Two Last First Dates by Kate O’Keeffe
Title:
Two Last First Dates
Author:
Kate O’Keeffe
Series:
Cozy Cottage Cafe Book 2
Standalone:
While this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone or as part of the series. The protagonist is different from book one, although all lead female characters appear in each of the books.
While this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone or as part of the series. The protagonist is different from book one, although all lead female characters appear in each of the books.
Release Date: August
8, 2017
Genres:
Romantic Comedy, Chick Lit
Publisher:
Wild Lime Books
About
TWO LAST FIRST DATES
To Paige Miller, Two Last First Dates sounds
like a disaster waiting to happen.
Paige is having a rough time. She's unhappy in
her career and her One Last First Date ended in total disaster. Now, she has to
figure out what to do professionally and personally. Life as a spinster with
fifteen cats doesn't sound too bad, though.
Deciding to give up on love, Paige begrudgingly
befriends Josh Bentley, the friendly coffee delivery guy, while helping out at
the Cozy Cottage Café. His T-shirts make her eyes roll, but their runs have
become an important part of her day and a blessing to her waistline, because
Bailey's cakes are too good to pass up.
Meanwhile, her best friends offer to find Mr.
Right for her, and all Paige has to do is let them. Then, the man of her dreams
walks through the door. Marcus Hahn is as good-looking as he is charming, and
any thoughts Paige had of being alone with those fifteen cats, fly out the
window. Now, she just has to hope her friends choose him as her Last First
Date.
But in the end, are Two Last First Dates enough
to find The One?
Two Last First
Dates
“Look,
Helena. I’ve got to do something. I’ll talk to you later, okay? I promise.”
She
gave me a meaningful look. “Sure. You go, girl. I’ll back you up, no matter
what.” She hit her fist against her chest, like she was a
centurion, pledging her allegiance to me.
I
turned and walked through the line of cubicles to Portia’s office, nodding as
people said hello. This wasn’t the time to be social. I was on a mission, and I
wasn’t going to allow anything to get in my way.
I
arrived at Portia’s office and stood, collecting my thoughts. I could see her
sitting at her desk, immaculate as always in a pale pink suit with black trim,
tap-tapping on her keyboard. I lifted my hand and knocked firmly on her door.
Her head popped up, a look of surprise on her face.
“Paige.
What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing her chair back and standing up.
Did
she look nervous?
I
stepped into her office and closed the door behind myself, leaning up against
it as my heart raced. “I need to talk to you.”
“Okay,”
she replied uncertainly. She gestured for me to take a seat. I shook my head in
refusal. I needed to be standing for this.
“I
thought we’d said all we were going to say last night?”
“No,
Portia. You said all you were going
to say. I didn’t.”
She
tilted her head. “Oh?”
I
clenched my hands at my side, preparing to launch into the speech I’d practiced
on the way here this morning. My mind was made up; I had something to say.
I
took a deep breath and looked directly at her. “Portia, I quit.”
Okay,
so it wasn’t much of a speech, and practicing it hadn’t exactly taken very long
this morning, but I wanted to ensure I hit the right tone. And hadn’t I learned
in my years in marketing that a clear, simple message was the most effective?
To
my unutterable surprise, Portia laughed. “I think you misunderstand, Paige. I
fired you.”
“No,
you didn’t. Your exact words were, ‘I’m moving you on.’ I remember. You never
said I was fired.”
She
shot me a condescending look, as though I was a three-year-old who needed to
have the difference between a hug and a punch explained to them. “Paige. We
talked about this. Your work has not been up to scratch for some time now.
That’s why I am moving you on.”
I
jutted out my chin, defiant. “But you can’t. Because I quit.”
She
put her manicured hands up in surrender. “Sure. If that’s the way you want to
play it, fine. Take your petty revenge over whatever it is you think I have or
haven’t done.”
“I
will. Thank you.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.
As
I turned and put my hand on the doorknob, ready to leave, she added, “So, do I
take it you don’t want that job in Dwight’s division, then?”
I
pursed me lips. It was true, Portia had fired me—or “moved me on,” as she’d
insisted on calling it—but she’d also offered me a role in her colleague Dwight
Barlow’s team, working in product development. She thought I’d be a better
“fit” there as she didn’t think email marketing campaigns were “quite my
passion,” as she’d put it. I’d almost scoffed. Of course, email marketing
campaigns weren’t my passion! Was she insane?
My
interest had been piqued by the chance to work for a different boss, someone
perhaps whose team wasn’t plotting to torture and kill him. That never makes
for a harmonious working environment, in my experience. So last night, I’d
agreed. Getting away from Portia and my yawn-inducing job had been the most
important things to me.
And
today? Things felt . . . different.
I
narrowed my eyes at Portia, with the supercilious look she so often had on her
face. Although I’d never shared Helena’s Tarantino-inspired depth of hatred for
her, this was the last time I ever wanted to lay eyes on her again.
“You
know what, Portia? I don’t want that job, or any job at AGD. Let’s agree I quit
and I’ll leave right now. I even brought my own box to clear my stuff.”
She
pursed her lips and stared at me through her designer glasses.
I
locked my jaw and squeezed my hands into fists at my sides once more. What was
her next move going to be?
Still
staring at me, she let out a puff of air and nodded.
I’d
won.
I
smiled at her. “Good. We’re done here.”
I
could almost hear that old nineties band, singing I’ve got the power! as I flung Portia’s office door open and strode
toward my desk, people popping their heads over the tops of their cubicles to
see what was going on as I passed by. My heart was racing, adrenaline was
pumping around my body at a rate of knots, and it felt good, oh so good! Daa-da, da-da-daa-da . . . I’ve got the
power!
I
reached my desk and began to collect my things. Before I could say “wannabe
gangster,” Helena was at the entrance to my cubicle. “Oh, my god! What
happened?” She glanced at the box in my hands, half full of my personal
paraphernalia. “Oh, hell. She fired you, didn’t she? That nasty, conniving
bitch!”
At
Helena’s loud exclamation, several more of my colleagues arrived at my cubicle.
“Did you say Paige was fired?” one asked. “Oh, my god!” exclaimed another.
It's
getting, it's getting, it's getting kinda hectic. Daa-da, da-da-daa-da.
“You
cannot take this, Paige! This is wrong, so wrong. You must have your revenge!”
Helena exclaimed vehemently, her fist in the air, her face turning purple with
rage.
I
half expected her to launch into the Samuel L. Jackson Ezekiel vengeance speech
I’d enjoyed while watching Pulp Fiction.
I admit, I’d rewound and watched that speech a few times. But instead, I held
my box against my body and smiled at them all. “Actually, I quit.”
There
was a collective gasp.
“You
did? Why?” someone asked as another said, “Good for you!” Helena gawped at me.
“Yup.
And . . . I have to go.” I collected my jacket and dropped it into the box and
slung my purse over my shoulder.
“But
. . . don’t you have to work your month’s notice out?” Helena asked.
“I
figured since The Princess doesn’t exactly want me around, we’d forget about
that whole notice thing.”
My—now
ex—colleagues stepped aside like the parting of the Red Sea, and I walked
through them all. “Bye, everyone! It was great to work with you all. Good
luck!”
“Hey,”
Helena said, grabbing my arm. “Good for you.”
I
grinned at her. “Thanks. It was nice working with you. And thanks for the tip
on Tarantino. I’m not sure I would have done this if it hadn’t been for him.”
She
gave me a knowing nod. “Quentin changes lives.”
Usually,
I would have thought she’d possibly taken her admiration for the guy a little
too far, but in this, I decided she was right.
Stay
off my back, or I will attack and you don't
want that. Daa-da
da-da-daa-da.
As
I left, I glanced up between the row of cubicles toward Portia’s office. She
was standing, watching me, her skinny arms crossed across her chest. I waved
and smiled at her, enjoying every moment of my minor triumph.
I
was no longer an Email Marketing Assistant. I was out of here. And I was free.
You can read the books in this series in any order but you want to read them all.
In the first book three best friends had given up on dating and vowed to find perfect mates and each have their final first date, resulting in a lifetime love.
This book is about Paige who unfortunately had a huge crush on Will. Quite unexpectedly, Will turned out to be the"final first date" for another of the best friends trio.
Paige decides that she will give up on finding a man totally. After all, it's been her and her dad almost as long as she can remember. He is enough of a responsibility for her. And her job takes up a lot of time giving her stress in return. Unwilling to accept a loveless life for Paige, her friends decide to choose a man for her.
Secrets and miscommunications come into play, along with some good intentions.
Paige thinks she knows who was chosen for her and agrees to a date, which nearly kills her!
Could this dating pact really be a curse?
I found Paige's dilemma more intense than Cassie's story but equally intriguing.
The story flows well at a quick pace with obstacle after obstacle rearing regularly.
You'll want to be friends with these characters. You'll become emotionally involved.
This story grabs hold and doesn't let go until the last page.
In the first book three best friends had given up on dating and vowed to find perfect mates and each have their final first date, resulting in a lifetime love.
This book is about Paige who unfortunately had a huge crush on Will. Quite unexpectedly, Will turned out to be the"final first date" for another of the best friends trio.
Paige decides that she will give up on finding a man totally. After all, it's been her and her dad almost as long as she can remember. He is enough of a responsibility for her. And her job takes up a lot of time giving her stress in return. Unwilling to accept a loveless life for Paige, her friends decide to choose a man for her.
Secrets and miscommunications come into play, along with some good intentions.
Paige thinks she knows who was chosen for her and agrees to a date, which nearly kills her!
Could this dating pact really be a curse?
I found Paige's dilemma more intense than Cassie's story but equally intriguing.
The story flows well at a quick pace with obstacle after obstacle rearing regularly.
You'll want to be friends with these characters. You'll become emotionally involved.
This story grabs hold and doesn't let go until the last page.
Read the
Cozy Cottage Cafe series
Book 2: Two
Last First Dates is available now! https://books2read.com/kotlfd
Book 3: Three
Last First Dates - coming October 31, 2017 Preorder Now at https://books2read.com/ko3lfd
Book 4: A
Final Last First Date - coming early-2018
Where to
Find Two Last First Dates
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35127055-two-last-first-dates
Amazon (universal link):
https://books2read.com/kotlfd
Read book one in the series:
https://books2read.com/koolfd
Kate O'Keeffe is an award-nominated author of
fun, feel-good romantic comedies. She lives and loves in beautiful New Zealand
with her family, two scruffy dogs, and a cat who thinks he's a scruffy dog too.
He's not: he's a cat.
To date, Kate's written the chick lit series,
the Wellywood Romantic Comedy Series, and the new Cozy Cottage Café Series.
Where to
Find Kate
Website: https://www.kateokeeffe.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8195990.Kate_O_Keeffe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kateokeeffeauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kateokeeffe4
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateokeeffeauthor/
Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/Kate-OKeeffe/e/B00KIZGG1O/
Newsletter Signup: https://www.kateokeeffe.com/newsletter
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