps
carry you away and devour you on the conference room table down the hall?”
I squeezed my inner thighs
together and could not stop my crossed leg from swinging like a pendulum--a
behavior that was so not in my repertoire. I jerked away from him and found my
voice. “You seem to know women rather well.”
He sat back in the chair. “Yes, I do.” His
tone was confident, almost cocky.
“In my experience, the only men
who understand women are gay. Are you, by chance, gay, Jaime?”
He let out a deep, sexy chortle.
“Hardly. I could have several hundred stunning women give you a stellar
recommendation.”
“Oh, so you have them review you
like you’re a book on Amazon?” My deadpan sarcasm camouflaged my shock at the
number of women he’d likely fucked.
He laughed again. “You’re quite
witty, Ms. Long. I like that in a woman.”
Again, I was speechless. Damn
him!
He moved in again uncomfortably
close to me and snagged my braid, coiling it around his lithe long-fingered
hand. “So, Ms. Long, what will it take to win your account?”
The hair play was angsting me
out. And so was his proximity. I promptly removed his hand from my tresses and
composed myself once more. “I’ve asked every agency I’ve met with to come up
with a pitch by Friday. Do you think your agency could do that?”
“Not a problem. I’ll put my best
person on the job right away.”
“And who might that be?” I asked,
my voice dripping with a mix of curiosity and sarcasm.
He
grinned wickedly. “Yours truly.”
This approximately 225-page novel will be followed by the
suspenseful and steamy sequel,
Gloria’s Revenge, in September 2013.
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