HOLIDAY HEAT: The Men of Starlight Bend
Blurb:
5 All-New, Never-Before-Published Holiday Romances, Featuring NYT Bestselling Authors Jennifer Ashley & Jennifer Probst, plus Erin Quinn, Calista Fox and Mary Leo! Let The Men of Starlight Bend keep you warm on cold winter nights-just 99 cents for a limited time!
Starlight Bend is a cozy Montana town nestled between glacial lakes and snow-capped mountains. This Christmas, holiday magic is in the air and wishes can come true–all it takes is believing. Visit us in Starlight Bend and meet five sexy, heartwarming heroes and the women who steal their hearts…
Snowbound in Starlight Bend ~ Jennifer Ashley
Haley McKee is furious to find herself stuck in the tiny town of Starlight Bend so near Christmas, helped out by the handsome Maddox Campbell, a cowboy who’s not impressed with her fancy job titles and parents’ money. In fact, no one has given her this much crap her entire life. But there’s a lot more to Maddox than at first seems–he’s a hard-working man who gives much of his time and patience to help those who have little. When a spark of Christmas magic promises Haley all she wants, will she make her wish with her head or her heart?
The Long Gone Girl of Starlight Bend ~ Erin Quinn
Kari has big plans that are about to pay off, and she doesn’t have time for tall, dark, and amazing Ty Timberlake. Ty knows he’s in trouble as soon as he meets smart, beautiful Kari. He understands her goals, but knows the rat race won’t make her happy. Kari is hell-bent on making her mark and moving onto the next challenge; Ty is determined to win her love and make her stay. As Christmas approaches, Kari begins to question what she wants. Should she stick to her plan and be long gone by the New Year, or choose the man who’s stolen her heart?
His Angel of Starlight Bend ~ Calista Fox
Anna Voss and Nick Hoffman are Starlight Bend’s star-crossed lovers. They were inseparable growing up, but destined for different paths. They haven’t seen each other in over a decade, but this Christmas, Nick returns home—with some startling surprises that turn Anna’s world upside down.
Love and desire have always burned bright between these two, but they’re both haunted by the past. Yet there’s a mystical entity working in their favor this time around—if they can open their hearts and minds to a destiny rewritten, with the help of family and a little holiday magic…
Ropin’ the Lone Cowboy of Starlight Bend ~ Mary Leo
Jolie Shepherd didn’t want to spend Christmas alone. So when she accepts an open invitation for a visit to Starlight Bend, Montana from her best friend, Jolie expects to pass most of the holiday season holed up inside a rustic cabin, not playing cowgirl with quite possibly the most adorable cowboy in the entire state. Red Weisman is a man who prefers to ride alone . . . that is until he meets Jolie Shepherd. Once they team up to grant a Christmas wish for a needy child, something magical happens between them. Now all they have to do is believe . . . but can they?
The Grinch of Starlight Bend ~ Jennifer Probst
Noah used to be a beloved member of the Starlight Bend community, until a tragedy turns to betrayal and drives him into solitude. His face horribly scarred, he retreats to his mountain top mansion—until a stubborn social worker asks for a Christmas wish to help a sick child. He never expects to fall for the spitfire, do-gooder, but when she offers love as the solution, can he let go of the past? When Josephine convinces Noah to host a Winter Carnival, she’s intrigued by the fascinating man hiding a bruised heart. But will her love be enough for him to take a chance on a brand new future?
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Michel’s Review
Holiday Heat: The Men of Starlight Bend has five delightful holiday romances. The release timing was perfect to get readers in the holiday spirit and to showcase all the goodness of the human spirit. These past few weeks have been very disheartening. We have witnessed an ugly side of humanity because of political differences. This collection of holiday novellas is a testament of all the positive traits in mankind. The spirit of giving, sharing, and compassion is the theme. These themes should be remembered throughout the year rather than only at the holiday season. It was a purely delightful reading experience.
Five authors penned holiday stories about the residents of the small town Starlight Bend. A local sporting store has a Christmas Wish Tree where residents can select a paper ornament and fulfill a wish for a child in need. The recipients of the wish tree are not the only ones receiving a special gift. The adults are also going to receive the gift of love and the opportunity of second chances.
Each author wrote a heartwarming story that stood uniquely on it’s own. The stories also brought a sense of community. Each story had a different theme. Second chance romance, a hardened cowboy, a damaged and scarred man that lost his faith in humanity, and life choices that could change their world. The one common factor is the power of love.
I enjoyed each and every story and could not pick a favorite. Holiday Heat: The Men of Starlight Bend is the perfect way to start the holiday season. Each story is novella length and can be read in a short amount of time. It’s perfect for the busiest time of year.
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READ AN EXCERPT FROM EACH TITLE IN THE SET
SNOWBOUND IN STARLIGHT BEND by Jennifer Ashley
Hands.
Two huge hands covered with leather landed on her driver’s side window. Haley stared in frozen shock as they slowly slid down the glass.
They were a giant’s hands, likely belonging to whatever crazy man lived in the middle of nowhere alone, waiting for city girls like her to blunder into snow banks. He’d haul her out of the car and drag her into this silent landscape, never to be seen again.
The hands returned to scrape off another layer of snow. Then a head, covered except for its eyeballs, bent to peer inside her car. Haley shrieked.
The gloves dragged a wool scarf away from the man’s nose and mouth, and his words came to her through the thick glass.
“What the hell are you screaming for?”
Haley’s cry died away. The man who looked through the cleared snow had a hard face tanned from sun and wind, and very blue eyes. He had dark hair and was far younger than the madman she’d expected, his features attractive in an outdoorsy way.
He looked nothing like a crazed reclusive killer who trapped young women. But then, what did Haley know? She’d never met a crazed reclusive killer before.
She sat up in her seat, pushing her hair back from her face. “Who are you?”
The man grinned, which lit up his eyes and made him all kinds of handsome.
“Your rescuer, honey.”
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THE LONG GONE GIRL OF STARLIGHT BEND by Erin Quinn
Afraid if she sat down she’d never stand up again, Kari took the break, hoping a caffeine pick-me-up would get her through the rest of the night. She was filling up the coffee pot when she felt him behind her. Big, warm, and smelling so good she almost groaned.
His hands slid up her hips, one slipping down, over her belly to cup her sex, the other moving high to her breast.
“Ty,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”
He pressed his hips into her, letting her feel the hard length of him. Letting her work out what he was doing on her own.
“We can’t. Simone might….”
He pressed again, a slow grind that spoke to every neglected nerve in her body. God, she’d missed him. It had only been three days since she’d seem him, but it felt like forever.
Slowly, she turned in his arms, her gaze finding his as he shifted his hands, keeping her in his grasp. He stared down at her with hooded eyes but she saw the fires burning there, the edge of need that was as sharp as a blade.
Silently, he inched the hem of her skirt up her thighs, then slipped his hands under, against her skin. She loved his hands—they were big, like everything about him, and roughened. Man’s hands. All over her.
His thumbs hooked in her panties and began working them down. Right there, in the tiny back room kitchen while Blue Christmas played in the store.
“Ty—”
“Shhhhh,” he said against her lips.
And she shushed. Because now his fingers were inside her and the ability to speak . . . think . . . breathe . . . it was all too difficult. She didn’t protest when he lifted her, spun around and set her on the table. Her fingers were there first when he reached for his fly, working the buttons free, finding him ready, satin over steel. The moan in her throat was primal and it sparked an already smoldering fire.
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HIS ANGEL OF STARLIGHT BEND by Calista Fox
Her long blond hair was pulled up in sexy disarray that left curls tumbling to her nape and loose, silky tendrils at her temples and neck. Her grayish-hazel irises were enhanced by smoky eyeshadow. She had perfectly sculpted brows and high cheekbones that usually held a bronze glow but which had flushed from the brisk weather—or the sight of him.
Nick’s gaze fell to her mouth. To the glossy lips he’d give his entire fortune to kiss again.
Anna Voss was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. Would ever know.
Standing mere inches from her did crazy-wicked things to him. Gut-clenching, groin-tightening things. So, too, did her feisty nature.
She folded her arms over her chest. In the velvety voice that had haunted him for well over a decade, she quietly demanded, “Speak, Nick.”
She was pissed. He could see it in her eyes.
That ratcheted his internal heat. She had a fiery temper. It made him even hotter for her.
“Give me a minute to catch my breath, honey.”
Anna gaped.
“What the hell did you expect?” he asked in a low, intimate tone that had excitement flaring in her eyes.
“I take one look at you and you knock the wind right out of me.” He stepped closer to her as he yanked off one of his black leather gloves and swept his fingers along her jaw. “Jesus. You are so damn pretty.”
“Nick.”
“I didn’t think you could possibly be more sensational than in my memory. The image I’ve always had of you tangled in my sheets, your hair spilling over the pillow, a bewitching smile on your face. The most alluring angel to ever grace this earth.”
“I was anything but angelic when I was in your bed.”
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ROPIN’ THE LONE COWBOY OF STARLIGHT BEND by Mary Leo
“You never said anything about building fences,” Jolie said, her voice almost a whisper.
He turned to face her. “No fences. I promise. Cleaning out horse stalls, and fixing a broken gate, well, that’s more like it.”
She grinned, but he could tell she felt completely out of her element. He wanted to tell her to forget about all of this, and just go on back with Riley. There was no need for her to barter anything, when she said, “Why? Don’t you think I could handle a fence pole? I’ll have you know that I can lift a fifty pound weight without even a grunt.”
And there it was, that determined attitude of hers that had captured his imagination. The deer in the headlights look was gone, replaced by a set jaw and eyes that squinted out their message: I am woman. I can do anything.
“So what you’re saying is you’re up to some heavy lifting today?”
She took a step closer, looking him dead in the eyes. “I’m saying I’m up for whatever you’ve got, Red Wiseman. Bring it on. I’m ready.”
“Then I shouldn’t hold back?” He moved in closer and caught a whiff of her perfume or was it her body wash?
That vision of her standing naked in the shower was enough to bring him to his knees, but he stood his ground.
“I’d be disappointed if you did.”
She smelled of lilacs and honey with a whole lot of fortitude.
“Believe me, I’m never a disappointment.”
“You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Just telling it like it is.”
She held his gaze, but he spotted the tiniest of grins in the corners of her mouth that gave away her inner sexy thoughts.
If they were anything like his thoughts, the entire porch would ignite at any moment.
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THE GRINCH OF STARLIGHT BEND by Jennifer Probst
“What about your bedroom?”
It was a bold question coming from her sweet innocent voice. Heat blistered through his body. Reaching out, he tipped her chin up. “No.”
“Why?”
“It’s a lonely place.” His admission was as bold as her question. How was she able to wrest such raw honesty from his very tormented soul? She took a step forward, their bodies separated only by an inch filled with heat. His nostrils flared as he caught her feminine scent. “Are you playing games with me, Josephine?”
She held his gaze. Her brown eyes never wavered. Her tone filled with a confidence that he knew took courage for a woman who spent her time helping people, not putting her needs, or anything else about herself first. “I don’t know how to play games.”
He brushed her lips with his fingers. Dewy soft, just as he thought. Her breath rushed out and he fought a shudder. “What is it you want? To save me like the children?. A sympathy project, perhaps?”
Her gaze narrowed just a tad. “You’re nobody’s project, Noah. I don’t want to save you. I certainly don’t pity you. I just…want.”
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
JENNIFER ASHLEY
ERIN QUINN
CALISTA FOX
MARY LEO
JENNIFER PROBST
Michel’s Review
Saucy Southern Readers 