Read an excerpt from Frequent Fliers by Noué Kirwan

Being a romance reader isn't always an easy task. There are so many great books coming out all the time and it's hard to keep track of them all which is eerily similar to Frequent Fliers.

As Noué Kirwan's sophomore novel, this book is all about timing, being organized, and making sure you're making the right decisions for yourself. While Frequent Fliers is a romance, it does focus a lot on our two characters: Lanie and Ridley.

If you're like me though, you probably saw the cover for this book and immediately wanted to pick it up. If you're not as easily convinced though, we have an excerpt to share which should be the push you need to pick this book up.

I'd like to thank both Noué Kirwan and Harlequin for sending me this excerpt to share and hopefully, it'll make you want to pick up this book as I did.

Read an excerpt from Frequent Fliers by Noué Kirwan.

This excerpt is a little further into the book and we're following Lanie as she's jet-setting back and forth to help plan her cousin's wedding to her best friend. If it sounds dramatic and juicy, that's because it is. However, I won't give too much away so without further ado, here's a peek at Frequent Fliers.

Heading to the departure gate, Lanie could feel the stress of overseeing all the little details of Gemma’s wedding was taking its toll. In recent weeks, she barely thought about anything else—the perfectionist in her, a side she struggled to keep at bay, had reared its uncompromising head. If she wasn’t careful, she would barely even take the time to feed herself. In fact, she’d forgotten to eat today, she realized as her stomach growled loudly. It would never be clearer than it was at that moment that she needed to go home. With a convenience store sandwich in hand, she arrived at her departure gate, as usual relieved to be the first one there. She was alone. 

Well, not totally alone, it appeared. There was someone else there sitting right by the gate. Almost directly in front of the customer service desk. 

Lanie stopped midstride, dumbstruck. 

She didn’t know how long she stood on the concourse as people walked past, in absolute shock. Now that she was closer, the person was wholly visible, sitting all alone with his roller bag, casually reading a paper and sipping from a paper cup. It was Ridley. 

Lanie moved toward him slowly, glancing around, astonished. He was supposed to be in New York. “Ridley?” 

He rested his newspaper in his lap and looked up. Pushing his tortoiseshell frames up the thick bridge of his nose, his eyes traveled up to her face like she was the one who wasn’t supposed to be there. “Hey,” he replied. “You okay?” There was a coffee caddy on the seat next to him with one cup, which he removed then handed to her as she nodded. 

She took it, puzzled, and popped off the top to examine the contents. The heavenly scent of coffee beans, hazelnut, caramel and toffee sauce filled her nose. She took a sip. “Ooooh, and it’s still kinda warm! Sorcery! Thank you.” She exhaled with relief, nearly collapsing into the seat beside him. “What are you doing here?” 

“I told you I was coming in this morning.” 

“Yes, but that was this morning.” She checked her phone. “It’s twelve p.m.” 

“Yes, well, I realized that you can get a lot of work done in the quiet of those airline club lounges.” 

“You got into the Trans-Continental lounge?” It said a lot about the airline culture she’d already begun to fall into that she was a smidgen impressed by that. 

“Apparently, since I flew business class today, I was eligible.” He shrugged. 

“Ridley, what are you doing here?” 

“It felt like too much of a coincidence and a missed opportunity to arrive the exact same day you depart and not see you.” 

Okay, that is sweet. She’d dated men who’d done less. “But three hours, Ridley?” 

“What’s three hours between friends?” His face was still incongruously serious. 

She hemmed while he continued. 

“You said it was unfortunate we’d miss each other. You also said you hated being at the airport all alone with nothing to do, right?” 

He hadn’t told a lie yet. She nodded. In all their back-and-forth texting, she may have possibly said a lot of those things. 

“Seriously, Ridley, aren’t you tired? Don’t you need to get home to your daughter?” 

He frowned and pulled back slightly. Lanie hadn’t realized until then that they’d slowly begun leaning toward one another, their shoulders nearly touching. She immediately regretted saying anything, wishing she could coax him and his delicious bergamot-and-vetiver scent closer again. 

He shook his head. “She has athletics all afternoon.” 

Lanie wasn’t sure she understood what that meant. 

His eyes roamed her face. “Track and field?” 

Lanie made a small O shape with her mouth. 

“So, she won’t be home until six-ish,” he continued, watching her face as if it could tell him things her mouth wouldn’t. And reminding her of the last time he’d looked at her like that. Right before he kissed her. 

“A-and your work?” 

“Lanie.” One eyebrow rose behind his glasses. “Do you want me to go? Because just saying so would probably be faster than running down each supposed item on my daily schedule.” 

Lanie was momentarily speechless. Ever so slightly magnified by the strength of his lenses, in the light cast from the giant window right next to them, she could see all the whorls and swirls of his dark brown irises. The rich cognac brown of his eyes pulled her in like a sci-fi tractor beam. 

“Lanie?” 

“N-no,” Lanie backtracked when she could finally speak again. “No. I’m sorry. I just assumed you’d have better things to do than sit in the airport on the off chance you’d run into me.” 

“Run into you?” His eyes narrowed, examining her face again as if he was trying to decipher something. “I didn’t run into you. I waited for you.” 

At those words, Lanie’s heart took off like one of those out-of-control hansom cabs that circled Central Park, galloping wildly like a spooked horse. 

He didn’t mean it like that, he didn’t mean it like that. He did not mean it like that, Melanie! 

“You gave me your flight info, remember?” His delivery was deadpan as usual. But then he sat up straighter. “Wait, I just heard myself say that. Was that creepy? It sounded creepy. Oh my God.” Ridley put a hand to his face, like this was really just dawning on him. 

She barked out an awkward laugh, and sniffled, nodding. “I mean…” 

“I just thought it would be nice. You know? I know how much I hate waiting in the airport too. I miss the days when you could sit at the gate with people to see them off. Are you too young to remember back then? Anyway, I thought since I was coming and you were going—” 

“Ridley.” Lanie chuckled, putting a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. I appreciate it. This was a really cool thing to do.” 

FROM FREQUENT FLIERS by Noué Kirwan. Copyright 2024 Noué Kirwan. Published by Canary Street Press 

As you can see, this further proves my point that this is a great vacation/airport read. Plus Ridley getting Lanie a hot cup of coffee while at the airport is a feat worthy of a swoon. This feels like the ultimate picture of their dynamic and how much their invisible string was tying itself together.

If you want to know more, Frequent Fliers by Noué Kirwan will hit stores on August 13th, 2024.