Hooked on Trouble by Kelly Siskind…Release Day Blitz & Review

HOOKED ON TROUBLE by Kelly Siskind (January 10, 2017; Forever Yours eBook; $3.99; Over the Top Book 3)

 

Reality bites.  Hard.

The last time Raven did “real” was sixteen months ago, when she spent one unforgettable night with the tattooed, impossible sexy Nico, and then he disappeared the next day.  Since then, she’s kept her guard up and her feelings to herself.  She doesn’t have time for relationship drama when she’s busy searching for her long lost sister.

Nico hasn’t stopped thinking about Raven—her sultry curves, inked skin, or the fact that he ditched her after their night together.  Now that they’re living in the same city, he knows this is his chance to make things right.  What better way to prove to Raven he’s for real than helping her find her sister?  But when the lines between right and wrong start to blur, putting his job on the line, Nico has to decide if the risk is worth the ultimate reward.

Buy the Book!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2h5Q0CS

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2hCb5Ft

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2h5HDqY

iBooks: http://apple.co/2hpQoz6

Google: http://bit.ly/2hpVXgO

EXCERPT

His large hand presses against my knee under the table. “Can we talk?”

Jesus, his touch. It’s the first time I’ve felt the weight of his palm on me since Aspen. It’s heavy. Huge. Callused. Instinctually I shift forward, my body no longer mine to command. He doesn’t move his hand. Just his thumb. It presses harder, dragging downward. I grip my armrests to keep from sliding to the floor. He stares at me, waiting for my answer.

Yes. No. Maybe. I choose silence.

The way our lives are entrenched with our friends, I’ll have to spend time with him, and I can’t keep pretending I can block him out. Moving here was about starting fresh, which means letting go of this grudge. But talking about Aspen could stir up more feelings, the same way the experience spurred my need to find Rose. If we talk about our time in the hot tub, it could unhinge me further.

Our waiter arrives to take our order, and Nico’s thumb moves again, a tiny brush, his skin against mine, sending a pulse between my thighs. My sanity plummets. I shout, “Chicken,” like a lunatic as I push away from the table.

Nico’s hand slides from my knee, but his eyes don’t waver. I feel his gaze on my back as I hurry to the bathroom. The second I get inside, I close the door and lean against it, thankful it’s not a public room with several stalls. I take a few deep breaths.

How can that bit of contact turn me inside out? The smallest touch?

Memories of his other touches flip through my mind, snippets of skin and ink, flashes of ecstasy.

My back arching.

His fingers exploring.

The curve of his inked shoulder.

His huge hands.

The sheer size of him.

We might not have had sex, and the details may be fuzzy, but there’s no doubt it was the hottest night I’ve ever had. What isn’t fuzzy is the time I spent with him in the hot tub prior, and how he took advantage of my vulnerability.

Goddamn Nico. And Goddamn Aspen.

 

Hooked on Trouble is the third and final book in Kelly’s series, Over the Top.  And it’s one I have been dying to heard.

“To show someone rise, you have to show them fall.”

This is Nico and Raven’s story.  And let me tell you, it’s one hell of an emotional ride.  Raven has always kept her heart locked up.  She doesn’t do feelings and has always been one to put her feelings in little compartments and lock them away forever.  Until Nico.  Until that one night she gives him a glimpse of who she is.  And he destroys her.

Nico sees himself as the only solid foundation for his family.  He’s been trying to help his brother from ending up in prison like their father and keeping his sister on the straight and narrow and away from drugs.  It’s a lot for one person to handle, but he does it because he feels it’s his duty.  But only a few know of his family’s issues – he doesn’t open up about that part of his life much.  And when he meets Raven, he keeps that part under lock and key.  A heartbreaking mistake.

Nico and Raven realize they need to handle their problems or risk causing friction and possibly losing friends over their issues.  But what they can’t deny is their attraction to one another – something that has no diminished since their last and only night together. 

Nico is a huge mushy marshmallow.  He may a very strong cop on the outside, but inside, he’s all feelings and mush.  And he’ll do anything and everything to protect those he loves.  Raven is the complete opposite.  Even though they’ve had very similar upbringings, they made different decisions and that’s cause Raven is be more hard and rigid.  But something in Nico brings out the soft side of her.

“Our past choices shape us, but our future ones define us.”

I love Nico and Raven’s story.  It’s not all butterflies and rainbows.  There are some dark tales that work their way into their lives.  And it causes them both to re-evaluate things and their relationship.

Kelly has written another amazing story and I am so glad that we finally got Nico and Raven’s story. I knew it wasn’t going to be a fluffy romance but I loved how she mixed the hard edges with some soft edges – made the story even better.  And I love reading about Shay and Kolton along with Lily and Sawyer. I hate to see them end but all their stories were beautiful and I loved each journey.

I look forward to reading more from Kelly in the future. 

 

About the Author:

A small-town girl at heart, Kelly Siskind moved from the city to open a cheese shop with her husband in Northern Ontario, Canada.  When she’s not neck deep in cheese or out hiking, you can find her, notepad in hand, scribbling down one of the many plot bunnies bouncing around in her head.

She laughs at her own jokes and has been known to eat her feelings—Gummy Bears heal all.  She’s also an incurable romantic, devouring romance novels into the wee hours of the morning.

Social Media Links:

www.kellysiskind.com

www.facebook.com/authorkellysiskind

Add Hooked on Trouble to your shelf on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2hLwMWX

Giveaway

Enter to win 1 of 15 free ebook downloads of Hooked on Trouble!

http://bit.ly/2gP3I0w

Break Point by Rachel Blaufeld…Book Tour & Review

It’s reckless and hot until one of them taps out.

Break Point by Rachel Blaufeld NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2jkzzaD

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2iKY1Az

Nook:  http://bit.ly/2iSfeYR

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2iNeKkL

iBooks: **coming soon**

Blurb

Juliette Smith, star tennis player, is starting over at a new university. Traumatized by hazing at her last school, all she wants is to attend classes, win tennis matches, and be left the hell alone.

She should have known her coach, Drew King, would be a problem from the moment he flexed his sexy-as-hell forearms.

What happens when you mix a pissed-off woman with a bunch of snooty teammates and a hot coach?

A heated match, complete with team politics and a forbidden game of singles with the coach.

It’s reckless and hot until one of them taps out.

Unable to admit she may be better off as a double, Jules is convinced she needs to play the game of life alone. Then life throws her a lob and she runs smack into her past.

Coach King is back, and he wants to take control of the game. But she’s not certain she wants his advice when it comes to the life she’s built.

The power struggle is on, but this time off the court.

Rachel has done it again!!  Another smashing story that grips my heart strings.

Break Point is a very forbidden, second chance love story.  However, it’s not without it’s ups an downs and huge surprises.  This story may be light on the big drama but it filled with love, angst and new beginnings.

“Jules, I want you more than anything. All of you. Everything about you. More than any other woman I’ve ever wanted. It’s a force . . . deep inside me.”

Juliette is the best when it comes to tennis.  And when she transfers to a new college due to a previous dramatizing experience, she has the chance to start anew.  Sparks are flying with her new coach almost instantly.  And instead of ruining her chance at a huge career in tennis, Drew chooses to leave and let her dreams become a reality.

These characters – where do I start?   Drew, Drew, Drew….he stole the limelight in this book.  You truly couldn’t ask for a more humbling and understanding man with his sexiness.  Juliette will be received differently by everyone.  Her choices won’t be won over by a few and she actually irritated me at points.  But Rachel does a fabulous job of allowing her readers to understand the choices her characters make, whether you may or may not agree with them.

While this book is lighter than previous ones I have read by Rachel, it still hits me hard.  No matter the story, Rachel will always take you on a beautiful journey and leave you smiling ear to ear.

 

Book Trailer 

Point Break Rachel Blaufeld from Bibliophile Productions on Vimeo.

The Boys of Verite make an appearance in Break Point.

Do not miss out on the opportunity to grab this stand alone sports romance!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1SGDN61

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1O9CKGj

iBooks: http://apple.co/2geWr9R

Nook: http://bit.ly/1WF1CNs

Kobo: http://bit.ly/23ZQ49P

Meet Rachel

Rachel Blaufeld is a bestselling author of Romantic Suspense, New Adult, Coming-of-Age Romance, and Sports Romance. A recent poll of her readers described her as insightful, generous, articulate, and spunky. Originally a social worker, Rachel creates broken yet redeeming characters. She’s been known to turn up the angst like cranking up the heat in the dead of winter.

A devout coffee drinker and doughnut eater, Rachel spends way too many hours in local coffee shops, downing the aforementioned goodies while she plots her ideas. Her tales may all come with a side of angst and naughtiness, but end as lusciously as her treats.

When she isn’t writing, she can be found courtside, tweeting about hoops as her son plays, or walking around the house wearing earplugs while her other son, the drummer, bangs away.

To connect with Rachel, she’s most active in her private reading group, The Electric Readers, where she shares insider information and intimate conversation with her readers.

The Electric Readers

As well as:

WebsiteTwitterFacebookNewsletter

GIVEAWAY

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http://www.rachelblaufeld.com/signup

 

Worth the Wait by Claudia Connor….Release Event

 

 

Title: Worth the Wait
Series: McKinney/Walker #1
Author: Claudia Connor
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 10, 2017
Blurb
The first in a spin off series of the New York Times Bestselling McKinney Brothers, WORTH THE WAIT takes readers on a journey through young love into adulthood in a heartwrenching, second chance love story.Nick Walker thought nothing could destroy what he had with Mia. He certainly never thought he would be the one to destroy it.

Now ten years later, Mia James is in Special Agent Nick Walker’s path once again and this time he’s determined to shed the weight of regret and finally claim the future that was always meant to be theirs.

It won’t be easy. Mia’s heart was shattered by Nick and now, just when she’d pieced it back together, it’s been broken again, bringing their past to the surface, including her own secret about that day everything went wrong.

***Every title by Claudia Connor is a Contemporary Romance and a full stand alone novel. No cheating, no love triangle, no cliff hanger.

 

 

Purchase Links
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

 

Excerpt
~twenty-four years ago Nick pressed two fingers into the sleep deprived headache pounding in his temple and tried to concentrate on professor Jenkins’s explanation of ideal gas law. He circled a line of notes, ignored the knock on the auditorium door until he heard the familiar cry. Hannah, who he’d left in the university daycare two hours ago.

The high pitched wail wasn’t his two year old sister’s hurt cry. It was her scared cry with a touch of pissed off. In the six months since their parents’ death, he’d learned to tell the difference. He’d learned a lot of things. Like if he didn’t take her to the bathroom, she’d likely wait too long and have an accident. Like green beans made her throw up, but she’d eat them if he told her to. And she would never, ever go to sleep without Mr. Bunny.

He was up, out of his seat, and halfway down the auditorium stairs before his professor laid his pen down.

Nick’s eyes narrowed on the young blonde in an oversized sweatshirt with silk greek letters sewn on the front. She held a sobbing Hannah dressed in the sunny yellow sundress he’d picked out that morning. She hadn’t been crying when he left her. Now her eyes were red and snot mixed with tears dripped into her mouth. Hannah lunged for him. His arms engulfed her small body and his heart squeezed like it always did when she held onto him.

“I stay you,” Hannah said. Each word tumbled out of her with a jerk of her tiny shoulders.

“What happened to her?”

“Nothing happened to her. She hasn’t stopped screaming for the past hour and she bit three people. We can’t keep her like that.”

Several responses came to mind.

She’s just a baby.

She missed her nap.

And the loudest of all, it was my fault for leaving her.

Hannah raised her head to look at him, giant tears hanging from golden lashes. “I bite.”

“Well. At least she’s honest.” Professor Jenkins turned his questioning eyes to Nick. “She yours?”

He hesitated, but only a second. “My sister. But yes, she’s mine.” And at that moment she became even more his, which seemed to be the case every day. Every day, a little more his.

 

Author Bio

Claudia Connor is the author of the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling series, The McKinney Brothers. Her debut novel, WORTH THE FALL, hit the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2014 and received numerous Best Contemporary Romance of 2014 accolades.

Claudia attended Auburn University, where she received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in early childhood education. After teaching kindergarten and first grade for ten years, she retired to be a full-time mom to her three daughters. Always a lover of books, and always one to have stories playing in her mind, she decided to try her hand at writing. It took seven years to finish her first novel and a new love was born.

Claudia lives near Memphis, Tennessee with her husband, three daughters, two cats, and a singer-songwriter Siberian Husky. She continues to write warm, heartfelt, and emotional romances with a bit of steam, a lot of family and always a happily ever after.

Author Links

Shameless by Teresa Mummert….Release Day Blitz & Review

Shameless (Shame on You #1)
423 pages (100k words)
New Adult
Can be read as a standalone. No cliffhanger.
*DEAL: If the paperback is purchased from Amazon, you can download the kindle ebook for only $1.99!

Synopsis:

Every student at Shame U has their secrets, and Henley Brooks is no exception. Struggling to pay for college and maintain her perfect reputation has become overwhelming. When her friend Gigi Oxford offers her a night of carefree fun, she can’t pass up the opportunity to unwind.
After a night of drinking turns to chaos, Henley finds herself alone with Lucas Young, a student from London who has come to America to unravel a few secrets of his own, as well as break a few hearts.
Covered in tattoos and drowning in liquor, Lucas was everything Henley should avoid but couldn’t resist. She soon begins to fall for him like the many women before her. But after stumbling across something he didn’t want her to see, she learns that Lucas may not be who she thinks he is.
Henley and Gigi devise a plan to teach Lucas a lesson, but it isn’t long before Henley learns that no one at Shamus Thornton College can be trusted.
When everything begins to feel like it is falling apart, there is only one person Henley wants to pick up the pieces, even if he is the person who caused her to crumble.

 

I was beyond thrilled and truly honored when I was given the option to review Teresa’s newest book, Shameless.  For anyone that has not read Teresa Mummert – you are missing out on ALOT!! 

Shameless is told in dual POVs – Lucas and Henley.  They are both attending, Shamus Thorton College (Shame U). Henley is more the quiet, mousey type – sticking to her school work and not out partying it up and enjoying college life.  Lucas moved to the states from London for his own reasons.  He’s her total opposite – tatted up bad boy.

“Sometimes you lies are as simple as a smile.”

On one particular night, Henley’s best friend, Gigi, is able to convince her to go to a party.  A party where she ends up alone with Lucas.  And so beings their tale of lies, deceit and betrayal but neither can walk away.

Teresa writes some of the most intricate and descriptive books.  I love how she is able to bring her words to life and make them feel like a movie playing out before you.  And Shameless has no shortage of this.  Teresa puts you through a rollercoaster of emotions and does let up on the angst at any point.

“He was a heartbreak waiting to happen, and I refused to be his next victim.”

Teresa has created another fabulous series with characters that will leave you wanting more.  Shameless can be read as a standalone.  However, I am looking forward to reading more about Henley and Lucas along with the rest of the cast.  I can’t wait to see where Teresa takes us next!

GIVEAWAY:

Teresa is  giving away a paperback copy of Sweet Nothing (signed by her) to readers who share the pinned post on her facebook page. It is open internationally to bloggers/readers/author, etc. (Post to share –>  http://bit.ly/2iSkjyh ) Contest ends: 1/16

Author Bio:

 

Teresa Mummert grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania where she began dating her husband when they were only sixteen years old. They married at eighteen and soon moved to Louisiana as her husband began his military career. They are the proud parents of four children that they are raising in Georgia. Teresa began writing when her husband deployed to Afghanistan as a way to cope with him being away at war.

Her work includes the word of mouth bestselling White Trash Trilogy, which landed her a significant three book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster after it hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. She has also written the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Note and the USA Today bestselling novel Safe Word. Other novels include Perfect Lie, Pretty Little Things, the Honor Series,Rellik, The Good Girls, Something Wicked, Crave, The Death of Lila Jane, Hollow (Hollow Point #1), Bleed Ink (Indie Author Guide), Shameless (Shame on You Series), and the USA Today bestselling novel Sweet Nothing co-written with Jamie McGuire.

Future releases include Hellion (Hollow Point #2), Defending Her Honor (Honor Series), Cruel, Depravity, When the Memories Fade, Weeping Willow, Paper Doll, The Deep, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Rocked, Before I Wake, Fall to Pieces, Ash& Dust, and Victim. She also has a Middle-Grade children’s novel coming out soon titled The Seeker under the pseudonym T.S. Mummert.

Learn more about the author at TeresaMummert.com

Safe Bet by Monica Murphy…Release Day Blitz & Review

 

Safe Bet by
Monica Murphy
Release Date: January 10th, 2017
Series: The Rules
Genre: Contemporary Romance
 
 
Blurb:
Sydney Walker’s new job is perfect. As
the live-in nanny to the most famous quarterback in the NFL and his beautiful
wife, she couldn’t have it any better. Their kids are adorable. Her bosses are
more than generous. Plus, there are hot football players at the house all the
time. Life can’t get much better than this.
Until her life turns into an absolute
nightmare. The media is abuzz with rumors that she and her boss Drew Callahan
are having a torrid affair. Everyone knows the truth—except the public. So Drew’s
wife Fable comes up with the perfect idea.
She creates a fake relationship between
Sydney and one of the rookie players on Drew’s team. Wade Knox is forever
indebted to Drew and Fable and readily agrees to the set up. Pretending to be
in a romantic relationship with the hot nanny for a week—how hard can it be?
Crazy how it only takes one week for two
people to fall head over heels in love…
(This mash-up new adult romance features
characters from both the One Week Girlfriend series and The Rules series.)

Safe Bet is the fourth book in The Rules series.  It can be read as a stand-a-lone as I have read none of the other books in this series.  You do get to hear from Drew and Fable but I didn’t feel confused by anything.  If anything, it made me more intrigued to read their story.

I enjoyed reading this story.  It was fairly quick and sweet.  There is no drama or angst.  And I love that this was a slow build in the relationship.  Sydney and Wade are attracted to one another before they are thrown into this whole fake relationship.  I felt that helped them in this whole scheme and made everything flow better.  And as I said, it’s a slow build – nothing is quick.  We can fee and see it as the story progresses.

I love the way Monica tells her stories and how she writes her characters.  Sydney and Wade are both trying to forge a new path in their lives and make up for past mistakes.  They own those mistakes and are both doing what they can to move forward.  They problems they face together were real and that helped make them whole story more real to readers.

As I said, we got updates on Drew and Fable.  And for those like me who have no read any of the books in this series, it’s enough to pique your interest and go back to read their tales. 

Monica has another great book in the sweet, sexy, and breezy reads!

 

 
 
About the Author:
Monica
Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author
of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules
series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold
over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by
Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult
and contemporary romance.
She is a wife and a mother
of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of
nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed
workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her
husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit
to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get
that hard won HEA.
Connect with Monica:

Cover Reveal…Warrior of Fire by Shona Husk

Inside the Book:

Title: Warrior of Fire
Author: Shona Husk
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: Ecopy 

Is theirs a love match?

For Leira Venn, her future is a given foretold by the oracle of the Albah, the ancient people she was born to. Which is why she knows from the moment she meets Dr. Julian Ryder that he is fated to be hers. But nothing else about the prophecy feels right. For the handsome doctor is shrouded by darkness, and intimately involved with a woman who seems intent on killing Leira …

Or a death wish?

Sorrow has shadowed Julian Ryder for as long as he can remember. But from the moment he meets lovely Leira, his heart is filled with hope for the future—a future that is as combustible as the powerful attraction between them. For Leira is marked for death by the very forces who killed his mother. The very darkness that stole everything he held most dear. Only this time, Julian is stronger, more in control of his powers than ever. But will it be enough to save Leira from those who would destroy her?

PURCHASE HERE:AMAZON|B&N|KOBO|GOOGLE PLAY|ITUNES

MEET THE AUTHOR

Romance author Shona Husk lives in Western Australia at the edge of the Indian Ocean. Blessed with a lively imagination she spent most of her childhood making up stories. As an adult she discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back.
With over forty published stories, ranging from sensual to scorching, she writes contemporary, paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.
CONNECT WITH SHONNA: WEBSITE|FACEBOOK|TWITTER

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell…Blog Tour Stop & Review

About Depraved Heart

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 3, 2017)

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a highly suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets about her niece. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, alarmed, and not knowing where to turn. The diabolical presence and singularly depraved heart behind what unfolds seems obvious but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they start harassing Lucy and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell captivates readers again with the jolting twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail for which she is renowned, proving yet again why she is the world’s number one bestselling crime writer.

 

My Review:

Depraved Heart is book number 23 in author Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series and admittedly the first in the series I have read.  I’m a huge fan of forensic, psychological, and mystery TV so I figured I would give this series a try.  Well, I wasn’t disappointed.  This book with filled with suspense and I loved it.

Someone is trying to frame Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s niece and it seems to be at the hands of someone they had been dealing with, and fearing, for the last twenty years.  Someone they had counted out but never really forgotten about.  Someone wha was beyond mentally unstable and completely diabolical.  Now, they are all on a mission to figure out just what’s going on, who is sending these bizarre videos from twenty years ago to Dr. Scarpetta’s phone, and how to get out of this alive.

From start to finish I was kept on the edge of my seat.  The pieces of this puzzle are given to the reader on a slow and steady pace which only added to the overall suspense.  There were more than a few times I actually said “wow, this woman is completely psychotic” out loud.  I also enjoyed the heavy forensic details in the book.  At times it was a lot to digest while trying to keep up with what was going on with Lucy but it really did add an authentic layer that I appreciated.  Now, I can’t give anything away as to who ends up being responsible for orchestrating this entire scheme but I will tell you to buckle up for a crazy ride! My mother has been a huge fan of Ms. Cornwell for years and I was really happy I gave this series a try.  I will certainly be reading more!

Thank you, Ms. Cornwell, for one hell of a book!  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well written and well thought out psychological thriller.

4LovesRLB Four Loves

J signature

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the worldís top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Prix du Roman díAventures. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.

Find out more about Patricia at her†website, and follow her on†Twitter,†Facebook, and Instagram.

Full Package by Lauren Blakely….Release Day Event & Review

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FULL PACKAGE by Lauren Blakely is Here!

A sexy and funny friends-to-lovers standalone romantic comedy, FULL PACKAGE is about a sexy, witty man as he falls head over heels for a woman, who just happens to be his roommate. It takes everything you love about a Lauren Blakely novel –witty dialogue, smoking hot sex scenes, and heartfelt moments –and puts them into one fantastic book! Told in the guy’s POV, with a creative look into Josie’s POV as well, FULL PACKAGE is the laugh-out-loud and insanely hot story of what happens when a sexy ER doc falls madly in love with his gorgeous roommate…and they’re forced to deal with all that simmering desire in a mere six hundred square feet of living space.

“Lauren Blakely has mastered the recipe for delightful and delicious. It’s called Full Package. I can’t find words to tell you how much I enjoyed this friends to lovers romance with enough sweet to melt in your mouth and enough spice to melt your panties.”

~ iScream Books

 

 

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“Lauren Blakely nailed it AGAIN. This man man is perfection! HOT, SWEET, FUNNY, SMART.”

~ Queen of Hearts

 

full-package-cover

✮✮✮FULL PACKAGE is here!✮✮✮

From the New York Times Bestselling author of MISTER O and BIG ROCK, comes a hot & hilarious new standalone romantic comedy…

I’ve been told I have quite a gift.

Hey, I don’t just mean in my pants. I’ve got a big brain too, and a huge heart of gold. And I like to use all my gifts to the fullest, the package included. Life is smooth sailing….

Until I find myself stuck between a rock and a sexy roommate, which makes for one very hard…place.

Because scoring an apartment in this city is harder than finding true love. So even if I have to shack up with my buddy’s smoking hot and incredibly amazing little sister, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.

I can resist Josie. I’m disciplined, I’m focused, and I keep my hands to myself, even in the mere five-hundred square feet we share. Until the one night she insists on sliding under the covers with me. It’ll help her sleep after what happened that day, she says.

Spoiler-neither one of us sleeps.

Did I mention she’s also one of my best friends? That she’s brilliant, beautiful and a total firecracker? Guess that makes her the full package too.

What’s a man stuck in a hard place to do?

 

You can find this sexy standalone romantic comedy across all retailers!

Amazon USAmazon UKAmazon CAAmazon AUiBooks

Barnes & NobleKoboGoogle PlayAmazon Paperback

Audio (Sebastian York!)or via Audible

 

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“Fresh, fun, flirty, and fabulous.”

~ Karen at Bookalicious Babes Blog

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My Review:

Full Package is the newest release from author Lauren Blakely, and while it does feature some of the characters we’ve grown to love in previous books, it can absolutely be read as a standalone.

Man, I loved this book.  But really, when do I not love a Lauren Blakely book? Her heroes are sexy, down to earth, charming, smart, kind, and down right delectable.  Her heroines are fun, intelligent, sassy, sweet, and gals you want to be friends with. Full Package was another shining example of that fabulous combo and more.

Dr. Chase and baker Josie’s friends to lovers story is just so damn good.  Packed with fun and flirty interactions and plenty of sexual tension, I was hooked from the very beginning.  I loved reading the evolution from long-time friends to searing hot lovers. Of course, you know that transition is never easy and being along with these two as they navigate those tricky waters made them even more endearing to me.  I adored Chase and Josie’s story and tried my damnedest to NOT read it in one sitting but, like one of Josie’s yummy baked goods, I failed and read it all in one sitting.  Oh, and the ending? Another Lauren Blakely trademark swoon-worthy end.

Whether you’re already a fan like I am, or new to Ms. Blakely, I know you will love this book as much as I did.

Thank you, Ms. Blakely, for another fun, sexy, and delicious read!

Five Loves

Excerpt:

I point to the curved wooden stand with a hook at the top. “This. Explain this.”

Josie sets her hands on her hips. “It’s a banana holder.”

I give her a stern look. “I can read. I don’t need to know what. I need to know why.” I poke the object on the shelf at Bed Bath & Beyond, otherwise known as the Nexus of Unnecessary Things. Pretty sure there’s some kind of vortex or force field right smack dab in the middle of this store attracting all the weird, bizarre, and odd home goods. “Why can’t they sit on the kitchen counter? Or, how about in a bowl?”

“Maybe the bananas just like to dangle?” she suggests. “Hang free and all?”

Smacking my forehead, I go along with it. “Aha. That makes perfect sense.”

“I’m here to help.” She tugs on my shirtsleeve. “But can we please get to the sheet aisle? You can’t sleep on a naked mattress.”

“That may be true, but I could definitely sleep naked on a mattress,” I offer, and she laughs as we navigate through another sardine-packed aisle in the mammoth store.

It’s one in the afternoon, and I just moved in this morning. That took all of two hours. Spending my twenties in med school and as a resident gave me very little time for the acquisition of things, so most of my possessions fit in a duffel bag. I have very little. Not even sheets for a queen-size bed. Ergo, I’m spending Saturday at Bed Bath & Beyond, which is a bit like wandering through a Buzzfeed post titled “Ten Things I’ll Never Use.”

More like five hundred. Wait. Make that five hundred and one, because I just spotted the new number one item on the list.

“That,” I say as I make a beeline for a shelf of crème brûlée torches. Grabbing a silvery one, I hold it up. “Please say we can have a housewarming party, and you’ll make crème brûlée, and I can stride all proud and awesome into the kitchen,” I say, puffing out my chest and deepening my voice. “And I can light it with a torch, and we’ll all ooh and ahh at the manly fire I made when I lit up a dessert.”

She arches an eyebrow. “A manly fire?”

I nod vigorously. “And then you’ll let the guests take turns punching me in the face for being a total douche for owning a crème brûlée torch.”

She narrows her eyes. “You actually want people to punch you?”

I’m deadly serious as I answer her. “If I ever own a crème brûlée torch, you have carte blanche to punch me, Josie. You really should.” I drop the torch on the shelf and take her hand, clasping it tightly in mine. “Promise me. From this day forward. Promise you’ll punch me if I ever own a crème brûlée torch, a rotating tie rack, or more than one kind of cheese grater. This is part of our roommate pact.”

She grips my hand tighter, her green eyes glowing with stark seriousness. “I solemnly swear to pummel you under all the aforementioned circumstances. As proof of our friendship and roommate solidarity.”

“You’re a saint,” I say, then wrap a hand around her head and tug her close for a quick kiss on her forehead.

And hello, sweet, sexy scent of Josie. What is this delicious smell? Is it . . . oh fuck me.Cherries. My God, she smells like cherries. Like the perfect summer fruit. Like the naughtiest fruit. And I’ve got to wonder if that cherry scent is her face lotion, her shampoo, or her body wash?

Body wash.

My mind is adrift, and the word association begins. Because what goes with body wash but nudity?

Naked woman in the shower. Washing. Lathering. Soaping.

Ah, hell.

Snap the fuck out it, Summers.

Add it to Goodreads here!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30283662-full-package

 

 

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And don’t miss Lauren Blakely’s other standalone Romantic Comedies!

BIG ROCK
MISTER O
WELL HUNG

 

 

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✮✮✮ Enter to win this amazing FULL PACKAGE GIVEAWAY!✮✮✮

Josie and Chase put together some of their favorite things just for you to celebrate the release of FULL PACKAGE!

The FULL PACKAGE is filled with:

$50 Gift Card to Lush: Fresh Handmade Cosmetics for fruity scented bath products that Chase loves so much.

$50 Gift Card to Sugarfina: A Luxury Candy Boutique where you can sample some of Josie’s favorite gourmet candy.

A lovely Coach Wristlet containing a $50 Amazon Gift Card for you to spend on whatever your heart desires.

And last but not least, my entire Audiobook Collection minus Full Package on Audible. It is aurally delicious!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

http://laurenblakely.com/full-package-giveaway/

 

 

author-pic-lauren-blakelyAbout Lauren Blakely:

Since self-publishing her debut romance novel CAUGHT UP IN US over three years ago, Lauren Blakely has sold more than 1.5 million books. She is known for her sexy contemporary romance style that’s full of heat, heart and humor. A devout fan of cake and canines, Lauren has plotted entire novels while walking her four-legged friends. She lives in California with her family. With thirteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than seventy times. Her bestselling series include Sinful Nights, Seductive Nights, No Regrets, Caught Up in Love, and Fighting Fire as well as standalone hit romances like BIG ROCK, MISTER O, WELL HUNG, and THE SEXY ONE which were all instant New York Times Bestsellers. In January she’ll release FULL PACKAGE, a standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter.

 

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Dirty Deeds by Lorelei James….Re-Release Event

 

Title: Dirty Deeds
Author: Lorelei James
Genre: Sexy Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 9, 2017
Blurb
Sometimes to play dirty, you gotta dig deep…Landscaper Nathan LeBeau knows exactly how to use his big equipment to make the earth move. The Native American bad-boy has a reputation for getting filthy—in and out of the bedroom.So when good-girl Tate Cross needs dirt work done, she hires the wickedly hot and surprisingly intuitive Nathan—secretly hoping she’ll get more than just her flowerbeds plowed.

Smart and sexy Tate is exactly the type of woman Nathan’s been looking for. But he wants more than another fling, so he digs in his heels to prove to Miss-I-Don’t-Need-Romance that taking things slow will lead them to something real.

But Tate isn’t interested in being romanced—even when Nathan’s sweet and charming ways are hard to resist. She’ll use every tool at her disposal to convince the former player to play with her and that getting down and dirty together is as real as it gets.

Purchase Links
$2.99 for a limited time!!!
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Excerpt

“The closest I’ve ever been to nirvana was during an orgasm.”

Tate Cross rolled her eyes. Where did Val come up with this stuff?

Undaunted, her friend Val shifted her pregnant belly. She broke the chocolate bar in half, sucking at the apricot filling oozing over her finger. “But this”—a satisfied moan escaped—“is running a close second.”

“I wasn’t talking about nirvana the place; I was talking about Nirvana the band.” Tate pointed at her vintage “Heart-Shaped Box” T-shirt.

“Sorry. I never understood that whole grunge thing.”

Tate narrowed her eyes. “But if we were talking about sweaty, grungy cowboys in tight jeans, whinin’ ’bout lovin’ the wrong woman, drivin’ off in dusty pickups to the local bar for a shot of pain-easin’ whiskey, you’d pay attention.”

“Country music always gets me hot.”

“No wonder you’ve been pregnant four times.”

A sly, dreamy look drifted over Val’s face. “This one was conceived when Rich brought home that Stetson and we played—”

“Baby roulette? Apparently Richard’s six-gun was fully loaded that night.” With a grin, Tate gestured to Val’s stomach. “Seems that elusive slice of sexual heaven has a high price.”

“Being pregnant isn’t bad.” Val lovingly rubbed her hand over her swollen abdomen. “And a great sex life is not elusive.”

“Maybe not for you. You have the perfect man.” Tate tamped down on a rare surge of jealousy. She doubted Val’s perpetual rosy glow was entirely pregnancy related.

“So sue me.”

Tate cocked a brow. “Your lawyer husband laughs at your lawsuit jokes?”

“Of course.” Val tipped her glass of milk against Tate’s in a mock toast. “My fabulous sense of humor is the reason he married me.”

Tate choked back a giggle; milk nearly squirted out her nose. How mature. Here she was trying to have a sophisticated conversation about sex and not act like the goggle-eyed ingénue Val remembered her to be.

Val smiled. “I’ll admit our compatibility inside the bedroom played a key role. Love at first sight. It can happen.”

“Not to me.” Tate snatched the candy from Val’s plate. Swapping sexual quips was one thing, forking over the last piece of chocolate fell into an entirely different realm. Mmm. She savored the sinful flavor; it was indeed close to orgasmic. Not that she had anything to judge it by lately.

“This is the first lunch we’ve had without my kiddos since you’ve come back to South Dakota and we’re discussing my sex life? I should be spellbound by your wild sexual adventures in Mile High Stadium. Or cavorting naked on the beach in Cozumel.”

“Get real.” Tate snorted. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

A cascade of auburn ringlets brushed Val’s heart-shaped face when she shook her head. “Then I’m sorry for you.”

“Me too.” Tate traced the ruffled edge of the crocheted place mat. “I have no life at all, besides getting this house ready to sell. I haven’t done the deed for…” Mentally, she counted back and shuddered. “At my sexual peak. What a joke. I’m supposed to be worried about my partner pleasing me instead of whether I’ve got enough AA batteries.”

Silence. Tate slid Val a sideways glance. Talk about bold statements.

Without missing a beat, Val said, “No judgment, but I couldn’t live without that intimacy. Connecting with Rich on an elemental level whenever, wherever we want.” A satisfied sigh gusted forth. “Except now we’re forced to be discreet.”

Didn’t Val’s beach-ball condition belie that statement? Tactfully, Tate didn’t point it out. “I’m the epitome of discreet.”

“You and Chris Taylor weren’t very discreet, if I recall.”

“That’s the only time,” Tate grumbled. “No one believed ‘Miss Goody-Two-Shoes’ boinked the school bad boy that night at the lake anyway.”

“How did you pull it off?” Val mused. “I mean, didn’t you find it awkward to roll a cold, wet Speedo over a stiffy?”

“Hah! Didn’t it just figure my first experience with a penis outside Playgirl magazine and his dick was more like a clammy, fat worm than the ‘throbbing rod of manhood’ I’d expected.”

She drifted back to the summer of her senior year she’d spent with Aunt Beatrice. It’d been easy convincing studly Chris to change her virginal status. But the quick tryst on his Harley hadn’t included passion, and Chris had been clueless on demonstrating carnal secrets. That flagging sense of disappointment still dogged her. Would she ever discover the powerful sexual connection her friends raved about? When?

“Forget Chris and his unimpressive rod. Although it makes sense why he’s fat, bald and married to his motorcycle shop.” Val paused and offered, “I could set you up with someone, if you’re interested.”

“Who?” Tate snapped back to attention. “Is he nice?”

“Of course he’s nice.” Val sniffed.

“Then nothing doing.”

“What?”

“Nothing doing. I’m done with nice. This little chat has reinforced my decision. The next affair I start will be purely that. An affair. No strings, no promises. Just sex. Lots of hot sex.”

Val daintily wiped off her milk mustache before expelling an unladylike burp. “Excuse me. Run that by me one more time?”“You heard me. Sex. I want sex. The steamier, the nastier, the better.

Author Bio

Lorelei James is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author of erotic westerns in the Rough Riders series and the Blacktop Cowboys series, erotic romance in the Mastered series, contemporary romance in the Need You series, and the New Adult Rough Riders Legacy series, as well as several standalone novels and novellas. Lorelei lives in western South Dakota–yes, by choice–with her husband, and Copper, their crazy corgi who has made life more interesting during these first empty nest years…

Author Links

Lucian Devine by Renée Carlino…Release Day Blitz

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luciandivine_03-1-1-1“My guardian angel is a drunk.”

Evelyn Casey’s life is at a standstill. She’s in her mid-twenties, struggling with the dating scene in San Francisco. Nothing seems to be working out, and she’s starting to think that she’ll live out her days in her crummy apartment with her overbearing roommate, Brooklyn. It’s absurd, but sometimes Evey longs for a guardian angel to show up and save the day.

And then he does. Seriously. His name is Lucian and he’s a guardian angel, been on the job for two thousand years. His sudden presence in her life is both good—he’s brilliant, witty, and warm—and bad—he’s brilliant, witty, warm, and hot as —-. But as perfect as Lucian seems, he’s got problems of his own. He’s taken up drinking and he’s brazenly inserted himself into Evey’s life, going against the greatest cosmic law ever created.

For Evey, the rules are simple: You are not allowed to hook up with your guardian angel. But sometimes fulfilling your destiny requires a leap of faith, a confrontation with God.

Yes, God as in God.

iTunes | B&N | KOBO | AMAZON PRINT |

Amazon

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Renee-121Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and bestselling author of contemporary women’s novels and new adult fiction. Her books have been featured in national publications, including USA TODAY, Huffington Post, Latina magazine, and Publisher’s Weekly. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog June. When she’s not at the beach with her boys or working on her next project, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate. Learn more at www.reneecarlino.com

Ego Maniac by Vi Keeland…Excerpt Reveal

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The night I met Drew Jagger, he’d just broken into my new Park Avenue office.
I dialed 9-1-1 before proceeding to attack him with my fancy new Krav Maga skills.
He quickly restrained me, then chuckled, finding my attempted assault amusing.

Of course, my intruder had to be arrogant.
Only, turned out, he wasn’t an intruder at all.

Drew was the rightful occupant of my new office. He’d been on vacation while his posh space was renovated.
Which was how a scammer got away with leasing me office space that wasn’t really available for rent.
I was swindled out of ten grand.

The next day, after hours at the police station, Drew took pity on me and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. In exchange for answering his phones while his secretary was out, he’d let me stay until I found a new place.
I probably should have acted grateful and kept my mouth shut when I overheard the advice he was spewing to his clients. But I couldn’t help giving him a piece of my mind.
I never expected my body to react every time we argued. Especially when that was all we seemed to be able to do.

The two of us were complete opposites. Drew was a bitter, angry, gorgeous-as-all-hell, destroyer of relationships. And my job was to help people save their marriages.
The only thing the two of us had in common was the space we were sharing.
And an attraction that was getting harder to deny by the day.

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Available for Pre-order on iBooks, B&N, Google Play, and Kobo now!

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Sometimes what you’re looking for comes when you’re not looking at all.

-Unknown


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DREW

I hate New Year’s Eve.

Two hours in traffic to make it not even the nine miles home from LaGuardia. It was after ten o’clock at night. Why weren’t all these people at a party by now? Whatever tension two weeks in Hawaii had relieved was already back to coiling tighter and tighter inside me as the town car inched its way uptown.

I tried not to think about all the work I was coming back to—the endless string of other people’s problems to compound my own:

She cheated.

He cheated.

Get me full custody of the kids.

She can’t have the house in Vail.

All she wants is my money.

She hasn’t given me a blowjob in three years. Listen, asshole, you’re fifty, bald, pompous, and shaped like an egg. She’s twenty-three, hot, and has tits so young they almost reach up to her chin. You want to fix this marriage? Come home with ten Gs in fresh, crisp bills, and tell her to get on her knees. You’ll get your blowjob. She’ll get her spending money. Let’s not pretend it was ever more than it really was. That doesn’t work for you? Unlike your soon-to-be ex-wife, I’ll take a check. Make that out to Drew M. Jagger, Attorney at Law.

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling slightly claustrophobic in the back of the Uber, and looked out the window. An old lady with a walker passed us.

“I’ll get out here,” I barked at the driver.

“But you have luggage?”

I was already exiting the back of the car. “Pop the trunk. It’s not like we’re moving anyway.”

Traffic was at a dead stop, and it was only two blocks to my building. Tossing a hundred-dollar tip at the driver, I grabbed my suitcase from the trunk and took in a deep breath of Manhattan.

I loved this city as much as I hated it.

575 Park Avenue was a restored pre-war on the southeast corner of Sixty-Third Street—it was an address that gave people preconceived notions about you. Someone with my last name had occupied the building since before the place was converted into overpriced co-ops. Which is why my office was allowed to remain on the ground floor when other commercial tenants were tossed out years ago. I also lived on the top floor.

“Welcome back, Mr. Jagger.” The uniformed doorman greeted me as he swung open the lobby door.

“Thanks, Ed. I miss anything while I was gone?”

“Nah. Same old, same old. Peeked in on your construction the other day, though. Looking good.”

“They use the service entrance down Sixty-Third like they were supposed to?”

Ed nodded. “Sure did. Barely heard them the last few days.”

I dropped my luggage inside my apartment, then headed back downstairs in the elevator to check things out. For the last two weeks, while I was screwing off in Honolulu, my office space had been getting a total renovation. Cracks in the high, plastered ceilings were to be patched and painted, and new floors installed to replace the old, worn parquet.

Thick plastic remained taped over all of the interior doorways when I walked in. The little furniture I hadn’t put in storage was also still covered with tarps. Shit. They aren’t done yet. The contractor had assured me there would only be finish work left by the time I returned. I was right to be skeptical.

Flicking on the lights, I was happy to find the lobby completely done, though. Finally, a New Year’s Eve with no horrible surprises for a change.

I took a quick look around, pleased with what I found, and was just about to leave when I noticed a light streaming from under the door of a small file room at the end of the hallway.

Thinking nothing of it, I headed to turn it off.

Now, I’m six foot two and a half, two hundred and five pounds, and maybe it was just my frame of mind, my not expecting to see anyone, but when I opened the door to the file room, finding her there scared the living crap out of me.

She screamed.

I took a step back through the door.

She got up, stood on the chair, and began yelling at me, waving her cell phone in the air.

“I’ll call the police!” Her fingers shook as she dialed nine, then one, and hovered over the last one. “Get out now, and I won’t call!”

I could have lunged for her, and the phone would have been out of her hand before she realized she hadn’t dialed the final digit. But she looked terrified, so I retreated another step and put my hands up in surrender.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I used my best soothing, calm voice. “You don’t need to call the police. This is my office.”

“Do I look stupid to you? You just broke into my office.”

Your office? I think you took a wrong turn at the corner of Crazy and Nutjob.”

She wobbled atop the chair, holding both arms out to regain her balance, and then…her skirt fell to her feet.

“Get out!” She crouched down and grabbed her skirt, tugging it up to her waist as she turned her back to me.

“Do you take medication, ma’am?”

Medication? Ma’am? Are you joking?”

“You know what?” I motioned to the phone she was still holding. “Why don’t you push that last one and get the police over here. They can drive you back to whatever loony bin you escaped from.”

Her eyes widened.

For a crazy person—now that I was really looking—she was pretty damn cute. Fiery red hair piled on top of her head seemed to match her firecracker personality. Although from the looks of her blazing blue eyes, I was glad I’d held off on telling her that.

She pushed one and proceeded to report the crime of entering one’s own office. “I’d like to report a robbery.”

“Robbery?” I arched an eyebrow and looked around. A lone folding chair and crappy metal folding table were the only furniture in the entire space. “What exactly am I stealing? Your winning personality?”

She amended her complaint to the police. “A breaking and entering. I’d like to report a breaking and entering at 575 Park Avenue.” She paused and listened. “No, I don’t think he’s armed. But he’s big. Really big. At least six feet. Maybe bigger.”

I smirked. “And strong. Don’t forget to tell them I’m strong, too. Want me to flex for you? And maybe you should tell them I have green eyes. Wouldn’t want the police to confuse me with all the other really big thieves hanging out in my office.”

After she hung up, she stayed standing on the chair, still glaring at me.

“Was there also a mouse?” I asked.

“A mouse?”

“Considering you jumped up on that chair.” I chuckled.

“You find this funny?”

“Oddly, I do. And I have no fucking idea why. It should annoy the crap out of me that I come home from a two-week vacation and find a squatter in my office.”

“Squatter? I’m no squatter. This is my office. I moved in a week ago.”

She bobbled again while standing on her chair.

“Why don’t you get down? You’re going to fall off that thing and get hurt.”

“How do I know you’re not going to hurt me when I get down?”

I shook my head and contained my laugh. “Sweetheart, look at the size of me. Look at the size of you. Standing on that chair isn’t doing jack shit to keep you safe. If I wanted to hurt you, you’d be out cold on the floor already.”

“I take Krav Maga classes twice a week.”

“Twice a week? Really? Thanks for the warning.”

“You don’t have to ridicule me. Maybe I could hurt you. For an intruder, you’re really kind of rude, you know.”

“Get down.”

After a full minute stare-off, she climbed off the chair.

“See? You’re as safe on the ground as you were up there.”

“What do you want from here?”

“You didn’t call the police, did you? You almost had me there for a second.”

“I didn’t. But I can.”

“Now why would you go and do that? So they can arrest you for breaking and entering?”

She pointed down at her makeshift desk. For the first time, I noticed papers all over the place. “I told you. This is my office. I’m working late tonight because the construction crew was so loud today that I couldn’t get done what I needed to. Why would anyone break and enter to work at ten-thirty at night on New Year’s Eve?”

Construction crew? My construction crew? Something was going on here. “You were here with the construction crew today?”

“Yes.”

I scratched my chin, half believing her. “What’s the foreman’s name?”

“Tommy.”

Shit. She was telling the truth. Well, at least some of it had to be the truth. “You said you moved in a week ago?”

“That’s right.”

“And you rented the space from whom, exactly?”

“John Cougar.”

Both my brows shot up this time. “John Cougar? Did he drop the Mellencamp, by chance?”

“How should I know?”

This wasn’t sounding good. “And you paid this John Cougar?”

“Of course. That’s how renting an office suite works. Two months’ security, first and last month’s rent.”

I shut my eyes and shook my head. “Shit.”

“What?”

“You got conned. How much did all of that cost you? Two months’ security, first and last month? Four months in total?”

“Ten thousand dollars.”

“Please tell me you didn’t pay cash.”

Something finally clicked, and the color drained from her pretty face. “He said his bank was closed in the evening, and he couldn’t give me the keys until my check cleared. If I gave him cash, I could move in right away.”

“You paid John Cougar forty thousand dollars in cash?”

“No!”

“Thank God.”

“I paid him ten thousand in cash.”

“I thought you said you paid four months.”

“I did. It was twenty-five hundred a month.”

That did it. Of all the crazy shit I’d heard so far, thinking she could get space on Park Avenue for twenty-five hundred a month took the cake. I broke out in a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re not from New York, are you?”

“No. I just moved here from Oklahoma. What does that have to do with anything?”

I took a step closer. “I hate to break the news to you, Oklahoma, but you got ripped off. This is my office. I’ve been here for three years. My father the thirty before that. I was on vacation the last two weeks and had the office remodeled while I was gone. Someone named after a singer scammed you into giving him cash to rent an office he had no right to rent. Doorman’s name is Ed. Walk through the main building entrance, and he’ll verify everything I just said.”

“That can’t be.”

“What do you do that you need office space?”

“I’m a psychologist.”

I held out my hand. “I’m an attorney. Let me see your contract.”

Her face fell. “He hasn’t brought it by yet. He said the landlord was in Brazil on vacation, and I could move in, and he would come back on the first to collect the rent and bring me the contract to sign.”

“You’ve been scammed.”

“But I paid him ten thousand dollars!”

“Which is another thing that should have tipped you off. You couldn’t rent a closet on Park Avenue for twenty-five hundred a month. Didn’t you find it strange that you were getting a place like this for next to nothing?”

“I thought I was getting a deal.”

I shook my head. “You got a deal alright. A raw deal.”

She covered her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

 

 

★★★★

 

We hope you enjoyed this extended preview!

 

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author-photoVi Keeland is a native New Yorker with three children that occupy most of her free time, which she complains about often, but wouldn’t change for the world. She is an attorney and a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, & USA Today Best Selling author. Over the last three years, eleven of her titles have appeared on the USA Today Bestseller lists and four on the New York Times Bestseller lists.

In 2013, she released her first romance novel and never looked back. To date, she has thirteen novels released, with PLAYBOY PILOT also releasing in 2016. Her novels have appeared on #1 on Amazon and are currently being translated into German, Polish, Portuguese, Korean, Hebrew, French and Italian.

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