Sometimes you get a small taste of a book and you just MUST HAVE MORE, well,
here's a little nibble to get your reading antena quivering and if you're like
me, put you in the mood for some tasty tex-mex! Seriously!
Setup: Tom and Lexie are at a Mexican restaurant in Corvallis, Oregon. Lexie
hasn't spoken to Tom in three days, and she's anxious to break the silence
between them, but she refuses to be the one to lose their silent battle of the
wills. So she challenges him to a hot-sauce eating contest. Here, the heat is
starting to get the best of her . . . and she's finding herself far more
attracted to Tom than she bargained for.
The paint-stripper sauce was incendiary. As soon as it touched her
tongue, Lexie broke out in a sweat, sucking air into her lungs and squirming in
her seat while she chewed, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of
squealing Omigod omigod omigod, even though she wanted to. She did bounce
up and down in the booth a little bit, but only because she'd have passed out
otherwise. Chew, chew, chew. Jeezy Pete, this was the world's largest chip, how
many more times was she going to have to chew the freaking thing before she
could swallow it? Breathe in, breathe out, chew some more, and . . .
there. She got it down. With both hands flat on the table and her eyelids
squeezed shut, she focused on breathing and counted to twenty.
When she opened her eyes again, Tom caught her expression and burst out
laughing. It was a low, rumbling laugh, as dead sexy as the rest of him. Yum. In
a remarkably kind gesture under the circumstances, he passed his beer across the
table to her. Lexie grabbed at it gratefully and knocked it back, a smile on her
face as her mouth wrapped around the lip of the bottle where his tongue had
recently been. She killed the beer, shot the paint-stripping sauce, and waited
for Tom to take his turn. Her chest was heaving, her skin flushed, but she'd
eaten the chip without saying a word, so she was still a contender.
Tom signaled the waitress, who brought them another round along with
their burritos. They ignored the food, both knowing the unwritten rules of this
challenge forbade recreational eating until the contest had come to an end.
Solemn as a gravedigger, Tom sauced up his chip and ate it. She waited. At
first, nothing. Seriously? Nothing? He wasn't going to react at all? But then
she looked closer and recognized what was happening. Tom had turned to stone.
His jaw was moving, his nostrils definitely flaring this time, but every other
part of him had gone rigid, his biceps drawn taut and his fingers clamped tight
around the edge of the table. He was in agony.
And forgive her for being a sadist, but it was sexy as all get-out.
While Tom fought to keep his reaction on a tight leash, sweat beading at his
temples, all she could think about was how much fun she'd be having if she were
the one doing the torturing, how fantastic it would feel to push this man right
past the bounds of his self-control. This was what Tom would look like right
before he came. Yum.
He swallowed, and this time he did reach for his beer, drinking
about half of it in one go. Then he flicked the paint-stripper sauce onto the
table to join its fallen compatriots, leaving two men standing.
Ride with Me, available from Loveswept on February 13, 2012!
In this fun, scorching-hot eBook original romance by Ruthie Knox, a
cross-country bike adventure takes a detour into unexplored passion. As readers
will discover, RIDE WITH
ME is not about the bike!
When Lexie Marshall places an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find
someone friendly and fun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets
Tom Geiger — a lean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the
adventure she's spent years planning.
Roped into the cycling equivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn't
want to ride with a chatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly
doesn't want to want her. Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her
thighs really turns his crank.
Even Tom's stubborn determination to keep Lexie at a distance can't stop a kiss
from leading to endless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride
ends, where will they go next?
Ruthie Knox figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second
grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding
romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her
brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like
Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from
middle-class Midwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with
an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British
history that she’s put to remarkably little use.
These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to- earth
characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely
admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas.
Ruthie abhors an epilogue and insists a decent romance requires at least three
good sex scenes.
Have you ever been adventurous (or crazy) to dare someone into eating
something that was way out of your comfort level? If so, tell us a little bit
about it.
One lucky commenter will be randomly chosen to win a digital copy of RIDE
WITH ME. Winners will pick up their copy through Net Galley. Good luck to
all!
I would say they call them Suicide Peppers. They are so Hot that I don't know how you don't die after eating them. My husband tried them and the sweat was running off his face. He loves hot things but these are killers. (Cheryl English 5:16pm February 13, 2012)
My husband's always talking me in to stuff, usually about riding ATVs or motorcycles. Or getting closer to the edge of a drop-off. After 29 years I've learned to resist dares! (Lisa Elwood 5:23pm February 13, 2012)
AWESOME RUTHIE! BUT I STILL WANT MORE! WELL THE BOOK DARN IT. LOL
HAPPY V-DAY TO YOU! (Linda Bass 5:24pm February 13, 2012)
That description cracks me up! I survived a number of dares over the years, but I don't think I could have met this one! Hope I win this book. I've read several excerpts and I know I will like it. (Dolores Feagin 5:37pm February 13, 2012)
This 'nibble' cracks me up! It would be so fun to see it in a movie... who would you pick as your actors? Thanks, Ruthie, this was fun. (Susan Jeffers 5:44pm February 13, 2012)
A friend wanted me to try those crackle pops candy,I had to wait for the poping to stop,before I could ask. "What was that?" (Deb Pelletier 6:25pm February 13, 2012)
I have very sensitive taste buds, can't eat anything remotely spicy. So I have never dared anyone about food but sex is another thing entirely. (Kathleen Bianchi 6:31pm February 13, 2012)
When we were in Japan, every single day brought things we'd never seen before and that no one could translate into English - or tell us whether this was 'animal, vegetable or mineral'! My oldest son will try ANYTHING - the rest of us are timid by comparison - but I still can't shake the memory of this one thing which did not feel or taste the way it looked.... (Beth Fuller 7:26pm February 13, 2012)
I am a wuss when it comes to spicy foods so that's one dare I wouldn't even think about but I like the way it was written. (Karen Gales 7:26pm February 13, 2012)
I don't like very spicy foods. I would never dare anyone to eat anything. (Wilma Frana 8:27pm February 13, 2012)
I've never dared anyone to eat anything that I would never eat; I tend to be the most adventurous of my friends. However, they dared me to eat escargot and chocolate caviar mousse, which they wouldn't DREAM of eating! (Jt Powell 9:44pm February 13, 2012)
Hi Ruthie! I have been waiting for this book to come out. I love hot foods, but my stomach doesn't. Lexie and Tom's story is a must read. (Cathy Phillips 9:55pm February 13, 2012)
This was a great intro... but I'm not good with reallllllllly hot foods... But the book sounds like a lot of fun...!!! (Cate Sparks 10:06pm February 13, 2012)
Grrr I am seriously going insane waiting to read this book!!! I have a hard time eating new to me food and my hubby once took me to a sushi restaurant and I tried it. I think just the first taste earned me big loving kudos from the man. :) (Patti Paonessa 10:21pm February 13, 2012)
I am not really adventurous but I keep trying to slowly expand my horizons because I don't ever want to be stagnant. (Jennifer Beyer 10:24pm February 13, 2012)
I am not an adventurous eater and would never dare anyone to eat anything odd or unpalitable. Let's face it, I'm a chicken in real life, but I did enjoy the small taste you gave of your book. Looking forward to reading it. (Carol Woodruff 11:43pm February 13, 2012)
I can't think of a time i've ever dared anyone to eat something. Although I have a nephew who from a very young age, always loved peppers, the hotter the better. (Lisa Kendall 2:32am February 14, 2012)
I don't dare, I cook. My hubby doesn't know the difference when I use lamb anymore (oh, but he never tried it and didn't want to), he didn't like "hot" food until I fixed cajun. I think if given a chance to taste without knowing people would enjoy more foods. (Carla Carlson 4:28am February 14, 2012)
Exotic foods are nature's aphrodisiacs and when tryng out a new restaurant tend to pick something new on the menu. I do have a fave place and order my usual when there. (Alyson Widen 5:43pm February 15, 2012)