R.E. Hargrave's Blog, page 137
September 9, 2020
B@@K REVEAL: Relic Bounty by Arwen Paris
Relic Bounty
Arwen Paris
Publication date: November 30th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Science Fiction
Kill the courier, retrieve the relic, collect the money.
Bounty hunter Janis Torzen finally has a chance to free himself from his indentured servitude to the mob. The brutal weather on planet Urrak is as unforgiving as the mob boss Janis Torzen works for, so of course a sudden sandstorm upsets his best laid plans. To make things worse, the courier, Everell, turns out to be a beautiful, smart-mouthed archeologist who has her own plans for the money. Unfortunately, powerful people will kill to possess the relic Everell carries—everyone from government officials to the social elite, and they will stop at nothing to get it.
Now on the run, Janis and Everell are forced to depend on each other to escape from Nadir Space Port. But when Everell and the relic are stolen from Janis, he must go back to the very man he’s trying to get away from and offer a deal with the devil. He’s got nothing to lose but his own life, so he bluffs the mob, willing to sacrifice his future to save the woman he’s fallen in love with—a woman he’s still not sure he can trust.
It’s a crazy plan, one so crazy it just might work. If he succeeds, it will pay out big for his wallet and his heart—if he doesn’t die trying. But with a bounty this high, it’s worth any risk…
Author Bio:
Arwen Paris is the author of young adult fiction. Her debut YA Sci-fi Urban Fantasy novel FATE OF THE STARS released in 2017 and the second book in the series RIVAL in 2018. The actions packed pages of her novels are filled with characters that are forced to face fears they never expected. When she's not writing, you can see posts of her (too many) vacations that keep her sane. Arwen lives in Idaho, has a big crazy family & after the day job, she writes Fiction For the Fearless - #F3Fanatic
September 8, 2020
B@@K REVEAL: Ivory White by Cambria Hebert #PreORDER
Ivory White
Cambria Hebert
(House of Misfits )
Publication date: September 18th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Once upon a time…
There is a girl with skin as fair as ivory and hair as black as night.
She was the apple of her father’s eye, but now that he has died,
someone wants to dip that apple into poison.
Advised to flee, Ivory escapes her elite world in New York City
and stumbles into a place she didn’t know existed.
A modern-day princess, afraid and lost on the dark streets, running for her life.
Ivory White has no one to call, nowhere to turn.
All she has is a random number scrawled on a torn napkin.
She calls. He answers.
Ivory is thrust into a house filled with misfits—
a band of completely untrustworthy men.
But can this group of men keep her safe?
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
Author Bio:
Cambria Hebert is an award winning, bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.
Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).
Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, Text, Torch, and Tattoo.
Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest
BOOK BLITZ: Revenge in the Capitol by B. Ivy Woods #GIVEAWAY
Revenge in the Capitol
B. Ivy Woods
(In The Capitol Series, #2)
Publication date: September 4th 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
The past is gone but not forgotten.
Months after Rae and Flint thwart a stalker’s attempt to destroy their relationship, they are focusing on themselves. Their relationship is better than ever and Flint’s political campaign is taking off. But as his campaign heats up, his schedule only gets busier. Rae can’t help feeling like she’s been left out in the cold.
Things go from bad to worse when their past comes back to haunt them. A forgotten foe is bent on revenge and will do everything in their power to get it, including ruin Rae and Flint’s relationship for good.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, but will Rae and Flint stop them before it’s too late?
This is book two In The Capitol series.
—
EXCERPT:
Rae glanced toward the stage, and all thoughts of Rob left her mind. Flint appeared in her line of sight, and her smile was bursting at the seams. He was walking toward them with Rick, who had rushed off to meet him backstage once the event concluded. It took everything in her to not run over to him and give him a hug.
Rae saw Gladys shift slightly out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned to look at her, she caught Gladys looking at her son. Gladys’s gaze didn’t waver, and when Flint finally looked up, she saw him look at her, then his mom, then back at her. There, his stare remained until he reached the two most important women in his life.
“Rick, thanks for everything tonight. I think the campaign is definitely moving in the right direction.” Flint took his eyes off of Rae briefly to look at Rick as he spoke.
“Perfect. I’ll send you an email this evening about our next steps, and then we’ll chat in the morning.” Rick said goodbye to the group before he headed out.
“Mom, thanks for coming,” Flint said as he shifted his attention to his mother. Although he wasn’t looking at her, Rae’s body was aware of Flint’s presence. More than she would care to admit.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, sweetie. You did an outstanding job.” She leaned in to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Excellent job up there, West.” Another voice interrupted their moment. The trio turned their attention to the intruder. Before them stood Rob Cohen, who eagerly shook both Gladys’s and Rae’s hands. He swept a hand through his blond hair and gave the group an almost blinding smile. Although Rae had just met him, she could see that the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Not by a long shot.
Author Bio:
B. Ivy Woods has been writing for as long as she can remember. After getting her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Environmental Policy and a Master's in Energy Policy and Law and working in the environmental field for several years, she decided to become a stay-at-home mom. That is when thoughts of a writing career really took off. Although she competed in NaNoWriMo multiple times, 2019 was the first year that she won. This win inspired her to make writing a career. Her debut novel will be self-published in 2020.
Although she is originally from New York City, she currently lives in the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia) with her husband, daughter, dog, and cat.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter
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September 4, 2020
BOOK BLITZ: Keep Me in Sight by Rachel Blackledge #GIVEAWAY
Keep Me In Sight
Rachel Blackledge
Publication date: September 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Thriller
One night. One lie. Now someone is going to die.It’s about Dan.
These three words jolt Brynn Masters back to the big boozy night she spent with her boyfriend, Dan. The very same night his ex, Erin, showed up. Erin says something terrible happened that night. Dan says he never touched her. Trouble is, Erin has evidence to prove it.
Brynn can vouch for him though. She was there that night she can hardly remember, but will never forget. Except, when Brynn pieces together her fractured memories, lost that night at the bottom of a bottle, she faces the horrifying possibility that maybe Dan isn’t completely innocent. Maybe he’s guilty as charged. As Brynn inches closer to the truth, she begins to wonder: Who is the predator? And who is the prey?
Gloria knows. She’s a psychic who turned her back on her ability long ago, after she failed to prevent a terrible tragedy. As her gift floods back to her, can she learn to trust herself again before it’s too late? Or will her painful past hold her back from saving someone’s future . . . and quite possibly their life.
This addictive and suspenseful thriller explores the fault lines between broken memories and shattered trust, and promises to keep you up well past your bedtime.
—
EXCERPT:
INMATE 6881
Initials mar the bench of the holding cell, a sea of letters scratched into the paint by the forgotten ones, marking their existence.
So and so was here. There’s a lot of gang insignia, too. I see a skull done up quite nicely. That person had some talent. Wasted, clearly.
Keys clank against the metal gate. Wanda stands there, sliding a key into the slot and twisting. She’s one of the nicer guards, which is why she works in the out-processing unit.
Her uniform strains against her bulk. The heavy-duty leather belt cinched up tight sections her belly into top and bottom folds. She’s an older woman, approaching retirement, I hope. What an awful place to spend her golden years.
“Case dismissed.” She pushes the gate open, looking me up and down. “Let me take a picture. It’s not often I see a murderer walk free.”
“Murderess,” I say, rising to my feet and straightening my prison issue garb. I smooth back my hair and walk freely out of the holding cell.
“‘Scuse me,” she says, following me down the barren hallway. “They all come in here howling about how they’re innocent little lambs. And the justice system has done them wrong and they deserve to be set free. Except none of those smart lawyers on the outside can never seem to find a single reason why.”
I’m thinking about all the unfortunates who lack the ability to plan the perfect crime. Poor them.
Behind me, Wanda labors for breath, a wheezing sound that keeps time with her footsteps. Then we reach the last gate before freedom, the last time I’ll be referred to as an inmate number.
“What’s your secret?” she demands in a low voice, hand grasping the bars of the sally port door in front of us. “I saw your case file. You killed that guy deader than a doornail.”
My gaze passes from the pockmarked metal bars to her fleshy hand, wrapped around the bar, knuckles rising up in soft mounds.
I recall Chris’s hands wrapped around my neck, his nostrils flaring, his lips stretched across the tidy white line of his teeth. Then I remember the gleam of my knife before I sank it in his belly.
“Foresight,” I say with a wry smile. She smiles too, an involuntary reaction, but I can tell from her quick sideways glance that she’s confused, trying to work out the meaning. While her wheels are turning, I nod toward the gate. “Shall we?”
I retrieve my articles, stored the night they processed me into general. No probation or bail for me. No way. A female killer? The authorities didn’t want to take their chances, rare as we are. Women are supposed to be peaceable, not violent. What had driven me to kill?
Until they knew, nobody wanted the responsibility of authorizing my release. And who can blame them? Nobody wanted to face the possibility that it could happen again.
But it just might.
In fact, I wouldn’t rule it out.
Author Bio:
An American ex-pat since 2008, together with her husband, Rachel has sailed over 11,000 nautical miles, crossing the Indian Ocean three times and sinking only once. She hung up her foul weather gear since the birth of her son. And writes thrillers now instead.
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September 3, 2020
B@@K REVEAL: Limitless by Kaylene Winter
Limitless
Kaylene Winter
(A Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance, #2)
Publication date: October 9th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
“She snuck up on me and stole my heart…”
Sexy Viking drummer Jace Deveraux used his genius marketing skills to help propel Less than Zero (LTZ) to the top.
Friends-with-benefits was the only thing he was capable of.
Until free-spirited social media influencer Alexandria LeRoux made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Their secret, spontaneous global hookups were decadent, erotic, extraordinary.
For the first time in his life, Jace wants it all
Including a future with Alex.Will one fateful night destroy his chance with her forever?
“I’ll travel the world for him…”
Ethereal animal-lover Alex had one goal in mind:
Conquer playboy Jace before they both left Seattle.
Her plans for him certainly didn’t include forever.
But their first time was so sublime, it ruined her for anyone else
What’s a girl to do?
Enjoy him in as many countries as possible, that’s what.
Except Alex has her own dreams and they’re already in motion.
Will Jace ever follow her for a change?
Their lives orbit on different courses, but gravity always seems to pull them back together…
Unless a blast from the past blows their chance to smithereens.
LIMITLESS is book 2 in the Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance Series.
Author Bio:
When she was only 15, Kaylene Winter wrote her first rocker romance novel starring a fictionalized version of herself, her friends and their gorgeous rocker boyfriends. After living her own rockstar life as a band manager, music promoter and mover and shaker in Seattle during the early 1990's, Kaylene became a digital media legal strategist helping bring movies, television and music online. Throughout her busy career, Kaylene lost herself in romance novels across all genres inspiring her to realize her life-long dream to be a published author. She lives in Seattle with her amazing husband and dog. She loves to travel, throw lavish dinner parties and support charitable causes supporting arts and animals.
BOOK BLITZ: Escape by Deana Birch #GIVEAWAY
Escape
Deana Birch
(The Covington Heights Crew #1)
Publication date: September 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
FROM POPULAR ROMANCE AUTHOR DEANA BIRCH
Book one in
The Covington Heights Crew series
The only thing she has to give is exactly what they want.
The Covington Heights Crew has a funny way of protecting their own. With rapes from rival gangs and human trafficking riddling their poverty-stricken streets, they’ll keep the girls from their neighborhood safe—for a price. No money? No worries. They have quite creative payment plans.
Messed up? Yeah, they know. They’re criminals.
Twenty-one-year-old Fiona Thompson was happy to stay off the radar of the twisted drug dealers who encourage her mother’s habit. She’s sure that she can work her way out of Covington and find a better life for herself and her baby sister. But then she beeped. Loud.
Second-in-command Leo Ricci is a poser. The web of lies he’s spun for a life unravels every time he’s around Fiona—every day he’s trying to keep her safe and every second he’s avoiding his destiny.
When his missteps challenge the authority to which he’s pledged his allegiance and Fiona’s life is at stake, there’s only one solution—become the man he never wanted to be and leave the place that was saving him from a worse, but unavoidable fate.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
—
EXCERPT:
Fiona
The dark gray grime around the rim of the tub would not go away, no matter how hard I scrubbed. I flipped my long ponytail over my shoulder and sprayed the foaming cleaner into the corner where tile met porcelain. While my efforts would bear no fruit, I couldn’t stop. If I could just make our dirty apartment shine, there had to be hope for our lives.
The baby whimpered then wailed from her crib in the back bedroom, and I stored the worn-down green sponge and the bottle that promised gleaming effects on top of the medicine cabinet, rinsed my hands in the sink and went to tend to Violet.
Her sobs quickly morphed into coos once she was in my arms and I’d shushed her with an easy bounce and kiss on her sweaty head. Even though she could walk, I carried her to the kitchen, and I wasn’t surprised to see that my mother had not left any milk. After a diaper change—at least we had those—I packed Violet into her wobbly stroller and rode the slow, rickety elevator down to the ground floor of our apartment building. The florescent light flickered over the beat-up metal mailboxes as we crossed the depressing lobby.
The sun shone bright and blinded me for a quick second. The weather had two gears, hot or storms. And while the storms were a relief from the heat, the wind and rain that came with them didn’t make running errands easy. I navigated the stroller through the cracking cement of the courtyard, careful not to step on anything sharp or deadly with my flimsy sandals.
Predictably, the Covington Heights crew were huddled around their bench across from the run-down park—all in their signature black jeans, which must have been torture in the heat. In three months, their numbers had doubled and I was sure it could officially be considered a gang. I recognized a couple of them from their lives before they’d decided to become delinquents. I was even sure the tallest one had been a star basketball player in his day. And, while their matching pants unified them, the physical similarities stopped there. Blonds, shaven heads, dark hair in a man bun… They were all different in race and creed.
Internal groan. I was brewing a perfect stew of resentment, hate and disgust for those fuckers—and maybe just a pinch of lust. Ripped asshats. They were like a calendar spread for hot bad boys.
Their business was an endless supply of drugs that fed my mother’s meth habit, and groupies drooled around them like they were rock stars. Gross.
But they were also an anomaly. As long as you called Covington Heights home, they kept you safe, client or not. And for that, I gave them my respect.
Maybe it had been my odd hours that had kept me off their radar—the sole benefit of working the night shift. Not to mention, the maid’s smock and comfortable shoes I had to wear to work hadn’t done much to make me stand out. Or perhaps I was just too old for their tastes. Their female hangers-on didn’t exactly look over eighteen—not that it was any of my business. And not that I had been paying attention.
But the whispers I had heard about them weren’t all horrible. Girls had sworn they were harmless, a notion I couldn’t quite swallow with their primary source of income.
Violet sucked her thumb in the stroller below me. I lowered my head and picked up my pace to pass by the group of drug-dealing male models.
“Hey, little mama,” a dark-haired guy with a black tank top over his muscled chest called. “Where you been hiding?”
Great. I’d officially bleeped on their screen. Fuck.
I let out a slow breath before turning with a wry smile. “Been here all my life, big boy.” And a big boy he was. He had almost a head on me. It was best to ignore his olive skin and dark inviting eyes below thick brows. I kept walking.
“Hey!” Black Tank Muscle Man stepped in front of the stroller and my breath hitched.
I met his gaze, and even though my spine was like an iron rod, I softened. “I’m just trying to get some milk. I don’t want any trouble.” And I certainly wasn’t interested in being their customer. With my thumbs hooked on the handle and a hopeful smile, I opened the rest of my fingers in a small surrender then clasped the stroller again.
Black Tank’s eyes traveled the length of my body and he licked his plump lips that looked like the softest thing on him. Jesus, he dripped danger and sex at the same time. Those two ingredients should not be allowed to mix.
He jutted his clean-shaven chin toward the stroller. “This your baby?”
I should have lied. Single moms were probably less appealing to someone like him, but for whatever reason—maybe fear of being caught by one of the crew that did know me—I told him the truth. “It’s my sister. Please let us pass. She needs her milk.”
He stood his ground, staring at me for a long beat. I couldn’t tell if he was mind- or eye-fucking me. But there was nothing pure about the vibes he was sending, of that I was sure. A lump grew in my throat and I wouldn’t allow myself to try to swallow past it. I was a girl who’d grown up in the projects. I knew damn well that if you gave an inch to a bully, they would take a whole damn mile.
After one more glance at my chest, which made me hate the boob fairy who’d given me D cups, he stepped to the side. The tension from my back released and I pushed Violet to the deli. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that those foreboding, dark eyes followed me the whole way.
On the return trip, his electric, wicked energy stalked me, haunted my every step. Yeah, I was officially on the radar and had no idea why or how to disappear from it. It was only once I’d closed the door to our apartment on the seventh floor, gotten Violet her milk and turned on her favorite program that I allowed myself to shudder in the corner of our tattered brown couch.
What was worse was that I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. The hard truth was that I’d liked his attention, even though I was sure I hated him and all he stood for. At least I wasn’t stupid enough to trust him. But, to be fair, I didn’t trust anyone—an addict for a parent could do that to a girl—and, yeah, Black Tank certainly did not have take-you-out-to-dinner-and-buy-you-flowers ideas forming in his beautifully dark eyes.
I made Violet a peanut butter sandwich with our last two pieces of bread and cut an apple that we shared as I ate instant oatmeal. While the clock ticked closer and closer to when I needed to leave for work, it came—the instinctual awareness that my mom would be late coming home, again. And therefore I would be late for work, again.
I cleaned the small mess we’d made from eating—I didn’t think what I’d done could qualify as cooking—and I sat with my uniform on, ready to bolt out of the door, as I assumed the too-familiar position of waiting for my mother to get home.
Over the years it had been a sad and constant element of my life. When she was late, I usually knew why, and I was sure that this time would be no different. The door finally opened thirty minutes after I’d needed to leave and her skinny, fidgeting frame walked through. Every ounce of my being hated leaving Violet with my mom while she was high, but if I didn’t work, we would be worse off than we already were, and I didn’t want to imagine what that might look like.
My mom ignored me and went straight to the kitchen, where she took out a glass and filled it from the tap.
Fighting with her, high or sober, was a battle I’d surrendered to in high school, so I hid my sigh and stood.
In the calmest voice I could muster, I asked, “Can I have the phone, please? I need to let work know I’m running late.”
She darted her bloodshot eyes around the room, looking anywhere but at me. As she twisted her lips, I understood that the phone was gone—either lost, stolen or sold. Great.
“Right,” I said with a knowing nod. “I’ll be back for breakfast.”
Her guilty conscience must have been keeping her from both eye contact and speaking, because she turned her back to me and drank the rest of her water. I hurried out of the door and flew down the seven flights of stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. It was all I could do not to run through the courtyard and down the three streets to the subway station, where I was lucky enough to catch a train, my heart still thumping in my chest.
At the stop in Midtown that led to the hotel where I worked, I bolted up the stairs, retying my long hair into a tighter ponytail as I went. I entered the side door in the alley for employees and hauled ass down the stairs to the locker room where we kept our personal belongings.
The cold LED lighting was a bright contrast to the dark basement, and I had to blink several times to adjust my eyes. But once I’d focused, I saw my supervisor sitting on the bench in front of the row of mint green metal lockers.
Fuck.
“Fiona.” He crossed his arms and frowned. Sweat puddled around his thinning blond hair. Carrying around his massive stomach must have been a lot of work.
“I know.” I brought my hands together in a plea and slumped. “I’m so sorry. I’d love to say it won’t happen again, but my mom—”
He held up his chubby hand that looked more like a ball of dough with five short, fat sausages sticking out of it. “You’re fired.”
My chest contracted at the loss of oxygen.
“No, no, no, no, no. Please.” I needed to make him understand. Me losing that job wasn’t just a paycheck. It was our livelihood. The government didn’t hand out checks to addicts anymore. The only thing we had for security was the shitty apartment, because no one in their right mind would want to live in our neighborhood.
A neighborhood where the police rarely made an appearance… A neighborhood where criminals ruled with wicked eyes, iron fists and where they openly exploited the addictions of their own… Where girls gave up hope of leaving and settled into worshiping drug dealers because instant gratification was more attainable than a long-term plan…
No. I needed this job. I had a fucking dream. Get the fuck out of Covington Heights. Roly Poly on the bench in front of me did not understand what he was doing to me and my sister.
“Mr. Hansen…please.” There was no need to fake the tears streaming down my face and I hoped my trembling bottom lip would show him how desperate I was. I tapped my fingers on my cheeks as I searched his mole-like eyes for any hint of sympathy. There was none.
“I’m sorry, Fiona. If I can’t keep my cleaners in line then it’s me without a job. I’ve been warned about being too lenient. I can’t stick my neck out on the line for you or anybody else. It’s nothing personal.”
For him, maybe. For me, it was everything.
Author Bio:
Contemporary romance and erotica writer Deana Birch was named after her father's first love, who just so happened not to be her mother. Born and raised in the Midwest, she made stops in Los Angeles and New York before settling in Europe where she lives with her own blue-eyed Happily Ever After. Her days are spent teaching yoga, playing tennis, ruining her children's French homework, cleaning up dog vomit, writing her next book, or reading someone else's.
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September 2, 2020
B@@K REVEAL: The Night's Chosen by Emily Hornburg
The Night’s Chosen
Emily Hornburg
(The Cursed Queens Series, #1)
Published by: City Owl Press
Publication date: October 6th 2020
Genres: Adult, Fairy Tales, Retelling, Romance
CHOSEN OF THE MOON GODDESS. DESTINED TO RULE. FATED TO MARRY.
A QUEST TO SAVE HER FAMILY, KINGDOM, AND HEART.
In this retelling of Snow White, for the past five years Princess Eira has run from her impending wedding. As much as she loves her goddess and kingdom, she’s searched the kingdoms for another way to rule as queen someday while also choosing her own husband. Yet, Eira’s claim to the crown falls into jeopardy when her father, King Brennus, is poisoned and fated to a sleep of living death and Eira is next on the assassin’s hit list – who happens to be her stepmother, Queen Amelia. After Eira escapes Queen Amelia’s clutches she journeys to the northern Paravian mountains in search of an enchanted cup to save her father.
Yet Eira’s quest is more than she anticipated with evading Queen Amelia’s guards, traveling with the one man she shouldn’t be with, and having to bargain with the ancient dragon guarding the enchanted cup. She’ll have to decide how to save her family and kingdom, even if it means sacrificing her heart and all she’s wanted her whole life.
Author Bio:
Emily is an author of fantasy novels who has had a life long love affair with stories and the written word. Her debut novel, The Night’s Chosen, a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, will be published with City Owl Press October 6, 2020.
She’s a Chicago South-Sider, aunt to the best niece ever, expert at the fan-girl flail, a wheelchair “part-timer” with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, dog mom, Hufflepuff, coffee addict, and has a degree in youth and theatre ministry.
When not devouring or creating books, you can find Emily watching Gilmore Girls (for the 20th time), belting out showtunes, attending the latest con, brainstorming how she can go to Disney World (again), or figuring out how to make the perfect combination of chocolate and nachos.
BOOK BLITZ: Relentless Habit by Karen Renee #GIVEAWAY
Relentless Habit
Karen Renee
(O-Town, #1)
Publication date: September 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Cecilia
I moved to Orlando for a fresh start.
Nobody could know my secret.
Catching the attention of the hottest DJ in all of Orlando wasn’t in the plan.
He’s got moves, and they’re not just good. They are good.
Like the beats he spins in the booth, I fall fast for him and his crazy family.
When he finds out about my past, it won’t just break my heart but also crush my soul.
Brock
The third time I saw her at a crowded club, I had to have her.
After our first kiss, I knew she was a habit I would never want to break.
Knowing what she hid from me reinforces what I’ve known for so long. Women cannot be trusted.
Even knowing the worst, I can’t stay away from her.
But when push comes to shove, will I be able to keep her safe?
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Smashwords / Angus & Robertson
—
EXCERPT:
Backing me up to the brick wall, he stood directly in my space. “What’s wrong, Cecilia?”
His earnest eyes demanded an answer. “Nothing. Truly. Let’s just get done, then—”
Earnest gave way to incredulous. “‘Get done?’ You trying to get done with me?”
“I’m not good enough for you,” I admitted.
He shook his head. “That sounds like a load of bullshit. How would you know who’s good enough for me or not?
I knew it wasn’t me. Mainly because in the few minutes I’d sat in the living room waiting with Warren, I noticed a few text books about Criminal Law. While Gabe and Warren were talking at the table, it became clear Gabe had yet to declare a major, which meant those text books belonged to Brock. How could a girl like me, a former criminal – even if I hadn’t been convicted or arrested – be good enough for a man like him? I couldn’t. He needed a good girl, and that would never be me.
“I just know that I’m not that girl.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me.”
My eyes widened. “No joke! The first time we shared more than five words was ten hours ago. There’s plenty I haven’t told you and that you don’t know about me. I just—”
“This is done,” he said, as he lowered his head and kissed me quiet.
It was a helluva kiss, and it surprised me. All of the kisses we had had been out of the park, but this one contained more passion because both of us were irritated. He slanted his head and it seemed like he dragged his upper teeth across my bottom lip on purpose. Something inside me snapped. I drove my fingers into his hair and surged up on my toes. His arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me to his hard body.
My breasts were swelling and a throb built between my legs. I tried to break free from him, but he came after me, not letting me break the kiss.
A woman’s low-pitched voice grumbled, “Damn, that’s hot. You need to kiss me like that, Tim,” and Brock finally pulled away, but rested his forehead against mine.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
I exhaled so I wouldn’t speak. Something in his eyes told me he knew I was holding back my own agreement.
“So, we’re done?” I asked quietly.
Brock canted his head. “Why the fuck would you say that?”
“You said, ‘This is done.’”
Brock chuckled. “I did, but I meant the asinine conversation was done. Not us. Hell, after a kiss like that, no way we’re done. I get you riled up and that’s what I get in return, I can only imagine what angry sex with you will be like.”
I pressed my lips together because not only was he right, he was turning me on –again– and I was trying to stifle my laughter.
His hands framed my face. “And another damn thing…” He paused for quite a while. “Don’t tell me you’re ‘not good enough’ ever again. Let’s go. If we’re lucky, your food will still be warm.”
Author Bio:
Karen Renee is the award-winning author of the Riot MC series, the Beta series, and upcoming O-Town series. She has been writing since she was a teen, but has only recently brought her dream to life. Karen spent years working in the wonderful world of advertising, banking, and local television media research. She is a Jacksonville native, as well as a proud wife and mother. When she’s not at the soccer field or cooking, you can find her at her local library, the grocery store, in her car jamming out to some tunes, or hibernating while she writes and/or reads books.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub
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September 1, 2020
BOOK BLITZ: Black Dog Rising by Kat Caulberg #GIVEAWAY
Black Dog Rising
Kat Caulberg
Published by: Soul Mate Publishing
Publication date: July 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Since arriving in England, nothing has made sense for Emma Aubrey. Forced to flee her ex-boyfriend and the vengeful ghost of his dead wife, she seeks refuge in Ninestone Downs, a sleepy country village where people still whisper of fairies and a hellish phantom canine prowls its streets.
Toby Deering has no more room in his life for the paranormal. He’s got secrets of his own, including a four-hundred-year-old curse and a past he can’t escape. The last thing he wants is a quirky American woman on his doorstep in desperate need of shelter, or the accidental touch that awakens a bond between them neither can ignore.
But ancient forces are stirring. When Emma finds herself the target of a shadowy stalker, will her bond with Toby be enough to withstand the evil Fae Court and the hellhound on her heels?
—
EXCERPT:
The trill of a penny whistle tugged Emma to an avenue winding away from the heart of the village. The buildings grew smaller as she reached the stream marking the town’s boundary. It fed the river she and Toby crossed earlier, a medieval stone bridge bowed over its banks. Beyond lay the fen. The Nine Sisters stood at the edge of one of those watery coils where drier land took over, forever imprisoned.
She slowed.
With no lights on the fen to soften the darkness, there was no way to determine solid ground from the wet, marshy soil snaking for miles into the country. Wandering out into the fields would be dangerous, even deadly. She turned to leave.
A fiddle wept in the night. The sound came from the route toward the standing stones, binding Emma to her need to find it. The tune dipped low, pulling at the invisible link. Her feet moved, taking her with them, each soft step issuing a warning against going further. Something was wrong, she knew, but the music cajoled, it coaxed, and although she wrapped a hand around the pillar beside the bridge to stop herself, the music sweet-talked her into letting go.
She would follow and happily be lost.
The beast growled before she saw it. Slinking from a patch of darkness, a blocky figure materialized on the opposite side of the stream. Its shoulders reached as high as the sides of the bridge, making it taller than Emma’s hip. The stench of sulfur crawled over the water and scraped at her hindbrain.
Claws clicked on clunch stone, leading up to legs seemingly too spindly to sustain the weight of the beast’s shaggy body. A chain dangled from its neck. Doglike, it pinned its ears to its skull and sniffed the wind.
Suspended in blackness darker than the rest, two bright, red eyes burning with infernal light flicked open.
She clamped a hand to her mouth too late to stop her shriek. This was no shade, no outline, no trick of the night. The thing standing before her was real. A name circled her brain, seeking exit.
“Shuck,” she croaked.
The beast stretched its mouth and grinned.
Long, tapered needles glistened in crimson gums. Emma’s blood ran cold. It had heard her. It had understood. In a corner of her mind, a rational voice broke through her terror, whispering warnings. If she ran, it would follow. Not just follow, but chase, track, hunt, destroy.
She stretched her hands to show she held no weapons and was no threat to it, although what threat could she present to a creature crafted of midnight and hellfire? The thing was a demon.
A demon that saved a man from a flock of runaway sheep, a second inner voice piped up. One that might have just saved Shane. Maybe. Or maybe it’d been unsuccessful in its bid for an evening snack.
“Sit,” Emma whimpered. “Stay.”
Author Bio:
For as long as she can remember, Kat Caulberg has been obsessed with history and the paranormal. Somewhat to the dismay of her parents, her interests led her into both museums and graveyards as a child, a trend which has continued into her adulthood. This has influenced her reading tastes and her writing, whether it be a good ghost story, thrilling tales of time-travel, or devouring endless volumes of ancient warfare.
She signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing in 2018 for her first novel, Three Star Island, a time-travel story set in 1721. She enjoys writing strong, quirky heroines, and has a weakness for cheeky heroes who have as much compassion as they have flaws.
Kat currently lives in North Carolina with her Englishman and a few cats.
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August 31, 2020
B@@K REVEAL: Black Witch Magic by Mila Nicks
Black Witch Magic
Mila Nicks
Publication date: October 30th 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Selene Blackstone spends her days camped out in library corners with her nose glued to books. In a town like Brimrock, where she’s an outcast, she prefers her book friends to her real-life enemies. They’re a lot less judgmental. The rest of town believes she descends from a family of witches—including her evil witch grandma, Luna. In this case, the truth is stranger than fiction. She is a witch, and she’s cursed for all of eternity. Good thing her to-be-read list is pretty long…
Prickly Paranormal Investigator Aiden O’Hare speaks two languages: sarcasm and more sarcasm. He travels the country—and sometimes even the world—investigating strange phenomena with his best friend, Cory. Their investigations bring them to a cozy New England town called Brimrock, home to fabled evil witch Luna Blackstone. Armed with his dry wit, his bibliophilic love for books, and far too much free time, he’s determined to find out just what happened to Luna…
When Aiden meets Selene, he decides he must get to know her. When Selene learns Aiden is in town investigating her grandma, she knows she must stop him. He’s out to expose the truth. She’s out to keep it a secret. Neither expects to fall under each other’s spell, but sometimes love is supernatural.
Author Bio:
Mila Nicks has a thing for romance. Chick lit, chick flicks, you name it, she’s there. She’s all about basking in a quality, well-told love story. It’s why she’s decided to use her passion for writing to pen love stories featuring women of color.
When she’s not engrossed in all things romance, she’s probably out shopping, sampling food off of someone else’s plate, or hanging with her feisty and dangerous pet chihuahua, Zayden.
For more on Mila, including upcoming releases and story freebies, check out her website and subscribe to her newsletter: https://www.milanickswrites.com/
