R.E. Hargrave's Blog, page 28

BOOK BLITZ: Love You Again by Julia Kent #GIVEAWAY

Love You Again
Julia Kent
(Love You, Maine, #2)
Publication date: July 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Set in the woodsy small town of Luview, “Love You,” Maine – a tourist favorite where every day is Valentine’s Day – local police officer and single dad Luke Luview has spent the last two years making his young daughter his priority after his wife’s death. When first-love Kylie Hood comes back into town under bizarre circumstances, he learns that nothing’s a coincidence – and maybe second chances are possible after all.

If you’re looking for a fun read about first kisses, second chances, featuring a hot single dad small town police officer and his accidental nanny, set in a small town in New England, with a golden retriever named Jester, a heroine whose dream in life is to run a fairy camp, and a hero who wants to build a place where everyone belongs – then this is your book.

Grab a cup of coffee, tea, and maybe some edible glitter, and get your happy meter ready as you read the second book in the Love You, Maine series – where love isn’t just a feeling – it’s a way of life.

✓Single Dad✓Second chance✓Small town romance✓Local police officer and his last-minute nanny…and a Golden Retriever named Jester

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EXCERPT:

A white puff of air filled the space between him and the steering wheel, and he realized he’d sighed. How long had he been sitting here, mind and memory in the past? Shoving his hands into gloves, he opened the rear door, grabbed the white plastic bag, and made his way to the front of the bin.

Determined, focused, and grim: That was Luke Luview these days. A bad match for a town that existed to make people feel good about love.

Living in Love You, Maine–heck, being a Luview–was never harder than when you had a broken heart.

Time to let go of some of the pain.

“AAAAAAooooooooo,” called out a band of coyotes in the distance, making Luke jolt. His personal weapon was at home. He didn’t carry it in the glove compartment or on his body when he was off duty, but as the coyote population grew in the area, maybe he should.

A few feet from the donation bin’s front, he looked at the lever to pull down, squeezing the bag slightly. A whiff of Amber’s perfume caught his nose, so faint he almost imagined it.

Colleen had washed all the clothes a few weeks ago, so he knew he imagined Amber’s scent. Didn’t matter. He’d take the illusion. That was how much he hurt.

A skitter inside the box made him frown.

Damn animals. They got in those bins all the time. He felt sorry for the poor sap who emptied these metal boxes, carting all the goods to the warehouse in Manchester where they cleaned and sorted, getting it all ready for the second-hand retail stores.

Just do this, he thought, swallowing hard as the coyotes mated in the distance. The sound was violent and creepy, but for whatever reason, it felt fitting.

Throwing the tangible reminders of that terrible day into the donation box felt dangerous, too.

“I love you, Amber,” he murmured. “But I have to let you go. Have to let that day go. Harriet needs a daddy who isn’t tied down by grief. Just because I’m doing this doesn’t mean I love you any less, though.”

Tears pricked his eyes. “Why is this so hard? Because it’s hard,” he said with a huff. “That’s what you would say if you were here. You’d hug me and comfort me and tell me feelings are meant to be felt or they’d be called something else. You’d have all the right words. I don’t have any. I just have a big hole in my life, Amber. And you’re never going to fill it. Colleen says I can’t feel guilty for moving on. I don’t. But I sure do feel weird.”

And then he reached for the handle, pulled it down, and threw the bag in while calling out loudly, “I love you.”

To his utter shock, she replied from the darkness of the box, “I’m in here!”

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

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BOOK BLITZ: Strut by Jay Hogan #GIVEAWAY

Strut
Jay Hogan
(The Style Series, #2)
Publication date: July 14th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

New Zealand farm boy turns New York fashion model.

Fairy tale? Maybe. But it hasn’t been easy. A year in this crazy city, working my tail off just to survive in a ruthless industry where sex sells and boundaries are too readily crossed.

A year and a reassuring ocean away from Hunter Donovan—a sexy, humiliating mistake that I’m not about to repeat. Distance is good. Distance is safe.

But now Hunter is back. In New York. In my life. In all those treacherous feelings that haven’t gone anywhere. But when my world suddenly crashes and I have to piece myself back together and fight for my career, will Hunter be there when I need him? Will we have what it takes to make it through this, together?

Note: This book contains themes of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Halfway down the block I came upon a small queue outside a tidy brick establishment which proved to be Color. The distant thrum of Ariana Grande leaking through the double wooden doors onto the sidewalk reminded me I was close to a generation older than most of the guys ahead of me waiting to get in.

I joined the line, ignoring a low whistle of interest from one of the guys as I passed. I took his appreciation as reassurance that my skinny black jeans paired with one of Rhys’s new season tight black-and-white-checked T-shirts passed muster. I checked my phone as I waited and fired off a text to my younger sister knowing it was afternoon in New Zealand. A few seconds later the phone rang in my hand, and I smiled and swiped it open.

“Hey, sis.”

“Hey, you. I’m heading to the supermarket. What’s up?”

The line shrank by a couple of guys, and everyone shuffled forward. “Not much. I’m waiting to get into a bar and thought I might catch you.”

Silence. “Hunter Donovan is in a queue?” She chuckled. “You don’t do queues, bro. I thought you rarefied fashionista types skipped those pesky things.”

“It’s not that level of club,” I explained. “Think popular, off-the-beaten-track gay bar. I doubt I’ll see anyone I know and certainly no one who knows me.”

“A gay bar? Ohhhhh, are you on a date?”

“No, I am not on a date. You know me. Besides, I’ve only been here two days.”

“You’re right. I do know you. Which means you’re cruising for some pretty arse. You after a bit of downtown rough, big brother?”

“Jesus, Patty, you sound like a low-budget movie, and we are not having that conversation. Ever. If you must know, I met a guy I worked with in Auckland and he happens to tend bar here. I said I’d drop by.” Kind of, almost.

“Riiiight.” She sounded sceptical. “Do I know them? You’ve always said the best thing about your trips to New York was all the great clubs. I’ve never known you to waste your time on suburban bars.” My sister was way too perceptive.

“True, but this is that model from fashion week last year? The guy Rhys discovered—”

“Oh my god,” she blurted. “That gorgeous hunk of drool you shot for Flare. Alec someone, right?”

“Alec Williamson. He got signed by Cage Talent after the show and has been in New York since. I ran into him quite by chance.”

Patty was quiet for a few seconds as the cogs in her brain ticked over. “But you liked him, right?”

What the fuck? I said nothing

.

“You can’t lie to me, Hunter. I know you. He’s the one hanging in your office on your wall of fame, aka my personal wall of hotness. He’s wearing Rhys’s design. Holy shit, Hunter. Do you have a thing? Are you—”

I needed to shut this down fast. “He’s hanging there because it was my best friend’s signature shoot for his new label,” I argued. “Not because it’s Alec.”

“Mm-hmm.” There was an irritating smile in her voice. “Pull the other one. I called into Flare that day, remember? You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Neither could I, to be honest, but you were a little smitten kitten.”

I so was. “I so wasn’t. You’re dreaming. Alec is a great model, that’s all. If I was smitten, it was on a purely professional level.”

“And yet you’re queuing to have a drink at the place he works?”

Well, when you put it like that. “Maybe.” It was all she was getting. “It’s the friendly thing to do, right?”

“Aha. Yep. Very neighbourly of you. Oh, here’s a thought. If you like him, how about you keep it in your pants for once, at least for more than a day? Get to know him.”

Too fucking late. “Oh, look at that, the bouncer’s waving me in. Gotta go, sis. Nice talking to you.” I stabbed the End Call button, stared at the double doors for a second, took a deep breath, and then pushed through.

The immediate assault to my eardrums almost rattled my brain from my skull. Add that to the heaving crowd and multicoloured light display circling the room and dripping down the walls, and I needed a minute to orient myself. I passed the coat check desk and slid against the closest wall to take a look around.

The place was humming, the music pulsing loudly above the thrum of a hundred different conversations, while the surprisingly spacious dancefloor writhed with every possible combination of couples, throuples, and dogpiles of slick bodies. Like the queue outside, it was a younger crowd, mostly early twenties, but with enough around my age to drop the creep factor to acceptable. I watched the dancers for a bit, appreciating all the hot skin and tight muscle on display before scouting the bar.

“You wanna dance?” A warm body leaned close, and I turned to find an attractive dark-haired man just inches from my face. He had the greenest eyes I’d ever seen and a pouty mouth made for sucking cock. He licked his lips and ran his hand up my arm. “You’re fucking gorgeous.”

On any other night I would’ve had him down the back and on his knees with my dick down his throat in about five minutes flat, but I wasn’t even tempted—a disturbing fact that was worth an alarm bell or two. Instead, I simply smiled and covered his hand with mine.

“Thanks. You’re pretty hot yourself, but I’m meeting someone.”

Author Bio:

Heart, humour, and keeping it real.

Jay is a 2020 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Gay Romance and her book Off Balance was the 2021 New Zealand Romance Book of the Year.

She is a New Zealand author writing mm romance and romantic suspense, primarily set in New Zealand. She writes character driven romances with lots of humour, a good dose of reality and a splash of angst. She's travelled extensively, lived in many countries, and in a past life she was a critical care nurse, nurse educator and counsellor. Jay is owned by a huge Maine Coon cat and a gorgeous Cocker Spaniel.

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BOOK BLITZ: One Kind Hero by Christine DePetrillo #GIVEAWAY

One Kind Hero
Christine DePetrillo
(Heart of a Wounded Hero)
Publication date: July 14th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

What do you do when your life plan goes up in flames?

Army sniper Reid Colborn has nothing left. His last mission was technically a success. Enemy hit. Boy rescued. Day saved. Getting trapped in a burning building, however, wasn’t part of the plan. Now Reid doesn’t have a steady shooting arm, and his military career is over. Heading back to his hometown of Maplehaven, Vermont is not the next target he’d hoped for, but he’s out of choices.

Until architect Valerie Bellerose gives him another option.

When Valerie sees Reid, every detail of their one night together as teens nearly ten years ago comes flooding back. Not that the memory had ever died. Reid had given her something that had made it impossible to forget him. Now that he’s back, can they have a second chance to hit their mark?

Is one kind hero high enough caliber to build the family they’ve always wanted?

One Kind Hero is a second-chance, small-town, steamy contemporary romance novella with a wounded military hero searching for what comes next after losing everything. For more romances set in Maplehaven, check out the One Kind Deed Series also by Christine DePetrillo.

The Heart of the Wounded Hero series was created to pay tribute to and raise awareness of our wounded heroes. Each of the over eighty authors involved have contributed time, money, and stories to the cause. These love stories are inspiring and uplifting, showing the sacrifice of our veterans but also giving them the happily ever after they deserve.

By increasing awareness through our books, we believe we can in a small part help the wounded heroes that have sacrificed so much. Thank you for reading.

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—

EXCERPT:

Reid

I have a place to stay and a job to go to. I need to quit whining and suck it up. That’s hard to do, however, when the treasured motorcycle I owned and rebuilt myself as a teenager is staring at me right now.

Straddling it, I love feeling it beneath me. The seat contours to my body. The paint finish is still glossy because Uncle Karl kept a cover over it. The chrome parts glint in the overhead lights. My left hand wraps around the left handlebar, the grip molding to my palm, as I lean forward a bit. I tighten my hold and imagine zipping down the open road.

I reach for the right handlebar with my right hand. The grip hits my palm, but my fingers won’t close all the way around it. My entire right arm shakes at being stretched out. There’s absolutely no way I can steer this motorcycle ever again.

I slam my left hand into the handlebar and get off the bike. The urge to kick the thing onto its side is overwhelming, but I get rational at the last second and refrain from doing so. Instead, I drape the cover back over the motorcycle.

Out of sight, out of mind.

If only I could drape a cover over myself, but all I have is a green Brenton Sawmill baseball hat and a matching sawmill T-shirt. Smoothing the wrinkles out of the shirt, I stomp out of the barn. The morning sunlight is too harsh, too cheerful. I should have picked a rainier, gloomier place to restart my entire life.

Author Bio:

Christine DePetrillo can often be found hugging trees, conversing with dragonflies, and walking barefoot through sun-warmed soil. She finds joy in listening to the wind, bathing in moonlight, and breathing in the fragrances of things that bloom. If she had her way, the sky would be the only roof over her head.

Her love of nature seeps into every story she tells. As does her obsession with bearded mountain men who build, often smell like sawdust, and know how to cherish the women they love. Today she writes tales meant to make you laugh, maybe make you sweat, and definitely make you believe in the power of love.

She lives in Vermont with her husband and cat who defend her fiercely from all evils.

Visit her and sign up for her newsletter at www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com anytime.

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BOOK BLITZ: The Crash by Skye Warren & Amelia Wilde #GIVEAWAY

The Crash
Skye Warren & Amelia Wilde
Publication date: July 12th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense

Carter Morelli works alone, but his orders are clear. Pilot the small aircraft carrying the renowned geologist to a remote island. Except the plane malfunctions at a crucial moment.

June Porter wants to stay on solid land. She doesn’t want to fly, but it’s the only way to get to the dig site. Then her worst fears come true.

A heavy storm. A swift fall from the sky. And a heart stopping crash.

An emergency landing leaves them stranded.

A shadow moves through the trees. They aren’t alone in the jungle.

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—

EXCERPT:

It’s a sunny day. Fluffy white clouds in a blue sky. No turbulence jostles us again. We couldn’t have asked for a better day to fly. It’s perfect, except for the sense of foreboding.

The engine stutters. It’s not precisely wrong, but it’s not precisely right.

“Carter? What’s happening?”

“Nothing.”

It’s not unprecedented. Engines make noise. They’re mechanical. It happens. I check the gauges. Nothing. It’s a small plane, but top-of-the-line. Well-maintained. I checked it over, tip to tail, when I arrived at Heathrow. Nothing was out of order then.

Nothing should be broken now.

Another stutter. This one’s bigger. Fuck.

The fuel gauge swings down toward empty, ticking by line after line.

My entire spine chills. That’s a malfunction. That’s a fucking problem. We’re dumping fuel on a delay, out over the ocean, almost like…

Someone planned for this to happen.

Fuck. Is that what my handler was calling about? How would she know something is wrong on the plane, thousands of miles away? I reach for the landing gear controls.

They try to engage. They fail. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

What’s happening is that the landing gear are stuck halfway open.

Worse, I don’t trust the navigation equipment.

The paper map in the panel above my head resists coming out, but I force it. Open it. Check my bearings one last time. Trust them one last time.

Angle the plane in a slightly different direction.

Off the flight plan, but toward the only land within range on the map.

What the hell is going on? I’ve logged over half a million nautical miles. This has never happened before. The plane drops. A few hundred feet before I can steady it. June gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth.

And then the engines cut out.

It’s silent in the sky. Wind skims over the fuselage. My heart pounds in my ears. I ignore all of it.

Because we’re going down.

There’s nothing to keep this plane in the air.

Not a prayer in the world could keep us flying without engines.

“We’re going to land.” It’s the truth and nothing but the truth. There are no other choices. It’s land the plane or die. “Brace yourself.”

“No,” she breathes.

It’s only a whisper of breath, but I hear it. I feel it, brushing over my skin. I’m tuned in to her. Into the plane. Adrenaline floods my veins, making me tuned into the fucking universe. And every single signal is telling me that we’re fucked.

A patch of green in the ocean comes into view. It looks impossibly small. Too small to land on, much less reach, but as we hurtle forward, it gets larger. Becomes an island. The island I saw on the map.

That’s it.

Our only chance at survival.

Author Bios:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

Author links:
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Amelia Wilde is a USA TODAY bestselling author of steamy contemporary romance and loves it a little too much. She lives in Michigan with her husband and daughters. She spends most of her time typing furiously on an iPad and appreciating the natural splendor of her home state from where she likes it best: inside.

Amelia is a USA Today best selling author from northern Michigan. Be her friend!

Author links:
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BOOK BLITZ: Damaged Doll by Jennifer Bene #GIVEAWAY

Damaged Doll
Jennifer Bene
(The Beth Series, #2)
Publication date: July 12th 2022
Genres: Adult, Gothic, Romance, Suspense

The long-awaited sequel to Breaking Beth is finally here!

“I’m too broken for love.”

After everything Beth has been through, all she wants is to feel normal.To be normal.But the weight of her past won’t let her go easily.

“Wanting her is wrong.”

All Jake wants is to be a hero.To save as many as he can from the monsters of this world.But when the monsters come for Beth Doherty…he isn’t thinking like a hero.

Ripping her out of her life was bad enough.Wanting her is worse.But resisting her might just be impossible.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

She felt like she was underwater. Floating in emptiness, with no ground to stretch her toes out for, and no air to swim toward.

It was endless… but not in a peaceful way. Someone had told her once that drowning was peaceful, that the brain gave a sense of euphoria as the lungs filled up with water, but Beth had never felt anything like that.

No calm. No peace.

Just a flickering memory of panic, and an absolute fear of the surface.

Survival was supposed to be an instinct, and she knew she should want to reach the surface. To breathe air again, to stop suffocating in the dark… but all she ever did was dive deeper. The deeper she went, the easier it was to block out the flickering glimpses of the things happening above. All the sounds, the textures, the sensations. The things that were so much worse than drowning.

But it got exhausting to stay down when her body wanted to be buoyant, wanted air, wanted freedom. A constant fight, a battle for depth whenever the water got rough and the waves turned the distant surface into chaos.

It was happening again.

That steady rise to the surface that brought back the panic, heart pounding in her ears as she became aware of the world outside the water. She wanted to dive down, to hide from the pull, but she was so fucking tired — and then there were the voices.

Muffled, blurred by the water for a while… until she got closer. As the light grew brighter, and she started to feel, she could hear them. Too many.

And him.

His voice always stood out the strongest, even though it was always calm. Cold and calm. Just like the water farther down, where she was safer… but she wasn’t safe up here.

Surfacing was always bad. Always.

If she reacted, if she made a sound, then they’d know she could. Then the storm on the surface would just get worse, it would be harder to swim down with the water too rough. Harder to hide.

Despite her best efforts to avoid it, the light got stronger, the world coming toward her, and she clenched her teeth tight to stay silent, to avoid the urge to scream or fight.

And then she broke the surface, instinctively pulling at the cable around her wrist, tethering her to the bed — but it was better to be connected to the bed. Out of the bed was always worse. Out of the bed meant there might be someone new, somewhere new, which always meant pain.

Although the surface was always painful, and she did her best to brace for it as her mind joined her body, as her eyes focused on the light and she felt the texture of sheets against her back and thick plastic around her wrist and –

Curtains. Pale purple.

A poster of a boy band.

She was home.

She kept forgetting that she was home, that she didn’t have to stay under anymore, didn’t have to fight the surface or feel the panic. Of course, knowing it didn’t keep her heart from racing, or her nails from digging into her palms as she pulled at the zip-tie around her wrist.

Author Bio:

Jennifer Bene is a USA Today bestselling author of dangerously sexy and deviously dark romance. From BDSM, to Suspense, Dark Romance, and Thrillers—she writes it all. Always delivering a twisty, spine-tingling journey with the promise of a happily-ever-after.

Don't miss a release!

Sign up for the newsletter to get new book alerts (and a free welcome book) at http://jenniferbene.com/newsletter

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B@@K REVEAL: Securing the Kingdom by Nicole Howl #PreORDER

Securing the Kingdom
Nicole Howl
(Wolf Hollow Pack, #3)
Publication date: September 13th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Dean is the Beta of the Wolf Hollow Pack and he’s focused on making sure Jason is secure and safe in his new position as the Alpha. That means keeping an eye out for any possible threats, even ones that Jason can’t see himself.

Like the strawberry blonde-haired devil with the striking green eyes.

Amara was pretty sure she was going crazy. She had saved her best friend from almost certain death with some magic voodoo stuff coming out of her fingers and now she was hearing a voice. She was officially out of her mind. It didn’t keep her attention from wandering back toward the handsome, gruff-looking mountain of a man, Dean.

If only he wasn’t a wolf.

This is the third book in the Wolf Hollow Pack series.Book 1 – Claiming My MateBook 2 – Becoming the AlphaBook 3 – Securing the Kingdom

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Author Bio:

Nicole Howl is the pen name for Kaylee Johnston. She is a paranormal romance author who has an obsession with wolves, vampires, and witches. She's currently got 9,743 stories in her head and is writing as fast as she can to get them on paper. She lives with her husband, Russell, and beagle Bassett hound, Ollie, in Southern California. She's obsessed with animals, books, and several TV shows that annoy the crap out of her husband (Gilmore Girls, Friends, New Girl, and How I Met Your Mother). She has a touch of awkwardness - hence why she's referring to herself in the third person and is a big personality. Drop her a note to say hi!

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B@@K REVEAL: Two for the Show by Skye Warren #PreORDER

Two for the Show
Skye Warren
(One for the Money, #2)
Published by: Dangerous Press
Publication date: August 16th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pregnant. Alone. And heartbroken. The only thing Eva Morelli knows for sure is that she wants this baby. She learned how to depend only on herself a long time ago.

The father, however? He made his position on marriage and children very clear.

Finn Hughes has fought his fate for years, but it’s finally catching up to him. Duty took away his choices. How can he hope for forever? He already knows how this ends.

There’s only one thing worse than having a family.

Losing them.

“I was hooked from page one. With steam and grit, Warren captures your attention and has you begging for the next chapter. Book gold!” — USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke for Private Property

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Author Bio:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

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B@@K REVEAL: The Bratva Sweetheart by Sabine Barclay #PreORDER

The Bratva Sweetheart
Sabine Barclay
(The Ivankov Brotherhood, #2)
Published by: Oliver Heber Books
Publication date: August 9th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Mafia, Romance

She thought it was only for one night…

I’ve never let anyone into my life.

At least not like her. Not until her.

She sees a side of me that isn’t the bratva monster everyone else believes.

Now that she knows, she’s mine.

Mine to keep and protect. Mine to please. In return, it’s her love I crave. She’s my soulmate.

Every kiss, every touch will take her to her limits, and I’ll be the one to catch her.

Bratva Sweetheart is an interconnecting, standalone Dark Mafia Romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains extra-steamy scenes that will make your toes curl and your granny blush. This is book two in The Ivankov Brotherhood, a six-book series that’ll keep you warm at night.

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Author Bio:

Sabine Barclay, a nom de plume also writing Historical Romance as Celeste Barclay, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Growing up in the Midwest, Sabine enjoyed spending as much time in and on the water as she could. Now she lives near the beach. She's an avid swimmer, a hopeful future surfer, and a former rower. Before becoming a full-time author, Sabine was a Social Studies and English teacher. She holds degrees in International Affairs (BA), Secondary Social Science (MAT), and Political Management (MPS). She channels that knowledge into creating engrossing contemporary romances that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.

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BOOK BLITZ: Accidentally Working Class by Karly Lane

Accidentally Working Class
Karly Lane
Publication date: July 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Chick-lit, Women’s Fiction

Socialite Quinn Appleton knows how to live life—at full speed and with no limits. She has the perfect life, an amazing boyfriend, friends by the bucketload and an eye for fashion. Life is good.

The Appletons are a household name, their eponymous biscuit empire having been in the family for over one hundred and fifty years, making them one of the country’s richest families. They are no strangers to controversy either, constantly gracing the covers of gossip magazines, caught in compromising positions at outrageous parties.

But CEO and matriarch Lady Elizabeth Appleton has had enough. Tired of her children and grandchildren not pulling their weight and dragging the once respectable Appleton name through the mud, she decides to cut them all off financially.

With her life in ruins, Quinn is just one Jimmy Choo heel away from living in a cardboard box when Gran gives her an ultimatum: take a job at the company for six months and her trust fund will be reinstated. The catch? She must do it under a false identity and work her way up—no one can know she’s an Appleton.

Surely it can’t be that hard to hold down a lousy job? After all, millions of other people seem to do it. But Quinn is about to learn just how different the world is when you find yourself suddenly working class.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

‘The company has always been the heart of this family—for generations. The Appletons were synonymous with the products we made, that’s what made it special—we had wholesome, family values. But now the only way anyone hears anything about the Appletons is in the gossip magazines.’ Gran nodded at ever-faithful Lionel, who stepped forward on cue, turning to gather a stack of magazines from the sideboard to spread out on the table.

Her brother was on some of them; his arm draped across the shoulders of a topless woman on a beach somewhere exotic on one, and standing naked in the doorway of a luxury villa on another, a huge yellow star hiding his groin (which, personally, Quinn thought was probably twice the size of whatever it was supposed to be covering).

On the other covers, Greta was captured at various parties, kissing multiple men and women on different occasions; on another, she was holding up a bottle of Scotch with one hand and flipping the bird to a photographer with the other.

Then there were the ones which featured her. Quinn grimaced slightly at the cover closest to her, having been taken after a heavy night of drinking. Of all the photos Gran could have used. She was sitting in the gutter out the front of a prominent nightclub, her top sliding off one shoulder, her skirt hitched up to an indecent level and her makeup smudged and hideous. It was unfair that even in drunken debauchery, Greta had never been caught on camera looking that horrific. Cow.

Quinn had been featured in way more magazines than that, and had actually looked fricking amazing. Typical that it would be that cover they used to highlight her wayward behaviour.

‘This is what a once respectable family name has become,’ Gran said as her gaze moved around the table.

‘Mother, I hardly—’ her father started before he was cut off by a glacial glare.

‘I blame all of you for raising such delinquent children.’

‘Just pointing out that I have no children,’ Tobias said, with a doleful glance towards his mother, ‘and can honestly say, looking at this, that I’m bitterly disappointed in my siblings and their offspring.’ He shook his head sadly at the offending magazines.

‘Oh, shut up, Tobias,’ Gran snapped, and without even needing to look at Lionel, the man dropped another three magazines on the pile, featuring her uncle in varying displays of undress at some questionable-looking parties.

‘Oh. Yes,’ Tobias murmured with a devilish grin, reaching over to snag the top one. ‘I remember that night.’ The self-satisfied smile vanished from his face when Gran reached over and snatched the magazine from his hands.

‘I will not have this family’s name dragged through any more mud. All of this nonsense stops right now. Until I’m confident that we’ve rebuilt our reputation back up to a standard we can be proud of, none of you will be getting a single cent out of this company.’

‘Mother, I think you’re blowing this all out of proportion,’ her father tried once more, but bit back a frustrated sigh when she waved off his protest.

‘You’ll be noticing several changes that will start immediately,’ she continued, just as a rumble sounded outside.

‘What on earth is that?’ Quinn’s mother asked, frowning, or what would be frowning if her recently administered Botox had allowed her forehead to crease.

Tobias dropped his linen serviette onto the table as he rose from his seat and went to the window, curiosity getting too much for him. ‘Mother, you wouldn’t,’ Tobias gasped, turning a disbelieving stare on Gran.

‘Yes, son. I would and I have.’

Author Bio:

Karly Lane lives on the beautiful Mid North Coast of NSW in Australia. A certified small town girl, she is most happy in a little town where everyone knows who your grandparents were. She writes women’s fiction – everything from romantic suspense to family sagas and life in rural Australia. She has romantic suspense titles published under Karlene Blakemore-Mowle and her latest release, Third Time Lucky is available now.

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BOOK BLITZ: Painted Scars by Neva Altaj #GIVEAWAY

Painted Scars
Neva Altaj
(Perfectly Imperfect, #1)
Publication date: May 24th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The first book in a new mafia romance series.

Nina

Charming, captivating, and seductive,And a cold-blooded killer.But I married the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva anyway.I had to. It was part of the deal.

Now, I’m faking marital bliss,As I tremble with fear,And I cannot wait to be out of the clutches of this ruthless man.

Roman

I get anything I desire.And I want this perfectly imperfect little manipulator.

The way she can deceive anyone into believing she’s crazy in love with me,Just makes me want her even more.

She doesn’t know it yet,But I am not letting her go.The deal – is off.

*Painted Scars is a full-length novel with several open-door steamy scenes, no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.

This is the first book in Perfectly Imperfect mafia series, and compared to the other books in the series, it’s not overly dark. Painted Scars is primarily a love story which focuses on the relationship between Nina and Roman, and while there are a few scenes depicting violence, it’s considerably lighter than the sequels.

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EXCERPT:

(ROMAN POV)

I follow his gaze and my eyes land on a woman in a long emerald-green dress. Black embroidered decorations accentuate the neckline and her tiny waist, and then flow along the edges of a high slit, revealing one slender leg. My eyes trail the slit upward until they stop at her face, and I almost fail to recognize her. She removed the nose ring. Her hair is different as well, pulled up on the top of her head in some complicated design. I can hardly believe that this is the same woman I met a few days earlier.

Author Bio:

Neva Altaj writes steamy contemporary mafia romance about damaged antiheroes and strong heroines who fall for them. She has a soft spot for crazy jealous, possessive alphas who are willing to burn the world to the ground for their woman.

Her stories are full of heat and unexpected turns, and a happily-ever-after is guaranteed every time.

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