Welcome to my More Than Neighbors Blog tour
About Shannon Stacey: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her
husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily
ever after and off-roading with her friends and family. You can contact Shannon through her website,
www.shannonstacey.com, as well as sign up for her newsletter.
Author social links:
Author website: https://shannonstacey.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shannonstacey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonstacey.authorpage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonstacey/
MORE THAN NEIGHBORS by Shannon Stacey (on-sale June 16, 2020): The only thing they have in
common is a property line! Cam Maguire is in Blackberry Bay to unravel a family secret. Meredith Price
has moved next door with her daughter. He’s unattached. She’s a widowed single mom. He’s owned by
a cat. She’s definitely team canine. All these neighbors have in common is a property line. One they
cross…over and over. And Cam thought he knew what he wanted—until his family’s secret changes
everything
Purchase links:
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/more-than-neighbors-shannon- stacey/1135744197?ean=9781335894694
Google:https://books.google.ca/books/about/More_Than_Neighbors.html?id=7DQGzQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335894694
Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488069901_more-than- neighbors.html
Excerpt, MORE THAN NEIGHBORS by Shannon Stacey (Harlequin Special Edition)
Cam Maguire wasn’t sure what to make of finding a beautiful woman, a little girl and a tiny bit of
fluff that he was pretty sure was a dog in the yard when he went outside to look for his grandmother’s
cat.
He’d heard all the jokes about cats being real jerks and secretly plotting the demise of the
humans who cared for them. He used to laugh at those jokes.
He didn’t laugh anymore.
“I don’t understand,” the woman—Meredith, she’d said her name was—said and he realized she
was still confused about why he was living next door to her.
“The woman who lived here, Carolina Archambault, was my grandmother and she passed away
recently. I guess it must have been after you talked to your real estate agent about the neighbors.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” he said, because it was the right thing to say. And he did feel a sense of loss.
It was his loss that he’d never met the woman who was his biological paternal grandmother and
who had lived in this eccentric and colorful cottage by the lake.
“There you are,” he said to the extremely large and very long-haired black cat who sauntered
into the yard as if she hadn’t disappeared for four hours to who knew where. And she had burrs in her
tail again. Getting those things out of her fur made him wish he’d been a hockey goalie in college so he’d
have the proper safety equipment for the job. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Elinor—which was a ridiculous name for a cat, if you asked him—ignored him as expected and
walked onto the neighbor’s grass as if she owned it.
The little girl had left the dock and was exploring the yard with her dog, its leash clutched in her
little hand. The dog watched the cat warily, but appeared to be smart enough not to mess with her. And
Sophie was a cute kid, with long brownish-blond hair like her mother’s. They looked a lot alike, actually,
right down to their serious expressions.
“I’d offer to give you tips on living in Blackberry Bay,” he said, “but I haven’t been here very
long.”
“I’m from here, actually. I’ve been in California for years, so it might have changed a little, but
I’m guessing not very much.”
“What brings you back?” He instantly regretted asking the question when sadness flitted across
her pretty face and settled in the tautness of her mouth.
“My husband passed away a couple of years ago and I decided Sophie and I would be happier
here, near my parents. And I have some pretty fond memories of the town, too.”
As her words sank in, he looked back to the little girl, trying to imagine how devastating it must
have been for her to lose her daddy at such a young age. And how much harder the grieving process
must have been for Meredith because she had to get Sophie through it. He’d never suffered that kind of
loss, but imagining their sorrow hit him in the gut.
“I’m sorry about your husband,” he said sincerely as he looked back to Meredith.
“Thank you.” She gave him a tight smile. “So you’re staying for the summer, you said? Where do you usually live?”
“New York City, actually.”
Her hazel eyes widened. “Wow. That’s quite a change in pace.”
“It is, but I was ready to get away for a while.” “What do you do in the city?”
“I work for my dad,” he said, which wasn’t technically a lie, but wasn’t entirely accurate, either.
“A lot of accounting and paperwork and boring stuff like that.”
She was cute when she wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a fan of boring math-related paperwork.”
A yelp from across the yard caught her attention and she turned to see Elinor swipe at the white
puff-ball. Sophie was frowning and picked the dog up, turning her body so the cat couldn’t see him any-
more.
“Your cat appears to be bullying my dog.”
“She’s not my cat. And you’re embarrassing your dog by even making that claim right now.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “If you don’t think cats can bully dogs, you don’t spend a lot of
time on the internet.”
“She just wants the dog to know who’s boss, I guess.”
“It’s his yard,” she pointed out.
“She’s a cat.”
“Point taken.” A genuine smile lit up her face and made her eyes crinkle. “They’ll get used to
each other. And speaking of that, now that I know you’re going to be my neighbor for a while, I should
prob-ably introduce myself properly. I’m Meredith Price, and that’s Sophie and Oscar.”
“Calvin Maguire,” he said, extending his hand. “But everybody calls me Cam.”
As she shook his hand, he noted how soft the skin was and had to resist rubbing his thumb over
it.
She tilted her head as she smoothly pulled her hand away from his. “How do you get Cam from
Calvin?”
“My initials. Calvin Anthony Maguire.” His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “The fourth.”
“Interesting.”
“It was a better alternative than being Little Cal for my entire life.” He didn’t really want to open
him-self up to more questions about his family, since they were the last thing he wanted to talk about.
“Since Oscar’s from California, let me guess. Oscar de la Renta?”
She laughed. “Oscar the Grouch.”
“You’re kidding.” He looked at the dog again, who looked like the kind they put on the packaging
of fancy dog food. “I don’t really see the resemblance, but maybe it’s a personality thing.”
“He’s actually named after Sophie’s favorite book at the time, and trust me, we spent days
explaining to her why we couldn’t make his hair green.”
“He doesn’t bark a lot, does he?”
“I wouldn’t say he barks a lot.” She glanced at the dog before giving him a sheepish look. “It’s
more like a really high-pitched yip.”
“That’ll be fun while I’m reading over spread-sheets,” he said, picturing spending his summer
being harassed by a stubborn cat and a high-strung dog. “Maybe I should have packed my noise-
canceling headphones.”
She looked startled for a second and then her eyes narrowed. “I have a child and a dog, so I
guess you’ll just have to figure out how to make it work.”
“Maybe a muzzle?” he asked, but he wasn’t re-ally serious. Yipping dogs weren’t his favorite,
but he wasn’t a total jerk.
She stared at him for a long moment before giving him an arch look. “I don’t know if I can find
one in your size, but I can try.”
Cam chuckled, appreciating her comeback, but she didn’t even crack a smile. Maybe she hadn’t
been joking. And maybe she’d thought he wasn’t, either.
“If you’ll excuse me, we just arrived and I have a lot to do.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said as she walked, and she held up her hand in what looked more like a
dis-missive gesture than a wave.
That was fine. If she wanted to play that game, she’d find out he didn’t really care that much.
She and her yipping dog could stay in her yard and he’d stay in his.
He had better things to do, anyway. Like learning more about Carolina Archambault, and
figuring out how to convince her cat he was the boss.
“I’m definitely adding building a fence to my to-do list,” Meredith told Oscar as she stood in the
yard, waiting patiently for the dog to find just the perfect place to do his business.
Even though it was the middle of June, the morning was damp and chilly, and she regretted
letting Oscar’s potty dance push her into going outside with nothing but a light cardigan thrown over her
sleep shorts, cami and flip-flops.
But it was a new yard and Oscar wanted to make sure he’d sniffed every blade of grass before
deciding on a good spot, so Meredith clutched her cardigan closed with her free hand and shivered.
“We definitely need a fence,” she said. “That way I can open the door and let you out, and you
can take all the time you need.”
“Moving in and putting up a fence first thing, huh?” A deep male voice—his voice—spoke, and
Meredith whirled to face it, wrapping Oscar’s leash around her legs.
Cam was standing on his back deck, thankfully wearing a shirt this time. The tight gray Henley
did little to tone down his sex appeal, though, and she tried to ignore her growing awareness of just how
little.
She hadn’t dated since Devin passed away, and at times she wondered if she ever would again.
So feeling this buzz of sexual awareness was new, and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was welcome or not.
It was a comfort to know she still had those feelings. But having them for Cam Maguire wasn’t ideal.
On the one hand, it was fairly safe to be attracted to a man who’d be leaving at the end of the
summer. It was temporary. But on the other hand, one summer could feel like a long time when trying
to ignore a very sexy man she was undoubtedly going to see every day since he lived next door. She
wanted to savor the hot flush of physical desire, but not act on it because she had enough on her plate
already—she’d just moved all the way across the country and had a little girl to get settled. Resisting
Cam would be a lot easier if he wasn’t practically within arm’s reach.
He was holding a massive pink ceramic mug with a cat paw etched onto it, and steam drifted
away from the rim. “Fences don’t seem very neighborly.”
“Then you can be neighborly and stand over here with my dog while he takes his sweet time,”
she said, trying to ignore the fact she wasn’t really dressed for a conversation with her new neighbor.
Actually, she wasn’t really dressed to talk to any-body except her daughter and her dog, but
especially not to the handsome guy next door. But when his gaze traveled down her legs before
returning to her face, she lifted her chin and refused to feel embarrassed.
Hey, she had great legs.
“There are rules about building fences, you know. Property lines. Setbacks. All kinds of fun
stuff.”
“I’m not talking about a stockade fence,” she told him as she stepped free from the tangle of
Oscar’s leash. “He’s a tiny dog. It doesn’t take much to keep him inside.”
“Legalities don’t care if it’s six inches or six feet.” He shrugged. “A fence is a fence.”
Her neighbor was as annoying as he was attractive. “Obviously I’d look into the legalities before
having one installed. And that’s an interesting mug or a guy who claims he doesn’t own the cat who lives
in his house.”
He looked at the cat print as if he hadn’t noticed it before. “It’s not my cat. And it’s not my mug,
either.”
She waited, but he didn’t add to the statement. He was a puzzle and the urge to try to figure
him out was strong, but she had neither the time nor the patience to wheedle more pieces out of him.
Oscar started walking toward the house and, when he reached the end of his leash, gave her a
questioning look. Though she had a pickup baggie in the pocket of her cardigan, she hadn’t been paying
attention and she had no desire to go on a poop hunt in her pajamas with Cam watching her. She’d
come back later when he wasn’t outside. Since he was staying for the summer and had mentioned
spreadsheets, he was probably working remotely and would spend his days inside with his computer.
“I’ll leave you to somebody else’s mug, then,” she said and he lifted it in a brief salute before
she followed Oscar up the steps to the deck and into the house.
My thoughts
Would I recommend it? Yes
Would I read more of this series/Yes
Would i read more by this author?
My first time reading anything by this author and what can I said I loved it, loved how it was in a small town and was all about family and what makes a family, love the inter action between the animals and the people themselves, in fact this story had me laughing from the start.Plus its the type of book that if you need something light and just want to fell into a story then this is what your looking for.Its cute and adorable and will just make your day feel better. With that said I would like to thank the publisher as well as well for letting me read and review it .
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