Shaken And Stirred

By Kathleen O'Reilly

As a student and part–time bartender in Manhattan, Tessa Hart has found that a succession of roomies and cramped apartments are necessary evils in her life. Until she's out on the street and Gabe O'Sullivan, her mentor, boss and certified babe–magnet, steps in. Any other woman would die to share his apartment––not to mention his bed––but Tessa's determined that they should stay just friends. The fiercely independent mixologist has to prove to their sceptical co–workers at Prime––the O'Sullivans' hot Manhattan bar––that the arrangement is strictly hands–off! But Tessa has trouble adhering to her own 'no touching' rule when the actual sharing of close quarters day and night leaves her shaken and stirred....

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Jul 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781460814062

Kathleen O'Reilly

Kate began reading romance in 1979 when she picked up a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss's Ashes in the Wind. She read the book from cover to cover in one very long night and was immediately hooked on the genre. The next morning, she was standing at the door to her local Waldenbooks and when they opened, she hurried inside and asked for everything else written by Woodiwiss. At the same time, she found wonderful books by Rosemary Rogers, Laurie McBain, and Jennifer Blake. Nearly 10 years later, while working as an advertising copywriter, Kate decided to try writing a romance of her own. After a history of interesting jobs in teaching, retailing, advertising, and nonprofit work, she was determined to add romance author to that list. After numerous failed attempts over three years, Kate decided to forget writing historical romance and turned to category romance. Six months later, her first story, A Vagabond Heart, was finished. A year later, Harlequin bought the book after Kate won the national 1992 Harlequin Temptation contest. The book was published in 1993 as Indecent Exposure. Her dream of adding romance writer to her resume came true and in December of 1993 she turned off her alarm clock, shredded her pantyhose, and became a full-time writer. Since then, Kate has written numerous books for Temptation, Weddings by DeWilde, Harlequin anthologies, Love and Laughter, and Duets. Kate lives in southeastern Wisconsin in a cozy little house in a picturesque village. Two cats also live with her — Tansing, a grumpy Himalayan, and Tibriz, a tortie Persian mix that she rescued from an animal shelter. She enjoys gardening, golf, reading, and romantic movies.