Aubrey Wynne's Blog, page 29
December 12, 2022
Pasko Na, My Love, A Holiday Romance Anthology with a $100 giftcard giveaway
Pasko Na, My Love: A Holiday Romance Anthology
Publication date: December 6th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
Family, heart, and a Merry Christmas Happily Ever After.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all ‘round Hacienda Luz bustled in celebration of Natividad Luz Moore’s 100th birthday.
A Filipino American woman of courage, strength, and heart, Lola Naty has touched the lives of many. Celebrities and politicians make merry, fine dresses and barong Tagalogs shimmer, and food and drink flow freely. And it’s all to honor family, tradition, and the very essence of that thing called love.
While Filipino ballads fill the chilly Northern California air, hearts throb and passions ignite as seven remarkable couples find love in all the right—or wrong—places.
**
From acclaimed and bestselling Filipino American authors—Elle Cruz, Maan Gabriel, Maida Malby, Mia Hopkins, Sarah Smith, and Tif Marcelo—comes Pasko Na, My Love, a holiday romance collection that is sure to warm your heart and uplift your Christmas spirit.
Volcanic Love by Elle CruzMy Only Love by Maan GabrielSo It’s You by Maida MalbyIllicit by Mia HopkinsLast Minute by Sarah SmithThe Deal by Tif Marcelo
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Volcanic Love by Elle Cruz
Sophie is a thirty-year-old with a wildly successful sex podcast. She has secretly been in love with Travis, her older brother’s best friend, for years. A mistake from the past tears them apart. Sparks fly when they when they see each other five years later during her grandmother’s one-hundredth birthday celebration. Sophie will have to put aside her insecurities to win back Travis’s heart so she can finally have the happily ever after she’s always dreamed of.
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My Only Love by Maan Gabriel
He’s on his way to the White House. She’s fighting for women’s rights on the streets of DC.
Ten years ago, Drew and Angelica broke off their engagement while in law school. They both attribute their failed relationship to young love and ambition. But when Drew begs Angelica to attend his grandmother’s 100th birthday and pretend for one week that they are back together, sparks fly between them. Is it pretend when the feelings from the past never truly went away?
The thing is, Angelica doesn’t want to be Senator Hizon’s number one. Selfish as it may seem, she wants to be his only one – his only love.
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So It’s You by Maida Malby
Vida and her maternal grandmother, Naty Moore, share a special bond—the same birthday on Christmas Eve, fifty years apart. This year, Lola Naty will celebrate her 100th birthday, and Vida plans to do everything to make sure her grand party goes off without a hitch. Even if that includes hiding the identity of the man she’s dating.
Rafa Balmaseda fell for Vida long before he became her grandmother’s physician. Ten years younger than her, he chafes at being kept a secret. When he pushes for a deeper commitment, will Vida continue to deny his role in her life? Or will she finally admit that they belong together?
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Illicit by Mia Hopkins
Event planner Eden Rosales and Catholic priest Nick Salgado reunite at Hacienda Luz and settle a score fourteen years in the making.
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Last Minute by Sarah Smith
Twenty-eight-year-old Ruby is in charge of catering the 100th birthday party of her grandmother. As the baby of her family, Ruby has grown up in the shadow of her older, more successful cousins, so she’s determined for her catered dinner to go off without a hitch. But when her head chef calls out with food poisoning the day of the party and sends chef Mason Waller as her replacement, Ruby is pissed. She’s loathed Mason ever since he screwed her over in culinary school five years ago. There’s still plenty of fire between these two … in more ways than one.
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The Deal by Tif Marcelo
Prodigal cousin Oliver Moore returns to Hacienda Luz to attend Lola Naty’s hundredth year birthday party only to find out that he’s not on the guest list from divorcée event planner Norah Sha. In catching him as he tries to break in, she feels sorry for him and makes a deal to sneak him in, both discovering Christmas can still bring forgiveness and new love.
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December 10, 2022
Confessions of a Fangirl by Kirsten S. Blacketer
Confessions of a Fangirl
Kirsten S. Blacketer
(Her Confessions, #1)
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Life is good. I have a plush job, supportive friends, and a close-knit family. When the new hottie at the office asks me out on a date, I think I just won the jackpot.
Until movie night with the girls leads me down a dark rabbit hole. Who is he? An innocent Google search about a handsome actor has my imagination spinning. Now I’m drowning, and I don’t want salvation. I want him.
But I already have the perfect man. This obsession might just ruin my life.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
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EXCERPT:
“Why don’t you turn on the TV? I have a movie in for us to watch.” He winks. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
I narrow my gaze. “Is it inappropriate?”
Shaun’s eyes widen. “What would give you the impression I would dare cross that line? We’ve only known each other for two weeks.”
“True.”
“Normally I let crazy out of the bottle after the third date, never before then.”
I spin around to face him. “I knew it.”
He doubles over the sink laughing. “Just turn on the TV, Jen.”
When I turn it on, a familiar song comes through the speakers. I grin like an idiot when I see the familiar logo. “Source of Destiny,” I mutter under my breath.
“Good thing you’re a Space Vendetta fan, huh?” He dries his hands and joins me.
My face heats. “Actually, I’m a newbie to the whole thing. We watched it the other weekend for movie night. It was the first time I’d ever heard of the series.”
“Oh, so you had your SVS cherry popped recently, huh?” Shaun sits on the couch next to me and takes the remote from my hand.
“I guess you could say that.” I bite my tongue knowing he doesn’t mean anything by the comment, but it leaves me a bit breathless.
“I guess it’s not your typical movie night choice then.”
“No. One of the guys in the mailroom suggested it when he heard Lily and me discussing ideas in the break room.”
“Lily.” Shaun thinks for a moment. “Oh yes, the classic vintage aficionado.” He nods sagely. “She always looks stunning. It’s a great style on her.”
“Right?” I push away the twist of jealousy. “I envy her style. She looks so put together.”
“You do too.” He grabs my hand and laces his fingers with mine. “It’s what I noticed first about you.”
There goes the damn rollercoaster again. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He squeezes my hand.
I turn my head away to hide the flaming blush I know has consumed my face. My gaze rests on the TV and the logo on the screen.
“Shall we start the movie?”
“Sure.” He presses play and pulls me against him, draping his arm around my shoulder.
We’ve both seen the film before, but within moments we’re both drawn into the story on the screen. My body tenses in anticipation. I know what’s coming, and I brace myself for it.
Captain Korbin Ransom appears on the screen on queue. An ache settles in my chest. Guiltily, I glance at Shaun, who’s entranced by the film. My gaze drifts back to the movie.
This inexplainable gravity draws me into the story. A closeup of the villain’s profile has my heart racing. My fingers dig into Shaun’s thigh. He shifts and pulls me closer.
What the hell is wrong with me? My second date and I’m swooning over a man on the screen when I should be all over the warm, solid man beside me. He made me dinner. Made me feel special. Hell, he made me tiramisu!
As the movie continues, I hold my breath for the moments Korbin Ransom appears in all his leather-clad wonder. The character’s brooding darkness and sexy swagger have me on the edge of my seat. I’m drawn to this villain in ways I can’t comprehend.
I like good men. Honest men. Men who make me dinner and treat me like a queen. But deep in the dark recesses of my mind, my imagination flirts with something I’ve never allowed into the light. I’m aroused and ashamed. I shove these fantasies of a tempting villain aside and focus on enjoying this moment with Shaun, a good man of flesh and blood.
When the credits roll, I slowly shift from beneath his arm and stretch. “That movie gets better every time I see it. I mean, it’s like I catch details I missed before.”
“Yeah, happens to me too.” He stretches his arm out and grabs my wrist, pulling me back against him.
I’m breathless, caught in the haze of his blue eyes. My heart’s racing.
“Jen…am I going too fast for you?” There’s hunger in their depths.
I swallow. “No.”
“If I ever make you uncomfortable, tell me.” A soft smile curves his lips. “I like you.”
“I like you too.” My fingers brush his cheek. I lean in and kiss him.
His soft lips part beneath mine and he pulls me closer. “You can stay tonight if you want,” he whispers between passionate kisses.
“As much as I would love to take you up on that.” I sigh against his lips. “I can’t.”
He nods. “I understand. Sleeping together on a second date feels like we’re going at hyperspeed.”
I chuckle at the Space Vendetta reference. “Yeah, it does.”
“I’ll leave it up to you.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “When you’re ready, let me know.”
Author Bio:
Kirsten Blacketer writes the stories she’s dying to read. She likes mystery and intrigue, handsome heroes, sassy heroines, and a chance to break the rules. She lives for sexual tension and loves kissing scenes. There’s no way she can write in just one era, so don’t be surprised if you see her jumping from medieval Scotland to prohibition on the Mississippi River to late Victorian London then onto contemporary Brooklyn. She follows wherever the muse leads her.
The KSB Guarantee: A Steamy Getaway and Always a HEA!
Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Bookbub / Instagram
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December 9, 2022
Resting Grinch Face by Alina Jacobs – read an excerpt and enter the giftcard giveaway
Resting Grinch Face
Alina Jacobs
Publication date: November 17th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
I might not be able to ruin his life, but I will ruin his Christmas.
Yeah, I’m totally a grinch. But I come by it honestly.
Because of Oliver Frost, I flamed out at Harvard in the most humiliating way possible.
Now I’m back in my small town—just in time to suffer through a display of small-town Christmas cheer so festive it will make you puke your eggnog. But who cares about being home for the holidays when you live with your family like a loser and have to share one bathroom with seven other people?
I plan to spend my Christmas purgatory being tsked at by elderly residents and passive aggressively prodded by my mom’s friends about what I plan to do with my life.
I don’t know, Deborah, work in the Christmas market and get screamed at by tourists because I didn’t put enough sprinkles on their little brats’ coffees? Seriously, who gives five-year-olds that much caffeine anyway?!
See? Like I said. A grinch.
I hate Christmas.
I set a nativity scene on fire.
Got in a fistfight with an elf—I lost, by the way.
And threw a vat of Snowman Surprise all over Oliver. Don’t ask. Small-town Christmas insanity.
Sleigh what? Oliver is here???
The man who humiliated me and ruined my life?
Ho ho ho, fuck no.
He doesn’t deserve a quaint small-town Christmas.
He doesn’t deserve a fancy Christmas tree from my family’s farm.
And he certainly does not deserve to win a bottle of whiskey in the daily Christmas market raffle.
Goddamn, I needed that drink.
He should be haunted like Ebenezer Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Or at least the Ghost of Hookups Past.
Momma’s gonna have herself a very merry Christmas revenge.
Swapping the salt and sugar so his Christmas cookies are ruined? Be still, my shriveled little heart.
Spying on him so I can gather recon to ruin his holidate? Damn, I forgot how ripped his chest was.
Sneaking down his chimney to steal all the presents under his tree? Amateur hour.
Until I get caught…
Guess I’m spending Christmas in jail.
But when he sees I’m not wearing a bra under my ugly Christmas sweater, Oliver smiles like Santa has come early.
Crap! I knew I should have worn my good underwear.
Hold on to your stockings because the eggnog is spicy and mostly booze. This is a fuck-second-chances, Santa-stalker, holiday-revenge romantic comedy. Featuring Christmas-hating heroines with poor decision-making skills, ripped guys who will leave a very large package under your tree, and adorable corgis dressed up as reindeer, this standalone book has a happily ever after, guaranteed!
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EXCERPT:
I slid like a squirrel straddling the roof peak, scooting along the ridgeline to the massive brick fireplace. I pried the round ceramic top off and stuck my head inside.
The Victorians liked their fireplaces.
While my parents’ wood-burning fire was more of a stovepipe, this house had been built to hold a massive fire.
I swung my feet over and shimmied into the chimney. Below me, Max must have figured out what was up because he was barking, the noise echoing up the chimney shaft.
“Dang, I can’t believe I fit,” I marveled. The cold air whipped my face, and I had a moment of clarity.
“Maybe this was a bridge too far,” I said and tried to hoist myself back up.
The chimney rim was slick with ice. My hand slipped. Then I fell down into the sooty black tube.
I stopped abruptly, my teeth knocking together.
“Help,” I squeaked.
I was stuck in the chimney, my arms wedged up above my head. Every time I let out a breath I slid farther down. My skirt was wedged under my boobs, and my sweater was wrapped around my head and neck.
“Help!” I rasped, kicking my legs. “Max, get help.”
The dog’s frantic barking changed to excited yips.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around my soot-covered thighs.
In any other scenario, I would have been really put out that Oliver was finally touching me only after I had flaked on working out the past year and developed a layer of winter flab. But I just wanted to be free. It was difficult to breathe.
“Save me,” I forced myself to whisper.
“Shit,” Oliver said, giving a solid tug on my legs.
I wedged down farther.
“I think you’re stuck in there.” His hands disappeared.
“Don’t leave me,” I begged.
His hand was back, his thumb stroking me reassuringly on my ankle.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to call the fire department. We’ll probably have to dismantle the chimney. I’m sure my neighbors will complain to me about it.” I heard the eye roll in his voice. Then his phone emitted beeps.
I kicked my feet. “Don’t you dare, Oliver Frost. Don’t you dare call the fire department. My mother will find out. I’ll be the talk of the town for years. Decades. It will be on my tombstone.”
“I can’t leave you here,” he said, voice echoing up the shaft.
“Oh, yes you can. I insist. I’ll be dead and done rotting in about three weeks. Then we can all just pretend this never happened.”
“Are you insane?”
Oh God. I had a horrible thought.
He can probably see straight up my crotch.
Was I wearing my nice underwear? Did I even own any sufficiently nice underwear?
“Please,” I begged. “My life is shit. Please just try pulling me out one more time?”
“I’m afraid to make you more stuck. Embarrassment won’t kill you.”
“It literally will,” I shrieked with my remaining breath.
Oliver muttered something that sounded like “God save me from this woman.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, moving the logs and the metal grate out of the way. “I’m giving this one shot. Then we’re going to host the fire department for the second time in as many days.”
After a rustling of fabric, his large hands slid up my bare legs.
“Sorry for manhandling you like this.”
His bare arms circled my waist, and I squawked as he wrapped them around my bare torso, connecting my body with his.
I could feel his bare chest against my thighs.
His head was somewhere in crotch vicinity, and he squeezed me tight.
Maybe I could just tell him to eat me out and then die happy.
Oliver gave a sharp hard tug. My sweater slipped up.
He adjusted his grasp and pulled, grunting hard.
“I think I’m moving,” I called.
He gave one more strong tug. My sweater ripped, and then I was free, tumbling down in a heap of ash and yarn on top of him.
He was covered in black soot. It was all over his pale skin, turning his hair a dark gray and making his eyes a startlingly bright blue.
“See,” I said, spreading my arms. “I knew you could do it. And you wanted to call the fire department.”
He didn’t say a word. He was staring at me, or more specifically my boobs.
I looked down.
“Elf balls.”
Author Bio:
If you like steamy romantic comedies with a creative streak, then I’m your girl!
Architect by day, writer by night, I love matcha green tea, chocolate, and books! So many books…
Sign up for my mailing list to get the free novella, AFTER HIS PEONIES, along with special bonus content, giveaways, and more!
Mailing List / Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub
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December 7, 2022
1887 The Day they Turned Off the Water by A. E. Wasserman
Welcome to the book tour for A.E. Wasserman’s latest addition The Langsford Mysteries, The Day they Turned Off the Water. Read on for more!
1887 The Day they Turned Off the Water
Publication Day: October 10, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Novella
Length: 170 Pages
Spring 1887. Melting snowpack from the high Sierras will soon turn California’s Central Valley into lush fields, but an armed man with a Sharps rifle shut off a headwater gate to a water-ditch and stood guard. After an unexpected confrontation with Double B Ranch owner, Jake Sanders, along with ranch-hand Kacha, this gunman now lies dead and Jake along with wounded Kacha, are both jailed for murder.
The unscrupulous lobbyist who ‘steals to get the office and who gets the office to steal,” Billy “Boss” Carr, claims to know nothing about the man or the situation, in spite of owning the land where the headwater gate is. Water is profitable for Carr, however, and he is aligned with both the prosecutor and judge. It is up to Jake’s wife, Sally, to find a way to prove Jake and Kacha’s innocence; the truth of the matter. But with these powerful men stacking the odds against her, can she? Or will she watch both men hanged?
Excerpt
Life as she knew it halted. Abruptly
How had this happened?
Endings, like death, can do that; sneak up until its shadow obscures the sunlight of hopes and dreams. No one sees it until too late. Until then, everyone goes along as though life will always be normal. Good even. Until . . .
This, however, felt far worse than death.
Sally walked to her small desk, sat down with a quill and a blank page of paper to divert herself from thinking further. A letter to Lord Langsford to break her dismal mood. Indeed, writing her English friend would a pleasant task. She straightened her small frame, tucked a light brown strand of hair behind her ear, and began to write, blinking back tears from her dark brown eyes.
June 2, 1887
My dear friend Lord Langsford,
I have been remiss, not writing sooner since the arrival of the dog you shipped us. How very kind you are and always have been ever since we met in San Francisco. Jake and I appreciate your friendship no end.
Sally sat back, uncertain what to write next, pausing to remember how she’d felt toward the Englishman when last they saw each other. Those final moments at the train depot. How difficult it had been, leaving Langsford. She, in love with the Englishman, and he, holding her at bay. He, the wise, sensible one. He’d sent her back to the ranch and to Jake, who wanted to marry her. The ranch and her life could never have been Langsford’s; his life could never have been hers. He had returned to his English estate and she went home to marry Jake, whom she now loved more than life itself.
Jake, her tall, lanky, smiling man, with twinkling brown eyes and tawny hair always in need of a comb.
But now? She shook away her fear and continued writing.
Our crops are doing well. All our sheep and cattle need herding, thus, the arrival of the Border Collie pup you shipped to us was perfectly timed.
Sally dropped the quill on the desk and crumpled the paper into a tight ball, smudging wet ink on her fingers. She could not make her world sound carefree and rosy. It was far from that.
She got up from the desk and wandered out onto the veranda, the roof shading her from the hot June sun. She turned to look up at the mountains to the east, her hands smoothing the light blue calico dress she wore, as though her worries were the wrinkles in the fabric to be ironed away.
Those high Sierras held the winter snow pack for months; snow a dozen-plus feet deep that melted slowly when spring began to warm the peaks. Icy waters streamed down into the rivers that fed the Central Valley. Rivers filled the ditches that watered the fields and livestock. Rivers replenished the water table so wells, both hand-dug and artesian, could be drawn upon for ranches and households. Water had turned the Central Valley into a paradise filled with crops and pastureland. Life-giving water which ranchers and settlers relied upon during the long, hot, dry summer months. Water.
As she stood there, looking up at those high snow-capped Sierras, she only wanted to think of the tri-colored Border Collie from England.
Not Jake. Not water.
Not murder.
Available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Bookshop
About the Author
The daughter of a newspaperman, A.E. Wasserman grew up in a household filled with books and stories. At age 14, she wrote her first novella and never stopped writing.
A.E. Wasserman’s current mystery/thrillers series, featuring Englishman Langsford and his friends, has garnered international attention, not only in the U.S., but Europe and the U.K. as well. Her work is critically acclaimed as richly atmospheric; her style bold and well-crafted.
After graduating from The Ohio State University, she lived in London, then San Francisco. Currently she resides in Southern California with her family and her muse, a Border Collie named Topper.
A. E. Wasserman
The Langsford Mystery Collection
Book Tour Organized By:
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December 6, 2022
Things I Overshared by Kelsey Humphreys
Things I Overshared
Kelsey Humphreys
(Heartlanders Series, #2)
Publication date: December 6th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Things I Overshared, an extrovert/introvert romantic comedy
Samantha Canton has had a rough year, to put it mildly. So, she is overjoyed to find out she gets to go on her dream work trip to Europe. But she’s not going alone. She’ll be crossing the pond with the company’s CFO, Emerson Clark.
Icy Emerson, as the industry calls him, is logical, serious and quiet. He likes solitude, the color gray, rain and hot tea – he is British, after all.
And he cannot stand Samantha in all her southern, chatty, upbeat, neon-dress-wearing glory.
No problem, she’s never met someone she couldn’t befriend.
Until Now.
Commence nervous verbal diarrhea.
And commence the ultimate Grumpy Sunshine, Billionaire, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn Romance with rich characters and a payoff that will leave you absolutely giddy.
**This is a swoony, steamy, full-length standalone adult contemporary romance. Prepare for Manhattan, London, Paris, surprise twists, laugh-out-loud banter, a happily ever after, and a sisters group text thread you’ll wish you could join.
This is the second book in the Heartlanders Series but can be read on its own.**
Author Bio:
After tens of millions of video views, comedian Kelsey Humphreys has captured her hilarious, heart-warming characters in book form. Her steamy stories dig into deep truths about love, identity, purpose, and family. When she’s not writing romance or creating comedy videos, she is reading, running, mom-ming and wife-ing in Oklahoma. Follow her funnies on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok
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December 5, 2022
Love Report by Shellee Marie – an excerpt and giveaway
Love Report
Shellee Marie
Publication date: December 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Professional baseball player Dan Pelameno struck out with the woman of his dreams. So, when she calls to set up an exclusive television interview with him, he jumps at the second chance to set things right. He let her slip away once, but he won’t make the same mistake.
Celebrity news reporter Kendra Star thought she had moved on from her ex, Dan until she had to see him again for a work assignment. When the encounter lands him a gig at her job, she promises to keep her distance from him and his charming ways. But the more she has to work with him, the harder he is to resist.
—
EXCERPT:
“Kendra!”
I jolted my head up to Jay, and he eyed me warily. “As I was saying, now that the whole fiasco with Melanie is over, CEN needs a new direction…a new angle. We want to listen to the viewers. We want to be more positive with our programming,” he said, standing up from his perched position on his desk.
He ran his hands over his mouth and jolted his eyes at the massive coffee stain on my dress. “You missed your mouth?”
“Ah, you could say that,” I said.
He walked over to the cabinet in the corner of his office and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here, take this,” he said.
I took the handkerchief and motioned to wipe my dress. “Thank you so much! I didn’t have any napkins in my office.”
Jay raised his arms, stopping me. “No, no, no. Don’t wipe the stain with it. Put it under yourself, so you won’t mess up my leather chair.”
“Oh,” I said, raising my backside slightly and placing it underneath me.
Once my embarrassment eased, I ruminated over the words he’d said earlier, “new direction.” I’d heard them before. Only last time, that direction hadn’t included me, but my replacement, celebrity slayer Melanie. She’d damaged so many of CEN’s celebrity relationships it was difficult to imagine a positive comeback.
Although, somehow, I’d managed to come back in more ways than one. During my prolonged stint of unemployment, my bill collectors started to call me more than my relatives. I couldn’t have that happen again. I shook my head and focused on Jay’s words as he dropped his hand from his mouth.
He hovered over his desk, then placed his palms down onto the surface as if steadying himself in front of me. I shifted in my chair under his gaze.
“Someone reached out to the director of programming and suggested we do an apology tour. So, now upper management wants us to repair the relationships that Melanie damaged,” he said.
“Apology tour?”
“Yep, a series of intimate, heartfelt, sit-down interviews with each of the celebrities harmed to show them in a better light. But at the same time, it could also show CEN in a better light. In addition to fixing the relationships, of course. A second chance do-over of sorts.”
I nodded without hesitation or shame. I was a damn good interviewer, and I knew heartfelt. I wasn’t perfect, but I threw my heart into everything I did. “I can do that,” I said.
Jay smiled at me like a proud father and pointed in my direction. “I know you can. And there’s no one else I would’ve trusted to do it. We have to show everyone we’re still the same ole CEN.”
Moments like this were rare with Jay. They always made me think that if I worked harder, maybe I could have more of them. I mentally repeated his next statement in his hint of a New York accent because I knew it by heart.
“CEN is that old friend you can rely on to keep you up to date on trends,” he said. But, then, “Only now we keep you up to date on our friends.”
Hmm, that last part was new.
I nodded at his cringeworthy new phrase, attempting to detour him from the inevitable tangent that usually followed his “profound” statements. “So, who’s first on our apology tour?” I asked brightly.
“Well, the caller suggested Dan Pelameno.” He shook his head, then said, “The way we screwed over that guy’s marriage, I’d say I agree.”
I froze. Did he say, Dan Pelameno?
I stuttered, searching for my next words. “I — I think I read somewhere that Dan and his w-wife… ex-wife…are on good terms. So, it would probably be way more harmful to him to potentially rehash things with an interview.”
“Nonsense, it’ll be great. Our fans love Dan, and Dan loves the spotlight. So, just avoid harsh questions, and it’ll be fine.”
“But —”
Jay raised his hand and closed his eyes before narrowing them on me intensely. “This is a crucial opportunity for this company and, quite frankly, for you as well. Show the execs why you were worth that raise. Get Pelameno’s number and schedule the interview with him personally. We can’t mess this up. The network took a hit with that Melanie bullshit. We need this. You need this.”
I nodded and rose from my seat. “Yes, Jay. Thank you for the opportunity.”
Defeated, I headed for the door, but Jay stopped me to say, “And Kendra?”
“Yes?” I asked.
“Welcome back.”
#
“Shit, shit, shit,” I said, closing my door and pushing my back against it. I’d trudged the hall slowly, hoping for a distraction on the way, but, of course, my coworkers were nowhere in sight when I needed one.
I took in my office. It was still empty from the day I had to pack everything up in a box and carry it out. The fun knick-knacks and trinkets I’d collected during segments and guest appearances were still packed up at home. It was another reminder that my life had been completely thrown off kilter.
I tapped my head against the door. Dan Pelameno? Maybe there’s more than one? Surely not? Who am I kidding? There can only be one Dan.
Despite Jay’s directive, I didn’t need to search for Dan’s number. I already had it. I slid down the length of the door and stared at my phone over on the desk, working up the courage to call my ex. Well, almost ex…
Author Bio:
Shellee holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. She also has two minors in Women’s Studies and Political Science.
Shellee is an avid reader, and in her spare time, she can frequently be found curled up with a good book. She loves a wide variety of formats and genres. She also enjoys spending time with her brilliant daughter, Trinity, and her favorite pups, Myla and Chino.
Website / Goodreads / Instagram / TikTok
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December 2, 2022
A Valentine for Christmas by Reese Ryan – an excerpt and giveaway
A Valentine for Christmas
Reese Ryan
(Valentine Vineyards, #1)
Published by: Harlequin Desire
Publication date: November 29th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
Opposites do more than attract when an older woman falls for a younger man in Reese Ryan’s brand-new Harlequin Desire series, Valentine Vineyards!
A red-hot romance between a career-focused woman and a determined younger man?
Doctor’s orders!
Dr. Julian Brandon is too charming, too sexy and too young for Chandra Valentine. But after the successful bachelor rescues her—twice—she owes him. Still reeling from life-changing family revelations, Chandra somehow agrees to pose as Julian’s girlfriend. And now the irresistible Julian has plans that start with seduction under the mistletoe and end with their fake relationship erupting into a scorching affair. Now Chandra’s questioning everything she believed about love…
From Harlequin Desire: A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry.
You’ll be swept away by this bold, sizzling romance, part of the Valentine Vineyards series:
Book 1: A Valentine for Christmas
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EXCERPT:
One
Chandra Valentine gripped the handle of her rolling carry-on luggage as she watched the tiny regional plane taxi toward her gate at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. She honestly wished she hadn’t seen it. Then she could pretend it was a larger plane. A stable plane. The kind she’d become accustomed to flying in over her past thirty-nine years of life. Not one of those little puddle jumpers she’d always taken great pains to avoid.
She loosened her grip when she realized her nails were stabbing her palms. She opened her hand, studying the row of angry semicircles that trailed across her skin. Chandra took a deep breath, her eyes drifting closed momentarily. When she opened them, she was greeted by a penetrating dark gaze.
The incredibly handsome man tipped his chin in greeting as he rubbed his full beard. Typically, she’d considered a full-grown beard a turnoff. Who knew exactly what might be lurking in that thing? But for this brother, she’d make an exception.
He was dressed in an unbuttoned, green and black plaid shirt over a black Henley shirt, distressed jeans and brown Timberland boots. His lop-sided smile made her belly flip in ways it hadn’t in longer than she cared to admit.
Chandra gave him a quick nod and an awkward wave before sauntering away.
The man was fine. In ways she could wax poetically about for days. But this wasn’t a girls’ trip to Vegas. She was about to board a tuna can with wings so she could meet her dad in some small mountain town in Tennessee.
If she didn’t feel a sense of urgency to get to the little town of Magnolia Lake, where her dad had summoned her and her five younger siblings, she would’ve flown to the closest major airport then driven the remainder of the way through the mountains. But she was worried about her dad.
Abbott Raymond Valentine had turned sixty-nine on his last birthday—which she’d missed because she was at a company retreat in Utah. Her father had been in sort of a funk since his mother had died a few years ago. It didn’t feel quite like mourning, but something deeper. She hadn’t been able to figure out what it was, and her dad wouldn’t open up about what he was feeling. He’d been grumpy and evasive whenever she tried to broach the topic, which ruined the mood of their weekly calls. So she’d stopped asking, hoping he’d eventually be ready to confide in her.
But two weeks ago, her father had called a big family meeting via teleconference to inform them he needed to see all of them in person. Despite their pleading and threatening, her father wouldn’t offer the slightest hint of what this was about. Chandra was terrified about what might prompt her father to gather them together like this for the first time since her grandmother’s funeral.
It’d taken three days and an online calendar for the six siblings to figure out when their schedules would permit all of them to take time off their jobs and get together for at least a week, preferably two—as her father had requested. But here she was on her way to some tiny town in the Smoky Mountains where she only hoped they had internet, cell phone service and indoor plumbing because hiking in the woods was the limit of her outdoorsyness.
Chandra settled into a seat as far away as she could get from the handsome man with the gorgeous dark eyes who was making her rethink her stance on beards. Because as much as she’d like to get to know him up close and personal, she didn’t have time for extracurricular activities on this trip.
She was a problem solver. Had been since she was eight years old and returned from school to discover the Dear Abbott letter her mother had left on the kitchen counter.
Her father had been gutted. She, Nolan, Sebastian and Alonzo had been devastated. Just like that, she’d become the adult in the house as her father struggled to deal with her mother’s abandonment. In some ways, she’d felt like the only adult in the room with her family ever since.
Chandra rubbed her arms against the chill in the airport, still devastated by the painful memory.
Mr. Handsome stared at her from across the wide expanse.
Chandra pulled the book on teambuilding she’d been reading from her purse and opened it. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by the man. She needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her father, solve whatever problem needed to be solved then return to San Diego.
Author Bio:
Reese Ryan writes sexy, deeply emotional romances with family drama, surprising secrets, and unexpected twists.
Past president of her local Romance Writers of America chapter and a panelist at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Reese is an advocate for the romance genre and diversity in fiction.
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November 29, 2022
Baggage Claim by Juliana Smith – an excerpt and giftcard giveaway
Baggage Claim
Juliana Smith
Publication date: November 26th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Olive Moore has been avoiding her hometown for three years now. But a phone call with her mom has her agreeing to spend the holidays back home with her family, she lets it slip she will be bringing a boyfriend with her. The only problem with that is she has no boyfriend. That is until she meets a handsome—albeit annoying—stranger on the plane who makes her an offer she can’t refuse.
Finn Beckett has always had good luck, as demonstrated by the gorgeous blonde he’s seated next to on a flight to Aspen. One drink too many leads to Olive spilling her problems in his lap, and he feels compelled to help. So he makes her an offer: he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend to keep her family off her back and make this the best Christmas ever.
Olive and Finn spend the next two weeks going on spirit-filled Christmas dates with her family. Their ruse is working perfectly, but Finn can’t help but notice Olive is holding something back. Something that could ruin everything.
Their relationship may have taken off smoothly, but with all this turbulence, will they ever make it to baggage claim?
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EXCERPT:
“Olive,” I said, her name like a prayer. I didn’t have anything else to say; I only wanted her to see me.
Her bright green eyes lifted to mine, and I melted. My hand reached under her chin and rubbed my thumb across it. So beautiful. She took a step closer, her chest brushing my midsection, and I nearly groaned from the simple contact. She leaned into me like she was on autopilot, and I was her only destination. I cautiously slid my hand from her chin to the back of her neck. She swallowed, and the movement of her throat pulled me in like runway lights calling me home. I moved closer, hesitantly, our faces only inches away. She would have stopped me, right? She would have given me that sassy attitude and pushed me away if she didn’t want this. The Olive I knew wouldn’t let me get this far. I paused, unsure.
“Tell me to stop.”
I needed to hear it. To hear her yell at me. To have her say, “I told you no kissing,” and give me a shove. If she didn’t, I would take her on this bed right now, without a care of who else was in the house.
She grabbed my white button-down and pulled me impossibly closer. “No.”
It was quiet, barely a whisper. I tightened my grip on her neck and leaned forward.
This was it. Everything you have thought of nonstop since that flight. I was going to kiss the hell out of her. I was going to leave her lips swollen and numb until she was dizzy and floating.
I tilted her head up with my spare hand and inched my lips toward hers slowly,
ready to throw all caution to the wind.
“Finn.” She moaned my name before my lips were even on her, and I forced my heart not to explode. We were a dyad, two halves of the same whole. She was the best I ever had, and I hadn’t even had her yet. My lips were a centimeter from hers. Finally. Finally.
Author Bio:
Juliana Smith is an author in a small town in Alabama. She is a full-time realtor, and part-time author, but she spends a lot of her time with her husband and daughter. Juliana writes heartfelt romance filled with laughter and warm fuzzies. She can usually be found in a Chic-fil-a drive-thru or listening to Star Wars theory podcasts, often at the same time.
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November 28, 2022
A special excerpt from When the Heart Brings You Home by Robin Maderich and a giftcard giveaway
When the Heart Brings You Home
Robin Maderich
Publication date: November 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
When the Heart Brings You Home, A Connor Falls Christmas Collection, is a heartwarming collection of three holiday novellas, all set in the small town of Connor Falls, Pennsylvania during the Christmas season, and each a story of family and love with a touch of romance.
Winter Light – a troubled little girl brings the Christmas Spirit back to her struggling single father and the woman he once kissed many years ago.
Light the Heart Home – two sisters with secrets reunite at Christmas, prodding old wounds and finding healing love.
Home for the Holidays – all Susan Hardwick wants is to find her way back home.
Comfort. Joy. Romance. Welcome to Connor Falls.
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Home for the Holidays Excerpt
My phone trilled in the cup holder. I glanced down at the text from Mom and away. She could wait because a) I was driving, and b) I was almost there. Another five minutes and I’d be pulling into the driveway. A very long driveway, leading up to the expanded farmhouse she and Dad had purchased ten years earlier after selling the house nearby where we’d grown up. The house stood on about twenty acres a couple miles outside Connor Falls, bought with a dedicated plan to follow her midlife crisis dream. She’d not been wrong.
I spotted the sign for Hummingbird Farm. A new one, it looked like. Mom had been talking about a replacement and it seemed she’d taken care of getting one over the summer. I hadn’t been to see Mom and Dad since springtime. I had a silent bet with myself this would be the first thing she mentioned. Not my haircut, not my new car, not the fact my brother only lived ten miles away and he probably hadn’t been there since springtime either.
Turning into the driveway, I noticed the fields to either side pocked with cornstalk stubble. She and Dad didn’t grow corn. They rented the fields by the road to a local farmer. Those closer to the house were strategically planted each year with various sunflowers, zinnias, mums and other hardy flowers for cutting, as well as pumpkins and summer vegetables, the sorts Mom used in her business. What didn’t get used she sold elsewhere or sometimes gave away. I caught sight of the ornamentals as I got closer to the house. Fall blooms in pots dotted the walkway together with white gourds that had somehow avoided damage from the recent freeze. At intervals between, small evergreen trees with burlap-wrapped root balls had been settled into metal buckets. Wreaths decorated the front windows on both floors as well as the front door, and a huge one had been affixed to the barn. Every year my dad climbed up on a ladder and hung the fresh greens. Every year I got pains in my chest thinking about him doing it. He wasn’t getting any younger.
He’d get downright surly if he ever heard me say those words out loud, though, so I didn’t. One day I’d have to. My brother darned well better make the ten-mile trek to join me for that conversation. Better still, he should come and hang the wreaths instead.
And maybe he did these days. We’d never talked about it.
Frowning, I pulled the car over into a “family” spot. Parking spots were designated for us, for customers and for those utilizing the venue. Quaint little metal signs on black posts advertised these spaces clearly, pointing out who went where and how to get there. The signs for ours read Hardwick Family Only. Someone obviously couldn’t read. I parked my car next to a dusty black Jeep with Delaware plates. Whoever they were, they hadn’t come half as far as I had.
I eyed my short ‘do in the visor mirror, spot-checked my teeth from force of habit since I hadn’t eaten, then turned off the ignition before grabbing my purse and shoving my phone back into it. I’d leave my luggage in the trunk until later. The plan was for a longer than usual visit, up to the day after Christmas, so I’d brought two bags with me. No need to walk to the door encumbered since I anticipated hugs before being chastised for having stayed away since spring.
My boots crunched on the gravel, echoing off the beautiful red barn where events were held, from family reunions to weddings. The upcoming weekend’s affair happened to be a wedding, holiday-themed and all. Mom had sent pictures of the planned décor, the bride’s and bridesmaid’s gowns. You always wanted a winter wedding, she’d written in her email. Yeah, when I was twelve and thought the whole thing would be terribly romantic and beautiful.
Despite my cynicism, I still carried around the image in my head. The bridesmaids wore cranberry, the men ivory, long-tail tuxes. The flower girl I’d pictured with a delicate floral wreath on her head, skipping along the carpeted aisle in a leaf-green dress, tossing flowers here and there (what did I know? I’d been just a kid myself), while I dressed in a gown over which a forest green velvet cloak draped to the floor. The wide hood took a veil’s place, my face hidden demurely within its folds. Poinsettias lined the aisle and evergreen draped each pew. I remembered there were lights, too, in my imaginings, warm white lights like on old-fashioned Christmas trees.
Egads. Really? I must have been watching too many Disney movies.
Author Bio:
First published by Warner Books’ Popular Library, Robin Maderich has written numerous romance novels, from historical to contemporary paranormal, as Robin Maderich, Celia Ashley and Alyssa Deane. Ms. Maderich resides in Pennsylvania, the locale and inspiration for many of her stories. She is an avid fan of historical fact and fiction, as well as the infinite realm of possibilities.
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November 21, 2022
The Spinster, the Rebel & the Governor by Charlene Bell Dietz
by Charlene Bell DietzGENRE: Historical Fiction
On Sale: .99Move over Susan B. Anthony. There’s an unsung woman asking for the vote 224 years before you. In 1638-1648 Margaret Brent, fighting for justice became a voice in court for others, educated and Indian princess, built a fort and saved pre-colonial Maryland from destruction. The American Bar Association each year honors select women attorneys, such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor with their Margaret Brent Award. Buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Spinster-Rebel-Governor-Pre-Colonial-1638-1648/dp/194521239X
Charlene Bell Dietz writes science and historical-suspense, award-winning mystery novels and short stories. Her award-winning short stories have been published in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2016 Anthology and SouthWest Writers 2019 Anthology. The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage. The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 frenetic Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. Both these novels were named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, and each won the coveted Kirkus Starred Review. Her latest novel, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut, gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her current work in progress, a biographical historical novel, starts in England in 1638 and ends in precolonial Maryland. Charlene, a retired educator, traveled the United States as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin Publishers after a career of teaching little ones, older ones, and college graduates. Surrounded by forests and meadows, she currently lives in the foothills of the mountains in central NM several miles from the small village of Torreon. Charlene is the current president of Croak & Dagger, New Mexico Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She belongs to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and SouthWest Writers. Connect with Charlene on Facebook, https://inkydancestudios.com/ or chardietzpen@gmail.comEXCERPT:“Maryland provokes my ill manners.” Fulke paced the kitchen floor as he talked. “We need women who are willing to marry. There are no wives to be had.”“Take heart, brother,” Giles said, “maybe the next ship will bring some pretty ladies for us.”Hesitant to speak, but then doing so, Margaret said, “Fulke, if it’s not beneath your standards, Mary and I would release any of our four maids from their servitude, any of which I am certain would agree to marry you.”Fulke shook his head. “None are well born. These types of marriages only bring strife.”Mary leaned over to him. “Sweet brother, our city has a couple of widows. Have you thought about courting them?”“Like the Widow Hawley?” He glowered at her. “I would never choose her to be your sister-in-law—let alone live with that woman.”His brother laughed and said, “Patience, Fulke. There’s still hope.”“Giles, didn’t you listen to what our sisters said about the indentures becoming freemen? These young kids of four years ago are about to become freemen of age—looking for wives. They already outnumber their masters, who also want wives. I’m too old for all this waiting around. I need a loving wife who will bear me children.”“Hold fast.” Giles said, “See what the next ship brings. Imagine some golden-haired beauty with a winsome smile strolling down the gangplank. Think of her pretty little shoes, stepping daintily onto our Maryland’s soil. When she looks around the gathered crowd to find a husband and sees your handsome face, she will swoon into your arms. A ship from England will arrive any day now.”“Good.” Fulke strode to the door.Then he swung around and pointed his finger at Margaret.“Why Father thought I needed protect you, Margaret, I have no idea. It’s not you who need protection. Anyone you judge to be on the wrong side of right—they need protection. I shall leave on the next ship back to England.”GIVEAWAYCharlene Bell Dietz will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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