Tuesday, October 30, 2018

BOOK BLITZ for "Poison in the Well (Deadly Trades, #3)" by Jessica Gunn


SYNPOSIS:

I’m Ava Locke, and until now, I’ve survived on the trust of my friends and a magic humming in my veins. But when all-out war threatens the horizon, it’s going to take a Hail Mary like none of us has ever seen before to stop it. 

It starts with an ancient journal written by an Ember which who discovered a way to weaponize Ember witch blood in such a way that poses dangers to everyone with magik. Dangers we discover first-hand when Will’s blood causes a healer’s death. 

With all the Ember witches we rescued from Landshaft now in quarantine, our only hope are the mystifying Neuians and their neutralizing magik — and their hidden agendas. But that assistance comes at a steep cost, one the heads of the Fire Circle aren’t willing to pay. 

But when the Leader of the Fire Circle is nearly killed, we no longer have any choice besides which evil is lesser: the help of the Neuians or making a deal with Jerrick and Landshaft to go to war against them. 

The Ghost: A Hunter Circles Short Story

is FREE on Amazon Kindle Oct 29 & 30, 2018!


Other Books in the Hunter Circles World by Jessica Gunn:
The Hunter Circles Series:
The Hunter (prequel novella)
The Hunted
The Traitor
The Changed
The Hero
The Power
Standalone Novellas:
The Healer
The Ghost

Monday, October 29, 2018

RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW for "Knight's Redemption (Knights of Hell, #1)" by Sherilee Gray



Title: Knight's Redemption
Series: Knights of Hell #1
Author: Sherilee Gray
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: October 29, 2018

Blurb

With one fatal mistake, immortal demon hunter Lazarus started a chain reaction that set him and his five brothers on a collision course straight to Hell.

There’s only one way to save them all — claim his mate, a sweet beauty he doesn’t deserve and will only end up hurting. But immortals fall hard, and walking away from her when it’s over is going to be near-impossible.

When bookstore owner Eve Taylor starts hearing the thoughts of others, she is certain she’s losing her mind. Until the day a wickedly seductive and dangerous warrior appears and introduces her to a terrifying new world — one she has been part of her whole life and never knew.

Now, with a traitor consumed by darkness and driven by revenge hunting them, they have one chance at survival. But they must give into the scorching desire that, if they let it, could destroy them both.


~BOOK REVIEW~

****(4) out of 5 Stars!

These two really need to work on their communication skills!  Nearly all of the angst and drama from the novel could have been avoided if Lazarus and Eve had just talked to each other, and expressed their thoughts and feelings.  But then we would have missed out on this whole story and the delicious way in which these two FINALLY get their act together and become an actual couple.  LOL!

There was a LOT of backstory and world-building that occurred in this book.  So much so that I at times couldn’t follow what was going on and how it all fit together.  But as this is the first in a planned series, I trust that things will perhaps make more sense as it goes along. 

There were also some apparent inconsistencies in how things were explained to work and then how they actually played out.  But the main storyline itself was a good one, and definitely worth following. 

Most of the characters were rather well developed, original and fun to follow.  (I especially enjoyed Brent!)  I look forward to learning more about various ones as this tale progresses. 

The scenes between Lazarus and Eve were always powerful and usually quite hot.  The mental beating that they each gave themselves after each encounter was hard to watch.  But their eventual union and developing relationship almost made it all worthwhile.  I certainly look forward to seeing more of them and the other characters in future installments.  

I received a free eBook copy of this title from Give Me Books Promotions, 
and have willingly provided an honest review.



Purchase Links
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited


Excerpt

One touch from her and he’d lost focus again. 
This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen. He’d been with her for less than an hour and already he was struggling to keep his shit together and had put her in danger.
As tempting as she was, he had to remain fixed on his original path. He couldn’t allow this force between them to win. Because this wasn’t for him. He couldn’t keep her.
“We have to leave,” he said before putting even more space between them. Keeping his head straight was getting more and more difficult around Eve. He needed to conduct the rest of this mission as he always did—with cold efficiency.
She nodded and went back to biting her damn bottom lip.
He tore his eyes from her, not sure how to handle this, any of it. How was he going to explain what she was to him? How did you tell someone they were the key to your salvation, your only hope? That your future and that of the free world depended on her leaving everything she’d ever known and accepting him as her mate.
A mate who would leave as soon as he’d taken what he wanted. 
A mate who could never love her.
That it was for the best because he would never, not in a million years, be worthy of her.
Eve would not be another sacrifice to this war. And that’s what would happen if he kept her. If he allowed her to get close.
People who got close to him suffered for it. They got hurt.
He’d do whatever it took to prevent that from happening again.
He glanced over at her. Keeping his shit tight wasn’t going to be easy. Besides having to deal with his overwhelming physical attraction to her, he feared his possession was moving at a faster rate. Time was almost up, and he had to find a way to explain the reason he’d come for her without sending her running. 
What if she refuses you? 
He couldn’t think about that now. Getting her to safety had to be his number one priority.
The shadows had crept in earlier, the darkness trying to take another piece of his soul. Eve had seen it, the difference in his eyes as he fought to restrain his demon. He just had to hold off for a bit longer.
And hope like hell she’d accept him. 



Author Bio


Sherilee Gray is a kiwi girl and lives in beautiful New Zealand with her husband and their two children. When she isn't writing sexy, edgy contemporary and paranormal romance, searching for her next alpha hero on Pinterest, or fueling her voracious book addiction, she can be found dreaming of far off places with a mug of tea in one hand and a bar of Cadburys Rocky Road chocolate in the other.

Author Links

Saturday, October 27, 2018

BOOK BLITZ for "Eight Steps to Alpha" by Taylor Sullivan


Eight Steps to Alpha
by Taylor Sullivan
Publication date: October 27th, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Elliot Prescott has one question for his ultra-nerdy roommate and best friend, Fe Porto. 
Why can’t he get the girl? 
And she has an answer for him. Or maybe eight. 
With five years of best-friend hood under their belt, they’re about to embark in the project of a lifetime. 
To make Elliot alpha. 
The only catch? They have just four weeks to turn the video game loving Elliot, into a cocky, sexy, tattoo clad beast Fe has read about in her romance novels. 
Can they do it? Or will the flitter of love that’s been brewing under the surface finally get the kindling it’s been longing for? 

Excerpt:

It only took a few minutes before Fe was back and for Elliot to realize she had absolutely no clue how much he bench-pressed. She brought him the wrong size. In fact, she brought him shirts so small, he was pretty sure it would fit a juvenile boy. Elliot was a man, a six-foot-two, two-hundred-pound man, and there was no way these suckers were going to fit him. “Wrong size,” he said, throwing the shirts back over the door. “I need an extra-large.” He flexed his chest in front of the mirror to prove his point. Did she not see this? Did she not notice these weapons of mass destruction?
The shirt came flying back over the stall, the hanger barely missing his head by a fraction. “You wear a medium. Put it on.”
He opened the stall door, not caring he wore no shirt, and flashed her a free sample of the gun show. “Fe, come on? Are you serious?”
She smirked a little, her dimple taunting him. “Your clothes are too big, Elli. That’s part of the problem.”
He raised a brow. “This,” he argued, grabbing the shirt from its hanger, “won’t fit over my right bicep.”
She laughed, in a way too amused sort of way, then came forward, took hold of the door handle, and closed it. “Put. It. On.”
So, he did. And it wasn’t easy. It was sort of like squeezing a python into a hamster hole. But he put it on to appease her, opened the door, and found Fe, immediately covering her mouth to suppress laughter. She eyed him up and down, did the little twirl thing with her finger again, and he turned happily, because she was smiling again—and he’d do anything to make her smile.
The shirt was white, almost see through because the fabric was pulled so taught, and the sleeves were wrapped around his arms like the casing of a sausage. When he made it full circle, he found her eyes locked on the band of skin right above his waistline. The shirt was a good four inches too short, leaving his belly button, and happy trail completely exposed. He didn’t even know if she was aware what she was looking at, because she seemed as though she was in a trance. But there was no mistaking it—she was staring right there, her hazel-green eyes, like a wheat field hanging on to the barest amount of spring, stuck just a fraction of an inch above his zipper.
His mighty soldier inched toward a salute, and he turned toward the mirror. “I told you it wouldn’t fit,” he said gruffly, then closed his eyes and forcibly cleared his throat.
God damn it! Why did this happening to him? At the worst possible time? He began saying Hail Mary’s in his head and tried to calm himself down.
It wasn’t working.
“I’ll go get you a large,” Fe whispered, closing the door quietly behind her.
Good. He thought. Good.


Author Bio:
Taylor is mom of three young (or not so young) children she loves more than life. She runs them around endlessly, hoping she looks presentable enough to be out in public, and day dreams about fictional characters. Maybe she's crazy, or maybe she craves the barbie games she played as a little girl a little too much, but that's where her stories are born. It's where they blossom, and grow, and eventually breath life on the page of her stories.


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Thursday, October 25, 2018

BLOG TOUR & BOOK REVIEW for "Undisclosed (Nights series, #7)" by A.M. Salinger

Undisclosed
(Nights series, #7)
by A.M. Salinger
Publication date: August 21st, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
I have a problem. His name is Lincoln “Asshole” Hudson. He’s the bastard who wants to run me out of town. I should hate him. Trouble is, Lincoln is my type. Like one hundred and ten percent. And, ladies, he has the biggest, er, package I’ve ever seen on a man — Eveline 
I have an itch I want to scratch. Her name is Eveline “Sassy Mouth” Claude. She’s the woman standing in the way of what could be my most lucrative project yet. Eveline is my enemy. There’s one hitch: she’s the hottest thing on legs my dick has ever seen — Lincoln 
When Eveline Claude discovers she doesn’t actually own the land on which her most successful club stands, she is determined to get it back from the man who has now laid claim to it. Unfortunately, Lincoln Hudson, the new landlord and über successful billionaire behind the Hudson Group, doesn’t want to play ball. 
Lincoln Hudson is in Tokyo for a landmark deal that could help secure his company’s foothold in the Far East and expand his hotel business in a new and exciting direction. The only hiccup is, someone else thinks they own the prime piece of land he’s just bought. And that someone is a woman he very much wants to bed. 
After Lincoln convinces Eveline into becoming his personal escort for the duration of his stay in Tokyo in exchange for considering leasing her the land, the two of them come to a mutual agreement; they will enjoy each other—socially and carnally—until such a time that their arrangement comes to an end. 
But as their time together draws to a close, Eveline and Lincoln discover that they have more in common than just great sex. Will they let their business affairs sour what is growing between them? Or will they put aside their differences and accept that enemies they may have started as, but lovers is what they’re meant to become? 
Discover Eveline and Lincoln’s story in this sexy and wickedly funny addition to the hot, contemporary romance series Nights by A.M. Salinger. Note from the author: although each book in Nights can be read as a standalone, you will enjoy this series even more if you read the books in order! 
This is a novella length MF romance with a HEA.
~BOOK REVIEW for "Undisclosed"~

****(4) out of 5 Stars!

This is book #7 in a series, but having never sampled any of the others, I had no problem jumping right into this world and reading it like a stand-alone.  

The chemistry between these two main charactes is HOT.  I love that they are both powerful, driven, successful individuals, who have overcome various bad things in their pasts.  They definitely hold their own with one another in all things business, emotional and sexual.  

This is anything but a tame romance.  My goodness is does it get HOT at times!  Still, the sex scenes are tasteful, and we get to see how the two develop real feelings for one another as their relationship develops.  There is even a brief venture into BDSM, but would definitely only be considered such for those not into such things.  

The other characters in the book were just delightful!  I would certainly be interested in reading more about several of them, so I may in fact check out the previous volumes in this series.  

I did think the underlying basis of the original problem was a bit convoluted (at least for a non-business American audience), also that the ending was somewhat overly dramatic and then wrapped up awful quick.  But other than that, I found this a very enjoyable, quick, hot read!


Author Bio:
Ava Marie Salinger is the pen name of an Amazon bestselling author who has always wanted to write scorching hot contemporary and erotic romance. In 2018, she finally decided to venture to the steamy side. 
NIGHTS is the first of several sizzling series featuring sweet, sexy men and women with dark pasts and a whole lot of love to give to the ones brave enough to fight for their hearts. When she’s not dreaming up hotties to write about, you’ll find Ava creating kickass music playlists to write to, spying on the wildlife in her garden, drooling over gadgets, and eating Chinese. 
Want to be the first to know about Ava’s new releases and get access to exclusive content, sneak previews, sales, and giveaways ? Then sign up to her Reader Group here and join her VIP Facebook Fan Group here
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Tuesday, October 23, 2018

BOOK BLITZ for "A Heritage of Death (A Reverend Cici Gurule Mystery, #2)" by Alexa Padgett

A Heritage of Death
(A Reverend Cici Gurule Mystery, #2)
by Alexa Padgett
Publication date: October 23rd, 2018
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller
An unconventional pastor. A brutal murder. To solve the case, one reverend will look for help from beyond the grave… 
Reverend Cecelia “Cici” Gurule dreams of a bruised and bloodied woman who looks alarmingly like Cici. She’d like to pretend the dream is a nightmare and nothing more, but there are too many coincidences in her waking life to write it off. Like the baby that turns up on her porch – a baby that disappeared weeks before. 
Cici and Detective Sam Chastain race to find the woman, but the killer finds her first. As the trail grows cold, Cici’s only chance to solve the mystery before she becomes the next target may be a clue left by her ghostly twin. 
A Heritage of Death is the second novel in a compelling female sleuth mystery series for fans of Ruth Ware and Gilly MacMillan. If you like convention-shattering heroines, vivid Southwest settings, and a touch of the paranormal, then you’ll love Alexa Padgett’s twisty mystery. 
Buy A Heritage of Death and hold on tight for a white-knuckle thrill ride today!

Excerpt:

She opened the door that connected to the kitchen to find both her dogs waiting, tails wagging, for her. While she hugged and pet them, she talked about her day.
“Ready for a walk?” she asked.
Strolling through the streets, Cici passed a few of her neighbors and waved. The heat stuck to her skin, coating her in sweat and an unwelcome, oppressive blanket.
She watched Mona frisk around, her plumed tail wagging. Rodolfo stayed close to her side, his pace sedate, his tongue already lolling. Poor boy. Recovering from near-death took time.
She leaned over and pet his ears.
“I’m so thankful you’re still with me,” she said. He turned his face up toward hers, brown eyes sharp, tongue sliding to the back of his mouth as his canine grin spread.
She walked toward the park at the end of the street, planning to let Rodolfo sit by the side of the cottonwoods while she and Mona attempted some fetch. Mona refused to drop the ball once she collected it, instead darting to and fro, and having a delightful doggy game of tag.
Not Cici’s favorite game but Mona lived for it. They transitioned into the park area and Cici grabbed the ball from her pocket.
She threw it just as a thick wave of dizziness slammed her, causing her to shut her eyes. A strange tugging sensation rippled over her, one she’d felt before. Cici shook her head, trying to force the vision out of her mind.
“No. I don’t like that,” she murmured. “Don’t do that to me, Aci. It’s awful.”
Her sister didn’t listen—not that Cici expected her to.
Cici continued to fight, but Anna Carmen tugged at her consciousness. Come. See. You don’t have much time.
“Aci?” Cici asked, her heart aching at the sound of her twin’s voice, even if it was just in her head—in this nightmare. She succumbed to her sister’s voice, desperate for a deeper, a stronger, connection to her twin.
But her sister was gone, and Cici was back in Grace’s head, how she knew this, she couldn’t say. Just that she knew she was Grace Bruin and she was scared.


Author Bio:
With a degree in international marketing and a varied career path that includes content management for a web firm, marketing direction for a high-profile sports agency, and a two-year stint with a renowned literary agency, award-winning author Alexa Padgett has returned to her first love: writing fiction. 
Alexa spent a good part of her youth traveling. From Budapest to Belize, Calgary to Coober Pedy, she soaked in the myriad smells, sounds, and feels of these gorgeous places, wishing she could live in them all—at least for a while. And she does in her books. 
She lives in New Mexico with her husband, children, and Great Pyrenees pup, Ash. When not writing, schlepping, or volunteering, she can be found in her tiny kitchen, channeling her inner Barefoot Contessa. 
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Saturday, October 20, 2018

BOOK REVIEW for "The Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey" by Matthew S. Cox

****(4) out of 5 Stars!


SUMMARY:

Twelve year old Piper Bailey wouldn’t trade her friends for any amount of money ― unfortunately, when her dad inherits a fortune, she doesn’t have a choice.

She’s happy with her little house in Syracuse and hand-me-down clothes twenty years out of style. The unexpected windfall is a blessing for her family, but it comes with a giant house hours away in the woods. Heartbroken at being so far from her tiny social circle, she tries to talk her parents into staying home, but they drag her off to the forest anyway.

Piper finds an unexpected friend in a boy who lives in the next house, and the two decide to explore grandpa’s giant mansion. It doesn’t take long for creepy things to start happening. Convinced there’s a malevolent ghost trying to hurt them, she asks her parents for help, but Mom goes from believing Piper is acting out over the unwanted move to being legit crazy.

A near-fatal attack from the spirit strands the kids in a hidden underground complex packed with supposedly mythical beasts. Thinking the strange zoo cruel, Piper is determined to free the creatures, but not all the captives are friendly.

Some are downright evil.
 

REVIEW:

Matthew Cox is one of those rare authors who can write to a middle grade audience without sounding either condescending or incredibly juvenile.  And he has done an amazing job with this tale!

Piper is an awesome 12-year-old, although she is a little too good to be believed.  And the life of poverty described for her family before their windfall was a bit much.  (I honestly don't know anyone in this day and age who hasn't had takeout pizza in three years, for example.)

Tristan is a little bit of an odd character, and I was originally afraid, like Piper, that he was perhaps an elf or a ghost or perhaps something similar conjured by the house.  That he does turn out to be a real person  not to mention such a good friend  is a definite plus.

The kids experience a great deal of action and adventure in the short time that transpires over the course of the book.  But it starts out real slow and is actually kind of boring at the beginning.  in fact, it isn't until about a third of the way in that we even get to see the menagerie.  There was a lot of backstory and world-building to do, but I think the pace could have been picked up a bit at the start.  Likewise, there were some things that seemed to just be dropped or ignored, that it would have been nice to have a bit more resolution on.

Overall though, this was a delightful book!  It was definitely an original story with lots of twists and turns and surprises.  The abundance of fantastical wildlife encountered by the young duo was incredible.  Getting to know more about many of them, both from their menagerie descriptions, as well as actual interaction, was very informative and entertaining.  The ending was nothing like I had imagined it would be, but was still a very happy one.  This is definitely a book that I recommend, especially for fans of original middle-grade fantasy!

I received a free eBook copy of this title from the author, 
and have willingly provided an honest review.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

COVER REVEAL for "Bedtimes Reads (Books #1-3)" by Kennedy Fox

Check out these amazing covers 
for the BEDTIME READS SERIES 
by Kennedy Fox!

Cover design by Outlined with Love Designs
Photographers: FuriousFotog and Wander Aguiar
Models: Joey Berry, Chase Ketron, & Andrew Biernat


BEDTIME READS SERIES
by Kennedy Fox

Falling for the Bad Boy Synopsis:

Never trust a man who answers the door wearing nothing more than a pair of low-cut jeans and a panty-melting smirk.

That should've been my first sign.
I write about guys like him for a living — sexy and charming, yet reluctant to get into a serious relationship. His body is the ultimate temptation, but his condescending personality makes him a classic bad boy.

And I want nothing to do with that.

Writing romance novels comes with its perks — traveling, meeting new people, creating characters from the voices in my head — but Ethan Rochester enters my life and rearranges my preconceived notions about writing what inspires you.

Meeting him was fate, but falling for him was inevitable.
And forgetting him will be impossible.

Falling for the Bad Boy // Available now

Amazon Universal Link


Falling for the Playboy Synopsis:

Never trust a man who gets paid to take off his clothes for a living and then uses it as a pick-up line to get girls in bed with him.

That should’ve been enough for me to call in sick that day.

I’ve worked with male cover models like him before and they’re all the same—smooth-talking, sexy as sin, egotistical know-it-alls who think they’re God’s gift to women—all traits I know to steer clear of.

Assisting authors comes with many perks—reading on the job, using my organizing skills on a daily basis, drinking coffee by the gallons—but Maverick Kingston barges into my life and demands more than I can handle.

When we’re forced to road trip across the country together, he pushes every boundary I have and rearranges my thoughts on playing it safe. And when he “accidentally” drops his towel, he makes it very clear what he’s offering and proves he’s packing more than abs of steel under his clothes.

Working with him was brutal, but falling for him was unexpected.
And playing by the rules will be impossible.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Falling for the Playboy preorder // Coming Nov. 15th

iBooks | Barnes & Noble Kobo

Amazon release day alert


Falling for the Cowboy Synopsis:

Never trust a man who wears nothing more than a cowboy hat and ripped jeans who asks if you’d like to save a horse and ride a... well, you get the picture.

That should’ve been enough for me to walk away.

I’ve been warned on several occasions about southern men — with their sexy accents, charming manners, and the ability to easily get any woman in bed — which is something I’ll be avoiding.

Being a professional photographer has many perks — traveling around the world, calling all the shots, and working with subject matter that isn’t bad to look at — but Colton Langston with his washboard abs and baby blue eyes, could care less about my current project. He’s trouble, I know it, and he’s determined to make me work for every single photo. When I’m forced into riding lessons, I get way more than I ever bargained for, and by the time my trip is over, I’m in too deep.

Being with him was thrilling, but falling for him was unpredictable.
And ignoring him will be impossible.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Falling for the Cowboy preorder // Coming Jan. 31st

iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo


ABOUT KENNEDY FOX:


Brooke Cumberland & Lyra Parish are a duo of romance authors who teamed up to write under the USA Today Bestselling pseudonym, Kennedy Fox. They share a love of You’ve Got Mail and The Holiday. When they aren’t bonding over romantic comedies, they like to brainstorm new book ideas. One day, they decided to collaborate and have some fun creating new characters that’ll make your lady bits tingle and your heart melt. If you enjoy romance stories with sexy, tattooed alpha males and smart, independent women, then a Kennedy Fox book is for you!

Keep up with all their social media platforms for updates & info!

 

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

BOOK BLITZ for "Hush (Nights series, #8)" by A.M. Salinger


Hush
(Nights series, #8)
by A.M. Salinger
Publication date: October 16th, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Tom Sutherland is an arrogant prick. There, I said it. Okay, so he’s also my assistant and I couldn’t survive without him, but that doesn’t make him less of an irritating bastard — Lana 
Lana Keele is a witch. A beautiful, frustrating witch placed on this earth to torment me. Yeah, she’s my boss, but she’s still the most maddening creature I’ve ever had the misfortune to cross paths with — Tom 
When Lana Keele, president of Keele Industries and only surviving heir to business tycoon Oliver Keele, wakes up in her devil-of-an-assistant’s bed after a drunken night out, she fears the worst. That is, until prissy Mr. Perfect Tom Sutherland declares that she’s the last woman he’d ever want to sleep with. 
After surviving four years in the company of the infuriating woman he’d lusted after since his teens, Tom has had just about enough of the unholy siren that is Lana, especially when she turns up inebriated on his doorstep one night and demands sex. Convinced that Lana will never return his affections, Tom decides that it’s high time to get over his unrequited love. 
Except Lana doesn’t quite seem to agree with this plan. Not after she sees him with another woman. Not after she confronts him about it. And most definitely not after he succumbs to temptation and kisses her. 
As they finally ignite the fire that has burned so long between them, Tom cannot help but be certain that for Lana, this is just about sex. Will he be satisfied with only having the body of the woman he loves and not possess her heart? Or will Lana convince Tom that she truly means to give him her everything? 
Discover Lana and Tom’s story in this sexy and stormy addition to the hot, contemporary romance series Nights by A.M. Salinger. Note from the author: although each book in Nights can be read as a standalone, you will enjoy this series even more if you read the books in order! 
This is a novella length MF romance with a HEA.

Excerpt:

Lana Keele stirred and slowly blinked her eyes open. Searing light filled her vision. She winced and twisted her head, a mumbled curse tumbling past her lips. A wave of dizziness swept over her; her stomach clenched painfully. Lana froze and swallowed the rush of bile shooting up her throat. Hot daggers stabbed at her temples. She moaned softly.
It was a moment before she realized she was lying on her front on a bed. She stared blearily at the crisp white pillow in her line of sight before rolling over carefully onto her side. She studied the room she was in with widening eyes.
Where the hell am I?
Cool gray linen kissed her skin. Her very much bare skin.
Lana gasped and sat up. A shaky groan rumbled out of her chest when the headache became a vise squeezing her skull. She reached for the sheet wrapped around her waist and legs and clutched it to her breasts.
She was only wearing her bra and panties.
What the hell happened last night?!
All Lana remembered was being in Shanghai’s latest happening club and having drinks with the man she’d picked up at a bar while she’d been out with a girlfriend she hadn’t seen since her college days. She dimly recalled drunkenly kissing the guy while her similarly inebriated friend hooked up with another man. The rest was a blur.
A door opened opposite the end of the bed. A man walked out of an en suite bathroom, his face obscured by the towel he was using to rub his hair dry.
Lana’s pulse jumped. She stared up a pair of powerful, tanned legs, the mouth-watering deep V tantalizingly revealed at the top of the towel perched precariously on slim hips, a defined six-pack, a broad, muscular chest, and strong corded arms that bunched and flexed with the man’s movements.
Holy crap, was the guy from the club this hot?!
The man paused and lowered the towel from his head. Lana felt the blood drain from her face.
No. Fucking. Way.
Tom Sutherland, her assistant and secretary of four years and the bane of her life, arched an eyebrow at her.
“Oh, you’re up,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice. “You’d better get dressed. You have an appointment in fifty minutes.”
Lana’s jaw sagged open as Tom walked over to a wardrobe and took down the neatly pressed suit, shirt, and tie draped on a clothes hanger hooked on the handle. Her eyes widened into saucers when she saw one of her work suits on an adjacent hanger, complete with a pair of matching panties and bra. Tom removed briefs from a chest of drawers and disappeared inside the bathroom.
Lana was still staring at the spot where he’d disappeared when he came out minutes later fully dressed. He sighed and glanced at his watch with a frown while he finished knotting his tie.
“Forty-five minutes, Lana,” he said briskly. “Get your ass into gear.”
Lana opened and closed her mouth soundlessly as he headed for the bedroom door.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” she spluttered. “Why am I in your bed, half naked?!”
Tom stopped and twisted on his heels, his hands in his pockets. Lana ignored the wild pounding of her heart as she watched the way the motion stretched the material of his shirt across his torso.
All it took was one look at his condescending expression for her to stiffen, the familiar irritation that plagued her whenever she was in his presence replacing the baffling feeling presently coursing through her.
There’s no way in hell I just thought Tom Sutherland was attractive!
“Funny story,” Tom said sardonically. “My boss turned up on my doorstep at one in the morning, barged inside my apartment, stripped, and demanded sex.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I felt I had to oblige her.”
Panic slammed into Lana and sent her pulse into the stratosphere.
No. Dear God, please tell me we didn’t—
Anger flashed through her when she detected the mocking light in Tom’s eyes. “You asshole!” she hissed. “Tell me what really happened!”
Tom leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his ankles. Lana’s gaze dropped to where his pants stretched across his strong thighs. She cursed internally and brought her eyes back up to his face, angry at herself for noticing his body once more.
This is Tom, for fuck’s sake!
“The part about you turning up at an ungodly hour and entering my place without my permission is accurate, as was your demand for sex,” Tom said coolly. “You then spent the next two hours throwing up in my bathroom. I sent your dress to the dry cleaners, put you to bed, and went to your penthouse to pick up a fresh change of clothes.”
Lana glanced at the pillow next to the one she’d been lying on, her unspoken question hanging in the air.
Tom sighed. “I slept on the couch. Trust me, I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last woman on Earth.”
Lana inhaled sharply as he turned and left the room. She scowled in the next instant.
“Oh yeah?! And I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the only asshole left alive on this entire planet!” she shouted after him, a familiar pain surging inside her chest.



Author Bio:
Ava Marie Salinger is the pen name of an Amazon bestselling author who has always wanted to write scorching hot contemporary and erotic romance. In 2018, she finally decided to venture to the steamy side. NIGHTS is the first of several sizzling series featuring sweet, sexy men and women with dark pasts and a whole lot of love to give to the ones brave enough to fight for their hearts. When she’s not dreaming up hotties to write about, you’ll find Ava creating kickass music playlists to write to, spying on the wildlife in her garden, drooling over gadgets, and eating Chinese. 
Want to be the first to know about Ava’s new releases and get access to exclusive content, sneak previews, sales, and giveaways ? Then sign up to her Reader Group here and join her VIP Facebook Fan Group here
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Monday, October 15, 2018

BOOK REVIEW for "Unwritten" by Tara Gilboy

****(4) out of 5 Stars!


SUMMARY:

Twelve-year-old Gracie Freeman is living a normal life, but she is haunted by the fact that she is actually a character from a story, an unpublished fairy tale she’s never read. When she was a baby, her parents learned that she was supposed to die in the story, and with the help of a magic book, took her out of the story, and into the outside world, where she could be safe.

But Gracie longs to know what the story says about her. Despite her mother’s warnings, Gracie seeks out the story’s author, setting in motion a chain of events that draws herself, her mother, and other former storybook characters back into the forgotten tale. Inside the story, Gracie struggles to navigate the blurred boundary between who she really is and the surprising things the author wrote about her. As the story moves toward its deadly climax, Gracie realizes she’ll have to face a dark truth and figure out her own fairy tale ending.

REVIEW:

I quite enjoyed this remarkable tale!  The premise really intrigued me, but I wasn't sure if I'd like the actual story.  Often middle grade novels can be a bit on the boring side and are just too predictable.  This book, however, was anything but!  While it was an easy read with language that just flowed and encouraged you to keep going, it actually contained a rather complex plot.  The characters seemed rather superficial at first, especially the main protagonist, Gracie, who sets in motion the events that cause all the trouble that results.  Given that they are supposedly animated personalities who originally starred in a book that even the author considers badly written, all have a remarkable depth of spirit.  Some aspects of the tale within the tale are just heart-wrenching, as are the real-life situations that gave rise to them.  The biggest take-away for me was the idea put forth by the author of the magical tale within the book: No one actually thinks of herself as a villain. We are all the heroes in our own stories.  That Gracie was not only able but also willing to save the life of the woman most considered the villain of the story, but go so far as to consider her feelings, showed just how much this young woman had matured during the short course of the tale.  While there was definitely a huge opening left for at least a sequel (if not more episodes in the series), the ending was at least sufficient to make it feel like a resolution and enjoyable enough to be called a "happily ever after" (or at least "happy for now").

I received a free eBook copy of this title from NetGalley, 
and have willingly provided an honest review.

#Unwritten #NetGalley

Thursday, October 11, 2018

BOOK BLITZ for Dark Falls Romantic Thrillers by Lori Ryan & Savannah Kade

Dark Falls 
(Dark Falls Series)
by Lori Ryan
Publication date: October 9th, 2018
Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller
A cop hunting a violent thrill seeker. A woman from his past. Will their history and heated attraction put his case on ice? 
Detective John Sevier never wanted to be anything but a cop. When a string of jewelry store heists threatens the woman he let get away years before, he’ll stop at nothing to bring the adrenaline junkie gang leader to justice. 
Ava McNair never looked at her life as a sacrifice. She loves taking care of her dad and running her family’s jewelry store with her special needs sister. So what if that meant dropping out of college and leaving behind a man who just might have been the one? When fate gives her and the detective who got away a second shot at love, will she step up and take it or will life tear them apart again? 
With Ava in the path of a killer, will John be able to move fast enough to take down a violent man set on wreaking as much damage as he can before he goes down? 
Grab Dark Falls from NY Times Bestselling Author Lori Ryan and get ready for a night of “one more chapter” reading! 
Dark Falls is the first book in the gripping new Dark Falls, CO romantic thriller series by Lori Ryan, Trish McCallan, Becca Jameson, Savannah Kade, Lisa-Marie Cabrelli, and Sandra Owens. Don’t miss a book!

Dark Secrets 
(Dark Falls Series)
by Savannah Kade
Publication date: October 9th, 2018
Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller
When Grace Lee storms into the Dark Falls Police Department, heads turn. But she only has eyes for Detective Nate Ryder — the officer who closed her brother Jimmy’s case too quickly, declaring his death a suicide rather than a murder. As a forensic scientist, Grace thinks the signs are obvious, the trick is convincing Nate.

Nate has to admit Grace’s argument makes a lot of sense, and he feels obligated to revisit the case. The problem is, while he’s following the old evidence, she’s collecting new samples — and putting herself in danger from the same organization that killed her brother. Jimmy was definitely onto something before he was murdered. Now, Nate has another worry: some of the new evidence Grace has found points back to members of the Dark Falls PD.

As strange coincidences turn deadly, Nate has to become Grace’s protector. They don’t know who they can trust and who they can’t. Will Grace and Nate be the next victims in a massive cover-up? Or can they figure out which cops are dirty fast enough to stay alive?
SNEAK PEEKS:

Excerpt:

Dark Falls

Ava McNair smiled as she watched the couple leave her store. She loved seeing couples find the perfect engagement ring to start their lives together. These two were young, but she could see the devotion in the way they looked at each other.
He’d come in ahead of time to choose a ring, then told his girlfriend he needed to swing by and pick up a watch his mom left to be repaired. The look on her face was priceless when he dropped to one knee after Ava passed him the ring box.
“Nice,” Kirsten James said, winking at Ava from her spot by the door. The woman might look harsh in her guard uniform, but she was as much of a softy when it came to that kind of thing as Ava was.
Ava grinned and turned to go to the back to check on her sister, but the door chimed again. What she saw when she looked back was anything but expected.
The man entering her family’s jewelry store had filled out. His face was different, worn in a way, but in a good way. At least, she thought it looked good on him. His eyes were the same, though.
John Sevier’s eyes trapped and held her, his light brown gaze doing things to her just like they had years before when she’d been stupid enough to walk away from him.
To say he was the one who got away was an understatement. She’d been so naïve and focused on all the wrong things at that time in her life. She never realized what she was losing until it was far too late for her to do anything about it.
Not that she would have been able to hold on to him anyway. Halfway through college, her life had changed drastically, and she’d had to drop out to help her dad and sister. She would have lost John then, anyway. Still, an eighties rock ballad was playing in the back of her head somewhere as she thought about not knowing what you had ’til it was gone.
Kirsten stiffened and looked ready to move into action if Ava didn’t say anything. It was no wonder. A six-foot-one man who looked like he could eat glass for breakfast if he got the craving, was standing frozen in their showroom. And Ava probably looked like a deer in headlights.
“John.” Ava breathed the word out, then shook herself to clear the fog. She waved a hand at Kirsten. “It’s all right. John’s an old friend.”
She thought she saw something flicker in his eyes at the words, but if it had been anything more than her imagination, it was gone.
“Um…” Ava looked around the showroom. One of her salespeople was on the other side of the store helping an older gentleman pick out a bracelet for his granddaughter. Kirsten was still staring at her and John.
Ava swung a hand in the direction of the workshop and offices at the back of the store. “We could, um…”
Thankfully, John nodded, seemingly unconcerned at the fact she couldn’t seem to get a sentence out that didn’t include “um.” Scratch that, she hadn’t actually gotten a complete sentence out, period.
She went to the back, hoping to pass right through the workshop where her sister, Janna, designed most of the jewelry they carried. They had other artisans who worked for them, repairing jewelry and watches and such, but Janna was their only bench jeweler. Anything in their cases that her sister didn’t make was ordered from jewelry wholesalers or outside artisans.
Janna stood at her bench, the spotlights that surrounded her all aimed at a four-inch square space in front of her as her hands worked with small samplings of metals and gems. Janna had a habit of getting lost in her work, but today when Ava hoped she might do just that, her sister looked up.
Janna’s eyes went from Ava to John and back to Ava in a comic demonstration of her surprise at seeing a man with Ava.
Yeah, it was somewhat of a shock to Ava, too.
“John, this is my sister, Janna. Janna, John and I were friends in college.” Ava watched as Janna’s eyes went wide.
John smiled and nodded. Whether he remembered Ava mentioning Janna’s issues with anxiety when they dated, or he just read people really well, she didn’t know. But for whatever reason, he didn’t offer his hand to Janna to shake. That was good. It was what Janna was more comfortable with.
Janna looked to Ava. “Big John?”
Oh Lord.
Ava’s cheeks flamed hot, and she knew they must be red. She and Janna shared everything, which meant Janna knew all about the John Ava had dated in college. She just hadn’t expected Janna to put the man standing before her together with their conversations about John in college. And yes, Janna had truly nicknamed him Big John in college, but it wasn’t for the reasons one might think.
Not that he couldn’t have earned the nickname that way. Back in the day, one of Ava’s friends had described John’s body as “call him if you need your house moved over a few inches” kind of big. She wasn’t wrong.
Ava put her hands to her cheeks, and a small semblance of a laugh slipped from her lips. She dodged John’s smiling eyes and Janna’s impish grin without answering and led the way back to her office.
She could try to explain to John that Janna had given him the nickname because that was how he’d seemed to her at the time. Ava had talked about John so much when they were dating that Janna had labeled him “big” in Ava’s world.
She didn’t know how to say all that without making the whole situation worse, though, so she clamped down on her lips, imprisoning them between her teeth as she shut the door behind them.
The look he gave her told her he was enjoying this far too much.
“For your information,” she said, crossing her arms, “Big John is another John. Not you. It’s…” she didn’t have any ideas… “someone else.”

“Uh-huh.” He matched her crossed arms and let a smile cross his face.


Excerpt:

Dark Secrets

Grace didn’t usually spray luminol and pull out her black light when she entered a motel room. But today she held the light up and frowned at the blood revealed by the generously applied chemiluminescent.
Old blood was everywhere. Small spots peeked out from under the edge of the bed where the old polyester blanket touched the carpeting. It looked to Grace as though something had happened in that spot and the bed had simply been moved.
In one corner, another streak of luminol glowed cautiously, the remnant of a merely passable scrubbing. Some of the luminescent spots revealed that her suspicions had been correct about the old carpeting, about this motel room, and about the stains.
Crap. This was the last thing she needed. She’d requested this room specifically. She didn’t always spray Luminol and pull out her black light when she rented a room. Then again, she couldn’t recall ever renting a room this awful in her life. She could imagine Jimmy here, though. If he was on one of his serious benders this would be nothing. Unfortunately, that meant there was nothing obvious here that supported her theory about her brother. She’d have to wait for lab results.
“Oh, Jimmy,” she lamented out loud to the dark room. “What did you get yourself into?”
The way her heart clenched couldn’t be stopped. No matter what the room looked like, no matter what she might be able to prove, none of it would change the facts. Jimmy was dead. Gone, after a life that had been a struggle from the beginning and continued to be one well into adulthood. Grace blinked back the tears that threatened.
Many people didn’t know what it was like having an addict in their lives. They were lucky. Addicts stole, they lied, they betrayed. And they often left you with only one option—completely cutting yourself off. She hadn’t been able to do it. Neither had her parents. So they’d all suffered alongside her little brother.
But, dammit, she’d really thought these last five years had seen a turnaround. He’d been clean and four months shy of his five-year chip. But the Dark Falls Police Department had written of Jimmy’s death as just another junkie overdose. Case closed.
Grace wasn’t buying it. Jimmy wasn’t using again. She knew it. She’d spoken to him just a few days before he died.
No one would believe her. No one did. Even her parents were skeptical, but she believed. She’d lived with Jimmy, and watched him turn to alcohol at age ten, then cocaine at thirteen, she’d gotten good at spotting the signs. Lots of siblings did. Sometimes parents tried to deny it. They turned their kids away, or they made up excuses and always believed the best. But siblings of addicts had a radar for it. Their investment was entirely different from a parental bond.
Grace knew. She’d talked about it in Al-Anon meetings. She’d gone steadily for almost two years, then off and on for another handful. The siblings of addicts all had similar stories. They knew. They could tell when their brothers or sisters were using again. Grace couldn’t count the number of times someone had showed up at a meeting with a suspicion, then even several months later said, “I was right.”
She’d had that feeling about Jimmy before. It happened the first time he’d gotten clean. He’d stayed clean for six months before relapsing. The second time—after their parents had paid to put him through an expensive rehab program—he’d stayed clean a year and a half. But Grace knew that his eighteen-month chip was an excuse to celebrate, to think he’d been cured only to have him slide back. But she didn’t have that feeling. Not this time. The third time seemed to have stuck.
Jimmy had moved to Dark Falls, something their mother had protested with every fiber of her being. He should be close to home. Part Vietnamese, part Chinese, and gay as the day was long, Jimmy wanted to get out of the South. Grace understood. She’d supported him. They texted daily, and she talked to him just a few days before he died. She did not believe he was using again.
She’d even demanded a full autopsy. She checked off her mental list as she looked around the room at the various splotches her quick test had revealed. She’d want samples of them all. Jimmy’s death was listed as an overdose. Had there been fresh blood, the police wouldn’t have been able to write it off so easily.
Grace had only pulled out the Luminol on a whim when she’d seen the dark patches in the carpeting. It could have been wine or cheap beer, but her senses told her to test it. Shit. She looked around behind her, holding the light up. A lot of it was faint, old, but she needed to know what it was.
She had her work cut out for her.
After gathering samples from at least five spots around the room—samples that she highly suspected would be all different—she turned off her black light and clicked the regular light back on.
Surveying the horrible room she didn’t want to be in, she pulled out her phone and called her oftentimes partner, Brad, back home. “Brad, I was right.”

Author Bio: 
Savannah Kade grew up in East Tennessee and started writing when she was only 8 years old. It was a romance for the ages, but it will never see the light of day. She's been writing ever since and fighting for heroines who are quirky but not dumb, heroes who are real men, and for love stories that are more than just a cute trope. She now lives outside of Nashville with her amazing husband and 2 kids. She can usually be found working on her next novel. 
Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance with steamy love scenes and characters you won't want to leave in the pages when the story is over.
Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has fallen in love with writing. She is the author of the Sutton Capital Series; the Heroes of Evers, Texas; and the Triple Play Curse Novellas, a set of novellas with sexy baseball players at their core as part of Bella Andre's Game For Love Kindle World. She has also published in Melanie Shawn's Hope Falls Kindle World and in Robyn Peterman's Magic and Mayhem Kindle World.
She lives with an extremely understanding husband, three wonderful children, and two mostly well-behaved dogs in Austin, Texas. It's a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn't change a thing. She loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog. 
GIVEAWAY!

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