Blog Tour: Midnight Valentine by JT Geissinger

MIDNIGHT VALENTINE
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Author:
J.T. Geissinger
Release Date:
February 6, 2018

A hauntingly powerful love story in the tradition of The Notebook and The Time Traveler’s Wife.

“How can you remember someone you’ve never met?”

Megan and Cassidy were childhood sweethearts who thought they’d be together forever, but fate had other plans. Soon after they were married, Cass’s life was tragically cut short. Still grieving her soul mate five years later, Megan moves to the small town of Seaside, Oregon, hoping to rebuild her life.

Her first night there, she meets the town recluse, Theo. Withdrawn, guarded, and mysteriously silent since a terrible accident left him scarred, Theo takes an instant and inexplicable dislike to Megan. But as their paths cross again and again, Megan becomes convinced there’s more to Theo than meets the eye.

When she discovers the reason for his silence, his nightmares, and especially his pointed dislike, Megan becomes convinced of something far more astonishing.

Is a second chance at a once-in-a-lifetime love possible, or is a broken heart the cruelest kind of liar?

AMAZON

After the warmth of the house, the rain beckons to me. I cross the patio and step out on to the grass. It’s springy beneath my feet, pleasant to walk on. I go about ten yards out, past the reach of the lights, then stop, close my eyes, and lift my face to the rain.

I open my mouth to catch a few cool, sweet drops on my tongue. I hear muffled laughter and music from inside, the sound of voices floating to me on the night air. Then I hear the words that haunt me the most, the thing Cass used to whisper into my ear every night before we fell asleep in each other’s arms. The last thing he said to me before he died.

I love you, sweet pea. I’ll love you ’til the end of time.

How long will it be until I can no longer remember the sound of his voice? How many years does it take to forget the love of your life? Will I wake up one day and the memory of his kiss have vanished, trampled to dust by the relentless forward march of time?

“Babe,” I whisper, my heart twisting. “I miss you so much. Why did you leave me?”

A tingle like a mild electric shock zings up my spine. From one heartbeat to the next, I realize I’m not alone.

My eyes fly open. I swing around and look back toward the house. I’m momentarily blinded by the lights, but when my eyes adjust, I see a figure in the shadows leaning against one side of the columns that support the patio.

It’s a man. A big man with wide shoulders and long legs. His hands are shoved deep into the pockets of his black raincoat. The hood of the raincoat is pulled over his head, but even in the shadows I can see the glint of his dark eyes.

He stares at me with an unblinking gaze, his expression grim.

Theo.

As if he heard his name in my mind, he straightens. He pulls his hands from his pockets and stands there staring at me with his hands flexed open like some kind of psychopath about to pounce on me and wring my neck.

That doesn’t scare me so much as piss me off. I call out, “Lurk much, pal?”

When he doesn’t respond—because, oh, yeah, talking isn’t his thing—I take a few steps toward him. Simultaneously, he takes a few steps back. When I stop, he stops. Then we stare at each other while I try to decide if I should find a rock to throw at him or calm down and act like an adult.

I’m embarrassed he caught me standing alone in the rain, talking to myself, but it isn’t his fault I’m strange.

When his gaze sweeps over me, snagging on my chest before flashing back up to my face, I realize several things at once.

One, I’m not wearing a bra. Unlike Suzanne’s double Ds, my B cups don’t require scaffolding to hold them up. Two, I’ve been standing in the rain in a white T-shirt, which means, three, I’m probably giving this non-talking Theo quite a show.

I hunch my shoulders, grab my shirt, and pull it away from my stomach, trying to make all that look nonchalant.

He doesn’t move. He doesn’t look away. He just stands there, staring, his jaw like granite and his black eyes burning holes into my head.

The tingle in my spine increases until it feels like an itch.

A former headhunter, J.T. Geissinger is the author of more than a dozen novels in contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense.

She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.

Join her Facebook reader’s group, Geissinger’s Gang, to take part in weekly Wine Wednesday live chats and giveaways, find out more information about works in progress, have access to exclusive excerpts and contests, and get advance reader copies of her upcoming releases.

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Blog Tour, Excerpt & Review: Sky’s The Limity by Elle Aycart

SKY’S THE LIMIT
Series: Doomsday Preppers #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Elle Aycart
Release Date: January 16, 2018

Tired of waiting for her big break in the fashion industry, Sky Gonzalez, eternal part-time student and overworked retail drone, quits her job, sublets her New York apartment, and embarks on a semester abroad study program in Paris. Paris! Time to throw caution to the winds and jump-start her dreams. What’s the worst that could happen?

How about getting sent to the wrong Paris? As in Paris-frigging-Minnesota?

Bye-bye career dreams. Bye-bye glamour and haute couture. Hello flannel shirts, mind-numbing cold, zero bars on the cell phone, and socially challenged mountain men with tons of unruly facial hair.

So yeah, let the truck barreling her way hit her, please. Less painful.

Logan should have dodged the little lost waif and kept on driving. Who in their right mind walked in the middle of the road, dressed in white from head to high heels, during a snowstorm? Clueless city girls, that’s who. Sky is all that Logan has gladly left behind: stylish, cosmopolitan, and a massive pain in the butt. He wouldn’t trade a single day in his quirky little corner of the woods for all the high-maintenance beauties the city can offer.

Too bad this beauty has been deemed a health hazard and quarantined in his house. Damn his doomsday-prepper neighbors and their paranoid emergency protocols. Now he has to keep Sky in and the pandemic squad out until the roads are clear. The question is, will that happen before or after Sky realizes she’s under house arrest?

Ah, the best-laid plans…

AMAZON | iBOOKS | KOBO

Logan addressed the pandemic squad up on the platform. “Sorry to break it to you. This is a free country. You can’t go quarantining people at will.”

“Wrong. Exactly because this is a free country, we can.”

There were some mumbles of agreement from the crowd, “That’s right” and “You got it” and “Try to stop us.”

“We live in a democracy. Let’s take a vote,” Carol suggested. “All in favor of quarantining Patient Zero, please raise your hands.”

Everyone, including a smirking Ty, raised their hands.

“Oh, come on,” Logan grumbled. “Really? You serious?”

“Motion accepted,” Carol said, wrestling the gavel from the mayor and banging it on the podium.

“Besides, Patient Zero doesn’t have to know she’s been quarantined. Just keep her indoors by any means necessary until she gets better.”

“Or she kicks the bucket,” somebody chimed in.

Nuts. The whole bunch of them. Down to the very last one.

“She’s not Patient Zero, people. Her name is Sky and she’s got the flu, damn it. Not Ebola. Just a common, garden-variety flu.”

“By our calculations, Patient Zero has been here almost twenty-four hours. We’re late on containment,” Carol said.

Logan shook his head in dismay. Man, like talking to a wall.

“You had her hidden away for a whole day?” Ty asked impishly.

“She was just sleeping on my sofa.” Logan realized his mistake right away and turned to Carol and the rest. “You are not burning my sofa. Are we clear?”

Whether it was clear or not, Logan didn’t know, because Carol ignored his words. “And we’ll be monitoring you,” she added while the rest nodded. “At the slightest indication you’re sick—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll quarantine me too, and if I don’t get better fast enough, you’ll shoot me and cremate my remains.” Along with the damn couch, of course.

Carol rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly.”

“Yeah, don’t be silly,” someone interjected. “We’ll autopsy you before that. Dissect you into tiny pieces.”

Jesus fucking Christ. Why couldn’t his neighbors have been the gearheads prepping for solar flares that would fry the grid? More kumbaya. Less ready to dissect.

“This is all your fault, Megan,” he said to his sister, who was sitting two rows behind him. “Couldn’t you have moved somewhere else? A normal fucking place?”

She just laughed. “You heard the lady. Keep Patient Zero indoors—by any means necessary.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“What? Skills too rusty to keep a woman indoors?” she asked.

“I can help,” Ty added. “Is she pretty?”

Gorgeous, actually. Big, dark eyes. Olive-colored skin. Delicate features. But that was beside the point too.

“Fuck off, both of you,” Logan muttered. Raising his voice, he addressed the crowd again. “You’re certifiable. All of you.”

“I totally agree,” Carol said. “We give you far too much leeway. Look at how flexible we’ve been about your toxic contaminants.”

I knew you were kinky. Bearded men always are.”

Sky’s The Limit was a quirky, cute and sweet romance with just the right amount of sizzle and plenty of laughs. It was nothing like I expected and a total step away from what I’m used to from this author, but an entertaining and satisfying read nonetheless.

Where had she gone wrong? She’d had a nice, comfortable city life. Friday meant cosmopolitans, sexy clothes, and a fancy date with dinner and dancing. Hot sex if she was lucky. Now? She was in the middle of nowhere, getting ready for an evacuation drill, her mascara down her chest, her hair a mess, and her clit hurting like a bitch from not coming. No dinner. No dancing.

A paperwork error switching Sky Gonzalez’s Paris, France internship to Paris, Minnesota is bad enough. But then her car breaks down in the middle of No Name, Minnesota in a snow storm and lands her smack dab into survivalist territory. Meeting a bunch of kooky people prepping for the end of the world is one thing. But living amongst them as she tries to figure out her next step? Well that’s a whole different thing entirely.

Enter bearded sexy guy that offers her a solution to her problems by allowing her to crash at his house. But how can she trust a man that the locals refer to as the Alchemist? And the inconvenient attraction between them certainly doesn’t help matters.

This was a slow paced, character driven story that admittedly didn’t keep me riveted to the pages. Don’t get me wrong, it was cute and entertaining, but it also wasn’t something I had a problem putting down. I enjoyed the kooky side characters and the even kookier town. I enjoyed the slow burn romance between Sky and Logan. I even found myself googling all the beauty hacks Sky had up her sleeve throughout the story. Logan was an equal amount of sweet and sexy. He’s definitely got his share of baggage courtesy of his pretentious ex wife, but he was still the perfect amount of swoony.

While I can’t say this was my favorite book from the author, it was definitely intriguing enough to have me read the rest of the series. If you’re looking for something different, light hearted, and with plenty of bearded sizzle, definitely pick this one up.

After a colorful array of jobs all over Europe ranging from translator to chocolatier to travel agent to sushi chef to flight dispatcher, Elle Aycart is certain of one thing and one thing only: aside from writing romances, she has abso-frigging-lutely no clue what she wants to do when she grows up. Not that it stops her from trying all sorts of crazy stuff. While she is probably now thinking of a new profession, her head never stops churning new plots for her romances. She lives currently in Barcelona, Spain, with her husband and two daughters, although who knows, in no time she could be living at the Arctic Circle in Finland, breeding reindeer.

Elle loves to hear from readers!

elleaycart@gmail.com

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New Release & Exclusive Excerpt: Relay by @LaylaReyne

RELAY
Series: Changing Lanes #1
Genre: M/M Contemporary Sports Romance
Author: Layla Reyne
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date (Print & Ebook): January 8th, 2018
Length (Print & Ebook): ~ 63,000 words

Captain is not a title Alejandro “Alex” Cantu takes lightly. Elected by his teammates to helm the US Men’s Swim Team, he proudly accepts the role, despite juggling endless training, team administrative work, and helping out on the family farm. And despite his ex-lover, Dane Ellis—swimming’s biggest star—also making the Olympic Team.

Dane has been a pawn in his celebrity parents’ empire from crib to pool, flashing his camera-ready smile on demand and staying deeply in the closet. Only once did he drop the act—the summer he fell in love with Alex. Ten years later, Dane longs to cut his parents’ strings, drop his too-bright smile, and beg Alex for another chance.

Alex, though, isn’t ready to forgive and forget, and Dane is a distraction he doesn’t need on his team, until an injury forces Alex to accept Dane as his medley relay anchor. Working together, their passion reignites. When Dane’s parents threaten reprisal and Alex is accused of doping, the two must risk everything to prove Alex’s innocence, to love one another, and to win back their spots on the team, together.

AMAZON | RIPTIDE PUBLISHING

What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Dane turned and tried his hardest to ignore the fact that Alex was dripping wet from a shower and dressed only in damp boxer briefs. “Celebrating.”

By getting drunk? Aren’t you having enough trouble with the altitude?”

You worry about you. I’ll worry about me.”

And you just offered booze to Jacob, who’s underage and barely recovered from the last round of hazing. So yes, I’m going to worry about my team, which you are also on.”

Simmer heated to boiling again—anger, resentment, jealousy, and desire blazing—and Dane leaned into his captain’s face, inciting him. “Bet you wish I wasn’t.”

Showing more restraint than he had the other day, Alex pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw, holding in whatever he wanted to say.

Dane bent to pick up his bag. “Ever the self-sacrificing diplomat.”

A strong hand gripped his arm and hauled him back up. “You’re right,” Alex spat. “I wish you weren’t on my team. You might be the fastest, but you’re a privileged ass who thinks he owns this place when all you do is cause trouble. Between the press in our locker room, the sponsors telling us how to do our jobs, and you hazing other teammates, you are not worth it.”

What’d you say?”

You. Are. Not. Worth. It.” Alex punctuated each word with a shove to his chest, harder than before, backing Dane into the corner of the lockers.

Dane seethed and a rare curse rolled off his tongue. “Fuck you, Cantu.”

Alex wore a grin smug enough to match Dane’s earlier one. “You wish.”

Truer words had never been spoken. And Dane reacted to erase them.

With a fist to Alex’s face.

Author Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs.

 Author Tagline: Adrenaline-Fueled Romance

 

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Excerpt: Three Blind Dates by Meghan Quinn

THREE BLIND DATES
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Author: Meghan Quinn
Release Day: January 4th, 2018

“Good Morning Malibu, it’s another beautiful day on the west coast! I’m Noely Clark, your host: and I’m in the market for love…”

When the publicity team of the new local restaurant, Going in Blind, began their search for a hot, local celebrity to promote the wildly popular eatery, they couldn’t have found a better person than me.

Outgoing? Check.
Single? Check.
Open to finding love? Check.

I signed up immediately.

A hopeless romantic with an exceedingly demanding schedule, I’ve found it impossible to find the man of my dreams—so Going in Blind seems too good to be true! That’s until they start setting me up on dates—three very different, very attractive, very distinct blind dates—and only one thing is for certain . . .

I’m in big trouble.

Good Morning Malibu,
I’m Noely Clark, and I have a choice to make.
The question is who will I choose; the suit, the rebel, or the jock

AMAZON | AMAZON PAPERBACK

I didn’t realize how close I was to the restaurant because I’m ten minutes early. Does that make me seem desperate? No, I chastise myself. It shows that I respect the other person’s time . . . right?God, dating is the worst. There are so many unspoken rules you have to follow to not look desperate, or to not look like a psycho, or a creep, or horny, or—

“Can I help you, miss?”

Straightening up, I turn toward the hostess stand, which is a beautifully carved piece of wood. Standing behind it is an exotic, tall woman with long black hair, stunning grey eyes, and a massive engagement ring on her hand. Please tell me she got that rock from dating someone in this program.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that happiness for my life is dependent on getting married, but to see a success story in the flesh—particularly for me—would be encouraging.

“Hi, yes, I’m Noely Clark. I have a date at seven tonight with”—I lean forward, feeling silly and whisper—“with WindsorKnot.”

Her smile is kind and reassuring, making me feel a little calmer. “Yes, Miss Clark, I have you here for seven. You’re date hasn’t arrived yet, so can I show you to the bar for a drink while you wait?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.”

With my clutch tucked under my arm, I follow tall, dark, and beautiful to the bar where a very handsome Asian man is standing with a towel draped over his shoulder and a bright grin on his face. He’s wearing a button-up shirt with rolled sleeves, a brown vest covering his chest, which totally channels his inner Justin Timberlake.

“Danny, this is Miss Clark. She has a reservation at seven. Would you be so kind to make her whatever drink she would like?”

“Of course.” He winks at the hostess who presses her warm hand on my arm.

“Enjoy, Miss Clark. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. My name is Veronica, this is Danny, and we will be happy to serve you in any way.” With a parting grin, she moves back to her hostess spot.

Well, she’s nice.

“Miss Clark, please take a seat. What would you like?”

My tight, formfitting red dress makes my hop onto the bar stool a difficult task, but with a pleading prayer to the dress gods and a swift jump, I situate myself, only breaking a minor sweat.

I let out a sigh of relief and place my hands on the bar in front of me, scanning the glitzy bottles of “muscle relaxant.” “Hmm . . . how about a Moscow Mule?”

“Coming right up.” He gets to work and I watch as he magically floats around the bar, pulling the ingredients. “We recently bought new copper mugs, and I’ve been dying to use them.”

“Yeah? Am I the first?”

Winking, he says, “You are.”

If I didn’t know any better, I would say Danny is a bit of a flirt. Either that or he’s super friendly. Or simply made to be a bartender.

From beneath the bar, Danny pulls out a shiny, hammered-copper mug, and I’m instantly taken by the design. So sleek, just like its surroundings. The restaurant, with its white exposed brick, natural wood features, electric colors, and stone tabletops, is sexy, yet inviting. The friendly waitstaff is an absolute bonus. Every table is cornered off in its own spot, never getting too close to the other tables around it, and the mood lighting is on point with dim Edison bulb lights hanging from the ceiling and tabletop candles. I’m feeling the mood.

Despite the welcoming atmosphere, I can’t help but feel nervous, even after my brief exchange with WindsorKnot. There’s something to say about a blind date: the anticipation, the unknown, the knowledge that you’re having dinner with someone to possibly form a romantic relationship. It’s intimidating, but exhilarating all at the same time.

Could this be the last time I ever go on a first date? Will he like me? Will he want to get to know me?

Butterflies float around in my stomach and my cheeks heat as Danny places a napkin in front of me, topped by my drink with a lime slice on the side.

“Here you go, Miss Clark. Please enjoy.”

I smile politely. “Thank you.” When I take a sip, I’m instantly assaulted by the ginger-lime combination. Perfect. “This is fantastic.”

“Good.” Danny winks again and like an old-time bartender, starts drying a tumbler with the towel hanging over his shoulder. Eyeing me for a second, he asks, “A little nervous?”

After taking a sip from my drink, I lick my lips and nod. “Just a little.” I scrunch my nose, squinting ever so slightly. “Is it obvious?”

“Nah, you look pretty chill compared to a lot of blind daters I see come through the door.”

“Oh, I’m sure you see a lot of different reactions to these dates.” I lean forward, the cold wood of the bar cooling my sweaty hands, and whisper, “Any good stories you can tell me?”

Danny chuckles quietly and leans forward himself, taking a look from side to side before answering. “Plenty, but looks like your date just arrived.”

My date just arrived?

The temperature in the room seems to go up a thousand degrees as my body seizes and my shoulders tense. “Oh God, can you see him? Is he hot? What does he look like? Should I turn around? No, I shouldn’t, he would know I was checking him out.” Whispering a little louder, I ask again, “Just tell me, is he cute?”

Danny’s eyes scan over my head and his smile stretches across his face. “That’s for you to judge, not me.” Damn you, Danny.

Oh Christ, I’m not ready.

That’s right, I’m not freaking ready for this.

I get it, I know I said I was ready, that I wanted to do this, that I was all-in, that I wanted to find my soul mate, but now that I’m here, seconds from meeting “the one,” I’m pretty sure I’m going to throw up. Yep, I’m going to throw up. I can feel it rising.

Oh God, I’m going to retch all over him, right on his shoes. I know it. It’s bound to happen.

“Relax, you’re going to have fun,” Danny whispers before he turns to the bottles behind him.

As if the light hairs on my arm can sense it, they stand at attention as the sound of faint footsteps come closer.

Click, click, click. The cement floor leaves zero room for sneaking up on anyone.

Don’t throw up, don’t throw up. Think compliments, think pleasantries, think—

“Hello.”

Smooth molasses drips over my shoulders as the most velvet of voices I’ve ever heard echoes behind me, pulling me away from the death grip on my copper mug and turning me in my seat to face one of the most handsome and polished men I’ve ever seen.

Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped.

Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking.

Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

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Spotlight & Exclusive Excerpt: Relay by @LaylaReyne

RELAY
Series: Changing Lanes #1
Genre: M/M Contemporary Sports Romance
Author: Layla Reyne
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date (Print & Ebook): January 8th, 2018
Length (Print & Ebook): ~ 63,000 words

Captain is not a title Alejandro “Alex” Cantu takes lightly. Elected by his teammates to helm the US Men’s Swim Team, he proudly accepts the role, despite juggling endless training, team administrative work, and helping out on the family farm. And despite his ex-lover, Dane Ellis—swimming’s biggest star—also making the Olympic Team.

Dane has been a pawn in his celebrity parents’ empire from crib to pool, flashing his camera-ready smile on demand and staying deeply in the closet. Only once did he drop the act—the summer he fell in love with Alex. Ten years later, Dane longs to cut his parents’ strings, drop his too-bright smile, and beg Alex for another chance.

Alex, though, isn’t ready to forgive and forget, and Dane is a distraction he doesn’t need on his team, until an injury forces Alex to accept Dane as his medley relay anchor. Working together, their passion reignites. When Dane’s parents threaten reprisal and Alex is accused of doping, the two must risk everything to prove Alex’s innocence, to love one another, and to win back their spots on the team, together.

RIPTIDE PUBLISHING

Dane climbed out of the car, squinting against the bright midday sun. Dressed in jeans and a wrinkled tee, hair a red rat’s nest, auburn scruff matted along one side of his jaw, and the rest of his face somewhere between flaming red and sickly green, Dane looked a sleep-deprived mess, worse even than Alex.

Alex stepped back, not forward.

And met his mom’s hand, pressed lightly against his spine. “I think you know what he wants now.” Alex could hear the smile in her knowing voice.

“Isn’t that Big Red?” Carla asked, drawn from the back porch by the commotion.

Alex nodded, still speechless.

His mom gave him a firmer push, and he stumbled down the first porch step. No going back now. Putting one foot in front of the other, he descended the steps and came to a stop in front of Dane.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voicing the only question that mattered in this present world gone mad.

Clear blue eyes stared back at him, full of the same affection he’d seen there Saturday night, had seen for the first time ten years ago across a pool. Together with Dane’s shy, self-deprecating smile, the real one, it was a beautiful and dangerous combination.

And beautiful, dangerous words followed. “I came here for you.”

Author Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs.

 Author Tagline: Adrenaline-Fueled Romance

 

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Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway: So Over You by Kate Meader

SO OVER YOU
Series: The Chicago Rebels #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kate Meader
Release Date: December 4, 2017

Three estranged sisters struggle to sustain their late father’s failing hockey franchise in Kate Meader’s sizzling Chicago Rebels series. In this second entry, middle sister Isobel is at a crossroads in her personal and professional lives. But both are about to get a significant boost with the addition of a domineering Russian powerhouse to the Rebels….

Isobel Chase knows hockey. She played NCAA, won Olympic silver, and made it thirty-seven minutes into the new National Women’s Hockey League before an injury sidelined her dreams. Those who can’t, coach, and a position as a skating consultant to her late father’s hockey franchise, the Chicago Rebels, seems like a perfect fit. Until she’s assigned her first job: the man who skated into her heart as a teen and relieved her of her pesky virginity. These days, left-winger Vadim Petrov is known as the Czar of Pleasure, a magnet for puck bunnies and the tabloids alike. But back then… let’s just say his inability to sink the puck left Isobel frustratingly scoreless.

Vadim has a first name that means “ruler,” and it doesn’t stop at his birth certificate. He dominates on the ice, the practice rink, and in the backseat of a limo. But a knee injury has produced a bad year, and bad years in the NHL don’t go unrewarded. His penance? To be traded to a troubled team where his personal coach is Isobel Chase, the woman who drove him wild years ago when they were hormonal teens. But apparently the feeling was not entirely mutual.

That Vadim might have failed to give Isobel the pleasure that was her right is intolerable, and he plans to make it up to her—one bone-melting orgasm at a time. After all, no player can perfect his game without a helluva lot of practice…

AMAZON | iBOOKS

“So we are agreed. You are looking for nice.”

“Most everyone is, Vadim. No one wants a creep.”

He inclined his head until it almost touched hers. “The opposite of nice does not have to be a bad thing. Not when it comes to certain areas. Sex, for example.”

“You can never stray long from that subject, can you?”

“Men think of it often, yes. I am just a slave to my gender. My offer is still open, you know.”

Oxygen was at a premium. He was far too close. “What offer?”

“To apologize. With my cock.”

Oh, she got it now. There was no apology on the table. This was purely Vadim Petrov trying to prove he was top dog, the man who could make a woman’s panties drop with a smile and a wink.

“You raging dingus! You’re not interested in ‘my disappointment’ or in making up for that first terrible time. All you care about is that there are women living in this universe who didn’t go off into the stratosphere when your dick made its debut inside their vaginas.”

“Only one woman, Isobel.”

She scoffed. “So sure.”

“I know.”

“You didn’t know back then. You just assumed tectonic plates shifted because, like all men, you imagine you’re the epicenter of the orgasm earthquake. As long as you feel the earth move, to hell with everyone else.”

Nothing but aristocratic hauteur from him now. “I am trying to be nice—”

“Nice? You just said you only recognize nice because you’re the opposite!”

He curled a hand around her neck, his touch shockingly sensual. “Then I shall be the opposite. I shall be very, very bad, Isobel.”

She wanted to say something about how “bad” wasn’t the opposite of “nice,” but this wasn’t an appropriate time for an English lesson. Her pulse stuttered, then gathered strength, a relentless pounding of yes, yes, yes. He must have heard it because, the next second, his lips crashed into hers, taking control as if it was his right.

But she knew better, didn’t she? She knew that Vadim Petrov was all smoke and mirrors, style without substance, a man whose only focus was his own pleasure.

Boy could he kiss, though.

This wasn’t your standard teenage fumbling. This was a man who knew exactly what do with his mouth. Probably all that practice over the years, she thought bitterly.

The bitterness melted in the face of a wildfire consuming her body. Pure, white-hot need. Maybe the owner of the lips didn’t matter. Maybe it was just a joining together of body parts that worked in this never-to-be-repeated moment.

He halted, his expression impossible to read in the shadows.

“It is bad, yes?” His breathing was labored.

“Terrible,” she murmured. “Again.”

She expected him to say something cutting, but he surprised her.

He did as he was told.

He didn’t taste like the boy she remembered. She thought she’d committed everything about that experience to her soul, both the bad and the good, yet Vadim’s mouth was different now. He was different.

This kiss . . .

. . . different.

Spicy and sweet, authoritative yet testing. It cracked open something. Not inhibition, because that had never been her problem, but reticence. With other men, she would hold back, waiting for the sparks to fly. If it didn’t ignite within a few seconds, she was already moving on, steeling herself for the disappointment that would come later.

Vadim’s kiss blew her wariness away. If it was this good, then the rest . . . No, that was not going to happen.

He was an employee, a coworker, a tabloid manwhore, sort of a dick, and the guy who took her virginity and did a piss-poor job about it. If none of these reasons were enough to put a halt to this nonsense, then she was in deep freakin’ doo-doo.

“Well?” he asked, though there was no missing the blink back to reality of his eyelids. He was just as affected as she.

“You want a score?” she panted. “Seven point four. The French judge marked you down. Too much tongue.”
This appeared to delight him, delight coming in the form of a lift at the corner of his decadent mouth.

“It seems we both have lessons to learn. Again.”

In a flash, he had pulled her across into his lap—okay, she may have helped because this couldn’t not continue. Strangely, the snark fired her up. That hadn’t been their thing before, but maybe his time in North America had improved his personality.

She liked this version of Vadim. She liked it very much.

She also liked his positioning of her core over his erection. His hands kneading her ample ass to bring her closer was another check in the “like” column. And, additionally, helping her improved opinion of him was his mouth back on hers, sucking, testing, exploring.

“Again,” he murmured.

“Again,” she sighed right back into his mouth.

Again.

Rubbing her center against him was divine.

His hands everywhere were divine.

That mouth . . . oh, God, that mouth was ten steps above divine.

And then that mouth was speaking Russian, rough, sexy, sweet nothings that drove her wild. Forced out all common sense. His mouth trailed her jaw, delivering little nips and hot licks to her neck.

“Bella”—something in Russian—“Bella”—more Russian—“Bella.” As if one language was inadequate to express how she affected him.

She heard the scrape of her track jacket zipper, felt tingles as he applied openmouthed kisses to newly exposed skin. Her nipples were on fire, sensitive and needy. Can’t stand this. Going to die. She ripped her bra strap off her shoulder and freed one aching breast.

“Suck me,” she begged, and then his mouth closed over her tit and suckled hard. His moan on tasting her sounded like he was in pain, but she didn’t care; all she cared about was this mindless grasp at pleasure.

The insistent pulse thrumming through her body beat louder, stronger, showing no sign of stopping and heading for the one place she’d never visited with this man. She rolled her hips and hiked her suggestive rubs into a dirty grind. He was huge against her, toting this hard, hot instrument of pleasure that stroked her just right.

Still not enough.

“Please,” she begged as she rode him harder. Faster. Dirtier.

“Da, da, da,” he said. Yes, yes, yes.

I would like to apologize. Properly.”
Her lungs went on hiatus. He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant. “Apology accepted,” she said cheerfully, though it came out chipmunk style. Alvin would be so proud.
“You choose to act clueless about what I mean?”
“Are you offering to apologize with your penis?”
“It is my most improved area.”

Is it any wonder I’ve been obsessed with all things Kate Meader ever since reading her first book? The woman is the queen of banter and she writes some of the most sizzling enemies to lovers romances I’ve ever read. I was immediately hooked on her brand new Chicago Rebels series, and it isn’t just because it’s based in my home town. Though it’s safe to say I may have been a tiny bit biased. But let’s be real, any author that can take three estranged sisters and make them the new owners of a sport that’s a boy’s only club and not only make them sassy and powerful, but totally endearing too is a total rockstar in my eyes!

So Over You brings the story of Isobel Chase. And while her sisters have had a connection to the game because of their famous and philandering hockey player father, no one was closer to hockey than her. She had her sights set on a professional career and a handsome Russian hockey player until both were ripped away from her in the worst way possible. While she may have licked her wounds over her lost hockey career, the man that made her first time the most ho hum affair and then disappeared from her life…not so much. Here a girl builds up losing her virginity to the most handsome boy she knows and it’s a wham bam, not even a thank you m’am affair. And now said man is back in her world as the newly traded player on her team and not only does she have to suffer his glares, but she has to coach him, too.

Can I just say how much I absolutely adored the banter and camaraderie between the Chase sisters in this latest installment. It feels like with each book, their bond just gets tighter and tighter, and I simply can’t get enough of it.

The man has only ever had eyes for you.”
“Yeah, the minute he laid those Cajun peepers on you,” Violet chimed in, “he was all, ‘Me Remy, you Remy’s baby mama. Take my seed. Take it all!’

But the center stage of the story was definitely the banter between Vadim and Isobel. There’s nothing sexier than a brooding and glaring Russian. Unless said Russian is also now determined to right the wrongs of the past and deliver on the missing orgasms. GAH! I loved this grumpy puss. So much. I don’t know how the author managed to take his grumpy and glaring ways and make him hilarious and endearing, but she totally did. Add in the secondary characters and the banter, and I had a goofy smile on my face the entire time!

Isobel!” Mia called out. “I’m bored, and Vadim doesn’t know how to entertain me.”
“Entertainment was not part of the deal. Neither was little dog with big shits.”
“Don’t call Gordie Howe that. He’s very sensitive.”

As always, the sexual tension was even hotter than the sexual chemistry. I was literary vibrating with glee to finally see the two of them give into the undeniable attraction and feelings that still run between them.

While I loved Isobel’s fierceness, admittedly her stubbornness at times wore on me. But Vadim was the perfect salve and together with her sisters, they gave her what she needed to get herself together.

I love a sexy second chance romance, and So Over You delivered on that end and then some! If you’re looking for a fun, quick paced, and sizzling sports romance, this book is not to be missed.

My woman is the North Star in my night sky, but also in her own. If she is not there to guide me, there is only darkness. For us both.”


DON’T MISS THE REST OF THE SERIES

AMAZON | MY REVIEW | ADD TO GOODREADS


Kate Meader was raised on romance. An Irish girl, she started with Catherine Cookson and Jilly Cooper novels, and spiced it up with some Mills & Boon. Now based in Chicago, she writes romances of her own, where sexy contemporary alpha heroes and strong heroines match each other quip for quip. When not immersed in tales of brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, Kate lives on the web at katemeader.com.

Kate Meader will be giving away a $25 Amazon gift card during release week. To enter, please go here!

Release Day Launch & Excerpt: Dirty Filthy Fix by Laurelin Paige

DIRTY FILTHY FIX
Series: Fixed #5.5
Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary
Author: Laurelin Paige
Release Date: November 21, 2017

I like sex. Kinky sex. The kinkier the better.

Every day, it’s all I think about as I serve coffee and hand out business agendas to men who have no idea I’m not the prim, proper girl they think I am.

With a day job as the secretary to one of New York’s most powerful men, Hudson Pierce, I have to keep my double life quiet. As long as I do, it’s not a problem.

Enter: Nathan Sinclair. Tall, dark and handsome doesn’t come close to describing how hot he is. And that’s with his clothes on. But after a dirty, filthy rendezvous, I accept that if we ever see each other again, he’ll walk right by my desk on his way to see my boss without recognizing me.

Only, that’s not what happens. Not the first time I see him after the party. Or the next time. Or the time after that. And as much as I try to stop it, my two worlds are crashing into each other, putting my job and my reputation at risk.

And all I can think about is Nathan Sinclair.

All I can think about is getting just one more dirty, filthy fix.

AMAZON

“I’d like a try.” It was the stranger with the green eyes.Hot damn.

Of course the night would ramp up right when I announced I was leaving. I looked up at him expectantly, but he didn’t approach. I realized he was waiting for my invitation. He was definitely new. Everyone else knew Miss T was one of the most ready and willing participants in the room—to the point where some tried to take advantage of it. I never needed to issue invitations, but I often needed to reinforce boundaries.

“What are you waiting for, then?” I sat up straighter, ignoring Chuck’s grunt of complaint.

The stranger came forward with slow, swaggering steps. When he reached me, he loosened his bowtie a little before lowering himself to one knee at my side. He placed his arm next to mine on the chair, his fingers barely grazing my skin. Goosebumps sprouted up my forearm all the way to my neck, and he hadn’t even bent in to whisper yet.

And then he did. His breath skated over the shell of my ear, and my heart tripped unexpectedly in my chest.

How long had it been since that had happened from just the feel of someone breathing against me?

“I’m going to kiss you one way or another tonight,” he said, low and with such surety a shiver ran down my spine. “It’s your decision whether it’s now or later.”

So. Not just a voyeur then.

He sat back to study my features. My jaw was slack, and I scanned his expression, searching for a hidden motivation. My body tingled from head to toe. I was used to men—strangers—wanting me. I was used to them approaching me. I was used to them telling me how much they desired me.

Why was this man so different?

Maybe it was because those other men always looked everywhere in the room. When their eyes landed on me, I knew I was just one of many options.

This man…

He’d looked around the room. I’d watched him throughout the night. But nothing had interested him. I could tell by the way he was still wearing his jacket, by the way his eyes were only now beginning to dilate as they stared into mine.

He’d studied the room and decided nothing here had interested him but me.

That was definitely not the kink that usually got me off. That was Cinderella-story kind of kink. The fairytale kink with a happy ending was traditional, but a kink all the same—being chased. Being placed on a gilded pedestal. I never wanted to be somebody’s Only One in the Room. I liked having my own space. I liked being able to disappear when I wanted. I liked not having chains or boundaries. I was turning thirty-five soon. I wasn’t a starry-eyed teenager anymore. I knew what I wanted from life and love and relationships and sex. And it wasn’t a pedestal.

 

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Author Laurelin Paige is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway: One Shot by BJ Harvey

ONE SHOT
Series: Chances #1
Author: BJ Harvey
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 16, 2017

Boy meets girl, boy wins girl, boy nails girl—boy’s gone by morning.
I think for sure it must’ve been a dream because there’s no way a guy could look like that, touch me like that and be so in tune with me on every known level, and disappear, leaving me with nothing but a good story to tell my friends.
When he walks into my bar three months later, everything I thought I knew and what we’d had disappears in the blink of an eye and the blinding light of the three-carat diamond on his fiancée’s hand.
It seems what I thought was a dream is now my most complicated reality, and I’ve got absolutely no idea how to fix it – or if I even want to.
Present Day
I have tingles, and not the kind that feel great in all the right places. The ones I’m feeling right now are the hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck, someone-walking-over-your-grave kind of feelings that you get when something bad is about to happen.
Unable to ignore them any longer, I turn around from my stock take sheet and come face to face with my worst nightmare.
Lana fucking Mason, childhood best friend turned high school nemesis and arch enemy, and…
A man stands beside her, his eyes as wide as mine and—if I’m not mistaken—he looks kind of pissed off. At me.
And just like that, this moment has just gone from bad to worse.
Hold on! I’m the one who should be annoyed, with him. It wasn’t me who did a disappearing act three months ago, and now he’s here, standing with her. Of all the fish in the sea, he had to go for the smelliest, rottenest one.
“Kenzie,” she says, all saccharine sweet, like she wouldn’t choke on the first dick that came close to her perfectly-made-up lips. “Long time no see.”
Forever wouldn’t have been long enough, Lana.
“We were in town running errands and thought we’d stop by. I wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to.” Without preamble, she holds out her hand as if she’s the Queen of Sheba and I’m a lowly minion at her bidding. But that’s the last thing I care about, given that I’m being blinded by a huge, shiny rock on her ring finger.
What in the ever-loving fuck?
I don’t get a chance to hide my surprise, or the fact that my eyes dart to Millen, his jaw twitching like crazy, his grey eyes that I remember turning molten with lust now blazing with some unreadable emotion.
Why is he angry at me when he must’ve known that I’d be here?
Lana turns her head and beams at him all doe-eyed and vomit-inducing, reaching out her arm to Millen before returning her attention to me, positioning herself to deliver the final death blow.
Then she says them. The words I don’t want to hear—let alone believe.
“I have amazing news. First, my daddy just bought this place. And second, meet Millen, my fiancé…”
Yep. Dead. Done. The see-ya-later, don’t-let-the-door-hit-your-ass-on-the-way-out kind of done.
Then Drew walks through the front door. Drew who warms my bed most nights. Finally, a friendly face.
However, one look at Lana’s expression and I know this moment has just gone from bad to plain awkward. It’s like the universe is making a joke at my expense.
Drew’s already big smile grows impossibly larger when he spots the two people standing in front of me.
“Mills!” he says, pulling Millen into a man-hug the likes of which I’ve never seen Drew hand out before. He turns to the she-bitch and wraps his arms around her too. “Lans.”
Lans?
“What are you guys doing here?” Drew asks.
“You know them?” I blurt out, my brain unable to engage quick enough to care about putting a filter in place.
Millen’s eyes snap to Drew then back to me. “You know Drew?” he asks at the same time as Lana juts a hip to the side and asks Drew, “You know Kenzie?”
“Millen is my best friend from college,” Drew happily informs me, and his smile falls at the same time that all of the blood rushes from my face.
Awkward, meet Mortifying. Also here are Shame, Embarrassment, Anger, Disgust, and over in the corner there is Complete and Utter Confusion and her friend I’m Going to Have to Move to the States and Join a Women-Only Commune with Cats and Unlimited Batteries.
With nothing else to say—at least, nothing that wouldn’t take a bottle of Jack and a whole lot of time—I decide to just go with the flow and revert to my old trusty auto-pilot because seriously, what else is there for me to do?
“Soooo, would anyone like a drink?”
BJ Harvey is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bliss Series. She regards herself as a smut peddler, suspense conjurer, and a funny romance thinker upper. An avid music fan, you will always find her singing some hit song badly and loving every minute of it. She’s a wife, a mom to two beautiful girls, and hails from what she considers as the best country in the world—New Zealand.

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Excerpt & Review: Prince Roman by CD Reiss

PRINCE ROMAN
Series: King Of Code #1.5
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: CD Reiss
Release Date: November 7, 2017

Rules for my new job:

1) Do not have sex with a man in the office (again).

2) Do not break Rule #1

I’m playing it cool, clean, and professional…until I meet Roman Bianchi.

He’s not an insecure nerd or an ego-hole like the other kings of Silicon Valley.

He’s charming and handsome.

He’s fun, funny, and smart.

He’s also in the office across the hall.

Two broken rules waiting to happen.

I can’t lose this job over some guy.

But Roman’s not just some guy. Under that suit and cocky smile, he’s a prince.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Amazon AU

If Raven Crosby hadn’t picked up some hacking tips from QI4, I’d eat my shoe.She’d left as they were growing. Kept her stock options. That never happens. She was also still friendly with Taylor Harden, the hacker brain behind QI4’s quantum system.

I figured they’d parted on good terms. Maybe with something hanging over Taylor’s head.

My team ended up with a few folders on her. I told myself I was a lawyer. Collecting data on people was what I did for a living.

But this was different.

A week in, I was obsessed with her ebony hair and eyes. Lashes drawn on with black Sharpie. Her voice was hypnotic in meetings, and was only heard after long stretches of listening. The night before, she’d tipped her hand, showing me that she’d peeled the curtain back to get intel on me. I didn’t feel violated as much as vindicated. The attraction was mutual. She wouldn’t have done it for any other reason.

“I’ll be there at eight,” I said to my sister, Teagan. We had a dinner planned half an hour before, but I didn’t want to go. It wasn’t the rain that pounded on the windows. It wasn’t my sister. Teagan was fine, but the office was empty and Raven was right across the hall, working in the glow of a desk lamp.

“You better be,” she said. “I’m starving and I need to get drunk.”

“Get a head start at the bar.”

“I’m not going to sit at the end of the bar by myself with a drink. Do you even know what it’s like out there for a girl?”

I didn’t know firsthand, obviously, but I knew enough from her. Teagan was a career gamer and game designer. One of the best. She had a sweet, harmless face that made her approachable to even the most beta of betas. Regardless, even the betas tried to compete with her once they knew what she did. I was exhausted on her behalf.

Across the hall, Raven stood and clicked off her desk lamp.

“Leaving now,” I said, cutting the call. I grabbed my things and headed out, timing it perfectly so we met in the hall.

“Hi,” I said.

She nodded and gave me a non-committal smile. We spoke often, but never a word that didn’t have to do with the human resources software implementation and how it would protect Neuronet from liability.

“It’s raining,” I said. “You taking the elevator to the parking lot?”

The executive lot was underground, on the other side of campus. If you wanted to get there underground, without crossing the courtyard and getting rained on, you had to take the elevator.

“Yes.” She started down the hall and I followed.

“I’ll walk you.”

You are my ambition. You are my mountain to climb. You’re my only aspiration.”

Prince Roman was a quick, sexy, and entertaining read that I finished in one sitting. Though I’m as far from techie as possible and at times I thought the gamer details would lose me, the author managed to pull it off and keep me totally invested in the story. Admittedly, they weren’t my favorite parts, simply because a lot of it flew right over my head, but they didn’t bore me either.

My favorite part of the book were the strong main characters. I love females like Raven Crosby. Strong, independent, owning her sexuality and making no qualms about it. Here is a woman that’s at the top of her career and she keeps striving for more and she doesn’t want complications like a relationship to stand in her way. She’s all about the hot and quick interludes with men that mean nothing to her the next day. After a hot and heavy office affair just like that, she moves on to greener pastures swearing to herself that she’ll never complicate her life by sleeping with someone she works with. She doesn’t get hung up on the men or has awkward morning afters, but it’s still a complication. Add in her new company’s no fraternization rule and a sexy lawyer that tempts her to break every single one of her rules.

A forbidden affair with everything to lose. Two people that can’t get enough of each other, rules be damned. And a sizzling plot that ties it all together. Prince Roman was one deliciously satisfying read. Admittedly I totally misread the blurb, because I took the “prince” part literally. *shrugs*. I loved the way everything came together at the end. For a short read, it was still entirely satisfying.

C.D. Reiss is a USA Today bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up, she’s at the well, hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere, but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.

Critics have dubbed the books “poetic,” “literary,” and “hauntingly atmospheric,” which is flattering enough for her to put it in a bio, but embarrassing enough for her not to tell her husband, or he might think she’s some sort of braggart who’s too good to chop a cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.

 

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Exclusive Prologue Reveal & ARC Giveaway: ONE SHOT by BJ Harvey

One Shot
Series:
Chances #1
Genre:
Contemporary Romance 
Author:
BJ Harvey
Release Date:
November 16, 2017

Boy meets girl, boy wins girl, boy nails girl—boy’s gone by morning.

I think for sure it must’ve been a dream because there’s no way a guy could look like that, touch me like that and be so in tune with me on every known level, and disappear, leaving me with nothing but a good story to tell my friends.

When he walks into my bar three months later, everything I thought I knew and what we’d had disappears in the blink of an eye and the blinding light of the three-carat diamond on his fiancée’s hand.

It seems what I thought was a dream is now my most complicated reality, and I’ve got absolutely no idea how to fix it – or if I even want to.

 

AMAZON | iBOOKS | B&N | KOBO

PROLOGUE

Present Day

I have tingles, and not the kind that feel great in all the right places. The ones I’m feeling right now are the hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck, someone-walking-over-your-grave kind of feelings that you get when something bad is about to happen.

Unable to ignore them any longer, I turn around from my stock take sheet and come face to face with my worst nightmare.

Lana fucking Mason, childhood best friend turned high school nemesis and arch enemy, and…

A man stands beside her, his eyes as wide as mine and—if I’m not mistaken—he looks kind of pissed off. At me.

And just like that, this moment has just gone from bad to worse.

Hold on! I’m the one who should be annoyed, with him. It wasn’t me who did a disappearing act three months ago, and now he’s here, standing with her. Of all the fish in the sea, he had to go for the smelliest, rottenest one.

“Kenzie,” she says, all saccharine sweet, like she wouldn’t choke on the first dick that came close to her perfectly-made-up lips. “Long time no see.”

Forever wouldn’t have been long enough, Lana.

“We were in town running errands and thought we’d stop by. I wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to.” Without preamble, she holds out her hand as if she’s the Queen of Sheba and I’m a lowly minion at her bidding. But that’s the last thing I care about, given that I’m being blinded by a huge, shiny rock on her ring finger.

What in the ever-loving fuck­?

I don’t get a chance to hide my surprise, or the fact that my eyes dart to Millen, his jaw twitching like crazy, his grey eyes that I remember turning molten with lust now blazing with some unreadable emotion.

Why is he angry at me when he must’ve known that I’d be here?

Lana turns her head and beams at him all doe-eyed and vomit-inducing, reaching out her arm to Millen before returning her attention to me, positioning herself to deliver the final death blow.

Then she says them. The words I don’t want to hear—let alone believe.

“I have amazing news. First, my daddy just bought this place. And second, meet Millen, my fiancé…”

Yep. Dead. Done. The see-ya-later, don’t-let-the-door-hit-your-ass-on-the-way-out kind of done.

Then Drew walks through the front door. Drew who warms my bed most nights. Finally, a friendly face.

However, one look at Lana’s expression and I know this moment has just gone from bad to plain awkward. It’s like the universe is making a joke at my expense.

Drew’s already big smile grows impossibly larger when he spots the two people standing in front of me.

“Mills!” he says, pulling Millen into a man-hug the likes of which I’ve never seen Drew hand out before. He turns to the she-bitch and wraps his arms around her too. “Lans.”

Lans?

“What are you guys doing here?” Drew asks.

“You know them?” I blurt out, my brain unable to engage quick enough to care about putting a filter in place.

Millen’s eyes snap to Drew then back to me. “You know Drew?” he asks at the same time as Lana juts a hip to the side and asks Drew, “You know Kenzie?”

“Millen is my best friend from college,” Drew happily informs me, and his smile falls at the same time that all of the blood rushes from my face.

Awkward, meet Mortifying. Also here are Shame, Embarrassment, Anger, Disgust, and over in the corner there is Complete and Utter Confusion and her friend I’m Going to Have to Move to the States and Join a Women-Only Commune with Cats and Unlimited Batteries.

With nothing else to say—at least, nothing that wouldn’t take a bottle of Jack and a whole lot of time—I decide to just go with the flow and revert to my old trusty auto-pilot because seriously, what else is there for me to do?

“Soooo, would anyone like a drink?”

BJ Harvey is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bliss Series. She regards herself as a smut peddler, suspense conjurer, and a funny romance thinker upper. An avid music fan, you will always find her singing some hit song badly and loving every minute of it. She’s a wife, a mom to two beautiful girls, and hails from what she considers as the best country in the world—New Zealand.

BJ’s Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Sign up for her mailing list here

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