#1 New York Times Bestseller Jamie McGuire returns to self-publishing with this page-turning YA account of Erin Easter, one of three Erins in the small senior class of rural Blackwell High School who not only share a first name, but also their birthday. Easter, raised by a neglectful single mom, keeps to herself and admires Weston Gates from afar. The other Erins, Erin “Alder” Alderman and Erin “Sonny” Masterson are the darlings of the community: daughters of the two wealthiest families in town, best friends, cheerleaders, and everything Easter isn’t–and they never let her forget it. Alder has even claimed Weston since the 8th grade.
Weston is a well-liked star athlete, and the son of two prominent attorneys. He struggles daily with the pressures of living up to his family name and secretly empathizes with Easter’s feeling that she belongs somewhere else; in a different life. Not until he begins sneaking nights out with Easter does he gain the courage to buck expectations and acknowledge his feelings … both for his future, and for her.
A shocking tragedy rocks the tiny town, and Easter’s life is turned upside down in the best way possible. But when the truth is revealed and everything she thinks she wanted falls into her lap, life only becomes more complicated.
Jamie McGuire has returned to self-publishing with her young adult novella, Happenstance. The events of this story take place in the small Oklahoma town of Blackwell. There are three young ladies in the senior class at Blackwell High School named Erin, and they each just happen to share the same birthday. Erin Alderman (Alder) and Erin Masterson (Sonny) both come from quality families and are on the cheerleading squad at school. But our primary character of this story is Erin Easter (Easter).
The mother of Erin Easter is Gina. Gina Easter drinks to numb the anger and resentment she feels for becoming pregnant at a young age and missing out on her dreams. Gina is poor and has spent some time in jail over the years. She is a neglectful mother, but Erin also goes out of her way to avoid interacting with Gina. After school and on the weekends, Erin works at the local Dairy Queen. The only parental influence she has in her life is Frankie, her coworker at Dairy Queen.
The three Erins were close friends when they were young children, especially during kindergarten and first grade. But sometime during fifth grade, circumstances changed between the three friends. Erin Alderman and Erin Masterson began to verbally abuse Erin Easter. The bullying has progressed over the years to include many other students and is nearly constant. Name calling. Cruel rumors. Slander. Social exclusion. Not only does Erin Easter experience verbal bullying at school, but it continues when she is working at Dairy Queen.
Erin Easter has admired Weston Gates for many years, although he has dated Erin Alderman since eighth grade. Weston is part of the popular crowd, and he is a star athlete for Blackwell High School. He has always felt an overwhelming burden to live up to the expectations of his wealthy parents and friends. One day, Weston decides to defend Erin Easter when she is being bullied by his friends. And then, he defends her again. And again. Weston and Erin begin to hang out during the evenings. Soon, they realize they have more in common than they thought they did, and a very sweet relationship develops between the two of them. Weston is very supportive of Erin when karma strikes during the last few weeks of high school.
Jamie McGuire grabbed my attention quickly with her interesting characters and a topic that carries a relevant message for people of all ages. Her writing in this story is beautiful, simple and crisp. The pacing of this novella is ideal, giving it the feel of a full novel. I found Happenstance to be the perfect, relaxing read. I truly enjoyed this story and definitely recommend it!
Author Bio:
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.
Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.
Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.
After all of the devastating betrayals by the one she loved, Twenty-two year old Avery Stevens has spent three years raising her daughter alone, with her family and best friend as a support system, never leaving her small hometown of Rivers Edge, Missouri. Though Rivers Edge holds the pain of her past, it also holds the one person she wants but can’t have – her brother’s best friend, Maddox Jackson. When she learns the attraction might not be one-sided, will Avery be able to trust Maddox with the one thing she’s held onto tightly for the past few years?
Police officer Maddox Jackson is a ladies’ man with one foot out the door. Never planning to settle down, Maddox fights the attraction he feels for his best friend’s little sister, Avery. But can he continue to fight it when his body and his heart are leading him to the one woman he shouldn’t want?
When secrets are finally exposed, can Avery and Maddox trust each other enough to overcome the past, handle the present, and preserve their future? Can Avery trust Maddox with her heart? Will Maddox be able to convince Avery to take the chance?
**This book is intended for an audience of 18 or older due to graphic sex scenes and language.
I drive home in comfortable silence. I don’t think I’ve ever been content with comfortable silence with a woman before which is just another reminder of how Avery is different from everyone else. She doesn’t feel the need to talk all the time for the sake of talking.
As we start to approach the city limits of Rivers Edge, I start to wonder what I should do next. If this was any other girl, I’d drive back to her house with no hesitation whatsoever and take her inside. But this is Avery, and like I said, she’s different.
“So, I thought maybe we’d stop by my house for a bit if that’s okay with you. This way, someone like Jake doesn’t see my truck parked in your drive and make trouble.” Even to my own ears, I sounded a little nervous as I said it. What the hell? It’s not like it’s my first time taking a girl home. Then it hits me. It is the first time I’m taking a girl home; to my house. I always go to their place. But the thought of Avery in my house, my bed, just feels right.
“That sounds good,” she says with another shy smile. I love that smile; it’s filled with happiness and innocence. I turn off Main Street and head down Lincoln towards my house. When I reach my house, I pull into the drive and kill the engine. I hop out and walk around to her door. When I open it, she seems slightly hesitant, maybe even nervous.
“I can take you home if you want.”
“No,” she quickly throws out there. “I want to be here…with you.” There’s that damn smile again. I extend my hand to her and help her down from the truck and head inside.
When we step inside the dark recesses of my living room, I start to walk towards the lamp but she catches me by the arm, stopping me. I turn to look at her. The only light in the room is what moonlight is filtering through the window. Standing there in my darkened living room, light glowing off her blond hair, she looks stunning. She extends her hand up to cradle my cheek, her other hand runs up my abdomen from my stomach to rest on my chest. I step closer to her, looking deep into her eyes. She must have realized she was holding her breath because she lets out a big breath which comes out a little shaky. I look deep into her crystal blue eyes, and that’s when I see it. Lust. Desire. Trust.
My resolve shatters like a glass vase with that one look as I push her back against my front door. Our lips are urging each other on as our desire for each other completely takes over. She runs her tongue down my neck, and I almost come completely undone in my pants like a teenage boy by that one simple move. I cradle her ass in my hands and lift her up. She threads her legs around my waist, her hands diving into my hair. I lean against her, pushing her back into the door, and she moans. It’s the sexiest fucking sound I’ve ever heard and all I can think about is being deep inside her, making her moan over and over and over again.
I press hot kisses along her chin, down her delectable neck and lick the spot where her pulse is rapidly beating. “Tell me to stop, Avery. Tell me to stop right now and I will. But if you say nothing, I’m taking you back to my room and burying myself deep inside you. I’m going to make you come and scream my name. All. Night. Long. Tell me you want this as much as I do.”
“I want this,” she whispers without hesitation and that’s all I need to hear.
Kristyn’s Review
Avery is the only girl in a family with four older brothers. She is the baby who has been pampered and loved since the moment she was born. Her brother’s couldn’t protect her from everything, however. At 19 she found herself pregnant and alone. Her boyfriend was a cheating douche bag who had been sleeping around for a while.
She was determined to make the best of her situation and despite dating another cheating loser she hoped she would find the man that would be the perfect father to her daughter and the perfect husband for her.
Maddox is the best friend of Jake, Avery’s oldest brother. Avery was always off limits but that didn’t mean that he didn’t notice her or want her for himself. For years he pushed away the attraction knowing that if he ever acted on it he would get his ass kicked by Jake.
Avery had a crush on Maddox for a while. She figured he would never see her as anything other than his best friends little sister so she never acted on her feelings.
But then he kissed her (again) and couldn’t deny his feelings for her anymore. He had never been in a real relationship and wasn’t sure that’s what he wanted. He just knew that he had to be with her, spend time with her. Slowly and steadily Brooklyn and Avery worked their way into his heart until he couldn’t deny that they were what he needed to make him happy.
Trust Me is a wonderful book about going after what you want and trusting in the strength of another person even though it’s hard when you’ve had nothing but bad past experiences. Avery and Maddox have such a powerful connection and an attraction that even threats from older brother’s could stop. The family unit in this book was strong and entertaining. I can’t wait to see what happens to the next member of the Stevens clan.
Author Bio:
Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and a chocolate lab. Lacey loves watching NASCAR races and should only consume one mixed drink because she’s a lightweight.
Lacey welcomes the opportunity to chat with her fans.
The fourth in the Inside Out erotic romance series by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, this steamy novel resolves Chris and Sarah’s relationship and leads into Mark’s story.
“Chris and I have faced our demons and bared our souls to one another in Paris. Now that we are back home in San Francisco, I want to believe that nothing can tear us apart. Not Ava’s accusations against me to the police, or Chris’s fear that he will destroy me as he feels he did Amber. And not Mark, who was once too intimately a part of our lives, and who I can see crumbling inside out. He believes he is invincible, just as I want to believe Chris and I are invincible. We have to be invincible. We need each other too much for any other ending.
Excerpt
My fingers wrap his wrist. “I know you want to protect me, and I love you for that more than you know.”
“Yet too easily, you found a reason to shut me out tonight. Trust isn’t a fair-weather friend. It’s about a willingness to be vulnerable and exposed.”
“And I am willing to do that. That’s why I’m here now.”
He searches my face, and I don’t know what he looks for, what he needs, or what he finds. He releases me abruptly. “Hold out your hands and lace your fingers together.”
Heat rushes through me with the certainty that I’m about to fully understand the painting he’s created of me. This is him sending me a message. He’s not holding back. My confession, as incomplete as it is, has changed nothing. I offer him my arms, aware as I haven’t been in the past few minutes of my naked body, my breasts pressed together.
Chris reaches into his back pocket and produces a roll of art tape, using it to wrap my wrists. Task complete, he bends my elbows and presses my wrists to my chest, his fingers covering the bindings. He has become dark Chris, the dominant Master who never shows emotion; the Chris who arouses me in ways I would never believe a man could.
“Sit down,” he orders, and the way he manages such force with what is no more than a whisper stirs heat low in my body.
My throat is dry and my heart beats so loudly I am certain Chris can hear. I squat and he follows me down, steadying me so I don’t fall without the use of my hands. “All the way,” he murmurs, gently nudging me until my bare backside is on the floor.
He angles my knees up toward my chest, with my feet out enough to stabilize my body. His long lashes lower, half-moons on his cheeks, and I sense him struggling with what has passed between us. He knows I need to see he won’t hold back, but this isn’t just for me. I think he really needs this, too, for me to show him, not tell him, how much I trust him.
Chris tapes my ankles and then throws the roll over his shoulder. My nerve endings are so alive, so on edge that the roll hits the ground like a thundering drum that seems to radiate through the room, through my body. His hands come down on my knees and the touch sweeps over me, awakening nerve endings in the most intimate and unforgiving of places. I feel this man everywhere, I want him everywhere. But as if he knows what I feel, and he means to deny me, he withdraws. I shiver with a sudden cold certain to linger. He will torment me, make me wait for him. Make me beg.
He stands up, towering over me, and I stare up at him, trying to read him, the anticipation of what comes next tingling through me. And it’s supposed to. I see that in his eyes, and I am reminded of his words when I’d first seen the painting. It’s about trust. The kind of trust I want from you and have no right to ask for. He’s going to push me. He’s going to take me somewhere uncomfortable. Somewhere I might not want to go, but I will. With Chris, I will.
Chris Merritt and and Sara McMillan have worked through all of their personal demons in Paris, and returned to San Francisco, determined to put their pasts behind them and begin their life together. Before they can move forward, though, they are faced with wading through the chaos that awaits them at home. Just when it seems that the mystery behind the disappearance and death of Rebecca Mason has been solved, new questions emerge that leave everything up in the air, and leave them wondering who, exactly, can be trusted.
Lisa Renee Jones had written another fabulous installment in the ‘Inside Out’ series, creating plot twists that leave you wondering where the heck the story is heading. When I started reading this book, I was sure that the whole mystery of what, and at whose hands, had happened to Rebecca. But, in just a few short pages, Lisa Renee managed to throw all that I thought I knew right out of the window. New evidence, less-than-honest disclosures by key players, and a case that threatens to leave everyone involved as collateral damage make for a read that I was unable to put down. Added to the main story, we’re also left asking what ever happened to Sara’s friend Ella. Did she meet the same fate as Rebecca, or is her story really the fairytale that she painted to Sara?
Lisa Renee Jones is the mistress of erotic intrigue, and writes one heck of a cliff-hanger, but the story is just so compelling that I can’t help but eagerly await ‘I Belong To You,’ the next book in the series. Five stars for this hot, sexy, and action packed read.
Author Bio:
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT SERIES, and is now in development by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland) for cable TV. In addition, her Tall, Dark and Deadly series and The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series, both spent several months on a combination of the NY Times and USA Today lists.
Watch the video on casting for the INSIDE TV Show HERE
Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 40 books translated around the world. Booklist says that Jones suspense truly sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.
Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at on her website and she is active on twitter and facebook daily.
We are absolutely over the moon excited about the Release Day Launch for Courtney Cole’s GUARDIAN!!! GUARDIAN is a YA Paranormal Romance, and a book close to Courtney’s heart. Not only is this fabulous book back in a big way, it’s Courtney’s birthday! To celebrate all of the awesome she is making a few select titles only .99 TODAY ONLY! Grab them all and thank us later.
Sometimes, things that go bump in the night are real.
My name is Whitney Lane. I’m sixteen years old and at first, I thought I was crazy.
I kept seeing shadows move along walls, and hearing whispers around corners, but whenever I looked, there was never anything there.
Until one day, there was.
Our world isn’t what we think. There are things around us, good things, bad things, scary things.
Things that we tell ourselves aren’t real, but they are.
They’re very real, and they’re terrifying.
I’ve been swept up now, in a battle of good and evil, confused about love and what is supposed to be love, but isn’t. I don’t know what to think anymore. I can’t trust my emotions and I don’t know what is true.
There’s only one thing I know for sure.
Nothing is what it seems.
Excerpt:
Sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real.
Happy birthday to me.
I close my eyes and burrow into my pillow as I try to sleep, as I try to escape this life.
It’s a life I never thought I’d have, a life I most certainly don’t want.
I’m still feeling sorry for myself as the blackness of sleep finally overtakes me.
I don’t know what time it is when I shoot straight upward like a rocket. Something had yanked me from the oblivion of sleep, something loud and shrill scraping my window.
My room is completely dark and I glanceat my clock in confusion.
3:00 a.m.
As my heart pounds hard against my ribcage, I quickly scan every corner of the room.
In the last few hours, dark shadows had migrated onto my pink walls, but they’re familiar, nothing out of the ordinary, although in the night, they seem twisted and scary.
I remain motionless as I allow the sleep-induced fog to clear from my brain.
As I sit, I feel common sense and logic slowly returning.
Of course nothing had touched my window because my bedroom is on the second floor. Nothing can reach it. And there are no trees near enough to brush against it. It was just a dream.
It was only a dream.
I chant it silently to myself like a mantra as I consciously slow my breathing down, hoping that my racing pulse will soon follow. It was only a dream.
But just as I’m calming down, I hear it again.
A high-pitched shrill shriek, reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard, scraping down my window. I gasp and pull my feet up to my chest, which is when I notice the temperature.
I notice because I can see my breath.
Timidly, I blow a puff out again, watching the way my breath turns white in the air.
Holy crap. Oh my God.
What the hell?
The sound stops and stillness surrounds me once again, the silence so loud that it echoes in my ear.
Nothing moves around me, the shadows are perfectly still as they twist across my wall. They look like mangled fingers and arms and legs, but they don’t move.
My legs are weak and shaking, but I know I have to move. I have to move off my bed because it feels like something is under it. Something terrifying.
With a leap, I bound across the room, my feet hitting the floor several feet away from the edge of my bed.
The floor is ice cold, as though it had been covered in a blanket of snow.
I’m trembling as I race to the far wall and check the thermostat. Because that’s the only explanation. I must’ve bumped it earlier, I must’ve turned the AC way down.
But the luminous numbers stare at me in contradiction.
74 degrees.
It must be broken. It has to be broken.
My breath is coming in pants now, terrified, anxious pants.
My fear isn’t logical. I know there’s nothing here. I’m the only one in this room.
Or am I?
The air seems to push at me from all around, something dark, something heavy, something real. Something unseen.
My fingers shake, my legs tremble, and then all of a sudden, they can no longer support my weight. I go down like a pile of bricks, collapsing onto the floor. I lie still because I can’t move, because something seems to sit on my chest, holding me down.
The shadows start to move, to slither across the walls, to reach and pull and dance.
I struggle to focus, to see what it is.
But all I can see are the numbers on the thermostat suddenly moving, rapidly counting down from 74 to 20.
Twenty degrees?
The air is frigid as I suck it in, as I try to pull the ice crystals into my mouth so I can breathe.
All of a sudden, there’s a blackness in front of me. It hovers over me, a shapeless mass, sucking in the cells of the air, the atoms and the molecules. It’s darker than the blackness of my room, blacker than the blackest black.
Something is here.
With me.
“Dad?” I whisper in a white puff. Because what else could it be?
I reach out a finger to touch it, and then I can’t see anything else, because the darkness of it surrounds me, bleeding into everything else, even my vision. The shriek is back, screaming into my ears, bleeding into my brain.
Then there’s nothing.
Tracey’s Review
What do you do when the world that you know becomes one right out of your nightmares? Whitney Lane’s life has changed dramatically in the last few months. A freak accident has taken her father away, leaving Whitney and her family devastated. Her mother is too lost in her own sadness to care for Whitney and Whitney’s younger sister Ellie, leaving Whitney to shoulder the burden of moving forward and keeping everything together. With the steady and loving life she’s always known unraveling before her eyes, Whitney hardly knows how to react when strange events begin occurring, events that she’s only ever seen in those really scary movies she’s watched. And when she’s forced to confront an evil darker than she could ever have imagined, who will be at her side? Will it be Brady, the golden boy that seems to be her pillar of strength? Or Carter, the mysterious boy with the bad attitude and dark good looks? Sometimes it’s the people that we least expect that give us just what we need.
I have read and loved Courtney Cole’s New Adult novels, and was so excited to see that she had also written a YA title. ‘Guardian’ grabbed me from the get-go, and held me captive through all the crazy twists and turns and unexpected plot twists. I had no idea what to expect, but can absolutely say that Courtney has delivered a page-turner that I would recommend to any fan of a paranormal storyline coupled with well-written characters and a plot destined to grab you and keep you reading until the very last page. I really hope that Courtney has more YA magic up her sleeve, and look forward to reading more in this genre.
To celebrate the release of GUARDIAN and Courtney’s birthday the following books are on sale for .99, today only!
Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people.
Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.
When it comes to family, Ian Dare gives his all but in relationships he offers the bare minimum. Until one glimpse of sensual Riley Taylor arouses his dominant and protective instincts. He will do anything to possess her … and does. But any future with Riley must include him dealing his half-brother who is a constant reminder of the pain he’d rather forget.
Riley Taylor believes herself immune to domineering men – until charismatic Ian Dare turns a simple kiss into an all out assault on her senses and she discovers she likes his brand of control in the bedroom. As their affair heats up, they soon realize they complete each other in ways neither imagined. But Riley’s past is closer than she cares to remember, and her struggles with Ian’s dominance might just cost her everything. (love story, contemporary romance, alpha heroes, beach reads, sports heroes, bad boys, billionaire)
She let herself into her building, walked up one flight to her apartment, and was startled to find someone waiting outside her door. Even in the dimly lit hall, she recognized Ian Dare’s tall frame, dark hair, and handsome features. Excitement bubbled up inside her, followed by wariness.
“Finally,” he said, leading her to believe he’d been standing there awhile.
She fought against her rapidly beating heart. “What are you doing here?”
He pushed off the wall and strode toward her. “Do you realize I walked into the building without being buzzed in? I just followed behind a couple who were too busy groping each other to pay attention to who was entering behind them.”
He didn’t have to further sum up his point. Riley already knew the argument well from Alex and her stepmom. “It’s perfectly safe. I carry mace and I’m careful. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
Ian ran a hand through his hair, taking the time to tamp down on the anger that had been brewing inside him as he waited for her in this tiny hall that, despite her claim, was far from safe.
Not for a woman with her full breasts and curvy hips. Not for a woman with that mass of untamed hair and wild beauty, dressed in a short denim skirt with a ruffled edge and black sleeveless top that bared a hint of her stomach.
He fought for control over his libido and the desire to take her in every way imaginable. “I realize I didn’t return your call, but I’m here now.”
She met his gaze, brave and unwavering. “Go home. Whatever I needed from you, it’s too late now.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s what Alex said, but he refused to elaborate. He said it was your business, so I came to the source. I was busy this week. I had meetings for the draft, and I couldn’t call you back.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Bull. I’m guessing there are a whole host of reasons why you didn’t get back to me. At the top of the list is that you hate Alex.”
“I don’t hate him.” He clenched his hands and released them again, searching for focus. “Riley, you left me a message. Just tell me why.”
“It’s too late.” She walked toward him as she spoke.
She passed him by, heading for her door, key in hand. “I already lost my job,” she said as she slipped inside her apartment.
The door slammed closed behind her, leaving him basking in her scent.
“Son of a bitch.” He knocked hard.
When she didn’t answer, he tried again.
And again.
Worst-case scenario, he’d settle into the hallway for the night and wait to catch her when she left again in the morning. Unwilling to do that, he banged on the door again.
In the middle of his knock, she swung the door open wide.
“Fine. Come in,” she said, her eyes narrowed and wary.
He stepped inside. Once enclosed in her small apartment, her luscious scent wrapped around him once more. His cock took a definite hit as desire filled him along with that burning need only she inspired. Knowing those feelings wouldn’t be welcome, he took in her space. Bright colors on the walls, eclectic pieces of furniture, and a warm feel. She knew how to take a tiny area and make it feel like a true home.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.
“No. I just want to know what happened.”
She expelled a deep breath, causing her breasts to rise and fall beneath the flimsy material. He glanced down, trying not to ogle her cleavage because that made him want to test the weight of her breasts. And once he started touching her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. Instead, he noticed her toenails were painted a bright orange, one toe surrounded by a thin silver ring. Even her fucking feet were sexy.
“I worked for Blunt Sporting Goods,” she said, unaware of his train of thought. “I was head of their distribution and sales department. The company was sold; the new boss is an ass and began laying people off. I pulled a Hail Mary and told him I had an in with you, that I could get some of our products distributed to the team. He gave me until Friday to get back to him with something substantial. I called. You didn’t. End of story.” She strode over to the door and swung it open, obviously eager to get rid of him.
He stared in stunned surprise. “You told him that after meeting me for the first time on Saturday night?”
She raised her chin. “Yep.”
“After our kiss.”
Her cheeks turned a healthy pink. “Mmm-hmm.”
“After you walked away from me without a second glance.”
She blinked up at him. “I looked back,” she said softly.
Tracey’s Review
Ian Dare is as alpha as they come, determined to have control in all areas of his life. The no-nonsense buttoned-up image that he projects lets everyone know that he is in charge. Riley Taylor has had enough of overbearing men. Escaping from an abusive past has left her determined that only she will call the shots in her life.
Ian does not believe in romantic love, but has a healthy appetite for the physical side of things, so when he first spots Riley, there is no question but that he will make her his. The only problem? She’s there with his half-brother Alex. To say that there is bad blood between the two men is an understatement. Once he finds out that Alex and Riley are not romantically involved, Ian cannot leave her alone. Riley, typically very much in charge of herself and her feelings, likes ‘safe’ men, men that won’t try to domineer her. But from her first meeting with Ian, she is absolutely unable to control his hold over her, and is swept up in the chemistry that is flaring between them.
Carly Phillips is a favorite of mine. Her stories are always guaranteed to be hot and satisfying, and typically end up just the way I want them to. ‘Dare To Love’ is no exception. Ian, for all of his take-charge attitude and his refusal to surrender control, is really still harboring the hurt that comes from feeling abandoned by those that he loves. If he doesn’t give in to the more emotional side of things, then he can’t be hurt, or so he believes. Riley’s past has left her hurting, too, and she is afraid to let anyone else hold the reins when it comes to her relationships. Watching the two of them work through their obstacles in at turns hot, entertaining, humorous, and emotional, but it is never anything less than satisfying. The added bonus of all the great supporting characters (the large Dare clan, with all their quirks and great personalities) make ‘Dare To Love’ a solid 4-star read for me, and I look very forward to reading more books about this family.
DARE TO DESIRE
Quarterback Alex Dare, had it all — an all-star football career and his choice of willing women — until a severe injury forces him into early retirement. Social worker Madison Evans grew up in foster homes and knows what it means to have-not. She isn’t impressed by Alex Dare’s wealth or charm. Not since she fell hard for him once before, only to discover she was just one of his too-easy conquests.
This time around Madison refuses to succumb to Alex so easily. But Alex wants Madison. And if there is one thing Alex does well, it’s to get what he wants. Can he convince Madison to take a risk and dare to love?
“How did you get so smart?” He toyed with her hair, combing through the strands and twirling it with his finger.
She let out a sigh. “A lot of practice trying not to focus on bad things, I guess,” she said, surprised she was answering so honestly.
“I want to know more about those bad things. More about you. The things you don’t talk about,” he said in a low, soothing voice.
She knew what he wanted. It was a story she rarely told. Someone had to earn her trust and her heart before she’d even consider admitting that neither of her parents had wanted her. Saying it out loud made her vulnerable, and Madison normally didn’t allow many people that close. She’d kept Alex at a distance the first time they were together, even as she’d known how hard she was falling in such a short time. Because she knew he wasn’t a forever kind of guy, and the truth went to the deepest hurt she nursed in her heart.
But she could no longer hold back from this man. She didn’t want to. He’d been asking for her trust, and if she was going to try, as he seemed to be doing, she had to let him in.
She sighed and said, “My mom left me and my dad. She said she was going to work one morning, and she never came back. When he realized something was wrong, he called her job, her friends, but no one had heard from her.” She shrugged. “We didn’t have any other family that I knew of, so it was just me and him.”
He began to stroke her hair, long, soothing touches this time, keeping them connected as she spoke.
“How old were you?”
“I was twelve, and it was horrible. My father worked really long hours in construction and came home really late. Looking back, I know he went out drinking before coming home. I would let myself into the house after school, make myself dinner with whatever I could find in the fridge or the pantry, do my homework and … cry myself to sleep.”
“Fuck,” Alex muttered.
She was glad he couldn’t see her face and appreciated the strength of his arms wrapped tightly around her. “One day he said we were going clothes shopping. I was really excited because, one, we never ever bought new things, and two, my clothes were getting tighter. I’d started developing and … you know.”
She pulled in a deep breath, the lump in her throat so big it actually hurt. “You’d think this would get easier.” She buried her face against his side.
“Take your time, Angel.” His voice was warm and soothing, but she felt the tension emanating from him.
It wasn’t an easy story to tell. It couldn’t be an easy one to hear. Riley had cried when Madison had told her, and Madison had only given the other woman the bare bones.
My father dumped me at the mall, never to be seen again. The cold, clinical version. And even then, Madison hadn’t wanted to face her friend after the revelation, but Riley had already inserted herself in Madison’s life and wasn’t going anywhere. She, more than anyone, had taught Madison what a true friend really was.
She lifted her head and drew a deep breath. “So we went to the mall. My father bought me a soda, and we wandered around the stores for a little while, and then he asked me if I needed to use the bathroom.” Her body shook despite Alex’s secure hold, the day coming back to her in vivid detail. “I went to the ladies’ room, came out…” She couldn’t say the words. To her mortification, a sob came out instead.
“That bastard,” Alex said, his voice tight, anger evident beneath the surface.
He embraced her with his entire being, holding her close, but fury vibrated in his big, muscled body. Anger for her. She knew it without him having to explain, and the thought that he cared for her enough to feel that kind of emotion undid her completely. The protective walls that had always kept her apart and distant crumbled around her, and she felt things. Things she never wanted to experience again.
“No more,” he said into her hair. “Don’t relive it for me.”
She normally didn’t relive it at all. Didn’t allow herself to remember the intense and all-encompassing pain and loss of that day and every one that followed. But now the dam had broken, and the memories flooded back, along with big, heaving sobs.
She’d walked out of the mall bathroom, looked around, and her dad had been nowhere to be found. She hadn’t panicked. Not at first. She’d checked all the stores they’d been in. The men’s stores. The food court. Finally she’d returned to the bathroom thinking maybe he’d gone back to find her. Some good Samaritan must have noticed the little girl sitting on the floor outside the restroom crying and called mall security. The rest was a blur, along with the ensuing years of her life spent in foster homes.
Alex didn’t know how long she sobbed. From the way she cried, he figured it had been forever since she’d let her emotions free, and she exhausted herself in the process. The heavy sobs quieted first. Long after she grew silent, Alex held Madison in his arms, his heart beating hard in his chest. He’d wanted her to trust him, not unleash this kind of grief. Nausea filled him, along with pain that reached to the depths of his soul.
He stroked her hair, aware of the smallest hiccup or sound she made. Soon her breathing evened out, and he hoped to God she’d fallen asleep. A dreamless, memory-free sleep. She deserved as much.
Tracey’s Review
Alex Dare has it all. He’s the star quarterback of a pro football team, has his pick of the ladies, with his wicked sense of humor and his sexy as sin looks, and has a big family that he loves (well, the family thing is complicated, but it’s settling down). Madison Evans is a social worker, a product of the foster system. She knows what it’s like to go without, and is determined that she will not ever depend on anyone else to give her what she needs.
Alex Dare is at the top of his game. He’s got a career he loves and the woman that he wants. And then, in an instant, everything changes. A career-ending injury forces him to re-evaluate everything in his life, and he retreats into himself, pushing away those that he loves, including Madison, the woman that has been sharing his bed. Hurt by Alex’s dismissal, Madison refuses to let herself feel anything more deep than the physical, and is absolutely resolved that she will not put herself and her feelings into his care again.
Dare To Desire is the second book in the ‘Dare To Love’ series. The cast of characters that we met and loved in ‘Dare To Love’ are back, and as endearing as ever. Carly does a great job of writing a story that paints a picture of damaged people (even if they don’t recognize it!) who push past the limitations of their backgrounds and find their way to each other. I always enjoy reading her books. They’re emotional, well-crafted, and infinitely easy to read, and I am looking very forward to reading more about the wonderful Dare family.
Dare To Surrender
After ending a relationship to a cheating, domineering man, Isabelle Masters takes off in her leased Mercedes, only to be arrested for grand theft auto and hauled to a local police station. To her surprise, she is rescued by the most unlikely person possible, Gabriel Dare, a man she’s been attracted to for far too long. Gabe offers Isabelle freedom along with an invitation to Eden, an exclusive island resort where everything and anything is possible.
Although Gabe yearns to possess Isabelle, he knows all too well he must fight his primitive need to bind her to him, and instead help bring out the independent woman she yearns to become – or risk losing her for good.
A woman who needs to run her own life. An Alpha man who needs to exert control. Can she surrender to his demands without losing her sense of self once more?
It’s not enough that Isabelle Masters has been cheated on by her rich boyfriend. When he can’t persuade her to come back to the lie that they’ve been living, he has her arrested for grand theft auto. Left with nothing and no one, this night isn’t shaping up to be the best Isabelle has ever had. Luckily for her, Gabriel Dare just happens to be related to the arresting officer. Like her very own knight in shining armor, he’s there to save the day, offering her a place to stay until she can figure things out. The problem: Isabelle and Gabe have been attracted to each other for a LONG time, and it’s like an electrical storm of desire whenever they’re around each other.
The ‘Invitation To Eden’ series is a collection of novels by different authors that revolve around the mysterious Eden resort. This is the second book in the series that I’ve had the opportunity to read, and I really enjoyed it. Carly Phillips always writes a good book, with characters that have back stories that are often angsty and less than perfect. ‘Dare To Surrender’ is no exception; both Gabe and Isabelle have had much to overcome from their pasts, and this has left a mark and made them both reticent about giving themselves to another person. Gabe is a serious alpha male, and doesn’t like anything to stand between him and what (or whom, in Iz’s case) he wants. Isabelle wants to be independent, to prove that she can stand on her own merits, and not have to rely on a sugar daddy to take care of her. Deep down, though, they want the same thing: someone to love and to take care of. And, did I mention that Gabe and Iz are super-hot for each other? The sexy times are off-the-charts here; the passion is sizzling, and certain to melt some panties, so have extras on hand. Check out ‘Dare To Surrender’ (it’s a 4.5 star read for me) and the rest of the ‘Invitation To Eden’ books, too. They’re like the book format of a sexy mix tape, and should not be missed.
Dare To Submit- Coming September 8, 2014
Decklan Dare knows about the unexpected loss of loved ones and for this reason, he values control in all areas of his life. Amanda Collins enjoys the freedom she finds in casual encounters without the emotional connection a relationship brings. They meet and their physical attraction is mutual but both experience feelings that could run deeper – if they drop their guard and let each other in. Decklan is first to trust, but when he discovers the secret Amanda’s been hiding, will he forgive? Or will he rebuild every wall before she has a chance to explain?
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips N.Y. Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips has written over 40 sexy contemporary romance novels that today’s readers identify with and enjoy. After a successful 15 year career with various New York publishing houses, Carly is making the leap to Indie author, with the goal of giving her readers more books at a faster pace at a better price. Her Serendipity books will still finish up in January/February 2014 via Berkley as planned. Carly lives in Purchase, NY with her family, two nearly adult daughters and two crazy dogs who star on her Facebook Fan Page and website. She’s a writer, a knitter of sorts, a wife, and a mom. In addition, she’s a Twitter and Internet junkie and is always around to interact with her readers.
Title: Bound Series: Forbidden Series #1 Author: Melody Anne Publication Date: August 25, 2014
Synopsis
Relinquish Control has just opened its doors in Seattle, and already we are not shy for customers. Relinquish Control is an exclusive escort service catering to the most distinguished customers, from business magnates to foreign royalty. This proven and well-established international business offers an elite selection of women who are ready and willing to attend to your every need with no questions asked. Confidentiality is our special obligation.
Jewell Weston is homeless and desperate at age twenty-four. Two years ago, she quit her job to care for her ailing mother and her young brother; the medical bills incurred because of the cancer that killed her mother two months ago took everything the family had, and the state then took away her brother, now age fourteen. The only way for her to get the boy back is by finding a job and securing a home.
When she’s approached by a woman in cashmere and pearls who tells her she can change her life, and is handed a card with the business name Relinquish Control on it, she thinks she has nothing to lose by calling the phone number. Maybe this will be the answer to her prayers, a way to save her little brother from the nightmarish foster home he’s been placed in.
Blake Knight, known to the world as cold and without a heart, is given an exclusive membership to Relinquish Control by his devilish younger brother, who thinks it would be amusing to make his staid brother squirm. Little does this brother realize that Blake does indeed have unusual desires that Relinquish Control can cater to perfectly. What started as a joke turns out to be just what Blake needs. Though the world sees this man as deliberate and emotionless, it’s nothing but a façade. What lies underneath would shock all those who know him.
When he and his two brothers were six, eight and ten, they were tied up and forced to watch while their parents were murdered. The image has been burned into their minds, though they’ve tried to forget, leaving each of them guarded and unwilling to give their trust to anyone other than each other. No one is allowed to have their hearts. The brothers would never think of letting down their guard with anyone else, certainly not with a woman.
Follow Blake and Jewell’s journey and see if they can find a happily ever after…
Excerpt
“I’m pleased we’re now business partners. I think this venture will be a success.”
Blake Knight laughed as he shook hands with Rafe Palazzo, happy the man had finally decided to come to visit from San Francisco. Though Blake had known Rafe for many years, this was the first project the two of them had paired up on. The contracts were signed, and the deal would put a few more hundreds of millions into both of their already fat wallets.
“I don’t think there’s a venture out there with your name on it that isn’t a success, Rafe.”
“Ah, my friend, the same can be said about what you and your brothers do,” Rafe replied without missing a beat.
“We’re just that damn good, I guess,” Blake said.
Though at first glance they might come off as smug and self-satisfied, and they might look at multimillion-dollar investments the same way an average person looked at depositing twenty dollars into their savings account, the men were shrewd. They knew how to make money, and they knew they’d always keep making more.
Only a select few ruled the world, and Blake Knight had decided, when he was a young boy and his parents’ lives ended right before his very eyes, that he would never be vulnerable again. He would never be one of the weak, easy prey to a world packed with predators. No one would sneak up on him and catch him unawares.
“Let’s have a drink, and you can fill me in on what you’ve been doing for the past year,” Rafe told Blake. “Too much time has gone by since our last visit.”
The two of them moved toward the conference room doors at Knight Construction.
“You’re the one who sold your soul to a woman and disappeared,” Blake reminded his friend.
“Don’t knock it, Blake. Ari has changed my life and made me a better man.”
“Oh, please, please, for the love of all that’s holy, do not continue,” Blake said, horrified to hear these words coming from a man who was once one of the most ruthless bachelors he’d ever met. “I remember the days when you thought no woman was true, no woman could ever be trusted. Marriage — your second marriage — has ruined you.”
“There was a time, Blake, when I would have thrown you up against a wall for just thinking me the slightest bit weak.”
“Ha! You would have tried,” Blake said.
Neither of them was remotely upset by the exchange, of course. All friendly banter.
Melody Anne is the author of the popular series, Billionaire Bachelors, and Baby for the Billionaire. She also has a Young Adult Series out; Midnight Fire and Midnight Moon – Rise of the Dark Angel. She’s been writing for years and published in 2011. She hold a bachelors degree in business, so she loves to write about strong, powerful, businessmen.
When Melody isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and pets. She lives in a small town that she loves, and is involved in many community projects.
The Ten Tiny Breaths Series is one of my all time favorite series. It is packed full of true emotions, heartbreaking circumstances, defining moments, self discovery, friendship, soul searching, and happily ever romance in the most perfect way.
I have reviewed every single book and gave the 5 Stars!
Each book features a different couple with different circumstances in life. They are all connected by relations, co workers, tragedies, and friendships. The strengths of the connections is the glue that holds all these wonderful characters together throughout the series.
Each and every character is very unique in their own way. Their personalities and drives are larger than life. These characters are embraced by the readers as if they were in their lives personally. Each of their stories will have the readers invested in their lives.
K. A. Tucker is a phenominal writer. She delivers a story with tender loving care. The lives and emotions her characters experience are very realistic and easy for readers to identify with. She adds the right amount of humor, character flaws, and passionate romance to keep the reader addicted to this series.
To pick one favorite moment would be impossible. Each of these books has so many moments that touch the soul. But there is one thing in common throughout all of these books besides the passionate romance and promise of happily ever afters. The common factor is she allows her characters to recognize their flaws and imperfections, she allows them the good and bad emotions, and finally she gives them that “defining moment” where they accept who they are and love themselves in spite of it. She makes them whole.
On that note, I highly recommend the Ten Tiny Breaths series. I have already read the arc for In Her Wake (review coming on release day) and I will say it may be my favorite of them all. She captured Trent’s soul and gave him to us readers because he desperately needed the tender loving care we could give him.
The Ten Tiny Breaths Series
Just breathe, Kacey. Ten tiny breaths. Seize them. Feel them. Love them.
Four years ago Kacey Cleary’s life imploded when her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend, and best friend. Still haunted by memories of being trapped inside, holding her boyfriend’s lifeless hand and listening to her mother take her last breath, Kacey wants to leave her past behind. Armed with two bus tickets, twenty-year-old Kacey and her fifteen-year-old sister, Livie, escape Grand Rapids, Michigan, to start over in Miami. Struggling to make ends meet, Kacey needs to figure out how to get by. But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle anything—anything but her mysterious neighbor in apartment 1D.
Trent Emerson has smoldering blue eyes, deep dimples, and he perfectly skates that irresistible line between nice guy and bad boy. Hardened by her tragic past, Kacey is determined to keep everyone at a distance, but their mutual attraction is undeniable and Trent is determined to find a way into Kacey’s guarded heart—even if it means that an explosive secret could shatter both their worlds.
Author’s Note: Although it is a prequel, In Her Wake is best read after completing Ten Tiny Breaths.
Before you knew him as Trent in Ten Tiny Breaths, he was Cole Reynolds—and he had it all. Until one night when he makes a fatal, wrong decision…and loses everything.
When a drunken night out at a Michigan State college party results in the death of six people, Cole must come to terms with his part in the tragedy. Normally, he’d be able to lean on his best friends—the ones who have been in his life since he could barely walk. Only, they’re gone. Worse, there’s the shattered body of a sixteen-year-old girl lying somewhere in a hospital bed, her entire life ripped from her because of a case of beer and a set of keys.
Everyone assures him that they know it wasn’t intentional, and yet he can’t ignore the weight of their gazes, the whispers behind his back. Nor can he shake the all-consuming guilt he feels every time he thinks of that girl who won’t so much as allow him near her hospital room to apologize. As the months go by and the shame and loneliness festers, Cole begins to lose his grip on what once was important—college, his girlfriend, his future. His life. It’s not until Cole hits rock-bottom that he can begin to see another way out of his personal hell: forgiveness.
And there’s only one person who can give that to him…
In this follow-up novel to the top-selling Ten Tiny Breaths, Livie Cleary faces a new set of challenges as she navigates freshman year at Princeton, wild parties, and the gorgeous rowing team captain who is everything she doesn’t want in a guy, or so she thinks…
“Make me proud.” These were the last words Livie’s father ever spoke to her. In the seven years since her parents’ tragic death, Livie has done her best to keep this promise through her every choice, word, and action, while looking after her sister with strength and maturity. But with college right around the corner, unexpected challenges will test her resilience—and her heart.
Livie walks into Princeton with a solid plan, and she’s dead set on delivering on it: Rock her classes, set herself up for medical school, and meet a good, respectable guy to marry someday. What isn’t part of her plan are Jell-O shots; a lovable, party animal roommate she can’t say “no” to; and Ashton, the arrogant—and extremely attractive—captain of the men’s rowing team who makes Livie’s usually non-existent temper flare. Worse, he’s best friends and roommates with Connor, who fits Livie’s criteria perfectly. So why does she keep thinking about Ashton?
As Livie finds herself facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father and, with it, the only identity that she knows.
I believe you don’t have years, or months, or weeks to impact a person’s life. You have seconds. Seconds to win them over, and seconds to lose them.
Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine-year-old Cain is starting to second-guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with his staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control . . . and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.
Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl, but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her can’t get distracted by romance.
Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her.
Sometimes you can’t change—and sometimes you just don’t want to. Discover Ben’s side of the story in this fourth novel by the beloved, top-selling indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths, One Tiny Lie, and Four Seconds to Lose.
Purple-haired, sharp-tongued Reese MacKay knows all about making the wrong choice; she’s made plenty of them in her twenty-odd-years. So when her impulsive, short-lived marriage ends in heartbreak, she decides it’s time for a change. She moves to Miami with the intention of hitting reset on her irresponsible life, and she does quite well…aside from an epically humiliating one-night stand in Cancun with a hot blond bouncer named Ben. Thank God she can get on a plane and leave that mistake behind her.
Football scholarship and frat parties with hot chicks? Part of charmer Ben Morris’s plan. Blown knee that kills any hope of a professional football career? So not part of the plan. Luckily Ben has brains to go with his knockout looks and magnetism. After three long years of balancing law school with his job as a bouncer at Penny’s Palace, he’s ready to lead a more mature life—until his first day of work, when he finds himself in the office of that crazy, hot chick he met in Cancun. The one he hasn’t stopped thinking about.
If Ben truly were a smart guy, he’d stay clear of Reese. She’s the boss’s stepdaughter and it’s been made very clear that office romances are grounds for dismissal. Plus, rumor has it she’s trouble. The only problem is, he likes trouble, especially when it’s so good-looking…
Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.
Vaughn Asher. I’ve stalked him relentlessly. I shaped and formed my lust into the perfect dirty hashtag…day after day… weekend after weekend. He was my prince. My fairy tale. My fantasy.
I gave him the best years of my online life and what did he do for me?
Ruined my social media experience one tweet at a time. That’s what.
#Fantastic #BackToNatureFucking
#MissingSomething #You
And now #TheDickWhoIsVaughnAsher thinks he can weasel his way back into this filthy blue bird’s Twitter account? He’s wrong.
His public fantasy is about to collide… ah, fuck it. He’s hot as hell, bitches. I need more than a free sample. This time I want it all and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it.
My name is Grace Kinsella and I’m a filthy tweeter.
I can turn a hundred and forty characters into living sex. I can string words together in a way that will make you wet your panties with lust. I can make a man blush before he even gets to the hashtag. I am famous for pithy filth.
In fact, my girlfriends and I have an online Facebook group called the Filthy Blue Birds. And we’re not the only ones. The world of pithy filth is booming, friends. There are endless groups like ours. There are legions of shy girls who come alive when faced with the hundred-and-forty-character challenge. And there is a very special place online where we meet, challenging each other to achieve a new level of smexy typing.
I call that Twitter list Dirty Heaven. I made it up, like literally I’m the freaking founder. So Dirty Heaven is my kingdom and I’m the queen.
I’ll stop here to take a bow.
Besides being a list, Dirty Heaven is an online competition that happens on Twitter every Saturday night across the world—yes, we have filthy tweeters from all walks of life. At 8 PM Eastern the FT’s come alive and each league puts up their best and brightest. You get one tweet, one hashtag, and one chance to shine.
I don’t win anymore, it’s simply not fair. I’m now the judge. But back when we were first putting this together my tweets took me to Dirty Heaven time after time after time. That’s back when we used to have the competitions nightly and the group was small. Just fifteen or twenty of my closest online stranger friends. Each competition we had an online muse and we took turns choosing who would benefit from our blush-inducing prose. Sometimes the girls picked models or rock stars.
I only ever had one muse and his name is Vaughn Asher.
Yes, the Vaughn Asher. A Hollywood legend. He started out in the boy band 2 Far Out, then when his angelic voice changed as he hit puberty he graduated into Disney sitcoms. Most child actors would fade after that, never able to make the transition. But Vaughn Asher doubled down on the workouts—gaining the title of Most Envied Body in Hollywood six years in a row from Buzz Hollywood Magazine—and the preteen wannabe turned into an action-hero heartthrob overnight.
Just thinking his name makes me sigh. He’s so freaking gorgeous. That messy dark hair that makes him look like he just rolled out of bed. Those tight abs that just make you want to drag your tongue all over them to see if they taste as good as they look. And that package, boy. He’s never done any nudes so I have to use my imagination, but my imagination is vivid. I have a very clear picture.
Besides, you know what they say about a man’s thumbs, right? Well, Vaughn Asher has incredible thumbs. And large feet. They say that too.
Yes, doing filthy things to his six-foot-two frame has been my idea of Dirty Heaven for almost three years now. I’d like to say I’ve said everything imaginable about him, but that’s not true. I never run out of ideas. It’s like my brain only exists to compose a one-hundred-and-forty-character sentence that will turn him red.
That’s my fantasy. That’s my fairy tale. Vaughn Asher doing things to me that can only be said in a hashtag.
J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).
She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.
Everything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light.
I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can’t change your soul.
A fresh start at college was just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident, but it was a lie.
When guys kissed me–I felt only pain.
When they touched me–Nothing but fear.
Deep inside, every girl wants to be the beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their world.
But the truth? I was the beast. And as much as I wanted redemption, I wasn’t fool enough to think I’d ever get it.
Until he walked into my life.
I wasn’t prepared to fall for someone. My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace, he offered me security. I should have known it was just another lie–I should have known that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.
But I was powerless to stop myself from falling.
And he was powerless to catch me.
Because the darkness finally caught up to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry. But I’m stronger than I knew. I’m stronger than you think.
You think you know my story, but you don’t….after all everyone has Shame in their lives– and I’m no longer afraid to show you mine.
“Just hold still!” I yelled, holding up my phone while Gabe gave me the finger. I grimaced and dropped the camera away from my face. “Nice, thanks for that.”
“I’m a giver.” He smirked.
Saylor, his wife, smacked him on the arm and rolled her eyes.
“Ouch.”
I scrunched up my face when he leaned in and took Saylor’s mouth with his, kissing her senseless in the local Starbucks like they were doing a romance scene in a movie. I coughed.
They didn’t pull apart.
So I took a picture.
I earned another finger, but Gabe still didn’t dislodge from his wife.
“Whoa!” Wes’s voice sounded from behind me. “They been at it long?”
“Are all newlyweds disgusting?” I voiced aloud.
Wes moved around the table with his wife, Kiersten, and gave me a goofy shrug. I wanted to roll my eyes, but Wes was too nice and hot. Let’s not forget the hot part. Both he and Gabe were like walking poster boys for GQ. Both blond, now that Gabe had decided to dye his hair back to his original color. It was like staring at two really bright superstars.
Hating them was like hating the Easter bunny. Try all you want, but you’ll eat every piece of chocolate in the basket, just you wait.
“So, classes?” Kiersten leaned forward. “I heard you got stuck with that hot new psych prof.”
Wes growled low in his throat.
“Down boy.” I braced my hands on the table and laughed. “Besides he’s not that hot.”
“Dehydration?” I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee.
“Or…” She leaned forward. “…the rumors are true.”
“Rumors…” Gabe backed away from Saylor, his lips swollen. “…are always based on truth.”
“So you really did do a naked dance in your underwear last week after getting drunk downtown at Pike Place Market?” I tilted my head and waited while Gabe rolled his eyes and popped his knuckles. “Exactly.”
He opened his mouth.
I took a picture.
With a grimace, he snatched my phone away from me. “Never thought I’d have to tell you to lay off the pictures, Miss Paparazzi.”
I slumped in my seat. “It’s for an assignment with that hot professor.”
“Aha!” Kiersten jabbed her finger at me. “I knew it.”
I pinned her with a look. “Sarcasm, friend, sarcasm.”
“Boys get girls pregnant,” Gabe offered, while Wes choked on the coffee he’d just stolen out of my hand.
Serves him right!
“Don’t date them.”
“You’re going to be a great dad.” I smiled sweetly. “What? You’re just going to lock your girls in their rooms and go—” I mimicked his voice. “—uh, you see boy parts are bad, they make girls have lots of babies, like rabbits, and you know how rabbits make dad nervous and—”
Saylor laughed quietly next to him then squeezed his arm.
My heart dropped.
A very long time ago, I’d wanted to be that for Gabe, then Taylor happened and well… I shuddered, blocking out the painful memories, the things I’d done, the things he’d done, the things we’d done.
“You okay?” Wes asked, his voice soft. He was way too perceptive for my taste. If I’d wanted to share, he’d be the guy I’d talk to, but I was a vault. Sharing meant admitting my guilt, and admitting meant I’d probably go insane just like he had.
“Yeah…” I straightened in my seat. “…I just don’t want to fail my class, and I need to write down nonverbal cues and take at least one picture. And pretty sure I need to ace this first assignment on account that I was late to my prof’s class, and I got in trouble.”
“He spank you?” Gabe’s eyes mocked across his coffee.
“Yes, Gabe,” I said calmly. “Because that’s how they punish bad students here at UW — with a yardstick and a smile.”
“I wish.” He whistled. “What I wouldn’t give to have Saylor—”
I plugged my ears.
He threw his head back and laughed while Saylor turned bright red and put her hand over his mouth to shush him.
“So…” Wes ignored Gabe as was his usual and leaned across the table. “…why don’t you take pictures of people here in the coffee shop? I mean, ask permission, but most people here are super interesting, right? Studying? Stressed out? Tired?” He pointed to a guy in the corner. “He looks like he’s running on five cups of coffee and one hour of sleep. Go ask, take the picture, make some notes, project done.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I grumbled.
He grinned. “I’m Wes Michels.”
I hung my head lower and grimaced.
“Phone.” He held out his hand and stood.
Within minutes, not only had he snapped two pictures for me but had taken notes on two pre-med students who had stayed up all night cramming for what they’d assumed would be a pop quiz, only to find out that they’d been in the wrong class on the wrong day.
“And that’s why I’m not pre-med.” Gabe shuddered.
“Really?” Kiersten asked. “I thought it was because big words scared you?”
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. What now?” He nodded. “Keep talking, Kiersten, or keep walking.”
“Spell it.” She smirked.
“So this professor…” Gabe changed the subject. “If he tries anything, use the Mace or the rape whistle.”
“Right.” I nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that. In class. With a hundred other students. When he looks at me cross-eyed.”
“Good,” he huffed.
“I was kidding.”
Saylor patted Gabe’s shoulder. “Gotta let the baby birds out of the nest someday, Gabe.”
The Ruin Series
Ruin- Book 1
I’m not your typical girl. I’ve been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that depression has become my only comfort. I was content in the darkness…until Wes Michels offered to be my light.
I didn’t know that time wasn’t my ally — that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean the end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer–each moment as it came–but it would never be enough.
Sometimes when you think it’s the end, it’s only the beginning. Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn’t–I wouldn’t ever be the same.
And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own.
Gabe Hyde is on borrowed time. He’s been hiding his identity for over four years-hidden from the world that used to adore him–obsess over him–driven to the edge of insanity by one poor choice.
But that one choice, altered the course of his life forever.
Pretending isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when pretending means hiding your real self from the people that care about you the most. But if anyone ever discovered the truth it wouldn’t just be his life at risk–but hers.
Saylor doesn’t hate men.
Just Gabe.
Only Gabe.
He’s a reckless, happy-go-lucky, silver spoon fed pain in her ass. Everything about him makes her more and more confused. Unfortunately they both donate time at the same Group Home. If she wasn’t afraid of flunking, she’d be long gone. She hates that she’s attracted to him almost as much as he hates that he’s attracted to her–and she can tell, especially since their first encounter ended up making her knees so weak she couldn’t form coherent sentences for weeks afterwards. But the closer she gets to him, the more confused she becomes. He isn’t who he says he is, and he’s hiding something big.
What happen when two worlds collide? Two worlds that never should have met in the first place? Some secrets are too big to be hidden forever–the only question? Will his destroy everyone he loves? Or finally bring about the redemption he’s been craving for the past four years?
When I met Kiersten, time stood still. It was as if every cell in my body screamed HER. I couldn’t look away, I couldn’t walk away, I couldn’t even move. My other half, my soul mate, was staring right at me. I had to have her. I had to make her mine. But I felt selfish doing that–knowing that I may not have endless amounts of time to give her…and even now that every things’ over with and I’ve been given that time back.
Nothing is ever certain in this life.
Which is why I’m about to do something crazy, impulsive, daring.
After all, what type of person would I be if I didn’t take my own advice?
I’m jumping off the cliff, I’m living fearlessly.
This is the continuation of Wes and Kierstens story.
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com
a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof
They say when you assume that you make an ass out of you and me. Kenton Mayson learned this lesson firsthand when he made assumptions about Autumn Freeman and the kind of woman she is based on what little information he had. What he finds out is she’s not only beautiful, but also smart, funny, a fighter, and exactly the kind of woman he wants to share his life with. Autumn made assumptions of her own about Kenton, and now he needs to prove her wrong in order to protect her and their future.
Aurora Rose Reynolds has done it again! Another hot alpha Mayson that makes us swoon and temperatures rise.
We met Kenton Mayson in the previous Until series. He is the cousin to the Mayson brothers of that series. He is mysterious, dangerous, and a self made man. His work as a bounty hunter and private investigator keeps him busy in the underground world. He doesn’t have time for relationships or love. When he sees his manwhore cousins finding good women, settling down, and raising families, he’s envious and wants that kind of life for himself. When Autumn Freeman is placed in his home for protection it is very clear she is not that kind of woman. She is a stripper and because of her profession she has loose morals. ASSUMPTION!
Kenton is in for a real eye opener. Autumn is more than a two bit stripper. She is intelligent, funny, loving, and innocent. She is everything he wants in a woman that he wants to spend his life with. Because she is naive and innocent, he assumes that she will trust his words. Again ASSUMPTION! He will have to earn her trust, break through her walls, and show her what love really means.
Autumn has been around plenty of men. Most of these men are cheaters, liars, and untrustworthy. She assumes Kenton is the same way once he makes some derogatory remarks about her chosen profession. Assumption!
A life time of heartache and wounds keeps Autumn from opening up to Kenton. She thinks he will see her past life as a reason to reject her. Assumption!
These two have made a lot of assumptions about one another. They are clearly attracted to one another but both are clinging to their assumptions. Once they let go of those assumptions and open their hearts, they are going to find something much better than what they assumed happily ever after would be.
I loved this story. Aurora’s writing and male characters remind me of Kristen Ashley’s men in all their alpha hotness. Aurora has that same easy going manner that makes her stories flow with natural ease. Her voice is fresh, fun, sexy, and entertaining. Her male characters may be hot Alpha men, but her women outshine these boys. They are the perfect blend of sweet and sassy, innocence and street smart, intelligent and naive, and they know how to put these Alpha men on their knees. And like Kristen Ashley, her dialogue will have you laughing, crying, and swooning. You will close this book with a big smile and a heart full of happiness.
I loved the new characters introduced into the Mayson world. Jason stole my heart with his wit and geekiness. Kai peeked my interest with his mysterious badness. Sven has more in his pockets than a lot of cash. I am so looking forward to what comes next in this series.
I highly recommend Assumption by Aurora Rose Reynolds.
**Note: I don’t usually compare authors to one another. But when I compared Aurora Rose Reynolds with Kristen Ashley, it was intended as a huge compliment. She evokes the same kind of light hearted happiness while giving us an intense romance. It is a gift to be able to pull that kind of magic through words alone.**
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a navy brat who’s husband served in the United States Navy. She has lived all over the country but now resides in New York City with her Husband and pet fish. She’s married to an alpha male that loves her as much as the men in her books love their women. He gives her over the top inspiration everyday. In her free time she reads, writes and enjoys going to the movies with her husband and cookie. She also enjoys taking mini weekend vacations to nowhere, or spends time at home with friends and family. Last but not least she appreciates everyday and admires it’s beauty.
Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.
Saucy Southern Readers 