Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. Readers can jump from one author to another who share hooks from their current WIP (work in progress) or any previously published books.
For this week’s edition of Book Hooks, I give you a teaser from Because of You, story two in the Thanksgiving Collection, a contemporary romance. Don’t forget to check out the other book hooks from participating authors here.
She must make the biggest decision of her life before Thanksgiving Day.
A numbers-cruncher and stickler for the rules, divorcée Paulina Natawance is grateful for the handsome Ojibway man who helped her take a gamble on love last Thanksgiving. She’s over the moon with their long-distance relationship, even though they’re separated by three hours and the international border.
The hole in Tripp Beargrease’s heart has healed after the death of his wife. And he owes his happiness to the stunning Anishinaabe-kwe he rescued last Thanksgiving by chance, who easily stole his love. He’s on his way to Canada with an engagement ring in his pocket to celebrate Paulina’s turkey holiday.
When Tripp proposes marriage, taking another gamble leaves Paulina shaking with fear over saying goodbye to her job, her home, and Canada to start anew. She must decide if she’ll celebrate the upcoming American bird day with Tripp for the rest of her life or never celebrate the special US holiday again.
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, First Nations Romance, Native American Romance, Adult.
Heat Rating: Level 3
Publication Date: November 13, 2020
Publisher: eXtasy Books
The back door opened and closed.
Miss Kitty bolted off the sofa and to the bedroom. Shaman zipped from the kitchen, straight after the cat.
Paulina glanced up. “Did you get the wine?”
“Sure did.” Tripp placed the bag on the kitchen table. “You’re online?”
“I was researching. But I can phone immigration tomorrow and find out what the process is for you to live here.” Paulina set aside her tablet.
“Oh…uh…” He grinned sheepishly. “Move here? But we’ve got a perfectly good house at the rez.”
“True.” He couldn’t be serious. Her job was here. Well, she’d make him see her idea was much better. “This is where I work, though.”
“I know.” He removed the wine from the bag. “But it’s easier for you to move. The US honors the Jay Treaty. All you need is a letter from your tribal office—”
“Band office.” Paulina couldn’t help her teasing, since they both used different terminology they loved to joke about when it came to the Indigenous people of North America.
“Band…” Tripp snickered. He reached inside the cupboard and removed two glasses. “All you need is a letter from your band, and immigration can’t refuse you, ’cause you more than meet the blood quantum and can trace your lineage. Me? I can imagine the hoops Canada’s immigration has got for me to jump. And I sure won’t land a job as good as the one I got now. Y’know I only have my GED.”
Paulina set her hands on her hips. “It can’t be that difficult. You’re forgetting I lived my whole life on the border. There’re lots of people from the US who’ve married Canadians and live here.”
“But my house is paid for. If we live in Canada, we’ll have your mortgage payment. And the taxes that go with living in town.”
“Yes, but you can sell your house—”
“Sell…sell my house?” Tripp sputtered. “Y’know how tight housing is on the reservation. I mean reserve. Once you get a house, you keep it.”
“What about renting it, then? We can use the rent money to pay off my home. Taxes…those are nothing. They come off my bi-weekly mortgage payment. I’m not broke or living on the street,” Paulina pointed out. “Plus, the Canadian dollar is worth nothing. Can you imagine how much I’ll lose? I have my savings, my mutual funds, my bonds…”
Tripp poured the wine. “I finally got promoted this summer. Y’know how bad I wanted to work weekdays, especially during the day. For years I was stuck working weekends and every shift you can imagine. Days. Nights. Swing.”
A smidgen of shock thumped at the back of Paulina’s neck. This wasn’t like Tripp to keep pushing. He was always so accommodating, especially when logic won out. “I see…” She inched to the table and grabbed her wine. “This is very important to you.”
“Yeah, it is.” Tripp pressed his lips together, something Paulina also hadn’t witnessed before. “You got your bachelor’s in business administration. You can get a job anywhere. I can’t.”
“That’s not true.” Paulina clutched the wine against her chest. “There are jobs here.”
“But I enjoy working security for the casino. There’re no casinos in your neck of the woods.”
Paulina stiffened. He was refusing to give up. He was more than determined to stomp all over her career. She was the chief financial administrator of the health center. She supervised staff. She was a part of the management team.
CHECK OUT OTHER BOOK HOOKS FROM PARTICIPATING AUTHORS
Maggie Blackbird 
What a crummy decision to have to make! It seems like a lose-lose situation no matter who wins.
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