At First Sight
Cress Taylor and Max Grant literally met by accident at Oxford University – she knocked him over with her bicycle. Embarrassed, she checks that he’s not injured in the crash, then disappears. Max could kick himself that he didn’t ask her name, but he can’t get her out of his mind.
Twenty years later Cress, now living in Chicago, is author of several best-selling historical novels. She’s a finalist for a prestigious international writing award, and is being interviewed on a morning TV show. The only shadow on her good fortune is the threatening texts she’s been getting from an anonymous sender: You’re a thief. I will make you pay.
Max is also in Chicago. Following an international career with MI6, he’s now working for a private security firm, Global Security Unlimited. He happens to tune into morning TV and sees Cress being interviewed. He’s stunned to recognize her as the girl he’s never forgotten: the one who crashed into him back at Oxford. A bit older now, but her eyes are still mesmerizing. And now he knows her name.
As Cress’ interview ends, the host announces that she’ll be at a book signing the next evening. Max decides to show up and introduce himself.
Cress has almost forgotten the bicycle incident, and is a bit annoyed when Max inveigles his way into circle of friends. She has to admit, though, that he’s attractive, but she wonders why there’s almost no information available about him online. Does he have a secret life?
Max does have secrets, but so does Cress. As the ominous messages continue and the threats against her become increasingly real—affecting not just her reputation but her physical safety— she finds herself relying on Max’s security expertise. But she’s not sure yet how far she wants to trust him on a personal level. He’s determined to make her fall for him, but he’s not ready to share everything about his background.
As the danger mounts and their romance heats up, we fallow the story with alternating scenes from first Cress’s point of view, then Max’s, rising to a satisfying ending.
At First Sight, releasing October 22, is the first book in a series—the Global Security Unlimited series—featuring Cress Taylor and Max Grant. The second, At The Crossroads, is scheduled to appear in May 2022.
Sharon Michalove grew up in suburban Chicago. While in graduate school at the University of Illinois, she met and married the love of her life. They shared a love of music, theater, travel and cats. Sadly, he died in 2013.
She has four degrees culminating in a PhD. Her specialties are 15th-16th century European history, polar exploration, and food history. Her first publications were non-fiction, but in recent years she’s moved into fiction. She recently contributed a chapter to a collaborative novel, A Reason to Be Here, and published a story “Hockey on the Moon” in the anthology Sci-Fi Stepdad.
At First Sight was a semifinalist for the 2021 “Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author” manuscript competition sponsored by the Illinois Library Association.
Though Michalove has always wished she were British, she is a lifelong resident of Illinois. She lives in Chicago.
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