Morning Light | Romantic Reads and Such

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A Day of Pleasure series, Book Review, Cora Cade, Morning Light

Today’s post is going to be a fun one – we’ll start off with Cora Cade talking about the influence of music and we’ll take a look at her new book, Morning Light, which I’ve gotten a chance to read and enjoyed a lot. I’ve included my review below too so check it out!

*****

Every moment in life has a soundtrack. That first summer you had a license and your own car. The summer my husband I bought our house. The long nights I used to drive the four hours to and from our locations while we were dating long distance. That first road trip with your best friend.

All of the very best (and not so great) moments of my life can be associated with a specific song, artist, or album. And writing my first book was no exception. So, because I believe in sharing the joys of musical inspiration, I put together a mix tape of music that represents my debut release MORNING LIGHT. A story about a wounded Army Ranger finding love with his little brother’s best friend can only be symbolized with the following:

I Will Wait- Mumford & Sons
Anywhere Your Love Goes- Joshua Radin
Kiss Me- Ed Sheeran
Only Love- Ben Howard
A Drop In The Ocean- Ron Pope
Count on Me- Mat Kearney
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing- Jack Johnson
Love Don’t Die- The Fray
Ho Hey- The Lumineers
How Long Will I Love You- Ellie Goulding

Noah, our wounded Ranger, is perfectly summed up by Ed Sheeran’s ‘Kiss Me’. That song always makes me all swoony. And our heroine Tennyson has been waiting for Noah for ten years. While he was off being a war hero, she was waiting for him to come home. And being that I’m a crazed Josh Radin fan, I knew his ‘Anywhere Your Love Goes’ was the perfect inspiration for Tenn.

While I was working on MORNING LIGHT Mumford & Sons released ‘I Will Wait’ ahead of their second album. From that moment forward it was all I listened to while I finished up the book. Suffice it to say I’m a super ridiculous Mumford fan, but that song is perfect for the overall inspiration of the book.

If you’d like to check out the entirety of the mix tape, you can listen to it on Spotify: http://tinyurl.com/kfxrh3q

You can find me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CoraCade or you can check out my website at: www.coracade.com.

*****

Morning Light

A Day of Pleasure Book 1

By Cora Cade

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-61921-537-5

ASIN: B00C4U6MJ2

Number of pages: 82

Word Count: 25,000

Cover Artist: Lyn Taylor

Amazon Samhain Barnes and Noble

Blurb:

His toughest battle is ahead—the battle for one woman’s heart.

During Noah Harper’s ten years as an Army Ranger, Tennyson Sharpe’s letters were his lifeline. With each mail call, the bright and vibrant girl of his youth slowly became the woman of his dreams.

Now he’s home—and he’s in hell. The problem? Tenn is his little brother’s best friend. Claiming her risks all kinds of collateral damage.

Tenn is getting nervous. Since Noah came home, they’ve been circling each other, neither willing to risk the status quo. It’s time to kick things up a notch and make a play for the man she’s loved since she was sixteen—before someone else does.

Dressing to impress works better than she could have dreamed. After a scorching interlude leads to a steamy morning wrapped in each other’s arms, reality comes crashing down. Shining a devastating light on Tenn’s deepest fears…and forcing Noah into scramble mode to convince her forever was always on his mind.

Product Warnings

This book contains some serious foreplay in the great outdoors; stand-up sex with a hot, stand-up guy; and a wounded Army Ranger who’s determined to leave no heart behind—especially the one belonging to the girl of his dreams.

*****

Excerpt:

Moving down the stairs from the apartment to the pub below, Noah heard the distinct sound of someone cussing up a storm. He quickened his pace to reach the door separating his living space from his workspace and gently opened it.

There, standing on top of his immaculately gleaming mahogany bar, stood Tennyson Sharpe in her bare feet. All five feet two inches of her. She was on her tiptoes, reaching for one of the light fixtures with one hand and a light bulb in the other. The stretch caused her white, fitted tee to slide up her belly and expose a sliver of summer-tanned skin.

She stuck her tongue out at an angle—in concentration, he supposed. As she twisted the used bulb from the fixture, she uttered a soft, “Gotcha.” The final motion to remove the bulb caused her to dip forward on her toes and lifted her jean skirt higher, offering a delectable view of her plain white cotton panties.

Noah instantly hardened at the sight. He’d been in lust with this girl since she was sixteen to his nineteen, and after ten years apart he was finally home. And here she stood, flashing him the sexiest view he’d seen in years. He leaned against the doorframe and watched the scene unfold, never happier to have given her a key a few months back.

As she placed the fresh bulb in the fixture, she stretched again. Her whole body lengthened, straining to reach the fixture. She was all tan limbs and womanly curves. Her body was at enough of an angle that he could see her breasts tight against the fitted tee, but more importantly her cute behind as she placed both palms on the bar to hop down from her perch. As she braced herself she lifted her perky behind and flashed him.

The curve of her sex flashed before him as those white panties intimately hugged her. In a flash, both feet were planted on the floor and she was picking up the used bulb from the bar, then slipping her sandals back on. Time to turn around and head back upstairs before she caught him with a full-on erection and he embarrassed himself.

Noah eased the door shut and sprinted back up the stairs as quietly as he could, hoping to give himself a few moments to calm his erection before she unceremoniously showed up in his apartment for their breakfast plans.

He needed a cold shower before they left or he’d never survive the meal. He was going to have wet dreams about her white panties for weeks to come.

Stripping off his jeans and plain black tee, he dropped his clothes where he stood and snapped the bathroom door shut as his apartment door opened.

“Noah?” Tenn heard the shower start as she closed the door behind her. Well, that was unusual. Noah was nothing if not prompt. Ten years as an Army Ranger kind of beat that into you. She rapped on the bathroom door with a knuckle. “Hey, are you alive in there?”

“I’ll be out in minute. Got a late start to the morning. Give me five.”

She glanced down and saw a pile of clothes. Strange. Noah was also one of the neatest, cleanest people she’d ever known. His place was always immaculate, with nothing out of place. Let alone a pile of clothes tossed by the bathroom.

Now she was starting to sweat. Did he have a girl here? Had she interrupted the morning-after? Shit. That Amber bimbo had been making a play for Noah ever since he’d come home. And if she was in this apartment right now, Tenn was going to die of embarrassment. Right after she beat Noah to death.

They had plans. Even if they weren’t the romantic kind, they were definitely plans. They’d had Sunday breakfast as a standing date since his return from overseas. And he’d never had a woman here.

Who was she kidding? He had every right to get freaky with anyone he wanted. She was just the trusty sidekick, the platonic friend who was always there. Like a lapdog.

Picking up the clothes, she folded them and set them on the back of the couch a few feet away. The apartment was neat as a pin and pretty spacious, as far as it went. It was an open floor plan with only two separate rooms off the main living area, the master bedroom and the bathroom. Everything else was one large, airy space. From this angle she couldn’t see into the bedroom and was half-afraid to know if someone was still in his bed. Warming it for him, so to speak.

Deciding she needed to know, she took a step toward the bedroom after picking back up the stack of clothes she’d set down a moment before. It was a perfect excuse to check out the situation. His dirty clothes needed to be tossed into the hamper. Right.

She was about to fully push open the bedroom door when Noah yelled, “Hey, Tenn. I left my clothes out there. Could you grab them for me?”

And before she could whip around and not look guilty he popped his head out of the bathroom door. As she turned in his direction, she could only see a portion of his upper body, with the rippling muscle and just-now-fading tan from his time in Afghanistan, but it was enough to stop her dead in her tracks. The man was masculine perfection and her panties got a little wet looking at him.

“Oh, did you want these? Um, I was about to put them in your hamper.” Belatedly she whirled around and held up the clothes in question. “I thought they were dirty.”

For a moment he looked like he blushed. Really? “Sorry, I wanted to take a quick shower before we headed out and I tossed them on the floor in my rush.” He reached out a hand and beckoned her forward.

She was going to combust before she reached him. Not only was the man deliciously muscled, he still dripped from his shower. His dark hair, cut in a military-style buzz, glistened in the morning light. Eyes the color of the ocean on a sunny day, clear and crisp-blue, tracked her progress. She cleared the edge of the couch and his gaze skated down the length of her body, snagging on her legs before coming back to her face.

Once within reach of the bathroom door heat crept up her neck and face when she realized Noah stood naked on the other side of the door. His body was positioned so she could only see a naked hip and the curve of a well-defined ass, but it was obvious he hadn’t bothered wrapping a towel around his waist before popping his head out the door.

She dropped his clothes before he could get a grip on them and they fell to the floor with a soft impact. Unbelievably, as she bent to retrieve the clothing, her face flamed even hotter in embarrassment.

*****

Author Info:

Nestled away in a small town in Ohio, Cora Cade spends her days adding steamy books to her library, snuggling with her four rotten dogs, and debating the finer points of life with the dear husband.

When she’s not tucked away with a book you can find her tapping away on her laptop. With coffee. And music.

Web: www.coracade.com

FB: www.facebook.com/CoraCade

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/coracade

*****

Giveaway:

2- Gift basket with mug, tins of tea, and chocolates-open to US Shipping Only

12- ebook copies Morning Light

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112f555

*****

Review:

This is quite a steamy little story – at a little under 100 pages it packs a ton of heat in just a handful of pages. Both Tenn and Noah are fun. They have been held back by different fears but they are finally at their breaking point. It’s a fast-paced read, erotic and emotion-packed, with a captivating storyline and terrific characters.

I think my only problem is that we didn’t get more of the interaction between them when Noah was away at war, so that we could have seen more of them falling in love. Instead we get them at the point that they both have feelings but are unsure of the other and what it could do with their relationship with Chris, Noah’s brother. It’s still a delightful story but I think that would have added that little extra zing. As it stands, though, I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to spend a few hours with some sizzle and romance.

A sensuous treat, bold in the bedroom and complicated out of it, Morning Light is an intriguing tale of two people who have to decide if the possibility of a future is enough to take on the risks of a relationship. The best part is it is the first in a series and I definitely can’t wait for more. Both Chris and Tenn’s friend, Molly, have a lot of promise.

*****

Tour Schedule:

March 3 Guest blog

The Library Mistress

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March 3 review

Snarky Mom Reads…

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March 3 Spotlight w/review quote – 4.5 Stars / Top Pick

Night Owl Reviews

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March 4 Spotlight and review