Cover Reveal….Moonlight and Martinis by Andrea Johnston

Today we have the cover reveal for Martinis & Moonlight by Andrea Johnston! Check it out and be sure to preorder your copy today!

Title: Martinis & Moonlight

Author: Andrea Johnston

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 28th

About Martinis & Moonlight:

Minnesota “Minnie” Walker has worked hard for the life she has – a close knit family, successful career, and long-term relationship. When a tragedy strikes, Minnie sacrifices everything to be there for her family. Never expecting a move to the small town of Lexington would change the course of her future, Minnie finds herself wondering if what she always thought was perfect is really what’s best for her … and her heart.

 

Owen Butler has lived in the town of Lexington his entire life. After years of feeling second best and wasting his time vying for the attention of his father, Owen has settled into an uncomplicated life. Not one to believe in happily ever after, he never expected the new woman in town to have him questioning everything he thought he wanted in life.

 

Together, under the rays of the moonlight, Owen and Minnie find themselves wondering what the future holds and if facing it together is worth the risk.

 

 

Martinis & Moonlight:

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Whiskey & Honey (A Country Road Novel Book 1)

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Tequila & Tailgates (A Country Road Novel Book 2):

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Exclusive Excerpt:

She stands and walks to a file cabinet against the wall, tugging on the drawer with no luck in opening it. I can see from my seat that the drawer is slightly crooked. It’s going to take two people to get it back on its tracks. I stand and walk over to where she’s unsuccessfully pushing the drawer.

“It’s off the tracks. I’ll pull on this side, you push on that. We’ll get it on the tracks.”

Together, we push and pull making little progress until suddenly, the drawer jerks open. I step aside and allow Minnie to thumb through the files until she finds one she wants and snags it from the drawer. I reach out to close the cabinet as she does the same. Only, I’m not fast enough and my fingers pay the price when the drawer slams closed.

“Mother fuck…” Sonofabitch that hurt. I begin shaking my hand as if the movement will somehow stop the throbbing in my fingers. Tears prick at my eyes, the pain is so intense.

“Oh, my God! Owen! Oh shit, I’m so sorry! Let me see.” I watch as she tosses the file in her hands toward a shelf before she takes my hand in hers. She begins examining my fingers closely and ever so gently, assessing my injury. I throw my head back and breathe in and out through my nose, trying to regulate my breathing and avoid speaking the long list of cuss words on the tip of my tongue. That hurt almost as bad as the time I smacked myself with the hammer.

Minnie takes my fingers between her hands and adds a little pressure while massaging them. “Is that helping? I’m so sorry. I should get some ice.”

“It’s fine,” I say gruffly. I don’t attempt to pull my hand from hers, but instead allow her to keep rubbing my hand, gently blowing on my fingers. “Why are you blowing on it? It’s not hot.”

Minnie mumbles something under her breath but doesn’t stop touching me. Now her movements have slowed a little, though she still hasn’t let me go.

“What was that, Minnesota?”

“I said, ‘you are.’ Ugh, this is so embarrassing,” she sighs, letting go of my hand. Instead of letting her get away with that, I grab her hand. The shock on her face is evident as she looks at me, wide-eyed. I like this look on her. The element of surprise shows a little more of who Minnie is deep down.

“You think I’m hot?” Like I can’t help myself, my tone teases and my brows wiggle.

“Oh, shut up.” She attempts to pull away from me but I don’t let her. “You know you’re hot. All of you.” The hand not held by mine waves around expressively. “It’s really unfair to the women of this town. And flirtatious, the whole bunch of you. I mean, is that something they taught you in high school?” She looks up at me, her eyes bright and a smile on her face. “Is it? Something like How to give smoldering looks across a room 101? Who taught it? Mr. Casanova?”

She does this weird eye twitch, an attempt to dramatically roll her eyes, I assume. It’s a fair attempt, but unsuccessful. Her embarrassment shows and I note that this woman – beautiful, sometimes shy, and sarcastic – is one that must render every grown man she encounters speechless by just being in their presence.

“Nah, we didn’t need a class. I think we were all born with it. Something in the Lexington water.” We both laugh and I look down and realize I’m still holding her hand. I rub my thumb across her knuckles. A move she was just making herself, but mine has a completely different undertone.

 

About Andrea Johnston:

Andrea Johnston spent her childhood with her nose in a book and a pen to paper. An avid people watcher, her mind is full of stories that yearn to be told. A fan of angsty romance with a happy ending, super sexy erotica and a good mystery, Andrea can always be found with her Kindle nearby fully charged.

Andrea lives in Idaho with her family and two dogs. When she isn’t spending time with her partner in crime aka her husband, she can be found binge watching all things Bravo and enjoying a cocktail. Nothing makes her happier than the laughter of her children, a good book, her feet in the water, and cocktail in hand all at the same time.

 

 

Connect with Andrea:

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Deadly Silence by Rececca Zanetti….Release Day Blitz & Review

DEADLY SILENCE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: DEADLY SILENCE

Author: Rebecca Zanetti

Series: Blood Brothers, #1

On Sale: April 25, 2017

Publisher: Forever

Mass Market: $7.99 USD

eBook: $5.99 USD

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**NOW AVAILABLE IN MASS MARKET**

The first book in a breathtaking new romantic suspense series that will appeal to fans of New York Times bestsellers Maya Banks, Lisa Gardner, and Lisa Jackson.

Under siege. That’s how Ryker Jones feels. The Lost Bastards Investigative Agency he opened up with his blood brothers has lost a client in a brutal way. The past he can’t outrun is resurfacing, threatening to drag him down in the undertow. And the beautiful woman he’s been trying to keep at arm’s length is in danger…and he’ll destroy anything and anyone to keep her safe.

Paralegal Zara Remington is in over her head. She’s making risky moves at work by day and indulging in an affair with a darkly dangerous PI by night. There’s a lot Ryker isn’t telling her and the more she uncovers, the less she wants to know. But when all hell breaks loose, Ryker may be the only one to save her. If his past doesn’t catch up to them first…

Full of twists and turns you won’t see coming, DEADLY SILENCE is New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti at her suspenseful best.

**THE PRINT EDITION CONTAINS EXTRA BONUS SCENES NOT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE!**

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This is my first book by Rebecca and wow – she blew me away!!! I hadn’t realized when I read this book that it was a spinoff from another of Rebecca’s books. Honestly, you don’t need to read the others books to understand what’s going on in this book, but I am curious to a few certain things that I am sure are answered in the other books.

Deadly Silence is a romantic suspense, which is one of my favorite genres to read. This book is about Ryker and Zara and his brothers play strong secondary characters in it.

Life, not genetics, had made them family… 

Ryker is Private Investigator and ends up working Zara’s law firm; she’s a paralegal. But their relationship started off before that with some casual dating. Ryker told her from the beginning that it was just casual and she’s smart enough that she knows that’s where their relationship needs to stay. She also knows that she probably shouldn’t be involved with him at all. And then HE wants to try for more…..

“Casual sex doesn’t work for me any longer.”
“There ain’t nothin’ casual about our sex, and you know it.”

Rebecca writes some really strong characters. Ryker is all alpha and very protective and dominant. He’s very demanding and has his own dark past shadowing him at all times. Zara fights for what she knows it right and has no problem standing up to Ryker herself. But she also knows when to back off too.

The safest place for her was with him, yet it was also the most dangerous to her heart.

This book has the perfect blend of hot and steamy mixed with action and suspense – both have you on the edge of your seat while reading. I couldn’t put it down once I started. If you enjoy strong alpha characters and heroines who are strong in their own right, then this is the book for you.

Bring on Book #2 – Lethal Lies!!

EXCERPT

 

Heat from his body washed over her, but she lifted her head to meet his gaze. “We don’t have a relationship.”

He smiled then, and the curve of his lips held more determination than amusement. “I’m not letting you run, and I’m certainly not letting you hide, baby. Although neither of us has been in this for the long haul, I’m staying in Wyoming for the moment. The first thing that’s going to happen is I’m going to figure out who dared put a hand on you and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

For the first time, she saw a side of him that gave her true pause. In the long haul, he’d be unbearably possessive. Why did that give her an intriguing sense of safety? “Knock it off,” she snapped in his face. “Get out of my business.”

That quickly, she found her back against the door and her front pinned by hard male. His hands planted on either side of her neck, his thumbs at her jaw, forcing her to look at him. “Something you need to understand and pretty damn quick is that your business is my business right now.” His thumb swept up and over the offensive bruise on her face.

“Step back.” Her voice trembled.

He ignored the very calm order. “No. You don’t want to tell me who did this? Fine. I’ll find out on my own, and I’ll have the name by the time I pick you up for supper. What you don’t want to do is deal with him or his case until I have that name. Kicking him in the balls might’ve just pissed him off more, and now you’ve let a bully stew on it for a while, which might be dangerous for you. Got it?”

“You have no right to interfere,” she whispered.

“Baby, I’ve been fuckin’ you for months. That gives me every right.” Anger glowed dark in his eyes.

“We’re done. Get out.”

His eyes softened. “You shouldn’t make statements you can’t back up.”

She shoved against his ripped abs.

He didn’t move a millimeter.

And then he did.

His head dipped, and his mouth found her neck and wandered up to her ear. His teeth scraped, and then his tongue licked the slight wound.

Of its own volition, her body did a full tremble.

He leaned back. “That.”

Her mind fuzzed.

His mouth slammed down on hers. She knew his kiss—often dreamed about it. Not soft and sweet . . . not even lustful. It was dangerous. From day one, she’d tasted danger on his tongue, and it burned her hotter than she’d ever been.

Never had she dated a bad boy, but after living her desired routine-driven life for years, she’d craved adventure, and he filled that need. He drew out a wildness she hadn’t realized she possessed.

He held her flush against the door, kissing her hard, sending a craving along her nerves that almost hurt. His tongue went to work, his left hand keeping her jaw open for him. His right hand found her hip and dragged her against the obvious bulge in his jeans. By the time he released her, she’d stopped thinking completely.

“What time are you finished today?” he asked, his breath heating her face.

“Fi-five,” she stuttered.

He leaned back and gently put her to the side. “Stay in the office until I come for you at five, Zara.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “Cross me on this, baby, and I ain’t gonna be gentle.” He had already shut the door behind himself before she could take a whole breath.

She blinked several times, her fingers going to her still-tingling mouth. What had just happened?

THE BLOOD BROTHERS SERIES

DEADLY SILENCE, #1

LETHAL LIES, #2

TWISTED TRUTHS, #3

Series Page on Goodreads

READ AN EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM LETHAL LIES, ON SALE MAY 16TH!

“All the more reason to get you out of town,” Heath said quietly.

She shook her head. “No. I’m staying.” Her words were brave, but her chest hurt. No way could she deal with a serial killer all on her own. She could train every day for the rest of her life and not end up as practiced or as deadly as Heath already was, and she knew it. “I understand you have other cases and people after you. So leave, and I’ll handle this myself.”

“Those are big words, baby,” he said softly.

Her lip quivered, and she bit down on it. “I know. I promised her, Heath. It’s all I have left to give to her.”

He paused, understanding crossing his expression. “Ah, sweetheart. Your sister wouldn’t want that for you.” His voice turned velvety and soft. Soothing.

Anya nodded. “I know. But she was my sister. We shared blood and part of a childhood. She took me trick-or-treating when I was five, and it’s one of my best memories. Then when I needed help as an adult, she didn’t hesitate. She came to me right away, like family. She was the first person I really cared about in far too long, and it hurts like hell that I got her killed.”

He breathed out, the emotion in his eyes deepening.

She swallowed. “I have to do this for her. Either you understand that or you don’t.”

“Why don’t you just let us handle it?”

She pressed her point. “I could, but you need me. I’m the bait.” Inwardly, she winced at the description. That wouldn’t help her to convince him. “Also, here’s the deal. This could be a long op. At some point, you have to leave and deal with whatever is haunting you from your past. When you do, I’ll just challenge him again, and next time you won’t be around to assist.”

“That’s extortion,” Heath said, amusement curving his lip.

She grinned. “Apparently I’m getting quite good at it.”

Heath shook his head. “You’re putting me in an untenable position, baby.”

“No, I’m not.” She shrugged out of his hold. Finally. “I’m not yours to protect, Heath. We’re not together, and we’re not responsible for each other.” The words sliced through her even as she said them. “You’ve been more than clear on that score.”

“There’s something here, Anya. Maybe something real and lasting, if I get everything done I need to do.”

She blinked. “What’s that?”

“The less you know the better. Believe me.”

“What a bunch of bullshit. Go back to your ‘This is fake’ proclamation,” she all but yelled. “Your position is one of work . . . and this is just work.”

His chin lifted. “You think this is just work?” The tone—low and filled with tension—zinged through her body.

Her legs trembled with the urge to take a step back. “Yes.”

“Want me to prove otherwise?” His eyes darkened to the color of the sky right before midnight hit.

As a threat, as a warning, it was damn good. But she’d gone too far to give in now. “You can’t.” Yeah, she’d just waved a red flag in front of a bull.

He didn’t move a muscle. His focus on her was so absolute, she wanted to squirm. “You’re into challenging dangerous men these days, aren’t you?”

She kept her stance. “You’re not all that dangerous, Heath.”

His smile stole her breath. Then he moved. Faster than she could track, he had her by the armpits and up in the air as he carried her toward the bedroom with such speed that her legs automatically wound around to clasp his rib cage. By the time she sucked in air to protest, her butt was on the bed, and he was flattening himself over her.

She struggled, her body on fire, fighting the urge to laugh out loud.

His mouth crushed hers, and she stilled.

Heat.

Fire.

True danger.

He held nothing back, kissing her hard, pressing her head into the comforter. His tongue worked hers, his powerful body plastered against hers, and his hands dug into her hair to hold her in place. Desire spun so quickly into need she couldn’t breathe, even when he wasn’t controlling her mouth.

She shifted against him, closing her eyes to kiss him back. This was what she’d wanted. All of this.

He nipped her lip, soothing the slight pain with another kiss. Then he traced along her jawline, kissing and nipping, finally reaching her earlobe, where he bit.

She arched against him, letting out a soft sigh.

“Anya.” His fingers tangled in her hair, and erotic pain tingled down her scalp. One of his strong arms slid around her waist and then down. His palm spread across her butt, and he ground her against his hard cock.

Pleasure swamped her, and mini explosions flew through her sex. The idea passed, somewhat fleetingly, that he wasn’t playing. Not at all.

Yet she couldn’t stop herself. Her knees widened, and she rubbed against him. “This feels real,” she whispered.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rebecca Zanetti is the author of over twenty-five romantic suspense, dark paranormal, and contemporary romances, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestseller lists. She has received a Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review for Wicked Edge, Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Nominations for Forgotten Sins and Sweet Revenge, and RT Top Picks for several of her novels.  She lives in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her own alpha hero, two kids, a couple of dogs, a crazy cat…and a huge extended family.  She believes strongly in luck, karma, and working her butt off…and she thinks one of the best things about being an author, unlike the lawyer she used to be, is that she can let the crazy out.

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RAFFLECOPTER

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EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK!!! Forbidden Promises by Katee Robert

A First Look at Forbidden Promises by Katee Robert!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert delivers the next book in her sizzling O’Malleys family series, hailed as “The Godfather meets Romeo & Juliet.” FORBIDDEN PROMISES features Sloan O’Malley and her mysterious new next-door neighbor, Jude MacNamara.

Meet Jude! 

Pre-order FORBIDDEN PROMISES and add it to your TBR pile on Goodreads! Then keep reading to get a sneak peek at FORBIDDEN PROMISES and to enter the giveaway for a $15 Amazon gift card!

Title: Forbidden Promises

Author: Katee Robert

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Publisher: Grand Central/Forever

Series: The O’Malleys

Page Count: 336 pages

Format: Digitial and Print

ASIN: B01KT7YSJM

ISBN-13: 9781455597031

Synopsis:

Some lines should never be crossed . . . not even for love.

Sloan O’Malley just left her entire world behind-her family, her wealth, and even her real name. For the first time in her life, she’s free. She can live the “normal” life she’s always wanted. A life without fear. But there’s nothing safe about her intensely sexy next-door neighbor.

Jude MacNamara has no room for innocence in his life. Only revenge. Still, he’s never been able to walk away from the forbidden, and Sloan-who is every inch of pure, mouthwatering temptation-has forbidden written all over her. Only after it’s way too late does he discover the real danger: claiming Sloan as his puts a target on her back. To protect her, Jude is willing risk everything . . . and to hell with the consequences.

Pre-order at:

Amazon → http://amzn.to/2oQ7Ikw

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Forbidden Promises Excerpt

Copyright © 2017 Katee Robert

She nearly tripped over Jude when she opened the door, and that was the last straw. “What is your problem?”

He raised a single eyebrow, not looking perturbed in the least. “Sorry?”

“No, you’re not. You’re not sorry that you turned me down last night, or that you left in a hurry, or that you were an…an insufferable jackass this morning.”

If anything, his eyebrow inched higher. “You’re in a mood.”

“Are you kidding me?” She pushed at his chest, but he didn’t even pretend she had the strength to move him. “You weren’t interested last night, so you don’t get to waltz into the diner and order me to go out with you. I’ve taken orders my entire life, and I’ll be damned before I take one from you.” The outburst left her feeling deflated, but she clamped her mouth shut and refused to apologize. Maybe she was being the slightest bit dramatic, but that didn’t mean she was wrong.

Jude took a step closer, towering over her, his shoulders so broad, they filled the doorway. “Are you done?”

Just like that, she had a whole lot more to say. “Actually—”

“That was a rhetorical question, sunshine.” His big hand cupped the back of her neck, his thumb tracing over her jaw and up to drag against her bottom lip.

The touch shocked her into silence.

For a moment. “Jude—”

Apparently he wasn’t finished. “I didn’t say no last night because I wasn’t interested. I wouldn’t have apologized—twice—if I wasn’t interested.”

“But—”

“You want to know the truth? The truth is that I can’t look at you without wanting to strip you down, to run my hands over that tight little body of yours, to spread those sweet thighs and fuck you with my tongue until you’re screaming my name and begging for mercy.”

She swayed, her anger, her ability to think or move or talk or do anything except stare helplessly at him, all gone. She licked her lips, forgetting that his thumb was there, and stroked him with her tongue instead. His chocolate eyes went even darker, and he suddenly seemed larger.

Say something.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“It’s the fucking truth, sunshine.” He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb, his hand gentle yet holding her in place easily. “You’re a good girl. I don’t have to spend any time with you to know that. You deserve better than the likes of me, even for a fuck. But that’s the difference between us. I’m not good. I might as well be the goddamn devil as far as you’re concerned, but I’ve never been good at walking away when I have my mind set on something. And, sunshine, I have my mind set on you.

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t take a step, though she was at a loss if she’d move away from or toward him. It was like he held her captive with only a single hand, stalling out any and all reasoning ability.

Jude’s grip tightened, ever so slightly. “I was going to take you out. It’s not my scene, but I was willing to give it a shot. I changed my mind.” He stepped into her, his chest lightly pressed against her breasts, his thighs bracketing hers, his…Oh my good lord. His hard length pressed against her stomach, and it felt perfectly in proportion with the rest of his massive body, not that she was an expert on these matters.

His other hand came to rest on her hip, fingers bunching the fabric of her dress as he kneaded her. “Tell me to stop, and it’s done. I’ll walk away, and I’ll do my damnedest to leave you alone. Tell me to walk away, sunshine. Just say the words.”

She knew he was right. He was no good for her, and this would only end in tears on her part. The man wasn’t asking to date her. He didn’t want to get to know her. He was telling her all the things he’d do to her body.

But she couldn’t say the words to make him leave.

Sloan had never taken anything for herself in her entire life. She’d stayed in the background and gone with the flow and done everything in her power to play least in sight. Her brothers ran off any boy remotely interested in her, and she’d allowed it to happen. If her father had decided to move forward on his plans to marry her off, she would have walked down the aisle to a man of his choosing.

She’d never done a single selfish thing in her life until she asked Teague to help her escape.

Until she tentatively ran her hands up Jude’s chest, sucking in her breath at the way his muscles tensed beneath her fingers. Until she looked up into his stormy dark eyes and said the word that would damn them both. “Stay.”

Praise for The O’Malleys Series

“It can be hard to make a ruthless assassin into a sympathetic character, but Robert handles the task with ease. She also deftly shows Sloan’s transformation from a pampered and protected naïf to a strong woman with a backbone of pure steel. A tension-filled plot full of deceit, betrayal, and sizzling love scenes will make it impossible for readers to set the book down.”—Publishers Weekly on FORBIDDEN PROMISES

“You will finish it in one sitting and die after you’re done because the next book isn’t out yet. This was one sexy ride!”—Reviewer Top Pick, Night Owl Reviews on FORBIDDEN PROMISES

“Katee Robert’s has created a fictional underworld of such veracity, that one almost expects the characters to turn up on the front-page news. It never feels over the top or implausible; the author writes extremely well-crafted stories… The romance between Cillian and Olivia is very beautiful, tender and real.”—Fresh Fiction on AN INDECENT PROPOSAL

“Will keep you turning pages.”—RT Book Reviews on THE WEDDING PACT

“If you like angsty reads, this book is right up your wheelhouse.”—Heroes & Heartbreakers on THE WEDDING PACT

“Dark, dirty, and dead sexy.”—Tiffany Reisz, bestselling author of The Original Sinners series, on THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Other Books in The O’Malleys Series

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

THE WEDDING PACT

AN INDECENT PROPOSAL

UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION (Coming soon!)

About Katee Robert

 

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension.”  When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram

The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie….Blog Tour Stop with Exclusive Guest Post

Sally Christie, author of THE ENEMIES OF VERSAILLES, on tour March 2017

Posted By on December 20, 2016

About The Enemies of Versailles

Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Atria Books (March 21, 2017)

In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress.

“That beastly bourgeois Pompadour was one thing; a common prostitute is quite another kettle of fish.”

After decades of suffering the King’s endless stream of Royal Favorites, the princesses of the Court have reached a breaking point. Horrified that he would bring the lowborn Comtesse du Barry into the hallowed halls of Versailles, Louis XV’s daughters, led by the indomitable Madame Adelaide, vow eternal enmity and enlist the young dauphiness Marie Antoinette in their fight against the new mistress. But as tensions rise and the French Revolution draws closer, a prostitute in the palace soon becomes the least of the nobility’s concerns.

Told in Christie’s witty and engaging style, the final book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy will delight and entrance fans as it once again brings to life the sumptuous and cruel world of eighteenth century Versailles, and France as it approaches irrevocable change.

“Sally Christie’s The Sisters of Versailles is an intriguing romp through Louis XV’s France. Filled with lush backdrops, rich detail, and colorful characters, fans of historical fiction will enjoy this glimpse into the lost golden era of the French monarchy.” (Allison Pataki, author of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS)

“A stunning breadth of period detail, offered in a fresh, contemporary voice.” (Juliet Grey, author of the acclaimed Marie Antoinette trilogy)

“Such an extraordinary tale makes for compelling reading and, as the lead book in a planned trilogy, will draw in readers who are interested in royal lives before the French Revolution…. Historical fiction fans, unfamiliar with the history of the Nesle sisters, will be intrigued.” (Library Journal)

“Tantalizing descriptions and cliff-hangers will leave the reader rapidly turning the pages in anticipation… A wickedly delightful read.” (New York Daily News)

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Old Maids at Versailles – Guest Blog Post by Sally Christie

 Louis XV, who ruled France for a good part of the 18th century, fathered 10 children with his long suffering Polish wife: Eight daughters and two sons. Six daughters and one son (the father of the ill-fated Louis XVI) survived to their teenage years.

His two eldest daughters were twins and were known as Madame Elisabeth and Madame Henriette (daughters of the king were always known as Madame, even if they weren’t married). True to royal form, Madame Elisabeth was married off to Spain just two weeks after her 12th birthday. It wasn’t the most prestigious match – she was only marrying a younger son, not the heir to the Spanish throne – but it helped solidify the France /Spain alliance.

Then, the marrying stopped. Louis XV’s five other daughters – Henriette, Adelaide, Victoire, Sophie and Louise – never married, an almost unheard of situation in the history of royalty. Traditionally, princesses were valuable as pawns for securing alliances between countries and building new ones. So what happened? Why did the five of them never marry?

It was a combination of factors. For starters, there were not as many potential Catholic bridegrooms in a Europe that was half Protestant. Had Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender, succeeded in regaining the British throne, he would have been a good candidate, but his attempt failed and the French king was not eager to ally himself with a stateless pretender.

Louis was also very fond of his daughters, at least when they were younger, and was reluctant to send them away. He was also a wee bit lazy, and never made their marriages a priority. The princesses themselves, of course, loved their father and their life at Versailles, and would not have wanted to leave the comfort and luxuries of (arguably) the most magnificent palace in the world for some inferior court in a foreign country.

The third book in my trilogy about the many mistresses of Louis XV, The Enemies of Versailles, opens in 1750 when the five sisters were between 13 and 22 years old. One of the running themes in the book is their fear of getting married and what they would do to avoid it: the youngest, Louise, was even rumored to stuff one shoulder of her gown to make herself look misshapen and crippled, and therefore unmarriageable! Only Madame Henriette had any semblance of a love affair. She and the handsome young Duc de Chartres, a cousin of the king, fell in love and wanted to wed. The King couldn’t agree, for it would mean the Orleans family would become too powerful and upset the balance of power amongst his nobility.

As they got older and lost some of their youthful charm, the unmarried spinsters became objects of ridicule and figures of fun. As shown in both The Rivals of Versailles and The Enemies of Versailles (half of which is told by Madame Adelaide), the king’s daughters pitted themselves against their father’s mistresses and gradually became more and more estranged from the king and from any sort of influence at court.

The decision to never marry the princesses had serious consequences. Each princess, as a “Daughter of France” had the right to an enormous household, each containing hundreds of officers and servants. This, of course, cost the government a great deal of money. By the time their three nephews (including the future Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette) married and had children, there were more royal households at Versailles than ever before, all of them draining the coffers of the country and increasing its debt, no small factor in the coming Revolution.

 

– Thanks for this wonderful post, Sally! ~Jillian 

 

 

About Sally Christie

Sally Christie is the author of The Sisters of Versailles and The Rivals of Versailles. She was born in England and grew up around the world, attending eight schools in three different languages. She spent most of her career working in international development and currently lives in Toronto.

Connect with Sally

Website | Goodreads

Sally Christie’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Wednesday, March 8th: Reading Reality

Monday, March 13th: Books Without Any Pictures

Tuesday, March 14th: From the TBR Pile – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, March 15th: Let Them Read Books

Thursday, March 16th: Scandalous Women

Friday, March 17th: BookNAround

Monday, March 20th: Books ‘n Tea

Monday, March 20th: An Accidental Blog

Tuesday, March 21st: Read Love Blog – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, March 22nd: The Maiden’s Court

Thursday, March 23rd: Snowdrop Dreams of Books

Friday, March 24th: Bewitched Bookworms

Monday, March 27th: Must Read Faster

Tuesday, March 28th: Hoser’s Blook

Wednesday, March 29th: Books à la Mode – Spotlight/Feature

Thursday, March 30th: Dreams, Etc.

Friday, March 31st: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – Spotlight/Feature

Monday, April 3rd: A Holland Reads – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, April 5th: Becky on Books

Friday, April 7th: A Literary Vacation

TBD: Historical-Fiction.com

Jordan Reclaimed by Scarlett Cole…Exclusive Guest Post & Spotlight

This dark contemporary romance follows PRELOAD, quickly ascending the charts as the most explosive rock band of their generation. But fame has done little to overcome the traumas of their past. Traumas that have the power to decimate the band, and themselves, unless love can heal them first.

 

Dear Reader,

I know how much you loved the couples at Second Circle Tattoos. So for my next series, I wanted to give you more of the characters you have already come to care about. Welcome to Preload. For those who have read The Purest Hook, Preload is hero Dred Zanders’ band. And yes, for all of you who wrote to me asking for the band members to each get their own stories after reading The Purest Hook, here they are. Jordan is up first and will be followed by Elliott, Nikan, and Lennon. I can’t wait for you to get to know and fall in love with these men who grew up in a group home together and the women who bring them to their knees.

And for those who haven’t read The Purest Hook, it doesn’t matter because these stories are all completely stand-alone.

XOXO—Scarlett

 

Title: Jordan Reclaimed

Author: Scarlett Cole

Series: Preload #1

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pub. Date: February 28, 2017

 

Synopsis:

Jordan Steele’s life began when he was ten. When he was taken from his parents and a house that was never a home. When he met his brothers, the other lost and abandoned boys in his group home. When he learned what friendship and family and love looked like.

Now he’s made good, touring the world with the band he and his brothers formed in that crowded group home. No one but his found family really knows the man under the fame and fortune, the scars he hides behind the rockstar lifestyle. Until he sees her through the windows of the National Ballet, dancing, and suddenly the world doesn’t seem so dark.

Aleksandra Artemov ticks all the ballet boxes. Father a legendary Kirov dancer. Check. Prepping since birth for classical ballet. Check. Compulsive control over the food she eats. Check. Principal dancer at The National Ballet of Canada. Check. But what she craves is freedom.

Find out more at: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | iBooks

Exclusive Guest Post:

Want to know what happens when a broken rock star meets a ballerina fighting her own battles? Well, look no further than JORDAN RECLAIMED, the first book in my steamy new PRELOAD series.

This darker contemporary romance follows the band PRELOAD, quickly ascending the charts as the most explosive rock groups of their generation. But fame has done little to overcome the traumas of their past. Traumas that have the power to decimate the band, and themselves, unless love can heal them first.

This series is a lot new, and just a little bit familiar! Those already acquainted with my Second Circle Tattoos series might remember that Dred Zander, hero of THE PUREST HOOK, is lead singer of the band who all met growing up together in a Toronto group home. All of them had ended up in long term care after surviving torturous childhoods and failed fostering situations. At the behest of their social worker, Maisey, and Ellen, Maisey’s wife and head of the group home they grew up in, they became a family of their own.

When Dred’s story came out, I was inundated with requests to write Jordan, Elliott, Nikan, and Lennon’s stories. So, here they are, starting with Jordan. All the stories are stand alone, and you don’t need to have read The Purest Hook to enjoy this series.

Which brings me back to JORDAN RECLAIMED. Behind the rock star who lives for his music, Jordan is a man filled with pain, after suffering years of abuse as a child at the hands of his parents. Until he meets Lexi, a principal dancer at Canada’s leading ballet company, who is stuck pursuing her father’s dream. He sees in her everything he never thought he could have. Because of her, he wants to be better, and for the first time in his life, he realizes he needs to painfully fix the parts of him that are still broken. They have music, and dance, and no end of passion. Sparks fly, and emotional wounds heal. But sometimes that isn’t enough, especially when their demons have the power to tear them apart.

 

Excerpt from JORDAN RECLAIMED:

Copyright © 2017 by Scarlett Cole

He got it.

He finally got it.

He got why John Lennon left the Beatles for Yoko.

He got why Dred wrote a love song for Pixie.

From the moment Jordan’s lips touched Lexi’s, he couldn’t imagine anything else feeling and tasting quite so perfect for the rest of his life.

He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and she groaned, opening for him. He thrust his hands further into her hair as their tongues touched. She tasted of wine and sweetness, and he couldn’t get enough.

While her eyes were closed, his were open, unwilling to miss a single moment of what was happening between them. He angled her head, and she rose up on her toes to meet him. He thought he was going to faint as the blood rushed from his brain to his cock, which ached for contact.

Lexi’s arms wound their way around his waist, her hands finding the way under his leather jacket and sweater to rest upon his back. Skin on skin. How he wanted them to be. Naked. Exposed. Nothing between them as he made love to her in a huge bed that they could stay in for days.

Except he didn’t have a huge bed. And he didn’t have the kind of room she deserved to stay in. He had an attic. And a box under his bed that held his most treasured possessions that nobody else would understand. A secondhand copy of Scales, Chords & Arpeggios, and the first birthday card he ever received from Maisey and Ellen. Random shit nobody else would care about.

Jordan pulled away slowly and looked carefully at Lexi. Her lips were pink and plump, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide.

“Jordan,” she whispered.

“I gotta go. Bye, Lexi,” he said. He needed to get home and then drink enough to forget about her. Banish the stupid idea swirling around in his mind that they could have any kind of relationship. He should never have kissed her. It was hard enough to walk away before, but now that he had a clearer idea of what it was he was actually walking away from, it hurt all the more.

“Wait,” Lexi said as she grabbed his arm.

The small voice in his brain told him to keep walking, but he couldn’t. Instead, he turned to see what she wanted.

Lexi grabbed a pen from her purse, the one she had given him to sign the napkin in the restaurant. She reached for his hand and turned it over so his palm was facing up and quickly scribbled something on it. When she was done, she stood on her tiptoes again and kissed his cheek.

Weakness was a new sensation, but he felt it down to his boots as, against his better judgment, he leaned his cheek ever so slightly toward her lips.

“Good night, Jordan,” she said and bounced up the porch, grabbing her hat from the chair where Jordan had tossed it.

She paused in the doorway to wave good-bye and then closed the door silently shut.

Only when he was certain that she was definitely gone did he allow himself the luxury of seeing what she had written on his hand. It was a phone number. Despite himself, he felt a murmur of excitement that she found him worthy of a second date.

Jordan turned toward home. As snow began to fall again, he hurriedly made the short hike across the Don Valley river and ravine to his neighborhood, trying to halt the avalanche of emotions because of ten hand-scribed digits.

 

 

About SCARLETT COLE

Scarlett Cole is a writer of contemporary romance and a two-time RITA finalist. Her debut, THE STRONGEST STEEL, has already become an Amazon best seller in romantic suspense, was a Best Debut Goodreads Author Finalist 2015, and Authors On The Air Global Radio Network Contemporary Romance Pick of 2015.

When Scarlett isn’t writing, she spends her time reading, hoarding mason jars, and working out to off-set an epic sour candy habit. She likes hot men, cold beer, and expensive shoes.

Having travelled the world for work and fun, Scarlett is a citizen of both Britain and Canada. A true city-dweller, she considers Toronto and Manchester home and likes to set her books in vibrant locations such as Miami and Los Angeles.

Rep’d by Beth Phelan at The Bent Agency, and published by St. Martin’s Press.

She’d love to hear from you on twitter @itsscarlettcole

Connect with Scarlett: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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Bad Billionaires After Dark: Dylan by Melissa Foster….Release Blitz

It’s the release week blitz for BAD BILLIONAIRES AFTER DARK: DYLAN by Melissa Foster. Check it out and grab your copy today!

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About Bad Billionaires After Dark: Dylan:

Bad Billionaires After Dark are a series of stand-alone hot and sexy romances.

Indulge your inner vixen with these sexy billionaires!

Meet the Bad Boys… Four fiercely loyal, sinfully sexy, uber alpha brothers, about to fall head over heels for their leading ladies.

Everything’s naughtier after dark…

Sinfully sexy bar owner Dylan Bad has a thing for needy women. He’s a savior, a knight in shining armor, and his mighty talented sword has no trouble bringing damsels in distress to their knees. Enter Tiffany Winters, a gorgeous cutthroat sports agent who looks like sex on legs, f**ks like she’s passion personified, and wouldn’t let a man help her if she were dangling from a ledge and he was her only hope. One night and too much tequila might change their lives forever. The question is, will either one survive?

*** BAD BILLIONAIRES AFTER DARK

Mick

Dylan

Carson (coming soon)

Brett (coming soon)

More After Dark books:

WILD BOYS AFTER DARK (Available Now!)

Logan

Heath

Jackson

Cooper

The BILLIONAIRES AFTER DARK series is part of the LOVE IN BLOOM big family romance collection. Each book may be read as a stand-alone novel, or as part of the series.

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Get your copy today!

Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EZ400X8

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bad-boys-after-dark-melissa-foster/1123782702?ean=2940157029845

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/bad-boys-after-dark-dylan

GPlay: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Melissa_Foster_Bad_Boys_After_Dark_Dylan?id=Mv8VDAAAQBAJ

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/bad-boys-after-dark-dylan/id1109524331?mt=11

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/634128

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Boys-After-Dark-Dylan/dp/1941480551

 

Exclusive Excerpt:

WITH HER PHONE pressed to her ear, Tiffany Winters ducked out of the rain and into the Kiss, an eclectic Manhattan bar, to return calls and take care of a mountain of text messages that had piled up during her dinner meeting. She listened to her client’s wife explain why she didn’t want her husband traveling too often to endorse a hotel chain Tiffany was planning on pitching to him next week. Her client had already nixed any mention of his family in the advertisements, and reducing his travel would make it an even harder sell.

“I hear your concern, Allison,” she said as she sat on a barstool. “If you and Matt decide this isn’t the right thing for your family, we’ll turn our efforts in another direction.” As a sports agent, dealing with significant others was part of the job, a part Tiffany enjoyed and other agents rued. Sure, some wives assumed their husband’s success granted them the power to be overly demanding. Ass kissing was part of the game. Sometimes she wished she could give the meeker wives lessons in how to be tough. Teach them to have balls as big as their husbands’ and come right out and say what they meant instead of beating around the bush with bullshit hypotheticals. She reminded herself often that not every woman grew up in a testosterone-laden house with two competitive older brothers and a father who won the Heisman in college and went on to play pro sports—a house where mincing words didn’t cut the mustard.

“You missed the wedding.”

The deep male voice drew Tiffany’s attention from her phone call to the fine specimen of a man standing behind the bar. He looked like he’d just stepped off a Hot Guys in Suits Pinterest page. His tie hung loosely around the collar of his white dress shirt, which was open three buttons deep, revealing a smattering of dark chest hair, a rarity nowadays, when so many men manscaped every inch of their bodies. Tiffany preferred a man to look like a man, which included hair in all the right places. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing heavily corded forearms, and his jacket hung casually from two fingers over his left shoulder. Her fingers itched to send the last few buttons—and that jacket—flying to the floor. The guy’s chiseled jaw and dark eyes were movie-star classic, and his dark hair was thick enough to hang on to. She’d had a long, hard day, and he looked like he could provide a long, hard, pleasure-filled night.

Perfect.

Holding his gaze, she spoke into the phone as he laid his jacket across the bar, giving her the impression he wasn’t the bartender, but rather a guest who’d happened to wander back there. “Allison, I’ll see what else I can come up with and get back to you. Right. Okay, hon. Thank you.” After ending the call, she responded to the stud behind the bar. “Wedding? Who gets married at a bar?”

“My brother, for one.” He nodded across the room to a group of men and women who were holding their glasses up in a toast.

She zeroed in on one she recognized as her tall, dark colleague. “Mick Bad is married?” The high-powered attorney was a workaholic like her, and he’d been unattached two months earlier, when they’d worked together on a deal for one of her clients. She’d never understand couples who claimed to fall in love practically overnight. Love was a crutch for weak people who needed someone else to lean on. Except Mick Bad had never needed anyone to lean on. She wondered if his new bride was pregnant.

“The one and only.” Hot guy’s eyes took a long, luxurious stroll down her body, lingered on her breasts, then roamed north, hovering around her mouth, before finally meeting her gaze. He flashed a wolfish grin full of sinful promises.

“Dylan Bad at your service.”

Pushing thoughts of her newly married colleague’s expedient nuptials aside, she focused on his very available brother. A definite player, which was fine with her. She had no time—or interest—in anything but a quick hookup, and the six-two or -three stud had already shot to the top of tonight’s fantasy list.

“What’s your pleasure?” he asked with more than a hint of innuendo.

You. Naked, with your head buried between my legs, to start.

“Surprise me.” She watched him turn to prepare her drink and checked out the way his dark slacks hugged his perfect ass. It had been a long time since she’d found a man this attractive. But Mick Bad’s brother? That spelled trouble.

 

 

About Melissa Foster:

melissa-foster

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance and new adult romance, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

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Connect with Melissa:

NEWSLETTER:

http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter

CONNECT WITH MELISSA

FACEBOOK:

https://www.facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor

TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/Melissa_Foster

WEBSITE:

http://www.MelissaFoster.com

STREET TEAM:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/melissafosterfans

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Enter Melissa’s Giveaway:

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The Pawn by Skye Warren….Release Day Blitz & Review

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Today is the release day of Skye Warren’s sexy new THE PAWN! Check out this fantastic contemporary romance and grab your copy today!

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About The Pawn:

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.

There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.

My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.

Except he’s playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.

THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love.

Get Your Copy Today!

Amazon: http://www.skyewarren.com/the-pawn-amazon

iBooks: http://www.skyewarren.com/the-pawn-ibooks

Nook: http://www.skyewarren.com/the-pawn-bn

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-pawn-14

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Exclusive Excerpt:

A sense of familiarity fills the space between us even though I know we haven’t met. This man is a stranger, but he looks at me as if he wants to know me. He looks at me as if he already does. There’s an intensity to his eyes when they sweep over my face, as firm and as telling as a touch.

“I need…” A thud against my ribs as I think about all the things I need—a rewind button. One person in the city who doesn’t hate me by name alone. “I need a loan.”

He gives me a slow perusal, from the nervous slide of my tongue along my lips to the high neckline of my dress. I tried to dress professionally—a black cowl-necked sweater and pencil skirt. His strange amber gaze unbuttons my coat, pulls away the expensive cotton, tears off the cotton fabric of my bra and panties. He sees right through me, and I shiver as a ripple of awareness runs over my skin.

I’ve met a million men in my life. Shaken hands. Smiled. I’ve never felt as seen through as I do right now. Never felt like someone has turned me inside out, every dark secret exposed to the harsh light. He sees my weaknesses, and from the cruel set of his mouth, he likes them.

His lids lower. “And what do you have for collateral?”

Nothing except my word. That wouldn’t be worth anything if he knew my name. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I don’t know.”

Nothing.

He takes a step forward, and suddenly I’m crowded against the brick wall beside the door, his large body blocking out the warm light from inside. He feels like a furnace in front me, the heat of him in sharp contrast to the cold brick at my back. “What’s your name, girl?”

The word girl is a slap in the face. I force myself not to flinch, but it’s hard. Everything about him overwhelms me—his size, his low voice. “I’ll tell Mr. Scott my name.”

In the shadowed space between us, his smile spreads, white and taunting. The pleasure that lights his strange yellow eyes is almost sensual, as if I caressed him. “You’ll have to get past me.”

My heart thuds. He likes that I’m challenging him, and God, that’s even worse. What if I’ve already failed? I’m free-falling, tumbling, turning over without a single hope to anchor me. Where will I go if he turns me away? What will happen to my father?

“Let me go,” I whisper, but my hope fades fast.

His eyes flash with warning. “Little Avery James, all grown up.”

A small gasp resounds in the space between us. He already knows my name. That means he knows who my father is. He knows what he’s done. Denials rush to my throat, pleas for understanding. The hard set of his eyes, the broad strength of his shoulders tells me I won’t find any mercy here.

 

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my-review

Five Loves!!! Five hot, intense, painful, heart-shattering loves!!!
Skye Warren has an amazing talent and I am so glad she shares it with the world! She never fails to deliver an amazing plot (or leave me hot and bothered). In her newest installment of mind-blowing-fuckery, The Pawn, she introduces us to a new favorite couple of mine, Avery and Gabriel. I started this book before bed one night thinking that I would read a few chapters before falling asleep… I should have known better! Four hours of missed sleep later, checkmate. It was 100% worth being dog-tired at work the next day!
Avery’s father was convicted of fraud and shortly thereafter, beaten to a pulp and left to dead. Since then, it’s been up to Avery to take care of him and the bills. Unfortunately, even after selling off all of her family’s belongings, she has no money left and is facing eviction. In an effort to get money to help her stay afloat, she ends up at The Den, where the high-class, powerful men of Tanglewood come to play.
“Officially the Den is a gentlemen’s club, the old-world kind with cigars and private invitations. Unofficially it’s a collection of the most powerful men in Tanglewood. Dangerous men. Criminals, even if they wear a suit while breaking the law.”
When the front door to The Den opens, Avery is met by Gabriel Miller. As soon as she lays eyes on him, she is struck by both his beauty as well as the power that emanates from his body. He is a dangerous, cunning man that once you cross, you may pay for it with your life. She was about to find out just how true that was.
“I’m struck by his eyes, a deep amber color like expensive brandy and almost translucent. My breath catches in my throat, lips frozen against words like please and help. Instinctively I know they won’t work; this isn’t a man given to mercy. The tailored cut of his shirt, its sleeves carelessly rolled up, tells me he’ll extract a price. One I can’t afford to pay.”
Once inside The Den, Avery meets Damon Scott, the notorious loan shark. She pleads with him to give her a loan, but he insists that he can’t help her. Until Gabriel reminds him that there is one way he can help…
“They’re talking about selling my body for sex. My virginity.
‘No, I whisper. I won’t do it.’  
‘You see,’ Damon Scott says. ‘She won’t do it.’
Gabriel’s gaze sweeps over my body. He meets my eyes, his expression intent. She doesn’t have a choice. It’s the most valuable thing she owns.”
Avery might have been a meek, little virgin at the beginning of this book but oh, the sizzling, sinful things that Gabriel does to Avery’s body…  she finds out very quickly how amazing letting herself go, letting herself feel, can be. Gabriel takes her to places that she was previously too scared and ashamed to go before.
“Then his lips are on mine, hot and soft and persistent. I’m helpless to his demands, opening to him, a sigh of acceptance drifting from my mouth to his. I know that everything happening here is inevitable, almost fated, but this part doesn’t hurt. It feels almost like pleasure, his tongue swiping across mine, his teeth grasping my lower lip in carnal warning.”
It doesn’t take long for Avery to believe that Gabriel sees more in her than a prize won at an auction, but a part of her had forgotten who he really is, what he is capable of. For as much as he is helping her, she doesn’t realize that he has her entire life by a string. Until one day, everything that she sold her soul to save comes crashing down around her. Gabriel is there to remind her that she is just pawn in his game and he has checkmate.
I don’t know what I’m going to do until January when the next installment, The Knight, comes out, but I can tell you that I will be counting down the days until then.
5LovesRLB

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About Skye Warren:

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Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dark romance such as Wanderlust and Prisoner. Praised as a “true mistress of dark erotica”, her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, four dogs, and one evil cat.

Connect with Skye:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/skye_warren

Instagram: https://instagram.com/skyewarrenbooks

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkyeWarrenBooks

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

Website: www.skyewarren.com

 

 

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Atticus and Hazel by Fisher Amelie….Release Blitz

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It only took a second.

Overwhelming chemistry isn’t something anyone ever prepares you for. It’s not like your mama sits you down and warns you one day you might stumble upon someone impossible to resist, someone who sets your soul on fire. Combustible, explosive attraction is just the tip of the iceberg for Atticus Kelly and Hazel Stone. One touch between them can set them on fire, one word from their lips can send them careening, one look can cripple them to their knees. They are an inferno and they’re approaching the end of their wick.

Burning too fast, way too fast.

Except there’s nothing to temper the fever.

And the ramifications may be more than they can afford.

Everyone knows when it goes up in flames, there’s no saving the kindling.

The decision only took a second. Just a second.

“Hazel, what happened?”

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Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2dS6gJY
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2eQJSNY
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2fiSj93

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2eoSjQ1

iBooks: http://apple.co/2e28gKM

Come read the first chapter!

First half, at Vilma’s: http://wp.me/p3C5Uj-73w

Second, half at Natasha’s: https://wp.me/p2YIUs-8SH

Exclusive Excerpt

I looked over at my equally beautiful friend. She was holding Simon’s hand, and I felt so happy for her. I looked down at Atticus’s hands as they swung at his sides. I found myself wanting one of his to take one of mine. My eyes followed up his arms, his shoulders, the side of his neck, over his tattoo of Juniper’s name, and settled on his face. I wonder, I thought, if we could ever be as we were, if it we could ever be simple, if he could ever love me.I wondered many more things as we followed the sinking path toward the open iron gates below, toward the stalactites and the stalagmites, reaching toward each other, desperate to connect, just like Atticus and me. They had much time to wait, though. I could only hope that wasn’t the case for Atticus and me. I didn’t know if I wanted to wait anymore. I was tired. Tired of suffering without him, tired of the weight of how I felt for him, tired of dragging it around with me, heavy, and begging to be lifted.
The sun had disappeared as we nestled deeper and deeper into the recesses of God’s earth and we found each other in the dull light of the scattered lanterns in a part of the caverns where the ceilings were barely eight feet high. Etta and Simon had gone ahead about a hundred yards where the cavern lifted a hundred feet into the air, studying the nature surrounding them more quickly than Atticus and I could absorb it.
We came upon a stalactite and a stalagmite separated by mere inches. They too looked tired to me. We circled them twice, each of us on opposite sides. Atticus bent his head to peer at me through the gap. I leaned forward and smiled at him but the smile quickly fell.
“So close yet so far,” I told him quietly, my whisper betraying me and echoing against the cavern walls. It bounced off our ears over and over.
“At least another thousand years,” his answer repeated.
“Such a long time to wait,” I said.
“They’ll get there,” he said.
“Will they, though?” I asked him.
Atticus’s eyes softened and he stood upright. He followed the base of the stalagmite around until he was standing about a yard away from me. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his T-shirt straining against his shoulders and biceps.
“You know something, Hazel?” he asked me.
“What’s that, Atticus?”
“When they meet, those two points, when they finally come together after the wars, the battles, the wrong that has surrounded them in the ripples of their existence, after the longing, the misery, the torture of seeing each other as their future complete, that moment, that second, that instant will be their most vindicating time. It will be quiet; it will be unassuming. No one who sees it will be aware of their perfect collision, but it will be an explosion amongst themselves, for only them to know, for only them to feel. It will be proof they can weather anything, absolutely anything that comes their way. Even if it meant the end of the earth, Hazel Stone, it would not mean the end of the world. They are perpetual. They are forever.”
My heart pounded. He took a step closer to me. Another. Another. Until the chasm between us matched theirs.
“I have missed you more than you could possibly comprehend, Atticus.”
His eyes filled with something, an emotion. “I think I could,” he revealed.
Tears spilled over my cheeks. “But I don’t deserve you.”
He shook his head back and forth slowly; the backs of his fingers found my cheeks and dragged across. I turned my head into his skin, desperate to feel him for as long as possible. “No, I don’t deserve you.”
I shook my head in disagreement, tears coming stronger. “But I pushed you away.”
“You were trying to protect yourself, protect Juniper. I don’t blame you for any of it, Haze. It was what it was and it made us who we are.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. “Can you forgive me, still?”
“Only if you forgive me?”
“Of course. Of course I do. You know I do.”
He placed my face in the palms of his hands. “All is forgiven. All of it. All, Hazel.” He took a deep breath.
“Do you still hate my face?” I asked him.
His head lolled softly side to side. His thumbs started at my forehead and dragged down the sides of my face. “No, Hazel, I no longer see my pain there. I only see my future happiness, our future hope.”
I let out a groan of emotion, unable to hear that without a physical reaction. “I feel guilty admitting this—”
“Don’t. Juniper wouldn’t want that for us, Haze.”
I nodded. “I don’t feel the despair anymore. I feel calm now. I feel the memory without the searing pain. I think— no, I know it’s because of you.”
Atticus brought me into him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, and I wrapped mine around his neck.
“You’re my best friend, Hazel,” he whispered to me.
“You’re mine, Atticus, my favorite friend, my forever friend.”

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Atticus’s Mix Tape for Hazel

https://open.spotify.com/user/1270212282/playlist/7vebLsLVZsLy1pfAc6N80Z

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Dream Cast:

Colton Haynes as Atticus Kelly

Maia Mitchell as Hazel Stone

Amandla Stenberg as Etta Bello

Michael B Jordan as Simon

Wentworth Miller as Cillian Kelly

Jesse Rutherford as Aidan Kelly

Ansel Egort as Malachi Kelly

Jeremy Irvine as Brendan Kelly

Douglas Booth as Liam Kelly

James Franco as Tim

Bang by Avery Flynn…Exclusive Chapter Reveal Stop

Bang BY AVERY FLYNN

What do former RECON Marine Isaac Camancho, and beauty pageant ice queen Tamara Post have in common? Not much, but the sparks fly, along with the bullets, as they race to save a 16-year-old girl from the clutches of a cult-leader.

Read the full Chapter One Reveal with an exclusive section on each of the blogs below!

Read Love Blog

Sizzling Hot Bookst

I Smell Sheep

Coffee Time Romance/Coffee Thoughts

Grave Tells

cracked metal plate 

Title: Bang

Series: B-Squad #2

Author: Avery Flynn

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: September 12, 2016

Synopsis:

Freelance investigator Isaac Camacho has a weakness for bitchy blondes, and no one fits the bill quite like former beauty queen and gold digger Tamara Post. She’s sexy, feisty and on the run from a cult leader. Complicated women? Oh he loves them almost as much as he loves watching Tamara act like a total ice queen when he knows she burns white hot.

Calculating opportunist Tamara Post never cared what anyone thought about her—except for her sister. But when her sister dies, it’s up to Tamara to hide her teenage niece so the girl’s dictatorial father can’t marry her off to one of his disciples. The last thing Tamara has time for is Isaac—a man who flirts as well as he fills out a pair of worn jeans and whose stubborn determination to help makes it hard to act as if she’s really as cold as she appear.

When the bad guys find her, there’s only one person Tamara can depend on to help keep her alive until her niece is safe. But once the life and death chase is on, it’s not just their lives Tamara and Isaac are risking…but their hearts.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Bang: B-Squad Book 2 by Avery Flynn

Chapter One – Reveal One

If someone had told Tamara Post a month ago that she’d be in one of Fort Worth’s most exclusive members-only clubs sipping champagne at her ex-husband’s Taz’s engagement party, she would have laughed in that person’s face. If they’d have said she’d be working as the office manager at B-Squad Security and Investigations—which her ex-husband’s fiancée, Bianca Sutherland, owned—and loving it, she would have punched them square in the nose. Ex-beauty queens and former soon-to-be trophy wives didn’t roll that way.

It was funny how life turned out.

Settling in on the velvet-covered settee in the Corsair Club’s private party room, she contemplated getting another glass of wine from the open bar.

“Looking for one of these?” The man belonging to the deep bass voice held out a glass of her favorite chardonnay.

Whereas everyone else in the room was dressed in designer suits and glittering cocktail dresses, the tall, dark and handsome man in front of her was in pressed Wranglers, cowboy boots and a crisp white dress shirt. If he’d had a tie or a sports coat on at one time, he’d ditched them a while ago, judging by how his shirtsleeves were rolled halfway up his corded forearms. Not that she noticed that, or had scoped out the way his broad shoulders filled the shirt to perfection, or was tempted to ask him to turn around so she could confirm that his ass looked as good in those jeans as she imagined.

Men were no longer on her to-do list. But wine? Yeah, that she could do.

“Thank you.” She took the glass and drank a sip.

The man sat down beside her, his brawny frame taking up most of the bench she wasn’t already parked on. One of his jeans-clad legs brushed against her bare knee and, for the first time in months, a wave of warm desire had her clenching her thighs together.

Unable to figure out how to inch away to allow for space between them without being obvious about it, she crossed her legs. The move made her emerald-green skirt slide up her thigh a bit more than she was comfortable with under the circumstances. Still, giving him a glimpse of skin was less…unsettling…than actually touching him.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” He held out his hand. “I’m Isaac Camacho.”

She knew that name, and now she’d have a face to go with it every time she entered in expense reports. “You work with B-Squad.”

He nodded. “On a come-and-go basis as a freelancer.”

“Why’s that?” From the number of B-Squad clients she’d had to turn away in the past month, Tamara knew the team could use another member.

“I’ve been told I don’t play well with others.”

His grin did something funny to her stomach.

“Now that really is too bad. It’s important to play nice—mostly.” It came out before she could stop it. Damn it. She didn’t flirt. Not anymore. Men had been her drug of choice for too long and she’d sworn off of them.

He leaned in close. “Look, I don’t want to make a scene but we need to get out of here. Now.”

And don’t forget to continue on to the other stops to read the full Chapter One Reveal with an exclusive section on each of the blogs below!

Read Love Blog

Sizzling Hot Books

I Smell Sheep

Coffee Time Romance/Coffee Thoughts

Grave Tells

 

Author Bio:

Award-winning romance author Avery Flynn has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hopinAveryFlynng someone invents the coffee IV drip. Avery was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.

You can also visit her online at the following places: Website Facebook | Twitter Goodreads | Amazon | Pinterest | Tumblr

 

 

 

 

YA Retellings Blast & Giveaway

EntTeen-YARetellings-2016(560x315)

Get Back-to-School Ready with this YA Retellings Blog Blast!

Recently, we asked several Entangled TEEN authors of YA Retellings the following question, “What book or story would you like to see updated for the young adult market?”, and where possible, we’ve shared their responses below with you!

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Gaby Triana’s Wake the Hollow – YA Retelling of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”:

Forget the ghosts, Mica. It’s real, live people you should fear.

Tragedy has brought Micaela Burgos back to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow. It’s been six years since she chose to live with her father in Miami instead of her eccentric mother. And now her mother is dead.

This town will suck you in and not let go.

Sleepy Hollow may be famous for its fabled headless horseman, but the town is real. So are its prejudices and hatred, targeting Mica’s family as outsiders. But ghostly voices carry on the wind, whispering that her mother’s death was based on hate…not an accident at all. With the help of two very different guys—who pull at her heart in very different ways—Micaela must awaken the hidden secret of Sleepy Hollow…before she meets her mother’s fate.

Find the answers.

Unless, of course, the answers find you first.

Gaby’s Answer to What YA Retelling She’d Like to See in 100 Words or Less:

As a huge fan of haunted house stories, I’d love to see a retelling of the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. First published in 1959, this was and still is, one of the finest examples of psychological terror ever known in the horror genre, and because I love stories that scare you with what’s not there rather than what is, I would love to see this interpreted for a teen audience. Are we caught up in Eleanor’s mind, or is a real poltergeist haunting her? “Whatever walked there, walked alone.” Yeah, definitely this one.

Buy Wake the Hollow:

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

1

Vivi Barnes, author of Olivia Twisted, which is a YA Retelling of Oliver Twist:

Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite―break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv…

Thanks to Z, Olivia’s about to get twisted.

Olivia Decoded:

This isn’t my Jack, who once looked at me like I was his world. The guy who’s occupied the better part of my mind for eight months.

This is Z, criminal hacker with a twisted agenda and an arsenal full of anger.

I’ve spent the past year trying to get my life on track. New school. New friends. New attitude. But old flames die hard, and one look at Jack—the hacker who enlisted me into his life and his hacking ring, stole my heart, and then left me—and every memory, every moment, every feeling comes rushing back. But Jack’s not the only one who’s resurfaced in my life. And if I can’t break through Z’s defenses and reach the old Jack, someone will get hurt…or worse.

Vivi’s Answer to What YA Retelling She’d Like to See in 100 Words or Less:

I first saw the movie To Kill A Mockingbird when I was a teenager, and I believe it played a large part in opening my eyes to the realities and consequences of racism. Considering the state of the world today, I would love to see the story retold as a young adult novel with a Muslim-American Tom Robinson. I think capturing the attention of young adults through literature is one of the most effective ways we can change the world for the better.

Buy Olivia Twisted (Olivia Twisted, #1):

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

Pre-order Olivia Decoded (Olivia Twisted, #2):

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

2Cindi Madsen’s All the Broken Pieces – YA Retelling of Frankenstein:

What if your life wasn’t your own?

Liv comes out of a coma with no memory of her past and two distinct, warring voices inside her head. Nothing, not even her reflection, seems familiar. As she stumbles through her junior year, the voices get louder, insisting she please the popular group while simultaneously despising them. But when Liv starts hanging around with Spencer, whose own mysterious past also has him on the fringe, life feels complete for the first time in, well, as long as she can remember.

Liv knows the details of the car accident that put her in the coma, but as the voices invade her dreams, and her dreams start feeling like memories, she and Spencer seek out answers. Yet the deeper they dig, the less things make sense. Can Liv rebuild the pieces of her broken past, when it means questioning not just who she is, but what she is?

Cindi’s Answer to What YA Retelling She’d Like to See in 100 Words or Less:

Hmm. What retelling would I love to see? I’m a big fan of the classics, and twists on them. I’ll read just about any Pride & Prejudice retelling. Beauty and the Beast is also a favorite. But I’d love to see a modern retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. I think that there could be a lot of possibilities and different ways to go, but I think one with a lot of tension and romance and kissing (my fave), would be amazing! And I just found out Entangled Teen recently acquired a Count of Monte Cristo retelling called STING, by Cindy Wilson! *makes grabby hands*

Buy All The Broken Pieces:

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

3

Jenny Trout’s Such Sweet Sorrow – YA Retelling of Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet:

Never was there a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo…

But true love never dies. Though they’re parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but he’ll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating guide.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his father’s crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important responsibility—a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead reside. When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure and the chance to avenge his father’s death.

In an underworld filled with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants, and fierce Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel. Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn’t surrender souls without a price…

Buy Such Sweet Sorrow:

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

5

A.L. Davroe’s Nexis – YA Retelling of “Cinderella”:

In the domed city of Evanescence, appearance is everything. A Natural Born amongst genetically-altered Aristocrats, all Ella ever wanted was to be like everyone else. Augmented, sparkling, and perfect. Then…the crash. Devastated by her father’s death and struggling with her new physical limitations, Ella is terrified to learn she is not just alone, but little more than a prisoner.

Her only escape is to lose herself in Nexis, the hugely popular virtual reality game her father created. In Nexis she meets Guster, a senior player who guides Ella through the strange and compelling new world she now inhabits. He offers Ella guidance, friendship…and something more. Something that allows her to forget about the “real” world, and makes her feel whole again.

A.L.’s Answer to What YA Retelling She’d Like to See in 100 Words or Less:

I’m a huge fan of retellings of stories that are a little less well know. Even better? Gender swapped stories! That’s a field rich for the harvest and I don’t know why we’re not all jumping on that boat. Although, I hear Channing Tatum is going to be in a gender-swapped version of Splash. That’s gonna be something to see…

Buy Nexis (Tricksters, #1):

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

6Kendra C. Highley’s Finding Perfect – YA Retelling of Pygmalion in reverse:

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains swoony situations, adult language, and a perfectly imperfect hero with an eye for calculus and a heart of gold.

How far will you go for perfection?

For “Perfect Paige” Westfeld, today is “D” Day. As in, she just got one on her calculus test. With her dreams of Stanford, her reputation, and her parents’ expectations at stake, Paige needs to find a way to save face before everything she’s worked for goes up in flames.

Ben Franklin (yes, he’s related) is from the wrong side of town, with the wrong clothes and the wrong kind of life. He also knows an opportunity when he sees one, and he’ll be happy to tutor Paige—if she makes him into the kind of guy her best friend, the hottest girl in school, will date.

It’s the perfect arrangement. And Paige is determined not even the inconvenient—and utterly imperfect—attraction simmering between her and Ben will ruin it…

Kendra’s Answer to What YA Retelling She’d Like to See in 100 Words or Less:

I’d love the see Samson and Delilah told as an epic love story between two enemies, in a dystopian where magic is real (think An Ember in the Ashes). Samson, an eighteen-year- old with unusual strength has been helping his country’s army fight off an invasion by Delilah’s countrymen. Delilah, a renowned beauty, is blackmailed into starting a relationship with Samson to spy for her country in exchange from saving her sister from slavers. Against all odds, they fall in love, but Delilah still has to betray Samson. The twist would be that she frees him from his captors in the end, and they escape together.

Buy Finding Perfect (Finding Perfect, #1):

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

7

Alyxandra Harvey’s Red – YA Retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood”:

Bad girls burn hot…

Red is the color of Kia Alcott’s hair.

It’s her temper, which blazes hot and always gets Kia into way too much trouble. And it’s the color of fire. Fires that Kia can start…just by thinking about them.

When her latest “episode” gets her kicked out of school, Kia is shipped off to her grandmother, who works for the wealthy Blackwoods. It’s an estate shrouded in secrets, surrounded by rules, and presided over by a family that is far from normal…including the gorgeous and insolent Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan knows far more about the dangers of the forest surrounding the estate than Kia can ever imagine. For this forest has teeth, and Ethan is charged with protecting the outside world from its vicious mysteries.

But inside, even the most vibrant shade of red doesn’t stand a chance against the dark secrets of the Blackwood family…

Buy Red:

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

8

Emily McKay’s How Willa Got Her Groove Back – YA Retelling of Pride & Prejudice:

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains an unbelievably hot bad boy, an unbelievably famous actress, and all the drama that comes with adding both to your family. Oh, and a forbidden flirtation with a soon-to-be stepbrother

When your life feels like a bad movie, rewrite the script.

When Willa Schofer’s father comes home from a business trip with an über-famous new fiancée, Willa’s senior year blows up in paparazzi-fueled flames. Overnight, she has a new house, a new car, and a new soon-to-be stepbrother—the unbelievably hot, unbelievably arrogant, Finn McCain. Thank god he’s constantly pushing her buttons, or she might do something irresponsible. Like fall for the jerk.

Just when Willa’s decided to avoid him for, oh, ever, Finn lands in the center of her senior project team. Seriously—how hard is it to shake a guy? At least her work on the project snagged the attention of the (second) hottest guy in school. He might only be into her because of her famous stepmom, and he’s not quite as exciting as a certain annoying housemate, but at least she’s allowed to crush on the guy.

Because crushing on your annoying stepbrother? So not cool.

Willa and Finn Book 2 coming November 14, 2016

Buy How Willa Got Her Groove Back (Creative HeArts, #2; Willa and Finn, #1):

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

Enter for a Chance to Win the Entangled YA Retellings Giveaway:

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Now It’s Your Turn!

What YA Retelling are you dying to read, but – as far as you know – hasn’t been written yet? Let us know in the comments section!

Exclusive First Look at THE DARKEST LINK by Scarlett Cole

When a pin-up worthy tattoo artist meets a car mechanic on a Florida roadside, it feels like the start of a great one-night stand. But when feelings grow, and secrets are revealed, both of their lives will be at risk. The only question is from who? Find out in THE DARKEST LINK by RITA finalist, Scarlett Cole.

TheDarkestLink+(1)

Title: THE DARKEST LINK

Author: Scarlett Cole

Series: Second Circle Tattoos #4

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Pub. Date: August 30, 2016

Synopsis:

When her car breaks down off the side of a lonely highway far from her sunny Miami home, tattoo artist Lia never expected her very own white knight to ride up on the back of a barely street-legal motorcycle…and she never expected to fall for her dark savior. After a string of failed relationships and a bruised heart Lia is not looking for forever, and the hot mechanic, with his sexy scruff and shaggy hair, is simply impossible to resist. He’s the perfect candidate for a mind-blowingly-perfect, no-strings-attached one-night stand.

Reid left his life in Chicago far behind him and hasn’t been back, but he’s never been able to escape the guilt he feels about his own painful role in inviting a monster into his baby sister’s life. A monster who almost destroyed her. Being with Lia is an unexpected gift, one he doesn’t feel he deserves, and their one night together has him wanting more than he should. When he surprises her at her tattoo studio, Second Circle Tattoos, in Miami, he’s in for a shock—and a fist to the face—when his past and present collide.

With secrets coming to the surface, Reid and Lia are thrown into a world of betrayal and lies that threatens to pull them under, and the last link to his former life may be the darkest of them all.

 

Find out more at: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | iBooks

 

Exclusive Guest Post from Scarlett Cole:

Being a writer is very much like being a movie director, without the benefits of hanging out with Chris Hemsworth or Tom Hardy all day. I get my cats, who quite frankly are nowhere near as good looking or entertaining, but I digress. We get to decide where the action starts, where it ends, and most importantly, what will happen in the moments in between for the characters we write. We also get to choose how the characters meet, which is my favorite part.

The Darkest Link, Lia and Reid’s story and the fourth book in the Second Circle Tattoos series, has been playing out in my mind for the best part of two years, because it closes the loop on Harper’s story, the first book in the series, which I finished writing a long time ago. Reid, the hero, is Harper’s long lost brother, and is the final piece of her story, too, so I knew the moment they saw each other again would stop Reid in his tracks:

Standing on the sidewalk in front of him, a thousand miles from where he’d left her in the safety of their parents, was his sister. That was as far as he got in assessing the parallel universe he’d just stepped into before Trent’s fist again made contact with the side of his face, sending him crashing into the studio window.

So many readers adore Harper, and I knew I needed to give her closure, but this story really is about feisty tattoo artist, Lia, and brooding mechanic, Reid. I day-dreamed about this moment long before I ever wrote it.

With Lia’s pin-up girl looks and attitude, I knew the first time they met, that it would be instant attraction. And that for Reid, it would be all about the legs:

Speeding down Ocean Drive with thoughts of stopping for a beer along the beach, he saw legs. A sexy-as-fuck pair of legs in spectacular shoes. He pulled the brake a little too late to get a good look, only slowing long enough to realize the hood was up on an equally hot classic car. As he drove past, he caught the owner of the incredibly fine legs lift the umbrella that had been obscuring her face. Damn, he was a sucker for red lips and high cheekbones. A glorious redhead in distress. At least he hoped she was in distress, preferably the kind he could fix.

There are so many different ways they could have met. He could have gone to her for a tattoo, or appeared at the Tattoo Expo she was a speaker at, but this was the beginning I visualized when I first committed to paper that Reid and Lia were the stars of the fourth book, and it stuck with me this whole time.

Of all the stories you’ve read, what are the most memorable of all first-meetings? Is it when Kellan sees Keira while performing at Pete’s? Or when Evelyn wakes up on the floor of a Vegas hotel bathroom married to David? I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Beautiful Blond woman sucking on a lollipop on Black
Beautiful Blond woman sucking on a lollipop on Black

Excerpt:

“What is this?” she asked, running her hand over the elongated hood.

“A 1958 Ford Thunderbird. It was a shell when I bought it. Was found in an unused barn with a bunch of other old classics.”

The wheels were black with white faces, and the soft top was a creamy white. Reflections from the chrome cast light onto the white walls.

“I love it,” she said, excited to sit inside.

“Hood up or down?” Kenny asked, slipping her cases into the trunk.

“Oh, most definitely down,” Lia said. Screw the victory rolls, she could always put her hair into a high ponytail and add the red ribbon she had in her purse if her scarf failed. She reached into her bag to find it and tied it around her head.

“I like this,” Kenny said, fingering the knot under her chin gently. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners made her feel all kinds of gooey inside. Perhaps it was a good thing they lived a long drive away from each other. His very presence made it difficult to remember why she was taking some time off from men. But a little harmless flirtation was adding to the adventure of a few days off work. There couldn’t be any harm in that.

Once inside the car, Kenny took her hotel details and plugged them into his phone. “There are few downsides to the classics, but lack of sat-nav has to be one,” he said, turning the radio on. “Ready?”

“I feel like Thelma and Louise about to drive over the edge of the cliff,” she said with a laugh.

“Close. That was a 1966 Ford Thunderbird, eight years younger than this baby. Does that make me J.D.?”

“That depends. Are you planning on driving me to a motel, having your wicked way with me on the dresser, then stealing my life savings?”

“I know a motel, don’t know if they have a dresser, but more than willing to do a drive-by to find out.”

Lia laughed. “I was joking.”

“I wasn’t. Say the word, Red.”

He revved the engine several times, the low growl sexy as all hell, and grinned as he roared out onto the street. Lia watched his hand as he shifted the stick. He caressed the gear stick. The more she stared, the more turned on she became until she had to cross her legs and look out of the window.

Damn him for getting her so hot and bothered. She spared a glance back toward him, just as he turned to face her. And he winked. Because he knew.
BikersTeaser

 

Check out the other books in the Second Circle Tattoos series!

THE STRONGEST STEEL, Second Circle Tattoos #1

Available at: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

THE FRACTURED HEART, Second Circle Tattoos #2

Available at: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

THE PUREST HOOK, Second Circle Tattoos #3

Available at: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

 

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About SCARLETT COLE

Scarlett Cole PhotoScarlett Cole is a writer of contemporary romance and a two-time RITA finalist. Her debut, THE STRONGEST STEEL, has already become an Amazon best seller in romantic suspense, was a Best Debut Goodreads Author Finalist 2015, and Authors On The Air Global Radio Network Contemporary Romance Pick of 2015.

When Scarlett isn’t writing, she spends her time reading, hoarding mason jars, and working out to off-set an epic sour candy habit. She likes hot men, cold beer, and expensive shoes.

Having travelled the world for work and fun, Scarlett is a citizen of both Britain and Canada. A true city-dweller, she considers Toronto and Manchester home and likes to set her books in vibrant locations such as Miami and Los Angeles.

Rep’d by Beth Phelan at The Bent Agency, and published by St. Martin’s Press.

She’d love to hear from you on twitter @itsscarlettcole

 

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