If you're searching for romance novel excerpts of fresh, steamy contemporary romance books, check out American Billionaire's Caribbean Dream by Jamila Jasper. This is one of of her hottest interracial romance books set in a small island in the Caribbean...
You'll want to check out this loving tale of an unexpected romance between an Afro-Caribbean hotel worker and a vacationer. This story is full of twists and turns that will keep you turning the page until the very end.
American billionaire Wayne Baldwin has traveled to a well known couple's resort on a small Caribbean island to try to mend his marriage with his wife Bridget. As mending his marriage seems to be growing more and more impossible, he meets an attractive hotel worker, Trisha Jn Marie.
Trisha is an Afro-Caribbean woman whose life always seems to be spiraling out of control. Her younger sister has ovarian cancer and her verbally abusive mother relies on her to financially support their family. Love is the <i>last</i> thing on Trisha's mind, especially when she meets Wayne, the handsome but off-limits hotel guest.
When Wayne discovers that his wife Bridget is cheating on him, he wants nothing more than to pursue his attraction to Trisha. But Trisha's morals get in the way of her being with a married man; she refuses to be with Wayne until he leaves his wife. However, Bridget isn't quite so willing to let go of her cash cow...
Will Wayne and Trisha get a chance to be together without everything falling apart? As both of their personal lives start to get out of control, their love will have to withstand numerous tests for them to ever get their happily ever after ending...
Romance Novel Excerpts: American Billionaire's Caribbean Dream
Chapter 1
The morning sun beat down on the island like a whip. As Trisha waited for the bus to take her to [REDACTED], one of the biggest couple’s hotel chains in the region, she felt the sting of the sun particularly harshly. Sweat dripped from her brow and she reached into her fake Michael Kors bag to pull out a white rag to dry her face. It was so early in the morning and she was already sweating. Trisha adjusted her white collared shirt and tucked it into her black pencil skirt. A few other employees she recognized gathered at the bus stop and Trisha greeted and hugged them before they boarded.
It was before seven in the morning and Trisha already knew that she was going to have a long day. She’d gotten to bed at around two in the morning because her younger sister had been ill. Her sister Naomi was twelve years old -- around eighteen years younger than Trisha -- and she suffered from asthma as well as bouts of pneumonia that sent everyone in the Jn Marie family into a state of panic. That night, Naomi had been coughing and spewing phlegm, completely unresponsive to Trisha’s hourly rub-downs with Vicks.
The bus rolled around the pot-hole checkered roads at nearly breakneck speed. Trisha put her headphones in and listened to her morning gospel music as the bus took her to work. Her relaxed hair was pinned back into a neat bun with not a single strand out of place. The cool air conditioning in the bus helped Trisha relax just a bit before work. It was hard to be relaxed these days with Naomi sicker than ever and her mother even more tense than usual. Trisha lived with her mother, her sister and sometimes, her younger brother in a small three room house in a small village South of the hotel where she worked. Times were tough and money was tight but they had each other…
Trisha might have felt happier about being at home if she wasn’t also facing a massive amount of family pressure. Everyone in her family and in her church wanted so much from her. She was supposed to make money to support them, take care of her sister, find a good man, marry him, have kids and all of that without ever missing a Sunday of church. Trisha didn’t know if she could handle all of it. But what was there to do? All Trisha could think of was praying more… Asking God for guidance and for help with her life. By God’s grace, things would improve.
The bus pulled onto the hotel compound and Trisha descended, ready to start her day. Her job was grueling and tiring. Sometimes at the end of the day, Trisha thought her face would explode if she had to smile at another white person who often times looked down at her as if she were nothing more than a slave. Trisha couldn’t stand them sometimes but what was she to do? Work was work and that was it. She needed this job badly. She’d already been fired from a few jobs due to downsizing and even if the hotel industry was notorious for abusing workers, her family needed the money.
Trisha began her workday with nothing out of the ordinary. Trisha’s rich russet brown skin glowed underneath the Caribbean sun. She’d made her way to the plunge pool and began the arduous (and boring) task of folding the clean towels that housekeeping had tossed her way. It was one of Trisha’s least favorite activities and she often spent around three to four hours every day just folding the towels into the perfect shape that the hotel managers had taught them. At least these days, Trisha didn’t have to work in complete silence. She could listen to her audiobooks unless there was a guest nearby. Ignoring a guest could get you fired faster than you could say “Sorry” at this particular hotel.
Noting how quiet it was, Trisha placed her headphones on and started listening to a steamy story about a white woman who had fallen in love with a big burly black man. Typical. These men always went after white girls… Trisha was enjoying the story anyways. Her aunt from New York had gifted her a three generations old Samsung and Trisha hadn’t put it down once she received it. After a while, Trisha finally got into a groove. The cadence of the narrator’s voice fit perfectly with her folding. Trisha was lost in a world other than her own -- a world of white people who had millions of dollars at their disposal and who always got their happily ever after endings.
Trisha was startled from her perfect fantasy world by a tap on her shoulder.
“Sexy!”
Trisha glared hard at her boss. Sylvester Charles was one of the usual sleazy men who worked at the hotel. He’d achieved his status as manager solely due to the fact that he was a man -- he had no particular skills and many harder working women had been passed up. That was the way things were on this island. Women worked as hard as dogs only to be stomped on and passed up.
“Good morning Sylvester,” Trisha said flatly.
“Your backside really lookin’ nice and round today!”
“What do you want?” Trisha huffed, folding her arms and giving Sylvester her best cross look.
“You know what I want sweetness and I know you’re not willing to give it to me.”
Trisha’s facial expression didn’t change. She didn’t want to let Sylvester think that any of his lines were working on her. She wasn’t interested and he just didn’t seem to get it.
“Do you think that’s proper conversation for work?”
Sylvester just grinned and gave Trisha’s bottom a tight squeeze.
“Sylvester! Behave yourself!” She yelled.
“Quiet your mouth baby before you disturb one of our guests,” He said grinning. He knew that he’d won. If Trisha dared make a scene in front of guests, she’d lose the job that she desperately needed.
“Please go away,” Trisha hissed in a lowered voice.
Sylvester toyed with her for a few more minutes and then said, “Alright Trisha. Go work the bar for the morning. Tonya is sick and she’s at the health center.”
Trisha tried not to roll her eyes; working at the bar was far better than working near the plunge pool anyways. There couldn’t possibly be anything more boring than folding towels. Trisha walked to the bar and started going through the motions to get the bar open. Amazing how some of these tourists hit the bar even before lunch. Many of them were bigger drinkers than the men hanging around the rum shops.
Trisha thought her morning would continue on peacefully until she saw a rather unhappy looking couple approaching the bar. The one perk of Trisha’s job was getting to know the intimate details of strangers’ lives. Many of the hotel’s vacationers hardly saw the workers as people. They certainly didn’t care about sharing the intimate details of their lives in front of them. At the very least, Trisha was often left with a good story.
The couple sat down on bar stools next to each other but they barely looked at each other. Trisha put on her customer service face and offered, “Good morning! I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful Caribbean morning. What can I offer you today?”
The woman pursed her lips as if she was displeased Trisha even spoke to her. The man seemed a bit warmer. A smile attempted to crawl its way across his face and he replied, “I’d like a tequila sunrise please dear.”
His wife was still scowling and she practically refused to say a word.
“Bridget, why don’t you tell the nice lady what you want?” The husband asked.
His wife glared for a moment and then mumbled, “What’s good here?”
Trisha rattled off what she’d been trained to say, “Our most popular cocktails here are the margarita, the white Russian and the Pina Colada.”
Bridget grumbled, “Just get me a vodka on ice.”
“Absolutely, your drinks will be out in a minute.”
Bridget got to work making the drinks. This was her usual fare so it didn’t take her more than a couple minutes to finish. Once she was done, she presented the drinks to the scowling wife and husband.
Trisha was about to turn around and clean the bar when Bridget called to her, “Wait! Um… Miss… Can I ask you a question? I want someone to settle a little disagreement between me and Wayne here.”
Great. Trisha knew from experience that getting involved in white people’s marital troubles was a bad move. But it was also a bad move to say “no” to a guest. Anything they wanted, they got. The hotel wasn’t supposed to give anything less than the five star experience promised on the tv commercials. Hell, couples even threatened to sue the hotel because it rained one time.
“Sure, what is your question ma’am?” Trisha asked, putting on her most polite customer service voice and mellowing her accent so it would be comprehensible to the American guests.
Bridget said, “So okay. Let’s say your husband takes you on an all expenses paid, inclusive Caribbean vacation… And then you want an exclusive tour of the island… But this tour costs two thousand dollars more than you planned… Shouldn’t he try to make it work because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity?”
Trisha couldn’t relate to a single thing this woman had said. Husband? All expenses paid vacation? Two thousand U.S. dollars?! This was far out of Trisha’s scope. However, she knew that keeping a wife happy was more important than a husband, so she recycled a great stock response that she used around the hotels.
“A tour of our island would be exquisite. There are many historical and natural sites around the island that I’m sure you would find pleasurable!”
“SEE! She agrees with me you cheap bastard!”
Her husband Wayne winced. Even Trisha was shocked. This woman was very clearly completely spoiled by her husband yet it still wasn’t enough. Trisha was at least savvy enough to keep this thought to herself. Wayne shrugged his shoulders and replied to his wife, “Listen Bridget. You know I’d love to take a tour of the island and its not the price that’s bothering me.”
“Well what the hell is bothering you Wayne?!”
Bridget was raising her voice again and Trisha was a fly on the wall, cleaning the bar and organizing the glasses while staying out of sight. If this couple needed their drinks topped up, she would make an appearance but until then, she didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire of their argument. Trisha faded into the background and pretended that she wasn’t observing this couple through the corner of her eye.
The wife Bridget seemed eccentric and loud, but overall she was very beautiful and tastefully dressed. She had long dirty blonde hair that fell down the middle of her back. Her skin was tanned to an almost orange color and she wore a full face of makeup… All the time. Her husband was gorgeous too. He looked stressed out and exhausted but that couldn’t rid him of his dashing good looks. Wayne was tall with pale skin and short cropped brown hair. His face was covered in thick, chocolate brown stubble and his green eyes were sharp and piercing. Trisha had never seen a white man who was so attractive at this place. Normally the husbands were fat old farts and their wives were ten years younger and in far better shape. This wasn’t the case with Wayne and Bridget…
Trisha was broken from her trance by Wayne and Bridget raising their voices at each other again. She would have tuned in to listen except a group of about six couples approached the bar, circumvented the arguing couple and they were intent on ordering. Trisha wondered what the hell the two were fighting about but she hardly had time to dwell on it. Margaritas, Sex On The Beach and Long Island Iced Teas kept her busy until Wayne and Bridget left.
Trisha couldn’t help wondering how long they planned to stay at the resort… She could just tell there was a good story here.
Get excited for this new release! It's currently coming soon to the Kindle store and I'll keep you updated as to when it's going to be available. Join my e-mail list at the top of the page if you want to stay in the loop. If you're interested in more romance novel excerpts, check out Jamila Jasper's steamy BWWM Holiday Romance, Engaged by Christmas. Click here to read more!