Spotlight – Rough Rider

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Rough Rider, Victoria Vance

And now for another oh-so-sexy cowboy … check out Dirk everyone. Yum! And ready to go home with you next week.

*****

Rough Rider

by Victoria Vane

Sourcebooks Casablanca

Contemporary Western Romance

February 3, 2015

ISBN: 9781492601159

Two wary hearts …

Janice Combes has two loves, bucking bulls and Dirk Knowlton. But Dirk only has eyes for a dazzling rodeo queen. How can Janice ever compete while mired ankle-deep in manure? Exchanging playful banter with Dirk is all Janice can expect—until the stormy night he knocks on her door dripping wet and needing a place to crash.

Different Dreams…

Dirk Knowlton is living the cowboy dream. Life should be good—roping, branding, backing broncs, riding bulls, but there’s a void he can’t seem to fill. After getting hung up by a bull, he wonders if this is really the life he wants. Restless and rebellious, he bolts…but there’s a certain cowgirl he can’t forget.

When a battle-scarred Dirk returns to his Montana ranch he’s determined to hang on at any cost. Janice has come back home to lick her own wounds. When old dreams turn to dust, can two wary hearts take another chance on love?

Buy ROUGH RIDER by Victoria Vane here:

Book Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOmh60NT1zs

Praise for Slow Hand by Victoria Vane:

“A “red-hot cowboy tale…their sexual chemistry crackles. Well-paced, scorching scenes and witty banter move the story along while setting the stage for Wade’s war-hero brother to find his own true love in the next installment.” – Publishers Weekly

“SLOW HAND by Victoria Vane is delightful, funny, page turning steamy sexy… I’m beginning to think Victoria could write a phone book and make it sexy.” – Unwrapping Romance

“PULL THE FIRE ALARM & STOCK UP ON FIRE EXTINGUISHERS FOR THIS STEAMY ROMANCE!” – Avon Romance

*****

Excerpt:

He looked abashed. “We didn’t just have to leave the party, we got kicked out of the hotel too.”

“Evicted from your room?”

“Yup. And there aren’t any others available in all of Casper.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s why I’m camped out here.” She paused to digest what he’d left unsaid. “So you and Rachel?”

He shook his head with a scowl “We’re done now. Quits.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. History. Case closed.”

“It’ll blow over.”

“Don’t think so. It was her idea to boot us. Said she didn’t give a shit if I had a room tonight or not. Then I couldn’t even try finding anything outside of town because my asshole brother took my keys so I wouldn’t drive. My next move was to pilfer a blanket and pillow and camp out under the stars in my truck bed, but then it started pouring on me.”

“So you came here. How’d you do that with no wheels?”

“Walked.”

“Three miles in the pouring rain? No wonder you look like something the cat dragged in.”

“Can I crash for a coupla hours? Maybe just camp out in the back seat of your dually? All I need is to get warm and dry again.”

Janice’s mouth went dry as sawdust. Dirk Knowlton. Cold. Wet. Here. Now. Wanting a bed? She’d give her right arm to warm him up. Heck yeah.

Misreading her silence he mumbled a curse. “Sorry, Janice. It’s my damned head. I’m not thinkin’ right. It’s still throbbing like hell. Haven’t been myself all night. M’pologies for being such a dumb-ass and imposing on you—” He turned to the door.

“No! Wait. It’s not that.” She grabbed his sleeve. “I was just thinking of your injuries. You don’t need to make matters worse by sleeping all cramped up in the truck.” She gnawed her lower lip and then blurted. “Y-you wanna just stay here instead?”

“Here? That’s mighty generous but there isn’t a whole lot of room for both of us.” He glanced up at the gooseneck with a frown. “If you’ll just gimme a blanket, I’ll take the floor.”

“You don’t need to do that,” she said. “The bench here flips down over the table and converts into a single. It’s really narrow and not very comfortable, but still better than the truck. Warmer anyway. Besides you need to get dry.”

“You sure about this?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “What are friends for? I’m sure I’ve got a shirt for you too.”

“Thanks, Red. That would be great.”

Red? The single syllable rippled warm and tingly, all the way to her toes. He followed up with a lopsided grin that stopped her in her tracks. She turned to the small cabinet that served a dual function as dresser and closet and shut her eyes on a sigh—but the same air stuck in her throat the minute she turned back around.

He’d shed the denim jacket. And the black tee. His bare torso with well-developed pecs and a mouthwatering six pack greeted her. He was drying his face with his discarded shirt. Janice tore her gaze away and cleared her throat. “Here.” She thrust an extra-large Dixie Chicks T-shirt into his hands, a souvenir from their Top of the World Tour. “I—I can get you a towel too.”

He eyed the shirt skeptically. “No thanks.”

“What? You don’t like female musicians?”

“Don’t like their politics. Natalie should just shut up and sing.”

“Ah.” She nodded slowly. The shirt was from the tour that caused the “incident.” A lot of her friends had since thrown out their Dixie Chicks CDs, but Janice still loved their music. “I Can Love You Better” was her favorite. The lyrics, she’s got you wrapped up in her satin and lace. Tied around her little finger…but I can love you better, perfectly summed up all the heartbreak and frustrations of unrequited love; all her secret feelings for Dirk. She only wished she could show him now that he was here. In the flesh. A big strong, blue-lipped and teeth-chattering fantasy come true.

*****

Author Info:

Victoria Vane is a multiple award-winning romance novelist and history junkie whose collective works of fiction range from wildly comedic romps to emotionally compelling erotic romance. Victoria also writes historical fiction as Emery Lee and is the founder of Goodreads Romantic Historical Fiction Lovers and the Romantic Historical Lovers book review blog.

Connect with Victoria Vane:

Website | Facebook | @AuthorVictoriaV | Pinterest | Goodreads

*****

Giveaway:

3 copies of SLOW HAND by Victoria Vane

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/54ca7af758/

Spotlight – For Keeps

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

For Keeps, Rachel Lacey

Y’all, this one looks like so much fun!

*****

For Keeps

by Rachel Lacey

Blurb:

A SUMMER FLING . . . OR SOMETHING MORE?

Merry Atwater would do just about anything to save her dog rescue – even if it means working with the most stubborn man on the planet. It’s hard to avoid the sparks that fly with TJ Jameson, the ruggedly sexy cowboy in charge of the children’s camp where she’s just taken an animal therapy job. But commitment is not Merry’s style, and TJ clearly wants more than just a roll in the hay.

TJ Jameson isn’t looking for anything complicated-just a peaceful life on his family’s ranch with a wife and kids. “No-strings” Merry Atwater doesn’t fit that bill, no matter how irresistible she is. But when he sees how Merry gets through to his autistic nephew and the other kids at Camp Blue Sky, TJ’s a goner. If he doesn’t give in to the now, he might just lose his shot at forever . . .

Buy Links:

Amazon – http://amzn.to/1xkN5pc

BAM – http://bit.ly/17E21Kv

B&N – http://bit.ly/1AWAKPw

IndieBound – http://bit.ly/1AWAH6a

GooglePlay – http://bit.ly/1u3e1JX

iTunes – http://bit.ly/1u27ViN

Kobo – http://bit.ly/1CeOF0t

*****

Excerpt:

His expression heated until his eyes practically burned her.

She nibbled her bottom lip. “I should, uh, I should go.”

“It’s late,” he said, his voice like gravel. It tickled all her sweet spots.

She stared at his hands, those big calloused fingers. Damn, but she wanted to feel them on her skin. Like, now.

“Really late.” She took a step, but her feet accidentally carried her toward T.J., not the door.

He sucked in an audible breath, his eyes scorching hers. “I thought you were going.”

“So did I.” But fuck it. If she was going to be in his house in the middle of the night in her underwear, she might as well give him a kiss goodnight.

She’d never been known for her self-control, after all.

He watched her, not moving a muscle, as if he’d become rooted to the floor.

She put her palms on his biceps and pressed her lips to his. Just a quick kiss to test the waters, because they did have to work together for the next month.

His scent wrapped around her, filled her lungs, and stole her sanity. She lingered for a moment, her lips on his, so soft, so warm. Just enough to make her want more. So much more.

Her body pulsed with it.

She was about to pull back and tell him goodnight when his arms slid around her waist, securing her against the firm column of his body, and oh God, she was a goner.

“What was that?” he whispered against her lips.

She slid her hands up to encircle his neck. “A goodnight kiss.”

“And why would you do something like that?” His voice vibrated through her.

“Because I wanted to.” Their bodies were pressed together, and though he hadn’t kissed her back, he wanted to. She felt the evidence pressed against her belly.

“Bad idea,” he growled, his lips still touching hers, teasing, tempting.

“Oh, yeah?” She could hardly breathe. Every nerve tingled with awareness, desperate for his touch, his kiss. More. More of everything.

Her heart throbbed in her chest.

T.J.’s eyes smoldered into hers, his pupils blown with lust. His body vibrated with tension, his arms like steel bands around her. “Yeah.”

“Then send me home.” She wiggled in his arms, pressing into his erection, tempting him, willing him to kiss her back. Just for tonight.

She needed to be kissed. She needed to feel.

And he could make her…

His lips crushed hers, taking her so suddenly, so thoroughly, that she didn’t have time to draw a breath. She heard herself groan, felt the desire inside her explode into something so completely out of control it almost frightened her.

Her back slammed into the wall, and her legs wrapped around his waist. His tongue plunged into her mouth, gliding against hers in a rhythm so perfect she shuddered in his arms. He lifted her hips, grinding himself against her until her eyes rolled back in her head, and…

Holy shit, holy shit.

She must have lost her mind. Her body burned, quaked, shook for him, and he felt so fucking good. He tasted like sin, sweet and sexy, like leather and cowboy boots, and…

Holy shit.

She needed more. She needed everything. She needed him buried deep inside her, groaning her name as he drove her over the edge, as he came inside her, and…

Holy shit.

This was completely out of control.

“Holy shit.” The words came from T.J.’s lips, not her own, as he tore his mouth from hers and speared her with his gaze. He panted for breath, his body coiled against hers, so hard, so ready. She felt every inch of him still pressed between her legs, right where her body burned hottest for him. “What the hell was that?”

She laughed. “If you don’t know, then you’re more out of practice than I am.”

*****

Author Info:

Rachel Lacey lives in North Carolina, with her husband, son, and their own rescued pup. She volunteers her spare time with Carolina Boxer Rescue and truly has a passion for helping our furry friends. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America as well as her local Heart of Carolina RWA chapter.

Contact Rachel:

@rachelslacey

www.rachellacey.com

http://facebook.com/RachelLaceyAuthor

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8150779.Rachel_Lacey?from_search=true

*****

Giveaway:

Five lucky winners will win a collection of books by Rachel Lacey!

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/26635ce2154/

*****

Tour Info:

1/26 Art, Books, & Coffee

1/26 This Wacky Momma Reads

1/26 Long and Short Reviews

1/26 Into the Hall of Books

1/26 A Bluestocking’s Place

1/27 Romantic Reads and Such

1/27 The Boyfriend Bookmark

1/27 Kimmy Loves to Read

1/28 Give Me Books

1/28 Bibliojunkies

1/28 Book Suburbia

1/28 Reading Shy With Aly

1/28 Vox Libris

1/28 Fresh Fiction

1/28 Romance Junkies

1/28 The avid Reader

1/29 Manga Maniac Cafe

1/29 Mary Gramlich

1/29 Book Reviews & More by Kathy

1/29 Made For You Book Reviews

1/30 Ramblings From This Chick

1/30 SOS AlohaKate

1/30 George – Author

Spotlight – Man Candy

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Jewel Quinlan, Man Candy, The Cougar Journals

Y’all, we’ve got quite a sexy book today – I can’t wait to get my hands on this one!

*****

Man Candy

The Cougar Journals Book 1

by Jewel Quinlan

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Date of Publication: January 9, 2015

Word Count: 13692

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Blurb:

Commercial real estate agent, Ava Baldassari, is done with being a good girl. Recently having revamped her self-image, home and wardrobe she finds there is one thing left that needs updating; her sex life.

She runs into her friend and running partner, Cole, one night when she is out with a friend. A bit drunk she flirts with him and is surprised by the enthusiastic response he gives back.

Things reach a point where she has to make a decision whether or not to cross a line she never has before.

Ava is forty and Cole is twenty-five, is she really ready to become a cougar?

Where you can buy Man Candy:

*****

Excerpt:

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” he whispered in my ear, still pressed against me as he unzipped my dress.

Me too, I wanted to say. But I didn’t. I was adrift in the onslaught of sensation as he slid the fabric from me, trailing kisses down my back as it went. Making me aware as I never had been of how sensitive the skin there could be. When he reached the small of my back, he lingered, kneading my skin with his tongue and teeth.

His hands ran down my legs and then back up to my breasts, and I savored the feel of his fingers. My breaths came heavier. I had been needing this for too long.

He rose and turned me toward him, towering over me. His cap was gone and his dark hair was askew, as though he had run his fingers through it, giving him that sexy just-woke-up look. I slid my fingers from the waist of his jeans, underneath his shirt, to his muscled back. The ridges of strength there were too tempting beneath my fingertips. How did he find the time to work out that much? I had to see with my own eyes. Fisting the hem of his shirt in my hands, I pulled his t-shirt up to remove it. Why should I be the only one standing here naked? With a chuckle, he complied, lifting the shirt over his head and flinging it away in the casual manner of an underwear model on TV.

Sure, I had imagined what he looked like with his shirt off, but the reality was ten times better. He had a runner build, but that was filled out with muscle. The planes of his chest were topped by strong shoulders and arms, which seemed to blossom over the lean ridges of his abdominals, creating a definite contrast. I couldn’t help reaching out and touching him. I ran my hands over his skin, tracing my way upward to the light coating of black hair on his pectorals. He leaned his pelvis into me, forehead on mine, his erection pressing into me, making me shiver with anticipation.

We were on the brink of something oh-so-good, and I was dying to plunge ahead. Yet, I hesitated. Questions burned in my mind. I tried to hold them back, knowing serious talk would ruin the moment. That lasted about two seconds before I gave in.

“Um…” I said.

He lifted his head from mine and looked at me.

I cocked my head at him. “Did you just say you’ve been wanting to do this for a while?” Had he been scoping me out all this time, as I had him?

He nodded. “Who wouldn’t? Look at you. You’re gorgeous.”

I glanced down at myself. My ample buxom looked perfect in the black, lace push-up bra I wore, and the matching thong sat just right, low on my hips. I still had on my red heels, which added a lady-killer effect.

Then I glanced at him. The smoldering look he gave me trumped anything I observed on the physical plane. The messages coming from him on a subliminal level promised pleasure that made me squirm with heat.

“You know it’s going to be good between us, Ava,” Cole said.

*****

Author Info:

Jewel Quinlan had an abundant imagination and a strong desire to write novels from a young age. She particularly enjoys writing paranormal and fantasy romance but also writes contemporary as well.

An avid traveler, she has visited fifteen countries so far (which she enjoys using as settings in her novels) and has plans to see more of the world. She has a particular fondness for Bavaria and studies the German language as one of her hobbies.

During the day, she works as a pharmaceutical sales representative and, at night, she writes romance. She currently lives in Orange County, California with her dog Penny.

For more information about Jewel Quinlan

Or join Jewel’s newsletter if you just want to get the most important updates

Jewel will be attending RomCon in Denver CO September 25-27.

Readers can get tickets to sit with her at the luncheon event, she would love to meet you!

*****

Giveaway:

5 copies of Stealing Cupid’s Bow (print version open to US Shipping)

5 e-copies of Man Candy

2 audio copies of Rock Star Ex

2 audio copies Surrender Sweet Succubus

2 audio copies of Extreme Heat

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc925/

*****

Tour Info:

Click on the banner below for to check out the rest of the tour

Spotlight – Going Under

20 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Book Review, Emma Weylin, Going Under, Secret Blood series

Today I’ve got another great paranormal romance – and I even was lucky enough to read this one so I shared a little of what I thought as well.

*****

Going Under

Secret Blood, Book 3

by Emma Weylin

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Liquid Silver Books

Date of Publication: December 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-62210-169-6

ASIN: B00P6SGAVE

Number of pages: 257

Word Count: 64,000

Blurb:

Kenzie Butler is in love with the man who saved her life eight years ago. Her problem? He’s a Siberian were-tiger with the ability to scent his mate, and she wasn’t it. For years they lived across the hall from each other, helping one another with the aftermath from being tortured in a science experiment gone wrong. With each passing day, she falls more in love with him, even while knowing that one day Tiberius will find his true mate.

Tiberius Petrov leads a shadowed life. Kenzie is the only thing standing between him and the gruesome fate awaiting any shifter who goes rogue. For eight years the sound of her voice, the sweet intoxication of her scent, and the soft feel of her skin have kept him from turning down darker paths. But he’d always believed she could never be his. His nose was supposed to tell him who his perfect mate is, but it lied. He didn’t know if it was possible to develop a mate scent. All he knew was one day Kenzie didn’t smell like his mate, and the next day she did. Even after her scent changed, she kept insisting they were perfect as just friends.

After Kenzie survives a mysterious were-bear attack in her place of work, Tiberius learns the scientists altered more than his state of mind. Just when he thought he could take Kenzie as his mate he discovers he could be the biggest threat to her life.

Available at Amazon

*****

Excerpt:

He got off the creaking chair. He found his pants first, and tugged those on, and then started the search for his shirt. “Kenzie, I lost control with you, goddamn it. You need to go, no, stay here. I’ll send Chad over.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Where is my fucking shirt?”

She was standing in front of him in the next moment. Her soft breasts brushing against his chest. “Look at me.”

He growled. “Kenzie, I know when I am losing it, and I am losing it.”

She captured his face between her hands and pulled him down so they were at eye level. “It’s completely normal to fantasize about what you want to do while having sex.” She kissed his nose. “You fantasized about me and you being mated. It’s okay.”

He wasn’t safe for her, but here she was, trying to make it right for him. Hellcats! She was…she was supposed to be safe with him, and in one second of giving in to the fantasy of her, he’d have done the worst, most unforgivable thing a shifter could do. “I’m not safe for you, Kenz. Please, don’t make this harder than it is.”

“Ty, don’t do this. You need to calm down and think about this rationally.” “I need my shirt.” He pulled away from her and got down on his hands and knees to check under the bed.

Kenzie got down on the floor next to him. “It’s in your apartment.”

He darted back. “Put some clothes on. I’ll have Chad come here.”

“Tiberius.”

He retreated to the door. “Tiberius Petrov, you did not just make love to me so you could walk out on me.”

That was exactly what he was going to do. He should be her safe place, he should be the one thing in the whole world that would never hurt her, and he wasn’t sure until after the fact that he hadn’t hurt her. “I’m sorry, Kenz. I love you too much to stay.” Then he did the hardest thing he’d ever done. He walked away from her.

*****

Review:

I really enjoyed Going Under. Once again I joined a series mid-stream but thankfully once again it didn’t matter. Weylin has created a great paranormal world, one full of shifters and other intriguing beings, but most importantly the bad guys will do just about anything to exploit them. That element of danger adds that extra zing to her story (not that she needs it). Both Tiberius and Kenzie are appealing and their troubles engaging. I loved the interactions between the two and how they face their troubles together. The fact that their relationship is based on years of friendship and the extreme things that they had to survive makes the fight to get to their HEA all the better.

So if you like intrigue, danger, and fantasy mixed in with your romance, the Secret Blood series is definitely for you. Not only did Weylin keep me turning pages with her fun characters and their romantic troubles, but she kept me on the edge of my seat by having danger come at them time and again. By giving readers a nice big fantastical world, Weylin also gives us a ton of supporting characters to root for and a ton of material for future books – I’m excited, y’all!

*****

Author Info:

Emma Weylin fell in love with the written word as a child. She loves to create her own worlds full of magic and wonder. One of her favorite things is populating those worlds with interesting and true-to-life characters who experience everything from epic love and heartrending battles to seriously silly or embarrassing “duh” moments. She believes love can and does conquer all things. When she’s not writing, she enjoys her family and has a copious yarn addiction.

https://twitter.com/EmmaWeylin

https://www.facebook.com/EmmaWeylinAuthor

http://emmaweylin.com/

*****

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon Gift Card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc918/

*****

Click on the banner below for more tour info

Guest Post – Grave Vengeance

19 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Grave series, Grave Vengeance, Lori Sjoberg

I’m so pleased to kick off this week by welcoming Lori Solberg as she shares a little bit about her newest, Grave Vengeance – the third book in her “Grave” series, which looks super sexy, with a terrific amount of angst and a fantastic paranormal twist.

*****

Have you ever worked with someone you really didn’t like? How about someone you outright despised? One who made you dread coming to work and avoided at all costs?

I once worked with a woman who was known as The Human Petri Dish. She came in to work sick. All. The. Time. Coughing and hacking like Typhoid Mary, and not bothering to cover her mouth. And every time someone said something about her going home, she’d insist it was her asthma, and that whatever she had wasn’t communicable. Yeah, right. Try telling that to all of the people who sat around her and ended up catching her funk.

In GRAVE VENGEANCE, Dmitri Stavitsky and Gwen Peterson have been enemies for over fifty years. And by enemies I mean they hate each other with a white-hot burning passion. During the Cold War, Dmitri was a Soviet KGB spy while Gwen worked counterintelligence for the FBI. And after their deaths, to their utter dismay, they both came back as reapers. Now they work on the same side harvesting the souls of the dead, but that doesn’t mean they have to like it. Normally, they avoid each other like the plague, but now they’re being forced to set aside their differences in order to apprehend a rogue reaper.

Which is a lot easier said than done. These two have enough combined baggage to weigh down an aircraft carrier. But working together under intense conditions ignites emotions neither is willing to acknowledge. After hating each other for so many years, can they accept the fact their feelings toward each other are changing? Maybe, if they learn to like each other, they might just fall in love…

I hope you all enjoy reading GRAVE VENGEANCE as much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s the third in a series, but can be easily read as a standalone. Thanks so much for having me here today!

*****

Grave Vengeance

The Grave Series Book Three

by Lori Sjoberg

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Kensington Books

Date of Publication: January 19, 2015

ISBN: 9781601832696

ASIN: B00M01756O

Number of pages: Approx. 284

Word Count: Approx. 93,000

Cover Artist: Kensington Books

Blurb:

The past doesn’t like to play dead…

Handsome and haunted, he’s a reaper who prefers to work alone. But Fate has other plans for him and the sassy secret agent who shot him in another life—if their pasts don’t catch up with them first.

Dmitri Stavitsky has never played well with others—a Soviet KGB spy in life turned reaper after death, his work of bringing souls to the other side is best done alone. But orders from the top soon place him alongside fellow reaper Gwen Peterson, the American counterintelligence agent who took his life so many years ago. Now, as a ghost from Gwen’s past resurfaces with the power to steal reapers’ souls, the two have no choice but to set aside their differences and apprehend the rogue together. But their cross-country mission soon ignites feelings Dmitri thought he was no longer capable of—for the woman who helped destroy him.

With an ancient force and a small army against them, he’ll have to let go of old grudges or risk his future with Gwen…as Fate hangs dangerously in the balance.

Available at Amazon BN iTunes Kobo Google Books

*****

Excerpt:

Some men were nice to look at. Others, you couldn’t look away from. And then there was Dmitri Stavitsky.

He was taller than her, around six foot four, and had the powerful build of a gymnast. The shirt he wore did nothing to conceal his thick, corded arms or the broad expanse of his chest. His thighs strained against the confines of his jeans. He carried himself with an air of confidence that most men found intimidating and most women found irresistible. And even though Gwen despised him as much as he despised her, she had to admit he wore it well.

Gwen could feel his eyes moving over her while she drove, and she resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. “What?”

The passing streetlights played over the planes of his face. He hadn’t shaved in a day or two, and his jaw was shadowed with stubble. It made him look almost as dangerous as he was.

Almost.

Back in the day, he’d been one of the KGB’s top agents. For nearly a decade, he worked within the borders of the United States, stealing some of the country’s most valuable secrets. What he couldn’t steal he usually destroyed with calculated and ruthless efficiency. He killed defectors before they could spill their secrets as well as killing anyone else deemed an enemy of the Soviet Union. The full extent of his treachery was never determined; he’d taken those secrets to the grave.

“You cut your hair.” During the Cold War, he spoke with a flawless American accent to mask his true identity. The habit died when the Iron Curtain fell, and now his rich, deep voice contained a blend of both Russian and American, with the former growing more pronounced whenever he got pissed off.

Like now.

“So nice of you to notice.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “It makes you look like a boy.”

Bastard. Her grip tightened around the steering wheel. “Like I give a damn what you think.”

He laughed under his breath. “I think you do.” The smirk on his face vanished when she ground the gears. Careful! It took me two days to rebuild the transmission.

“Sorry.” Not really. She totally meant to do that. “Third’s a little sticky.” She held back a smile as she hooked a right onto Alafaya Boulevard.

Dmitri raked his hands through his short, dark hair. He was a few weeks past the time for a cut, and the ends curled around the nape of his neck. “Why are you here, Gwen?” Her name sounded like poison on his tongue.

Good question. Her current base of operations was on the opposite side of the country, along the American side of the border with Mexico. Samuel had been vague on the details when he contacted her late last night with orders to fly to Orlando for a special assignment. She hated the idea of working with Dmitri, but knew better than to refuse an order. After all, the Big Kahuna wasn’t known for his gentle demeanor. The quicker they got the job finished, the quicker they could return to their normal routines and forget the other existed.

“Samuel sent me,” she replied with a shrug, knowing he’d understand the way the boss operated.

He nodded, his expression grim. “And why did you steal my car?”

“Because I could.” And because she knew it would piss him off. It was the way things had always worked between them. They’d lost their humanity and become reapers together, and had been at each other’s throats ever since. Two Cold War relics, passing through the modern age. “You really need to install a better anti-theft system.

Anybody with a screwdriver can hot-wire this thing in less than five minutes.” She’d done it in three.

She could have sworn he growled.

An uneasy silence fell between them. She darted a quick glance in his direction and saw the unwashed hostility darkening the blues of his eyes. The muscles along his jaw clenched and unclenched, his full lips pressed into a thin white line.

The light ahead switched from green to yellow. After checking for cops, she punched the gas to make it through the intersection before the yellow turned to red. “You know, I’m not happy about this either. The sooner we do whatever Samuel wants, the sooner we can go our separate ways.”

With a huff of annoyance, Dmitri rolled down the passenger side window and propped his arm on the sill. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

For once, they were in perfect agreement.

*****

Author Info:

Growing up the youngest of three girls, Lori never had control of the remote. (Not that she’s bitter about that. Really. Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not like she’s scarred for life or anything.) That meant a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits – you name it, she watched it. It fed her imagination, and that came in handy when the hormones kicked in and she needed a creative excuse for being out past curfew.

After completing her first novel, she joined the Romance Writers of America and Central Florida Romance Writers. Now she exercises the analytical half of her brain at her day job, and the creative half writing sensual paranormal romance. Grim reapers are her specialty, but she loves to write about all creatures of the night.

Web: www.lorisjoberg.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLoriSjoberg

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6574214.Lori_Sjoberg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lori_Sjoberg

*****

Giveaway:

$20 Amazon.com gift card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc924/

*****

Click on the banner below for more tour information

January 19 Guest blog

Romantic Reads and Such

http://romanticreadsandsuch.wordpress.com

January 19 Spotlight

Books N Pearls

http://booksnpearls.com/blog

January 20 Interview

Urban Fantasy Investigations

http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/

January 20 Spotlight

The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

www.creativelygreen.blogspot.com

January 21 Interview

Author Karen Swart

www.authorkarenswart.blogspot.com

January 21 Spotlight

Roxanne’s Realm

www.roxannerhoads.com

January 22 Interview

Shut Up & Read

http://shutupandreadgroup.blogspot.com/

January 22 Spotlight

Fang-tastic Books

www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com

January 23 Guest blog

Anya Breton Author’s Blog

http://blog.anyabreton.com

January 23 Spotlight

The Bookish & The Romantic

http://thebookishandtheromantic.blogspot.com

January 26 Guest blog

ARe Cafe

www.AReCafe.com

January 26 Character Interview

Eclipse Reviews

www.totaleclipsereviews.blogspot.com

Spotlight – The Love Brothers

16 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Coach Love, Liz Crowe, Love Brewing, Love Brothers, Love Garage

We’re going to end our week with a group of super sexy brothers who come with a whole parcel of trouble.

*****

Love Garage

The Love Brothers Book One

By Liz Crowe

Genre: Contemporary Romance for Real Life

Publisher: BeerWench Enterprises LLC

Date of Publication: 1/5/2015

ASIN: B00P4GJCL8

Number of pages: 268

Word Count: 67,000

Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde Media

Blurb:

Antony Love is the quintessential responsible oldest brother of a boisterous, Italian/Irish family, placed in charge at a young age by his parents who are busy running the family business. He manages his siblings with a fair but iron hand, until his life is shattered by personal tragedy leaving him the shell of the man he once was.

When outspoken matriarch Lindsay Halloran Love becomes ill, the youngest brother Aiden shows up at Antony’s garage, having dropped out of school (again), needing work and a place to crash. Antony provides both, with three caveats: “Don’t smoke in my truck, don’t be late for work, and don’t mess with my girlfriend.”

But Aiden Love, budding novelist, gets one glimpse of Rosalee Norris, young widow of Antony’s lifelong best friend and all bets are off.

Set in horse country near Lexington, Kentucky, The Love Brothers Series is a saga of family devotion that runs as wide and deep as the Ohio River–except on Sundays when brothers Antony, Kieran, Dominic and Aiden work out their frustrations on the basketball court, Love brother style.

The Love Brothers: A family saga with humor, heat and heart—not to mention beer, bourbon and basketball.

Available at Amazon

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/CefA1aGVkpg

Book Trailer Featured on USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2014/11/14/recommended-book-video-liz-crowe-al-goulden/18979137/

*****

Love Garage Excerpt:

Love Garage opened bright and early the next morning, a Saturday, a day Aiden had hoped to spend recovering.

“I get so many oil changes and random small jobs on Saturdays, it doesn’t make sense to be closed and let the jackasses with the Quickilube at Walmart get the business,” Antony insisted when Aiden groaned with dismay upon being awakened after two hours of drunken sleep. It didn’t help that the awakening occurred at the business end of a thrown pillow. “Get up, Romeo. You owe me rent money.”

He did, slowly, queasily hitting a shower, sore all over, his skin mottled from bug bites. But nothing topped the glorious agony of a bourbon hangover like the one that had him firmly in its evil grasp.

He slouched out the door, cursing Antony, cursing Tricia, cursing her ex-husband for throwing her in his path last night. But mostly cursing his own weak-ass uselessness. He rested his head against the cool comfort of the truck window until Antony hit a bump or two, which sent extra pain jolting down his spine.

“Sorry,” his brother muttered, glancing over at him.

“No, you’re not.”

“Got me there. And you’d better warn me if you’re about to toss your cookies. I won’t have that in my vehicle, got me?”

Aiden rubbed his neck and nodded, swallowing the urge to throw up all over the pristine interior on principal. “Why d’you hate me so much? You used to like me.” He stared over at his brother, heart thumping, ears humming, throat closing up with nausea. He despised waking up still drunk.

“I don’t hate you.” Antony turned onto the main road headed into town.

“Could’ve fooled me. You’re a real asshole anymore. Worse than Dom.”

Antony merely shrugged, not rising to that tried-and-true bait. So they spent the rest of the ride to the garage in silence. Once there, Antony sat gripping the wheel. Aiden waited, hoping he’d get something out of him—something he would assure him that the man he thought he remembered as the protective, funny, and loving guy he’d grown up with still existed inside the guy walking around wearing Antony’s skin.

Finally, he let go of the wheel, exhaled, and squared his shoulders as if prepping for battle. Aiden made a mental note to talk to Kieran about how badly Antony had descended into his life of non-stop mourning and jerk-hood.

“So, Rosalee, not putting out for you or what? You need to get laid maybe? Knock the edge off?”

The glare Aiden got for saying those particular words did make him worry Antony might punch his aching head through the passenger-side window.

He clenched his jaw in the way Aiden remembered from their childhood. “That is so far outside the realm of your business as to be in another galaxy. Get to work and don’t say her name to me again.”

And with that, Aiden was left with the fleeting thought that mentioning Rosalee directly was probably not a good idea. He surely didn’t need Antony to guess that her name was on his lips, or front and center of his mind.

He shook his head—a Bad Plan because it summoned the pounding agony back with a vengeance. Groaning, he climbed out and shuffled over to the door.

A new day began at Love Garage.

*****

Coach Love

The Love Brothers Book 2

By Liz Crowe

Genre: Contemporary Romance for Real Life

Publisher: BeerWench Enterprises LLC

ASIN: B00PHLU0CK

Number of pages: 229

Word Count: 58,000

Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde Media

Blurb:

The smoldering intensity of first love ~ the forbidden fantasy of temptation ~ the cold hard facts of real life.

When one man’s hopes are dashed apart in a split second after years spent chasing a dream, he returns home to Kentucky furious at the world and everyone around him.

Kieran Francesco is the middle son of the volatile, tight-knit Halloran-Love family. His role as peacemaker and the one true athlete is well established. He now faces life devoid of the sport he adores after a horrific, career-ending accident, which places him in a new and entirely uncomfortable position—that of the brother with no future.

Over the course of a few tumultuous months Kieran is plunged back into life at the center of the Love family, where he must cope with one self-destructive brother, one ill-timed reconnection to an old flame and a series of bad choices that land him in more trouble than he’d ever known existed.

COACH LOVE, book 2 of The Love Brothers, a family saga of sibling loyalty that runs as deep and wide as the Ohio River—at least until Sunday, when Antony, Kieran, Dominic and Aiden work out their frustrations at the weekly Love brother pick-up basketball game.

Available on Amazon

Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/CefA1aGVkpg

Book Trailer Featured on USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2014/11/14/recommended-book-video-liz-crowe-al-goulden/18979137/

Coach Love Excerpt:

As he drove the twenty or so miles from his parents’ house into town Kieran’s head began to clear. The windows were down and the tunes cranked. The sun shone. Signs of summer–one of his favorite seasons–were all around him. Parks packed with families, all the basketball courts and swimming pools overflowing. The sight of a gaggle of boys on bikes riding alongside him for a while, singing along with whatever random, crappy rap song currently polluted the airwaves made him smile.

“Hey, it’s Kieran Love!” one of the punks shouted after a few blocks. “Can you come over and shoot a few with us?”

He waved and drove on, gratified but sad, the sound of their cheerful unhappiness at his refusal filling his ears, taking the stretch of four lane road at seventy miles an hour, pressing the gas pedal to the floor, the throaty, powerful roar of the car’s engine revving him from head to toe.

It would be all right because he and Melinda loved each other. They had from the moment they’d met. He passed some grandpa in a Toyota, as the deep green fields surrounded by picturesque white fences and dotted with horses filled both sides of his vision.

He’d been home and recuperating from radical knee surgery with the best prognosis he could hope for after such a nasty break–to walk normally, much less play the occasional pick up game. His depression had been deep, wide, and terrifying. He woke every day at his parents’ house, unwilling even to get out of bed, not that he could without help for the first few weeks.

Antony had tossed a laptop computer at him one day when he’d been sulking, unshaven, and eating an entire bag of potato chips, something he’d not done since the age of ten when his fate–bound for basketball fame and fortune–had been determined.

“Here, find a job, find a date, find something,” he’d said before yanking the empty chip bag away and smacking Kieran’s head hard enough to make his ears ring.

“Ow. Leave me alone, asshole. I’m grievously injured,” he’d said, not caring about the swear-free zone he inhabited.

“That’s three dollars young man,” his mother had called out from the kitchen.

“You live with this, jerk, and see how you feel about finding ‘a date.’“ He’d hooked his fingers around the words, heart in his throat at how badly he’d wanted to call Cara right then.

But by the next weekend he was caning and limping his way toward the door to some faux-fancy Italian restaurant in Lexington, rubbing his freshly shaved face and trying not to sweat through his dress shirt. The woman from the internet site sat at the bar, twirling an olive-laden swizzle stick in her martini glass, long, slim, bare legs crossed, feet encased in sky-high patent leather heels. He’d exhaled, beyond relived that he’d not been cat-fished by some troll, or worse, a dude.

He’d hesitated then, something in him telling him to turn around and leave, fast. But at that moment, she’d flashed him the whitest, most perfect smile he’d ever seen and he’d been hooked. He still didn’t know how. They’d gone out for three weeks before she let him kiss her. It’d been another three weeks before he got anywhere near her tits. It had been a solid four months before he scored but that encounter had been, in a word, epic.

Melinda liked to talk dirty, wear heels and a garter belt while he fucked her. Loved doing it with all the lights on and in semi-public places. She gave head like a pro at first, before he’d given her an engagement ring.

Her bitchiness had come across as extreme decisiveness, sort of hot in way, he’d admit, since he tended toward the spontaneous and unplanned–”wishy washy” as he now understood it thanks to Melinda’s re-categorization of his personality. Her tight grip on her emotions and her surroundings, the OCD way she ordered her life did grate on him at times but he figured she tolerated his innate sloppiness and willingness to wake on a Sunday without a plan in place for the rest of the day. When he realized he sat across from her at some overpriced, hipster restaurant near her office after going out with her for eight months, ready to present her with a ring he could barely afford, it had shocked him without seeming to even faze her.

“Well, of course I’ll marry you, but you’ve got to find a better job,” she’d drawled as she sipped her champagne.

“A new job?” He’d gotten the teaching gig at his old high school and couldn’t imagine any job he’d want or like better. She made six figures for Christ’s sake, at least he thought she did.

Elated, drunk with lust and achievement, he’d tried to get his long legs adjusted under the small table jammed between all the others and covered with small plates of “tapas” which, best he could tell were “appetizers” only twice the price and half the helpings.

“I’ll do anything you want, Melinda. You saved me, honest to God you did.”

She’d fluttered her inky black lashes and gazed at him with an expression that convinced him he’d made the drastic move for the right reasons. The following year had been a combination of frustration, anger and high school level blue balls. The double drama Antony and Aiden had foisted on the Love family during that time hadn’t helped but it had distracted him. He’d taught his classes, helped out with the basketball team pro bono without telling Melinda and had been happier than he’d ever been as a pro athlete.

The fact that she maintained her uber-bitch persona around his family killed him. But he was hooked.

Still.

Mostly.

*****

Love Brewing

The Love Brothers Book 3

by Liz Crowe

Blurb:

Every family has one—the black sheep, the problem child, the prodigal. But Dominic Sean Love could teach all of those guys a lesson or two. Stuck in the middle of a boisterous group of siblings, he’s given “acting out” a new meaning from the day he drew his first breath.

While he’s the one son who follows his strict father’s footsteps into the Love family business, he’s also the one who butts heads with him the hardest. Their epic clashes are the stuff of family legend. But they have made peace and work side by side to take Love Brewing to the next level of success.

Until Dominic does the one thing his father can never forgive.

Diana Brantley has been Dominic’s friend, girlfriend and ex-girlfriend so many times she’s lost count. When he shows up at the farm she’s slowly transforming into a wildly popular farm-to-table resource for restaurants all over the U.S. her first impulse is to shoot first and ask questions later. But she doesn’t. And their lives entwine once more, for good, bad and ugly.

Book 3: LOVE BREWING available in ebook format March 1, 2015

All 3 books available in print March 14, 2015

FREE NOVELLA AVAILABLE FEB. 1, 2015 ON AMAZON ONLY: “SAFE LOVE.”

Book 4: FAMILY LOVE available Summer 2015 in ebook and print

*****

Author Info:

Amazon best-selling author, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, mom of three, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse.

Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”). More recently she is garnering even more fans across genres with her latest novels, which are more character-driven fiction, while remaining very much “real life.”

With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.

Don’t ever ask her for anything “like a Budweiser” or risk bodily injury.

Website | Beer, Books & More Blog | Facebook Fan Page | Facebook Fan Group

Twitter Feed | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads Page | Beer Blog

*****

Giveaway:

Prize Pack #1:

$40 Amazon Gift Card from Liz!

Free (.99) ebook of choice from Renee Entress!

3 Signed Sarah Robinson bookmarks from Summer’s Book Blog!

FREE ebook from Liz’s backlist (winner’s choice)!

$10 Amazon Gift Card from Drue Hoffman!

Prize Pack #2

$20 Amazon Gift Card from Liz!

$10 Amazon Gift Card from Perusing Princess Blog!

Free ebook (up to $2.99) from Keisha Carpenter!

Ebook set of Breaking My Heart and Healing My Heart by Aleya Michelle

Free ebook copy of one of Liz’s brewery-based novels (Paradise Hops, Cheeky Blonde or Honey Red)!

Prize Pack #3:

$10 Amazon Gift Card from Liz!

Entire Black Jack Gentlemen Series (ebook) from Liz!

Free ebooks of Holding Out and Climbing Out from Lila Rose!

Set of bookmarks from various authors from Jen Widner!

Enter at:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/5071b5864/

*****

Click on the banner to check out the rest of the tour

Spotlight – One Month of Elle

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

After Hours series, Book Review, Elle Kennedy, One Night of Scandal, One Night of Sin, One Night of Trouble

Today we’re celebrating One Night of Trouble, the newest in Elle Kennedy’s deliciously sexy After Hours series by taking a look at all three books, getting a very HOT peak into the first (One Night of Sin) and revisiting my review from last fall. And best of all, Elle is giving away a fantastic gift basket so don’t miss out!

*****

One Night of Sin

Sometimes it’s good to be bad…

When it comes to sex, good girl Skyler Thompson always plays it safe, choosing stable and sedate over wild and thrilling. She doesn’t do one-night-stands, but one look at sinfully sexy Gage Holt and she’s willing to reconsider. He makes her want to be bad for once in her life, and she’s prepared to take what she wants.

Danger follows former MMA fighter Gage Holt like a shadow. Despite his successes as part owner of Sin, an exclusive nightclub in Boston, Gage can’t risk getting involved with a woman, especially one as sweet as Skyler. Still, he can’t resist a taste—and it’s so damn good he has to see her again.

As addicted as he is to her, Gage knows there’s no future for him and Skyler—not with his past lurking in the dark corners of an MMA cage. But Skyler’s tougher than she looks, and she’s ready to fight for her man.

Goodreads Book Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightSinGR

Amazon Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightSinAM

Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightSinBN

Entangled Page: http://bit.ly/OneNightSinEP

One Night of Scandal

The wrong man never felt so right…

Ex-fighter Reed Miller has been secretly lusting over his best friend’s girl for months, but he refuses to jeopardize a friendship over a woman—especially one who doesn’t like him all that much. Now that Darcy’s on the market again, it’s even more imperative to stick to his strict hands-off policy. But the sizzling attraction between them is too powerful to ignore, and once he’s had a taste of her…all bets are off.

Darcy Grant is tired of walking the straight and narrow path. She’s on the hunt for passion, and there’s no denying Reed is just the man to give it to her. Although she has no interest in dating a bad boy, and certainly not her ex’s best friend, it’s impossible not to melt beneath Reed’s skillful touch. Now it’s just a matter of setting a few ground rules—and hoping her rule-breaking, sweet-talking bad boy agrees to follow them. But if she lets Reed into her bed, does she stand a chance of keeping him out of her heart?

Goodreads Book Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightScandalGR

Amazon Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightScandalAM

Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightScandalBN

Entangled Page: http://bit.ly/OneNightScandalEP

One Night of Trouble

No More Mr. Nice Guy…

The moment AJ Walsh sees the sexy, tattooed pixie walk up to his bar, it’s lust at first sight. He’s always been labeled the “nice” guy―opening doors, buying flowers, and never, ever having one-night stands. But with this wicked little angel with red lips and unfathomably dark eyes? Oh, yeah. Tonight, “nice” has nothing to do with it…

Brett Conlon is trying to convince her family that she’s put away her reckless wild girl side for good. Nothing―and no one―could be better for her reputation than golden boy AJ Walsh. So they make a deal: if he plays The Good Boyfriend for her family, he can be a very, very bad boy with her. Now their one naughty night is about to turn into a whole lot of trouble…

Goodreads Book Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightTroubleGR

Amazon Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightTroubleAM

Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://bit.ly/OneNightTroubleBN

Entangled Page: http://bit.ly/OneNightTroubleEP

*****

One Night of Sin Excerpt:

“I’m Skyler,” she said.

He nodded.

“Maybe you’re new to civilized society, but normally when people introduce themselves, you reply by providing your own name.” She arched one perfectly defined eyebrow.

“Is that right?” His lips twitched. “Well, what makes you think I’m at all civilized, Skyler?”

That made her falter. She bit her lower lip. Tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and the scent of her shampoo floated his way. She smelled like green apples. A sweet and feminine fragrance, serving as a reminder that he shouldn’t be out here talking to her.

“How old are you, sweetheart?” His voice came out rough.

“Well, my ID held up at the door, so I’m over twenty-one if that’s what you’re worried about. Twenty-four, actually. In some cultures that would make me a spinster.”

Gage swallowed a laugh. There was something truly refreshing about her sarcasm, especially when contrasted with the flush of her cheeks and the way she fidgeted with her hands. She didn’t belong here. Not at this club, not even in this neighborhood. She should be nestled between crisp white sheets right about now, snuggled next to a wholesome man while the two of them watched late-night talk shows before bed.

“Go back inside,” he said gruffly. “Your date’s probably wondering where you are.”

That made her snicker. “I doubt it. I think he wrote me off the second he realized I wasn’t going to fuck him tonight.”

Gage’s cock jerked in his pants. Jesus. That angel mouth wasn’t allowed to say things like that. Not in front of him, a man whose inner devil could be summoned at the drop of a hat.

“Go back inside,” he repeated.

“Why? You don’t like talking to me?” Hands planted on her slim hips, she moved closer, a pensive look on her face.

He shrugged. “I don’t like talking, period.”

“Huh. So what do you like to do?”

Gage met her eyes in another long, deliberate stare. Leaving no question as to what he enjoyed doing.

She visibly swallowed. And then she startled the hell out of him.

“So maybe that’s what we should do.”

A laugh rumbled out of his chest. “You’re playing with fire, baby.”

“Am I?”

She had the nerve to lick her lips. He didn’t think she’d done it as an intentional taunt, but damn, the response to seeing her tongue dart out was instantaneous. His erection pulsed against his zipper, hard and persistent, like it was trying to tunnel its way out of his pants and into her pussy.

Gage took a breath, trying to ease the ache down south. Nope, he wasn’t giving in, wasn’t going to acknowledge the awareness prickling over his flesh. He was fighting in two days, and he didn’t like to screw before a match. The frustration fueled him, gave him the edge he needed to send an opponent to his knees.

But at the moment, he wanted to be the one on his knees. With his head underneath Skyler’s skimpy dress, his face buried between her legs as he licked her up until she screamed.

“Yes,” he rasped. “You’re definitely playing with fire.”

“Maybe I like fire, did you ever think of that? Maybe I want to get burned.”

*****

One Night of Sin Review:

(Some of you may remember this review already – it was posted here just a handful of months back.)

Gage is haunted by his rough past and even though he’s tried to become a better man, circumstances keep him in the seedier world of him childhood. He believes he’s no good at relationships and that he can’t offer anything to someone as good and decent as Skyler. Skyler may be a good girl but she’s willing to play at being a bad girl if it means she can give in to her attraction for Gage. When their one night stand becomes a sex only relationship that begins to feel like more than just sex, things start to get complicated.

These two together are fabulous. Gage brings out a more daring side to Skyler, while she reminds him that he can be more than what he was. While One Night of Sin is novella in length, and a decent part of it is spent on the steamy interactions between the two (not that I’m complaining), Kennedy still does a good job of letting us see their relationship develop. We don’t get a lot of those more relationship-y interactions first hand, but we are told about them and we get to see their effect in the changes in their attitudes … and with how Gage starts to believe that he can be that better man. It’s a very fast read, a little over a hundred pages, but it moves well and left me with that happy feeling that I want from a good romance.

I totally got into this book and I kept thinking Elle Kennedy’s name was familiar. She’s the co-author of All Fired Up, the first book in the DreamMakers series with Vivian Arend, which I really enjoyed. (And I’m looking forward to reading the second book, Love is a Battlefield – review coming when I’m done.) I also think there is a good chance I’ve read one or two of her Harlequin stories, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future stories. Based on her book list, it looks like she specializes in tough, troubled heroes and from what I’ve read so far she’s good at keeping them on their toes.

*****

Author Info:

A USA Today bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a BA in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

Elle loves to hear from her readers. Visit her website www.ellekennedy.com or sign up for her newsletter to receive updates about upcoming books and exclusive excerpts. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter (@ElleKennedy).

Website: www.ellekennedy.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElleKennedy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorElleKennedy

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1935000.Elle_Kennedy

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/OR9cr

*****

Giveaway:

Enter to win a Seduction Gift Basket

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1cb55495468/

Guest Post – One Mad Night

12 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Julia London, One Mad Night, The Bridesmaid

I am a HUGE fan of Julia London’s work (both her contemporary and historical romances), so I was seriously stoked to get the chance to host her as she shared a little about her newest, One Mad Night.

About a year ago, I got the pleasure of reading half of this anthology, The Bridesmaid – my review can be found here. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure you do as soon as possible. Two-for-one y’all!

*****

One of the popular tropes in short romantic fiction is the idea of enemies or rivals becoming lovers.

I love this trope. There’s nothing like a little healthy competition between a man and a woman to get thing stirred up, right? Especially if the two people competing are sexy and neither of them are above using their sexiness to win. With that kind of sexual tension, the desire to win becomes an all-consuming need. If the two people are going head to head to win an important account that could make or break their career, the stakes just got that much higher. So as a writer, what do I enjoy about this situation? Creating a blizzard that shuts down the city and locks just the two of them in the office overnight with nothing but a couple of Lean Cuisines and a bar to entertain them. I suppose they could go back to their cubicles and work on their presentations, but that wouldn’t be any fun. Better for them to make a drink and go wandering around the other cubicles, right?

This is exactly what happens to Chelsea Crawford and Ian Rafferty in One Mad Night.

This kind of trope is perfect for a novella. It’s straightforward and the arc can be really explosive. The story opens with Chelsea and Ian flinging zingers at each other as they head toward the big showdown, then realize that they are stuck, and worse, going to have to work together to make it through the night, to the slow and dawning understanding that maybe, just maybe, there’s something more to their arch rival than an advertising campaign they privately know is great, but are each still clinging to the hope that it isn’t as great as their own. But is that enough?

And if you like blizzards, try The Bridesmaid. It’s a companion to this novella, packaged with it, and is about a couple caught travelling across the nation in the same blizzard. What if you had to share a travel space with someone who was just as determined to get the last seat on the train, plane, or car as you were? Blizzards are the best for romance.

I hope you enjoy the novella. Thank you for having me today.

*****

One Mad Night Anthology

By Julia London

January 6, 2015

Sourcebooks Casablanca

$5.99/£4.99

Blurb:

Two Romantic Adventures…One Mad Night

Two delightful contemporary romance novellas in one book from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia London.

One winter’s night a blizzard sweeps across the country, demonstrating that fate can change the course of lives in an instant…and fate has got a sense of humor.

One Mad Night

Chelsea Crawford and Ian Rafferty are high profile ad execs in cutthroat competition for a client. When a major winter storm puts New York City on lockdown, the two rivals have to make it through the night together—oh, the many ways in which opposites attract…

The Bridesmaid – Bonus Novella

RITA Award Nominee for Best Romance Novella of 2013

Kate Preston has just moved to New York. Joe Firretti is contemplating a move to Seattle. When the weather wreaks havoc with transportation systems, Kate and Joe meet as they are both trying to rent the last car available… As Kate races to make her best friend’s wedding, and Joe races to a life-altering job interview, it looks like together is the only way they’ll make it at all.

Praise for Julia London:

“London knows how to keep pages turning…winningly fresh and funny.” —Publishers Weekly, on RITA Award nominee The Bridesmaid

Amazon | B&N | BAM | !ndigo | IndieBound

*****

Excerpt:

It took a moment for Chelsea to notice him, which gave Ian a moment to admire her. He was going to crush her tomorrow, but that didn’t stop him from appreciating a figure that guys like him dreamed about. Chelsea was wearing a skirt today. It hit about mid-thigh and was tight enough to show off all her curves. She looked a bit taller today too. He glanced at her feet and noticed the shoes. Chelsea was walking on stilts, and her legs, good God, her legs. She was smoking hot in that dress and those shoes.

“Hey!” she said sharply, her voice full of accusation.

Ian’s head snapped up. “Hey,” he said con-genially. “Practicing your pitch?” He settled one hip onto the conference table.

“Do you mind?” She gestured to the door in a be-off-with-you way.

“If you want, I could listen and give you some feedback.”

Chelsea’s mouth dropped open. And then her green eyes narrowed into little slits. “You have got to be the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.”

Ian smiled and shrugged.

“You can go, Ian,” she said, marching around the conference table to usher him out. “I think I’ve got it.”

“Suit yourself.”

“I will.”

“So hostile,” he said with a wink as he stood up. “I’m just trying to help. It never hurts for someone to hear the pitch, right? You’ve had someone listen to you go through it, right?”

“Yes, I’ve had—Hey, hey,” she said, poking him in the chest. “Are you trying to play me?” she demanded. “Because it won’t work. I’m not some junior account person, you know. You can’t intimidate me.”

“Well, obviously,” Ian said and poked her back. “You wouldn’t be pitching at all if you were a junior account person. I know I can’t intimidate you. It wasn’t a declaration of war, you know; it was an offer to help.”

“It wasn’t a let-me-help, best-friends-forever offer, either. I’m not playing games with you. This account means a lot to me—”

“Me too.”

“Oh yeah?” she said, shifting closer. “Well, don’t get too attached to the idea. I’ve got seniority, you know.”

“So why are you so afraid to show me what you’ve got?”

“Because it’s none of your business.”

“On the eve of the championship, it’s okay to go out and shoot some hoops with your competitor. It’s not going to affect tomorrow’s big game. It’s not like I can go out and change weeks of work overnight if I see you’ve got something better.”

She laughed. “Good try, Rafferty, but I think maybe the reason you want to see my pitch is because you’re worried about the strength of your pitch. Is it a little rough? Maybe I should listen to you.” She winked, and her green eyes shone with pleasure at her comeback.

“I’m definitely not worried about my pitch.”

“No? Seems to me if you’re presenting three,” she said, holding up three fingers and wiggling them at him, “then you must be uncertain which one is the winner.” Her smile broadened into sheer triumph, as if she thought she’d really zinged him.

She hadn’t zinged him, but Ian did wonder how she knew what he had…Zach. Of course. That rat bastard. “Have you been talking to Zimmerman?” he asked accusingly.

She shrugged and studied her manicure. “Maybe. Does it matter? I thought we were doing the let’s-help-each-other thing. But if we’re not, would you mind toddling off? I have a lot of work I need to do before tomorrow. I plan to hit the ground running with this account on Monday.”

She was amazingly and annoyingly confident. Ian was generally a confident guy, but she was making him a teensy bit nervous. “You really think you’re going to get this, don’t you?”

“I don’t think, I know,” she said, looking up.

He tilted his head to one side to study her. “Isn’t it obvious to you why they brought me in?”

“I don’t know—I haven’t given it the slightest bit of thought.” She lifted her chin, and Ian realized she lied about as well as she engaged in verbal volleyball. “I’ve been promised that this account is as good as mine. Didn’t they tell you that when they brought you in?”

A bit more of Ian’s confidence leaked out of him. He’d been in New York advertising long enough to know that the industry was full of snakes. He wouldn’t put it past anyone to feed him a bunch of half-baked promises to get him to commit. “Who told you?”

She grinned. “None of your beeswax.”

“Come on, tell me—” His phone rang, distracting him momentarily. He fished it out of his pocket and noticed the number was the Grabber-Paulson main number. That was weird. “Listen, I’ll just say this,” he said, clicking off the phone. “Don’t be so sure of things. People say things they don’t mean, especially in this industry.” He started for the door.

“Uh-huh, I know. And I would offer you the same advice, Mr. Rafferty,” she said in a singsong voice, and she flashed a dazzling smile, full of straight white teeth.

“Cocky too. I like that about you,” he said. “I’ll keep it in mind when I make partner.” He winked at her, smiled as if he was completely unbothered, and went out of the conference room.

*****

Author Info:

Julia London is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the Homecoming Ranch contemporary series, the Secrets of Hadley Green historical romance series, and numerous other works. She is a four-time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction, and RT Bookclub award recipient for Best Historical Romance. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Connect with Julia London:

www.julialondon.com | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*****

Giveaway:

Three copies of One Mad Night

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/54ca7af743/

***

Special thanks to Julia for joining us today!

Spotlight – Capturing You

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Capturing You, Katana Collins, Maple Grove series

Today we’re going to check out a fabulous new series from Katana Collins, complete with a great contest and a fabulous sneak peek!

*****

Capturing You

Maple Grove Book 1

by Katana Collins

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Date of Publication: 12/16/14

Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde

Blurb:

After discovering she’s infertile, Lydia Ryder has all but convinced herself that she doesn’t need children or a family to be happy. All she needs is her camera, her passport, and a damn good manicure. And maybe, maybe a sexy male travel companion. But when her job as a magazine photographer lands her in the small town of Maple Grove, NH, a precocious ten year old and her single father barge into Lydia’s life, turning what she thinks she wants onto its head. In this town full of happily ever afters, Lydia finds herself wishing for things she had sworn off long ago…

When Cameron Tripp’s wife passed away from heart disease, he thought he’d never find love again. He certainly never would have expected a woman like Lydia Ryder to waltz into his life and awaken his dormant heart and libido. But despite his better judgment, Cam finds himself drawn to the vivacious and argumentative outsider. He quickly learns that, like him, she knows all about misplaced trust, heartbreak, and how quickly a family can fall apart if you let it.

As impassioned arguments morph into frenzied kisses, the two wonder if one weekend can ever be enough. Despite lacking a maternal side, can Lydia connect with his ten year old daughter? And when Cameron finally learns the true nature of Lydia’s article, the trust he worked so hard to build crumbles once again. With such doubts filling their minds, is there any hope that Lydia and Cameron will be able to start a new life together?

Prequel available for free https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/498057

*****

Excerpt:

It didn’t take long before Cam was lying on the floor, face up, a half-empty bottle of wine clutched in a hand. His ceiling fan was so dirty. He’d have to make a mental note to dust up there next time. If he’d even remember in this inebriated state. Do drunk people use words like inebriated? Apparently this one did.

He looked to his left, swiveling his head without lifting it off the floor. Callie was lying face down on his couch. One leg dangled off the edge and knuckles that grasped her bottle of vino scraped the floor. Her cheek was squished making her loose lips pucker. Sensing his stare, she opened her eyes; they were red and bloodshot. “You’re so drunk,” she slurred.

“You’re an enabebler,” Cam attempted to speak. Clearly it wasn’t going well. He could tell in his own head it was wrong and his sister broke out in a fit of giggles.

“This is fun,” she said, “Why didn’t we ever do this before?”

“Because you weren’t twenty-one before,” he grunted and bringing the bottle to his lips, took another swig. The sweetness wasn’t so much of an issue after your sixth glass. And after almost a whole bottle? You didn’t even taste it anymore.

Callie sat up on an arm, propping her body in some sort of yoga-like pose that made Cam’s back hurt just looking at it. Shit, he was getting old. “Listen, mister. I’ve been twenty-one for…” she counted on a few fingers, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as though the extra thinking hurt, “many months now. There’s no excuse!” Her elbow gave out and she fell back down onto the couch with an oomph.

“Yeah, well, I’ve got reponsibilities,” he said. “Responsilibilities,” he tried again. “Re-spons-ib-ilities.” There. He got it, finally.

Callie broke out into another fit of girlie giggles and rolled off the couch onto her back next to Cam. He couldn’t help but laugh too. And damn it felt good to laugh. It was creaky; unused. But nice, nonetheless. “So seriously,” Callie’s eyes were only half open, “who’s the city chick?”

Cam groaned. Lydia. Everything came back to Lydia lately. “I need to be drunker if we’re going to talk about this,” he lifted the bottle again, the halogen lamp reflecting off the tinted glass. It was noticeably lighter than before.

“C’mon,” she propped herself up on an elbow. “Tell me about her.”

He sighed. “She’s…beautiful. Like a sunset on…uh, a summer’s eve.”

Callie burst out laughing again. “Okay, I think you’ve had enough,” she reached across him and took the bottle from his hands. “You just compared a woman to a feminine cleansing product.”

He closed his eyes, picturing her face. That sleek chestnut hair; grey eyes with little specks of gold like his granite countertops; high cheekbones and large, plump lips. When he opened his eyes, Callie was looming over him smiling. “You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

He groaned. “She has a boyfriend. It’s a moot point.”

“Did she say it was a moot point?”

“She doesn’t have to. She has a boyfriend and she lied about it.”

Callie arched an eyebrow. “Which only proves that she’s into you, too.”

Cam thought of the kiss; of her breasts pressed against his body, that silk shirt tickling his skin. “Doesn’t matter,” he mumbled. “Boyfriend. In New York. She’s leaving.”

“You should sleep with her anyway,” Callie collapsed back onto the floor beside him and he couldn’t help but laugh at the statement.

“Okay,” he said, “Now you’re the one with the drunken drunk talk.”

“I’m serious! Sleep with her.”

“She has a boyfriend.”

“All the more reason to do it. Neither of you will get attached.”

“You want me to use her to get my feet wet again?”

“If your feet get wet, I think you’re doing it wrong.”

He groaned. “Oh, gross. You’re my baby sister…what do you know about sex?”

She snorted a laugh. “You sure you want me answering that?”

“Oh, god,” he covered his face with both hands. “No. You’re twelve. You’re

twelve and you collect My Little Ponies.”

Grabbing a pillow, she hit him playfully across the face. “Just think about it, bro. We all just want you to be happy.”

Happy. The word rolled around in his mind like a marble on a slick surface. It was too soon to be happy. Too raw. He liked the wound—liked keeping it fresh and open. It was his only connection left to Hannah.

Cam pushed off the ground, room spinning as he got to his feet. With a groan, he grabbed a plastic bag, gathering the empty bottles.

“What are you doing?” Callie mumbled.

Cam rubbed his eyes with a knuckle. “I can’t have Maddie or mom coming home tomorrow to find these. I’ll take them out to the recycling tonight.”

Callie gurgled something that half sounded like words before she rolled over, smashing her face into a pillow.

The recycling was locked in a wood shed on the edge of the property to protect their garbage from bears. Cam shivered, his unlaced boots crunching in the snow as he staggered to the shed. He had to pause a moment, leaning on the banister to make the snow below him stop spinning.

At the water’s edge was a vision. A beautiful woman bundled in a coat staring out into the night. Cam blinked. Was he just seeing things? Surely he couldn’t trust his eyes when he was this drunk.

But then, the woman turned and he was struck by Lydia’s stunning svelte body, backlit by moonlight. She took his breath away and they both stood frigidly staring at each other.

Tossing the recycling into the shed, he huffed toward the frozen lake and Lydia stood there, unmoving. His insides wrenched and he didn’t bother thinking.

“Cam,” she said as he approached. Only he didn’t let her get anything else out. He grasped her tiny waist with both hands and tugged her into him, sloping his mouth down over hers in a kiss that stirred fire even on the coldest night.

She moaned into his mouth and their tongues explored each other in wild, feverish movements.

He scooped his hand into her hair, tugging the strands and pulling her head back to expose her neck. His erection nestled onto her hip and she ground against him. “God, you are beautiful,” he whispered against her. “And smart. And talented.” Then, dragging his lips up her neck, he scraped his teeth along the tender flesh there. Her muscles quivered against his mouth and he grinned, loving that he could affect her this way.

He kissed her jaw up to her chin, pausing just in front of her full, curvy pout. “What are you doing to me?” He rasped.

Lydia’s eyes danced, fluttering open to meet his gaze. She licked her lips and swallowed. “You’ve been drinking.”

“Only a little,” he lied. Cam tried to blink his alcohol fogged brain back into commission, but all he could see was Lydia. All he wanted was Lydia. He didn’t care about the wine. Or the auction. Or the fact that she had some boyfriend waiting for her in New York. He just wanted to live in the moment and for once do what his heart desired. “I’ve wanted to do this since the moment I saw you,” he groaned and pressed his lips to hers once more.

Lydia’s hand found Cam’s erection and she squeezed him through the denim fabric. “Fuck,” Cam hissed and trailed one palm down her back to her ass, cupping her through flimsy pajama pants while the other slid into the front, nudging the silky boy short panties to the side.

She pumped him through his jeans and he brushed his fingertips across her damp heat, dipping his fingers inside. She bucked against him and cried out, her face falling into his shoulder with a stifling bite.

God, she was so wet. So ready for him. He wanted nothing more than to bury his erection deep inside her wet sex and lose himself there forever. He plunged two fingers deeper this time, using his thumb to circle her clit. Within minutes, she was trembling into his palm, crying out. Her muscles clamped his fingers, pulsing as she came.

His erection raged just as strong in her hand as she exhaled with a sigh. “That was…” she swallowed. “That was…”

“Delicious.” Cam finished for her, sucking his fingers clean. She tasted sweet and tangy and all Lydia.

Her eyes darkened. “Why don’t we go inside so I can take care of you, now?”

Cam looked to the house as a light clicked on in his kitchen. Lydia followed his gaze, her eyes widening in alarm. “Oh, god. Is Maddie awake?” She covered a mouth with her hand, moving it to the blush on her cheeks. “Oh, shit.”

The ground below him seemed to be suddenly made of pudding and Cam could barely keep his footing. “Y-yeah. I should probably get back inside,” he slurred.

Lydia nodded. “Of course. I-I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Cam watched as she ran back to the guest house before he too, entered the house. He fell back on the floor below Callie who had resumed her place on the couch. She blinked awake with a knowing grin.

“Shut-up,” he mumbled.

*****

Author Info:

Katana Collins splits her time evenly between photographing boudoir portraits and writing steam-your-glasses romances. Between navigating life as a small business owner, a first-time homeowner, and a newlywed, Kat is in a constant state of “OHMYGODINEEDCOFFEENOW.”

She is the author of the Soul Stripper trilogy, Wicked Exposure, and the graphic novel, Cafe Racer, co-written with Sean Murphy.

She and her comic book artist husband commute back and forth as they please between Brooklyn, NY and Portland, ME with their ever-growing family of rescue animals (up to two dogs and a cat and still counting!). She can usually be found hunched over her laptop in a cafe, guzzling gallons of coffee, and wearing fabulous (albeit sometimes impractical) shoes.

Visit her on the web at www.katanacollins.com, on Twitter @katanacollins, or find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/KatanaCollins

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6577884.Katana_Collins

http://www.amazon.com/Katana-Collins/e/B00DQVU5ZA/

*****

Giveaway:

paperback bundles of the Soul Stripper Series open to US Shipping

2 digital bundles

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc843/

*****

Click on the banner below for more tour info

Tour Schedule:

December 15 Spotlight and review

The Book Landers

http://www.thebooklanders.com

December 16 spotlight and review

Erzabet’s Enchantments

http://erzabetsenchantments.blogspot.com/

December 17 Spotlight

Kristy Centeno

http://booksbycenteno.com

December 17 Spotlight

CBY Book Club

http://cbybookclub.blogspot.co.uk

December 18 Review

Belinda Williams Books

www.belindawilliamsbooks.com

December 19 Spotlight

Aly’s Miscellany

http://alysmiscellany.blogspot.com/

December 22 Interview and review

KT Book Reviews

http://ktbookreviews.blogspot.com/

December 22 review

feedmeinbooks

www.feedmeinbooks.wordpress.com

December 23 Spotlight

Share My Destiny

http://sharemydestiny.blogspot.com

December 26 Spotlight and review

SiMPLiREAD

http://coffeebeanzone.wordpress.com/book-spotlight/

December 26 Spotlight

The Ultimate Fan Blog

http://theultimatefanblog.com

December 29 Spotlight and review

BFD Book Blog

http://bfdbookblog.net/

December 30 Guest blog

Roxanne’s Realm

www.roxannerhoads.com

December 31 Review

Books N Pearls

http://booksnpearls.com/blog

January 1 Interview

The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

www.creativelygreen.blogspot.com

January 2 Spotlight

Lola Carson Books

http://lolacarson.blogspot.ie/

January 5 review

Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock

www.pratr.wordpress.com

January 6 Spotlight

Romantic Reads and Such

http://romanticreadsandsuch.wordpress.com

January 6 Interview

Deal Sharing Aunt

www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com

January 7 Spotlight

Lisa’s World of Books

www.lisasworldofbooks.net

January 7 Spotlight and review

Natural Bri – Pursuits of Life

http://www.naturalbri-pursuitsoflife.blogspot.co.uk

January 8 Interview

Booklover Sue

http://bookloversue.blogspot.com

January 9 Spotlight and review

Underneath the Covers

www.underneaththecoversblog.com

January 12 Guest blog

Sapphyria’s Book Reviews

http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/

January 12 Spotlight

A Night’s Dream of Books

http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/

Spotlight – A Little on the Wild Side

06 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

A Little on the Wild Side, Robin Kaye

If you haven’t read a Robin Kaye book, then here’s a great place to start! She writes humorous, emotional contemporary romances – perfect for the funny-bone and the heart-strings.

*****

A Little on the Wild Side

by Robin Kaye

Sourcebooks Casablanca

January 6, 2015

Blurb:

A woman who gets what she wants…

Bianca Ferrari—ex-supermodel turned successful business woman—seems to have it all: beauty, brains and a career she loves. And she did it all by herself…through sheer force of will and ruthless determination. So when her life is suddenly turned upside down, it’s hard for her to admit that going it alone may not be an option…

A man who knows what she needs…

Sexy, rugged and down-to-earth, Trapper Kincaid has a knack for attracting all kinds of women—mostly the wrong kind. When he finds out that the exhaustingly independent and drop-dead gorgeous Bianca is in serious need of help, he knows he’s the man for the job. But Bianca isn’t going to make it easy…

Buy A Little on the Wild Side by Robin Kaye

*****

Author Info:

Robin Kaye is a professional writer and winner of the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for her first novel, Romeo, Romeo. Her romantic comedies feature sexy, nurturing heroes and feisty, independent heroines. She lives with her husband and three children in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

www.robinkayewrites.com | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*****

Excerpt:

Trapper sweet–talked his way into Bianca’s office with a bouquet of flowers and chocolate. He liked her receptionist, Terri. He’d talked to her several times when he and Bianca had been seeing each other, and it didn’t sound as if she’d heard he was persona non grata lately. He hoped he wasn’t getting Terri into trouble, but damn, he didn’t know what the hell to do. Bianca’s doorman refused his bribe the night before and wouldn’t let him into the building without announcing him first. This was his only other option.

Terri had been easy. He just dropped his sister–in–law Toni’s name, and she let him wait in Bianca’s office. She even promised not to tip off Bianca and spoil his surprise. Then she told him she wished her boyfriend was half as romantic, gave him a wink, and unlocked Bianca’s office door.

He stepped into her corner office, and the scent of Bianca hit him—-he was hard in a matter of seconds. He digested the differences between her office and her apartment. Her office was cool, modern, sleek, and so unlike her home. He’d been shocked when Bianca invited him to her place, opened the door, and he saw the collection of comfortable antiques—-not like something you’d see in a museum. No, it looked like something you’d see in your grandmother’s house—-a feather–stuffed sofa with an old quilt hanging over the back. Beautiful, yet comfortable pillows were scattered everywhere. Low lighting from torchieres gave the place a romantic glow. Rolled arms to drape a lover over, and sturdy oak tables in the kitchen and dining room, perfect for dinner or sex—-one memorable evening, both—-added to the reasons he’d fallen in love with the place.

Trapper took a seat behind Bianca’s desk and pulled his cowboy hat low over his eyes to cut the glare from the cold, hard–recessed lighting. He put his feet up and settled for a long wait. Terri had told him Bianca had canceled her morning appointments and was expected before noon. He sat back with his e–reader and caught up on law journals, while trying to keep his dick
at half–mast.

At eleven thirty the door swooshed open. Bianca walked in, her black cape floating around her. Her hair was longer than he remembered, and she had big bags under her eyes that no amount of makeup could disguise. She looked beautiful, way too thin, and ill.

She still hadn’t noticed him. She spun around, tossed her briefcase on the leather sofa, and turned her back, tugging off her cape. She might have lost weight, but damn, she still had the finest ass he’d ever seen.

He put a smile on his face—-the one he was told made women swoon. He figured he needed all the help he could get. He had a strong feeling she wouldn’t be happy being ambushed, but what choice did she give him?

He walked around her desk, leaned against it, watched, and waited for her to hang her cape—-a difficult task since the darn thing had no sleeves.

She turned. The first thing he noticed was that her breasts were larger, but maybe they just looked that way since she’d lost quite a bit of weight.

His gaze headed south and made an unplanned stop at her waistline. His smile froze. His jaw clenched. Blood rushed through his ears, making his temples throb. Every muscle in his body tensed.

Bianca—-his Bianca—-was pregnant? Definitely pregnant—-past the point where a man would wonder. Not ready–to–pop pregnant, but just–about–time–for– maternity–clothes pregnant. He wasn’t sure how pregnant that was, but shit, he was sure the baby she carried was his. He knew it the second she spotted him grinning like the fool he was and flashed him a guilty look. That was a nanosecond before what little color she’d had drained from the beautiful face that haunted his every waking moment and his dreams, leaving her looking like a corpse three weeks past her expiration date.

Bianca blinked, and her wide, green eyes rolled back in her head.

Oh shit. He raced for her.

Her long legs buckled, and he caught her just before she hit the floor.

His heart didn’t beat again until he felt her shallow breaths against his neck. He carried her to the couch and laid her down, brushing the baby–fine hair off her face. He sat beside her, waiting for her to wake up.

Trapper had heard pregnant women sometimes fainted, but he didn’t think they passed out for this long. It seemed like an eternity. He checked his watch. It had been less than a minute. He took a deep breath, felt her pulse strong and steady on her neck, and tried to keep the anger, terror, and helplessness out of his voice. “Come on, sweetheart. Time to wake up.”

Nothing.

Panic scratched at his insides like a feral cat trying to escape a trap.

She didn’t move.

Her lips were pale. The blue veins stood out in her forehead.

She looked like death.

He ran to the door and slammed it open. “I need some help here!”

In three strides, he returned to Bianca’s side, took her cold hand, warming it between his. “Bianca, sweetheart, please, just open your eyes.”

Terri ran in. She took one look at Bianca and stepped back.

“She passed out.”

“I’ll get James.” She ran from the room, screaming James’s name.

It seemed like forever until James ran in. “What happened?”

“I was waiting for Bianca when she arrived. She took one look at me and took a nosedive. I caught her just before she hit the floor.”

“She pukes all the time, but she’s never passed out that I know of.” He looked as panicked as Trapper felt. He turned to Terri. “Call 9–1–1.” When she didn’t move, he screamed. “Now!”

The poor girl burst into tears and grabbed Bianca’s phone.

Trapper placed Bianca’s hand on her belly, on top of the other resting there protectively. He stared in wonder. They were having a baby. He was going to be a father. He expected the fierce protectiveness, but he hadn’t expected the fear or the joy or the awesome weight of responsibility that settled on his chest. But most of all, he hadn’t expected the exhilarating feeling of knowing that together they had created a child. A child he loved. A child he would give his life for. A child who needed him.

His gaze rounded on James. He wanted to pick the man up and toss him out of the floor to ceiling window for allowing Bianca to get in this bad a shape. “What the hell happened to her?” His voice was low, threatening, and a hell of a lot calmer than he felt.

Terri’s eyes went wide, and she skittered away.

James stood his ground like a man preparing for a shoot–out. He arched a scholarly brow. “Nothing that won’t be remedied in five months. Where the hell have you been? Since I’ve handled the first four months, you get her for the finale. The woman is a full–time job. I recommend you clear your schedule.” He handed Trapper a copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. “Here, you might want to read this. So far, Bianca’s only looked at the pictures.”

*****

Giveaway:

3 sets of Robin Kaye’s Wild Thing Series (open 12/29 – 1/30)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/54ca7af746/