#SaturdaySpotlight: Niki Turner & Santiago Sol

Good Morning!

I pray your Thanksgiving was blessed and happy and, you survived any shopping you did yesterday LOL!

Back in October I introduced you to a brand new (to PBG) author Niki Turner and a sneak peek into her book, Santiago Sol. We gave away a copy of the book then. Well, today you'll get even more of Santiago Sol and we're giving away another copy!

So....enjoy....

When a beloved elderly friend in hospice care makes one final request, Tansy Chastain can't refuse, even though returning an heirloom to the patriarch of a powerful Chilean family will take her halfway around the globe. When she's robbed at the airport, a handsome Santiago businessman comes to her rescue. Sebastian Sandoval decides escorting a lovely American for a few days is a perfect distraction from his grandfather's growing pressure to find a lost family treasure. But even as Tansy breathes new life into Sebastian’s jaded perspective, the secrets they are keeping put them in the path of a dangerous, and desperate enemy.  Revealing the truth to each other now will destroy their growing relationship, but if they don’t, those secrets may destroy their lives.

Excerpt:  

Sebastian’s mouth tightened. He’d seen her hands shake, noticed the way she tensed every time the plane shuddered or groaned or bumped through turbulence. It was part of the reason he’d engaged her in conversation. In his experience, distracting the poor souls he encountered who were afraid of flying was often the only way to ease their constant tension. Now he wondered if her trip would end in a greater disaster. For the most part, Chile was a safe nation in terms of violent crime, but he doubted this young woman would make it from the baggage carousel to a taxi with all her belongings intact.

“¿Hablas español?”

She faced him, and he acknowledged with surprise the sudden, low hum of attraction. He’d already appreciated the swing of her hair—a rich, buttery shade of caramel with golden highlights—and the delicate shape of her profile, but he hadn’t paid much attention otherwise. Sebastian had dated Brazilian models, Argentinian heiresses, and a few Mexican television stars, but he’d never been drawn to any American women, due, he surmised, to a lifetime of negative references to his American-born mother.

This woman was pretty in a quiet sort of way. Not the sultry beauty he was usually attracted to. The wide eyes she turned on him were a bright, quirky hazel, the kind that reflected everything from her feelings to her fashion choices. They were set in a pixie face with small features and smooth, pale skin. Her cheeks were flushed—because she was nervous, or too warm, he didn’t know—but the effect ratcheted the hum into a buzz at the base of his skull.

“I don’t,” she replied. “I took two years in high school, but it didn’t stick with me. I think you have to be around a language all the time to really become fluent in it.”

He had to blink twice to remember what he’d asked her.

“I’m sure it will be all right. America tends to be the only country where its populace speaks one language,” she continued.

The flight attendant returned, this time to present options for the main course.

Sebastian chose the beef, with a glass of Chilean Merlot. He’d been raised on a vineyard. Not having wine with dinner was tantamount to blasphemy.

She selected the beef entrée and a soda, and when the flight attendant moved down the aisle she faced him and grinned. “You’re a miracle worker! I think I’ve found my appetite. I hate to fly, and you distracted me. Thank you,” she said.

“De nada. You’ve made an otherwise boring flight more enjoyable.”

The flush on her cheeks deepened to a dark rose, and she fiddled with her napkin. “What about you? Are you headed home?”

Home. The word slammed into his gut like a cannonball. His quest had been an abject failure. Of his grandfather’s two qualifications for claiming his inheritance, Sebastian was stymied on both counts. The walking stick was still missing, and Sebastian was still unmarried. He’d hoped that finding the walking stick would make up for his lack of a wife. Now, he had neither.

When the main course arrived, the woman beside him prayed over her food, which prompted him to bow his own head. He thought of the conversation he needed to have with his grandfather and felt deflated. He glanced at the woman beside him. Perhaps it was time for an uncharted detour. If he could protect a naïve young woman from harm in the process, all the better.

“I’m at loose ends for a few days. Would you allow me the honor of introducing you to my country?”

Her eyes widened. “I... I don’t know. I mean, I don’t even know your name.

“Sebastian. Sebastian MacKenna.” The name was out of his mouth before he could reconsider.

“MacKenna? Is that a Scottish name?”

“Irish. My great-great-grandfather emigrated to Chile in the 1800s,” he replied. “You haven’t answered my question, or told me your name.”

She smiled. “Tansy Chastain.”

“Mucho gusto, Tansy Chastain. Pleased to meet you.” He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles in the European fashion.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Sebastian,” she said, “But I’m not sure I feel comfortable keeping company with someone I just met.”

Sebastian leaned back. “No offense taken.” He raised his almost untouched glass of wine. “I hope you will find Chile a hospitable nation. But please take care.”

Santiago Sol can be purchased at Pelican Book Group and Amazon.

About the Author....

Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the production manager for the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado. Her first completed manuscript earned second place in the Touched By Love 2009 contemporary category romance contest. She also blogs at www.nikiturner.net and is a co-blogger at www.inkwellinspirations.com.

Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 25 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers.

In 2014, she published “Sadie’s Gift” as one of the Christmas Traditions novella collection with eight other authors.  The Skiing Suitor, one of the Love’s Sporting Chance series published by Forget-Me-Not Romances, released in August 2015. 

Connect with Nikki on Facebook, Twitter: @NikiTurner716, Pinterest and Linked In.


Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight! Remember to leave a comment with your email address so you can be entered in the drawing for a copy of the book.

Come back often for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlights!

PamT