Mari Carr's Blog, page 49

Saturday Snippet

The past few weeks I’ve been sharing bits of the Second Chances series. Today I thought I’d give y’all a sneak peek at Status Update, book 3 in my Second Chances series. It comes out on Oct. 29.

Snippet:

“Hey, Laura.” Kevin was back, grasping her hand and pulling her toward the dance floor. “Dance with me.”

She tried to retrieve her hand, shaking her head, but Kevin was tenacious. She glanced behind him, hoping to signal Georgie for help dissuading the man, but her friend had spotted Nick.

Cue yet another World War. Tonight was about to implode. Quickly.

Kevin spun her, resuming his earlier dancing position. This time there was no mistaking what he was packing in his pants as he tightened his arm around her waist, grinding closer.

She tried to push his hand away, struggling to break free of his grip. While she knew he didn’t mean her any harm, she was more than uncomfortable with his inappropriate rubbing and touching.

“I really need to—”

“Laura? Laura Riley?”

Laura looked up at the sound of her maiden name and spotted salvation in blue jeans, a button-down shirt, and a beloved, familiar face she’d never dreamed of seeing again. “Bryan? Oh my God. What the hell are you doing here?”

Bryan Sinclair had been Laura’s best friend for four years. An Army brat, Bryan and his family had been stationed at the base near Harrisburg when she and Bryan were in seventh grade. One of the saddest days of Laura’s life had been the day Bryan told her his dad was being transferred. They were halfway through their junior year in high school and Laura had felt his absence in her life profoundly. They’d tried to stay in touch, writing letters and calling occasionally, but eventually, they simply lost touch.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Bryan smiled at Kevin. “Mind if I cut in?”

Kevin loosened his grip, but didn’t move away. Laura suspected the alcohol was dimming his senses and slowing his response time. “Uh…”

Laura used Kevin’s distraction to step away from the young man. “Thanks for the dance, Kevin.” She grabbed Bryan’s hand, leading him away from the dance floor and toward the bar.

As soon as they found a quiet corner, Bryan hugged her tightly. Laura returned the embrace. “You saved me, stranger.”

Bryan chuckled. “Yeah. It didn’t look like you were enjoying the mauling. Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

She laughed. “I’m so glad to see you. I have to admit you’re probably the last person on earth I expected to run into tonight.”

“I’m here for the band.”

She laughed. “Wow. Really? How many years has it been?”

Bryan shrugged. “I haven’t seen you since we were sixteen, so what’s that make it? Twenty-seven years?”

Laura winced. “Talk about making me feel old. I was just thinking about you the other day.”

“Oh yeah?”

She nodded. “One of my girlfriends talked me into joining Facebook. I wound up getting out an old yearbook and started plugging in names trying to find people from school. Your name was the first one I typed in.”

“I’m not on Facebook.”

She grinned. “I noticed.”

“I’ll correct that oversight as soon as I get home tonight.”

Laura marveled at how at ease she was with Bryan even after all the years apart. Despite the years that had passed, she could still see the boy he’d been in his face and hear it in his voice. While they’d never been anything more than friends, Laura had felt closer to Bryan than anyone. There was nothing they hadn’t talked about when they were younger, nothing they wouldn’t try together. Shortly after Bryan moved, Laura’s ex-husband, Mason, asked her out for a date. Sometimes Laura wondered what Bryan would have thought about Mason’s invitation. Would he have encouraged her to go out with Mason or told her to steer clear?

They say hindsight is twenty-twenty. That was certainly true for Laura. Mason had come along at a time when she was lonely, missing her best friend, and she’d hopped at the chance to go out with the hottest, richest guy in high school. She wasn’t so sure her answer would have been the same if Bryan had still been around.

“Are you seriously here for the band?”

Bryan nodded, pointing to the stage. “The blonde on the keyboard is my daughter, Trina. She’s a sophomore at the Conservatory.”

“That’s your daughter? She’s incredible. My girlfriends and I were talking earlier about how talented she is.”

Bryan lit up. It was clear he adored his daughter. “She’s pretty amazing.”

“Are you just in town visiting her?”

Bryan shook his head. “No. My company offered me a transfer here a few months ago. Trina had already done her freshman year at the Conservatory and I’d missed the hell out of her. I asked her what she would think of her old man moving closer. She told me to go for it.”

“What’s your wife do?”

“My wife passed away five years ago.”

Laura reached out to touch his hand. “Oh Bryan. I’m so sorry. That must’ve been terrible for you.”

Bryan nodded. “For a while there, I was pretty much living day to day. But it’s true what they say. Time heals all wounds. I miss the hell out of her, but I’ve accepted she’s gone and I’ve figured out a way to move forward. So now it’s just Trina and me. I’m renting an apartment in town and she’s living in a dorm on campus. That was the deal. I could follow her to college, but I had to keep my distance.”

Laura admired Bryan’s strength, his courage. There was a sadness in his eyes when he spoke about his wife that told her he hadn’t had an easy go of it these last few years. “My kids wouldn’t have let me move to their college towns, period, but considering they were twins and they attended universities on opposite sides of the state, it’s pretty safe to say that set-up wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

“Attended?”

“They graduated a year ago. I’m very pleased to say my children are both presently employed in their chosen professions and have started paying their debt to society. Kevin is a medical technician at a hospital near Roslyn and Katie teaches kindergarten here in town.”

Bryan gestured toward the bar. “The band is finishing up this set and then they’re going to take a break. I promised to bring Trina a glass of water. You have a few minutes to hang out? I’d love to introduce you to her.”

“Sure.” Laura followed Bryan to the bar, waiting as the bartender made Bryan a gin and tonic and poured Trina a glass of water.

“You sure you don’t want something?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Better not. I’ve already overindulged on lemon shooters.”

Bryan feigned a wince. “Ouch. Tomorrow could be painful.”

“Sadly, I’m aware of that. I’m hoping to curtail some of the agony with Advil and water tonight before bed.”

“So what about you?” Bryan asked as they dodged dancers, working their way toward the stage. “What are you up to these days?”

“I’m a secretary in a high school.”

“And your husband?”

Laura paused. That question still took her unaware as she wondered if people would judge her harshly for giving up on a twenty-three-year marriage. “I’m divorced.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Laura shrugged. “It’s okay. I initiated the split.”

“I see. Are you happy?”

Laura didn’t know how to reply. When she’d finally gotten up the nerve to ask Mason for a divorce, happiness had been her goal. She’d spent years in a relationship with a man who had no capacity for joy. Laura suspected he was bipolar—or perhaps suffering from depression—but Mason insisted he was fine, refused to go to the doctor and blamed her for his inherent unhappiness. For years, his misery took its toll. She’d left Mason because she wanted to be happy again. But was she?

Bryan interrupted her thoughts. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that was a hard question.”

“Let’s just say I’m searching for my happiness.”

“Is that why you’re here tonight? Forgive me for saying it, but this doesn’t seem like it would be your normal environment.”

Laura laughed. “It’s not. At all. My friends dragged me along. And yeah, I think this is part of my quest to rediscover the Laura I used to be. The one who laughed and danced and enjoyed life.”

Bryan studied her face. “Is it working?”

Laura’s face hurt from smiling. She was tipsy, relaxed and she’d laughed more tonight than in the entire previous year. Running into Bryan after so many years apart was the cherry on top of an excellent evening. “Yeah. It is.”

“Good.”

The band announced they were taking a short break. Trina walked over to join them. “Hey, Dad. Thanks,” she said as Bryan handed her the glass of water. “What did you think of that set?”

“Best one of the night.”

Trina beamed at her father’s praise. “Wait ’til you hear the last set.”

Bryan turned toward her. “Trina, I’d like you to meet my best friend from high school. This is Laura Riley.”

“Sanders.” Laura corrected him softly. She was still torn over whether or not to take her maiden name back. With her kids grown and out of school, she couldn’t think of a reason not to, but given Katie’s unhappiness over the divorce, Laura hadn’t wanted to add yet another upset to an injury that wasn’t healing very fast.

“Sanders,” Bryan corrected.

“You’re an incredible musician, Trina. Your music has blown me away. My daughter would absolutely love that song you played a little bit earlier. Was it called ‘Soul’?”

“’My Soul’,” Trina said. “I wrote that.”

“No way! That was my favorite song of the night.”

Trina smiled. “We’re getting ready to cut our first CD in a couple weeks and I wasn’t sure if I should push for that song to be included. Now I think I will.”

“I’d buy your CD for that song.”

“Wow. Thanks, Ms. Sanders.”

“Call me Laura.”

Someone called Trina’s name and she turned toward the stage. “I have to get back up there. We’re trying to figure out which song to finish with.” Trina gave Bryan a quick kiss on the cheek. “Nice to meet you, Laura.”

“You too.”

While the band was on a break, a canned recording of dance music blared through the speakers. Will Smith’s “Switch”came on.

“Oh my God, I love this song.”

Bryan grinned and pointed to the dance floor. “Should we show these young kids how it’s done?”

Laura raised her hand to refuse. “Hell no. I’ve been told my dancing is out of style.”

“Screw ’em.” Bryan took her hand, dragging her into the throng of bodies. He grasped her waist, pulling her close. They began to move in time to the music, their gazes connected. Laura laughed when he spun her, mimicking the other dancers around them with the same bumping and grinding moves. Funny how the same too-close contact with the man-child Kevin had squicked her out, but with Bryan it was awakening all sorts of dirty desires.

Laura let the alcohol, the music, the flashing lights and the heat take over as she moved sinuously against Bryan. Her libido kicked in with a vengeance, taking her unaware. His hands on her waist reminded her of a time when sex was exciting, fun, something she looked forward to. How long had it been since she felt this way?

She twisted, wrapping her arms around Bryan’s shoulders, laughing when he placed a firm hand on her lower back and pushed her into a dip that was so sexual and hot, Laura couldn’t believe they weren’t setting off the smoke detectors.

“You look beautiful, Laura. How the hell did I miss this in high school? If I hadn’t been such a blind fool, I’d have been on you like white on rice.”

She rolled her eyes, grinning at his compliment. “We became friends when both of us were in the awkward middle school stage. Somehow I don’t think we ever managed to overlook that. You look incredible too, by the way.”

He was sexy as sin. She wondered how he’d respond if she ran her hand along his chest, maybe letting it drift even lower until she found his cock. Would he enjoy such an inappropriate touch? Would he accept an invitation to come back to her place for more?

Shit. She was starting to sound like Josie who’d developed a must-have-sex-soon obsession lately. Time to rein in the hormones.

Laura hadn’t lied about their geeky looks in school. She’d gone through a very unattractive Dorothy Hamill hairstyle phase, complete with braces, while Bryan had sported a crew cut and thick glasses. Neither of them had managed to outgrow that unattractiveness until sophomore year. By then, the friendship was solid, and neither of them was interested in messing with the status quo.

She was tempted now. Holy crap, was she tempted.

Bryan’s hands slid along her waist, finding the tiny bit of skin revealed by her lifted arms. Was she imagining the sensual stroke of his fingers?

Wishful thinking?

He pulled her closer, their faces only inches apart. Heat coursed through her. Sure, the room was warm from so many gyrating bodies in a small space, but she didn’t think it was the exercise or crowd that was leaving her so hot and bothered.

She ran her fingers through Bryan’s shaggy salt and pepper hair. He’d lost the crew cut and embraced the waves he’d cursed during their younger years. His face had matured, as he’d shed the clean-cut boy-next-door look. His jaw was rough with a five o’clock shadow and there were laugh lines around his eyes that gave his face character. In a word, he was handsome.

And she was completely attracted to him.

She wasn’t sure where those feelings were coming from. She’d sworn with her divorce that she was finished with men. Laura had had enough male moodiness and so-so sex to last her a lifetime. She’d declared good riddance and hadn’t questioned that decision.

Until now. Her sex drive had reemerged, screaming out loud and clear that it wasn’t finished yet.

Bryan’s hand slipped beneath her blouse, touching her bare back, using his strength to guide them in the dance.

It was sex to music, just as Georgie said. Laura pressed her hips closer, unsurprised to feel Bryan’s hard cock. He studied her face, then winked.

Her smile grew. “You always were a shameless flirt.”

“And you were always ready to take a walk on the wild side.”

Laura turned her face away, staring at the dancers without seeing them. She couldn’t remember being that person, but as Bryan’s hands roamed over her skin, she wanted to escape the bonds of practicality. She longed to be uninhibited, carefree…wild.

“Hey, Laura!”

Laura caught sight of Kristen approaching her, shoving her way through the crowd.

“We’re getting ready to go. Georgie overindulged on the shots and I’m afraid it’s not going to end well. Jason and Nick offered to drive us home. Okay?”

Laura stepped away from Bryan. “Sure. Give me a minute?”

Kristen took a long look at Bryan, then gave her a surprised, but approving, smile. “I’ll give you two if you make sure to get his phone number.”

Bryan chuckled at Kristen’s matchmaking as she walked away. “Exchanging phone numbers sounds like a good idea to me.”

Bryan led Laura back to where her friends were waiting. Georgie was definitely past the point of no return as Nick held her up. Kristen and Jason were settling the tab. “Looks like we better roll. Will you really join Facebook? There are quite a few of our friends from school on there and…” She paused, wondering if she was being too forward.

“And?” he prompted.

“I can send you my phone number through a private message.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll join. Might be fun to see what some of the gang is up to. And I’d like to see you again. Catch up.”

“Laura?” Kristen said. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Laura pointed her finger, making a circle around her face. “I’ll Facebook you.”

He laughed at her silly gesture, then put his pinky and thumb to his mouth and ear, mimicking a phone. “I’ll call you.”

Available for preorder at Amazon, Samhain, and Barnes and Noble.

Meet the Heat Rhian

I have one last Meet the Heat interview to do! This week’s IntlHeat author is the lovely Rhian Cahill!

What is your favorite book?
The one I’m writing now.

What is your favorite food?
Roast pork

What is your favorite song/singer/type of music?
I don’t have a favorite I just like music in general. The louder the better.

What are your goals for the future (writing, design or personal)?
Keep doing what I’m doing for as long as I can. Oh, and enjoy every day I’m still able to.

If you could co-write a book with any author, who would you choose and why?
That’s a tough one. I think Jill Shalvis because that woman is a hoot! Either in person or in her books, she always makes me laugh.

What was the hardest scene you’ve ever written?
The ones that just don’t work on paper like they do in my head. Sometimes the words just don’t do the image justice.

What’s your favorite book you’ve ever written?
This is a tough one. It used to be Coyote Wild and that’s still up there but I think 7 Minutes In Heaven is right next to it. Oh, and New Year’s Kisses. I love that book.

If you could have any of your books made into a movie, which one would you choose and who would play the hero/heroine?
I hate these questions. It’s so rare to see a movie do a book justice and I honestly think I’d cry if someone made a movie of one of my books and stuffed it up.

Boxers or briefs?
On me? Neither. Or wait, you meant on a guy. I don’t have a preference as long as they’re easy to get off. lol

Steal the Day

Lexi Blake is back with another amazing story! It’s another in her Thieves series. The first book, Steal the Light, is also available. And check out the cover on this! Gorgeous!

The world’s most unusual thief faces her greatest challenge—stealing a soul from the depths of Hell…

When a member of her crew is dragged to Hell by a demon, Zoey plans the most dangerous heist of her career. With her team at her side, Zoey intends to sneak onto the Hell plane and steal Sarah back.

The job seems impossible until a new client makes them an offer too good to refuse. If she can find an ancient artifact called The Revelation, she can use it to locate an angel who holds Sarah’s redemption in his hands.

Surrounded by warring angels and demons, the greatest threat may come from one of her own. Torn between her Fae lover and the vampire who has always held her heart, Zoey finds that she and Dev are trapped in Daniel’s web of secrets, and it may be Zoey who has to pay the ultimate price.

Buy it today at Amazon.

Falling in Love Contest

From now until Oct. 30, I’ll be holding a quick contest with two fabulous authors, Cat Johnson and Kelly Jamieson. The three of us are sharing a release day at Samhain on Oct. 29 and we thought we’d celebrate with prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Red

Bianca D’Arc is back with another fabulous addition to her Tales of the Were series. This woman is on fire! Have you checked out this series yet?!

Tales of the Were: Red

Redstone Clan #2

Steve Redstone agrees to keep an eye on his friend’s little sister while she’s partying in Las Vegas. He’s happy to do the small favor to an old Army buddy. What he doesn’t expect is the wild woman who heats his blood and attracts too much attention from Others in the area.

Steve ends up defending her honor, breaking his cover and seducing the woman all within hours of meeting her, but he’s helpless to resist her. She is his mate and that startling fact is going to open up a whole can of worms with her, her brother and the rest of the Redstone Clan.

Main Characters:

Steve “Red” Redstone - The second-in-command of the Redstone Clan, Steve is a former Army Green Beret and Alpha werecougar.
Trisha Morrow - She’s in Sin City with a group of friends when she runs into her brother’s old Army friend, Red, and discovers Big Red is way more than her brother ever led her to believe.
Derek Morrow - A human Spec Ops soldier who served alongisde Steve Redstone. He’s probably the best human friend Steve has.

Red is currently available at the following places:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G1JV50I/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00G1JV50I&linkCode=as2&tag=biancadarc00-20

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tales-of-the-were-bianca-darc/1117191874?ean=2940148560814
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/368180
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-red-1325589-140.html

Saturday Sneak Peek 2

APOLOGIES for sending this through twice. Started working on this blog post earlier this week, got distracted (in my house this happens about every five minutes), then I forgot to add the excerpt. So…I’m taking it from the top. And this time, the whole blog post is there. Hope y’all have a lovely Saturday. I have plans to lay in bed and READ! I never get to do this. Sigh. Bliss.

The release of Status Update on October 29 creeps ever closer. For the past two Saturdays, I’ve shared snippets from the first two books in the Second Chances series, Fix You and Full Moon. This week, I thought I’d do a fun flash forward to book four. Yep, The Back-Up Plan is written and (mostly) edited and slated for release in May 2014. I’ve enjoyed writing all these stories simply because the women in the books are so very, very real to me. In The Back-Up Plan, Kristen makes a deal with her charming devil of a law partner.

Excerpt:

“I think maybe it’s time both of us seriously thought about marriage.”

She frowned. “What?”

“I’m not saying we should go out tomorrow and tie the knot, but I know for a fact, I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life alone.”

“Thought you reveled in your bachelor status.”

He shrugged. “I enjoy it now, but let’s face it. There’s a difference between picking women up in bars at thirty-five and trying to do it when I’m sixty-five. I’ll be getting older, but the type of women who come here to drink on the weekends won’t. At some point that makes me less bachelor and more creepy dirty old man.”

Kristen laughed as she imagined Jason in thirty years, wearing leisure suits and gold chains, swaggering around as he tried to put the moves on some poor young woman.

Clearly Jason had given this dilemma some thought. Given his tendency to live in the moment with no regard for the future, she was shocked to discover there was actually an iota of maturity inside him. “Very astute observation. I look forward to attending your wedding.”

Jason rubbed his jaw, deep in thought about something. “Of course, it’s not that easy finding someone you’d be willing to spend the rest of your life with.”

Kristen nodded, agreeing. Whenever she considered the matrimonial state, she knew she’d yet to meet any man who made her think…and they lived happily ever after.

“How long have we been friends, Kris?”

She gave him a shit-eating grin. “Friends? Is that what we’re calling this now?”

Jason ignored her jest. “We met freshman year of law school, so we were both twenty-two. Damn. Thirteen years. That’s a long time.”

Kristen agreed. “Painfully long. Is there a point to this walk down memory lane?”

He reached for her purse, yanking it open.

“Hey.” She tried to grab it, but Jason had already found what he was looking for, withdrawing a pen and tossing her bag back to her across the table. “You know you could have just asked. It’s rude to rifle through a woman’s purse.”

He didn’t bother to respond or apologize. Instead he asked the waitress for a clean cocktail napkin. Once he had it, he started writing on it.

“Grocery list?” Kristen asked.

“Contract.”

She tilted her head. “What sort of contract?”

“You and I are going to make a back-up plan.”

“For what?”

Jason kept writing, letting her question hover in the air unanswered. Once he finished, he reread the words and nodded, apparently pleased with his efforts. “That should do it. Now we just need to grab a witness and sign it.”

She leaned back in her chair. “Sign what?”

Jason handed her the napkin.

Jason Mitchell and Kristen Grey do hereby agreed that if neither of them is married by Kristen’s fortieth birthday, they will marry each other.

Kristen giggled. Oh yeah. That’s gonna happen.

Jason had also included the date and drawn some lines she assumed were meant for their signatures.

She stopped laughing when she spied his far-too-serious face. “It’s a joke, right?”

He shook his head, which sobered her up a bit.

“You’ve lost your mind. There’s no way I’m signing that.”

Jason leaned closer and she prepared herself for the onslaught. The man was a master of persuasion. She’d seen him use his abilities time after time—to sway juries, to win over judges, to pick up women.

However, Kristen was not without weapons. Her stubbornness seemed to be the only thing that had ever tarnished Jason’s silver tongue.

“Think about it, Kris. We’ve been friends and partners for thirteen years. Right now, that makes this the longest relationship I’ve ever had with a woman.”

“This isn’t a relationship. It’s an endurance contest, a test to see which of us can outlast the other. Face it, we’re Darwinism at its finest.”

Jason chuckled. “If you think about what I’m saying, you’ll see the same holds true for you. I’ve been in your life longer than any other man.”

She grimaced. “God. That’s a depressing thought.”

“This contract isn’t a proposal. It’s a contingency plan. A back-up. We’ll spend the next five years searching for our perfect mate. But, if at the end of that time, we’re both still alone, then I say we admit defeat in the relationship arena and just marry each other. That way we won’t have to live the rest of our lives alone. Plus it makes things very simple financially since we’re already equal partners in the law firm. No muss, no fuss.”

Kristen tried to think of a counter argument, but her mind was a complete blank, filled with nothing but fog and tequila fumes. Worse than that, his comments actually made some sort of strange sense to her. “Dammit. I’m drunk.”

Jason laughed. “You’re just now figuring that out?”

“Freaking tequila is messing with my head.”

“Why do you say that?”

She reached for the pen lying on the table between them. “Because this actually seems like a good idea.”

Jason hooted, raising his hand for a high five—that she returned—after she signed her name. He gestured for the waitress to join them, explained his cocktail contract to her, then he signed as the waitress rolled her eyes. The entire deal was sealed when their waitress witness added her own name to the napkin, muttering something about lawyers being weird as she walked away.

Kristen started to put the napkin in her purse, but Jason snatched it from her. “Nope. That’s mine.”

She frowned. “What difference does it make who keeps it?”

Jason tucked the napkin in his pocket. “I know you. You’ll toss it tomorrow morning when you’re sober.”

Kristen pointed to the pocket of his jeans. “Maybe so, but it probably has a better chance of surviving in my possession than yours. There’s no way in hell that napkin won’t end up destroyed in your washing machine. You don’t strike me as a check the pockets before you do the laundry type.”

Jason gave her a wicked grin. “I guess you’ll just have to wait five years to find out.”

Kristen laughed, then put the contract out of her mind. Five years was plenty of time to find a suitable husband. Until then—she raised her hand to order another round—she’d just enjoy her freedom, the tequila and her birthday.

Saturday Sneak Peek

The release of Status Update on October 29 creeps ever closer. For the past two Saturdays, I’ve shared snippets from the first two books in the Second Chances series, Fix You and Full Moon. This week, I thought I’d do a fun flash forward to book four. Yep, The Back-Up Plan is written and (mostly) edited and slated for release in May 2014. I’ve enjoyed writing all these stories simply because the women in the books are so very, very real to me. In The Back-Up Plan, Kristen finds her happily-ever-after with the most unlikely of candidates!

Audible!

I had three more books release at Audible this week! Misplaced Princess, Misplaced Cowboy and Misplaced Lessons are now all available in audiobook format. I took a quick listen to the clip on the site and the gal who read these stories has a FABULOUS Australian accent. They sound wonderful. If you’re an audiobook fan, I hope you’ll check them out.

U.K. Belles

Silence O’Shea’s latest book, U.K. Belles, is out–FINALLY! Not going to lie. I’m a big fan and I’ve been waiting for this story. I absolutely loved the first book in the British Invasion series and sort of harassed…um…I mean emailed Silence until I wore her down and she wrote the next! If you haven’t had a chance to read these books, what are you waiting for? Sexy British accents, male strippers, humor and red hot sex! This book has it all! Plus a heroine named Mari! Win win!!!

U.K. Belles, British Invasion, Book 2

Fire from Lancashire dancer Sean Clark is loving life. He and his mates have the hottest show on the Vegas Strip, not to mention money to burn and pretty American birds to spare. Things couldn’t be better—until he finds out he’s being deported back to London. Desperate to stay in the U.S., he does the one thing he swore he’d never do—get married. To his accountant, no less.

Of course, Maribelle is pretty cute, once you get rid of the austere bun and Poly-blend suits. She’s also practically a blank slate where sex is concerned, something Sean happens to be damn good at. He’ll help Belles start her dream business, and in return, he gets to stay in the States and enjoy the perk of a lush, wet, willing woman at his beck and call. A woman who’s turning out to be everything Sean never knew he wanted.

“’Til death do us part” is sounding sweet. But if a certain government bloke has his way, Sean and Belles will be parting far sooner.

U.K. Belles Excerpt

They’d been arguing about her proposal for an hour and Mari’s confidence was waning rapidly. She was just about to declare defeat when she saw the first crack in Sean’s impenetrable wall of denial.

“So…all you want is money?” Sean eyed her warily, clearly still unsure of her motives. Not that she could blame him. She’d been overseeing his finances for years, and while he had initially approached her like he approached all women—in full-on flirt mode—Mari had done little more than stammer and blush through those early encounters. It wasn’t long before Sean had decided she was all business, and their semi-regular meetings had become fast, if no less friendly affairs.

Mari hadn’t realized how much she’d enjoyed his flirting until he’d stopped. She discussed favorite authors with Oliver and Simon, both of whom had a fondness for suspense and horror and, like Mari, a secret love for all things Harry Potter. With Jay, she discussed cooking. The man was something of an amateur chef, and he’d taken Mari under his wing after she’d confessed she could barely boil water. Even she and Dominic had kickboxing in common.

But Sean was a closed book. Since assuming her disinterest, he’d been polite, friendly, receptive to financial advice…one of the easiest clients she had. But she knew little about him. Oddly enough, over the years, the less he’d divulged, the more Mari wanted to know. His reputation was that of a perpetual playboy, but there had been glimpses of introspection and thoughtfulness in his frequently amused eyes. It was in those moments Mari suspected Sean was more than the sum of his parts—as sexy as those parts were.

She didn’t know if Sean would allow her to crawl inside his head, get to know the man behind the stripper façade. Perhaps one day. But at least where money was concerned, Mari had a feeling he wouldn’t object to her plan. He had plenty, thanks to her shrewd investment suggestions, and U.K. Kink paid for the house and nearly all of his expenses. He wasn’t a spendthrift and his attitude toward his mild wealth was more “that’s nice” than anything else. In fact, Sean had seemed oddly admiring when she’d claimed this arrangement wasn’t about love. Mari didn’t feel she had the right to ask his thoughts on something so personal—yet.

“Well, naturally there are…sensitive things we’ll have to discuss. We’ll both be interviewed. I have friends who did this, and they were asked some pretty intimate questions during the interview. We’d have to know certain…um…things about each other.” She found herself blushing again.

Sean smirked. “That’s the least of my worries. Sex isn’t all hearts and roses for me, luv. I’ve got no problem shagging your lovely arse so I can pass an interview.”

Mari blushed harder. “Gee, thanks.”

“Listen, I just mean I’m not the commitment sort. I’m only twenty-five, luv; haven’t given a thought to settling down. But if we’re married, I’m guessing you might get your knickers in a twist if I bring home some pretty bird to share our bed. Sorta puts a cramp in my lifestyle.”

Mari wasn’t sure if she should be insulted that he’d want another woman or honored he’d want to include her in a threesome. She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry about your lifestyle, but if you want to stay in the country, there will have to be sacrifices on both our parts. Immigration can drop by whenever they’d like to check on our living situation.”

“So we’d have to share a bedroom.”

“I assume so. But you can have a spare room for your…birds. As long as you keep all your clothes and things in our room. And we don’t have to sleep with each other for the interview. There are other ways to learn what we need to know.”

Sean gave her a look that was part indulgence, part sarcasm. “How you figure? Truth or Dare?”

She pursed her lips in a slight smirk. “I was thinking just, you know, some deep discussions.”

Sean stared at her in silence for so long, she began to squirm on her stool.

Finally he nodded slowly. “Let me see if I’ve got this right. We’ll be married, but we won’t have sex. We’ll share a room, but I can avail myself of a guest room if I want to bang a female visitor. And in exchange for all this non-sex and a non-dutiful wife, I give you money to help you get a business off the ground. Is that what you’re proposing, luv?”

Mari squirmed again. “Well, when you put it like that—”

“No.”

Her heart stopped and stomach plummeted. All her blood rushing down to pool in her feet and leave the rest of her icy cold and tingling. “No?”

“No.” Sean shook his head once again, his blond bangs swaying to cover one intense blue eye. He shoved his fingers through his hair to push it back and skewered Mari with a stern glare. “Oh, I’ll help finance your business—but I expect something in return.”

She frowned. “What?”

Now his eyes turned predatory and a slow smile stretched his full lips. “Sex, of course.”

Her body went from frigid to feverish in the space of a breath, the tingling intensifying as it took up residence in decidedly more interesting body parts. She struggled to speak and emitted a series of high-pitched squeaks akin to that of a mouse being sat on by a two-ton elephant.

She cleared her throat roughly and tried again. “Uh…sex?”

“That’s right, luv. Sex. From you. Lots of it.”

U.K. Belles is available at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords and Kobo

Steady Beat

Oh yeah…it’s another Lexxie Couper release day. I live for these. This time, Lex let me read the story as she wrote it. Yeah…I’m that impatient when it comes to her stories! This one ROCKS! Go buy it. Now!

Steady Beat

He never missed a beat…until she taught him a whole new rhythm.

Heart of Fame, Book 4

Back when he was playing drums for rock star Nick Blackthorne, it was easy for Noah Holden to focus on the sticks in his hand. Now that the band is getting back together, he’s excited—and worried. His ADHD has made every minute of his post-Blackthorne life a chaotic mess.

His apprehension is blown away when a bar waitress makes him a proposition—and not the kind this king of drums is used to.

When Pepper Kerrigan overhears the band talking reunion, she pushes her self-doubt aside, calls on her encyclopedic music knowledge and challenges Noah Holden to a trivia contest. Her prize should she win? An audition. His? A kiss. Their smoking sexual chemistry guarantees victory—for them both.

With Pepper, Noah is finally able to control his stormy creative energy. But when his wild past catches up with him, he faces the fight of his life to keep from losing his smoky-voiced angel. The one woman who keeps his mind—and his heart—staying on rhythm.

Product Warnings

There’s a thrumming primitive sexual energy in every rock drummer’s body just waiting to be released.

Excerpt:

Noah forced himself not to fidget. Or blink. If he blinked, maybe the goddess in hot pants would disappear in a puff of taunting smoke, leaving him wondering if she’d ever really been there.

Christ, her eyes were stunning. Bluer than he’d first thought, and flecked with deep-emerald green. And her skin. So flawless and creamy. The urge to lean forward and trace the tip of his tongue over the high curve of her cheek was damn near impossible to deny. As was the desire to snare the straight weight of her sable ponytail in his fist and pull her toward him. Her lips were made to be kissed. He could see that. Soft and full and devoid of lipstick or gloss. Just naturally beautiful and perfect.

His heart punched hard in his chest, pounding out a beat he’d hadn’t heard in his life for a very long time.

A beat he could move to.

She’s not a groupie, Holden. She’s your waitress.

The thought grounded him. They’d been in the bar for well over an hour, and she hadn’t come anywhere near them. If she wanted to sleep with him, surely she would have made her move before now.

“What proposition?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice detached. He reached for a peanut. He hated peanuts, but at least it gave him something to do with his hands.

What? Instead of burying them in her hair? Or smoothing them over her—

The goddess shifted a little, her butt barely perched on the edge of the chair Jax had so recently occupied. Her tongue slipped over her top lip in a quick little swipe. Her eyes closed for a split second.

An overwhelming sense of dismay hit Noah at the loss of their mesmerizing intensity on his face. He liked her looking at him. A lot.

“I’d like to sing for you.”

Her statement slapped into him like a cold fist.

He blinked. Had he misheard her? “Sorry? You want to what?”

She swallowed. Hesitation clouded her brilliant eyes. Her hands cupped her elbows. “S-sing for you. For…for the band. I’d like to audition for—”

The wind left Noah in a gush. He frowned, a prickling sense of disappointment washing over him. She didn’t want to sleep with him. She really wasn’t a groupie. Or a waitress hoping to score a famous tumble in the sack. She wanted to—

“Come again?” He leant forward. Perhaps he’d heard her wrong? He was known to mishear things. It came from not really keeping his attention on anything for long.

Huh, your attention has been on her from the second you saw her, Holden. You didn’t mishear.

The woman straightened her spine. She lifted her chin. Flattened her palms on her thighs. “Audition for lead singer.”

Noah stared at her. For the life of him, he didn’t know what to—

The woman jolted to her feet. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” She trailed away, her soft New York accent turning the last word to a murmured drawl. Before Noah could utter a sound, she turned and hurried from the table.

But she stopped two tables from his.

Her shoulders stiffened. Her hands balled into fists, opened, balled again.

Noah watched her shake her head, his gaze tracking the swishing wave of her long ponytail. His gut tightened. His throat did the same. It wasn’t until she swung back to face him that he gushed out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

She reached his table in three long strides, her intense blue eyes fixed on his face. She stood beside him, full breasts straining against the snug white cotton of her T-shirt as she placed her hands on the tabletop and bent toward him. “I’ll make you a deal,” she said, the words quick, her voice husky. “I read in an article in Rolling Stone that you have an amazing knowledge of music trivia. If I beat you in a music-trivia challenge, you let me sing for the band. Just that. All I want is the chance to…” She faltered, uncertainty flickering in her eyes, and then shook her head a little and drilled him with her stare again. “All I want is the chance to let you hear me sing. If I beat you at music trivia, you convince the rest of the band to let me audition.”

If I beat you.

Her words whispered through Noah’s whirling head. He couldn’t tear his gaze from hers. He should be telling her no, right now. He should be brushing her off, maybe even leave the bar to emphasize the point. He should be pissed she’d been eavesdropping. Instead, he studied her face—even more arresting and beautiful this close—as her words echoed through his mind.

If I beat you.

“And if I beat you?” The question left him on a murmured taunt.

The woman facing him down did the unexpected. She laughed.

Noah’s heart beat faster in his chest. His gut knotted. Christ, her laugh was wonderful. Rhythmical. It at once melted away the tension in her body and flooded Noah’s body with heat. Tight, thick heat threading its eager way to his groin.

Her laugh made him horny. He’d thought her arse hot in her shorts, but her laugh…

“If I beat you?” he prodded, leaning closer to her. “What happens then?”

She licked her top lip with the tip of her tongue. “I…”

Noah reached up and traced his finger over her bottom lip. “I get to kiss you.” The bar disappeared. Nothing existed except the woman and her challenge. “I win, I get to kiss you. For as long as I like.”

The woman’s breath escaped her in a soft gasp. She pulled away from him—just enough to cause his finger to slip from her lip. If it wasn’t for the fact her pupils were dilated, Noah would think he’d offended her.

But he knew exactly what dilated pupils meant when a woman was with him—arousal. His gorgeous, conflicted waitress was turned on. Now all he needed was for her to—

“Agreed.” She held his stare, her shoulders straight. “I’m off work in twenty minutes. I’m going to bring you another scotch, on me, while you wait.”

Noah cocked an eyebrow. “Wait?” He’d never had a woman tell him he had to wait for her before. Even Heather had leapt at his every command on the rare occasion he gave them. Right up until she’d walked out with Maxie the mutt, that was. He’d told her to come back. To give him another chance. She hadn’t. “You want me to wait for you?”

His waitress nodded. “It’ll be worth it. Promise.”

“The kiss? You better believe it.”

She laughed, and once again Noah’s groin reacted to the rich, lyrical sound.

“I will be back. Don’t leave.”

He shook his head. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere. Promise.”

The corners of her lips curled in a smile Noah could only call shy. Shy? How was that possible after the challenge she’d just laid down? Especially given the desire equal to his own he saw in her eyes.

Such a conflict. It was hypnotic. Sublime.

She turned and walked away from the table without a word. Noah could tell the subtle sway of her hips wasn’t an affectation designed to garner attention but her natural movement. Damn, he could watch her hips move like that all day. He couldn’t wait to smooth his hands over those hips and hold her to his body as he kissed her.

“Hey,” he called out, his pulse pounding faster when she threw him a quick look over her shoulder. “What’s your name?”

She lowered her lashes. A faint pink painted her cheeks. “Pepper.”