Welcome to the blog tour for THE DUPLICATE BRIDE, a stand-alone adult contemporary romance, by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Ginny Baird. See below for information on the book, buy links, and an exclusive release day excerpt.
Synopsis Saying “I do” has never been this much fun in this charming new romance from New York Times bestselling author Ginny Baird.
Hope Webb can’t believe her twin sister, Jackie, is begging her to swap places and play fiancée at Jackie’s pre-wedding festivities. Sure, it’s only a business-deal sort of marriage, but Hope is a carb-loving teacher who enjoys curling up with a good book. Jackie is a workaholic whose idea of a good time is a brisk five-mile run at the crack of dawn. The two sisters couldn’t be more opposite.
Now Hope is stuck in the middle of a warm, tight-knit family she can’t help but adore and a groom who turns out to be entirely wonderful…for her.
Hotel magnate Brent Albright knows something is off about his fiancée, but he doesn’t care. Gone is the driven woman with similar career goals, and in her place is someone warm and funny who not only charms his family but him as well. She’s doing everything she can to avoid him, but that’s probably just nerves. Two people about to wed couldn’t know each other less.
Now Brent is determined to woo his fiancée, for real this time, because the more he gets to know her, the more his sweet fiancée turns out to be entirely wonderful…for him.
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Excerpt Brent knocked at the carriage house door, wondering if he should come back later, but then the door cracked open the tiniest bit.
He could see just a sliver of her face, including one big brown eye.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said hoarsely. “I hope you weren’t sleeping.”
“No. Just resting my eyes.”
“I brought you something to eat. This lamb dish of my dad’s is the best.”
She slowly pulled back the door, accepting his offering.
Brent saw she’d changed into athletic shorts and an oversized T-shirt that said “Dancing Queen” in bright pink letters with a small pink tiara above the script. It was undeniably offbeat and cute, and he’d never seen it before.
“Thank you.”
“I—” Brent awkwardly cleared his throat. “I mean, I know now’s not a good time… But later?” His forehead rose with the question. “Maybe we can talk?”
“Yeah, um, sure.”
“I hope you feel better in the morning.”
“Thanks. Me, too.”
“And Jackie?”
“Yeah?”
“I wanted to let you know—I don’t blame you for what you said earlier. About the ring…the way I proposed…all of it.”
“We made a deal,” she said solidly. And still, her lips trembled.
Brent was starting to see it was a rotten one at best. “Yeah, well. Deals can be amended.”
“I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
“I’m glad that you came clean with me. Because, you know, I don’t think it’s too late to make things work.”
She toyed anxiously with the food container, tilting it in her hands. “Too late? No, of course not. We have…until Saturday.”
“Then, hopefully, the rest of our lives.”
Jackie blinked up at him, and Brent’s heart pinged. He could read the doubt in her eyes—the hurt and confusion, too—and he hated himself for making her feel this way. But he was already formulating a plan to make things better.
Even if he couldn’t convince Jackie to fall head over heels in love with him by the weekend, he could at least give her a good start in that direction. He could do this thing. Become the sort of guy Jackie could really care for. And he was determined to pull out all the stops to make that happen.
“Just give me this chance, and I promise you, I won’t let you down,” he said, growing more confident by the minute. He was great at tackling challenges and could do almost anything when he put his mind to it. “By this time on Saturday, you’ll be crazy about me.”
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Author Ginny Baird
About the Author New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird writes sweet contemporary romance with a dash of humor and a whole lot of heart. She’s published more than twenty-five novels and novellas, both with traditional presses and independently, and has several exciting projects in the works. When she’s not writing, Ginny enjoys cooking, walking, and spending time with her family.
Welcome to the book blitz for MINE TO KEEP, the seventh book in the adult contemporary romance series, Love by Design, by USA Today bestselling author, M.C. Cerny. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
MINE TO KEEP (Love By Design Series #7) by M.C. Cerny
Synopsis Remington Kennedy was out of “bless your hearts” to give. She moved North for a chance at something better. Her compass to success was getting an education and getting out of tornado alley. A failed scholarship led her to tending bar. A lie drove her into the arms of the town football star filled with hopes and dreams. A year later, she found herself with a baby on the way, more lost than ever, alone, and terrified.
Evan Rooney was nobody’s hero. As a good cop in a small town, he felt the daily weight of responsibility. Known as the Preacher’s son, he struggled to keep his faith…but secrets have a way of finding the surface and Evan finds himself drawn to the red headed barmaid with a bun in the oven like a moth to it’s flame.
Both need a little saving…both need love, and a baby needs a family made of more than just DNA.
Book seven in the Love By Design series of contemporary romantic comedies.
Mine To Keep is written to be read as a standalone, but many readers prefer to read the series in order.
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Excerpt #2 Evan made sure I got back to my little apartment, and we walked inside to see that my friends had hijacked it, decorating the tiny space. The walls were freshly painted but lacked the chemical smell of cheap paint, and everything was clean and put away. A crib sat in the corner made up with fresh sheets. I hadn’t been able to do it before I gave birth, but there was my crib, which I’d saved every bit of tip money for, all put together with the pretty striped navy bedding perfect for a baby boy. A print of his footprints in navy paint was framed and hanging on the wall above his crib with his name, date of birth, and statistics, exactly where I pictured it would be thanks to Taylor Jane’s eye for design and Hunter whom I suspected made the frame. It was a DIY project right up their alley.
It was perfect.
And also the reason for the burning sting in my eyes because their kindness astonished me.
“I got your bags all here.” Evan stood there and the air seemed to suck out of the tiny space with his size. “Wow, it’s….”
He held the bags in his bulging arms. There wasn’t enough space for him to turn around, and I felt pushed against the wall even though a good two feet separated us from even touching.
“Small, but home.” My gaze drifted to his face and found his eyes were kind in looking over my humble place, which I’d worked hard to maintain. It was all mine, every square footage of it. I couldn’t bear for him or anyone else to think less of it.
“I was going to say comforting. I like it. Where should I put your things?” I’d forgotten Evan had been holding the bags and gestured to the floor near my full-sized bed, which doubled as my couch with all the throw pillows I put on it.
I rocked my son in my arms nervously. He slept through it. I would have to talk to him later about being Team Mom and cockblocking all future guys.
“I guess I should get Ethan settled.”
“Uh yeah.” Evan rubbed a hand behind his head, his elbow brushing up against the wall, forcing him to step closer.
I wondered if I felt as awkward as he looked.
“Thanks. For…everything.” I laid Ethan down in his crib. He was still asleep, looking so sweet and innocent. My body hurt thinking about feeding time, which would be in another hour, but I pledged to get through it.
“Remi, it’s fine. I was happy I could be there for you—both of you.” Evan stood so close behind me that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck as he leaned in adjusting the mobile above the crib. I turned around practically into his arms as the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star played above me. A sharp stabbing in my heart reminded me this wasn’t real. I didn’t get to have the nice guy and fairy-tale ending, because the bad boy had knocked me up and skipped town. I may as well have been damaged goods, single mom 101.
“So, I guess I’ll see you.” My eyes darted up to look into his wide blue ones. My mouth dried, and I licked my lips to give me something to do. Evan smiled. We were so close, nearly touching, and yet miles apart. If I leaned just so, I could fall into his arms, and he would catch me because that’s what Evan Rooney did; it was who he was fundamentally. A hero. I also knew it wouldn’t be fair to him. We were on two separate trains leaving the station and careening far away in opposite directions. This seemed to be the story of my life.
“Hey, sweet girl.” A single fingertip pressed under my chin, pulling my head up. Our eyes met and our breaths hitched—okay, at least mine did because all I wanted was to flutter my eyes closed and press my lips against his. Ethan chose that moment to let out a little cry, and I backed away, bumping into the crib behind me, eyes blinking, catching myself from falling. The moment was toast and heat flushed my cheeks.
“I need to change him.” I slipped out from under his arms and grabbed the diaper bag, riffling through it one-handed, looking for a diaper. While Ethan whimpered, I stared around my apartment, wondering where I should change him, when I saw the changing station I never got around to ordering set up next to his crib. I sighed, realizing my friends had surprised me again.
I laid Ethan down and secured the little buckle around his belly so he wouldn’t roll, not that he started that yet at a few days old. I would figure this out, I had to figure this out, and I would do better for my son than my parents had done for me.
“Remington.” I glanced up, and his face softened, care etched in the lines around his beautiful eyes. Eyes I wanted my traitorous heart to drown in.
I bit my lip, choosing my words carefully. “This isn’t a good time for me.”
“Yeah.” He stood there motionless.
“I need space. Time to figure this all out. It’s going to be Ethan and me now.” My voice was breathless, catching up as he shuffled from foot to foot. I sensed he wanted to say something the way the nervous energy built between us.
He took a step forward. I matched his bumping against the wall. His hands reached for me at my hips, pulling me in close as I yelped out loud. My heart hammered, and I strained to look up at him, confused. His hands tangled in my hair, and his face hovered close enough to kiss me. So close I could taste the mint on his breath, making my mouth water. So close I could see the faint stubble shadow on his jaw and I had the urge to touch it. My hands snaked upward between us, pressing back. He didn’t budge, not forward and not backward as time froze.
I whispered, “Goodbye, Evan.”
It felt like a minute suspended in the magnetic pull of wanting something I couldn’t have and the pain of letting it go. I winced as he pulled back. His hands released my hair and fisted down at his sides like he was afraid to touch me again. Well, that made two of us.
His lips moved like he wanted to say something long-winded but instead went with the more formal, “Take care, Remington.”
“Thank you,” I murmured at his retreating back.
He stopped, never turning around to speak. “Maybe call me sometime.” His shoulders flexed at my silence.
I think we both knew I wouldn’t call.
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Author M.C. Cerny
About the Author M.C. Cerny is a USA Today bestselling author of fresh sexy books. She experienced her first real ugly cry reading, Where The Red Fern Grows, and never looked back. She lives with a menagerie of human and feline fur-babies in rural NJ. When M.C. is not writing, you’ll find her lurking in Starbucks, running stupid marathons, and eating all the tacos.
Welcome to the blog tour for QUASI REDUX, the eighth book in the young adult fantasy/paranormal romance series, Angelbound Origins, by Christina Bauer. See below for information on the book and series, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway. For a limited time, all books in the series are on sale for just $2.99 each.
QUASI REDUX (Angelbound Origins Series #8) by Christina Bauer
About the Book
Title: QUASI REDUX Series: Angelbound Origins #8 Author: Christina Bauer Publisher: Monster House Books Release Date: September 29, 2020 Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | GooglePlay
Synopsis Myla Lewis has her life back. Wife. Mother. Queen. Great Scala. Queen of the Thrax. Yay! Then one day, Myla runs across a supernatural waterfall that makes her igni screech like crazy. Our heroine speaks the fateful words: some days, I wish I weren’t the Great Scala.
The waterfall grants her wish.
A moment later, Myla is back at Purgatory High. No husband. No child. No powers beyond her old quasi days. And without Myla around as the Great Scala, all quasis now live under Armageddon’s rule. That sucks. Hard. So Myla sneaks into Antrum—she simply must find Lincoln and figure this out. Once she arrives, two problems arise.
First, her husband doesn’t know her. At all.
Second, Lincoln is married to someone else.
Fuuuuuuu…
Angelbound Origins
About a quasi (part demon and part human) girl who loves kicking butt in Purgatory’s Arena
1. Angelbound
2. Scala
3. Acca
4. Thrax
5. The Dark Lands
6. The Brutal Time (2019)
7. Armageddon (already here, long story!)
8. Quasi Redux (2020)
Angelbound Offspring
The next generation takes on Heaven, Hell, and everything in between
1. Maxon
2. Portia
3. Zinnia (forthcoming)
4. Kaps (forthcoming)
5. Huntress (forthcoming)
Angelbound Lincoln
The Angelbound experience as told by Prince Lincoln
Excerpt
Junk Punch
I step past the trio of thrax guards writhing on the ground.
Meh. They’ll live. Plus, it serves them right for trying to tackle me.
My best friend, Cissy, stares at the same scene. “This isn’t right,” she snaps. “Before you said and I quote, when we break into Antrum, there will be no fighting.”
“True, but that wasn’t a real battle. I just tripped those guards by mistake.”
Cissy rolls her eyes. “Myla, you punched that guy in the nuts.”
I give an eye roll right back. “Same difference. He’s down, isn’t he?”
Cissy shoots another nervous look at the guards, who remain passed out on the ground. Except for the junk-punch guy. He’s awake, just not moving yet.
Cissy narrows her eyes. “And why are we here again?”
“Because at this time of day, Lincoln will be training the young lords. I can catch up with him, easy peasy.”
Cissy nibbles her thumbnail. “And he’s your husband.”
“In another reality, yeah.”
“But he won’t know you here.”
“No.” My tail arcs over my shoulder. The arrowhead end points right at my face. I’ve seen this move before. “I know, bud. Cis is acting strangely.” I refocus on my friend. “I feel like we’ve covered all this before. Why do you keep asking the same questions?”
Cissy shifts her weight from foot to foot. “Just give me the plan one more time.”
“I’ll talk to my guy and all our troubles will end.” Cissy still looks skeptical, so I continue. “Lincoln is a rock. I haven’t changed; he hasn’t changed. Sure, there’s probably some spell on his memories and—just like you—he won’t know me right away.”
“I don’t remember you at all.”
“Doesn’t matter. Once I explain things, Lincoln will believe me. Then together, we’ll fix this mess.”
“So you say.” Cissy throws up her hands. “How can I be sure?”
“Here’s the deal. When it comes to me, you always have a healthy dose of skepticism, but I bulldoze you into things anyway. Come on, let’s go before the guards get mobile.”
And as I suspected, that speech works perfectly. Without another word, Cissy follows me as I step off to find Lincoln.
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Author Christina Bauer
About the Author
Christina Bauer knows how to tell stories about kick-ass women. In her best selling Angelbound series, the heroine is a part-demon girl who loves to fight in Purgatory’s Arena and falls in love with a part-angel prince. This young adult best seller has driven more than 500,000 ebook downloads and 9,000 reviews on Goodreads and retailers.
Bauer has also told the story of the Women’s March on Washington by leading PR efforts for the Massachusetts Chapter. Her pre-event press release—the only one sent out on a major wire service—resulted in more than 19,000 global impressions and redistribution by over 350 different media entities including the Associated Press.
Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby..
Today is release day for THE DUPLICATE BRIDE, a stand-alone adult contemporary romance, by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Ginny Baird. See below for information on the book, buy links, and an exclusive release day excerpt.
Synopsis Saying “I do” has never been this much fun in this charming new romance from New York Times bestselling author Ginny Baird.
Hope Webb can’t believe her twin sister, Jackie, is begging her to swap places and play fiancée at Jackie’s pre-wedding festivities. Sure, it’s only a business-deal sort of marriage, but Hope is a carb-loving teacher who enjoys curling up with a good book. Jackie is a workaholic whose idea of a good time is a brisk five-mile run at the crack of dawn. The two sisters couldn’t be more opposite.
Now Hope is stuck in the middle of a warm, tight-knit family she can’t help but adore and a groom who turns out to be entirely wonderful…for her.
Hotel magnate Brent Albright knows something is off about his fiancée, but he doesn’t care. Gone is the driven woman with similar career goals, and in her place is someone warm and funny who not only charms his family but him as well. She’s doing everything she can to avoid him, but that’s probably just nerves. Two people about to wed couldn’t know each other less.
Now Brent is determined to woo his fiancée, for real this time, because the more he gets to know her, the more his sweet fiancée turns out to be entirely wonderful…for him.
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Excerpt Elsa gave a short laugh, trying to downplay the situation. “Believe it or not, Margaret here thought you’d prioritize that wedding over this one.” She rolled her eyes like the idea was absurd, and Hope wanted to melt through the floor.
Jackie needed to show up and fix this.
“Now we know that’s not true, hmm?” Elsa grinned at Hope. “Here you are!”
“There she is.” A dark-haired guy in a black polo shirt and khakis ambled down the drive.
Hope nearly swallowed her tongue. Brent Albright was gorgeous as a teen, but as a man? She couldn’t breathe. In addition to the rugged-yet-refined-man thing he now had going, he walked with an easy stride that implied he was in command of his completely flawless body.
His smile, though…that’s what stole her breath away.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, gently nudging past Grandmother Margaret.
Hope’s breath hitched when she saw his unbelievably hot mouth dropping down toward hers. Wait. Was he going to kiss her?
“Brent!” she gasped, abruptly turning away. She could not kiss her sister’s fiancé.
No matter how exciting that had momentarily seemed.
He stumbled forward, his lips landing awkwardly on her cheek while his hands grasped her shoulders. Hope’s world turned upside down, and her heart thundered as the pressure of his kiss lingered, his scent washing over her. He smelled like sand and sea and pine…and she had to resist wrapping her arms around his neck and yanking him into the car. She broke into a sweat. This is not happening. I am not attracted to Jackie’s future husband! This was so incredibly twisted.
Not as twisted as Brent thinking she was Jackie, though. Shouldn’t he have some gut-level instinct about the woman he loved and was about to marry? “Sorry about the display.” His whisper tickled her ear, and tingles raced down her spine.
Not good. Not good at all.
He shot a glance over his shoulder, meant for only her, and Hope got his meaning. They were playing the loving couple for his grandmother’s benefit. But why was it an act anyway?
She had to tell them she wasn’t Jackie now. Now, before it was too late. Her sister must not have gotten in touch with Brent, but Hope could explain things.
“In truth, I’m…er, not…” She tried to speak, but she got caught up in Brent’s heady stare. He had very dark eyes, maybe the darkest she’d ever seen. And, ooh, how they sparkled in the sunshine. “What I mean is…”
Desperate to regain her footing, she wrenched herself free of Brent’s gaze and turned to Elsa, who sat beside her in the passenger seat.
Brent’s mom’s immediate acceptance of her—no, Jackie—made her heart pound harder.
Elsa was trying so hard to be warm and welcoming, despite that fact that Hope had nearly flattened her in the driveway like a blueberry pancake.
Hope was at a total loss over what to do.
She’d told Jackie that this was impossible.
That she would no way in a million years impersonate her.
It was unethical and wrong.
And yet, she’d been helplessly cornered and suddenly had nowhere to turn…
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Author Ginny Baird
About the Author New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird writes sweet contemporary romance with a dash of humor and a whole lot of heart. She’s published more than twenty-five novels and novellas, both with traditional presses and independently, and has several exciting projects in the works. When she’s not writing, Ginny enjoys cooking, walking, and spending time with her family.
Today is release day for SUNSETS & SOMEDAYS, the twenty-first novel in the adult contemporary romance series, 425 Madison Avenue, by USA Today bestselling author, S.L. Sterling. See below for information on the book, buy links, and an exclusive excerpt.
SUNSETS & SOMEDAYS (425 Madison Avenue Series #21) by S.L. Sterling
About the Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited Title: SUNSETS & SOMEDAYS Series: 425 Madison Avenue Series #21 Author: S.L. Sterling Release Date: September 28, 2020 Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis Ben
I know why I lost her. I was too serious. I was too practical. I was grounded when I should’ve been dreaming about forever with Jess.
Over time, this wore on her, all her big exciting ideas and all the ways I shut them down. No wonder she handed me my ring back and left town. No wonder she hadn’t been back in ten years. No wonder she’d married someone else, leaving me with memories of sunsets at the beach and the somedays we planned for the future we’d never live. So, I built a lift without her. My father and I opened the second division of Sunset Builders in New York, and to my surprise, I stayed busy, almost busy enough not to notice the loneliness.
While I was on a job site, my little sister booked an appointment with a woman who lived on Madison Avenue. A quick bathroom and kitchen remodel, she’d said. I should have asked more questions because when I arrived and the door opened memories came flooding back. Jessica had returned. If I’d learned anything in her absence it was that anything worth doing was worth being done well, and anything worth having was worth fighting for. Maybe by the time the condo was done, Jessica would give me a second chance.
Jessica All those years ago, Ben had been right to try to keep me grounded. I should’ve listened. The falls didn’t hurt as bad that way.
Instead, I wanted a bigger life in a bigger place and I never appreciated the beauty of living in a small town with a huge support system. So, I left town without so much as a goodbye chasing a silly dream. I alienated myself, moved to a strange city where I knew no one, and chased after something that took me down a dark path. I married the man who promised me the sun, moon, and stars, but delivered blinding blows. Sometimes, I thought I’d die before I escaped the nightmare. I knew my only way out would be to run…again. This took more years than I could count. Years of me squirreling away money, and years of me hiding in the dark so that no one would see my bruised face in the light of day.
Then my grandfather died. He left me money and a gorgeous condo in New York. While my husband was away on a month-long trip, my best friend drove me to New York. My plan: to upgrade the condo, sell it, and leave my current life behind. Little did I know when I had called contractors to get some quotes that Ben would show up on my doorstep. He swore we could make more dreams real, but this time I was the grounded one. This time, I could only see how it would never work. I’d made too many mistakes. Love was terrifying. And I never wanted to tie myself to anyone ever again.
After all, 425 Madison is the perfect place to fall in love!
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Excerpt
I slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a thick stack of papers. On top sat some beautiful images of Jessica, which I flipped through slowly, taking them in. “These are amazing pictures of you. It was nice of them to send them to you. I love this one,” I said, holding up what I thought was one of the best shots of her.
“Yeah, they are great, but that isn’t all they sent me,” she said, the excitement building in her voice. She reached over and pulled the images off the thick pile of paperwork, producing what looked to be a contract. “Two weeks ago, they called and presented me with an enormous opportunity, and here it is! All in black and white.” She squealed. “I waited to tell you until I got the paperwork.”
I began reading the letter that sat on top. Words like contract, New York, California, moving. They were the ones that jumped out at me, and I felt my chest getting tight at the thought of her going away. I swallowed hard. “What does all this mean, Jessica?”
“It means they are offering me a modeling contract in the big city, Ben. It’s my dream come true. I’ll get to model and see the sights, and I am so excited that I wanted to share this with you in our special place.”
“What did your parents say?” I asked as I sat there trying to focus and re-read the letter, but it did little good, so I started flipping through the bundle of paperwork.
“They were angry. Furious, actually,” she said, picking at one of her nails.
“Are… Are you going to go?” I asked. I could feel tightness in my chest that hadn’t been there before, but now that I’d asked her the question, it didn’t seem to want to let up.
“Well, I thought that perhaps you would want to go with me. I’m sure my parents would feel better about it if you were with me. Plus, there is so much opportunity out there, and it would only be for a little while. I mean, the contract is only for a year. I want you to go with me.”
My stomach hurt at the thought of her leaving me, and it was getting harder and harder for me to breathe. It reminded me of the time that I had gotten tackled in one of my high school football games. The guy had come charging at me and knocked me flat on my ass. I hadn’t even seen him coming. When we collided, I went flying, and when I landed, he had knocked the air right out of me. This was no different. She had tackled me, just differently.
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Author S.L. Sterling
About the Author USA Today bestselling Author S.L. Sterling was born and raised in southern Ontario. She now lives in Northern Ontario Canada with her two dogs, and is married to her best friend and soul mate.
An avid reader all her life, S.L. Sterling dreamed of becoming an author. She decided to give writing a try after one of her favorite authors launched a course on how to write your novel. This course gave her the push she needed to put pen to paper and her debut novel “It Was Always You” was born.
When S.L. Sterling isn’t writing or plotting her next novel she can be found curled up with a cup of coffee, blanket and the newest romance novel from one of her favorite authors.
In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, sunny destinations, spending quality time with family and friends and of course reading.
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Caity Schmidt, author of HUNTERS and ALLIES, the first two books in the fantasy series, The Wanderers’ War. See below for information on the books, buy links, my exclusive interview with the author, and links to add them to your Goodreads TBR.
HUNTERS (The Wanderers’ War Series #1) by Caity Schmidt
Synopsis All Jac Torres wants is to get back to Braora — to the world where she had magic in her hands and purpose in her heart. She wants to be back in a world that was just and good.She wants to go home.Despite what she wants, Jac has accepted that she invented it all during a psychotic break as a pre-teen.
Miserable for the last decade, she welcomes the meds that keep her from thinking about Braora and allows her to ignore the tingle of remembered magic in her veins. She checks off boxes and counts down to the day she can escape from the reminders of the mental illness that has plagued her.
Now, if only her new therapist would stop demanding she talk about what never happened, she could stop fantasizing about breaking probation……And his nose.When Jac finally faces a choice between certain misery on Earth and a possible happiness searching for a home that may not exist, hope has to be enough.
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ALLIES (The Wanderers’ War Series #2) by Caity Schmidt
About Book 2 – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited Title: ALLIES Series: The Wanderers’ War Series #2 Author: Caity Schmidt Publisher: Cypress Canyon Publishing Release Date: September 30, 2020 Genre: Fantasy Links:Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis No one can accuse Finn of being a coward, only an idiot.
He wakes to the comfort of a Peregrine healer at his bedside, but that relief is short-lived. His exile stands, the Order holds him responsible for the threat of the Hunters, and he’s all alone. In fact, his last ally stabbed him. For some reason, Finn is still fool enough to want to help her…If he can find her.
But Jac has no intention of being found.Still searching for the only place that feels like home, Jac continues to jump through Gates and chase the dream of returning to Braora. Until she finds it, she refuses to think about what happened or what she did. She refuses to let anyone get close, because wanting someone to be good doesn’t make it so.
That might change when Jac stumbles into a new traveling companion: an ally who could prove her theory wrong. Did she find someone she can trust, someone who could give her purpose and someone who could help her find her home?
Hope is tenacious, and Braora is within reach, assuming she can survive the growing conflict between the Peregrines and the Hunters, and if Finn doesn’t find her first.
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Interview
1) The Wanders’ War sounds like exactly my type of book. Book 1, HUNTERS, launches the reader into this world. Does ALLIES pick up where HUNTERS left off, or can the books be read out of order? Allies picks up almost immediately after the close of Hunters, which is for the best considering how Hunters ends. I’m sure someone will read them out of order, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
2) What is something about this fantastical world you created you want readers to know, but isn’t in either book’s blurb? Well, since I write from a limited pov, and no one on the Map actually knows this, I’ll never manage to include it anywhere else. The ability to travel between worlds is a genetic mutation that can be picked up if a pregnant person gets close to, or passes through a gate during a certain period of the pregnancy. So a lot of worlds believe that it’s passed down by a mother, and the data gets close to that, but it isn’t quite right. Jac’s mother, for instance, can’t leave Earth, but while she was pregnant with Jac, she went for a walk and passed by a gate. There’s also a bit of randomization involved. Not everyone that lives in the Gate region of a Core World is a wanderer after all, but it’s much, much more likely.
3) Give us a one-sentence description of your main characters beyond what’s in the books’ blurbs. Jac Torres lost everything and will crawl through glass to get a scrap of it back.
Finn Kersaht lost everything and won’t admit it’s gone.
4) It looks like HUNTERS is our debut novel. How long did this story marinate in your imagination before you got it all down on paper? I’ve joked before that Jac strolled up, fully formed, in the back of my head. She was the shadowy stranger in the corner of a tavern, and glared until I started writing down the story she told me. I wish it all came that easily, but it took about two and a half years before I understood the universe, the magic, and the characters well enough to send it into the world. Thankfully, my kid brother helped me out by poking holes in the logic of everything so I could create something that held water.
5) If the series was being turned into a TV show, who would you want to play your lead characters? Jade Hassouné has been my face claim for Finn for years now, mostly because he has the smirk, but Riz Ahmed would also be fantastic. For Jac, I changed my answer recently! I’m watching Lovecraft Country, and near the climax of the first episode, I realized that Journee Smollet would be perfect for Jac; her energy and her intensity are amazing. I’m a big fan of casting roles to keep my mental image consistent, so Javica Leslie and Chris Evans are also on the pin board, for Fasavi and Kalrah.
6) Switching gears a bit, 2020 has been tough on everyone, but living in So. Cal. has had its own challenges. How are you coping with the fires up there? LA’s air quality has been much better than it is up north, and I’m grateful for that, since I already have a cough from this. Where I am is safe right now, but I did refill my gas tank, and bought extra gallons of water, just in case. I’ve lived in a couple places that had a fire season, and it makes it really hard to brush aside climate change. You see the proof of it constantly, and you know that turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth isn’t enough to get ahead of the problem. This year is particularly bad, and to be frank, it’s making me a bit of a radical.
7) Scrolling through your Twitter feed, I see you’re just as devastated as I am by the loss of Notorious RBG. She meant everything to me, beyond just what she means to a semi-balanced court. I’ve read her book MY OWN WORDS and it forever changed my views of her, for the better, if that was even possible. Can you give us a few words that capture how you feel about losing this American icon? RBG did so much for women’s rights in this country that it’s hard for me to grasp that it’s one person’s legacy. She seems impossible. She quite literally changed the lives of every American. She did so much, and she did it so well, that I didn’t know until a few years ago that it had happened in the last few decades. As I’ve fought for respect and a place at the table, I was working on a foundation she made; one that was so sturdy it didn’t occur to me how recently it was poured. I know there’s work to be done still, especially in intersectional feminism, but when I saw the news, my reaction, overwhelmingly, was that honoring her legacy meant fighting every bit as hard as she did, to preserve and expand on what she gave us.
8) I also see you’re an artist. Please tell us more! What medium do you like to work with most? Where can we see some of your art? I got my degree in theatrical design and scene painting; when I can, my medium is latex paint by the gallon. I’ve been a designer in themed entertainment for the last few years though (museums, vip lounges, etc), which means I now live and die in digital modelling and rendering. I’ve got some of my art on Instagram, including world art for the books, some designs from other people’s books, but for the most part seeing my art means going to one of the venues, and those are all across the country.
9) Back to the Wanders’ War. Will there be more books in the series? If so, when can we expect to get our hands on Book 3? Assuming the kaiju don’t arrive in December to round out this hellacious year, Book three will be out in late 2021. The whole series has been outlined since last year, to hopefully avoid the car crash so many series seem to hit in their finales. Book three has a couple of moments I’m downright giddy about writing, but four – which will be the last of the series – will let me pull together all the threads I’ve laid down, and that’s my favorite part of writing.
10) What’s next from Caity Schmidt beyond this series? I have a standalone book within the universe of The Wanderers’ War that’s simmering, and an urban fantasy story which I’ve only seen in flashes. Outside of writing, my industry took it on the jaw from Covid, so my future is pretty much wide open. Ideally, I’d find something in political advocacy or awareness, but I don’t know where I’m going.
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Author Caity Schmidt
About the Author As a kid, Caity Schmidt told people she was going to be an artist and was immediately asked what her ‘real job’ would be. It had to be true, that being an artist wasn’t a real job, because adults said it. She then started writing, which prompted the exact same question. To spite those people, she decided to do both.
Caity went to school for theater and took classes in drawing and painting and writing. She then graduated, looked at the economy and immediately decided to take more classes. She followed her education with a career in themed entertainment design, which has turned her casual enjoyment of storytelling into a passion. In particular, she’s fascinated by — and susceptible to — the human need to reach out and pluck a chord that will resonate with others.
When Caity writes, she pulls inspiration from classic novels, niche stories, transformative works, Greek dramas, stage plays, history, and most especially from the surreal millennial experience of coping with a world that has broken every promise. Rather than re-examining the problems of the world in reality, she looks for their brighter reflections in fantasy and fiction, where swords and magic make them more palatable. Dissatisfied with stories that ignore or gloss over mental illness and trauma, Caity explores the realities and pain they cause, paying special attention to the messy road recovery follows. Her themes of home and a sense of place are influenced by the journey she’s taken in her own life, and what she’s lost.
Caity currently lives in Los Angeles at her 18th address, in her eighth state, despite not being a military brat — just unlucky. There she can be found complaining about the lack of weather, sleeping late, baking, futilely attempting to grow something beyond petunias, and drinking what her friends tell her is an unnecessary volume of coffee. She strongly disagrees.
Welcome to the blog tour for THE DUPLICATE BRIDE, a stand-alone adult contemporary romance, by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Ginny Baird, releasing September 29, 2020. See below for information on the book, preorder links, and an exclusive excerpt.
Synopsis Saying “I do” has never been this much fun in this charming new romance from New York Times bestselling author Ginny Baird.
Hope Webb can’t believe her twin sister, Jackie, is begging her to swap places and play fiancée at Jackie’s pre-wedding festivities. Sure, it’s only a business-deal sort of marriage, but Hope is a carb-loving teacher who enjoys curling up with a good book. Jackie is a workaholic whose idea of a good time is a brisk five-mile run at the crack of dawn. The two sisters couldn’t be more opposite.
Now Hope is stuck in the middle of a warm, tight-knit family she can’t help but adore and a groom who turns out to be entirely wonderful…for her.
Hotel magnate Brent Albright knows something is off about his fiancée, but he doesn’t care. Gone is the driven woman with similar career goals, and in her place is someone warm and funny who not only charms his family but him as well. She’s doing everything she can to avoid him, but that’s probably just nerves. Two people about to wed couldn’t know each other less.
Now Brent is determined to woo his fiancée, for real this time, because the more he gets to know her, the more his sweet fiancée turns out to be entirely wonderful…for him.
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Excerpt “No, Jackie, just no. You can forget about it!” She lowered her voice, remembering she was outdoors and that Iris was within earshot. “I am not playing you. Okay? Not during your own wedding week.”
Iris looked up from trimming her begonia hedge. “Everything all right, child?”
“Oh, yeah! Fine! It’s just my sister. Nervous bride.” She waved Iris’s concern aside and hissed quietly into the mouthpiece, “Are you out of your ever-lovin’ mind?”
“No. I’m thinking plenty clearly. Thanks.”
Hope tightened her grip on her phone, unable to believe what her twenty-eight-year-old twin was suggesting. Jackie had to have majorly lost it to suggest a plan like that. Hope had to find a way to talk her down from this ledge.
“I’m sure if you explain things to Brent,” she said, “he’ll understand.”
“It’s not Brent I’m worried about,” Jackie rasped quietly. “It’s his grandmother.” She dropped her voice a notch further. She was probably in a public place. “I didn’t tell you this before because it’s embarrassing, but I don’t think the woman likes me.”
“You’ve met her?” Jackie hadn’t mentioned this. “When?”
“She and her husband live in Boston. Brent and I had lunch with them, and well…she gave me the eye.”
“Which eye?”
“The eye. You know, where it looks like someone’s peering straight through you? She kind of squinted at me, appraising-like, and asked how long I’d been in love with her grandson.”
Hope gasped. “What did you say?”
“Forever. What else could I say? Brent took my hand and told his grandparents we’re a great match. I mean, we’ve talked it out and have plenty of good reasons for being together, so we are. His grandfather toasted us with his congratulations then, but Granny just dabbed her lips with her napkin and mumbled something about rushed nuptials and haste making waste.”
“Well, that was unnecessary,” Hope snapped, affronted on her sister’s behalf. Even if the engagement had been short, Brent’s grandmother could have at least been gracious about it.
“I know. The family’s already doubting me, and nobody’s giving me a fair chance. Here’s the thing— Brent’s grandma is like the queen in that family. So, if she doesn’t like me, then maybe the others won’t, either.”
“I’m sure they’ll all love you once they get to know you,” Hope said. Jackie was so outgoing and fun. Meanwhile, Hope was on the quieter side—except for when she was commanding high-energy students. She was a rock star at getting preteens to behave in the classroom, which was one reason she loved her job. The other was summer vacations— when she wasn’t being coerced into teaching summer school.
“If I arrive late to my own wedding week, Grandmother Margaret’s going to pounce,” Jackie persisted. “She already hinted that she thought I was unreliable and might not make it.” She adopted a high falsetto, imitating the older woman. “With your very busy schedule, are you sure you can squeeze in one more wedding?”
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Author Ginny Baird
About the Author New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Ginny Baird writes sweet contemporary romance with a dash of humor and a whole lot of heart. She’s published more than twenty-five novels and novellas, both with traditional presses and independently, and has several exciting projects in the works. When she’s not writing, Ginny enjoys cooking, walking, and spending time with her family.
Welcome to the book blitz for WHERE ANGELS CAN’T FOLLOW, a standalone young adult fantasy, by Jessi Kallison. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive teaser excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
Synopsis It all started with an inexplicable slab of marble.
And now I can’t get her out of my head. It’s more than inspiration. It’s compulsion.
I see her in my dreams. And I wake up covered in marble dust, her statue more complete in front of me.
I can’t stop sculpting, and I can’t save the angel girl.
Now iconoclasts, a quartet of archangels, and a voodoo queen—along with the plague of little old ladies running my life—are all far too interested in the outcome.
I miss normal New Orleans. (Yeah, I said it.)
But there’s no going back until I free her and get the literal heavenly host out of my life. And maybe there’s no going back then.
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Teaser Excerpt #1 “No, she’s not gonna be naked! Christ!” I ducked as Marge swatted at me with the newspaper for taking the Lord’s name in vain. “Ack! Lay off, Marge. Seriously. She’ll have clothes.”
Still clutching the paper, but the tension gone from her brows, she went to grab the chocolate pie as I wondered what kind of clothes she thought should appear on an angel. She’s happy about the clothing situation now, but she doesn’t know that I’ll
basically be carving Sarah Connor with wings. The thought of her shock sweetened the chocolate in my mouth even more, and I savored my pie as I thought about the spiky blades protruding like porcupine quills on my angel’s thighs and arms
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Author Jessi Kallison
About the Author As a devoted bibliophile and die-hard sci-fi/fantasy fan, few of Jessi’s friends were surprised when she began writing her own novels. After completing her Master’s in English, she briefly taught college courses until she realized adjuncting is madness. After a brief timeout to raise nerdlings, Jessi wrote Iron Shards. And her latest books–Where Angels Can’t Follow and Hell and High Water–will be released this fall. In her free time, Jessi explores and maps caves in the Southeastern United States and, of course, catches up on the latest good reads.
Welcome to the book blitz for PRESCRIPTION FOR A LONELY HEART, the first book in her adult romantic comedy series, Love in Glenco City, by Rosalie Jardin. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
PRESCRIPTION FOR A LONELY HEART (Love in Glencoe City Series #1) by Rosalie Jardin
About the Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited Title: PRESCRIPTION FOR A LONELY HEART Series: Love in Glenco City Series #1 Author: Rosalie Jardin Release Date:September 21, 2020
Genre: Adult Romantic Comedy
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis “If we’re both still single when we’re thirty, we’ll marry each other . . .”
The marriage pact was made during a lazy day at the beach, half in jest, and seemingly forgotten by the boy who started it.
But ten years later, Kay hadn’t forgotten. She’s still shy and introverted, not interested in relationships. So when Adrian reappears in her life—two years early—and asks her to marry him now, she surprises herself by agreeing.
So now she must deal with her mother’s disapproval, his brother’s hostility, and a load of self-doubt. Can she forge a real relationship with Adrian? Has he really changed from a ladies man to someone she can trust? Will she be able to let go of everything she’s ever thought she wanted and reach out to grab a new future?
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Excerpt #2
“Give her a kiss!!” My eyes tear open and we break apart, startled. That’s when I notice the small crowd of people that have gathered, drawn together by the sight of a man on bended knee. It slaps the contentment out of me and the tension returns. Eventually I track the voice to a sweet little old lady, arm in arm with her equally sweet little old husband. “Come on now! Kiss!”
The color drains from my face as I look back at Adrian, terrified. A kiss? They want us to kiss! That is not what I signed up for! I mean, it would make sense for me to kiss him because that’s how it usually goes—right? I start to panic. My stomach is in knots. The crowd is small but it’s enough to put pressure on me to do something I’m not comfortable with doing.
Adrian, on the other hand, is as cool as the sea breeze. “We should give them what they want, right?”
He leans in and I’m frozen solid. My body fizzles and pops as he leans forward and his lips lightly brush against mine. At first, I seize up. He…he’s kissing me! What part of a platonic relationship allows actual kissing? I feel trapped and the discomfort is off the charts. This isn’t what I signed up for. But then the buzz hits as my eyes flutter close. His lips feel sensuous and soft and I know he’s being tender with me. I can hear the rush of my blood and frantic pace of my heartbeat. The buzz hits a crescendo before it evens out, a warm tingling sensation of pleasure swirling all around me.
This…isn’t so bad. It feels kind of good? It’s definitely new.
There’s a quiet urge to lean forward and press my lips against his. Explore this feeling a little bit longer. But I push it down. What the…where did that come from?
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Author Rosalie Jardin
About the Author Rosalie Jardin is the pen name an American-born author living in British Columbia. Writing has been a passion since she was five, beginning with telling stories- which often got her in trouble with her teachers because they kept catching her writing instead of doing her schoolwork.
Rosalie considers herself to be living the glamorous geek mom life and channels that energy into her writings and her debut novel. Her characters rumble around in her head, demanding to have their stories told and, like any good author, she is just doing what she’s told.
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Elzabeth A. Seibert, author of THE BRO CODE, a young adult contemporary romance. See below for information on the book, buy links, my exclusive interview with the author, and a link to add it to your Goodreads TBR.
Synopsis As a certified stand-up bro, Nick Maguire knows that some things in life are sacred: Do not skip ab workouts. Never back down from spicy foods. And always accept the outcome of Rock, Paper, Scissors. For these are the revered doctrines of The Bro Code, rules of conduct that have been passed down through the ages from bro to bro.
Heading into his senior year, Cassidy High’s star soccer player has his priorities straight and intends to spend his time playing sports, hanging out, and living by the code. But when his best bro Carter’s sister Eliza returns from studying overseas, the awkward, academic girl Nick remembers is different.
Carter might be Nick’s bro, but Eliza becomes his whole world—and he has to make a choice between them. Is being with the girl of your dreams worth breaking the most important rule: never date your best friend’s sister? Somehow, Nick never expected that following The Bro Code may have even bigger consequences than breaking it.
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Interview
Q. So beyond the blurb, tell us something about THE BRO CODE that would entice a reluctant reader. A. The story is a romantic comedy with deeper social commentary, and also includes a cupcake business, lots of pizza, and cute soccer players.
Q. What about these two characters will hit home with readers? A. Nick and Eliza both love prank wars. They also have a deep understanding of each other and can communicate with each other in ways that they can’t with the other characters.
Q. If you were going to compare your book to another author’s, as in if you like ___, you’ll love THE BRO CODE, what would that be?
A. If you love To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han you’ll love The Bro Code. I hope.
Q. Without giving anything away, what is something you hope readers take away from the book?
A. The message of the story is that rules are made to be broken, but that also means that social norms are meant to be broken. Males and females shouldn’t be forced into social roles based on their gender, which can happen even as teenagers. This book explores that.
Q: You first drafted THE BRO CODE back in 2012. It’s now eight years later and you’re publishing on September 22. What did THAT revision process look like? A. It was long! I had to add about 30k words, and I also wanted to update it to hold up after the #MeToo Movement in 2018. Many of the characters have totally different roles and the second half of the story is completely rewritten. So if you read this book and read the original story on Wattpad, you will read two different stories that happen to have the same characters, kind of like fanfiction.
Q. You’ve had an interesting education and I’m super jealous. How does one go about inventing their own major?
A. Haha I got my Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where they have a program called the “Bachelor’s Degree with an Individual Concentration.” This is basically for students who have interdisciplinary interests or are already double or triple majoring, which I was (economics, psychology, and communications). I was able to combine the requirements for these majors that I saw value in and genuinely wanted to learn, to create a degree called Behavioral Economics and Media Writing. (Which is a fancy name for studying peoples’ behaviors, learning how to quantify it, and knowing how to write about the results in a variety of media.)
I initially thought I wanted to use this degree for marketing, which I did for a few years, but it has also come in handy with writing characters and being able to synthesize interdisciplinary ideas into my stories.
Q. I want to know more about NO CAPES. What can you tell me about this superhero novel?
A. I know we’re not supposed to pick favorite stories, but NO CAPES is definitely vying for that place in my heart. It is another YA novel, but it is a mystery/adventure where the main character, Madeline Roberts, begins working with a supervillain to save her city. It’s a fun story because instead of having to figure out who the main “bad guy” really is, the readers have to figure out who the real heroes are. I also invented new superheroes.
Q. I saw you visited my fine city of San Diego last year. What was your favorite thing you did while here? A. Oh yes! I loved San Diego, am definitely going to miss it this winter. I especially loved kayaking in La Jolla cove. I’m envious of the people who live there year-round.
Q. As a superhero fan, I have to ask, have you ever been to Comic-Con?
A. Unfortunately I have not! It’s on my bucket list, however.
Q. What else would you like us to know about your books and yourself?
A. My favorite part of writing is discussing stories (mine or otherwise) with other writers and readers. I invite you all to share your stories with me as well!
Q. What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
A. I am a triplet I have two sisters who are the same age as me (and no we are not identical).
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Author Elizabeth A. Seibert
About the Author Elizabeth A. Seibert has been an author, sunscreen-obsessed lifeguard, barbecue-loving waitress, finance reporter, nine-to-five marketer, and aspiring superhero. Her stories on Wattpad have amassed over thirty million reads, and she’s been featured in Imagines: Celebrity Encounters Starring You (Simon & Schuster).
Elizabeth attended the University of Massachusetts Amerst and currently lives in Massachusetts, USA, where she attends Harvard University. Elizabeth loves to cook and play board games and ultimate frisbee. The Bro Code is her debut novel.
Welcome to the book blitz for SLEEPING WITH SHADOWS, a standalone adult paranormal romance, by Rachel Hailey. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
SLEEPING WITH SHADOWS by Rachel Hailey
About the Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited Title: SLEEPING WITH SHADOWS Author: Rachel Hailey Publisher: FyreSyde Publishing Release Date: September 22, 2020
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
Synopsis Once The King of Nightmares, Ashe lost everything when he was betrayed. Released from prison, he’s got one goal: Stay Free. To make that happen he’ll have to rescue the girl who stole his crown while saving the court he’d rather see burn. But he can’t do it alone. He needs Callie.
Abused, neglected, and finally shunned by The Court of Light, Callie is done with court politics. It’s just too damned bad Ashe doesn’t care. He’s arrogant, manipulative, and dangerous. Everything she’s been taught to fear. It would be so easy to hate him, but the sadness in his gaze calls to her heart, and his touch awakens her own darkness. She has never wanted anyone more.
Callie is Ashe’s darkest desire, but to earn his freedom and prevent the destruction of humanity, she must embrace the destiny that will keep them apart. But is the safety of the world worth losing the kind of love he’s only dreamed of?
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Excerpt #2 Ashe shoved away from the door, his eyes turning black with anger as he stalked closer.
Callie’s instincts screamed at her to run.
Ashe came to stand in front of the desk, teeth bared, his voice rang with power. “You have no idea what it feels like to be locked away. Time melting together until you pray to die. When every heartbeat is a taunt, every breath a curse.”
Ashe slammed his fist down on her desk, scattering paper and pens. Callie bolted from her seat, her back slammed into the wall as she tried to flee his anger. Ashe followed her. “Oh no, you’re not getting away yet.”
His arms snapped out, his palms slapping the wall on either side of her face, caging her.
Callie trembled.
“You should be thankful I need you sane, or I’d show you what it takes to make a person ‘psycho’. How do you think you would do? Do you think you’d fare better than The Bloodkyn Queen? Do you think you’d cope better than me?”
He pressed the side of his face against Callie’s and inhaled. Like a snake tasting the air, Ashe’s tongue darted out and captured a stray tear from her trembling cheek. “Mm. Delicious. All that fear, that shame.”
Callie screamed as she suddenly lost her balance and tumbled into Ashe’s arms. “Please.”
“I like that word. Say it again.” Ashe licked his lower lip, his black eyes hooded.
“Please, please,” Callie stuttered, her mouth dry.
“Say, ‘Please, Ashe forgive me for whining like a petulant child’ and mean it. Let me hear the regret in your voice.”
Callie stammered the words out, hoping it would be enough to save her.
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Author Rachel Hailey
About the Author RachelHailey was born and raised in the South. She’s all about that nerd life and in between writing she’s dedicated herself to raising the next generation of nerds.If she’s not online or staring at a book she can usually be found at the local game store rolling dice, shuffling cards, or planning her next cosplay.
Her childhood was most prominently shaped by the works of R.L. Stine, Stephen King, Anne Rice and the Brothers Grimm.
Welcome to the book blitz for MISTRESS OF DEATH, a standalone young adult/new adult fantasy romance, by Kathryn Trattner. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway. For a limited time, you can pick up the ebook for just $0.99.
In the city of Telum, at the edge of a dying empire and divided by superstition, anything can be had for the right price.
Gabriel Mercer, raised in the shadow of the most famous assassin the city has ever known, wants nothing more than to make a name for herself. Taking a solo contract from an up and coming politician seems like the best way to make it happen.
The night Matthew, a police officer with a spotless record, discovers Gabriel unconscious his world changes. On opposite sides of the law the pair strike up a bargain that becomes harder and harder to keep as their attraction grows.
When the city starts to burn Gabriel will put everything she’s gained at risk for a chance at revenge. Even if it means her future going up in smoke.
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Excerpt #3 Gabriel shadowed Matthew, always several steps behind and a glance away. She had to press her way through the crowd, touching backs and arms, murmuring an apology when she stepped on a foot. People laughed, sang, talked, and mumbled over drinks and little finger foods. Gabriel recognized few of the faces she passed, knowing most had arrived without invitations and not caring.
Matthew chiseled his own path from the parlor through the formal dining room, around the edges of the ballroom and then another room devoted to a collection of delicate chairs wearing silk. He circled, searching, as if he could smell her through all the other scents and yet still could not pin her down.
In the ballroom people stood around the edges, packed shoulder to shoulder, watching the dancers. A new pair would join the twirl or drop out, but Matthew showed no interest in them.
In the crush between rooms, the people dancing before her and the long table covered in an ornate display of food at her back, Gabriel came as close as she’d been all night, within reach of his back.
Temptation, sin on the Right Bank, celebrated on the Left, beckoned.
He was surrounded, pressed between bodies, a flower between pages. Men and women shared skin and air as if personal space were a fiction invented by the insane. He stood motionless, facing the dancers, ignoring two giggling women behind him. They spoke, tittering voices pitched to reach his ears.
He’d been living inside her head, thoughts circling around the sound of his voice, the feel of his hands. The man had made himself impossible to forget as he paced up and down the block, watching the house and doing nothing for days. But he was an officer of the Right Bank; he wanted nothing but to turn her over for the assassination of Daniel Cyrus. She knew, was certain, there would never be anything there other than the black and white situation between them.
But below that knowledge was the want for something else; a look that meant something else, a reason for want beyond his occupation. Her desire to touch him was without meaning; she couldn’t explain it or justify it. It was just there, a feeling she couldn’t ignore.
This would be the only time she let herself give in. She pushed closer, forcing the giggling pair apart, a huff of irritation loud enough to turn heads. But Matthew didn’t turn. She half hoped he would. Excitement, trepidation tripped along taught nerves, her insides resonating with the high-pitched buzz in her head.
Now or never. Now. Never.
Reaching out, her balled fist relaxing one finger at time, she ran her hand up his spine. Thrilling at the contact, she tingled with warmth, lips parting.
His muscles stiffened.
Touching him had been a mistake.
She stepped behind the ladies, pushing into a boisterous group singing tavern songs. Gabriel picked up the words, her view blocked by a large gentleman to her right. His height and girth eclipsed her. He clapped her on the shoulder as she joined in, something about plump wenches and beer. She leaned back, chancing a look.
Scanning the crowd, Matthew stepped between the ladies, excusing himself as he bumped the brunette’s elbow. She giggled, doing her best to maintain his interest. Gabriel stepped back, out of the group, and circled Matthew until she was once again at his back.
Matthew searched, moving on to the dining area. He went around the laden table, plucking a bunch of grapes from a display of fruit. He ate them as he continued, an animal caged and circling the perimeter once more. Gabriel always just out of his line of sight.
With light pushing at the edges of night, he gave up, collecting his coat from a maid on the way out the door. Gabriel followed him through the dwindling crowds and down the front steps.
Walking with his head down, hands deep in his pockets, he shook his head. He paused, sending Gabriel skittering into the shelter of a doorway, and turned to survey the incandescent house.
Illuminated, his face held a bleak expression.
She kept to her shadow until he was out of sight.
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Author Kathryn Trattner
About the Author Kathryn Trattner has loved fairy tales, folk stories, and mythology all of her life. Her hands down favorites have always been East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the story of Persephone and Hades. When not writing or reading she’s traveling as much as possible and taking thousands of photos that probably won’t get edited later. She lives in Oklahoma with her wonderful partner, two very busy children, one of the friendliest dogs ever, and an extremely grumpy cat who doesn’t like anyone at all.
Want to hear about the latest release? Sign up for my newsletter Magical Mundane Madness at kathryn.substack.com
Welcome to the blog tour for CHANGED, the second book in the adult fantasy romance series, The Made Ones Saga, by Vicki Stiefel. See below for information on the book, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
Synopsis What if you could be young again? Would it be a dream come true or truly a nightmare?
That’s the startling reality retired circus trapeze artist Breena Balážová awakens to on the world of Eleutia in her own re-engineered younger body. For a woman whose death on Earth was inches away, it seems like a second chance at life. But in this parallel world, where horses fly and animals and humans are symbionts, Bree is intended as breeding stock to balance the plummeting female birthrate.
As she searches for her missing sisters, who were pulled to Eleutia with her, Bree also must survive assassination attempts, the growing threat of war, and her unexpected attraction to the arrogant animal Clan Alpha, Gato, a man with terrible burdens and secrets.
The animal Clans join forces to combat a dark conspiracy that will shake the foundations of their world, even as Bree’s search for her sisters grows more desperate and dangerous.
If Bree has any hope of finding her sisters and fulfilling her own destiny, she and Gato must carry out a perilous deception, their success or failure deciding not only their own fate, but that of all Eleutia.
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Excerpt #3 Excerpt 3— At Catamount, CatHome’s base of operations, Bree is in the puma adolescent-and-cubs “nursery,” where she helps a black cub whose paw is stuck between two rocks. Gato, CatHome’s Alpha, arrives.
***
Gato was livid. “How did you get out of your suite?”
“How dare you lock me in.”
“Dare? I am Alpha.” He shrugged. “I needed to keep you safe.”
“Bullshit. Don’t you ever lock me in again.”
He chuffed. “This is an example, coming into the cubs’ and adolescents’ territory, into the cubs’ enclosure. Why? Did you know a cat can rip out your throat in two seconds? These cats are not like your Earthly ones.”
Talk about an understatement. “I agree, they could have hurt me. But the woman said they were protectors and wouldn’t.” She held up a hand to halt his words. “You can see I was able to free the black one.” Bree scratched behind the black cub’s ears.
“Without Barth’s intervention,” Gato said. “The tan cub would have harmed you.” Gato growled at her, the sound coming from deep in his throat.
Both cubs growled back at him.
“Shote! Stop that!” he commanded.
They immediately quieted.
“Don’t yell at them,” Bree hissed. “They didn’t mean anything by it.”
He smiled, more like a grimace, and turned narrowed eyes on her. “Oh, it means a great deal. No CatHome puma would dare growl at me unless they had bonded with you, Ma’am Breena.”
“What? Bonded?” She swallowed hard, her dignified persona scattering like confetti. Bree suspected what it meant, and it terrified her.
Even with tiny tits and no makeup, she gathered her armor until her big-top persona settled back in place. “What do mean?” she said in regal tones.
“The cubs licked you, correct?” he said.
“Yes, but so did Bartholomew.” She peered around, but the large cat had disappeared.
Gato’s chest puffed, and if anything, he was even more furious. “It matters not that Bartholomew licked you, for he is bonded to me.”
Things were getting out of hand, and she desperately wanted some booze. “You realize I don’t know squat. Nothing makes any sense. You owe me an explanation.”
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Author Vicki Stiefel
About the Author Vicki’s fantasy romantic suspense series, The Afterworld Chronicles, launched with Chest of Bone, followed by Chest of Stone and Chest of Time. She is currently pounding the keys on her series’ fourth novel, Chest of Fire, and the first in a new series, The Made Ones Sags: Altered.
Her mystery/thrillers include Body Parts, The Dead Stone, The Bone Man, and The Grief Shop, a Daphne du Maurier prize winner. All feature homicide counselor Tally Whyte. All are available as ebooks. She co-wrote (with Lisa Souza) and photographed the 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters. With her late husband, William G. Tapply, she ran The Writers Studio workshops in creative fiction. Vicki taught fiction writing and modern media writing at Clark University.
She loves both a well-crafted sentence and unlocking the doors of a student’s imagination. She grew up in professional theater and planned to become an actress, with a bent for song and dance. She didn’t. Instead, she’s been a professional photographer, a high-school teacher, a hamburger slinger, a scuba-shop manager, and an editor.
She’s Blake’s and Ben’s mom, her favorite role of all.
Her passions include scuba diving and fly fishing and knitting; photography and movies; vinho verde and bourbon (not together!); Maine lobster and chocolate (also not together!); and musical comedy scores, which she sing in the shower, unfortunately not an Equity venue; and a fascination with people in all walks of life.
Contemporary romance author Elle Greco is joined by her fellow romance authors to talk about writing all the naughty bits in her brand new podcast, STEAM SCENES, launching on September 22! See below for all the details.
STEAM SCENES Podcast
About the Podcast Title: STEAM SCENES Host: Elle Greco Release Date: September 22, 2020
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Links: Website | Apple | Stitcher | Spotify
Synopsis In each episode, Elle will be joined by a fellow romance writer to talk about all things steamy scenes – what makes a good one, what it’s like to write one, where to find inspiration, and even some of their favorite ones in literature. Get ready to look at your favorite steamy scenes in a whole new way!
Upcoming Episodes September 22 – Alex Rosa September 29 – Sara Whitney October 6 – Samantha Chase October 13 – LB Alexander
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Author Elle Greco
About the Host I write fiction about badass women (and the people they love).
Urban Fantasy lovers will know me as Karen Greco, author of the best-selling Hell’s Belle series. My Contemporary Romance books are written under Elle Greco. While the genres are worlds apart, strong female characters are the chain that links all my worlds. These women are magical. They wield wicked weapons. They play a mean drum solo. They fall in love. They rule the boardroom and the bedroom. Whatever they do, they do it with swagger.
My storytelling career began when I forced everyone play “make believe” with me when I was a kid. That eventually morphed into banging out short stories on my mom’s old manual typewriter. As I got older, I graduated to penning bad poetry, then not terrible plays as a teenager. I studied playwright in college but my career took a detour and I ended up working in journalism and then entertainment publicity, which kept me busy for 20 or so years.
My “day job” has taken me from gritty rock clubs in The Bowery to glam red carpets during movie premieres and awards shows. My background working with talent (and the suits) in the industry has served me well with the LA Rock Star Romance series. A few years ago, I decided to pursue my original passion and a few full-length novels later, here we are. I love anything spooky and impossible to explain. If you love hanging out in cemeteries, the older the better, I’d totally go on a road trip with you. I have two rescue dogs, a patient husband, and an awesome kid.
Authors Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson are revealing the cover to GRAVES’ ANATOMY, the first book in their new adult urban fantasy series, Luna Graves, releasing November 17, 2020. See below for the cover, information on the book, preorder links, and a link to add it to your Goodreads TBR.
GRAVES’ ANATOMY (Luna Graves Series #1) by Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson
About The Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited
Title: GRAVES’ ANATOMY Series: Luna Graves Series #1 Author: Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy Release Date: November 17, 2020 Links:Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis Tattoo artist Luna Graves’ life turns upside down when her estranged father dies and she learns it’s her destiny to be a doctor…to monsters.
Destiny? Fairy tale endings? Things that go bump in the night? Luna Graves doesn’t believe in any of them. Her father took off when she was three, and she’s worked hard to become one of the best young tattoo artists in Los Angeles. Of course, there was that mysterious exchange she had when she was 12 with Heath Guillaumet, who might not have been human…naw, that was just her imagination.
When her estranged father dies, Luna discovers that he led a secret life as an uphir, a doctor to the shadowkind — what we would call monsters. Now that he’s gone, she has to take his place — or be killed by the powerful Council. Thrust into a world she doesn’t know, the stubborn Luna refuses to give up on her original dreams. Soon Heath Guillaumet will return to unleash a disease last battled by the Knights Templar…the Black Death.
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Authors Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch
About the Authors Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson are a husband and wife writing team, known for their work in the horror genre. Adam Gierasch is also known as an actor and director, and he released his directorial debut Autopsy in 2008.
Author Cassie Cross is revealing the cover to SHIP-WRECKED, the sixth book in her adult contemporary romance series, Love Is…, releasing October 8, 2020. See below for the cover, information on the book and series, preorder links, and a link to add it to your Goodreads TBR.
SHIP-WRECKED (Love Is… Series #6) by Cassie Cross
About The Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited
Title: SHIP-WRECKED Series: Love Is… Series #6 Author: Cassie Cross Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance Release Date: October 8, 2020 Links:Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis Skye McLane is Hollywood’s newest It Girl. Between the film offers flying in and the ever-present awards buzz around her, Skye seems to have everything, until pictures of her heartthrob boyfriend cheating on her are splashed all over the internet. Heartbroken, Skye just wants to focus on her work and lick her wounds in private, but her publicist has another plan.
His name is River Holloway.
River’s a rising star with a penchant for finding trouble wherever he goes. He has a new movie coming out and some career-making deals in the works, but River’s getting the wrong kind of attention after a couple of fights captured by the paparazzi. What he needs is an image rehab, and his publicist thinks Skye is just the girl who can give it to him.
America’s newest sweetheart and a bad boy in need of a little TLC seems like the perfect recipe for some positive press. It’s strictly a showmance with a pre-determined expiration date, until a trip to a tropical paradise leaves them shipwrecked, and their time alone together makes them realize that their feelings might not be for show after all…
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Get Caught up on the Series – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited
About the Author Cassie Cross is a Maryland native and a romantic at heart, who lives outside of Baltimore with her two dogs and a closet full of shoes. Cassie’s fondness for swoon-worthy men and strong women are the inspiration for most of her stories, and when she’s not busy writing a book, you’ll probably find her eating takeout and indulging in her love of 80’s sitcoms.
Welcome to the book blitz for RESISTOR, the first book in the new adult cyberpunk fantasy series, Ellinor, part of the broader Eerden series, by C.E. Clayton, releasing October 1, 2020. See below for information on the book, preorder links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
RESISTOR (Ellinor Series #1) by C.E. Clayton
About the Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited Title: RESISTOR Series: Ellinor Series #1 Author: C.E. Clayton Release Date: October 1, 2020
Genre: New Adult Cyberpunk Fantasy
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
Synopsis Ellinor Rask has wanted one thing for the past eight years: vengeance. But when Ellinor is captured, she finds herself dragged back into the world she walked away from, entangled once more with friends she would rather forget.
As if that weren’t humiliating enough, Ellinor learns first hand that her magic can be stripped away by a piece of bio-tech—and her ex-boss is happy to leash her with the technology in order to get what he wants. If Ellinor behaves, the device will be removed. All she has to do is deliver a package. One containing a creature created from raw magical energy and discarded technology. Simple, right?
But when her goals start getting people murdered, Ellinor has to decide if the year’s planning, her honor, and even her own magic, are worth the lives it’s costing. Dodging ruthless gangsters, she finds herself on the run with a creature of immeasurable magical abilities alongside her one-time friends. Now, Ellinor must relearn to trust the people she once abandoned. She must put her faith in technology, and her life in the hands of independent contractors, all while racing to deliver the package before it gets taken by force, or worse, the creature decides to make an appearance itself.
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Excerpt #3 She gasped; her heart tripped over itself at seeing her belongings. It was like seeing a beloved friend after an extended absence. Rushing to Kai’s side, Ellinor’s fingers danced over her combat armor, reverently fluttering over the familiar worn edges; she pulled it close to her face and inhaled.
The armor Misho had gifted her hadn’t been lost.
She closed her eyes and saw Misho smiling back at her, his bright amber eyes flashing in delight as he watched her put the armor on. She could feel his long, graceful fingers trailing her curves as he appreciated how the fine craftsmanship hugged her body. She saw him lean down to kiss her, his full lips just a breath away—
Kai gruffly cleared his throat, and Ellinor’s eyes snapped open.
“You need a minute alone with it, Ell? Bit of privacy maybe?” Kai said, wiggling his bushy red eyebrows at her.
Ellinor frowned and cradled the gear to her chest. “Don’t be absurd. And what did I say about calling me Ell?”
“You said not to.”
“Damn right! Traitors who collar me with despicable and inhumane technology aren’t allowed to call me Ell. We’re not friends, Kai. Not anymore.”
Her heart twisted further. She didn’t want to push Kai away, not really, not again. But how was she supposed to forgive him?
“Ah, c’mon, it ain’t that bad! How can it be? It’s just a blasted piece of magic bio-tech. Just means you can’t cast is all. You don’t need abilities to kick ass. Besides, I done told you it ain’t personal. Don’t mean we can’t be friends, or friendly with each other, anyways. We were thick, you and me, not that long ago. Nothing’s gotta change unless you want it to.”
But everything had changed. Nothing felt or even tasted the same anymore, thanks to Cosmin. And Kai helped him.
Ellinor growled, “Don’t talk about things you know nothing about!”
Cosmin’s profession was in smuggling and selling illegal magitech and weapons. They harnessed natural magic and, when combined in a bullet or shackle like Ellinor’s, had devastating effects. Such items were highly regulated by the politicians and police, making them a hot commodity in the ground level markets. Cosmin was well versed in the effect his device had on Ellinor, it was his specialty.
She jabbed her finger in Kai’s chest, the bouncer bots buzzing a warning at his side. “You have no idea what this is like. What this feels like. What this does to a caster. This isn’t like those shit cuffs you had me in. I could still feel my magic. I could still summon it. This? It would be like me taking your hands away. There would just be a dead, empty space where your hands used to be. There wouldn’t even be phantom pains reminding you that your hands were once a part of you. Only a gap of where something vital to you once was.”
She took a step back, stuffing her hands under her arms, clutching her armor tight to her chest, as the automatons continued to buzz. “I can understand why you wouldn’t recognize the hole you’ve left me to fester in without my abilities, but Cosmin sure as shit does. He knows exactly the kind of hollow emptiness that comes with neutering a caster. Of how it makes you feel like you aren’t even a person anymore. So don’t you dare pretend that it’s just business because you’re hoping Cosmin will let you into his bed one day. It’s never happening, Kai!
“Once this job is done, I never want to see you again.” She shuddered reflexively. “If I do, abilities or not, my face will be the last thing you ever see. You got that?”
His shoulders drooped, and he took a step back. Kai was not magically inclined. He had no idea what it felt like to be cut off from a piece of himself so completely he couldn’t even feel a whisper of it anywhere.
Kai wouldn’t meet her eyes. His chin sagged to his chest, and he jerked his thumb back toward the door. “You just come out when you’re ready. Be quick, though. Cosmin’s expecting us to shove off soon.”
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Author C.E. Clayton
About the Author C. E. Clayton was born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area. After going the traditional career route and becoming restless, she went back to her first love–writing–and hasn’t stopped. She is the author of young adult fantasy series, “The Monster of Selkirk”, the creator of the cyberpunk Eerden Novels, and her horror short stories have appeared in anthologies across the country. When she’s not writing you can find her treating her fur-babies like humans, constantly drinking tea, and trying to convince her husband to go to more concerts. And reading. She does read quite a bit. More about C.E. Clayton, including her blog, book reviews, social media presence, and newsletter, can be found on her website.
Welcome to the blog tour for UNWRITTEN, a stand-alone adult contemporary romance, by Alex Rosa. See below for information on the book, buy links, and an exclusive excerpt
Synopsis Hailey Elwood always knew three things: she wanted to be a writer, she didn’t want to run her family diner, and she was madly and unconditionally in love with Caiden Anderson.
When Hailey came to the conclusion that her family would never understand her dream to write, she decided to take her future into her own hands, but what she didn’t expect was Caiden’s ultimatum.
Falling in love with Caiden was easy. Saying goodbye to him was not.
Five years later, Hailey’s debut novel becomes an international bestseller, skyrocketing her to fame, but when her mother passes away, she’s forced to return to her hometown to confront the memories and the man that shaped her first book. She’ll argue it’s fiction, but Caiden knows better.
Hailey wasn’t the only one who was left battered and bruised, and Caiden makes it a point to make her accountable chapter by chapter.
Now with her publisher suddenly pushing her for a sequel, she isn’t sure how to write it when her future is still unwritten.
..
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Excerpt This is too much, but then CeeCee shouts, “To Hailey! Welcome back to our daydreamer, our go-getter, and our friend!”
I shake my head back and forth, trying to fight their kindness, feeling my face go red, but I can’t stop smiling. Everyone clinks their glasses with mine clumsily, and I can’t help but laugh. CeeCee winks at me as she brings her shot glass to her lips, and I follow suit.
A chilled caramel flavor slides smoothly down my throat, and I’m greeted with the goofiest smiles from every one of my friends. My heart feels full, and my face feels warm. For a second, I feel like I belong again. Almost like I never left.
I like that we’re older now. The memories I have of when we drank before were always us sneaking bottles out of our parents’ liquor cabinets and avoiding the cops.
Times have changed, but we’re still intact… kind of.
I sigh, realizing that something is missing. We’re not complete. Especially since we all have our other halves. You could assume CeeCee would be mine, but it’s obvious she has Brandon as her other half, and Caiden was technically mine. He always had a place right under my skin, whether I wanted him there or not. He had that effect on me since we were kids. It’s a shame he’s being such a coward about—
“Well, I’ll be dammed,” I hear sputter from Brandon’s lips.
I look at him first, but all my friends are already staring at the door to the bar behind me. I’m terrified to turn around.
Brandon and the boys disperse with secret smiles back to the pool table, beers in hand.
I swallow my nerves. They must be looking at Caiden, right? What else would spark such drama?
I turn around slowly.
My eyes lock on to a guy—I’m almost not sure if it’s him—but my body knows. A vibrating hum starts in my gut and ripples like waves over the surface of my skin.
Caiden.
He walks into the bar with what seems like frantic determination. His eyebrows furrow, seeking out something, eyes darting from one side of the room to the other. My chest constricts, and I clench my fists while trying to fight for air. Five years has done him good, and I decide that maybe I should be mad at him for it. I hate that he fills out his jeans and his simple maroon thermal to near perfection. He drags his hands through his sandy-brown hair that’s been visibly kissed by the sun, and I know it’s only a matter of time until he finds what he’s looking for.
“Leave it to Caiden to say no and then do it anyway,” whispers CeeCee beside me.
I don’t think I’m supposed to hear her, but she’s right. It does sound like him. So much so that it makes his adult appearance a tiny bit more bearable.
CeeCee’s elbow jabs into my side, forcing me to look away.
“What?” I gasp.
She smiles. “You didn’t want me to talk about him before, but he’s taken, you know?”
“He’s what?”
CeeCee’s smile only grows. “But it doesn’t matter.”
I squint. So, this is how she’s going to get me to talk. “You’re right. It doesn’t. He can date whoever he wants.”
She rolls her eyes, realizing her plan to pry information has failed. She retaliates by swiftly walking back to the pool table without another word, leaving me out in the open like a defenseless gazelle. Damn her.
I think I need fresh air. I’m not running; I just need oxygen and space… and whatever. I take a large pull of liquor from my straw, slurping the last bit from beneath the ice, and set it down with a clank.
When I turn back around, Caiden is already standing there a mere five feet away. His eyes are still the color of lush trees in the middle of spring, and all I can do is stare.
He’s not smiling, but he’s not frowning either. Do I know this Caiden anymore?
He’s more like an actual man than I remember. His jaw is more pronounced, accentuating his striking features even under a layer of dark scruff.
His arms are crossed over his broad chest. I’d remember that chest; it’s not anywhere near the slimmer stature it was when we were eighteen. In the darkness, I can make out tattoos on his right arm peeking out from his long sleeve. The sight has my heart winding up like a propeller to a helicopter. The only thing I recognize are his eyes. With each second of silence, his eyes seem to chip away at me, like they always have. He’d win arguments by doing this exact thing. My lips twitch, and so do his, as if he remembers, too.
“Hi, Hailey,” he says in a dark-chocolate tone that I surely don’t remember, but my heart seems to as it jumps to my throat. “It’s been a while.”
I nod. He nods. We nod, like utter, complete strangers. It’s painful.
“I think I need another drink,” flies out of my mouth, and I move past him.
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Author Alex Rosa
About the Author Alex Rosa lives in Los Angeles, California. By day she’s a Digital Marketing Manager and by night a writer of swoon-worthy books. With nearly ten years of writing experience, she has published five novels, including the Tryst Series with Intermix, Penguin Random House’s digital imprint.
She finds her home amongst words, whether it be in books or in film. A pop culture fanatic, cemetery creeper, and self-proclaimed nerd, she’s always following her favorite fandoms, the latest foodie finds, or picking her next city excursion or outdoor undertaking.
Her obsessions are on the brink of bizarre, but that’s just the way she likes it..
Welcome to the blog tour for SWAN LAKE, the first book in the adult contemporary romance series, Swan, by L.B. Alexander. See below for information on the book, buy links, and an exclusive excerpt.
SWAN LAKE (Swan Series #1) by L.B. Alexander
About the Book – Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited
Title: SWAN LAKE Series: Swan Series #1 Author: L.B. Alexander Release Date: September 14, 2020 Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Amazon DE | Amazon IT | Amazon FR
Synopsis And then, there was quiet.
Physically, I knew nothing had changed. My heart still raced. My legs still shook. My breaths were short and shallow, and my stomach continued to flip.
But there was an unmistakable hush, and I couldn’t tell if that exquisite solace was sourced from my body or from his. It was as if I’d spent my entire life surrounded by white noise, and I was experiencing true, absolute silence for the first time.
My fearful body was not dancing to anxiety.
It was dancing entirely to arousal.
All April wants is a moment of quiet. But due to an ongoing struggle with mental illness, silence has become an elusive privilege she fears she’ll never capture. An eating disorder has brought her burgeoning ballet career to a sudden halt, and a traumatic experience in a strict rehabilitation facility has rendered her more humble than ever. Now that she has returned to her native Southern California, April is content to conceal the dangerous half of herself she fears under a tenuous white mask of control.
But the façade is disrupted when April meets William – her older, mysterious, and disgraced new employer. She finds freedom in him, for like her, he is also two-natured. There’s a mask he shows the world.
And a dark, true half he hides…
A novel in three acts.
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Excerpt #1 “Mirrors had been such a big part of my life as a dancer; what I’d known of myself, and what I’d known of my worth, was what I’d seen in my reflection.
So I’d been avoiding them for the better part of six months.
And like a vampire, my repulsion for mirrors had only intensified after the strange events of Alyeska.
I didn’t want to risk seeing something that shouldn’t be there.
I kept my gaze on the bathroom counter as I set out my makeup, something else I’d been avoiding for most of the year. Tonight I was to play a new role, and my face needed to look the part.
With a deep breath, I raised my eyes to the mirror and looked at myself, really looked at myself, for the first time in six months.
I worried I’d be unrecognizable, that I’d mutilated myself beyond repair, but to my surprise, I wasn’t staring at a stranger. An old friend, perhaps, who’d certainly changed, and aged, but who thankfully remained somewhat identifiable.
My cheeks weren’t as sunken in, and it looked like flesh had finally begun to return to my lower eyes. My skin was less translucent, and my eyebrows and eyelashes had grown back. My lips had color again, and my irises had returned to their natural unassuming shade of dark blue. And to my continued relief, the bones in my face no longer looked like shards of glass slicing me from the inside.
Layer by layer, from cell to tissue to organ, it looked like my body was finally regenerating.
I powdered my face until my skin became a matte canvas. I painted blush in a very non-daytime color, and I drew a thick, catlike layer of black eyeliner on my upper eyelids. I smudged a smoky powder around my eyes and darkened my lips with a deep red lipstick, aptly named Cardinal.
I tried not to think of it as an omen for impending sins.
I paused to assess my appearance once I’d sprinkled a final layer of highlight on my cheeks. The person staring back at me in the mirror looked…almost pretty. She didn’t look like me. She looked like a better, more confident, enhanced version of me.
She actually looked a lot like my shade, my prideful shade, who hadn’t made any appearances recently, to my relief. I think I may have had dreams about her, dancing in an enchanted forest somewhere like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the memories always faded within a few minutes of waking, like smoke disturbed by the wind.
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Author L.B. Alexander
About the Author L.B. Alexander is an American author based in perpetually sunny California, specializing in high romance and women’s fiction. An optimist at heart, and a true believer in happily ever afters, she strives to tell memorable, passionate stories that can intrigue, challenge, arouse and most importantly, inspire.
Welcome to the Book Blitz for A GAME OF FATES, the story of A TOUCH OF DARKNESS as told from Hades point of view, by Scarlett St. Clair. See below for information on the book and series, buy links, an exclusive excerpt, and details on her giveaway.
A GAME OF FATES (Hades and Persephone Series #1.5) by Scarlett St. Clair
Synopsis Hades, God of the Underworld, is known for his inflexible rule, luxurious night clubs, and impossible bargains. Used to control, he is not prepared to discover the Fates have chosen his future wife and Queen—Persephone, Goddess of Spring.
Despite her attraction to the god, Persephone, an ambitious journalism student, is determined to expose Hades for his cruel and ruthless ways.
Hades finds himself faced with the impossible—proving his future bride wrong. Regardless of his efforts, there are forces who wish to keep the two apart and Hades comes to realize he will do anything for his forbidden love, even defy Fate.
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Excerpt #3 What troubles you, my king?” she asked as he approached. “Is it Minthe? May I suggest lye to remedy the situation? It is quite painful when swallowed.”
Hades raised a brow. “Murderous thoughts already, Hecate? It isn’t even noon yet.”
She smiled. “I am more creative at night.”
Hades chuckled, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Hades, lost in his own thoughts. Hecate, staring at the moon. After a moment, she asked him again, “What troubles you?”
“The Fates,” he said.
“Oh, the besties. What have they done?”
“They have given me a wife,” he said, raising both his brows. “Demeter’s daughter.”
Hecate laughed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand at Hades’ arched glance.
“S-Sorry,” she said, and cleared her throat, composing herself. “Is she horrible?”
“No,” Hades said. “That’s probably the worst part. She is beautiful.”
“Then why are you so glum?”
Hades explained the trajectory of his evening in as few words as possible—Aphrodite’s bargain, seeing Persephone for the first time, realizing his primal reaction to claim her was unusual, and uncovering the thread that connected them.
“You should have seen how she looked at me when she realized who I was. She was horrified.”
“I doubt she was horrified,” Hecate said. “Surprised, perhaps—maybe even mortified if her thoughts were anything like yours.”
Hecate gave him a knowing look, but Hades was not so sure. Hecate had not been there.
“I have never known you to back down from a challenge, Hades.”
About the Author Scarlett St. Clair lives in Oklahoma with her husband. She has a Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Studies and spends a lot of time researching reincarnation, unsolved murders and Greek mythology-all of which made it into her debut novel, When Stars Come Out.
