Hello, lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host John Taylor and his new book, “Pairs with Life”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $10
Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card OR a Signed Copy of the Featured
Book, “Pairs with Life”!! Yep –
that’s right!! There will TWO
lucky winners!! Also, come back daily to
interact with Taylor and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Pairs with Life
by John Taylor
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GENRE: Wine-Themed Humorous Fiction, Romantic Comedy
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BLURB:
Forty-eight-year-old
Corbett Thomas, a one-hit wonder of the 90s, now works as the lead sommelier at
Napa Valley’s hippest restaurant. Set to become one of the few Master
Sommeliers in the world, Corbett self-destructs during his final exam, ruining
his last chance at capturing the stardom and adoration he got a taste for in
his youth.
When
billionaire game designer, Brogan Prescott, asks Corbett to consult on a major
vineyard acquisition, Corbett sees it as a shot at redemption, until he learns
of Brogan’s ridiculous vision of a virtual-reality, Woke Ant Colony Winery.
Disgusted, Corbett decides to buy the vineyard himself and preserve its magic
and history. Cashless, clueless, and with his reputation in tatters, Corbett
enlists the help of his bass-player-turned-lawyer Seamus O’Flaherty, who may
have finally lost his stomach for Corbett’s bad ideas; his uber-rational
daughter Remy, who wants Corbett to uncork some family secrets he’d rather
leave in the cellar; and Sydney Cameron, whose sudden appearance in Corbett’s
life may repair his heart or shatter it forever.
With
their help-and sometimes despite it-Corbett discovers what Brogan has known all
along: a four-billion-dollar gold deposit lies beneath the vineyard. If Brogan
acquires the property, the ensuing gold rush will destroy Napa Valley.
But
if Corbett can get out of his own way long enough to purchase the vineyard
first, he’ll be faced with the hardest decision of his life: take the fame and
fortune he desperately craves, or save the soul of the valley he loves so much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
Let’s
get one thing clear - I won that bet fair and square, even though I cheated.
I
blame the whole thing on Rick Dornin, who was being particularly douchey that
night. I used to be able to choose whichever party I wanted to serve without
question. That is, until Dornin arrived at Appellation with his anal-retentive
online calendar and industrial-grade Napoleon complex.
Yes,
that Appellation. The most coveted dining experience in all of Napa Valley, and
one of only nine restaurants in America awarded three Michelin stars. It took a
DNA sample and a copy of your credit report to get a table, and then you’d
better be ready to cash in your 401(k) when the bill came.
The
evening started out normally enough. I arrived at the restaurant an hour before
my shift to check reservations, talk to Chef Dan about the evening’s specials,
and think of pairings for the prix fixe. Dornin was in his office—a modified
broom closet next to the staff bathroom that looked like a hoarder’s den with
one, tiny deer trail leading to his desk. In fact, he was always in his office,
even when service was slammed, which drove me batshit crazy. I don’t care if
you’re General Manager or General Patton—when it’s time to schlep a plate or
buff a glass, you step up and do it.
Anyway,
I poked my head through the doorway and said, “Hey, Rick,” trying to keep
things light and cheery. “What do you know about this Harrison party at eight?”
“Whales,”
he replied, not bothering to look up from his purchase orders. “Big whales,
like Moby Dick whales.”
“Sweet!”
Visions of stockbrokers trying to one-up each other with bottles of Screaming
Eagle at five thousand bucks a pop danced in my head. Tips so big they come in
a brown paper bag.
“Yes.”
Dornin finally looked up at me and grinned like he learned how to do it from an
infomercial. “They’ll be in the Veraison Room. With Andrew.”
“What?”
I lunged into the tiny office, nearly tripping over a carton of water glasses.
“You can’t give it to Andrew!”
“I
can give it to whoever I want.” He went back to his purchase orders, feigning a
nonchalance that made me want to smack him. “If I want to move Felipe off of
bussing and let him pop some corks, I could do that, too.”
Time
for a different tack—one that wouldn’t involve me going full-on Hannibal
Lecter. “I’m just saying that a party like that comes to a restaurant like this
to experience the highest level of service in the world. I’m the guy they’re
coming for, not Andrew. I sit for my Master Somm next week, and—”
“You
know what you are, Corbett? You’re an overpaid bartender.” Dornin had thin lips
and an Adam’s apple the size of Detroit, and it bugged me. “You trained for
twenty years to learn how to pull a cork from a bottle and tell people that red
wine goes with steak. Whoop-tee-freaking-do. You’ll work the floor tonight, and
you can have the Jansen party on the terrace at seven-thirty.”
My
left eyebrow started twitching, which happens when I get stressed out.
Apparently, no one can see it, but to me, it feels like a two-year-old is
digging tiny fingers into my face and stretching it like saltwater taffy. I
considered trying the No One Has Experience At Up-Selling Like I Do approach,
but this was the third time in as many weeks I’d had such a run-in with Dornin.
I
was done.
It
was time to talk to Chef Dan.
Most
people remember Chef Daniel Foyer from his five seasons on Elite Chef, The Food
Channel’s number one show from 1998 to 2002. With a chin so chiseled it could
slice a burnt chuck steak and blue eyes that screamed, “Come taste this
gazpacho in my bedroom,” he was the prototype celebrity chef. But Father Time
had been most inhospitable to Chef Dan, and for the past couple of years the
poor soul tried to counteract a rapid aging process by dunking his scalp and
Sam Elliott-sized mustache in a fifty-gallon drum of jet-black hair dye. The
net effect was so incongruous with the rest of his wrinkled face that I could
barely look at him without drowning in the shore break of cognitive dissonance.
Don’t
get me wrong, I loved the guy. He was a loyal and trusted friend, and
straight-up the most amazing culinary artist of my generation. But if I’d had
any money, I would have bought stock in Just For Men and eventually retire on
my Chef Dan profits alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
John Taylor has
been writing about wine since 2012, but his meanderings on life began way
before that. Born and raised in San Diego, California, John moved to Los
Angeles in 1982 to pursue dreams of screenwriting and filmmaking. He attended
the University of Southern California, where he majored in Shattered Dreams and
False Hopes, with a minor in Getting Gut Punched By Reality. After being handed
a degree in Journalism in 1987 as a consolation prize, John dove into a career
in music. Because getting gut-punched just isn’t painful enough.
By
1996, John and his band, The Uninvited, had produced four independent albums
and became one of the most popular acts in the western United States. This lead
to a deal on Atlantic Records, which released the band’s self-titled debut
album in 1997. The band had two Top 100 hits, and toured nationally with Dave
Matthews, Blues Traveller, Third Eye Blind and many other acts. Their music
appeared in the TV shows Beverly Hills 90210 and Party of Five, and in the
motion pictures The Commandments and North Beach. The band can also be heard in
several HBO Documentaries, video games and on that annoying “One Hit Wonders of
The 90’s” station your co-worker always plays on Spotify.
In
2001, John’s vast experience in shattered dreams was once again called into
play as the band hung up their touring shoes for good. After a brief but
horrifying career in real estate, John got wise and made a career out of his
favorite hobby – wine – and has held various sales & marketing positions in
Napa Valley since 2011. John’s writing career started in earnest at this point,
with blogs, essays and short stories appearing in various publications. John is
the author of three novels, including the aptly-titled Pairs With: Life,
which will be released by Hurn Publications in September 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH JOHN:
Website:
Blog:
Podcast:
Email:
john@pairswithlife.net
Facebook:
Twitter:
Pinterest:
Instagram:
YouTube:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Abe Books Paperback:
Alibris Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Hurn Publications eBooks/Paperbacks:
IndieBound Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
The publisher will be awarding a $10 Amazon or
B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter AND a Signed Copy of
the Featured Book to a Second randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the
tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
John ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your exciting new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ally! I sincerely appreciate it the support!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and helping us celebrate the debut of this novel! We appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteThis just looks too darn cute!!
ReplyDelete