Release Date: June 11, 2019
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Summary
Tina Jenson belongs to the same social stratum as Harris Chapman,
but he’s out of her league—at least that’s what she thinks before they jump in
bed together. It’s the perfect night, but when she overhears crude, hurtful
comments the next morning, she can’t get away fast enough.
Ten years later, Tina’s life is a mess. That night with Harris didn’t just hurt
her feelings; it started a cascade of disappointment and heartbreak. Every time
she bumps into Harris, her heart twists inside out. She still wants him, but
she’s harboring a painful secret from their night together that she’s not ready
to reveal.
Crossed signals, high-society whispers, and shame have kept Tina and Harris
apart for years, but deep down, they’re hungry for each other and eager to
write their own rules. Can they let go of the past and find their way back to
each other, or are the barriers between them too high and too strong?
Author Message: Then and Now with Natasha Anders
Hi there, my name is Natasha Anders
and I’m here to talk about my newest release – More Than Anything.
This book features Tina Jenson and Harris Chapman as the lead characters.
Tina and Harris have known each other
forever. They belong to the same social circle and attended high school
together. When Tina was eighteen and Harris twenty, an ugly incident drove them
apart and for the next ten years they barely spoke to each other.
The years have not been kind to Tina,
she struggles to maintain familial relationships and friendships and finds it
hard to even consider forming bonds with new people. As a teenager she was
incapable of handling the overwhelming loss and sadness of what had happened to
her and as she grew into a woman, a large part of her remained lost in the past
and incapable of moving forward.
Tina’s emotional growth throughout the
story is painful but necessary. She has frozen the pain, humiliation and
absolute devastation resulting from the incident with Harris, into a solid
block of ice. She has never properly dealt with any of that anguish and now the
ice is thawing and all of those overwhelmingly painful emotions are surfacing.
Tina is far from perfect and she makes a lot of mistakes throughout the story.
But these mistakes are necessary in order for her eventual metamorphosis into a
strong, capable, and emotionally mature woman to be believable.
Harris’s journey is very different. He
tries his best to fix what has happened between them. Unaware of how damaging
their encounter was to Tina, he often attempts to reach out to her and
apologize for causing her pain. After constant rejection from her, he tries to
move on with his life and for a few years he almost succeeds. But whenever he
sees Tina, he finds himself drawn to her. He’s a steady, dependable guy. But
it’s hard for Tina to see him as such. To her, he will always be the boy who
hurt her. The boy responsible for the worst night of her life and for every
difficult thing that has happened as a result.
When he finally finds himself in the
position to be her rock, Harris truly shines. He’s by no means a perfect man
and sometimes he’s stubbornly determined to do the “right thing” even if it
tends to be self-defeating. But he eventually recognizes that the best thing he
can do for Tina and himself is to allow her to make her own decisions and trust
her to know her own heart and mind.
Despite their many trials and
frustrations, Tina and Harris will always be better together. This is the story
of how they discover that absolute truth for themselves.
More Than Anything Excerpt
“How you’d like your steak cooked?”
Harris asked.
“Medium rare.” Tina retreated to one
of the mismatched tall stools at the breakfast bar and clambered up onto it.
She watched him competently move around the kitchen, cleaning and washing the
spuds before readying them to go into the oven. He hummed softly beneath his
breath as he worked … the tune was very familiar, but because his humming was
so off-key, she couldn’t quite place it. The title hovered on the edge of her
brain.
“Ugh, what is the
name of that song? It’s driving me crazy!”
He looked up, startled. “What song?”
“The one you’re humming.”
“I’m not sure. Wait…” He hummed again
and then breathed a few lyrics in a falsetto voice that reduced Tina to
stitches. He repeated the same two words over and over again. And the words, combined
with the seriously off-key tune, were definitely familiar to her.
He shook his head before saying, “I’m
not sure what that song’s called … hey, stop laughing. I know for a fact your
singing voice isn’t much better.” His offended observation just made her laugh
harder. “Do you know the song title?”
“It’s…” She gasped for breath, then
broke down into gales of laughter again when she glanced up into his expectant
face. She folded her arms on the countertop and dropped her head for a moment
as she tried to bring her giggles under control. Once the laughter abated, she
lifted her gaze to his smiling eyes—he didn’t really look offended at all, just
gently amused. “I’m sorry. It’s not your singing … okay, it kind of is. But I
think I found it funnier that you were asking for the song’s title when you
k-kept…” She inhaled deeply when it felt like the laughter was threatening
again. “Kept singing it in that godawful voice.”
“What do you mean?”
“The song’s called ‘No One,’ Harris.
By Alicia Keys.”
“Oh.” He twisted his face into a
sheepish grimace before chuckling, the sound deep and masculine. “That makes
sense. I like that song.”
She did too. In fact…
“We danced to that song. On my
twentieth birthday,” he said, his voice quietly reminiscent. She nodded,
surprised that he remembered the song, considering the state he had been in
that night.
“I know.” Danced. And then kissed. Her
very first kiss. The song had come to mean so much more to her, but she
determinedly tamped down those particular memories.
Amusement fled, and they exchanged an
uncomfortable look before both averted their eyes. Silence descended, their
troubled history once again asserting itself between them. Tina nervously
drummed her fingers on the Formica countertop.
“Tina.” His voice sounded anguished.
“If I could do it all over again…”
She stopped tapping and lifted her
hand to prevent him from saying anything further.
“Let’s not go into
this again, Harris.” She watched him screw his eyes shut as he battled with what
looked like some pretty powerful emotions.
“Damn.” The word was soft and fierce
and sounded like a prayer.
“Why don’t we…” She paused as she
considered the words she was about to utter. No matter which way she phrased
them, they would seem like an olive branch. And she wasn’t sure if she wanted
to extend one yet. Or ever. Still, she was in his—temporary—home, about to
break bread with him, so to speak, and maybe—for her emotional health—it would
be best. “Why don’t we set this aside? For today at least.”
She watched his throat move as he
swallowed and then shifted her gaze to his navy-blue eyes, which were alight
with gratitude.
“I’d like that,” he said gruffly,
offering her the tiniest of smiles.
Tina heaved a relieved sigh, feeling
lighter than she had in months. Possibly years.
“Good. Now, how about you get those
steaks on? I’m starving.”
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Author Biography
Natasha Anders was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She spent the
last nine years working as an assistant English teacher in Niigata, Japan,
where she became a legendary karaoke diva. Natasha is currently living in Cape
Town with her temperamental and opinionated budgie, Sir Oliver Spencer, who has
kindly deigned to share his apartment with her. Please feel free to contact her
(or Oliver) on Twitter @satyne1.
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