Experience the pain of Hometown Heartache by @mjschiller for #EggcerptExchange

For today's Eggcerpt Exchange offering, I present yet another new-to-The-Maze author, MJ Schiller,
and her Real Romance Collection novel
Hometown Heartache! 

Synopsis

Nash is trying to make a name for himself in the art world…

But when he meets a realtor to buy a gallery, he is stunned to find Chloe sitting at the table with the man. He has never stopped thinking about her since she disappeared from his life without a trace. Is it too late to win back her love?

Chloe has finally found a way to leave her past behind her…

But her heart leaps out of her chest when she sees Nash. How can he be here? Now…after all this time? On the surface, she pulls herself back together. But underneath she feels she is about to shatter. After remaking herself, how can she deal with being faced with Nash and the life she knew before?

If this chance meeting doesn’t rip Chloe and Nash apart, he will.
Little do they know, someone has been lurking in the shadows, manipulating them all along. If he has his way, the two will never be reunited. Even if he has to take one of them out to ensure it.


Excerpt

I came to New York City, like so many others, to find fame and fortune. Or at least fame. But, like so many others, instead of taking a bite out of the Big Apple, it took a bite out of me. I showed my portfolio at any number of studios, and while they all seemed impressed, no one was willing to give me a chance. “It’s the damned economy,” they’d tell me. “We’re not taking any chances on newcomers. Sorry.”

So, on to Plan B.

Plan B included spending much too much of my inheritance on a small studio of my own, in Upper Manhattan, until I could build my reputation enough for others to become interested in me. But even Plan B had its drawbacks. While the poor economy should have made buying into the real estate market a piece of cake, we were still talking NYC, where property was always at a premium. But, determined to see this thing out until it came to its natural death, I continued to look for the perfect place to hang up my canvases and get down to the work of making a name for myself in the art community, if only as an unrelenting nuisance.

Uncomfortable as I was with big city realtors, I put away my apprehension and pushed my way through the revolving doors of a swank hotel, making my way to the five-star restaurant inside. As I walked toward the table the maitre de indicated, I began to have a surreal feeling, like time was coming to a jarring stop. Ahead of me, a woman, dressed in business attire, sat way too close to a man whose voice I recognized from my phone calls, Jack Duran, major New York realtor. Though the woman was turned away from me, seeming to be rapturously absorbed by whatever Jack was saying to her, an oddly-placed sense of familiarity came over me.

Jack glanced up as I neared the table. “Hello, Jack.” I reached out to shake his hand. The woman turned slowly to look up at me, a smile still on her face, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Nash!” She literally jumped in her seat as if I had struck her.

“You two know each other?” Jack asked, displaying an innate grasp of the obvious.

Chloe peered at me for a second, then she flashed her gaze back to Jack, seeming at a loss for words. She looked wonderful—her full lips dressed in a rich scarlet, her hair, unmanageable at times when we were growing up, had, through some mysterious adult female trick, become luxuriously full and soft-looking. She was as stunning as she was the first day I met her, when her hair was done up in braids and she was boasting an Annie Oakley cowgirl outfit, complete with tasseled, white boots and a white felt hat, set askew by uneven pigtails. But somehow it always came down to those fantastic eyes of hers, which seemed to reach in and grab hold of your heart, as if she’d lassoed them with the rope forever slung at her hip back in those cowgirl days.

“It’s good to see you, Chloe,” I said roughly, my voice catching a little on her name. I held out my hand.

About Nash Nabry
Favorite place to visit – Ahh, this is an easy one! Our treehouse. The one Chloe and I…claimed. Even though we’re not kids anymore, it still is a place that makes me feel warm, nostalgic, and…peaceful.

Significant other – Oh, hadn’t I mentioned? Miss Chloe Carmichael. My friend first, and always so much more.

Most important goal – To make Chloe understand how much she means to me.

Favorite food – pizza, of course!

Wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between? Well, I guess I’d choose wealthy. But then I wouldn’t choose to live any differently than I do, because I have everything that I want. But with the extra money I could help a whole lot of people.

Get your copy of Hometown Heartache on Amazon today!

Author Bio
MJ is a lunch lady in the heart of Central Illinois. My gosh! Can you get more folksy than that? She met her husband at the University of Missouri-Columbia and now she has a nineteen-year-old (how did that happen?) and seventeen year old triplets! She loves to read, karaoke (where she can pretend she is a rock star) and spends WAY too much time on Facebook. She grew up in St. Louis and still has family there.


Follow MJ via:
Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Amazon |

Thank you, Kim, for having me on The Maze today!

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