#MFRWhooks Blog Hop - An Excerpt from THE GIRL MOST LIKELY - That Did It!

This week for the #MFRWhook Blog Hop I'm featuring an excerpt from THE GIRL MOST LIKELY, a contemporary romance. Cara has been feeling, in her words, "fat, frumpy, and over 40" since her divorce. She's definitely lost her mojo. At one time she had big plans and in high school was voted the girl most likely to succeed. But that was a long time ago. Nowadays, she's a single mother living in a tiny condo with her two daughters and working at an entry level job at a TV station. In this scene, Cara is coerced into participating in a fitness demonstration live on TV when personal trainer Finn Cooper visits the TV station's morning show:

Excerpt:

Finn nodded. “It’s important to understand the person’s basic fitness level.”

“Why don’t you demonstrate some of these tests for our audience, Finn?” Jessica patted Cara’s shoulder as if she were her best friend. “I’m sure Cara won’t mind playing guinea pig.”

He looked from her to Jessica and back again, his brow wrinkled in a worried frown. “As long as she’s okay with it.”

All eyes turned to her. If it were truly up to Cara, she’d run screaming from the room. Instead, she pasted a cheery smile on her face. “Yes, of course.”

“All right then. The first thing I want to determine is flexibility. Can you bend from the waist and touch your toes?” Cara obediently complied, or at least she tried to. Her hands hung in mid-air, somewhere around her knees. She knew that at one time she could certainly touch her toes. In high school she’d been part of the cheerleading squad. Back then, with the flexibility of a rubber band, she’d performed back flips, front walkovers, split leaps, and all manner of gymnastic and dance moves.

But that was twenty-five years ago, according to the invitation stuffed in her pocket.

“For the second test, we need to see how much endurance our client is starting with. We usually use a step machine or a treadmill for that test, so we won’t be able to demonstrate here.”

“Perhaps we can improvise,” Jessica said with a perky smile. “What if Cara did jumping jacks to test her endurance?”

What if Cara smacked Jessica with the calipers?

“Or maybe jumping jacks are too strenuous for someone her age. I wouldn’t want her to injure herself.” Jessica gave her a smile syrupy enough to throw a diabetic into a coma. “If she can’t do them, I understand.”

That did it. “No problem at all, Jessica,” she said.

Blurb:

Cara McLeod, the girl most likely to have the perfect marriage, is now divorced and, in her own words, “fat, frumpy, and over forty.” The thought of facing former classmates—and the ex-husband who dumped her—at her high school reunion terrifies her. Cajoled into attending by her kids and her best friend, Cara enlists help at the gym to lose weight and look great for the reunion. Personal Trainer Finn Cooper is more than willing to help—but does he have to be so to-die-for gorgeous?

Finn thinks Cara is perfect just the way she is. She’s everything he wants in a woman, except for one thing—she can’t get past the fact that he's eight years younger. To Finn, age and weight are just numbers. But can he convince Cara the numbers she worries about add up to only one thing for him—love?

Buy Link: https://books2read.com/The-Girl-Most-Likely

Check out more blurbs, excerpts and books at this week's Book Hooks Blog Hop!