Worth the Wait by Claudia Connor ~With an Excerpt, Giveaway & REVIEW!






Title: Worth the Wait
Series: McKinney/Walker #1
Author: Claudia Connor
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 10, 2017



Blurb

The first in a spin off series of the New York Times Bestselling McKinney Brothers, WORTH THE WAIT takes readers on a journey through young love into adulthood in a heartwrenching, second chance love story.

Nick Walker thought nothing could destroy what he had with Mia. He certainly never thought he would be the one to destroy it.

Now ten years later, Mia James is in Special Agent Nick Walker’s path once again and this time he’s determined to shed the weight of regret and finally claim the future that was always meant to be theirs.

It won’t be easy. Mia’s heart was shattered by Nick and now, just when she’d pieced it back together, it’s been broken again, bringing their past to the surface, including her own secret about that day everything went wrong.

***Every title by Claudia Connor is a Contemporary Romance and a full stand alone novel. No cheating, no love triangle, no cliff hanger.







Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU




Excerpt

~twenty-four years ago

Nick pressed two fingers into the sleep deprived headache pounding in his temple and tried to concentrate on professor Jenkins’s explanation of ideal gas law. He circled a line of notes, ignored the knock on the auditorium door until he heard the familiar cry. Hannah, who he’d left in the university daycare two hours ago.

The high pitched wail wasn’t his two year old sister’s hurt cry. It was her scared cry with a touch of pissed off. In the six months since their parents’ death, he’d learned to tell the difference. He’d learned a lot of things. Like if he didn’t take her to the bathroom, she’d likely wait too long and have an accident. Like green beans made her throw up, but she’d eat them if he told her to. And she would never, ever go to sleep without Mr. Bunny.

He was up, out of his seat, and halfway down the auditorium stairs before his professor laid his pen down.

Nick’s eyes narrowed on the young blonde in an oversized sweatshirt with silk greek letters sewn on the front. She held a sobbing Hannah dressed in the sunny yellow sundress he’d picked out that morning. She hadn’t been crying when he left her. Now her eyes were red and snot mixed with tears dripped into her mouth. Hannah lunged for him. His arms engulfed her small body and his heart squeezed like it always did when she held onto him.

“I stay you,” Hannah said. Each word tumbled out of her with a jerk of her tiny shoulders.

“What happened to her?”

“Nothing happened to her. She hasn’t stopped screaming for the past hour and she bit three people. We can’t keep her like that.”

Several responses came to mind.

She’s just a baby.

She missed her nap.


And the loudest of all, it was my fault for leaving her.

Hannah raised her head to look at him, giant tears hanging from golden lashes. “I bite.”

“Well. At least she’s honest.” Professor Jenkins turned his questioning eyes to Nick. “She yours?”

He hesitated, but only a second. “My sister. But yes, she’s mine.” And at that moment she became even more his, which seemed to be the case every day. Every day, a little more his.


Tanja's Review

One of the main reasons that I love a Claudia Connor book so much is that she writes beautifully emotional stories with caring men. No matter what the issue is, her guys stand up, stand strong, keep the honesty and the keep emotions real. It’s a refreshing take on romance. Especially since she isn’t afraid to take on the trope of single moms and people who come with so much baggage they come with a trolley. LOL! You get my meaning. She always branches out with a caring hand.

Worth the Wait is a little different. It’s our strong leading man who is carrying the bulk of the issues this go-round. It’s a second chance romance that teeters back and forth from past to present. A story wrapped in love, loss, forced maturity, and disillusions of the real world. If you have read Worth the Risk, you’ll have some much-needed background and a sense of what really happened to a young Hannah Walker. In all honesty, reading the McKinney Brothers trilogy is a must in my opinion. It really sets the stage for Nick Walker and Mia James’s story.

Worth The Wait is a second chance romance with a love that never died. A longing for healing and the ability to forgive will be the goal in the end. There is just so much I want to share and divulge, but in doing so I fear that I’ll spoil it for you. I literally cried within the first twenty pages of the book. It’s a gut-wrenching beautiful tale of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness; not only of others, but of oneself.

5 STARS
Tanja

Kat's Review

Even though this was written to be a stand alone novel, I think this book will have more of an emotional impact if you have at least read Worth the Risk, book two in the McKinney brother series. That book tells the story of Hannah, Nick's sister and gives you great insight to how her traumatic experience affected her brother Nick.
The love story between Mia and Nick when they met was super romantic and sweet. That was my favorite part of the book. Young love is always so strong an emotion and they were the perfect couple. I love how he supported her dream and how she supported him and helped him in taking care of his little sister and brothers.
For those who have read Worth the Risk, you already know that tragedy strikes in a big way. The terrible event that happened to his sister was too much for Nick to bear. It was an event that changed him forever. I completely got that. As a mother, I cried for him. Some things cannot be fixed or healed. They stay with us forever. How do you move on? It was the one challenge to their relationship that drove them apart. And, their story doesn't get any easier when they find each other again 10 years later.
Mia's story was incredibly sad during their 10 year separation. She endured many heartbreaks. I felt so sorry for her for most of the book. She was always alone, never really having moved on from her first love.
This book brought out some emotions for me for sure. I always find myself reaching for the Kleenex when I read one of Claudia Connor's books. It was incredibly sad. There were moments of happiness sprinkled throughout but the sadness was overwhelming. I would have liked to have had a few more warm fuzzies to help ease the blow of all of the tragedy.
Despite that one grievance, this book is amazingly written as this author is a very talented writer. And, I love how she always intertwines each story with previous stories. It's fun to have an opportunity to re-visit some of my favorite characters.
So... in this book we get a second chance romance PLUS... babies... and more babies... lol... and the big happy McKinney family that we have grown to love.
I don't think I'll ever get enough of this big family that just keeps getting bigger and bigger with each and every installment.

4 I love big family stars!  <3 

Author Bio


Claudia Connor is the author of the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling series, The McKinney Brothers. Her debut novel, WORTH THE FALL, hit the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2014 and received numerous Best Contemporary Romance of 2014 accolades.

Claudia attended Auburn University, where she received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in early childhood education. After teaching kindergarten and first grade for ten years, she retired to be a full-time mom to her three daughters. Always a lover of books, and always one to have stories playing in her mind, she decided to try her hand at writing. It took seven years to finish her first novel and a new love was born.

Claudia lives near Memphis, Tennessee with her husband, three daughters, two cats, and a singer-songwriter Siberian Husky. She continues to write warm, heartfelt, and emotional romances with a bit of steam, a lot of family and always a happily ever after.



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