On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Prince of Granola
(Plantation of White Treasure #1)
by L.A. Sartor
by L.A. Sartor
Contemporary Romance
ebook, 229 pages
March 25th 2018The fabled Costa Rican Plantation of White Treasure, source of the rarest form of the cacao bean, is up for sale. Though two fierce competitors have been invited to bid on it, only one can win.
For Drew Hopkins, purchasing the plantation is the perfect solution to escape a life she never wanted.
For Robert Prince, it’s the perfect route to revenge.
Drew, the founder’s daughter and now CEO of HH Chocolate, heads a company whose sales are waning. Robert, CEO of Prince Organics, a man driven by excellence, despises everything and everyone labeled Hopkins.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Will their forced proximity at the lush and exotic plantation rekindle old flames or will it fan the fires of antagonism?
Excerpt
“Tomorrow, Isabelle, we’ll see who shows up.” Señor Camerillo looked toward his sister as he lowered himself heavily into the wooden chair on the wide veranda of his hacienda. He’d built his tiny white stucco house on a slight rise, allowing the cooling breeze to move through the rooms, offering built-in air conditioning.
“This idea of yours may not work, you understand.” Isabelle Camerillo sat on one of the other chairs and handed him an iced café laced with a bit of the fermented cacao liquor she distilled so skillfully.
He took the drink and held the glass tightly as he watched the cacaoteros, his harvesters, move his precious newly picked cacao beans to the fermentation boxes. Other workers moved the beans that completed the fermentation process to the huge drying sheds.
A hot poker of loss seared his heart as he watched his last harvest. Pushing the nearly constant sorrow aside, he took a long swallow of his iced drink, for the day had been arduous and hot. When he could, he picked the cacao pods along with his cacaoteros. It was important to make sure they cut the cacao pods off the trunks exactly right. Most of his team had been with him for decades, but the new ones … those needed training.
And this wasn’t even the major harvest, which would start in two days’ time.
He let loose a long sigh. “Sister, I beg of you, please don’t ruin this moment. I’ve made my decision. It must work.”
It has to. Maria must come back to me. She must understand that this is my way of saying I was a fool. I’m giving up my life’s work to get my family back again. It will be worth the loss to regain the love.Señor Cam turned away from the view of his harvest’s bounty to look at his sister, wishing she’d forgive him as well. At fifty years of age, only the smallest of lines graced the corners of her eyes. Her profile was strong, her nose straight, her teeth even and white. As she turned toward him, obviously feeling his stare, her brow knitted together over her deep brown eyes.
Isabelle was a lovely if somewhat matriarchal woman who deserved love and a family of her own. Perhaps at her age a family was too much to ask for, although she cared deeply for little Armando. But she wasn’t too old for love.
She’d lost one love but surely there was another man she could love as much as she’d loved her Paolo.
And why do you think this, old man? Have you ever thought of another woman since your own Teresa died?
About the Author
I started writing as a child, really. A few things happened on the way to becoming a published author … a junior high school teacher who told me I couldn’t write because I didn’t want to study … urk … grammar. I went to college, moved a few times, came home and found the love of my life (that is another novel worthy story, but for later), and got married.We were super busy with our respective careers, mine a custom jewelry business with my mom, who was also teaching metalsmithing at the time, and my husband a crazy law career. We had two fur babies, Fudge (and briefly her brother Smudge, but sadly he didn’t live very long) and Two. Our cats would sleep with us and when they’d stretch out to their full length, we’d end up sleeping on the edge of the mattress.
I have always been a voracious reader and one night after throwing a particularly bad book at the wall (even putting a small ding in said wall), I realized that I could do better. I told my husband, and he said go for it. I called Mom and she revealed the junior high teacher story and she told I’d been writing all the time up to that point.
That blew me away. I didn’t remember any of it. But I started writing again, nearly the next day, pen and paper, learning, making mistakes, winning contests, nearly getting an agent, becoming disenchanted with the publishing industry and moving away from novel writing to screenwriting, getting a contract for a script and doing really well in screenwriting contests.
But none of that was making me much money. After numerous scary robbery drills I wanted to move away from my bank job (yes, this is many years later and a lot of stuff in between) and write full time for the green stuff.
My husband told me repeatedly that independent publishing was becoming a valid way to publish a novel and people were making big dollars. I didn’t believe him even after he showed me several Wall Street Journal articles. I thought indie meant vanity press.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I started pursuing this direction seriously, retired from the bank and hit the keyboard, learned a litany of new things and published my first novel. My second book became a bestseller, and while I’m not rolling in dough, I’m absolutely on the right course in my life.
So if you have a dream, pursue it as hard as you can. Life can get in the way, but never give up.
Please come visit me at www.lasartor.com, see my books, some pictures, some screenplays and sign up for my mailing list. I have a gift I’ve specifically created for my new email subscribers. And remember, you can email me at Leslie@LeslieSartor.com.
Website│Blog│Goodreads│Facebook│Twitter│Pinterest│Bookbub│Amazon
Tour Schedule
March 26th:
March 27th:
March 28th:
March 29th:
March 30th:
March 31st: Grand Finale
Tour Giveaway
- US PRIZE PACK: $25 Amazon Gift Card and book one in the Star Light, Star Bright Series, BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT (winner has choice of print or ebook)
- INT PRIZE PACK: $25 Amazon eGift Card and an ebook of book one in the Star Light, Star Bright Series, BE MINE THIS CHRISTMAS NIGHT
- Ends April 4th
