Battered, barefoot, and huddled under a bookstore awning in the pouring rain, Blue only knows one thing. After fifteen months of captivity, finally… she is free.
TWO FRIENDS
Self-made millionaires JD and Ark are not out to save anyone when they stumble upon a wet and shivering girl one early Sunday morning. But when you sell sex for a living and salvation rings your bell… you answer the call.
THREE SOULMATES
After years of searching, love lifts the veil of darkness, and three people—with three very big secrets—find themselves bound together in a relationship that defies the odds.
Or does it?
Love. Lust. Sex.
This trinity might be perfection… but not everything should come in threes.
WARNING: This is a STANDALONE non-traditional M/F/M ROMANCE with a non-traditional ending.
Who is this man?
How did I get from where I was to where I am?
Why do I constantly have to ask myself this question?
“Did you like school growing up, Blue?”
“You’re out of questions. You owe me, I don’t owe you.”
His laugh makes his chest rumble beneath my back. “You’re right. I do. But we’ve got all day, so let’s just talk for now. High school. Yes or no?”
I let out a long breath and try to enjoy the intimacy he’s offering. I don’t get a lot of offers. “Yes, I liked school.”
“Were you smart? Did you get good grades?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you want to be when you grew up?”
And there it is. He’s pretty good at this, I have to give him credit for that. He’s asking questions about the distant past so he can draw conclusions about the present.
“It’s not a hard question.”
“What did you want to be?” I ask, not to be a bitch and throw it back in his face, but because I’m interested. “King of Public Porn was something you aspired to?”
“Believe it or not, I wanted to be a soldier. A Navy SEAL.”
“Hmmm. Tough one. It’s like me saying I wanted to be a novelist.” I look over my shoulder a little so I can get a peek at his face. But he surprises me by resting his scratchy chin on my shoulder, making the moment even more intimate than it was.
“Huh. I don’t see the connection.”
I roll my eyes even though he can’t see them. “It’s a dream people have. The reality of it is so much bullshit.”
“Because it’s hard to make it to the finish line?”
“Are you a Navy SEAL?”
“Are you a novelist?”
“No, that’s my point. It’s just a dream.”
“Do you even write?” His hands slide up my front and cup my breasts. He squeezes them hard and the familiar throbbing begins between my legs. Goddamn, this guy is good. Always got his eye on the prize. And how the fuck did sex with him become a treat I desire instead of the other way around? How did he do that? Make me want him so thoroughly?
“Blue?”
I let out a long breath, hoping to calm the rising storm building inside me. But the heat of the water, and the heat of his body, and the heat of my own desire are all I can think about. So instead of evading, and because I want him to fuck me so badly, and at this point I realize he knew that denying me last night would make me even more susceptible this morning… I answer him with the truth. “I do.”
“Mmm,” he says, his hands rubbing down the inside of my thighs. They dip so low, I can feel the water swirl around my clit.
This makes me gasp a little, and for a fraction of a second, I’m embarrassed. But then the little swirls of water are back and that’s all I can think about.
“Fuck me,” I whisper.
“What do you write, Blue?” he asks like a man in control.
“Stories,” I say, like a woman on the edge of sexual frustration madness.
“Where can I read one?”
“Fuck me.”
“If I fuck you, will you let me read one?”
I turn around in the tub and look him in the eyes. They are knowing. Like they know I’m his. “Fuck me like you’d fuck your wife on her wedding night.”
“And you’ll give me a story?”
I nod. “I promise.” It comes out as a whisper.
He leans down and kisses me. His hand cups the side of my face and I turn into him even more. My leg hits his erection and that makes him claim my mouth harder. His tongue pushes inside, searching. Like he’s seeking the truth and it can only be found by twining ourselves together.
Michel’s Review
Wow! JA Huss has done it again! Three Two One was beyond exceptional ! The character dynamics, the deep seated lust, the dark theme, and the intense suspense kept me glued to the pages. I could not put this book down. There was never a moment of predictability. Each character was deliciously flawed. Their relationship was unique and heartfelt. Their moment of truth was devastating. In the end it left the readers stunned but satisfied with the outcome of this extraordinary book.
Not everything should come in threes.
I have read many menage themed books. In most cases I became bored with this type of book pretty quickly. I found that most of these books focused on the sex and did not build a convincing case that three people could make a successful relationship. I struggle with two alpha males sharing one woman because it is not typically in their nature. Most alpha males are the “MINE” kind of guys.
Three Two One was convincing. It was realistic. I could understand the characters motivations, drives, and desires. I felt their deep connections. I also felt their fears and apprehensions. I could see the rivalry, resentments, insecurities, and complete surrender.
JA Huss did a wonderful job allowing the readers to get inside each of the characters heads. It made their story much more credible. The lust, desire, and sex scenes were sizzling hot. But what was so amazing about these three people was the love and romance they shared. At the same time she built a dark, seedy, mysterious plot that would eventually tear their world to pieces.
Words cannot describe how good this book was. JA Huss is a brilliant writer!
Read Three Two One for an amazing reading experience.
Author Bio:
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.
My new world is a dark, dark ocean and I’m being pulled under by secrets.
Can I trust anyone? I don’t know anymore.
The lies are spirals. They twist and turn, binding me with their thorns and serpentine tongues. And just when I think I have it figured out, everything is pulled out from under me.
I’m entangled in the darkness.
But the truth will set me free.
It’s just ahead of me, so close I can touch it. But even though it shines and glimmers, it has glistening fangs and I know it will shred me.
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.
“Mac is back and badder than ever!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward
MacKayla Lane and Jericho Barrons return in Burned, the latest novel in the blockbuster Fever series from Karen Marie Moning.
It’s easy to walk away from lies. Power is another thing.
MacKayla Lane would do anything to save the home she loves. A gifted sidhe-seer, she’s already fought and defeated the deadly Sinsar Dubh—an ancient book of terrible evil—yet its hold on her has never been stronger.
When the wall that protected humans from the seductive, insatiable Fae was destroyed on Halloween, long-imprisoned immortals ravaged the planet. Now Dublin is a war zone with factions battling for control. As the city heats up and the ice left by the Hoar Frost King melts, tempers flare, passions run red-hot, and dangerous lines get crossed. Seelie and Unseelie vie for power against nine ancient immortals who have governed Dublin for millennia; a rival band of sidhe-seers invades the city, determined to claim it for their own; Mac’s former protégé and best friend, Dani “Mega” O’Malley, is now her fierce enemy; and even more urgent, Highland druid Christian MacKeltar has been captured by the Crimson Hag and is being driven deeper into Unseelie madness with each passing day. The only one Mac can depend on is the powerful, dangerous immortal Jericho Barrons, but even their fiery bond is tested by betrayal.
It’s a world where staying alive is a constant struggle, the line between good and evil is blurred, and every alliance comes at a price. In an epic battle against dark forces, Mac must decide who she can trust, and what her survival is ultimately worth.
The Hoar Frost King has been defeated and the people of Dublin have begun the process of rebuilding their beloved city. But in a city where fae and human co-exist, there is a new normal, and nothing is what it was before.
Two years in the making, the release of BURNED by Karen Marie Moning is finally here, and, oh, my goodness, it is more than worth the wait. Picking up immediately following the action in ICED, this is a read that is everything that fans of the FEVER series could have hoped for and more. Although Karen originally intended to have Dani O’Malley as the focus of the three books written as follow-ups to the original FEVER series, she changed things up with this book. Mac and Barrons, the McKeltars, and the Nine are all a big part of BURNED, and I couldn’t be happier. I started reading and barely put this book down, absolutely enthralled and dying to see what action was going to unfold next. Karen has done an excellent job of answering questions that have had readers anxiously awaiting this next piece of the story (she has, of course, also left us hanging with bated breath for the next part of the saga). Although I had ideas of where these characters and their stories were going, I was surprised at every turn, and in a wonderful way. Seeing all of my favorite characters again, and learning more about them and the secrets that they hold, was absolute magic. I absolutely cannot wait for FEVERBORN and FEVERSONG, the last two books in this fantastic series. Can I recommend this book and series more highly? No. I give BURNED six stars, and put it on the list of my best reads of 2015.
Robin’s Review
Really. If I could give Burned 10 stars, I would. It’s Karen Marie Moning’s best work yet, and I found myself wondering at the complexity and brilliance of her writing. Burned is thoroughly addictive and extremely hard to put down. I laughed and cheered and smiled and cried tears!
There are huge reveals in Burned, including epic moments which pack a punch! I was thrilled to have many of my older questions about the Fever series answered. Since finishing, I have also enjoyed pinpointing Moning’s specialty in the text: subtle clues and foreshadowing which have left me with an abundance of new questions about the characters and a feverish desire to discuss Burned with others. This newest chapter of the Fever series exceeded my hopes and expectations, and before I even finished, I knew Burned would become one of my all-time favorite novels! If you haven’t read the Fever series, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the first novel titled Darkfever!
Robin from Smut Book Junkie Reviews was lucky to win a VIP pass to the Burned Signing on January 24, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio. This was a celebration event for long awaited release of Burned by Karen Marie Moning. The fans came out in masses. J R Ward helped Karen celebrate her best selling release.
Congratulations Karen Marie Moning…. Burned has taken the reader world by fire and the readers are consumed in the flames.
About Karen Marie Moning
Karen Marie Moning (rhymes with ‘awning’) is a # 1 New York Times bestselling author of 15 novels, including the RITA award-winning Highlander novels and the internationally bestselling urban fantasy “Fever” series. Her books have been published in nearly 40 languages, and her events draw fans from all over the world.
Moning graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s degree in Society and Law. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a bartender, a computer consultant, and an insurance specialist.
Moning began her career writing paranormal romance set in Scotland but as she became increasingly fascinated with Celtic mythology, she switched genres to Urban Fantasy and location to Dublin, Ireland, so she could focus on the Tuatha de Danann, or Fae–an ancient race of immortal beings who have lived secretly among humans for millennia.
Moning recently completed a graphic novel for Del Rey, featuring an original story about MacKayla Lane and Jericho Barrons, and the first installment in a new Fever World trilogy, ICED. She is under contract with Random House Publishing for two additional books set in the Fever universe.
The first full length Gypsy Brothers novel from the smash hit author Lili St Germain.
How much is a life worth?
I grew up in Colombia, the daughter of a wealthy drug lord. I lived a life of extravagance, until one day a drug run went horribly wrong and everything came crashing down around us.
I was given away. A payment for a debt. The Gypsy Brothers Motorcycle Club became my new owners, and I did everything I could to survive.
But falling in love with the man who owned me wasn’t part of the plan…
His eyes lit up at that as his gaze travelled across my chest and wandered down to the most private of places. I was clothed and covered in the right places, but in front of him, I felt completely naked. The feeling was unnerving and delicious all at once, which only confused me further.
So he’s sexy as hell. It doesn’t matter. He’s the enemy.
‘It doesn’t matter anyway,’ I added hastily. ‘I’ve got a nasty case of the clap. Better not rape me or your pico might fall off.’ I thrust my chin out as I used the Spanish term for ‘small dick’, smirking at the Gypsy Brother as his warm hands continued to roam every bit of bare flesh on my arms.
Dornan laughed at my admission, a throaty noise full of gravel and insolence that made me increasingly unsteady on my feet.
‘I’m not going to rape you,’ he replied, amusement dancing in his dark eyes. ‘And you don’t have the clap. So don’t use that one on me.’
Lili writes dark romance, suspense and paranormal stories. Her serial novel, Seven Sons, was released in early 2014, with the following books in the series to be released in quick succession. Lili quit corporate life to focus on writing and so far is loving every minute of it. Her other loves in life include her gorgeous husband and beautiful daughter, good coffee, Tarantino movies and spending hours on Pinterest.
She loves to read almost as much as she loves to write.
In the mafia…only the strong survive.
Joyce loves Luca.
Luca loves Joyce.
Frank loves his family and will do anything to protect it, even if it means taking away his brothers reason for existing.
Falling, only takes one step, one movement of the chess piece, and in Joyce’s fall she took more than just one heart with her. Go back to the beginning where the drama of the Elect all starts.
Go back to the first part of the story.
Where true love tried to conquer all.
Where true love…failed.
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
“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.
I’d tried to destroy her, but serendipitously, she’d destroyed me.
This was the beginning of the end.
Not the end of my feelings for her but the way of my life, my world.
Something would have to change.
Something would have to give…
…
Someone would have to die.
~ Nila ~
Just thinking of Jethro sent a spasm of desire through my core.
Dammit, what’s happening to me?
A daydream of Jethro slamming to his knees before me and wrenching my legs wide stole my mind. It was so vivid, so real—a trickle of need ran down my inner thigh. I gasped as I imagined his tongue lapping at my clit, his long fingers disappearing inside me—the same finger that I’d tattooed with my name.
Would I come harder knowing he touched me with a finger branded by me? Or would I hold on as tight as I could and make him work for it?
Oh, God.
I needed to get rid of this satanic desire. I needed to be free.
My eyes opened, latching onto the detachable showerhead.
I could do it myself…
My heartbeat whizzed with need. I couldn’t fight the churning demand any longer.
Reaching upward, I unhooked the showerhead and turned the water temperature down so as not to burn myself.
Feeling awkward and ridiculous and a hundred times guilty for what I was about to do, I braced my back on the tiled wall and spread my legs a little.
My teeth clamped on my bottom lip as the water pressure tickled my clit.
Oh. My. God.
My eyes rolled back as I grew bolder and pressed the stream of heavenly water harder against my pussy.
Water cascaded down my legs while my torso shivered from sudden cold. My nipples stiffened as I wickedly angled the jet down and down until water shot inside me. Every jet and bubble aroused sensitive flesh, sending my muscles clenching in joy.
I moaned.
Loudly.
My legs trembled as my neck flopped forward and I gave myself over to the exquisite pleasure conjured by an innocuous showerhead.
Starbursts flashed behind my eyelids; Jethro loomed into my mind. I pictured him shrugging out of his black shirt, prowling toward me while unbuckling his belt and unzipping his trousers. I moaned again as my daydream shed his clothing and stood proud and naked before me. He grabbed his cock, pumping himself hard and firm, while his eyes feasted on what I was doing. He didn’t say a word, only watched, then crooked his finger and beckoned me closer.
My heartbeat exceeded recommended limits as I forced myself higher and higher, locking my knees against buckling as an orgasm brewed into being. I rocked the showerhead, biting my lip as the pressure spurted over my clit and then inside me. The rhythm I set was exactly like fucking and I daren’t overthink how I looked or how depraved I felt getting off this way.
My daydream forced its way past my misgivings. My forehead furrowed as I trembled, both welcoming and fighting an orgasm.
Daydream Jethro crept closer, working his cock, a dangerous glint in his eyes. The moment I was within grabbing distance, he captured my waist. “I need to be inside you, Nila.” I put words into Jethro’s mouth, but it was his voice I heard in my heart.
I moaned again, angling the showerhead harder against my clit.
“How do you want it?” my fantasy whispered in my ear as he spun me around and pressed me hard against the wall.
I swallowed hard, answering in my mind. “Fast and…”
“Filthy?” Daydream Jethro’s nose nuzzled the back of my ear, sending shockwaves down my spine. “I can fuck you filthy.”
I couldn’t speak. But I didn’t have to. My fantasy knew exactly how I needed it. Jethro bit the back of my shoulder, spreading my legs wider with his.
“Fuck me, Jethro Hawk,” I whispered.
“Oh, I will. Believe me, I will.” Without further warning, he dug his fingers into my hips and slammed inside me.
My fingers went numb as I slid the showerhead from clit to entrance. I cried out as water shot inside at the same time as Jethro thrust into me from behind, sliding deep and fast, stretching me deliciously painfully.
My heart exploded with bliss. An orgasm squeezed every atom, getting ready to hurl me into the stratosphere.
Jethro thrust again and I rode my new friend the showerhead.
“Oh, God. Yes,” I hissed, rocking harder. “Yes, yes…”
A masculine cough sounded. “You continue to surprise me, Ms. Weaver; at least this time, I rather enjoy it.”
Everything crashed into awareness. My daydream shattered, fracturing by my feet like broken glass. I squealed and dropped the showerhead. It turned into a water snake, spewing water left and right, wriggling like some terrible demon.
Jethro snickered. “You’re using up the entire Hall’s supply of hot water. Are you planning on saving some for the rest of the inhabitants of my home?”
Michel’s Review
The long awaited third book in the Indebted Series by Pepper Winters has finally released! Second Debt picks up where First Debt ended. Nila Weaver is reeling from the revelations that Kes Hawk told her about Kite. Kite is Jethro Hawk. With these revelations, she is trying to figure out what Jethro’s motives were. What she should feel. Does this change her fascination and draw to her sworn enemy or does this put them on even playing ground?
Nila makes a horrific discovery that turns her heart to stone where Jethro Hawk is concerned. This discovery makes her more determined to fight her impending outcome after the debts are paid. She is going to change the future for all Weaver women. She is going to take the Hawks down.
At the same time, Jethro is trying to show Nila that he is Kite. That there is another, truer side to his persona. But he is fighting to remain a Hawk and do what his birthright demands. He is horrified by his legacy. He is horrified of who he is. He is horrified that he is going to lose what little bit of Nila he has.
The Debt Inheritance will destroy them both. One will die, one will remain living but be dead inside.
Nila and Jethro can’t harness their attraction and growing feelings for one another. No matter how hard they try to deny these feelings, their souls are entwined. Their fates were sealed long before they were born. Can they change fate and create a new destiny?
Meanwhile their destinies are becoming further out of their control. Other Hawk players are stirring the ship, ensuring that the debts are paid. Each player is ruthless. They don’t really care if Jethro carries out his legacy. They only care that the latest Weaver woman pays the debts. Jethro’s legacy is only a means to an end.
The second debt is paid. It is just as horrific, if not more so. Nila barely survived the payment. Jethro barely survived extracting the payment. His family is celebrating both of their failures because now they are in control.
At the end of this book, the final scene has the reader’s mind reeling. The cliffhanger is so shocking that the reader wonders where Nila and Jethro are going to end up. I think that there are going to be a lot more than the debts the Weavers owe the Hawks. It is going to be a battle of evil verses good.
As I said new Hawk’s were introduced into this series. The Hawk women came into play. The Hawk brothers are questionable.
I am addicted to this series. It is like driving past a horrific accident and gawking at the morbid scene. Trying to figure out what happened and if anyone survived it.
I will say that the pacing of this book was slower than the other previous two books. There was a lot of back and forth, “I can” and “I can’t, “I should” and “I shouldn’t” going on. I would’ve liked to seen more dialogue between Jethro and Nila rather than the indecisiveness that was going through their heads. It was a bit repetitive. I did like that Pepper revealed more about Jethro Hawk. We got a glimpse of who is beneath the Hawk identity. I also liked that the other Hawk family members were more active in this book. It gave the reader a better understanding of the cruel background that Jethro has endured. This book also left me with so many questions.
Now I will be biting at the bits for the Third Debt to release. The Indebted Series owns me!
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.
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.
“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.
Excerpt Reveal
~ Jethro ~
I’D TAKEN HER, but ultimately, she’d taken me.
I’d tried to destroy her, but serendipitously, she’d destroyed me.
This was the beginning of the end.
Not the end of my feelings for her but the way of my life, my world.
Something would have to change.
Something would have to give…
…
Someone would have to die.
~ Nila ~
I EXISTED WITH a brain full of betrayal, schemes, and plotting.
Living with the Hawks was utterly exhausting. Every day was a challenge to figure out the truths from the lies. But no matter how hard I worked, I could never seem to unravel reality from fiction.
He’d won.
And with a winner came a loser. One triumphant and one depressed. A trophy over misery.
Two days had passed since Kestrel had granted the truth to one huge mystery. Two days in which I hadn’t been able to think of anything else.
I wanted to hate Jethro for duping me—for stringing me along like an idiot.
But whenever my anger boiled over, needing desperately to confront him, I remembered one thing.
One important, vital thing.
He’d initiated contact before he was told.
He’d communicated with me almost as if it were a cry for help, rather than a plot to deceive.
If this were another trick, then so help him, I’d find a way to castrate him.
But, somehow, I didn’t think it was.
I had a horrible feeling this was the one way that he would let me in. An avenue of truths that he felt comfortable enough to continue, because a silent written word didn’t have as much weight as a loudly spoken one.
Which brought me back to my vitally important conclusion:
Jethro wants to be honest.
He wanted to stop playing charades and show me everything he kept hidden.
He wanted to talk to someone. Perhaps, for the first time in his life, he wasn’t satisfied with the hand life dealt him and…
Stop fabricating excuses.
All day, I’d been coming up with theories on why he was how he was and reading too far into things that he’d done.
It could be as simple as: he’d been told to get in touch. Told to initiate contact in a way that could potentially mould me into a more submissive captive, especially if I were to believe he was on my side.
I wanted to believe he’d acted against his father. But no matter how much I wished it, it didn’t make it was true.
How do you explain the knowing then?
I slouched against my pillows in bed. That was true. A part of me just seemed to know. Call it either sheer idiocy or feminine intuition. I believed he’d texted me because I was the first outsider permitted into his world—the only one not a Hawk.
My brain hurt.
When we were alone, when we weren’t arguing or fighting, there was an enchanting calmness. A connection.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind skip back to Kes’s unwilling promise. The way his eyes had darkened with secrets as I’d collapsed into his arms from the vertigo spell two days ago.
“Nila?”
A crushing headache appeared from nowhere. It was the most I could do to stay present and not permit my mind to relive every text Jethro had sent to see the hidden agendas now that I knew it was him.
“I’m—I’m okay. You can let me go.” I struggled out of Kes’s embrace, my skin humming from his touch. I needed some space. I needed a world full of space to get over the treachery and lies.
“You didn’t know? You hadn’t guessed?” Kes crossed his arms, never taking his golden eyes from mine.
I glowered. “How could I know? I thought the messages were from you!”
He flinched. “Yes, that was the plan. To make you believe it was me, so he could continue on with whatever little mind games he was playing.” Leaning closer, he added, “I haven’t been privy to any of the messages he sent you or you sent him—so don’t feel like I’ve intruded on details that I shouldn’t.”
Anger infused my blood. “If you were both in on it—why didn’t he show you the messages? Why were you so nice to me? What does all of this mean?”
Kes moved away, reclining against a sapling. “I was nice because that’s just who I am. Yes, I come from a family with twisted up morals and I’m loyal to those twisted up morals, but I also did it out of loyalty to my brother. If you’re pissed, direct it all on him. Not me.”
“Oh, believe me. I’m pissed. Beyond pissed.” My hands balled as my mind filled with crazy ideas of retribution and revenge. I would make him pay.
“I’d cool down before you spring it on him. Best to keep it quiet. Cut doesn’t know. It was just me who knew Jet had been in touch with you before he was given the go-ahead to collect you in Milan.”
I froze. “Why did he initiate conversation with me almost five weeks before he could claim me?”
Kes shook his head. “The day I understand my brother is the day I’ll gamble my entire inheritance on the stock market. I can’t work him out. The only thing I can do is be there for him. And I only found out ‘cause he changed pretty much around the same time he started messaging you. Something was different—we’re close. So, I saw it before the others.”
My brain throbbed trying to figure out just what had changed in Jethro. He’d seemed the perfect Hawk when he’d come to collect me. Cold as ice and deadly as a sword.
Now that I knew his secret, I had power. And I had no intention of giving that power back. Jethro had been playing me for far too long. He’d successfully screwed with my head. It was time for payback. “Don’t tell him that I know.”
Kes’s eyes popped wide. “Pardon?”
“You heard me. Don’t tell Jethro about today. Let him continue to think I’m clueless.” My heart frothed with rage and unhappiness. I was so stupid to believe I’d gotten through to him on some level. The sex between us left both of us stripped bare. Something more than family feuds and hatred existed when he slid inside me and sent both of us shattering into dust.
I’d let him inside me. In so many ways. It was my turn to do the same.
“You know I can’t do that, Nila. As welcome as you are in our household, and as much as I like hanging out with you, I can’t betray Jet. Not after everything he’s been through.”
I pounced on the small thread of truth about my tormentor. “What has he been through, Kes? Tell me and I’ll march back to the Hall right now and tell him myself.”
Kes shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet my eyes. “Slip of the tongue. Forget it.”
Crossing my arms, I hissed, “Fine. Seeing as you’re so capable of keeping secrets, keep this one for me.”
Kes scowled. “Keeping my own flesh and blood’s issues hidden isn’t the same thing as helping out a Weaver.”
My heart raced. If Jethro hadn’t taught me how to stand up for myself, I would’ve cowered at the thought of being so pushy with a full-grown man all alone in a forest. Now, I was raging and fully intended to get my own way. “Give me two weeks. Two weeks before you tell him that I know. Do that and I’ll be forever grateful.”
His shoulders slumped in defeat. “How can you be forever grateful when forever isn’t something anyone has.”
Especially me, seeing as my lifespan was destined to be significantly shorter than his.
“Just…please, Kestrel. One favour.”
It took him a while to give in. His allegiance to his brother was strong.
Finally, he huffed. “Fine. But it won’t save you from his temper when he finds out.”
However, I had no intention of suffering Jethro’s wrath. I had every right to deceive him after he did it to me. My revelations were safe—for now. I trusted that Kes wouldn’t say anything. I didn’t know why, but on some level I did trust Kes—just enough to use him in my plans. And I was fully committed to tripping Jethro up.
It was his turn to divulge things he might not have if he’d known the truth. Hiding behind the pretence that Kite was Kes had made him softer the past few weeks. I would use that chink to make the crevice I’d been trying to form since I gave him a blowjob after hunting me down.
I couldn’t think about anything else. I couldn’t focus on sketching, sewing, reading.
Nothing.
My brain was a whirly-gig of Jethro. Kite. Jethro. Kite.
And I’d had enough.
Throwing myself out of bed after another sleepless night, I wrenched back the curtains and glowered at the dismal weather.
The watery dawn did nothing to inspire either anger or contentment. The sky was grey. Fog looked like haunting ghosts, threading its ghoulish tentacles over the lower woodland of the estate. No birds chirped or sun shone.
Summer had truly abandoned us. The bite in the air shouted ‘go back to bed where it’s warm’ but my brain had no such intention.
I hadn’t relaxed for two days. I’d stared at my phone, determined to text Jethro and trip him into revealing everything he kept secret, only to stare blankly at an empty message.
Now that I knew it was him, my willingness to show so much had gone. Knowledge was power and he had too much of mine already. How could I dig deeper into his mystery while maintaining all of mine?
The answer—I couldn’t. And that made me incredibly nervous. To find out who he truly was, I had to show everything that made me real. And despite the emotional growth spurt I’d endured at the hands of the Hawks, I wasn’t ready to evolve again. I’d lost so much of myself already—how much was I prepared to leave behind before I became a perfect stranger?
“Ah!” I dug my fingers into my hair. I needed a reprieve from my racing thoughts, and I knew exactly how to do it.
Mother Nature’s sudden urge to switch seasons from summer to winter couldn’t stop my itch.
I needed fresh air, and I needed it now.
Racing around my room in the new Weaver quarters where Jethro had made me beg and come apart with his cock deep inside me, I found my black spandex shorts and highlighter pink sports bra. Pulling the clothing on, followed by my sneakers, I quickly smoothed my hair into a bun, and shot from the room.
I hadn’t worn my exercise gear since the morning of the Milan runway show. I’d sprinted until I’d collapsed off the treadmill at the hotel, hoping I could dispel my anxiety enough to hide my stupid nerves and prevent a vertigo spell in front of the press.
It had worked—mainly. Until Jethro arrived, of course.
The moment when I’d set eyes upon him, I’d been done for. He’d been so dashing with his suit, tie, and diamond pin. So perfectly refined with his elegant haircut, chiselled physique, and sculptured lips. Even though his soul was dark, his body had summoned me.
He’d called to me, and like the stupid Weaver I was, I’d followed him blindly.
Now, it’s his turn to follow my whims, my rules.
Jogging down the corridor, my racing mind and temper eased, already reacting to the stress relief I’d sought all my life.
I need him out.
It wasn’t fair. I was supposed to seduce him and make him care for me—not the other way around. I wasn’t supposed to fall for my own games.
Lust was as dangerous as love. Only it was worse because it had the power to make even the worst ideas seem plausible—and even recommended—when a sexual reward was given.
The moment Jethro gave in and kissed me, I’d betrayed more than just myself. I’d betrayed my entire family line and all the Weaver women who’d died before me.
I had feelings for him.
A dangerous softness toward my would-be-killer.
It has to end.
I had to find a way to seduce him…to make him love me, all while I kept my heart frigid and locked away in an ice fortress.
I laughed under my breath. You sound just like him. I wanted to turn into the female equivalent of his glacial shell.
Only, ice wasn’t impervious. Ice melted and succumbed to fire.
I’d proven that over the past month.
The house breathed around me with gentle heartbeats only ancient dwellings could have. Spirits of past generations lived in its walls, revenants danced in the drapery, and figments of long forgotten lovers floated through the tapestries.
A grandfather clock tick-tocked as I jogged past, showing the time at six thirty a.m.
After being privy to the business meetings with Kes and the Black Diamonds, I knew the men never got up this early. They worked late, dealing with shipments and the transportation of stones worth more than any dress I could sew. Darkness was their asset, the sun their foe.
At least I could run and be back before anyone tried to stop me.
I didn’t want them to draw the wrong conclusion that I was trying to escape again. I blinked as I ran head first into a horrendous conclusion.
Even if you found the boundary this morning, you wouldn’t leave.
My heart thumped harder at the tangled web I lived.
Freedom was something I wanted more than anything. But even if I escaped the Hawks, I would only run back into the trap of pity and vertigo. I wanted more than that. I deserved more than that.
If I found the estate edge, I wouldn’t disappear. I couldn’t.
My captivity wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about the future. It was about Jethro.
Admit it…
It was about living.
The passion, the intensity, the blazing ferocity of existing with enemies and plotting beneath their noses was a much worthier cause than sitting at home sewing for the masses.
This was about me. Me standing up for myself, and for a future I wanted, not a future already planned for me.
This was about so many twisted things.
I wrenched open the French doors at the end of the corridor and stumbled into the foggy dawn. Fresh air welcomed me and I found a reprieve from my scrambled thoughts.
I can’t forget my ultimate plan.
No matter how Jethro endeared himself to me—giving me glimpses of someone barely coping inside his wintry armor—I wasn’t going to forget my goal.
Freedom.
Not just for myself, but for the rest of my legacy. My children and their children and their children’s children would never have to go through this. I intended to be the last Weaver stolen.
It’s time for a new debt—one that owes us life, not death.
Sucking in lungfuls of crisp air, I steeled myself in what I had to do. In order to win, I had to guard my soul. I had to play along with Jethro’s mind games and hope to God I won first.
A cool breeze whistled through the trees, sounding like haunted laments. I shivered, wishing I’d brought a jacket.
You’ll be sweating in ten minutes. Ignore it.
Gritting my teeth against the cold, I bent over and stretched my quads. The tug and slow release of muscles was heaven after the stress of the past few days.
My body hummed with the knowledge it was about to run.
And run.
And run.
For fun this time, not for survival.
Bouncing on the spot, I rolled my shoulders, eyeing up the sweeping lawn before me. If I went right, I’d loop around the stables. If I went left, I’d cut through the sprawling rose garden and orchards.
Go straight.
Down the meandering path that disappeared over the horizon.
I switched from bouncing to jogging.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” a cool voice whispered through the silver fog.
I wrenched to a stop, peering behind me.
No one.
“I thought you’d realised running wasn’t a viable option, Ms. Weaver.”
His icy voice sent a strange mixture of hot and cold desire down my spine. Jethro morphed into being, seeming to solidify from the mist like a terrible poltergeist. He leaned against one of the pillars holding up the portico, crossing his arms.
My heart collapsed, unable to untangle the maze of hypocrisy between us. My skin begged for his touch. My lips tingled for his. Every inch of me craved what he could deliver.
Heat. Passion. An eruption that I felt in every cell.
But none of that was real.
And I refused to believe in trickery any longer.
Mirroring his body language, I crossed my arms. “I realise escaping isn’t a viable option. But I’m not escaping. I’m running. Running is my only option to escape the mess you’ve made.”
His jaw clenched. “The mess I’ve made?”
“Yes.” I took a step backward as he advanced. “You’re messing me up, and I’m done playing whatever it is that you’re doing.” I sucked in courage and embraced honesty. It seemed to work around him, and I needed him to see how serious I was. How hurt I was with his deception.
He’s Kite.
Bastard.
Baring my teeth, I said, “It seems I have a weakness for you, but I changed my mind. I don’t—”
A low growl escaped him. “A weakness? You call what happened between us a fucking weakness?”
My breathing ratcheted as if I’d already run two miles. “The worst kind of weakness.”
He smiled, but no mirth entered his gaze. If anything, his golden eyes were luminous with anger. “You’re the one who started it…Nila.”
I gasped at the delicious decadence of my name on his lips. The sound echoed in his mouth, shooting straight to my core.
Shit.
Jethro advanced again, his body trembling with barely veiled lust. “You’re the one who created this problem.” His hand came up, fingers slinking through my tied-up hair, tightening around the back of my skull. “I can’t hear the name Weaver without getting fucking hard. I can’t even think of you without boiling with need.”
His nose brushed against mine, his lips so damn close to stealing all my scrambled plans and sending me headfirst into a life of debauchery.
“You should never have said those two words, Ms. Weaver. I told you. We’re both fucked now.”
My mind was blank, every synapse focusing on his fingers in my hair and his mouth only millimetres from mine. “What two words?”
He chuckled. The sound was self-deprecating and almost morbid with dark intensity. “Kiss me.”
I shivered in his hold. “You’re reminding me of what started this mess, or you’re asking me to kiss you?”
Ask me. And I will. God, how I will.
I’d kiss him until I’d stripped him of his arctic armor and destroyed it, I’d lick him until I tasted his truth, and I’d bite him until I’d eaten every morsel of his soul.
I’d do all that so he had nowhere left to hide.
We stood wrapped in foggy silence. The drawn out anticipation of a kiss turned my legs to jelly. If he pressed his mouth to mine, I wouldn’t be going for my run. I would climb his body and impale myself on his cock.
Fakery be damned.
Kite’s messages and deceit be damned.
I just wanted a raw connection—with this man, who made my soul whimper for wrongness.
Jethro’s tongue slipped between his lips, hypnotising me. Then…he let me go. “No, I’m not asking you to kiss me. I won’t ever ask anything from you.”
I flinched as if he’d slapped me. “Why not?”
“Because I own you. Everything I want will be given, not requested.”
Double shit.
I should hate him. I should smite him. So, why did his every word seduce me, even while I knew his morals were chauvinistic and heartless?
Forcing my body to obey, I shoved the weakness I had for him as far away as possible. My eyes trailed down his front. He wore tan jodhpurs, black riding boots, and a tweed jacket. The bulge between his legs looked heavy and far too dangerous to be legal.
“You’ve been riding.”
A gentle gust of early morning air blew his scent directly into my nose. I inhaled, soaking my lungs in hay, horse, and all things Jethro.
He nodded, crossing his arms once again. “You run. I ride. Seems we have something else in common.”
Something other than being forced into this debt and finding each other irresistible, you mean?
“Oh, what’s that?”
Jethro stepped closer, seeming to bring shadows into the smoky light of dawn. “We both need time alone to hide from the things that chase us.” He stiffened, his eyes churning with things he refused to voice. A five o’ clock shadow decorated his strong jaw, his lips parted while his gaze was pure brimstone.
Swiftly, he cupped my cheek.
Oh, God.
Electricity instantly sparked beneath his fingertips.
Would I always suffer the rhapsody of his touch?
My skin smouldered; pinpricks of light, of fire, of hell, all burnished beneath his hold. I swayed, pressing my face harder into his palm.
He sucked in a breath, his fingers digging harder against my cheekbone.
The chemistry and need to devour each other thickened with every heartbeat.
One beat.
Two beat.
Three.
We stood there, frozen on the stoop of Hawksridge Hall just waiting for the other to move. The moment we did, our clothes would disintegrate and I would willingly let him drag me into a bush and fuck me.
Lust and tension swirled.
I had so many questions and doubts; so many reasons to hate and fear him. But when he touched me…poof.
I no longer remembered, nor cared.
We swayed closer, drawn against our will to close the aching distance.
I couldn’t breathe.
Kiss me. Please, kiss me.
The moment stretched until it hummed with overwhelming possibilities.
Then, it snapped.
Loudly.
Painfully.
Shattering around our feet.
“You’re too fucking dangerous,” Jethro muttered, removing his touch and stepping away. Dragging his hand through his hair, he commanded, “Wait here. Don’t go anywhere.” His hands went to his jacket buttons, undoing them with nimble fingers.
I blinked, struggling to shed myself of heavy need and focus on the true reason why I stood barely dressed in the freezing morning. “I’m not escaping. I’ll be back in forty minutes or so.”
He shook his head, slipping out of his tweed and revealing a black long-sleeved jumper.
My mouth went dry. Even in clothing, I could make out every ridge of muscle in his stomach, every ripple of energy as he breathed in and out. He was designed straight from my fantasies, and I hated him for being so splendid.
My core clenched, sending flutters of wetness between my legs.
I hadn’t seen him in two days, yet I’d panted after him as if he’d been missing my entire life.
If he suspected I knew that he was Kite, he hadn’t let on. After Kes had told me the truth, I’d waited for Jethro to barge into my room and swear me to secrecy.
But he hadn’t.
He didn’t look at me any differently; he gave no outward sign that his lies had begun to unravel. As much as he confounded and frustrated me, I couldn’t help admiring his perfection at hiding.
I wanted to be like him. I wanted to protect my secrets so damn well that whatever I did next would come as a surprise.
I wanted to rule him.
“I’m coming with you. Don’t leave.” He disappeared into the house, leaving me abandoned and covered in chills from both the morning air and his departure.
Jogging on the spot, I deliberated ignoring him and leaving.
Just go.
What was the worst that could happen? He’d have to chase me again. My tummy coiled at the thought. I liked that idea way too much. I liked the thought of what would happen after he found me.
The power I’d felt giving him that blowjob. The awe and attraction that’d glowed in his eyes.
I want that again.
Screw waiting like a good little captive.
Make him hunt.
And then I would make him explode.
I bolted.
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.
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.
The first full length Gypsy Brothers novel from the smash hit author Lili St Germain.
How much is a life worth?
I grew up in Colombia, the daughter of a wealthy drug lord. I lived a life of extravagance, until one day a drug run went horribly wrong and everything came crashing down around us.
I was given away. A payment for a debt. The Gypsy Brothers Motorcycle Club became my new owners, and I did everything I could to survive.
But falling in love with the man who owned me wasn’t part of the plan…
‘This isn’t a fairytale,’ Dornan said wryly, as he watched her bring the soup-soaked bread to her mouth.
She paused with the bread in her hand, looking around the room in mock surprise. ‘You mean, we’re not Beauty and the fucking Beast?’
He laughed.
‘Well, you’re certainly beautiful,’ he said.
‘And you’re definitely a beast,’ she countered, pushing her empty bowl away and resting back on the bed.
‘But there’s no happy ever after for you,’ Dornan added, his eyes trailing over the chains to reach the cuffs that were now permanent bracelets on her wrists.
‘No,’ she said evenly, matching his intense gaze. ‘Not for any of us. Not in this world.’
Lili writes dark romance, suspense and paranormal stories. Her serial novel, Seven Sons, was released in early 2014, with the following books in the series to be released in quick succession. Lili quit corporate life to focus on writing and so far is loving every minute of it. Her other loves in life include her gorgeous husband and beautiful daughter, good coffee, Tarantino movies and spending hours on Pinterest.
She loves to read almost as much as she loves to write.
Left with Lilith’s haunting words, Luc sees himself for the irredeemable man he truly is.
Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club’s reputation is ruined, the clubhouse is burned to the ground, and Angel is the only remaining loose end for the club to tie up.
With nothing left to lose, Luc makes the only move he has left and sacrifices everything for the only woman who ever made him want to be a better man.
SAVED is the fourth and final part of the Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club serial.
Excerpt
There’s fire, and I’m walkin’ through it naked. Angel’s somewhere in the flames, and I’m lookin’ for her. I can feel the flames against my skin but they don’t hurt. Then I see her. She’s screamin’. Burnin’ up. I run to her, and cover her with my body, to protect her. The flames start hurtin’ now. I can feel my flesh getting’ hot. I can feel my skin begin to peel, I scream in pain…
“Hey, you ok?”
I wake up feelin’ like I just slammed into a fuckin’ wall. My body’s hot, my blood pumpin’.
Angel puts a cool hand against my face, and it feels good against my hot, sweaty skin.
“It’s nothin’.”
I look at her. Seein’ her face next to me calms me down a little, makes me feel a little fuckin’ cooler, but I feel a whole new sense of frustration and edginess lookin’ at her.
“I need a drink,” I say, getting’ out of bed and walkin’ to the kitchen. I feel like somethin’ is pullin’ at me. A naggin’ feelin’ in my gut that somethin’ needs to be done. Soon.
I turn on the tap and put my head under it, gulpin’ down water into my dry throat. I splash some on my face. Angel walks into the kitchen.
“Coffee?” she asks. I nod.
I can’t be near her. I can’t look at her. I go to the bathroom, lock the door, and sit on the toilet, my head in my hands. Today. I have to do somethin’ today.
“Coffee’s done,” Angel calls from the other side of the bathroom door. I realize I’ve been sittin’ in there for a full ten minutes, just losin’ my mind, barely able to think. I have to get my shit together. Maybe coffee will help.
I join Angel in the room. There’s a little table by the window, and Angel has the cups there. She’s opened the shutters. I sit opposite her, lookin’ out of them, avoidin’ those eyes…
“Is there something…” Angel trails off. Maybe she sees the fire burnin’ inside me, the ragin’ fuckin’ forces that are beatin’ the shit out of each other, with me in the middle. I gulp my coffee.
“I feel a lot better,” Angel says.
I turn away from the window to look at her.
“Am I supposed to care?”
“I just thought–”
“You thought wrong, bitch. You don’t think at all when you’re with me, ok?”
Angel stiffens and looks at me, her eyes wide.
“O-ok.”
“Good,” I say. The frustration is fillin’ up in me, burstin’ to get out, and she’s close enough to feel it.
I can’t let myself get close to her. I can’t let her inside. She’s already under my skin. Makin’ me feel things I don’t wanna feel, think things that I don’t wanna be thinkin’.
This bitch will destroy me.
The Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club Series
Lilith- Book 1
Who am I?
I’m every woman’s worst nightmare.
A taker of lives.
You can call me Lucifer.
Luc “Lucifer” Bontrager is a nomad in Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club. Traveling chapter to chapter, he brings in big money kidnapping women, training them and selling them over the border. He’s heartless, brutal and all business.
And then he meets his match.
Lilith. Every man’s worst nightmare. A taker of lives. A sociopath on the run.
Inked up with satanic symbols and verses, she’s fearless and completely insane. Luc can’t train her, he sure as hell can’t ship her over the border to the cartel boss waiting for her, and—for the first time in his life—he can’t bring himself to put a bullet in her head either.
She’s his worst regret.
Her words and cold, calculating eyes haunt him. She’s the devil on his shoulder, reminding him of all his sins. He should’ve killed her when he had the chance, because when the unthinkable happens and Luc falls for the young, innocent girl he’s training, Lilith seeks her revenge, targeting the only girl he’s ever wanted to keep as his own.
Nomad- Book 2
I see you.
I know you.
I am you.
He should’ve put a bullet in her head when he had the chance.
When Luc “Lucifer” Bontrager wakes up to Lilith – the satanic, sociopath bitch he left for dead in the desert – holding a gun to his head, his first thought is the girl he’s got stashed in the club’s basement. That’s how he knows he’s fucked.
He’s lived his life kidnapping women and training them for Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club to sell as sex slaves. Now, he’s caught up in the innocent young girl he’s supposed to hand over to a Mexican cartel boss in a few days. There’s no way in hell he’s letting her go.
But Luc can’t save her if he’s dead, so this time Lilith won’t get away from him alive.
NOMAD is the second installment in the Lucifer’s Legion Motorcycle Club series and continues Luc’s story from Lilith.
Angel- Book 3
On the run, Luc gets word from LLMC that the cartel has agreed to return Angel to them instead of killing her, but they need a replacement.
If Luc hands over Lilith, trained and ready to be delivered to the cartel, the club will forgive him his betrayal and welcome him back into the fold.
Luc must decide where his loyalty lies—with the club that saved his life and Angel who almost broke his resolve to never keep anyone for himself, or with Lilith, the crazy bitch who got inside his head and knows him better than anyone ever has.
Author Bio:
Kelli Maine is the erotic romance author of USA Today Bestseller and #1 Nook book, Taken, and the Give & Take series, along with the Dolls & Doms novellas and Chains. She lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband and kids. When she’s not writing, Kelli enjoys watching reality T.V., getting lost in random Wikipedia pages and searching online ads for vintage muscle cars.
Favorite Author: Diana Gabaldon
Favorite Food: Japanese
Favorite Superhero: Spiderman
Favorite Place I’ve Been: Yucatan Peninsula
Writing Must Haves: Coffee and chocolate
Plotter or Pantser: Proud Pantser
On May 15, 1975, fifteen-year-old Ginny Lemon is abducted from a convenience store in Fort Lauderdale by a member of one of the most notorious and brutal motorcycle gangs in South Florida.
From that moment on, her life is forever changed. She gets a new name, a new identity and a new life in the midst of the gang’s base on the edge of the Florida Everglades—a frightening, rough and violent world much like the swamps themselves, where everyone has an alias and loyalty is tantamount to survival.
And at the center of it all is the gang’s leader, Grizz: massive, ruggedly handsome, terrifying and somehow, when it comes to Ginny, tender. She becomes his obsession and the one true love of his life.
So begins a tale of emotional obsession and manipulation, of a young woman ripped from everything she knows and forced to lean on the one person who provides attention, affection and care: her captor. Precocious and intelligent, but still very much a teenager, Ginny struggles to adapt to her existence, initially fighting and then coming to terms with her captivity.
Will she be rescued? Will she escape? Will she get out alive—or get out at all? Part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age novel, filled with mystery, romance and unexpected turns, Nine Minutes takes readers into the world of one motorcycle gang and inside the heart of a young girl, whose abduction brought about its fall.
Nine Minutes is one of the books that stunned my senses and left me with a major book hangover. I read this book over a month and half ago. After I finished the book I had to gift this book to several of my friends because it is the kind of book you “have” to read. Each and every friend that has read this book had the same kind of reactions that I had to it.
This more than a typical biker romance. It is a story that renders a very real look into a lawless lifestyle. Although many of the characters are hardened criminals with ethics that are horrendous, they are also very human. Their emotions and feelings are just as valid as anyone else emotions. Their methods of dealing with their emotions are just as valid as how anyone else deals with their own. We all have insecurities, we all have hopes and dreams, we all want the ones we love to have the best we can give, and we all have our own ways of protecting our deepest emotions.
The background for this story is so true to it’s portrayal. I grew up in that area of south Florida in that exact timeframe. I am very close to the same age as the heroine in this story. The existence of this kind of MC club was in fact present in that area at that time. As I was reading this book I had chills from the in depth descriptions. I felt like I was walking back in time to my younger years and looking at it through different eyes. It is was mind blowing. When my mother, who has lived in south Florida for over fifty years, and raised her family there, read this book she was just as stunned as I was.
The story itself was captivating. It is a story of a lawless life, a story of a stolen life, and a story of unconditional love. Although Grizz lived in a very violent world and delivered his own kind brand of justice, he also had a sense of honor and heart of gold. For those he loved, he gave his all. For those that betrayed his love and trust, he dealt with in a very gruesome violent manner. In the end he paid for his love. In the end he paid for his sins. He did it with honor for those he loved. He accepted the punishments for the crimes he committed. He protected his family from suffering the repercussions of his crimes. He gave those he loved the ultimate gift. He gave them the gift of love and happiness.
Ginny was a young teenage girl when she was abducted. She was just beginning her journey into womanhood. Although she was taken, manipulated, and molded into a different kind of person, she was also given the gift of unconditional love. Her life may have turned out very differently had she not been abducted. Would she have had a better life? Most likely not. Her childhood was not sunshine and roses. Her life was not full of love. She was forced to grow up at an early age. She was forced to become responsible and self reliant. She was a survivor. She used her intelligence to guide her. I think that is one of the reasons she was abducted. One person saw the uniqueness and inner strength she possessed. One person saw her value as a human being. One person loved her for everything she was. One person valued her enough to steal her away. In the end that one person almost destroyed her life. Through it all that one person also gave her more than his love, he gave her a love that would last a lifetime and always be there for her. He gave her a new love story to live.
Nine Minutes is not a forever love story. Nine Minutes is breathtaking story of unconditional love and strength of the human spirit. Nine Minutes is two beautiful love stories that intwine one woman into a person of strength, compassion, and beauty. Two love stories that show her how by just being herself is more valuable than anything else in this world.
Nine Minutes is a powerful story. Although Nine Minutes ends with a cliffhanger, it is not one that will have readers in an emotional uproar. Nine Minutes has a resolution to that part of Ginny’s story. It ended the only way it could. The cliffhanger is more about the secrets that will be revealed. It is about the other love story in the book. It is the path to Ginny’s forever love story.
Read Nine Minutes! It is exceptional!
Author Bio:
Beth Flynn is a fiction writer who lives and works in Sapphire, North Carolina, deep within the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. Raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Beth and her husband, Jim, have spent the last 16 years in Sapphire, where they own a construction company. They have been married 30 years and have two daughters (the youngest in high school) and two dogs. In her spare time, Beth enjoys writing, reading, gardening, church and motorcycles, especially taking rides on the back of her husband’s Harley. She is a four-year breast cancer survivor.
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).
Saucy Southern Readers 