More Than Money by Allison Michaels

Title: More than Money
Author: Allison Michaels
Series: Found in Chicago #1
Release Date: Nov 7, 2016
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Ryan McMillan believes hard work and perseverance are the keys to success, not games of chance. When he receives an instant lottery ticket, he never expects to win a dime, much less walk away with the grand prize.

Collette Russo is no stranger to hardship. Loss has taught her valuable lessons in grace and modesty, traits Ryan can’t help but notice on the winner’s cruise. Collette is the only other passenger not obsessed with material things, and their mutual humility sparks an attraction neither of them anticipates.

As good fortune continues to favor Ryan, his relationship with Collette turns into a romance filled with affection and laughter, and his career begins to take off. Yet when his loyalty is tested, an old friendship turns sour.

Ryan chalks it up to greed and arrogance and finds comfort in Collette’s experience with both. But an unthinkable event reveals that nothing is as simple as it seems. Envy and greed threaten to ruin everything.

Has Ryan’s luck finally run out? Can he take back control? Will Collette stand by him in the aftermath?

Only time will tell if love is worth more than money.

I touched the edge of the coin to the paper and again worked from left to right, uncovering an X and an O in the bottom row. But after I brushed the crumbled wax off the last square, an X sat in the middle of the spot.

I blinked several times and whispered, “No f***ing way.” Three Xs decorated the right-hand column, which meant…

Holy mother***ing s**t, I won!
I dropped the quarter and whooped, fist-pumping like a madman. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I was the guy who went to conferences and came home empty-handed while the rest of the attendees from my office won iPads and Amazon.com gift cards. Euphoria faded as the gravity of the situation hit me, my arm freezing in midair as I realized my win was drastically different.

On autopilot, I opened the top drawer and stuffed the ticket under a stack of ties. Wait, why the hell did I automatically want to hide it? I had to tell someone about it, but who? I pulled it out and turned it over, scanning the fine print on the back until I found a phone number to call and report a win.

Scooping up my cell phone, I took a deep breath and tried to organize my jumbled thoughts.

A million dollars would undoubtedly change my life. I could move out of this overpriced, glorified closet and buy a house or condo with multiple rooms. My student loans could be paid off in one fell swoop. No more scrimping and pinching pennies, living paycheck to paycheck. I could travel and finally see the Eiffel Tower, Egyptian pyramids, and Hawaiian volcanoes in person.

It all sounded pretty damn good to me. Honestly, it sounded too good to be true. Any moment now, I’d wake up and realize it was just a dream because crazy s**t like this only happened in movies.

Allison Michaels enjoys combining heart, humor, and heat in her stories. When she isn’t writing or attempting to put a dent in her daunting to-be-read list, she can be found watching a movie with her family or sharing a meal with her friends. Allison lives in a southwestern Chicago suburb with her husband and daughter.