In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Hope Burns, a woman discovers that the man she least expects is exactly what she needs…
High school math teacher Chelsea Gardner has the perfect plan. She’s tired of dating all the wrong men, and after years of frustration, she’s developed a foolproof list of requirements for finding “The One.”
Bar owner Sebastian “Bash” Palmer finds Chelsea beautiful, smart and fun, but he thinks her list is ridiculous and unnecessary. Intent on proving Chelsea is looking for love in all the wrong ways, he offers to help her find the “perfect” man.
Chelsea knows Bash isn’t the right guy for her—he barely meets one of her criteria—but there’s something about the charismatic man that has her yearning for things that are most definitely not list approved.
Because sometimes, a relationship that looks totally wrong on paper can turn out incredibly right…
If you are looking for a light hearted book with very little angst and drama then Love After All by Jaci Burton is the perfect book to curl up with. It is the fourth book in the Hope Series and delivers a very satisfying story.
Chelsea is sick of dating the wrong men and decides that she is going to change up her dating techniques. She is going to make up a list of the kind of man that would be perfect for her. Her list includes a man that has a 9 to 5 job, does not like sports, prefers fine dining over fast food, and no crazy exes. She wants a man that wants a relationship and plans to make it stick.
Chelsea has been friends with Sebastian “Bash” Palmer, the owner of the bar she frequents. When she shows him the list he thinks she’s off her rocker. No man can live up to her list. He plans to show her that the list requirements are not what makes the difference but it is the man. He decides to help her with the list.
Chelsea and Bash form a solid friendship. Even though Bash does not want a relationship due to a bad marriage, he finds himself falling for Chelsea. Chelsea’s list does not intimidate him at all.
When it comes to matters of the heart both Bash and Chelsea will learn that expectations don’t factor in. What matters is giving the other person your love and the best of yourself. It’s about being honest with yourself as well as the one you love.
Jaci Burton penned another feel good romance that will not disappoint.
;Author Bio:
Jaci Burton is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of over 60 books. She lives in Oklahoma and when she isn’t on deadline, she can usually be found trying to convince her husband to remodel some room or another in their house (she blames HGTV for this). She loves gardening, sports, casinos and getting lost in a great book. She’s a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you’ll find in all her books.
This Entangled Teen Crush book contains references to missed connections, mistaken identities, and lots of misbehavior. It may give you all the swoony feels.
Can the write guy be the right guy?
Dakota McCloud has just been accepted into a prestigious art school. Soon she’ll leave behind the artists’ colony where she grew up-hippie dad, tofu since birth, yurt-and join her boyfriend and best friend on the East Coast. It was the plan…until Dakota finds out her boyfriend and best friend hooked up behind her back.
Hurt and viciously betrayed, Dakota pours out her heart on a piece of paper, places it in a bottle, and hurls it into the ocean. But it doesn’t quite go where she expects…Jack Sauvage finds the bottle washed up on the shore and responds to Dakota’s letter. Except what if his straight-laced life doesn’t jive with the free-spirited girl he’s only seen from afar? As Jack creates a persona he believes she’ll love, they slowly fall for each other with each new letter. Now Jack is trying to find a way to make this delicate, on-paper romance happen in real life…without revealing his deception.
Judging a Book by it’s Cover:
Cute cover with a light-hearted feel. Synopsis reads like a typical YA/NA feel-good drama.
And Beyond:
First-person alternating POV in present tense. Dakota grew up in a hippie community. She’s vibrant, caring and not as naive as one would imagine her to be. Jack comes from money. His mother shelters and represses him due to a past tragedy she’d never gotten over. Both characters are young, barely old enough to start college in the fall, but he’s already lost his best friend to suicide and she’s suffered the ultimate betrayal from her boyfriend and best friend.
Dakota composes a message in a bottle and tosses into the ocean, only unbeknownst to her, it is found only moments later by Jack. Jack first caught sight of Dakota earlier that day and was immediately drawn to her. When he spots her bottle churning in the tide, he takes it as fate. However, he replies to her message under false pretenses and begins a pen pal-ship that is based only on half-truths. Now he needs to figure out how to transition from his pen pal character to the real Jack without ruining everything.
The characters are young. They both have some maturing and learning to do, especially Jack – but I blame a lot of that on his mother, too. There are several secondary characters in this story, all which seem to benefit the plot in one way or another without threatening to steal the spotlight. There’s a natural and easy way about the dialogue and interaction that was nice, even the intentional awkwardness was conveyed well. While the plot progresses slow and steady, the writing style is fluid and easy to read. There were a handful of conflicts that were resolved in timely and age-appropriate manners. Predictability was low. The conclusion included a solid epilogue that added to the story nicely. Overall, a it was a fun, light read catering more to the teen and young adult crowd.
Author Bio:
Jody Gehrman is a native of Northern California, where she can be found writing, teaching, reading, or obsessing over her three cats most days. She is also the author of ten novels and numerous award-winning plays. Her Young Adult novels include The Truth About Jack, Audrey’s Guide to Black Magic, Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft, Babe in Boyland, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, and Triple Shot Bettys in Love. Babe in Boyland was optioned by the Disney Channel and won the International Reading Association’s Teen Choice Award. Her adult novels are Bombshell, Notes from the Backseat, Tart, and Summer in the Land of Skin. Her plays have been produced in Ashland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. She and her partner David Wolf won the New Generation Playwrights Award for their one-act, Jake Savage, Jungle P.I. She is a professor of English and Communication Studies at Mendocino College.
He was the high school crush who never knew I existed. I am still the girl hiding against the wall.
Life for Kenzy Davis is far from easy right now. After ending a long term relationship, she is back in her hometown, starting over.
Maverick Collins works hard and plays even harder. An invisible illness shakes his world at its core as his father fights for his life. Everything he ever took for granted stares him in the face, including the shy girl from his past.
Watching someone you love battle an illness is never easy. When the ICU nurse caring for his dad is the one girl from his past he saw around but overlooked, does Maverick find comfort in her embrace? Does Kenzy find a new calm in the chaos of her life? Or do their feelings remain invisible yet again?
Intended for mature audiences only. This book contains strong language and strong sexual situations. Please do not buy if any of this offends you.
Novella-length. Alternating, clearly-defined, first person POV – extremely easy to follow along.
I feel the cover is not as attention-grabbing as it could be, but it does have it’s appeal. The synopsis reads a bit “fluffier” that I felt the story was. There was depth of emotion and hardships, some heavy topics to work around in there that are not indicated in the blurb.
Mackenzy leaves her boyfriend of five or so years, with whom she shares home-ownership with, after several co-workers become pregnant by him and returns to her hometown where she becomes an intensive care nurse at the hospital.
Maverick is a roughneck, working in the Permian basin. He lost his mom to cancer a few years back and a part of his dad went with her. When he gets the call at work that his father’s been taken to the hospital because of severe complications from his diabetes, he panics. But his father lands in Mackenzie’s care.
* be prepared for some raw emotions here to emerge from this sexy roughneck*
The characters are well-written. Kenzy is smart and independent. She’s not one to rush into things because she likes what she sees – and she’s nurturing and patient. Maverick, or “Tapper” as his friend have nicknamed him, is cocky and had a bit of a man-whore reputation until Mackenzy moved back to town. But he’s also reliable, dependable, and honest. The secondary characters add dimension to the plot with supportive, fun roles that create beneficial purposes. The interaction and dialogue occur naturally and is believable. The plot is not very full, mostly due to the story length, but it has enough dynamics to hold strong. There are only a few minor conflicts throughout that are handled in a timely and mature manner. The plot was pretty straight forward, not leaving a lot of room for surprises or predictability. The conclusion is wrapped up neatly with no cliffhangers.
This was an enjoyable opening to the Roughnecks trilogy and look forward to Heath and Lance’s books. I hope Jessika finds her match… maybe in Heath? Hmm… we’ll see!
Author Bio
Chelsea Camaron was born and raised in Coastal North Carolina. She currently resides in Southern Louisiana with her husband and two children but her heart is always Carolina day dreaming.
Chelsea always wanted to be a writer, but like most of us, let fear of the unknown grab a hold of her dream; she realized that if she was going to tell her daughter to go for her dreams, that it was time to follow her own advice.
Chelsea grew up turning wrenches alongside her father, and from that grew her love for old muscle cars and Harley Davidson motorcycles, which just so happened to inspired her ‘Daddy’s Girls’ series. Her love for reading has sparked a new love for writing and she currently has a few more projects in the works.
When she is not spending her days writing you can find her playing with her kids, attending car shows, going on motorcycle rides on the back of her husband’s Harley, snuggling down with her new favorite book or watching any movie that Vin Diesel might happen to be in.
She hates being serious and is still a big kid at heart. She is a small town country girl enjoying life and, Chelsea hopes that her readers remember not to take life too seriously and to embrace your inner five year old, because five year olds know how to enjoy the simple things in life and how to always have fun.
***SPECIAL RELEASE WEEK PRICE OF 99 CENTS*** The entire series is together for a limited time. This box set includes the complete Love Series – Let Love In, Let Love Stay, Let Love Heal, Let Love Shine, Let Love Be, and Let Love Live. From New Adult to M/m Contemporary Romance, there’s something in here for everyone. Laugh, cry, and fall in love with the couples of this bestselling series.
Excerpt
There was a group playing quarters on the island and another group lining up shots on the breakfast bar – so not my scene. I just shrugged my shoulders, opened the door, pulled out a bottle of water and, when I turned around to walk back outside, I face-planted into a wall of solid muscle.
“Hand me one?” His voice was smooth and… gruff at the same time. Red-faced, I turned back around and got him his water, glad for the cool respite that the opened refrigerator door offered.
“Here you go.” I could not peel my eyes away from his mouth as he moved the bottle to his lips. They were perfect – beautiful and full in a completely masculine way. I watched, completely fascinated, as his throat moved, downing the water in three or four large gulps. He wiped his mouth with his forearm and I couldn’t help but let my eyes travel up the rest of his arm to his biceps and shoulders – those were the same as his lips – perfect. Amazingly, gorgeously, utterly, divinely perfect. Muscled and tanned, his arms were mouthwatering.
My knees wobbled. My heart thudded. Thousands of butterflies spread their wings in my belly.
“Thanks…” he stared blankly at my face for a minute and I couldn’t help but wondering if he liked what he saw. He cleared his throat and roused me from my little daydream where the gorgeous boy is mesmerized by the maybe-a-little-above-average looking girl. That’s when I realized he was asking for my name.
“Maddy. Sorry, my name’s Maddy.” I nearly choked on my tongue to get my freaking name out.
Author Bio:
Melissa Collins has always been a book worm. Studying Literature in college ensured that her nose was always stuck in a book. She followed her passion for reading to the most logical career choice: English teacher. Her hope was to share her passion for reading and the escapism of books to her students. Having spent more than a decade in front of a classroom, she can easily say that it’s been a dream.
Her passion for writing didn’t start until more recently. When she was home on maternity leave in early 2012, she read her first romance novel and her head filled with the passion, angst and laughter of the characters who she read about it. It wasn’t long before characters of her own took shape in her mind. Their lives took over Melissa’s brain and The Love Series was born.
There was no bottom to my affection. No limit to what I would do to protect it.
Jethro was mine and it was up to me….
…up to me to end this.
I was no longer trying to save myself.
I was trying to save him.
From his nightmares.
From himself.
From them.
Indebted
Indebted Series
By Pepper Winters
Synopsis
“I own you. I have the piece of paper to prove it. It’s undeniable and unbreakable. You belong to me until you’ve paid off your debts.”
Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Being the first born daughter, her life is forfeit to the first born son of the Hawks to pay for sins of ancestors past. The dark ages might have come and gone, but debts never leave. She has no choice in the matter.
She is no longer free.
Jethro Hawk receives Nila as an inheritance present on his twenty-ninth birthday. Her life is his until she’s paid off a debt that’s centuries old. He can do what he likes with her—nothing is out of bounds—she has to obey.
“You say I’ll never own you. If I win—you willingly give me that right. You sign not only the debt agreement, but another—one that makes me your master until your last breath is taken. You do that, and I’ll give you this.”
Nila Weaver’s family is indebted. Stolen, taken, and bound not by monsters but by an agreement written over six hundred years ago, she has no way out.
She belongs to Jethro as much as she denies it.
Jethro Hawk’s patience is running out. His inheritance gift tests, challenges, and surprises him—and not in good ways. He hasn’t leashed her but he thinks he might’ve found a way to bind her forever.
“I tried to play a game. I tried to wield deceit as perfectly as the Hawks. But when I thought I was winning, I wasn’t. Jethro isn’t what he seems—he’s the master of duplicity. However, I refuse to let him annihilate me further.”
Nila Weaver has grown from naïve seamstress to full-blown fighter. Every humdrum object is her arsenal, and sex…sex is her greatest weapon of all.
She’s paid the First Debt. She’ll probably pay more.
But she has no intention of letting the Hawks win.
Jethro Hawk has found more than a worthy adversary in Nila—he’s found the woman who could destroy him. There’s a fine line between hatred and love, and an even finer path between fear and respect.
The fate of his house rests on his shoulders, but no matter how much ice lives inside his heart, Nila flames too bright to be extinguished.
Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex… her books have sex.
She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends.
Some women always get it right. Kindergarten teacher, Meg Thompson, on the other hand, consistently makes the wrong decisions — and she is currently single, pregnant and alone. Meg is determined to make changes in her life, to be a better mother than her own had been. No revolving door of men. No man, period. Just a single-minded focus on her baby. Her resolution would be easier to keep if not for hot cop, Scott Dare. He insinuates himself in her life, making Meg want to believe in happily ever after, even if history has taught her to know better.
When Scott Dare hears Meg’s friends are determined she have a night of hot sex, before her life changes forever, he decides that man must be him. Their one night is mind blowing and life altering. And Scott, a man already burned by his ex-wife, finds himself all in anyway. While protecting Meg from her violent ex and becoming part of her increasingly complicated life, he’s falling hard and he can’t seem to find distance. Not when their bodies respond to each other with such heated intensity and he’s drawn to her unique combination of strength and vulnerability.
But Meg’s future is one Scott has accepted he’ll never have, even if his growing feelings say otherwise …
Some women always managed to get it right. To make the right choices, to pick the right man, to nail this crazy thing called life. Meg Thompson, on the other hand, managed to end up single and pregnant. But she couldn’t regret the baby growing inside her, and from now on, she was determined to get things right.
She pulled on her favorite pair of jeans, tugged them up over her hips, and unsuccessfully attempted to close the button. She grunted and lay down on the bed, pulling the sides closer together but no luck. She wriggled, sucked in a deep breath, and tried again, only to end up huffing out a stream of air in frustration.
“Didn’t these fit just last weekend?” she asked herself, peeling the denim off her legs and tossing them onto the floor with a groan.
She glanced down at her still-flat stomach, placing her hand over her belly. “How could something I can’t see or feel cause so much upheaval in my life?” And how could she love the baby growing inside her so much already?
A vibrating buzz told her someone was sending her a message. She checked her phone.
Lizzy: Almost ready?
Meg sighed. Her best friend, Elizabeth Cooper, was due to pick her up in ten minutes. Girls’ night out. Or, in Lizzy’s words, hookup night and Meg’s last chance for a hot, no-holds-barred fling before she started to show and her sole focus became being a new mom. Meg was up for girls’ night, but no way would she be picking up a stranger for a one-night stand. Her days of choosing the wrong men were over. Mike was the last in a long line of sucky choices. So not only didn’t she trust her judgment when it came to the opposite sex, it no longer mattered. She was finished relying on men to define her or make her happy.
“Right, baby?” She patted her belly and headed to her closet for a pair of elastic-waist leggings.
* * *
Meg and her friends settled into their seats at Mel’s, a popular spot for casual drinks after work and on the weekends. Mel’s was a dimly lit bistro with a wood-fired oven and grill in the back, dark mahogany-looking tables throughout, and a funky bar where people gathered. Meg loved it here.
She waved to the waiter, who stepped over to their table.
“What can I get you ladies?”
The girls ordered alcoholic drinks, and the good-looking waiter turned to Meg.
“I’ll have a club soda. With a lime.”
“Going for the hard stuff, I see.” He winked and scribbled down her order.
Meg smiled. “Designated driver.” Which wasn’t a lie. Lizzy might have picked her up, but Meg would be the one driving home.
She glanced around at the women she’d ignored for a long time in favor of her asshole ex and, unfortunately, her baby daddy. She was grateful these women were here for her now because Meg had a bad habit of dropping friends in favor of men. Men she looked to for the love and acceptance she’d never received from her own father she barely remembered. Meg sighed and rested her chin on her hands. Her childhood memories included a string of Alicia’s boyfriends who came and went from her young life.
Her mother had set a pattern Meg unconsciously followed. First she’d latched on to Dylan Rhodes, the one and only good guy in her life. He’d been her high school boyfriend and her rock until they broke up before going to college, and then Meg began emulating her mother’s taste by choosing men who always took advantage one way or another.
Luckily she and Dylan had reconnected when they’d moved back to Miami years later, but Meg had over-relied on Dylan instead of standing on her own two feet. It took Dylan falling hard for another woman to wake Meg up to her too-needy ways. Dylan was her friend, but he was now Olivia Dare’s husband. And Meg was determined to be independent. Everything the way it should be.
“Earth to Meg.” Lizzy waved a hand in front of her eyes.
Meg blinked, startled. “Sorry. Just got lost there for a minute.”
“Nowhere good, from the look on your face.” Lizzy tilted her head to one side, her long blonde curls falling over her shoulder. “Everything okay?” Her friend studied her, her brown eyes soft and concerned.
Meg smiled. “Couldn’t be better. I was actually thinking about the changes I’ve made—that I’m determined to keep making in my life. And it’s really good to be out with you guys,” Meg said, meaning it.
“It’s great to be out with you too,” Lizzy said.
The waiter stopped by the table and passed out their beverages. Meg took a long sip of her cold soda, appreciating the way it eased her dry throat.
“Well, you must be doing something right because you’re glowing,” Lizzy said.
“It’s the pregnancy hormones,” Meg muttered.
“No, seriously. You look beautiful,” her friend insisted.
Meg smiled at her. “Thank you.”
Allie Mendez, the office secretary and the third woman in their posse, slipped her cell into her purse and leaned closer to join the conversation. “Maybe I should get myself pregnant, because Lizzy’s right. You’re gorgeous.”
Meg blushed. “And you two need glasses.”
“Not if the guys at the next table are any indication. Look. The blond one can’t take his eyes off you!” Lizzy said, her voice rising in excitement.
Oh no. All Lizzy needed was a target and she’d be aiming Meg his way all night. “I’m sure he’s looking at one of you. Not the pregnant woman in the elastic-waist pants.” Lizzy and her blonde beauty or Allie and her olive skin and luscious curves attracted men wherever they went.
“You must not have looked in a mirror before leaving the house,” Allie told her, a frown on her pretty face.
“Oh, look! He’s coming this way. Now remember. There’s nothing wrong with getting yourself some before your life gets serious.” Lizzy nudged her arm.
“I don’t want some,” Meg muttered. “If he’s so hot, you should—”
“Hi, ladies,” the man said, bracing an arm on the back of Meg’s chair.
“Hi!” Lizzy said too brightly.
“My friends and I would like to buy you all a drink.” He spoke to the table, but his eyes were on Meg.
She shook her head. “We were just having a private convers—”
“We’d like that,” Allie chimed in.
“Mind if we join you then?” he asked, making Meg wonder if he was dense, oblivious, or just that ego-driven.
In response, Lizzy slid her chair away from Meg, making room for the other man to sit. Which, after grabbing his chair and pulling it over to the table, he did. His pals joined them too.
Meg shot her friend an annoyed look.
“Give him a chance,” Lizzy mouthed behind the man’s back.
Rob, Mark, and Ken, they said their names were, as conversation began to flow. Ken was the one closest to Meg, and with his light hair and coloring, he definitely resembled his Barbie-doll namesake. Even if she were interested in a hookup, a preppy man who liked to talk about himself wouldn’t be her choice. She disliked his wandering hands even more.
He brushed her back.
She stiffened.
He sat forward so their shoulders touched. She shoved her chair in the opposite direction.
Somehow he ended up close beside her again, his thigh touching hers.
She was all too ready to go home, but her friends seemed to like the guys they were talking to, and she didn’t want to ruin their time by being rude to Ken. She wouldn’t leave with him, but she’d be pleasant while they were here.
“So what do you do for a living?” he asked.
“I’m a kindergarten teacher.”
He blinked, long lashes framing green eyes. “That’s … brave.”
“Don’t like kids?” she asked, none too sweetly.
He fake-shuddered. “Not for a good long while. But you must have a decent pension plan?” he asked, back on the subject he liked best. Ken was a stockbroker and investor, and soon she found herself listening to all the ways she could save more money by investing with the best of the best. Him, of course.
She hid a yawn behind her hand, and when her bladder informed her she needed a trip to the restroom, she nearly groaned out loud in relief.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go … freshen up. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Meg rose and Ken followed, helping her pull out her chair.
Allie met her gaze. “Gentleman,” she mouthed in approval.
Meg swallowed a groan.
“I’ll be waiting,” Ken said as she walked away.
“Oh, please don’t be,” she said to herself, making her way to the bathroom at the far back of the restaurant.
She spent a long time in the restroom, checking her phone, swiping some gloss on her dry lips, and washing her hands, twice, in her effort to stall returning to the table.
When she did, she paused by Lizzy’s chair and whispered in her friend’s ear. “I’m going to bail. I’m not up to this. I’m really sorry. Will you be okay driving?”
“Of course. I barely had a sip. But I can leave and take you home.”
She shook her head. “No need. You seem to be hitting it off with Mark. I can get Uber,” she said of the car service in most cities, including Miami.
“I’d be happy to drive you,” Ken said.
She hadn’t realized he’d left his seat and had overheard them.
“No, really. Stay and have fun. I’m just not feeling too well.” Which was a lie, but it was nicer than go away, I’m not interested.
Which was ironic, since not too long ago, Meg would have been all too willing to see where things went with a guy who showed her any interest at all. Maybe the baby really was changing her, making her more self-reliant and aware as well as giving her better taste in men.
“Then you really shouldn’t go home alone,” Ken said, grasping her forearm.
Oh no, he didn’t. She pinned him with an annoyed glare. “Let. Go.” And what was it about her that attracted assholes anyway? she asked herself, as she tried to extricate herself without resorting to insults or calling management.
Lizzy jumped up from her seat just as the jerk released her arm, and a familiar voice reverberated in her ear.
“Touch her again and you’ll answer to me.”
Michel’s Review
When the father of her unborn child proves to be one more in a string of bad choices in the man department, Meg Thompson decides that she’s ready to do things on her own terms. Pregnant and alone, she’s determined that she can take care of herself. Scott Dare has been burned in love. Having faced the ultimate betrayal at the hands of his ex-wife, he has no intention of falling for what he sees as the myth of happily ever after.
I am a long-time fan of Carly Phillips and her DARE series. Dare To Hold is the sixth book in the series, and, once again, Carly has another winner on her hands. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Meg and Scott evolve. Meg realizes that tying herself to less-than-desirable men is a pattern for her, and is trying very hard to change. Scott, like all of the Dare men, is one heck of an alpha, and makes no bones about his desire to be with Meg. Having seen firsthand what she is dealing with with her ex, he is not about to let her handle things on her own. The dynamic between the two of them makes for some serious sparks and sizzle, and, in typical Carly fashion, more than a little uber-sexy time.
These books are always quick reads for me, for no other reason than that I cannot stop once I pick them up, and Dare To Hold is no exception. The plot moves quickly, and the presence of the entire Dare clan feels like visiting old friends. I am looking forward to getting Avery Dare’s story in Dare To Rock, but in the meantime happily give Dare To Hold 5+ ‘super-sexy, you really need a fan to read this’ stars.
About Carly Phillips:
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. You can find all information about Carly at her website and other social media sites …
Rising stars in the cage fighting circuit, Cage and Tripp Garrett are as close as two brothers can be. Fiercely competitive and smoldering with intensity, neither has ever lost a fight. Until they face their toughest opponent yet: Lily.
They both want her. But neither can have her. Lily is as off-limits as they come. They make a pact that the tough-as-nails daughter of their trainer will never come between them.
Until one of them begins to fall in love. Then all is fair in love and war.
Caged is a sexy, fast-paced love story with a punch.
Warning: Contains adult language and sexual content.
I toss my arms above my head and rock my hips to the movement. Warm hands wrap around my waist. I smile and look over my shoulder. It’s Tripp. He starts to grind with me, and I shake my ass against his pelvis. I can feel the hard erection in his pants and it sends a shiver up my spine. He’s huge, and I already know how ripped he is from all the time he spends shirtless at the gym. I’ll never be able to get these panties clean again.
Cage slides into the space in front of me. My throat tightens and I lose my breath. I’m in the middle of a hot man sandwich. Cage’s hands skim over my sides and come to rest at my lower back, a fraction away from my ass. He’s so tall, I feel tiny and I have to crane my neck just to look up at him. Dark, hungry eyes are reflected back down at me. He’s still giving off that intense vibe, but at least he’s here with me. I wouldn’t want to dance with just Tripp.
Tripp continues grinding behind me, and Cage grips my hips from the font. I’ve never danced with two guys at once like this before. My breasts press against the hard planes of Cage’s chest. He must be able to feel how hard my nipples are, just like I can feel the hot, heavy erections both men are sporting. It makes me want things I know I can’t have.
Madison Collins, born and raised in NYC, writes naughty, smutty books because that’s exactly the types of books she enjoy reading herself. Her debut romance, CAGED, about two hot, MMA-fighting brothers, releases April 16th.
AN UPTIGHT BRITISH EXECUTIVE. AN ADVENTUROUS AMERICAN NEWBIE. A SEXY INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL IN THE MAKING.
New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author Christina Lauren’s Beautiful and Wild Seasons series hook up in Beautiful Secret for an erotic intercontinental romp that celebrates the best of both worlds!
When Ruby Miller’s boss announces he’s sending her on an extended business trip to New York City, she’s shocked. As one of the best and brightest young engineers in London, she knows she’s professionally up to the task. The part that’s throwing her is where she’ll be spending a month up close and personal working alongside—and staying in a hotel with—Niall Stella, her firm’s top urban planning executive and The Hottest Man Alive. Despite her ongoing crush, Ruby is certain Niall barely knows she’s alive…until their flirty overnight flight makes him sit up and take notice.
Not one for letting loose and breaking rules, recently divorced Niall would describe himself as hopeless when it comes to women. But even he knows outgoing California-girl Ruby is a breath of fresh air. Once she makes it her mission to help the sexy Brit loosen his tie, there’s no turning back. Thousands of miles from London, it’s easy for the lovers to play pretend. But when the trip is over, will the relationship they’ve built up fall down?
A silence fell over the table as everyone turned to watch Ruby leave the bar and head upstairs to bed. She had been utterly charming throughout dinner, and the group had groaned in unison when she’d excused herself because of our early morning. I, too, had been quite sad to see her go.
“Well, well.”
I looked up to see my brother’s smug expression.
“Now that we’re alone,” Will began, “I think we can all agree to drop any pretense that we’re not ruined for civilized conversation, yes?” Each of them nodded in agreement and beside me, his glass now refilled, Will raised his tumbler to take a small swallow of scotch. “I also think we can all agree Bennett will be an important consultant on this case.”
Max snickered.
“The conference?” I asked, confused.
“It’s an all-too-common predicament,” Bennett added dryly. “Knockout intern. Boss in denial. I’ll draft up a step-by-step plan of containment.”
I blinked, swallowing thickly as I realized what they meant. “She’s not my intern. I have absolutely no say in her career.” I shook my head, frustrated because it was exactly the wrong thing to say. “I’m not . . . that is to say, she’s not interested. Nor I.”
All four men laughed.
“Niall,” Will said, leaning his elbows on his knees. “She nearly dropped her drink in your lap when George asked if she was interested in anyone.”
“Was going to say the same thing,” Bennett said.
“And something tells me she’d be first to volunteer to clean it up,” Will added.
“Well, maybe that’s because she’s interested in someone who works with us at R-C.”
“Yeah. You.” Max lifted his glass and finished the last of the amber liquid.
“Sincerely,” I said, fighting a smile. “She’s a fantastic girl, but she’s certainly not a romantic option for me.”
Tilting his head, Bennett asked, “What color are her eyes?”
Green, I didn’t say. I shook my head as if I didn’t know.
“What was she wearing?” Will asked.
A blue dress that hit just above her knee, I didn’t say. A delicate gold chain around her neck and a ring on her right ring finger that I had to resist asking her about until George bulldozed in and asked about a boyfriend.
I rolled my eyes, and my brother laughed again, this time pointing his drink at me. “Blokes don’t notice these things unless they’re interested.”
“Or George,” Will added, and George reached over to grab the back of his neck and try to pull him in for a kiss.
“Well, it’s apparent I needn’t think on this any further,”
I said. “You’ve all decided for me.”
“It’s what we do,” Will said, adjusting the skewed collar of his shirt as he settled back into his chair. “It’s a sickness, we know.”
“I thought we’d lost that muscle, honestly,” George said.
“It’s a relief to know we still have it in us. The ladies will be so proud.” Max rapped his knuckles on the table as he made to stand. “Alas, I’d best be off. New routine: Sara gets the baby to sleep; I do the midnight bottle feeding.”
“Finally taking a bottle from you then? Guess you smell like a woman, too,” I said to Max, reminding him of the little dig he’d thrown my way on my last visit.
Max laughed and patted me on the back, and we all stood, a silent agreement in place that we were ready to call it a night. I watched my brother gather his things and say his goodbyes, feeling the same mix of pride and longing for what he was headed home to: a wife, a daughter. A proper home.
“Kiss the girls for me,” I requested as he made his way out of the bar. He waved a hand, retreating, and then disappeared from view.
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Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced nine New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 23+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)
Reece Hatfield has just one rule when it comes to falling in love: don’t fucking do it. There’s no room in his life for another person. He can barely keep a handle on things as it is. A shadow of the man he used to be, Reece spends his days tattooing, the artist inside of him longing for the chance to do something different.
Avery Moore is all dance, all the time. Ballet is all she’s ever known, and she’s damn good at it. Her body is her art, a living canvas that captivates Reece the first time he lays his eyes on her.
He yearns to leave his mark on her body… in more ways than one.
The tattooed degenerate with a shady past. The beautiful ballerina with a bright future. They live in different worlds, yet somehow, they fit. But just because they fit doesn’t mean they belong together. Cracks sometimes form. Two pieces don’t always make a whole. The course of love never did run smoothly. Things get messy.
JM Darhower is the author of countless stories and poems, most of which only she has ever read. She lives in a tiny town in rural North Carolina, where she churns out more words than will ever see the light of day. She has a deep passion for politics and speaking out against human trafficking, and when she isn’t writing she’s usually ranting about those things. Chronic crimper with a vulgar mouth, she admits to having a Twitter addiction. You can find her there.
Be sure to check out the trailer, add to your goodreads to read list, pick up your copy and enter the GIVEAWAY below for a signed copy of Chasing Thunder!
What is the true name of evil?
The Zodiac Killer, the Hillside Strangler, the Night Stalker, and the Green River Killer all left their mark on California . . . and now the city of angels is under siege.
When fiery, redheaded biker MJ Bennett witnessed her beloved grandfather gunned down on her sixteenth birthday, she made herself two promises. She would continue his quest to save teenagers lost to the dark side of Hollywood—the side tourists never see—and she would never let herself get that close to anyone ever again.
But after meeting traumatized runaway, Haley Roberts, she breaks her own rule. MJ suspects that Haley has narrowly escaped the Hard Candy Killer, a sadistic serial killer targeting teen sex workers with blonde hair and blue eyes.
MJ begins to connect the dots between Haley and a dangerous crime lord who hides his savage sex trafficking enterprise behind legitimate businesses. But the clock is ticking, and the Hard Candy Killer is closing in on the target he wants most, MJ, whose family secrets have her marked for destruction, turning the hunter into the hunted.
1st Books in these Series are FREE!
Groupie: http://amzn.to/1ApRpZt – FREE
Fierce: http://amzn.to/1DxVazM – FREE
Southern Rocker Boy: http://amzn.to/1EZGtlW – FREE
Enticed:http://amzn.to/1FAhtWe – FREE
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Coming May 1st
Joely Morgan never expected to start her life over again just months shy of the Big 4-0. But she didn’t expect her husband to cheat on her either. She packs up her kids and heads home to Mom—who happens to own the most popular restaurant in town. Joely immediately throws herself into emotionally charged cooking, and her passion-infused sweets are an instant hit.
Xander Davy, the much younger, good-looking, smooth-talking restaurant manager, can’t help but notice the new, attractive addition to his kitchen. The only problem, as he sees it, is that she doesn’t seem to know how desirable she is. He quickly decides to remind Joely what it means to feel like a sensual woman again.
Xander’s shameless pursuit makes Joely’s soon-to-be ex rethink letting her go. He uses the children to try to get Joely back, but their sixteen-year-old daughter has other plans. She’s fallen head over heels with none other than Xander, who has his sights set firmly on her mother.
In BACK FOR SECONDS, author Ginger Voight serves up a heaping amount of sensuality and angst in a tale of sexual and personal awakening, one that examines reclaiming womanhood no matter where you are in life.
Ginger Voight is a screenwriter and bestselling author with over twenty published titles in fiction and nonfiction. She covers everything from travel to politics in nonfiction, as well as romance, paranormal, and dark, “ripped from the headlines” topics like Dirty Little Secrets.
Ginger discovered her love for writing in sixth grade, courtesy of a Halloween assignment. From then on, writing became a place of solace, reflection, and security. This was never more true than when she found herself homeless in L.A. at the age of nineteen. There, she wrote her first novel, longhand on notebook paper, while living out of her car.
In 1995, after she lost her nine-day-old son, she worked through her grief by writing the story that would eventually become The Fullerton Family Saga.
In 2011, she embarked on a new journey–to publish romance novels starring heroines who look more like the average American woman. These “Rubenesque” romances have developed a following thanks to her bestselling Groupie series. Other titles, such as the highly-rated New Adult series, Fierce, tap into the “reality-TV” preoccupation in American entertainment, which gives her contemporary stories a current, pop culture edge.
Known for writing gut-twisting angst, Ginger isn’t afraid to push the envelope with characters who are perfectly imperfect. Whether rich, poor, sweet, selfish, gay, straight, plus-size or svelte, her characters are beautifully flawed and three-dimensional. They populate her lavish fictional landscapes and teach us more about the real world in which we live simply through their interactions with each other. Ginger’s goal with every book is to give the reader a little bit more than they were expecting, told through stories they’ll never forget.
Jaci Burton is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of over 60 books. She lives in Oklahoma and when she isn’t on deadline, she can usually be found trying to convince her husband to remodel some room or another in their house (she blames HGTV for this). She loves gardening, sports, casinos and getting lost in a great book. She’s a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you’ll find in all her books.
1st Books in these Series are FREE!
Groupie: 
Saucy Southern Readers 