Welcome to a special edition on the Ranch! I’m excited and honored to host Liza O’Connor and her heroine from her debut book Worst Week Ever. If that title doesn’t drag you in, maybe these two characters will.

Carrie Hanson is Executive Assistant to billionaire bad boy Trent Lancaster, who has been said to be so bad, that he even exceeds the tolerance for bad boys. Carrie will share her opinion in this matter.

Calisa: You look a bit down Carrie.

Carrie: It’s been a really rough week.

Calisa: I’ve heard: Worst Work Ever.

Carrie: I hope it’s the worst, because frankly I don’t think I’d survive one that was worse.

Calisa: Was Trent really that bad?

Carrie: We both had meltdown moments, but Trent was not the problem. Normally, I’m good at fixing things and getting people to work. Not this week. I was a walking disaster, creating code-red shut downs of New York City, nearly getting three people killed–

*sighs heavily* But I’m not here to rehash a week that I really want to forget ever happened. I’m here to let readers know Trent is a far better man than Liza gives him credit for. He is kind, generous and much smarter than people think.

Calisa: So are you saying he’s too nice to be considered a bad boy.

Carrie: *grimaces* No, he is currently a bad boy, but I believe once we get new employees who actually work, he’ll become one of the best bosses and boyfriends anyone could want. I expect that to happen in the next book.

Calisa: Why doesn’t it happen in book one? We may dislike him so much we never read book two.

Carrie: While Worst Week Ever is the longest week in my life, it’s still only one week. He’s made great strides during these 7 days. You cannot realistically expect someone to change significantly in so short of time. I’ve been working for Trent for two years now. The first six months was utter hell and had you asked me then, I would have said yes, he was too horrible to be anything but the villain in a comical farce.

But all his screaming seemed to me as if he were saying words taught to him. Later, I determined he was channeling his dead father. Evidently, Trent’s parents were horrible people and many of his worst habits come directly from them.  Add to that the detrimental effects of having way too much money, and that explains 90% of his bad behaviors.

The first time I mentioned he channeled his father, he threatened to fire me. But on Monday of this week, he officially fired his father.

Calisa: Didn’t you say his father was dead?

Carrie: Yes. But that doesn’t make his action less significant. He has now openly declared he doesn’t want to be like his father, that he wants to be a better man. This is a major step for him.

Calisa: How can you defend a guy who fired you twice this week?

Carrie: The first time was my fault. He had reason to be angry. I’d countermanded his orders in front of a worker. The second time was also my fault.  Had I not been so jealous of a woman from Trent’s past, I would have kept his keys once he gave them to me, and thus I could have snuck back to his penthouse– No. that wouldn’t have worked either. In fact, it could have easily gone far worse for me. However, in no case was it Trent’s fault.

Calisa: You are much easier on Trent than Liza.

Carrie: Maybe, or maybe I just understand him better. Yes, he has irrational outbursts that resembles a two-year-old’s meltdown, but they normally don’t last very long and he later regrets them. And when he’s not stressed, I discovered he’s the nicest man I’ve ever met.

Calisa: So do you even think he’s a bad boy?

Carrie: During this week? Yes, at times, he’s been very bad. He really doesn’t handle stress well, and on occasion he jumped to horrible but untrue conclusions and then threw a tantrum.  But given I poisoned two people with narcotic turtles and nearly got another one shot, who am I to cast stones? All Trent did was hurt my feelings. I almost killed people and shut down part of NYC.

Seriously, you should be questioning my right to be called charming and likable.

Calisa: Liza insists all readers will love you.

Carrie: Well, she has that wrong. Trent is the first person who has ever loved me, and while he’s clearly flawed, so am I. We are better together than apart, and that’s all that should matter. And I have high hopes for us in Book 2.

Calisa: And what’s that one called?

Carrie: *mumbles beneath breath*

Calisa: Sorry I didn’t get that.

Carrie: It’s called Oh Stupid Heart.

Calisa: *laughs* That sounds real promising. Why don’t you share a bit of your story with us?

Worst Week Ever

by Liza O’Connor

New Adult, Humor, Contemporary

BLURB

What do you get when you put a hardworking, can-do middle-class young woman together with a egoistical, outrageous, billionaire boss, then throw in the worst week of disasters imaginable?

Book 1 of the 3 book series A Long Road to Love.

Worst Week Ever.

Trent Lancaster spends one month without his Executive Assistant, or as his drivers refers to Carrie: ‘Trent’s brain, left hand, and right hand’. He’s had a miserable month without her at his side and to ensure it never happens again, he intends to marry his brilliant beauty. Only given all the times he’s threatened to fire her, he’s not sure she even likes him. However, the future of his company and his happiness depend upon him succeeding, so Trent begins a slow one week seduction that happens to coincide with Carrie’s Worst Week Ever when everything that can go wrong does so in hilarious form.

(Hilarious to the reader–Carrie is not having much fun this week.)

EXCERPT

Carrie squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the thump of a body against the limo’s hood.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted Sam take a shortcut,” Trent muttered beneath his breath.

She groaned softly. If her boss questioned his actions, then matters must look grim outside. She tensed even further, expecting to hear multiple bodies slam into the car.

Sam braked hard, turned right, and resumed driving a billion miles an hour. If not for the seat belts, she and Trent would’ve sailed into the front seat, and then plastered against the door. To secure her further, Trent protectively placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his warm chest.

She focused on the thumping of his heart. It beat once to three of hers. God, how can he be so calm?

Determined to match his bravery, she tried to raise her head, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Just a little longer, I hope. Sam, when do we depart this third world country?”

“Two more blocks, sir.”

“Thank God. You’ve terrified poor Carrie to death.”

Instantly, the limo’s speed dropped.

She turned her head sideways so Sam might be able to hear her words. “Your driving doesn’t frighten me, Sam, the neighborhood does.”

As if on cue, a round of three loud pops sounded, followed by three thunks into her side door. She squeaked like a mouse at the first thunk. By the third, her body shivered in fear.

Trent’s arms tightened around her as the limo picked up speed again. “We’re okay,” he assured her, then his lips pressed against her temple. His calm certainty silenced her tremors.

Having successfully soothed her, he released his outrage upon Sam. “Why the hell did you drive us through here?”

Sam calmly replied as he drove the car at a billion miles an hour, taking corners at deadly speeds. “I warned you the locals might not welcome us.”

“Someone just shot at us?” Trent yelled.

Sam’s nonchalant reply sounded almost surreal. “I’m sure they didn’t mean for you to take it personally, sir.”

Maybe none of this is happening. Maybe I fell asleep in the traffic and my dream has gone rogue.

Her heart calmed and she nuzzled closer to Trent, breathing in his masculine scent. Secure in her dream, she confessed something she never would in real life. “You smell good.”

Trent’s arms relaxed a bit and he chuckled. “It’s called Trent. I had the cologne custom developed. They assessed my natural odors and then determined the optimal combination of scents to create my unique smell.”

She snorted. Even in her dreams, he remained the strangest man she’d ever met. If she had all the money in the world, she’d try to end poverty and violence in…whatever hell they’d just driven through, not have some custom designed perfume created so she’d smell really, really good.

*****

AMAZON

Author Bio:

Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

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LIZA O’CONNOR

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