Release Day Blitz…Sweet Little Spies by Lexi Blake

Sweet Little Spies by Lexi Blake is now live! 

Since he was a kid, Aidan O’Donnell has known two things about the world. Tristan is his best friend, and Carys is the love of his life. Sharing her with Tristan was oddly easy. They both loved her deeply, and they never cared what anyone else thought. They were a team and everything was wonderful. Until the day it ended.

Carys Taggart has spent the last year and a half of her life living a lie. A lie Tristan forced on them all. She understands that it was meant to protect her and Aidan, but lately when Tristan says he doesn’t love her, it feels more like the truth. The wedding she’s dreamed of has been put off far longer than he promised. When he asks her and Aidan for another delay, she’s ready to move on without him.

Tristan Dean-Miles has a good plan and the best of intentions. Go undercover as a ruthless arms dealer so he can find a deadly bombmaker at the top of the agency’s wanted list. It might be taking longer than expected, but he’s so close he can taste it. Unfortunately, getting this close meant getting in way too deep. He knows he will succeed, but if he can’t convince the love of his life and his best friend that he’s worth the wait, his victory will cost him everything.

  Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3VQZ8kV

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3OTHs3S

Nook: https://bit.ly/4bPFRpC

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3SSMKO4

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3STdcHD

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/49nFUHx

Meet Lexi


New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.

Connect with Lexi

Website: www.lexiblake.net

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5124235.Lexi_Blake

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lexi-Blake/author/B005JVSDJ0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlexiblake/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526080691345626

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlexiblake/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorlexiblake

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lexiblakeauthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lexi-blake

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lexiblakeauthor/

Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORVsrIAcbqMFxp0cHi51nw

Release Day Blitz…First Time by Heidi McLaughlin & L.P. Dover

Title: First Time
Authors: Heidi McLaughlin & L.P.Dover
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Short story / New Adult
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Heidi McLaughlin and L.P. Dover team up again for a sexy new Society X series that will have you begging for more!

The rules of Society X are simple … break them and you’re out.

The exclusive club has it all:

Staying anonymous in the Dark Room.

Watching your every desire in the Viewing Room.

Exploring scandalous fun in the Play Room.

For Brent Danson, the club doesn’t interest him—at least, not until he meets the beauty behind the bar, who happens to be an old flame from his past… Scotlyn Hill.

Scotlyn brings out a side in him he hasn’t explored yet. She’s beautiful, experienced, and not the virgin he is. But that soon changes when they both give in to the temptations Society X has to offer, especially the Dark Room.

However, when the time comes for all to be revealed, will Brent and Scotlyn be able to make things work? One way or another, neither one will be the same.

AMAZON| APPLE BOOKS| NOOK| KOBO

“Did you get your eyeful again?” I joke as I close the distance between us.

Brent’s cheeks turn red and he adjusts his glasses. He reminds me of the Clark Kent version of Superman. When he has his glasses on, he’s a nerdy computer guy. But when they come off . . . he looks completely different. Very sexy.

Brent chuckles. “I did. There was a lot of bare skin in there.”

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers.
Originally, from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband, two daughters, and their three dogs.
In 2012, Heidi turned her passion for reading into a full-fledged literary career, writing over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Forever My Girl.
Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018, and is now available on DVD & Digital.
To stay connected with Heidi visit www.facebook.com/authorheidimclaughlin or heidimclaughlin.com

♦♦♦

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Everything’s sweeter in the South has always been her mantra and she lives by it, whether it’s with her writing or in her everyday life. Maybe that’s why she’s seriously addicted to chocolate.

Dover has written countless novels in several different genres, including a children’s book with her daughter. Her favorite to write is romantic suspense, but she’s also found a passion in romantic comedy. She loves to make people laugh which is why you’ll never see her without a smile on her face.

Heidi McLaughlin

L.P. Dover

Release Day Blitz & Review…So Real by Abby Millsaps

So Real by Abby Millsaps is now live! 

Nothing more.

When I met British billionaire Kabir Spencer at Splice London, he promised me an unforgettable night and nothing more. One night turned into a string of encounters, each one hotter than the next.

As our dynamic evolved, Spence helped me explore a side of myself I didn’t know existed until the moment I uttered the words Yes, Sir.

Then my secrets and my sorrow became too much to bear, and I well and truly broke.

During my lowest of lows, Spence cared for me in all the ways I needed.

Now, he’s come to my rescue once again, though he dropped a bomb of a secret when he arrived.

I have a lot of explaining to do to my current boyfriend and my ex-boyfriend-slash-stepbrother, but I’ll have plenty of time to get to it while we’re trapped together in the mountains for the holidays.

As if that isn’t enough, my narcissistic mother is back in town, and she and my stepfather will be joining us, too.

Nothing more didn’t last. Nothing I love ever stays.

It’s for the best. It’s only a matter of time before the possessiveness and sizzling tension between the three men in my life reach a boiling point and start to feel too real.

So Real is the second book in the Boys of South Chapel series. It is a steamy second chance why choose romance that must be read in order. A full list of tropes and triggers can be found on the author’s website.

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

https://geni.us/soreal

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3JwTsFo

What the actual hell!?!?

Another cliffy!? OMG – I need the next book pronto!!

I need to collect thoughts and get my libido under control after finishing this one.

It’s been a full week since I finished reading this one and everything is still fresh in my mind.

I thought the things between Greedy, Levi and Hunter were hot and heavy in the first book, but add in Kabir and instant combustion!!

Don’t get me wrong, my heart broke for Hunter as we got more of her background. But holy dang, Abby takes that heartache and makes your heart thump with this new dynamic.

I am not saying anything else – just go read this one. But start with book one, So Wrong, first.

Start reading So Wrong, book 1 in the Boys of South Chapel series!

https://geni.us/sowrong

Meet Abby


Abby Millsaps is an author and storyteller who’s been obsessed with writing romance since middle school. In eighth grade, she failed to qualify for the Power of the Pen State Championships because all her submissions contained the same theme: young people falling in love. #LookAtHerNow

She’s best known for writing unapologetically angsty romance that causes emotional damage for her readers. Abby prides herself in writing authentic characters while weaving mental health, chronic illness, and neurodiverse representation into the fabric of her stories.

Abby met her husband at a house party the summer before her freshman year of college. He had a secret pizza stashed in the trunk of his car that he was saving for a midnight snack–how was she supposed to resist that level of golden retriever energy and preparedness? When Abby isn’t writing, she’s reading, traveling, and raising her three daughters.

Connect with Abby

Website: www.authorabbymillsaps.com

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/authorabbymillsaps

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HVoK87

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorabbymillsaps/

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/abbysfulloutfiends

Instagram: www.instagram.com/abbymillsaps/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@authorabbymillsaps

Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/profile/abby-millsaps

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/authorabbymillsaps/

Text Updates: Text ROMANCE to 1-888-885-1283

Release Day Blitz & Review…The Home Wrecker by Sara Cate

THE HOME WRECKER

Sara Cate

Release Date: March 25

Blurb:

I’ve been faithful long enough.

I never claimed to be a good man, but I’ve always done what was expected of me. 

Find a nice girl. Get married. Have children. 

That was my duty as a good Christian man. 

And everything was going as planned when I met Briar. 

Beautiful. Charismatic. Sexy.

But marriage is hard, and after seven years, I feel like I’m failing.

Then, a figure from my past enters the picture. 

Dean Sheridan is cocky and charming. When this twenty-five-year-old needs a place to stay, I should turn him away—especially after I notice the spark between him and my wife.  But I don’t.

When I pressure him about his relationship with Briar, he does the last thing I expect.

He dares me. 

He thinks he can take what’s mine.

And if it’s a challenge he wants, it’s a challenge he’ll get.

What started as a game becomes so much more. 

Between them. Between us.

This isn’t how normal couples behave. 

The games we’re playing are dangerous. 

And the roles we’re playing are far more. 

But God help me, I can’t seem to stop.

What we’re doing is wrong, but it feels so right, and before long, I don’t recognize the good husband I used to be.

I have a new favorite Sara Cate book!! Damn, woman – you can write a phenomenal story.

“You might be married to him, but you belong to me.”

I want to start off with stating for those who hate cheating in their books, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not let that fear stop you from reading this one. Sara Cate handles this area so well; I can’t explain it because I will give everything away, but just give this book a chance.

I had not anticipated for this spicy and sexy book to bring out so many emotions in me. The love that absolutely shines throughout this book, just made it all the more hotter.

Sara wrote this story beautifully. She showcased each character wonderfully and shined a light on their own struggles and triumphs while blending everything together and intertwining their stories. The pacing is perfect and these characters are exceptional in so many ways.

We don’t sacrifice who we love just to make our lives a little easier.

I could not get enough of this story. Sara crafted a beautiful, deep, hot and emotional story that I will not be forgetting any time soon. This will definitely one of those books I will be re-reading many times over.

Meet Sara Cate:

Let’s skip the boring About the Author bit where I tell you how I’m a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Arizona with her kids, husband, and dog and enjoys baking in my free time. Boring. 

Instead, I’d like you to know I strive to be a taboo and forbidden romance author who dares to tell stories with heart-wrenching plot and toe-curling heat.

My passion in life is to normalize a reading experience that pushes boundaries and empowers women to own their sexuality. Things that trigger my soapbox rants are discrediting the romance industry or belittling its readers by calling it “trash.” You’ve been warned. I could quite literally go on for days.  

I like to take risks and write from the heart. And I want nothing more than to be an author readers trust to deliver books that are steamy AF but with a strong storyline and well-rounded characters.

What is The Sara Cate Experience?

The Sara Cate Experience means being pulled into a story and escaping reality a little bit for romances that are as emotional as they are arousing. The feelings are strong and the steam is scorching. There is never one without the other because when sex and love come together, it’s fireworks.


Connect with Sara Cate:

https://beacons.ai/saracatebooks/

Release Day Blitz & Review…Madame by Sara Cate

 Release Date: October 12

They think they know me, but they have no idea.

 
As a professional Madame, I see men and women come and go. But no one ever sticks around, and I like it that way. 
 
I have a secret to protect—at all costs.
 
So when the cocky, handsome, and submissive Clay Bradley weasels his way into my heart, I do the one thing I’ve always excelled at. I push him away—forever.
 
And like a good boy, he listens.
 
But a few months later, during a chance encounter, he shows up again, but this time he isn’t alone. 
 
He has the stunning Jade on his arm. 
 
And she has a request of her own. She wants me to teach her. 
 
I should say no. 
 
Training a woman who makes my knees weak is bad enough. But this particular woman is dating the man who still has my heart. It’s a recipe for disaster.
 
Made worse by one simple thing: they know my secret.
 
And they won’t let go. 
 
But how can I protect what’s mine if I’m holding onto them too?
 
Jade and Clay are the only ones who truly see me and the only ones who know…
 
I’m so much more than a Madame.

Grab Your Copy Here!
Available in KU
 
 

 
Meet Sara Cate

 

Let’s skip the boring About the Author bit where I tell you how I’m a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Arizona with her kids, husband, and dog and enjoys baking in my free time. Boring.  

 

Instead, I’d like you to know I strive to be a taboo and forbidden romance author who dares to tell stories with heart-wrenching plot and toe-curling heat.

 

My passion in life is to normalize a reading experience that pushes boundaries and empowers women to own their sexuality. Things that trigger my soapbox rants are discrediting the romance industry or belittling its readers by calling it “trash.” You’ve been warned. I could quite literally go on for days.  

 

I like to take risks and write from the heart. And I want nothing more than to be an author readers trust to deliver books that are steamy AF but with a strong storyline and well-rounded characters.

 

What is The Sara Cate Experience?

The Sara Cate Experience means being pulled into a story and escaping reality a little bit for romances that are as emotional as they are arousing. The feelings are strong and the steam is scorching. There is never one without the other because when sex and love come together, it’s fireworks.

 

To learn more about Sara and her books, visit here! 
 
 
Brought to you by…
 

Release Day Blitz & Review…The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate

 Release Date: July 14

I’ve been good long enough.

 

As the eldest son of Austin’s most prominent preacher, I’ve lived my life on the virtuous side. 

 

No scandals. Flawless image. Clean reputation. 

That’s the way it must be if I’m going to take his place someday.

 

But everything changes when I find out my father is a VIP member of a local kink club.

 

A liar. A cheater. A hypocrite.

 

Now, I’m done being righteous.

And when the club owner’s jaded girlfriend comes to me with a proposal, I can’t resist.

 

Sage is nothing like the women I’ve dated before. Pink hair, tattoos, piercings. I know it’ll burn my father’s reputation to the ground when she and I are seen together.

 

But our fake dating scheme isn’t enough. We need videos—dirty videos.

The more we film these scenes, the more I like it.

 

She wants me to degrade her, hurt her, violate her.

And God help me, I want it too.

 

But it’s hardly fake anymore, and before long I don’t recognize the Goode man I used to be.

Grab Your Copy Here!
Available in KU

Cue all the applause for this book!!

Anti-hero is Sara Cate’s newest release and first book in her The Goode Brothers series.

Anti-hero is also my first book by Sara Cate. And I’ve gotta admit – I picked a damn phenomenal one. She earned a fan in me immediately.

I don’t even know where to begin on my love of this book. I loved everything about this book from the plot, to the characters, to the impeccable writing that just brings this story to life.

Sara Cate truly knows how to give not only her story many layers, but her characters. I love how this story flowed and how everything played out in the most natural and realistic way. Her writing truly breathed life into these characters and their story.

Sage and Adam may be complete opposites in every single way possible, but they also brought out the best (and dirtiest) in one another. The revelations (pun intended 😉) that each of them had as this story progressed was another layer to discovering who they were and what they wanted.

Sara blends everything in this book (suspense, spice, angst, drama, rollercoaster emotions) perfectly to deliver one hell of an intriguing and authentic story. You will love Sage and Adam’s story and be begging for more once it’s over.

Just go read this one already!

 
Meet Sara Cate

Let’s skip the boring About the Author bit where I tell you how I’m a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Arizona with her kids, husband, and dog and enjoys baking in my free time. Boring. 

 

Instead, I’d like you to know I strive to be a taboo and forbidden romance author who dares to tell stories with heart-wrenching plot and toe-curling heat.

My passion in life is to normalize a reading experience that pushes boundaries and empowers women to own their sexuality. Things that trigger my soapbox rants are discrediting the romance industry or belittling its readers by calling it “trash.” You’ve been warned. I could quite literally go on for days.  

I like to take risks and write from the heart. And I want nothing more than to be an author readers trust to deliver books that are steamy AF but with a strong storyline and well-rounded characters.

What is The Sara Cate Experience?

The Sara Cate Experience means being pulled into a story and escaping reality a little bit for romances that are as emotional as they are arousing. The feelings are strong and the steam is scorching. There is never one without the other because when sex and love come together, it’s fireworks.

 

To learn more about Sara and her books, visit here!
 
 
Brought to you by…

Release Day Blitz & Review…Falling For The Villain by M. Robinson & Rachel Van Dyken

 
 
 
 
 

Release Date: June 22

From Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling Author M. Robinson & #1 NYT Bestselling Author Rachel Van Dyken comes a full length, standalone dark romance novel.

 

“Play for me, Juliet…”

Those four words whispered in my ear again and again until I craved what I used to fear.
 
Such a simple demand from my captor—the man who stole me and refused to tell me why he wouldn’t let me go.
I was his.
 
He made me need him, just as much as he needed me.
 
I broke all the rules of the golden prison he put me in.  
 
During the day he ruled his dark, seedy world.
 
His subjects and me.
 
During the night—he bowed before my feet.  
 
Have you ever wondered what happened to the villains in all the fairy tales you read?
 
You’ll soon find out.
 
It all started when he kidnapped me and made me his pet.
 
And it all ended with me…
 
Calling him master.    

*This story is not for the faint of heart and may be uncomfortable for some readers. But, then again, stepping outside of your comfort zone may be exactly the thing you need…
 
Care to play with us, readers?




Grab Your Copy Here:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Nook    Apple | Kobo | Smashwords 

Falling for the Villain is a dark romance from M. Robinson and Rachel Van Dyken (RVD). I truly enjoy reading books by both these authors (they have many 4 and 5 star reviews from me). However, this book fell right down the middle for me.

This isn’t the first time Robinson and RVD have written a book together and you can tell. It’s extremely difficult to discern who wrote what as the story does flow very well in that aspect. This book is quite different than their previous book together and also slightly different from what they have written individually. This one takes readers outside of their comfort zone and into master/slave trope along with Stockholm syndrome.

Robinson and RVD are very strong and mature writers. I love their writing styles and love how they are able to blend their unique styles so that it is seamless when we read this story. And this book showcases that. The writing is strong, it is seamless in that you cannot tell you who wrote what and while the story flows in certain ways, it felt choppy in others and this is where I felt disconnected. The narrative of how Juliet (who is Sinacore and they bow to no one) so easily succumbs to Donovan. I wanted more of their encounters early on in their “relationship” to get a better understanding of how their dynamics came to be later on. It is truly hinted at, but I felt because it lacked that connection, it failed to deliver on connecting the reader to their twisted relationship.

The story is told from both their POVs, which does help readers understand to a degree where each character is coming from. But because their early encounters are much more rushed, it misses the mark on how they fully connect. I understand his reasoning for abducting her, the power he yields over her and why he does what he does. However, again, it was just missing the mark for me. I felt disconnected to these characters.

This book is not going to be everyone’s “cup of tea” but if you enjoy stepping outside your normal reads, like having boundaries pushed and/or just reading something different, then I highly urge you to give this one a try. I enjoyed the overall plot, the characters and the general flow of this book. I had no qualms any scenes or the dark undertones of this book. However, I struggled to connect to this book in various ways and that is why this one is right down middle for me.

Meet M. Robinson
 
M. Robinson is the Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling Author crowned as the “Queen of Angst” by readers around the world. 
 
Dive into her visionary world that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and leave you wanting more. 
 
She writes everything from contemporary to suspense romance and is best known for her novel, El Diablo.
When M isn’t in the cave writing her next epic love story, you will find her shopping and living on a boat in Florida with her real life pirate, her lobster, her husband Bossman. Sipping on Starbucks and hanging out with their two dogs, a German shepherd mix and a gordito Wheaten Terrier reading a good book. Or spending time with her family, who she is extremely close with.

Above all, M loves her readers more than anything and loves to connect with them! She is on all social media platforms but you will find her in her happy place the most. Her VIP Reader Group on Facebook or her second favorite happy place, Instagram.

Connect with M. Robinson 
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube Channel  
Reader Group

 

 
Meet Rachel Van Dyken

Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 90 books ranging from contemporary romance to paranormal. 
 
With over four million copies sold, she’s been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. 
 
She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. 
 
She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable son, naked cat, and two dogs. 
 
For more information about her books and upcoming events, visit www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com.
 

Connect with Rachel Van Dyken
Newsletter | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Reader Group | Amazon Author Page

 


Hosted By:

Royally Bound by Fiona Tulle…Release Blitz

Forever Valentine PR and More proudly presents Royally Bound by Fiona Tulle.

Designer: T.E. Black Designs

Release Date: Jan 17 2019

 

Welcome to the Isles of Concordia…

Callum is known as the playboy Prince with a heart of gold. He is no stranger to being caught in compromising positions but there is a curiosity burning inside him. One that will require the utmost discreetness.

What starts out as an exploration of desires quickly heats up when the mysterious Cleopatra submits to his power. They can only keep their relationship hidden for so long.

Will she be able to handle being Royally Bound?

 

One Click

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RxIDpI

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2QwuP1D

Nook: https://bit.ly/2EeRjyg

iBooks: https://apple.co/2ANBsme

Author Bio

Fiona Tulle has always had a love for writing, from a very young age. She uses her words as an escape from the day to day, getting lost in her characters’ worlds. When not writing she can be found curled up with her pups, a cup of coffee, reading her favorite books in the sunshine of Northeast Florida.

Author Links

https://www.facebook.com/TulleInTheDark/

www.instagram.com/fionatulle

https://www.facebook.com/groups/koffeehaus/

 

 

Re-Release Day Blitz….Siren In Waiting by Lexi Blake

 

 

Re-released in a second edition with new content.

Bethany “Mouse” Hobbes spent her entire life waiting, especially for the love of Bo O’Malley. But for the first time in her life, she is ready to start living, with or without him. She has found her dream, restoring a rustic farmhouse on the outskirts of town.

Trev McNamara left Deer Run a high school hero and has returned, his football career in ruins. When Trev meets Mouse, he discovers a passion strong enough to overcome his past. But can she accept his need for control?

Bo O’Malley has lived his whole life in the shadow of his brother, never committing to anything or anyone. When the woman he secretly loved all his life begins an affair with the man who betrayed his trust, Bo will do anything to claim her as his own.

Transformed by their love, will Mouse be enough woman for both of them?

 

AVAILABLE NOW

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | GooglePlay | Kobo | Smashwords | Print

 

 

 

 

Bo walked up, his boots resounding against the pavement. His dark-blond hair was curling over his shirt collar. He was so beautiful, but in a different way than Trev. His hand came out to touch her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

And he’d always been able to read her when he bothered to try. “I didn’t get the loan.”

She tensed a bit. Bo hadn’t wanted her to buy the house in the first place. He would probably tell her it was for the best and now she could sell the land to a developer and move someplace safer and way more boring.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry.” Bo pulled her against his chest right there in the middle of Main Street. He wrapped his arms around her. “I know what that meant to you.”

She froze for a moment. He usually kept his affectionate nature private. It was sweet to be held by him, something she’d dreamed of a thousand times. He still smelled like the soap from the shower he’d insisted on taking before they left for town. His well-worn cotton shirt was soft against her cheek, but his chest was all muscle. After a moment, she let herself sink into him. The tears were back. She couldn’t hold them off when he was giving her a place to cry.

“I don’t know what to do. They said I don’t qualify. I have to have that money. I can’t fix up the house without it.”

His hand found her hair. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find another bank. Hell, Aidan knows lots of people with money. You’ll see. It’s going to be okay. Now, come on, dry those tears and let’s go get some pie. I was talking to Jerry at the feed store, and he said Patty had pecan today.”

She loved pecan pie.

Relief washed over her as Bo began to lead her toward the diner. She’d been terrified that Bo would be angry that she was seeing Trev. She’d played it off as nothing, but she’d been scared he would turn away.

Instead, he opened the door for her and started to ask her about her plans. He seemed interested for the first time. Bo ordered for them both and then gave her his full attention. He was quieter than she’d ever seen him before. Well, except for that night when she’d had to find her way to Austin to get him. He’d been quieter then. He hadn’t talked for days. She didn’t like to think about that night.

“Hey,” Bo said, leaning over and putting a hand over hers. “It’s going to be okay, you know. We’ll find a way to get your house fixed up. Tell me something, is that boyfriend of yours going to be worth anything beyond hauling you into bathrooms in the middle of the day? Does he know anything about home repair?”

She flushed, but Bo had said the words with no accusation in his tone, just a sad smile on his face. She shook her head. “He told me to buy a book.”

Bo sighed. “We’re in trouble. Well, show me your plans. Let’s see how screwed we are.”

He gave her that smile that lit up her world and reminded her of all the reasons she’d fallen in love with him in the first place. He was a sunny presence. He always made her laugh, and deep down, he understood her.

Trev was her lover, but she would miss Bo. She would miss him so much.

She showed him her list, and by the time they were done, she felt better.

She would find a way. She would fix her house, and she would keep Trev and Bo in her life. She needed them.

 

 

 

 

 

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.

FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE / AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

 

Unexpected by Aleatha Romig…Blog Tour & Review

 

 

 

 

*Paul*

What will happen… when Jenn learns the truth that has been brewing deep inside me?
…when she learns my desires have been restrained?
…when containing them is no longer possible?
Will she flee when there’s no place to run?

Traveling to the isolation of a tropical island, we agree to lay our marriage and our future on the line. It’s the only way to face the demons—my demons—that threaten our life together.
For us to make our marriage work, we must break down barriers, reveal the hidden places, and shine light where darkness has taken root.
This reprieve from life is meant to be about us, our marriage, and our future.
It is…until the unexpected happens…

Will our marriage survive? Will we?

This suspenseful, steamy stand-alone novella follows Paul and Jenn Masters, characters previously introduced in the novella UNCONVENTIONAL. This quick, spicy story may be read completely on its own or even before UNCONVENTIONAL.
If you enjoy a fast and furious, heart-thundering ride that leaves you breathless and perhaps a bit hot and bothered, check out New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig’s THE VAULT novellas: UNCONVENTIONAL and UNEXPECTED.

Have you been Aleatha’d?

ADD TO GOODREADS

 

AVAILABLE NOW!
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | iBooks | Nook | Google Play

 

 

 

I close my eyes and allow my body to simply react.

It’s been too long.

It seems as if recently I’ve overthought everything—every action…word…everything—between Paul and me. The process is exhausting, and I’m too tired to continue. I don’t know what will happen over the next ten days. All I know is that I want what’s in front of me.

Forget that.

I want what’s intoxicating me—my husband’s embrace, the spicy scent of his skin, the way his erection probes my tummy through our clothes, and the sweet sensation of his kiss.

Sex may not save our marriage, but damn, right now as our kiss deepens, I’m on fire. Like a field of grass that’s withstood a drought, the flames grow. Small explosions detonate throughout my body—tiny flares roaring to a blaze and blasting our world. Each is a reminder that there’s been only one man who has ever made me feel completely and utterly loved, worshipped, and satisfied.

The one man who is with me now.

A moan escapes my lips as Paul reaches for the hem of my sundress and lifts it over my head. Just as quickly, he tugs off his own shirt, and I’m surrounded by his strong arms. His wide chest smashes against my breasts, and our hearts work together, the presence of the other increasing their rhythm. The faint taste of the salt air lingers on my lips as I kiss his neck, chest, and torso.

 

 

Unexpected is exactly what you get with this novella. It is short, hot with an unexpected twist.

It is a standalone and a great insight into what Aleatha’s “darker side” of her writing entails. If you have never read anything by her, this would be the perfect opportunity to see what all the excitement is about with her books. And for those of you who already read her books, this is quick and sexy read to hold you over til her next novel releases.

I won’t give you any more information than what the blurb tells you because this is such a short novella. I will tell you that I love how they are trying to save their marriage and in doing so, are willing to air out all their secrets.

It may be a quick read, but it is packed with some hot and steamy scenes along with a twist to keep your held in suspense til the end.

This is how novellas should be written!!

 

 

Aleatha Romig is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author who lives in Indiana, USA. She grew up in Mishawaka, graduated from Indiana University, and is currently living south of Indianapolis. Aleatha has raised three children with her high school sweetheart and husband of over thirty years. Before she became a full-time author, she worked days as a dental hygienist and spent her nights writing. Now, when she’s not imagining mind-blowing twists and turns, she likes to spend her time a with her family and friends. Her other pastimes include reading and creating heroes/anti-heroes who haunt your dreams and bring your imagination to life!

Aleatha released her first novel, CONSEQUENCES, in August of 2011. CONSEQUENCES became a bestselling series with five novels and two companions released from 2011 through 2015. The compelling and epic story of Anthony and Claire Rawlings has graced more than half a million e-readers. Aleatha released the first of her series TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE, INSIDIOUS, in the fall of 2014. These stand alone thrillers continue Aleatha’s twisted style with an increase in heat.

In the fall of 2015, Aleatha moved head first into the world of dark romantic suspense with the release of BETRAYAL, the first of her five novel INFIDELITY series that has taken the reading world by storm. She also began her traditional publishing career with Thomas and Mercer. Her books INTO THE LIGHT and AWAY FROM THE DARK were published through this mystery/thriller publisher in 2016.

In the spring of 2017, Aleatha released her first stand-alone, fun, and sexy romantic comedy with PLUS ONE, followed by the sweet stand-alone, ONE NIGHT.

Aleatha is a “Published Author’s Network” member of the Romance Writers of America and PEN America. She is represented by Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

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The Greatest Risk by Kristen Ashley…Review, Excerpt, and Giveaway

Synopsis:

A woman unable to connect, struggling to hide another part of her. A man burning to learn her truth, and make her whole. Through explosive passion and deep exploration, they are about to take the greatest risk of all. But will they be able to take that leap, and come out on the other side together? In this next passionate novel in the Honey series, New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley delivers a stunningly romantic and intensely sexy novel that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

 

My Review:

Ok, I have to admit that since starting this series I have been DYING to get to this couple.  I have been intrigued with both of these characters since they were introduced and I just knew they would be a delicious sort of magic together and after finishing this book I can assure you, indeed, they were.  A damn delicious sort of magic I won’t soon forget.

I’ve learned after reading Kristen Ashley over the years that there truly isn’t anything she can’t write.  She can do fun and quirky and she can do dark and sexy.  But no matter what she writes, she delivers a deep level of emotion that touches you like no other and in this particular story that’s the element that really resonated with me.

Stellan and Sixx are a couple that share a level of intimate emotion in their journey that had me falling deeper in love with them with each page I read.  Stellan is patient, understanding, sexy as hell, and beautifully educated in learning what Sixx needs, even if she doesn’t realize it’s what she needs.  SIxx is strong, yet vulnerable, with so many layers to her personality.  I loved reading these two.  I loved reading the complexity of their relationship, the deep emotion involved, the heat and connection they share, all of it was sublime. *dreamy sigh*

While I’m so sad to see this series end, there was no better way to have finished it than with Stellan and Sixx.

Thank you, Ms. Ashley, for yet another incredible read!

Five Loves

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

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IndieBound

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Read Chapter One:

one
Let’s Go

SIXX
Present day …
Sixx wandered the halls of the Bee’s Honey for absolutely no purpose except to make the boys in the
booth watching the cameras that monitored the action in the club think she was taking in the scene.
Instead, she was biding time to go into the Dom Lounge to get what she’d stashed in her locker.
She was over it.
Over the scene.
Over the wait.
Done.
The Honey had now become a place she could hang and have a drink, connect with some friends if she
was in the mood, get some of her kink by watching, and torture herself being around Stellan.
It was also where she stashed something if she had it to stash. This was because the Honey had
surveillance and security that rivaled that of the White House. If a person wasn’t supposed to be there,
they didn’t get in there. The end.
She’d been back in Phoenix now for a while.
Months.
And although she’d put on a variety of shows, bided her time, put herself out there, made herself
available, Stellan hadn’t thrown down the gauntlet.
She sure as hell wasn’t making the first move.
Thus that first move wasn’t going to be made.
So be it.
She hadn’t expected much and she sure got that.
And she had to admit, part of her was relieved (a large part).
Because if he took a shot, what then?
Could she protect him from all that was her?
Doubtful.
More like impossible.

She never had with anyone who mattered, not that she’d had many in her life who mattered.
And Stellan absolutely did not deserve to have to deal with all that could befall anyone who got close to
Sixx.
Tonight was different, though.
Tonight, she wanted done with the extracurricular activity she was engaged in.
Also tonight she roamed the halls knowing Stellan was there, he’d taken a room, and he’d gone off his
normal modus operandi.
He’d selected a female sub.
He’d also selected a male.
If in a mood, though that mood was always rare, he’d pick more than one sub.
But they were always females.
Sixx had a feeling she knew why he’d done this. She had Google alerts set up, and she’d seen it.
That it being that it was announced to the media that day that the two-and- a-half- month marriage of
Andreas Lange and his pretty-much- child bride Priscilla was done. Although the press was asked to leave
the couple alone in this trying time, it was nevertheless reported that Andreas might often think with his
dick and had apparent self-esteem issues that drove him to having a pretty young thing dripping off his
arm, but when it counted, he used his other head. The one with an actual brain in it.
In other words, he had a reported ironclad prenuptial agreement, and the soon-to- be-again Ms. Newton
would walk away with the engagement ring he gave her, any gifts she’d acquired during their
relationship and nothing else.
Nothing else.
Not even a settlement.
She was young, and Sixx knew that young didn’t make you stupid, it just made you young, naïve, and
perhaps with the beauty that girl had, overconfident. Thus she probably thought her golden looks
mingled with a twenty-two- year-old pussy would buy her a lot more time to get a lot more gifts.
Sadly, she’d been wrong.
Sixx could not know how this news affected Stellan. Although they had exchanged a variety of words
since she’d been home, they’d both been at a few get-togethers where he didn’t avoid her, but he didn’t
pursue her, they’d caught each other’s eyes on a number of occasions; and she’d noted him watching
her work with her submissives, as he’d noted her doing the same with his, they had not even
resurrected the loose but friendly relationship they’d had before she’d left.
She put it down to him still smarting from Leigh’s falling in love with another man.

That said, even if Leigh had, it appeared that not much had changed between Stellan and Amélie.
Although chilly between them when Sixx got back, that had thawed, and they were as sociable and close
as they ever had been. And it was clear Stellan liked Olly, Amélie’s enormous, gorgeous stallion.
Then again, everyone liked Olly. It was impossible not to like the guy. He was just that guy who had it all
and not simply the fact he was so easy to look at.
He adored Leigh, for one. Utterly. And he did not hide it in the slightest.
But he was outgoing, funny, solid. If you were moving house and you needed an extra pair of hands, he
was there. If you had a nephew (or niece) who wanted to be a firefighter (which Olly was), he’d take the
kid through his station and introduce him to all the guys. If you were at a cookout with him and running
low on your drink, you found your glass slid out of your hand and another one put in it without even
having to ask.
Even Stellan, wanting Amélie for as long as he did, couldn’t dislike the guy.
So they’d become friends.
And Sixx had watched.
That was one of the two things she’d done since being back.
In a halfhearted attempt to get his attention (and keep Aryas off her back), she played.
And she watched.
Which was what she was on a mission to do now before she hit the Dom Lounge to prepare to complete
her other mission.
As she wandered, Sixx didn’t spend time watching Mira and Trey in their room.
It was tough watching Mira work now that she had a sub and they were together together. In other
words, in love. Mira was good at what she did, and Trey liked what his Mistress gave him, but that look
of adoration on her face while she was doing it …
Sixx just couldn’t deal with it.
This was also why she avoided Leigh and Olly when they were at play (and more recently, also when
they weren’t because the connection they had between them just didn’t stop).
Right then they weren’t in a playroom. They were still in the bar, holding court, The Stallion Alpha Sub
King and his Dominatrix Queen, as usual reigning supreme over the club and enjoying it before they
moved to a room to enjoy each other.
They were actually worse to watch than Trey and Mira, they were so beautiful together. They were like
watching dancers, so perfectly in sync, expressive, at one with each other and their own bodies. The
sequence practiced, even if it was always different, it was so graceful it was sublime.
Putting this out of her mind, Sixx moved on her black platform pumps to the back hall full of playrooms,
noting, and not surprised, that Aryas’s red room was shuttered away from view. The blackout blinds to
that room were scarlet, not black like all the others, thus its name.

It was his own personal playroom if he was in town. And he was. And he had one of his babies in there,
working her.
Sixx didn’t need to watch that, although she would have. She’d not only seen Aryas at play, he’d worked
her because he’d trained her. He showed her how to be who she was. He introduced her to other
Dommes to teach her the things he could not. And he’d played with her in his sessions in which she was
required to sub so she could understand the headspace her own subs had to get in to serve her.
She had been surprised she’d liked it.
She’d been freaked she’d liked it so much.
Too much.
Aryas had handled that too for her—amazingly. Which meant he’d helped her handle it.
And then she’d locked it away.
However as she bypassed his room, she felt her lips thin that he was back there with one of his babies
and not with the woman he should be with.
At first when Sixx arrived back in Phoenix, he’d let things lie.
Now that months had passed, he was getting up in her face about making a move on Stellan.
Fortunately, she was able to fight back since he wouldn’t make a move on Mistress Talia.
Which was where Sixx went and where she stopped to watch, also not surprised that Talia was working
a sub mostly because those two circled each other just this way. If Talia took a sub and he caught it,
Aryas wasn’t too far from taking his own. If Aryas took one and Talia caught it, she hustled a sub into a
playroom.
Retaliation.
As Sixx watched Talia work a sub named Bryan, definitely a favored and oft-used toy of hers, she got
worried.
In a heartbeat, Bryan would take things further with his tall, slender, lithe, beautiful, mocha-skinned,
tawny-fro’ed Mistress, and not just because he seriously got off on the way she worked him.
She wasn’t just beautiful and had a serious style going on in and out of a playroom. She was funny,
quick-witted, smart-mouthed, loyal and very sweet. And Sixx had witnessed her aftercare of Bryan when
she got down to serious business with him, and even knowing Talia’s heart was with Aryas, her head and
attention was with Bryan in a way he could mistake the fact that he didn’t have a place in that particular
vital organ.
Sixx considered having a word with the Mistress.
She did that, and then she decided instead to have a word with Leigh so Leigh would have a word.
Amélie was probably already thinking of doing it. She wasn’t Queen Bee just because she rocked a
playroom, and she took her unofficial role seriously.

But if Sixx had a word, she might light a fire, and perhaps if they double-teamed Aryas and Talia, they
could get something going.
Before hitting the Dom Lounge, she found her feet taking her one last place.
At first, she positioned herself carefully in order to be able to process what she might see and at the
same time be out of his line of sight because he always broke scene to catch her eyes if he saw her at
the windows. And the possibility of seeing him working a male sub was something she wanted without
him breaking scene.
This eye contact, at first, she’d found terrifying, because it was encouraging. It was rare a Dom working
would do that unless he was working directly with another Dom.
When months passed and nothing came of it, Sixx stopped finding it terrifying or encouraging and just
found it weird.
There was no invitation in his gaze. No challenge issued. No warmth or comradeship or humor or
anything.
He’d just catch her gaze and hold it for as long as it took for her to break it. Even if he was physically
inside one of his subs, he’d thrust while simply looking at Sixx, remote and disengaged, from her and his
sub, until Sixx herself broke the contact and his attention went back to his sub.
But if he was working a male, especially inside one, this she’d want to see. Man-on- man was a thing of
hers, and since she’d returned to Phoenix, she’d indulged in that, always taking multiple submissives,
they were always male, and she’d call the shots to get that fix.
Seeing Stellan engaged in something like this would probably make her orgasm right there in the hall.
Hell, just thinking about it got her wet.
Then again, although this would be an extraordinary sight to see, Sixx didn’t figure it would take much to
do that. In all her play since she’d come back, she had not once let a single sub touch her, she’d rarely
touched them, and she hadn’t had that first orgasm, not in play, not with some random partner she
picked up out in the vanilla world (because she hadn’t picked anyone up), not even at her own hand.
But as she hesitated at the edge of one of the rooms Stellan favored, the silhouette and blackout blinds
up like he normally played it, she didn’t even see Stellan.
The female was working the male, and that work was inspired, but there was no Stellan.
Sixx took one step along the hall.
Another.
And there he was, still in his trousers and dress shirt, but the suit jacket was thrown over the back of the
leather club chair he was sitting in. He had his long legs crossed, and he was slanted to the side, elbow
on the arm of the chair, head propped up in his hand where it held his square jaw at his knuckles with
his forefinger extended along his chiseled cheek.
She drew in a breath at the bored expression on his arrestingly beautiful face, that expression running
deep into his dark blue eyes.

He did not look annoyed, upset, or distracted, as news of his father acquiring then disposing of another
wife in a matter of months might make him.
He didn’t look anything, certainly not like he was in a room where sweet and dirty sex acts were being
performed at his command by the slaves he’d chosen for the evening.
He looked like he was in a meeting that he couldn’t wait to get out of.
Then suddenly, his gaze came to her.
He didn’t move, didn’t lift his head, just swept his eyes straight to her, not like he’d noticed her standing
there, like he’d sensed she was there.
His expression didn’t change. Neither did his position.
He stared her right in the eyes, pinning her to the spot, giving her nothing except his regard.
She wanted to scream, Why? Why do you look at me like that? Why can’t you give me something?
Anything?
She didn’t do that.
Of course not.
She accepted the only challenge he gave her and stared straight at him in return for as long as she could
stand it.
And Sixx could stand a lot, so this lasted a long time, perhaps full minutes, before, as ever (and as ever
wanting to kick her own ass), she broke the contact and walked slowly, and as casually as she could fake
it, away.
Once out of sight of Stellan, she didn’t mess around going to the Dom Lounge.
There were cameras in there too, but she’d given herself a reason to return there after she had a drink
in the hunting ground. This being so she could collect what she’d put there a week ago and be done with
the job she was on so she could then collect the paycheck.
She did just this, going directly to her locker and grabbing the small, boxy, black python Alexander
McQueen clutch with its four finger loops topped with various skulls or roses. A clutch she’d placed
there after she’d arrived rather than giving it to reception, which was what most of the Dommes did.
Inside was a slim, business-card- sized wallet with her credit card, ID and a few banknotes, her phone,
another phone that was hers-but- also-not, her lip liner and lipstick, her fabulous vintage compact with
mother-of- pearl inlaid in black depicting cranes flying across a yellow moon, her Cayenne keyfob and
nothing else.
With her back to the camera, she grabbed a random vibrator she had in her locker, twisted off the
bottom where you’d put batteries, upended the flash drive she’d hidden there, and slid it in the lining of
the clutch that she’d jimmied so she could open it, hide things behind it, and then press it back in place
where it held.
She then went to the mirror.

At first, she didn’t look at herself, but instead used it to take in the plush surroundings of the Dominants’
Lounge.
Deep-seated, purple-velvet banquettes spanned the walls. They were covered in red-and silver-velvet
toss pillows. The patterned silver wallpaper behind them was bottom-lit with soft light.
There were attractive steel tables with scented candles glowing on top of them.
The lockers were made of the same steel as the tables and looked like a bank of cabinets with a variety
of digital locks, not lockers.
The gleaming black basins had no faucets, just wide, lush waterfalls that activated by motion. There
were no paper towels, instead thick, soft, purple, red or silver hand towels and washcloths.
There were showers around the side, as well as a Jacuzzi tub, a steam room and a sauna.
Available for use was anything you could need. Disposable razors (for men and women) and shaving
cream, aftershave, a variety of colognes and perfumes, hairspray, lotions, oils, deodorants, tampons,
condoms, face moisturizer, bath soap and scrub, shampoo and conditioner.
Submissives were specifically disallowed there. The lounge was for downtime and Dom time outside any
scene. If a sub needed to be cared for or it was part of the scene, you requested a room that had those
amenities, and the Dom took care of that.
And Sixx longed to stretch out on those banquettes and close her eyes to the D. L. & Co. candles that
smelled like vanilla, balsam and pepper, soothing and spicy, so very Aryas. So very the Honey.
God, she loved it there. It was like her home. It was the only place, outside being on a job, where she
could be …
What?
Not herself. She played a role there. No one knew who she was. Not really. (Except Aryas, or at least he
knew more than everyone else.) Not even people she called friends.
So why did she love it there so much?
And why was her heart hurting that she wasn’t getting out of it what she needed anymore?
She looked at herself in the mirror.
“Because it’s safe,” she whispered to her reflection.
That was it.
And now it no longer felt as safe.
Because Stellan was there, and wanting him and not having him—but more, knowing she should never
expose him to what it would mean to have her … hurt.
That didn’t make sense either. She’d wanted a lot in life.
And never got it.

But Stellan was different.
Stellan was …
Sixx shook off her thoughts and took herself in through the mirror.
She couldn’t see the black pumps or her long legs she’d sleeked not only by giving them a close shave all
the way up to her pubis but also with a subtle oil that made them shine.
What she could see was the black leather micro-mini that sat tight on her hips, cupped her ass and had a
wide black belt with a bold silver buckle.
Up top she wore a white leather modified camisole that had a deep plunging neckline that went to her
midriff and spread wide at the sides, showing the inside curves of her smallish breasts. The straps were
very thin. There was a tight band across her ribs. It was cropped but not by much, showing only a hint of
flesh at her belly between camisole and skirt, depending on how she moved.
Her hair was short, clipped in a graduated bob at the nape of her neck, the champagne highlights in her
dark cinnamon hair looking (she thought) great in the sweeping, long bangs that fell well past her eye,
the sides of her hair hanging below her jaw, all the ends in messy flips.
She had to style it, which was a minus. But it was short so it didn’t take long, and it had a sex-bomb vibe,
so that was a definite plus.
She looked into her wide, brown eyes and wondered, What next?
A weighty question because it wasn’t about what was next for her at the Honey.
But what was next for her with everything.
At Aryas’s appeal (which meant repeated demands), she’d given up “the job.”
Ostensibly.
As far as he knew, Sixx had gone legit, working as the internal investigator for a large local law firm.
However, directly due to Aryas’s interference in some of his other friend’s lives, a need had arisen in
Phoenix when Branch Dillinger stopped doing what he did out there and became the operations
manager for all of the Bee’s Honeys.
Nature abhorred a vacuum.
Cue Sixx stepping in because first, her pay at the law firm was good, if you weren’t used to making a lot
more doing a lot more dangerous shit for a lot more dangerous people. And second, if you were used to
doing a lot more dangerous shit for a lot more dangerous people, as well as used to the adrenaline rush
that got you, it wasn’t an easy habit to break.
So she had a proper job, not a normal one, but one that included a 401K and a bi-weekly paycheck that
gave her insurance benefits.
And on occasion, she moonlit on the side.
Aryas didn’t know.

No one knew (except her friend and sometimes partner, Sylvie Creed, and her husband, Tucker, who she
and Sylvie sometimes had to call in to help. But Sylvie wasn’t in the life Sixx pretended to lead through
her play and relationships at the Honey).
Even if Sixx got off on it, and the cash she accumulated doing it, not to mention the freedom that
offered, she knew she couldn’t do it forever. She had the scars to prove that particular story you told
yourself to stay on the job was a lie.
But what would she have if she stopped?
The kink was getting boring. There were only so many orders you could give that led—perhaps in a
lengthy way, but nonetheless the end was always the same—to someone else’s orgasm.
It had lost its appeal.
Because she wasn’t connecting.
She used to connect.
She used to stay mostly silent, watch, listen, open herself to being acutely aware of every expression or
even twitch of the skin to sense what her sub wanted … then she’d find some elaborate or creative but
always hard-earned way to give it to him.
Now she didn’t even have that.
Anyone could give their own self an orgasm. It was her job as a Dominatrix, regardless if the emotion
wasn’t there, the attention and the respect and the motivation and the deliberation had to be there
to connect. Somehow. Some way.
That was gone.
So what was the point?
To yank herself out of thoughts that were going nowhere, even though her long-lasting lipstick was
doing its job, she still opened her clutch, pulled out the liner and lipstick, refreshed the ruby red, ended
it with a nice coat of clear gloss, and dropped the stuff back in her bag.
She then grabbed her phone—not her actual phone, the other one—before she clicked the clutch closed
and made her way out of the lounge, deciding to have a drink while she dealt with the details of
finishing up her final mission of the evening.
She wandered the halls, doing it avoiding having to walk past Stellan’s room, and hit the hunting ground.
The back corner booth was open, so she went there, flipped open the burner phone in her hand, set it to
silent and then used her thumb in the onerous task of hitting the numbers on the pad repeatedly to get
to the letters she needed to send the short text.
Really, smartphones were a gift from God.
The drop happens tonight.

She tucked the phone by her thigh when a server came, and she decided cool-but- luxe Sixx, Mistress
with the Mostest, was fucking dead.
It was over.
No rep to uphold.
No bullshit to convey.
She was over that too.
She wasn’t going to sip from a glass of wine, withholding any personality, any hint of what made her,
what defined her, that she might convey through the simple matter of ordering her preferred drink.
“Gordon’s cup. Hendrick’s,” she ordered.
“Gotcha,” the server said then moved away.
She looked to the hunting ground and saw subs avoiding her eyes but still preening in view, hoping she
was there to make a selection.
God, she was dried up. Not even a tingle.
The only time she’d felt anything in—Lord, it had been days—was when Stellan’s eyes met hers earlier
through the windows to his playroom.
And those days had been the days since she was last at the Honey and Stellan had turned his attention
to her.
She looked down to her thigh, flipping open the phone to see no return text, and muttered under her
breath, “I’m a fucking mess.”
“Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
Her head snapped up just in time to watch Stellan, back in his suit jacket and definitely out of his
playroom, slide in the booth across from her.
God, he was gorgeous.
But …
What the fuck?
“You were saying?” he prompted.
She flipped the phone shut and tucked it against her thigh so she’d feel it vibrate when the text came in.
“I have something on my mind,” she shared, not knowing what to make of this, him in the booth
opposite her, making an approach, sitting there looking magnificent but still inaccessible, speaking
directly to her with only her there to speak to.
“And that would be?” he asked.
“It’s work,” she told him.

“Ah,” he murmured, glancing to the side and looking up when the server set her drink in front of her. An
action he oddly watched with what appeared to be rather avid fascination as the old-fashioned glass
came to rest on the burgundy cocktail napkin. “Scotch, please,” he ordered before the guy could ask.
“On it,” the server said and moved away.
Stellan didn’t watch him go and it took a good deal, Sixx didn’t look away when Stellan’s attention came
back to her.
“Not in the mood tonight?” he queried.
She shook her head, lifted her drink, and took a sip.
When she put it down, she verbalized that same response. “No.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, and there it was.
God.
There it was.
That “hmm” was almost like a purr, and that purr snaked right up her pussy, an area that instantly got
wet.
“You’re finished early,” she noted.
He gave a one shoulder shrug that managed to be masculine and elegant at the same time, something
only Stellan could pull off.
“I thought I’d try something new.”
“And?” she asked.
“It wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped.”
“Too bad,” she murmured, taking another sip of her drink.
“Is it?” he returned, and her gaze lifted to his, because he’d asked a question but mostly because that
question was strange.
“For you, and them, of course it is,” she replied.
“They got a good deal out of it, I assume, unless she faked it, which is doubtful. He, however, couldn’t
fake it as the evidence he left was physical.”
Perhaps she shouldn’t have left so soon. It would undoubtedly have been interesting to watch Stellan
orchestrate something like that.
“Unusual for you to choose a male,” she remarked.
He turned his head to the hunting ground and remarked, “An experiment I’m unlikely to repeat.”
She gave it some time, and this was mostly because she was arrested in the act of taking in the beauty
of his profile. The cut line of his strong jaw. The angle of his cheekbone. The shadowed hollow under it.

The fine lines that fanned from the corner of his eye. The straight slope of his nose. And, Lord God …
that remarkable swell of his lower lip.
When she realized another second and she’d start squirming in the booth, she spoke.
“It might be more enjoyable if you went hands on,” she suggested.
He looked back to her and more wet surged between her legs at the expression on his face and what
was emanating from his eyes.
“If I fancy ass, it comes with breasts and a vagina or not at all.”
Sixx would take him up her ass, deep, hard, fast, soft, slow, gentle, any way he liked it.
She’d beg him for that.
On that thought, her salivary glands went into overdrive, and she lifted her drink, tipping it to him in
salute, before she brought it to her mouth but didn’t take a drink.
“Too bad,” she murmured.
Then she sipped.
His lips, including that luscious bottom one, curled up slightly at the ends.
“Mistress Sixx,” he said softly. “If she had it her way, they’d be lined up by the score and fucked raw,
climaxing at her command at the tip of her whip.”
She stared at him, her stomach feeling like it was cramping, but her voice sounded even when she
asked, “You say that like there’s something wrong with it.”
“Of course there isn’t,” he drawled, totally and openly lying.
I’d make you like it, she said in her head. I’d make you beg for it. I’d break my back, sell my soul, do
anything I’d need to do to make you come harder than you’ve ever come before, tying you to me,
connecting you to me, making you never want to leave.
He held her gaze, his face arrogant and knowing.
Or I’d give it to you, her mind whispered. Anything you wanted, anything you’d want to do to me to give
you what you needed in a way that need could never be eased and you’d always come back for more.
He kept holding her gaze, but in the dim light of the bar of the Bee’s Honey, she could swear she saw
something in his expression grow soft, like he could read her thoughts.
Before she could get a lock on it, or better, turn from him so he couldn’t read anything further, for once
he looked away first, but only because the server was there, placing his lowball of Scotch over ice in
front of him.
Sixx picked up her drink, looked to the hunting ground, and took a healthy sip.
“Are you staying?”
Stellan’s question brought her attention again to him.

She put her drink down and asked, “Pardon?”
“In Phoenix,” he explained. “I know you travel for work and it takes you away for long periods of time.
But this time, you’ve been back for a while, so it seems like you’re staying.”
She had been intending to stay.
Now she didn’t know.
“For a while,” she replied.
He nodded, sipping his drink, and then stated, “I’ve been meaning to invite you, simply haven’t had the
chance. But I’m having a party next weekend. We’ve hit June, and the weather hasn’t yet started baking.
I’m taking advantage. We’ll start with a pool party, then everyone can change and we’ll move in for
dinner. I’d be delighted if you’d come.”
She hid her reaction to that by throwing back more gin.
“Leigh and Olly will be there,” Stellan went on, back to his gaze set unwavering on her. “Mira and Trey.
Felicia’s bringing a couple of her toys. Penn and Shane will be there. Victor has a new slave he’s enjoying
so he’s bringing her. In other words, it’s a play party, just to make that clear. Though, depending on how
it goes, we’ll make things more sociable and less structured for dinner. That will be up to the Dom.”
When he hesitated, she nodded, indicating she’d heard and taken this in, and he kept speaking.
“Belle’s bringing Tiffany. Talia is bringing Bryan. Aryas will be out of town, as will Evangeline’s partner,
but Evangeline will be there in her usual capacity. Observation only.”
It was an unwritten rule when referring to the Honey’s Domme Evangeline’s “partner”—who was really
her boyfriend who was essentially living with her—at least in the confines of the walls of the club,
people did not use his name.
But he was Branch Dillinger. Her partner. Her boyfriend. Her sub. But he was also the Honey’s new top
guy, since Aryas had taken a step back from operations in order to focus on opening his new club in
Tahoe, and he needed someone he could trust to pick up the reins.
And if Branch played it that way, wishing things to be private, he got it that way, and would even if the
man couldn’t probably snap your neck with his bare hands then walk away and not give that kill a
second thought.
It was just the life and everyone obeyed that rule.
Though the threat of having your neck snapped worked too.
Sixx was just relieved Evangeline was back, not to mention ecstatic she had a man in her life like Branch.
Especially after what was done to her to make her take a prolonged break, all of this happening when
Sixx was away.
It was good it happened when she was away. If she was close, retaliation would have been much
different than what Aryas had ordered, and even much different than the vastly more thorough way in
which Branch had handled it.

But it was handled. So at Aryas’s firm request, she’d let it be.
She was relieved and ecstatic for Leenie … and also jealous.
Jealous because she wondered what it would feel like to have a miracle happen after the world as you
knew it turned to complete shit and then one day … you might not be healed, but you were again whole.
“And if you like, I’ll have a couple of male slaves available for your use. Fresh meat. I know a few who’d
volunteer that I’m sure you’d like,” Stellan continued.
And that stomach cramp got worse.
He’d provide her “a few volunteers.”
Thoughtful.
And damned disappointing.
She wondered who he’d have there.
And how many.
“I’ll think about it,” she told him.
“Please do,” he said before taking another sip of his Scotch.
She followed suit with her gin, practically willing her phone to vibrate against her leg to give her a
reason to get away from him.
Stellan spoke again.
“So you’re not in the mood, will you allow me to offer you something that might strike a different
mood? One I’d wager you’d enjoy a great deal.”
At this proposal that came out of nowhere, Sixx almost choked on her gin.
But of course she didn’t, and again her voice was clear and cool when she asked, “What’s that?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid it has to be a surprise. But I will say it will be a surprise you’ll like. I also
have to say, you shouldn’t wait to make your decision or things will culminate and we’ll miss our
chance.”
Things will culminate?
Oh no.
She was intrigued.
Damn it!
“Can you give me a hint?” she pressed.
He made a tsking noise that she felt tap against her clit, and as was his usual, he didn’t lose contact with
her gaze.

But he wasn’t looking aloof anymore.
This was both an invitation and a challenge.
She just didn’t know to what.
And with Stellan—this sudden Stellan who was vastly different than the Stellan she’d been getting (or
not, as the case was) for the last too-many- months—she wasn’t sure how to handle it.
“Don’t disappoint me, Sixx,” he said quietly. “The Honey’s Ice Princess, cool and composed in every
situation, shying away from an adventure?”
“I simply need to know how long it would take,” she lied. “I have something I need to do tonight,” she
didn’t lie.
“As soon as you need to go, I’ll bring you back.”
He’d bring her back?
He was going to take her somewhere?
“What’s it going to be, Sixx?” he pushed. “In truth, I should have asked you the minute I joined you in
this booth. We risk missing the grand finale the longer we wait.”
“Stellan—” she started, wondering how to get out of it at the same time how not to appear like she was
jumping on it by accepting too quickly.
She needed time to assess this change, plan, strategize, prepare, fashion a brand-new Sixx. One who
could deal with the likes of Stellan Lange and come out the other side of whatever became of whatever
was happening unscathed.
And more importantly, make certain he did.
Or time to find a place to hide. Or escape, her mind taunted. Coward.
“I’ve bought you a present,” he shocked her by announcing. “I did this some time ago. I’ve been wishing
to give it to you but haven’t had the opportunity. Now’s the opportunity.” The movement was almost
not there, but yet it was when he leaned slightly her way and warned in a low voice, “Don’t waste it.”
Again, eye contact, unrelenting.
Challenge.
Invitation.
Finally.
And a gift?
She lifted her drink, took another healthy swallow, put it on the table and then dropped her hand to her
thigh to curl her fingers around the phone there while grabbing her clutch off the table with her other
hand.
She looked back to him and said, “Let’s go.”

When she did, all vestiges of her stomach cramps disappeared.
Because when she said that, Stellan Lange smiled a wicked, roguish, beautiful smile.
Right at her.

Copyright © 2018 by Kristen Ashley in The Greatest Risk and reprinted with permission from St. Martin’s
Griffin.

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About Kristen:

 

Kristen Ashley is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over fifty novels, including Mystery Man, The Gamble, and Own the Wind. She grew up in Indiana, but has lived in Colorado and the West Country of England.

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