Aubrey Wynne's Blog, page 37
July 12, 2022
Excerpt: Closer to Okay by Amy Watson
I’m pleased to share Closer to Okay by Amy Watson with you all today. Look for it this October and be sure to enter the giveaway!
Closer to Okay
Expected Publication Date: October 11, 2022
Genre: Book Club Fiction/ Modern Contemporary Fiction/ Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Alcove Press
Weaving culinary delights with an honest, appraising look at how we deal with the world when it becomes too much, Closer to Okay is the comfort food we all need in these, well, crazy times.
Kyle Davies is doing fine. She has her routine, after all, ingrained in her from years of working as a baker: wake up, make breakfast, prep the dough, make lunch, work the dough, make dinner, bake dessert, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s a good routine. Comforting. Almost enough to help her forget the scars on her wrist, still healing from when she slit it a few weeks ago; that she lost her job at the bakery when she checked herself in as an inpatient at Hope House; then signed away all decisions about her life, medical care, and wellbeing to Dr. Booth (who may or may not be a hack). So, yeah, Kyle’s doing just fine.
Except that a new item’s been added to her daily to-do list recently: stare out her window at the coffee shop (named, well…The Coffee Shop) across the street, and its hot owner, Jackson. It’s healthy to have eye candy when you’re locked in the psych ward, right? Something low risk to keep yourself distracted. So when Dr. Booth allows Kyle to leave the facility–two hours a day to go wherever she wants–she decides to up the stakes a little more. Why not visit? Why not see what Jackson’s like in person?
Turns out that Jackson’s a jerk with a heart of gold, a deadly combination that Kyle finds herself drawn to more than she should be. (Aren’t we all?) At a time when Dr. Booth delivers near-constant warnings about the dangers of romantic entanglements, Kyle is pulled further and further into Jackson’s orbit. At first, the feeling of being truly taken care of is bliss, like floating on a wave. But at a time when Kyle is barely managing her own problems, she finds herself suddenly thrown into the deep end of someone else’s. Dr. Booth may have been right after all: falling in love may be the thing that sends Kyle into a backslide she might never be able to crawl out of. Is Jackson too much for her to handle? Does love come at the cost of sanity?
Excerpt
I’ve only seen Booth a handful of times so far, but I’ve mostly got him figured out. Flattery will get you everywhere, and compliance with his instructions almost as far. What I haven’t worked out, though, are his intentions. Put in the simplest terms: Is he a good guy or a bad one?
He looks at me over his glasses, breathes a sigh, and reaches over to close my file. “I suppose you’re right. I appreciate that you’re taking ownership of your place in the house, Kyle. You’ll find that your recovery will accelerate once you embrace my program. We can review your progress together at your appointment on Monday.”
Standing to leave, I smooth my apron back down and hustle toward the door. “Thanks, Dr. Booth. See you tomorrow.”
The kitchen is a calamity when I get back. There’s smoke pouring out of the oven. Bruce did turn off the stove and oven like I’d told him to but left everything where it was. The residual heat did a number on the eggs, now a solid brown-on-the-bottom disk that gives off the smell of burning sulfur. The muffins might be edible but are overcooked. I’d normally chuck them straight into the trash, but I have to serve them since Mary and Eddie will be here in five minutes and need breakfast if they’re going to stay on Booth’s schedule. I don’t want everyone getting off-program and being forced to sit through the same talk I just did. We all know how important schedules are here. I’ll make it up to them at dinner, maybe put some extra turkey on the lunch sandwiches.
“Oh my gosh, what is going on in here?” Mary asks, coming into the kitchen.
“Sorry, Mary. Booth called me into his office to talk as soon as I got everything cooking. You know how it goes. His two-minute talk turned into ten and breakfast burned. Bruce was in here tending the food when I left. I don’t know where he went. I can salvage the muffins. I’ll make it up to you guys, I promise.”
“You don’t have to make anything up to me, sweetie. Eddie was making a fuss; I’m sure that’s where Bruce went. How can I help? Can I get the cups and milk?”
“I’ve got this, Mary. Go sit down and enjoy your horrible muffin. You’ve got to clean the bathroom, worst chore in the house. I will not have you doing my work, too.”
She waves me off. “Nonsense. It’s no bother. I’ve spent a lifetime cleaning up after my husband. One little chore is nothing. I’m glad to help. You go get those muffins out of the pan, and I’ll get the drinks.”
She hustles around me to the refrigerator and starts humming. I move over and pop the muffins out onto one of the red plastic trays, stacking them in tiers so they’ll look good, even if they don’t taste it. I put two muffins on a separate plate and carry them all into the dining room.
“What’s up, Special K?” Eddie yells as I walk into the room. He does this every morning, and it always makes me flinch.
“It’s a bad morning, Ed. You get muffins and milk. Sorry. The bacon and eggs got burnt. I’ll make something extra-good for dinner tonight.”
“Well, ain’t that a bitch? You better make something really fucking tasty for dinner, then. I can’t get through my day in this shithole with an empty stomach.”
“Hush, Edward,” Mary says as she comes in behind me with the glasses of milk. “It’s not her fault.”
“How’s it not her fault, huh? It’s her job to cook my food and keep my belly full. How are lousy fucking muffins supposed to keep me satisfied?”
“Eddie,” Nancy warns as she walks into the dining room, stopping his rant. She has a slight accent, maybe something Slavic, that gives her voice more authority, sounds harsher to my ears. Eddie puts on his nice act; Nancy tells Booth everything. “Good morning, Nancy. Great to see you. I’m sure looking forward to these muffins Kyle made this morning.”
Nancy grunts and turns on her heel. She takes the separate plate I made, knowing Joey wouldn’t be down to eat with everyone. With her back to us, she says, “Kyle, Bruce needs the grocery list after breakfast. Drop it off in the security office as soon as it’s done. Eddie, you have an appointment with the doctor in an hour. Mary, you need to do your chores this morning.”
“Sorry again about breakfast, guys. I’m gonna get started on the grocery list. I’ll make a dessert for you tonight. Chocolate cake, maybe.” “It better be fucking good, K. This muffin shit’s for the birds.”
About the Author
Amy Watson is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. A wife, a mother to two boys, and a full-time office manager. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, baking, drinking coffee, knitting, and watching football.
Amy Watson | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads
Enter for a chance to win a signed ARC edition of Closer to Okay (either annotated or not) and some sweet book swag! Giveaway closes July 15th at midnight EST.
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Read an excerpt from 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
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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 grand parents 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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July 11, 2022
The Crash by Skye Warren & Amelia Wilde – an excerpt and 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.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play
—
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 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.
Author links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter
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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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Taking on Secrets by Kevin Pilkington
Welcome to my stop on the Taking on Secrets tour! Read on for more details about this book!
Taking On Secrets
Publication Date: April 2, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Coming-of-Age
Publisher: Blue Jade Press
A coming-of-age tale about our protagonist Benjamin Kissel as he grows up as a single child in a upper middle class catholic home during the 60’s and 70’s. Experience his struggles with his family, lust, lies, and love as he grows from a teenager to a successful adult in the city that never sleeps, NYC.
“A coming-of-age story by Kevin Pilkington, who is a creative writing professor at the prestigious Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, a tony suburb of New York. The story is also set in Bronxville and Manhattan. I used to live in Bronxville, and Pilkington’s descriptions are spot on.” – Susan Schwartzman
“A spirited, humorous mosaic of teen life in a 1970’s America, an adult life in a forgotten Hollywood, a forgotten Lower East Side, too, and dead-on reflections on pop culture, family, and traditions. Taking on Secrets is a furious, transcendent, urgent sweep of a full life, with a prose filled with rhythm, energy, humor and poetry.”—Ernesto Quinonex, author of Bodega Dreams
“Are we merely the sum of our experiences, or can we become something more? That’s the questions that Kevin Pilkington’s Taking on Secrets is asking between the lines of every page. An addictive, funny, fearless coming-of-age story.”—David Hollander author of Anthropica and L.I. E.
About the Author
Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of ten collections: Spare Change was the LaJolla Poets Press National Book Award winner; Getting By won the ledge chapbook award; In the Eyes of a Dog received the New York Book Festival Award; The Unemployed Man Who Became a Tree was a Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award finalist. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including: Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England. Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts.
He poems have appeared in numerous magazines, including The Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden’s Ferry, Columbia and North American Review.
He has taught and lectured at numerous colleges and universities including The New School, Manhattanville College, MIT, University of Michigan, Susquehanna University and Georgia Tech. His debut novel, Summer Shares, was reissued in paperback. His collection, Where You Want to Be: New and Selected Poems was an IPPY Award Winner. A new collection entitled Playing Poker with Tennessee Williams was recently published. Taking on Secrets is his second novel.
Kevin Pilkington | Facebook | Instagram
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July 8, 2022
Lake Bride by Shanna Hatfield with a gift card giveaway!
Lake Bride
Shanna Hatfield
(Holiday Brides, #5)
Publication date: June 23rd 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Fall in love with a soldier, a nurse, and a small-town adventure brimming with delightful characters, amusing animals, and abiding hope.
Twenty-one steps. The past two years of Bridger Holt’s life have centered on the twenty-one steps he repeatedly walks back and forth as one of the sentinels guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Now that his duty is coming to an end, Bridger has no idea what to do with the rest of his life. Guilt from his past and trepidation about his unknown future drive him to the mountain cabin he inherited from his beloved uncle to gain clarity and direction. The quirky residents in the nearby town of Holiday, the assortment of wildlife that adopts him, and the woman who shines a light into his tattered soul might be what Bridger needs to find the redemption he seeks.
Outgoing, upbeat Shayla Reeves spreads sunshine wherever she goes. Holiday has become her home, and she enjoys spending time in the mountains around town. She adores the patients in the dementia facility where she works as a nurse. But something is missing from her mostly joyful world. When she mistakenly camps on private land owned by the mysterious and brooding Bridger Holt, she realizes what her life is lacking isn’t adventure but love.
Will two opposite personalities overcome their challenges and figure out a way to build a future together?
Find out in this sweet love story full of hope, small-town humor, and the wonder of falling in love.
—
Author Bio:
USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes sweet romances rich with relatable characters, small town settings that feel like home, humor, and hope.
Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”
When this farm girl isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. She also experiments with recipes, snaps photos of her adorable nephew, and caters to the whims of a cranky cat named Drooley.
To learn more about Shanna or the books she writes, visit her website http://shannahatfield.com or find out more about her here: linktr.ee/ShannaHatfield
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July 7, 2022
I Didn’t Ask to be Crazy by Sadee Bee
Welcome to the book tour for I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy by Sadee Bee. Read on for more info!
I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy
Publication Date: April 24th, 2022
Genre: Mental Illness/ Poetry/ Essay Collection
I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is a collection of poetry and personal essays centered around mental illness. Sadee Bee shares her journey with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and PTSD, through creativity and raw honesty. It is a collection designed to convey the message “you are not alone.” Sadee Bee is an up-and-coming poet with great interest in helping others understand that mental illness exists on a spectrum and not every experience is the same. She hopes others in need find solace in her words and understand that even if suffering cannot be seen on the surface; it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
“I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is only the beginning. Yes, the theme is dark and that is intentional. As I write about my life with mental illness, I wanted to highlight the fact that not everything ends up being positive. Sometimes dark moments are just dark moments. This collection itself is representative of my dark moment. While I am on the other side for the moment; take everything written with the knowledge that a lot of people have been where I have. I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy is only a snippet of time in the wild world that is my mind.” – Sadee Bee
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About the Author
Sadee Bee is a poet and author residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts and has been writing since she learned to hold a pen. An avid reader from a young age, Sadee Bee spent her time creating her own stories both on paper and in life. Diagnosed in her early twenties with Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and PTSD; she spent a long time trying to make sense of her own world and mind. Poetry, personal essays, and occasionally fiction have been an outlet for heavy feelings and past traumas. Sadee uses her work to shine a light on the hidden parts of mental illness and the effects of childhood trauma. She also speaks to her specific experiences regarding trauma and mental illness as a black, queer woman in black communities. Sadee Bee is ever evolving as living with mental illness is never a straight line and hopes to be a voice and advocate for those like her. Sadee Bee currently lives a quiet life with her Husband and two cats. A chronic homebody, Sadee relishes in a day of silence to read, write, or sleep.
Sadee Bee | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Facebook
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July 6, 2022
Bee Movie by Wendy W. Webb
Welcome to the book tour for cozy mystery, Bee Movie by Wendy W. Webb. Read on for more!
Bee Movie (The Beluga Stein Mysteries Book 1)
Publication Date: March 30th, 2022
Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Suspense/ Paranormal
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Beluga Stein is here, with her signature loud muumuus, pastel cigarettes, and hit-or-miss psychic ability. She and her feline familiar, Planchette, are ready for their closeups. Or are they?
Beluga is called to investigate paranormal activity and other strange events on the set of a low budget horror movie. But after a mysterious fire, an actor dressed in a bee costume is found hoisted high in the air by a crane. Is the set haunted? Or are the supernatural stirrings and death the result of special effects?
From the dark screening room to the madcap SFX warehouse and scary set itself, Beluga and Planchette are there as reluctant cast members. But even a bit part in this film could be murder.
Production Manager’s Notes
Shooting on set of Bee Mine delayed yet another day due to unforeseen circumstances of boom falling on antenna of actor playing part of giant bee. Actor sustained minor injury (covered by insurance), antenna sent to SFX department for surgical repair (not covered by insurance), boom operator yet to be found after his exit from soundstage, screaming, “It’s a ghost. It’s a ghost.”
Budget overrun in Craft Services department. Snack Head places blame on Beluga Stein.
About the Author
Wendy Webb (aka Wendy W Webb) has published dark fantasy short stories and supernatural-humor murder mystery novels over many years. After a hiatus for far too long as a professor of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomes the return to fiction writing. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts.
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July 1, 2022
PRIDE OF LYON’S by Jenna Jaxon
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Read an ExcerptEnter the world of the most notorious gambling den in London, where matches are made… unusually. Welcome to the world of THE LYON’S DEN: The Black Widow of Whitehall Connected World, where the underground of Regency London thrives… and loves.
What’s a young lady to do when a powerful lord tries to abscond with her and make her his mistress?
When you’re Miss Honoria Quinn, you leap from his carriage and run like the wind to find some place to hide. Trouble is, Honoria mistakenly chooses The Lyon’s Den, a disreputable gambling house as her sanctuary, a move that ends up with her having to make another choice at the hands of the Den’s match-making proprietor Mrs. Dove-Lyons: wed a complete stranger or become the lord’s mistress.
No good deed goes unpunished…
Thomas, Lord Braeton agrees to attend a wager at The Lyon’s Den only to keep his brother-in-law out of trouble. What he doesn’t count on is becoming embroiled in one of Mrs. Dove-Lyons’s schemes to marry him off. But when he tries to come to the aid of another peer, Thomas finds the only honorable thing he can do to save Miss Quinn’s reputation is put aside his hopes for a love match for himself and instead offer to marry her.
As Thomas and Honoria set out on a wary journey to matrimony, can they learn to live together and hope love will grow between them? Or are they doomed to a loveless marriage of convenience from which one or both will want to escape?
“Were I an artist I’d insist on painting you just as you are, my dear.”
Honoria jumped and whirled around at the sound of Thomas’s voice, scattering some of her clippings as she turned. “Oh, you startled me, Thomas. I thought I was alone out here.”
“I didn’t find you in the house and somehow knew this was where you would be.” Her husband smiled that charming, lazy smile and her knees went weak. “Let me pick these up as I have been the cause for their fall.” Taking the basket from her, he stooped and carefully placed the stems back in her basket. As he picked up the Maiden’s Blush he chuckled softly, and Honoria’s cheeks flamed again. “These should make excellent displays.” He rose and handed her the basket. “You have quite a talent for arranging them.”
“Thank you.” Resisting the urge to fan herself, Honoria took the basket and sauntered to the nearest rose bush, which happened to be an exquisite deep pink Apothecary’s Rose. “Why were you looking for me? Ouch!” She’d grabbed the rose too hastily and a thorn bit deeply into her thumb. “That hurt.”
“Let me see.” Beside her in a moment, Thomas cupped her hand in his and turned it palm up. A large bead of dark red blood had welled up on the pad of her thumb. He brushed the drop away then raised her thumb to his lips and kissed it.
Honoria gasped as a streak of lightning seemed to race through her hand, up her arm and lodge itself at her innermost core. Dazed, she stared up into his dark brown eyes, filled with a longing she understood all too well.
About the Author:
Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories.She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets–including two vocal cats, one almost silent cat, two curious bunnies, and a Shar-pei mix named Frenchie.
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June 30, 2022
Unconditional: A Love Story by Shon – read an excerpt and enter the giveaway
Unconditional: A Love Story
Shon
Publication date: May 10th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Charli is everything Damian ever wanted.
Captivated from the moment they met, he allowed her to set the tone for their summer fling.
But when the summer was over and he wanted more, he soon found out that maybe his feelings were one-sided.
That was two years ago and he’s still stuck on Charli. He needs to move on.
A lot has changed since they last saw each other, but Damian can’t shake the what-ifs. And the moment they cross paths again he knows his heart still belongs to the elusive woman who stole it the first time he laid eyes on her.
Who’s to say they won’t get it right this time around?
—
EXCERPT:
prologue.
summer2019
“We need to talk.”
Well, shit. That’s not good, Charli thought to herself as she continued pulling on her shorts.
She couldn’t decide if it was worse to hear those four fateful words from a boyfriend or a fuck buddy.
I guess I’m about to find out, was her wry thought as she finished zipping up the distressed jean shorts that barely covered her ass. With her eyes darting around the room to avoid eye contact with the man who claimed they needed to talk, she located one of her gold hoops on the rug.
Following her avoidant eyes, the other occupant of the room bent to pick it up before she had the chance.
“Thanks,” Charli spoke lowly as their fingers brushed during the exchange.
The warmth of his fingers led to a sharp inhale that she couldn’t even hide.
“Did you hear me?” the beautiful man in front of her wanted to know. “I said we need to talk,” he reiterated. Just in case.
But she’d heard him loud and clear the first time.
Sighing, Charli took a step back and shoved the earring into her pocket instead of trying to put it on right now.
“I heard you,” she said, trying to veil the worry in her voice.
What could Damian possibly want to talk about? And why couldn’t his timing be better? They’d just finished…making each other very happy. His scent still surrounded her and captivated her senses.
But now, the knots in her stomach quickly pushed her to forget the pleasure she’d just experienced.
“What do we need to talk about?” she finally asked meeting his green eyes. They were usually enchanting and full of lust when they were together, but now he looked…panicked?
No, it couldn’t be. Not cool, calm Damian.
Unless…
Had he found a girlfriend? Was he about to end their arrangement and politely tell her to get on with her life?
The thought wasn’t a pleasant one, but Charli couldn’t really blame him.
As an Ivy League dropout and ex-socialite, she didn’t really feel like she had much to offer aside from a good time.
She winced inwardly and vowed to deal with the origins of that problematic thought later. Much later. Not now when she was standing face to face with the man she’d been trading orgasms with all summer.
Damian regarded her from his towering height of six-two and even though she was five-eight she felt miniscule under his unwavering gaze.
“It’s about us,” he revealed, “I need to talk to you about what we’re doing.”
Charli gulped but didn’t break eye contact. She could do this. She could have a civilized, adult conversation with someone she shared every inch of her body with on an almost daily basis at this point.
“What about us? I like what we’re doing.” Charli pushed her hair away from her face. She hated the sensation of stray strands tickling her cheeks.
Damian exhaled sharply and gave a faint nod. “Yea, I did too. Until recently.”
Ouch.
Charli straightened her shoulders and prepared for the next words, somehow knowing they would pack a devastating blow.
But nothing could have prepared her for what he said next.
Author Bio:
Shon is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She used her degree in English Literature for eight years to teach English all around the world. She has recently returned home to the States and now she spends all her time reading or writing down her wildest daydreams.
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June 28, 2022
The Scent of Gardenias by Lorraine Haas
The Scent of Gardeniasby Lorraine Haas Publication Date: April 19, 2022 Morewellson, Ltd.
Genre: Historical Fiction/Women’s Fiction
She had big dreams. But will war, tragedy, and naïveté ruin her aspirations?
America, the 1940s. Margaret Rose longs to escape her family’s poverty. So against her domineering father’s wishes, the determined young woman elopes with an older man. But shortly after the US enters WWII, her grand ambitions sink when her husband’s ship is torpedoed.
Training to become a nurse to give herself a future, Margaret’s despair deepens when she discovers she’s pregnant and must quit to have the baby. And now without income to support a child, the desperate widow marries a man who takes her far from home… and into disaster.
Will Margaret rise above catastrophic misfortune and create the life she deserves?
Poignant and heartfelt, The Scent of Gardenias chronicles the struggle of a Twentieth-Century woman carving a place in a society stacked against her odds for success. Inspired by her mother’s true story, Lorraine Haas lays bare a brave and challenging journey of grit and self-discovery you won’t soon forget.
The Scent of Gardenias is a beautifully crafted women’s fiction novel. If you like raw emotional battles, family drama, and gut-wrenching dilemmas, then you’ll love Lorraine Haas’s tale of courage and tenacity.
Amazon | Apple | Barnes and Noble | Google | KoboAbout the AuthorLorraine Haas is a lover of life, learning, and leisure. She’s been accused far too often of being a strong woman, and even that she was raised to be too “independent.” She loves stories of women overcoming obstacles and thus, decided to write about them. She loves men–being married to one, the mother of one, and friends with many.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub | GoodreadsBlog Tour ScheduleMonday, June 27 Review at Pursuing Stacie
Tuesday, June 28 Interview at Aubrey Wynne: Timeless Romance
Wednesday, June 29 Review at Novels Alive Review at Book Reviews and More
Thursday, June 30 Review at Cover Lover Book Review
Friday, July 1 Review at Reading is My Remedy
Tuesday, July 5 Guest Post at What Is That Book About
Wednesday, July 6 Review at Books, Cooks, Looks
Friday, July 8 Interview at Jathan & Heather
Saturday, July 9 Review at Older & Smarter
Monday, July 11 Feature at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, July 12 Review at A Baker’s Perspective
Enter to win a signed hardcover of The Scent of Gardenias by Lorraine Haas! The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on July 12th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
Scent of Gardenias
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