Month: January 2015

Prologue Reveal – UNDENIABLE LOVE by Kelly Elliott

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Tristan Williams thought the path of his life was on the right journey. He had a successful career, good looks, and a carefree lifestyle. One conversation changed Tristan’s way of thinking forever as his father presented him with a bottle, representing his journey and forcing unwanted thoughts of a lasting relationship to the surface. Running from the fear of commitment, he pushed away the only woman he ever had feelings for and turned to the one girl he knew he didn’t love.
Ryn Webster was finally putting her past behind her. Moving to Texas and concentrating on the success of her own company, she had her life almost where she wanted it. One thing was missing though…love. She thought she had found love with Tristan until he casted her aside.
After being hurt by Tristan, Ryn does whatever she can to push him from her heart, even if it means being with a man she doesn’t love.
Regardless of the path one thinks they are on, the journey of life can cause unexpected turns, altering the planned course. Will Tristan and Ryn’s bottle be tossed about, lost in the rocky waves of life? Or will calm seas prevail to help Tristan and Ryn finally find their journey of love…together?
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PROLOGUE
I had been sitting on the beach for the last hour just staring out at the black ocean. I tipped the beer bottle back and drank the last of my beer.
“Well hell. Looks like I have to go back,” I said as I got up and brushed the sand off my pants. I turned and looked back at the house. My brother Lark and his new wife, Azurdee had left two hours ago for their honeymoon and I couldn’t take watching Ryn another second.
I sucked in a deep breath of salty air and slowly let it out. My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket. I let out a deep breath when I saw it was Liberty.
Liberty: Just letting you know I’m thinking about you. If you want me to join you I’ll come down. Just text me back and I’ll be there.

Me: I think I just need some time to think, Liberty. We need this time apart.

Liberty: I didn’t mean to push you. I’m always pushing you, I know. I just really wanted to see your parents and would have loved to have seen the wedding but I understand you have your reasons for going alone. Things haven’t been so great with us lately. I’ll work on that. Promise.

Me: We’ll talk when I get back to Austin.

Liberty: Okay. I love you, Tristan.

 

I let out a sigh and shook my head. I’ve never told Liberty I loved her. I wasn’t sure anymore how I felt about her. We had been on again and off again so many times I was beginning to lose count. Currently, we were off. All she had been doing is pushing an engagement ever since she found out Lark and Azurdee were getting married. When I thought of my future I didn’t see Liberty. I only saw …Ryn. And that scared the piss out of me.
I turned my phone to silent and shoved it in my pocket. I started heading back to the house and began putting on my game face. The one I’d been wearing for the last ten months. The one where everyone thought I was happy, but deep down inside I was the unhappiest I’d ever been in my life.
I walked up the stairs to the deck and the first person I saw was Ryn. She was leaning against the railing with her head back and her eyes closed. There was no one else out here.
She looked tired. I smiled when I thought about what I had overheard earlier when Mom and Azurdee’s best friend, Jessie, were talking. Ryn had taken a two-week vacation and was renting a house on the beach just two houses down from here. I already began planning ways to ‘run in to her’ while we were both here.
She hadn’t talked to me in over ten months. No matter how many times I called and left her messages begging her to call me, she never would.
Her cell phone rang and she quickly answered it. I walked around to the other side of the deck and sat down to where she couldn’t see me.
“Hey, Dodge. Are you on your way? Yes. I thought I could, but I can’t. I need you.”
Dodge? Who the fuck is Dodge?
She laughed at something he said and then she let out a sigh. “Well, considering I still need my RFB, I’d say yes … it’s been a sucky last three days.”
I peeked around the corner and saw her smiling. She reached her hand up and began playing with her nipple.
What the fuck?
“That sounds like heaven. Yes. I’m going to need it a lot. I don’t know, you’d think after all this time you’d have been able to fuck him out of my head and heart.  Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are?”
My mouth dropped open and I quickly turned back and stared out in the night sky.
She laughed again and said, “I’m still at the wedding. Yes. It was hard to see him.  I don’t know. Maybe, I’ve thought about that. Yes. I realize I only use you for sex to forget about Tristan, but maybe I’m falling for you and just want your company. You ever think of that?”
My heart started beating faster and I wanted to pound this asshole’s head in.
She let out a sigh and said, “Okay. I’ll see you then. Oh trust me. I’ll be waiting and I will most certainly be ready for you. Yes naked. Hey, Dodge? Hurry please. I need to be fucked in a bad way. Bye.”
She let out a sigh and then I swore I heard her crying. I slowly stood. She was looking out toward the ocean. Her shoulders were moving up and down and when I saw her wipe away her tears, my knees about buckled out from underneath me.
I started making my way toward her. I didn’t want to walk up on her crying, so I cleared my throat and asked, “May I join you?”
She quickly wiped her tears away and looked the other way. “It’s your house,” she whispered. “How have you been, Ryn?” She turned and looked at me. If looks could kill, I’d be on the floor right now. “You’ve ignored me for three days and now you ask how I’ve been?”
I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I wasn’t sure you wanted to talk to me.” She let out a small laugh.
“Usually people attempt to talk to a person before they make that assumption.”
“Well, considering I’ve been calling you for months, and you ignore my calls—” She took a step back and shook her head.
A look of hurt moved across Ryn’s face as she slowly said, “You’re seeing … another … girl.”
“It’s not like that. We are kind of off and on. I mean … I’m not seeing her right now.” She rolled her eyes before looking into mine.
“Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?”
My heart felt like it was physically hurting as I swallowed and said, “I just thought … I wasn’t planning on—” I looked away and then back into her eyes.  “I thought you just wanted to have fun, Ryn. Then you started acting different and I started having these feelings and … I was confused.”
Anger replaced the hurt in her eyes. “The only thing that confused you is why you brought the wrong girl to meet mom and dad.”
She turned and began walking into the house. I wanted to call out for her but I couldn’t. My heart felt like it was squeezing in my chest as I stood there and listened to her retreating footsteps.
I turned and stared out at the dark ocean again. That’s what my heart felt like.
A dark deep sea of … darkness.

 

 

Kelly Elliott is married to a wonderful Texas cowboy who has a knack for making her laugh almost daily and supports her crazy ideas and dreams for some unknown reason…he claims it’s because he loves her!
She’s also a mom to an amazing daughter who is constantly asking for something to eat while her fingers move like mad on her cell phone
sending out what is sure to be another very important text message.  In her spare time she loves to sit in her small corner overlooking the Texas hill country and write.
One of her favorite things to do is go for hikes around her property with Gus….her chocolate lab and the other man in her life, and Rose, her golden retriever. When Kelly is not outside helping the hubby haul brush, move rocks or whatever fun chore he has in store for her that day, you’ll find her inside reading, writing or watching HGTV.
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Blog Tour – LAST HIT: RELOADED by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick

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Nickolai & Daisy’s Story continues…

 

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Blurb

There was a time when Nick loved the fear he instilled in his enemies. His tattoos alone promised danger, but it was the look in his eyes that delivered on it. A contract killer since he was just a boy, Nick has now forged a new life and a new identity with the woman who followed him, captured him, and changed him.

He terrified Daisy. Once. But she couldn’t resist, and she ignored every warning. It paid off. Now she’s part of a new beginning, a fresh start in America helping him to leave behind a reckless and violent past as a professional killer. But the past is never easy to outrun, especially when so much of it thrives on revenge.

A new threat has emerged from the shadows, and now Nick and Daisy have no choice but to rely on Nick’s killer skills to protect them from everything they’ve tried so hard to escape.

 

debbiesreview

I absolutely loved that we get to revisit Nick and Daisy with Last Hit: Reloaded.  In this lastest, we see that Nick and Daisy are making their life together but are still experiencing some struggles.

Both Nick and Daisy are enrolled at the university and taking classes.  While Nick is happy to keep his social circle of one, Daisy longs to make friends.

We are introduced to a couple of new characters when danger plays out.  Clare and Frederick do a stellar job teasing us with McFadden’s character…I wan’t to know more.

I’m looking forward to the next installment in the Hitmen series…bring on Last Kiss.

RatingSystem-4 TravelsnReads-Divider

 Hitman Series Reading Order

 Last Hit (bk 1)

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Last Breath (bk 2)

Amazon US  **  Amazon UK  **   Barnes & Noble  **  Kobo  **  iBooks

Last Kiss (bk 3)

Amazon US  **   Amazon UK  **   Barnes & Noble  **  Kobo  **  iBooks

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

 

jen frederick bioJen Frederick lives with her husband, child, and one rambunctious dog.  She’s been reading stories all her life but never imagined writing one of her own. Jen loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at jensfrederick@gmail.com.

Website   ***   Facebook   ***   Twitter   ***   Goodreads

 

 

jessica clare bioAuthor Jessica Claire

This is a pen name for Jill Myles.

Jill Myles has been an incurable romantic since childhood. She reads all the ‘naughty parts’ of books first, looks for a dirty joke in just about everything, and thinks to this day that the Little House on the Prairie books should have been steamier.

After devouring hundreds of paperback romances, mythology books, and archaeological tomes, she decided to write a few books of her own – stories with a wild adventure, sharp banter, and lots of super-sexy situations. She prefers her heroes alpha and half-dressed, her heroines witty, and she loves nothing more than watching them overcome adversity to fall into bed together.

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Amazing Journey with THE GROWN UPS by Robin Antalek

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THE GROWN UPS

 The Grown Ups

A Novel

By: Robin Antalek

Releasing January 27th, 2015

William Morrow

 abouthebook

From Robin Antalek, author of The Summer We Fell Apart, comes an evocative and emotionally resonant coming-of-age novel involving three friends who explore what it means to be happy, what it means to grow up, and the difficulties in doing both together. Spanning over a decade, and told in alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores the indelible bonds between friends and family and the challenges that threaten to divide them. It is the addictive and moving story of these old friends who wind up confronting their past in order to find happiness in their adult lives that make this novel an anticipated winter release.

Sam Turner, the summer he turns 15, feels lucky enough to enjoy the unexpected attention of his friend Suzie Epstein, even though it’s only a few secret months. For reasons Sam doesn’t entirely understand—and will never question—the budding relationship is kept hidden from their close circle of friends. But before their summer tans can even start to fade, Sam’s world unexpectedly shatters twice: Suzie’s parents are moving away to save their marriage, and his own mother has suddenly left the house, leaving Sam’s father alone to raise two sons.

Watching as her parents’ marital troubles escalate, Suzie Epstein takes on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers while simultaneously planning an early escape to college to seek independence. Though she occasionally thinks of Sam, it’s her oldest friend Bella Spade she finds herself missing. Embarrassed by the destructive wake of her parents as they left the only place Suzie could call home, Suzie makes no attempt to reconnect with the one person she needs. Its years later that a chance meeting with Sam’s older brother Michael will reunite her with both Sam and Bella—finally forcing her to confront her friends, her past and what she left behind.

After losing Suzie, Bella surprisingly finds her first real love in Sam. But his inability to commit to her or even his own future eventually drives them apart. Watching Suzie and Michael as they seem to have worked it all out, Bella’s only to wonder where she went wrong and how to make it right.

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excerpt

Mrs. Spade died in the winter of their junior year of college and they all returned home for the funeral.

Bella had called from Vassar to tell Sam. He’d picked up the phone and heard his name and then nothing, just a rush of air across the wires followed by what sounded like a far away howling.  Bella and Sam had continued, despite distance and any real commitment, to find their way back to each other.  She surprised him first at school, showing up at his door, and they had fallen back onto his twin mattress as if they were starving.   It felt exotic, somehow, to be in a place where no one knew them as a couple. To hold hands as they shared crummy food off Sam’s meal ticket at the dining hall, to drink dollar pitchers at The Rat, to wake up next to each other and have sex without talking, like they had the map of what they liked inked indelibly in their brains.  By the time Sam’s roommate returned from his girlfriend’s place, the weekend ended, the buzz would wear off, and Sam would think they wouldn’t do it again.  Until one of them showed up on the doorstep of the other’s room and it started up all over again.  Sam thought this thing with Bella was casual, comfortable. They had never labeled what they were or talked about where it was going. He thought that was what they both wanted. Or maybe they were just too scared to bring it up.  Sam liked things the way they were until something like this happened, and he had no idea how to act or what they meant to each other.

 

debbiesreview

Robin Antalek has given me a new favorite with The Grown Ups. I was initially intrigued with a story that was going to span the teen years to adulthood of Sam, Suzie and Bella. I can honestly say that the portrayal of all the real life issues and struggles had me experiencing a gamut of emotions. The reader gets a story full of characters that we see grow as they deal with relatable struggles and challenges that will keep the pages turning. I’ll be on the lookout for future books by Robin Antalek.

RatingSystem-5

 

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aboutheauthor

ROBIN04CURobin Antalek is the author of The Summer We Fell Apart. Her nonfiction writing has been published in literary journals and in several collections, including The Beautiful Anthology; Writing off Script: Writers on the Influence of Cinema; and The Weeklings: Revolution #1 Selected Essays 2012-1013. Her short fiction has appeared in 52 Stories, Five Chapters, Sun Dog, The Southeast Review, and Literary Mama among others. She lives in Saratoga Springs, New York.

 

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Cover Reveal – LOSING AT LOVE by Jennifer Iacopelli

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Today we’re having a cover reveal for Jennifer Iacopelli’s Losing at Love. And—bonus points!!—we’re also revealing the new redesign for the first book in the series, Game. Set. Match. Jennifer is sharing an excerpt from Losing at Love, as well as a giveaway, so be sure to check it all out.

 

Title: Losing at Love

Author: Jennifer Iacopelli

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Day: February 24th

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book1-publicity-front

Excerpt:

Stepping into the sunshine, Indy shouldered her bag and turned towards the OBX library, her mind running through the assignments she still had to complete when a shadow crossed over her path, a large body falling into step with her, close, but not touching, their strides matching.

“Jack,” she said, glancing up at him sideways, a small smile threatening at the corner of her mouth.

“Indiana,” he said, echoing back her name, sending a shiver down her spine. He was the only one allowed to call her that, the only person who made the name she’d hated since forever sound friggin’ good.

They walked together without another word, turning the corner that separated the courts from the residential area of the complex, but her stride was suddenly cut off when Jack shuffled his feet, sliding his arm around her waist and pulled her into a shady walkway between buildings. Her bag slid off her shoulder, but he caught it before it crashed to the ground and smashed her laptop to smithereens. He let it settle on the ground gently before leaning over her, forcing her to step back into the wall.

Walls were their thing. Their first kiss had been against a wall in a random hallway at Roland Garros, their second pressed against the wall of their hotel in Paris and now that they were back in North Carolina, they found any excuse to push each other against a wall and kiss until they were gasping for air and their bodies begged for relief. Jack’s lips trailed from her temple, using the wall behind her as an anchor before bending his head to hers. Pushing up onto her toes, Indy met him halfway. She’d never been so grateful for every millimeter of her five feet ten inches as she was when she was kissing Jack. His hands slid through her hair, twisting it around his fingers, then cradling the back of her head, drawing her mouth more firmly against his. Indy brought her hands to his torso, gripping his t-shirt, letting her palms press against the cut of muscle that disappeared into his cargo shorts. The skin on skin contact made his breath hitch, his mouth opening just enough to allow her tongue to slide in, deepening the kiss, before letting her teeth nip at his bottom lip. A groan rumbled in his throat as he stumbled forward, pressing his body full length against hers. He wrenched his lips from hers, trailing his mouth over the line of her jaw to the spot just behind her ear. It was her turn to gasp and her head fell back as she arched into him. No one had ever kissed her there before. Jack smiled against her skin as her fingertips dug into his sides and she let a moan slip free as he focused his attention on that spot, scraping his teeth against it then soothing that small pain with a flick of his tongue. Her hands scrambled to get purchase against his shoulders, desperate for some leverage, anything to help her slide her body against his. Then he was gone, his hand gone from her hair, his mouth gone from her neck and his body inches then feet away. Indy blinked at him, trying to figure out what happened when the voices echoing down the pathway towards them finally reached her ears.

Bending down, he lifted her bag as she ran her fingers through her hair, knowing he’d made an unholy mess of it. “You’re fine,” he muttered, handing her the bag, then keeping the distance between them as a group of junior boys stomped past them, none giving them a second glance.

“You have good ears,” Indy said, biting her lip at the close call. If those boys had seen them, the news would have spread like wildfire through the OBX campus and everyone would have known by the end of the day. She was only seventeen for another few months, but that wasn’t really the problem, seventeen or eighteen wouldn’t matter to other people. She was a young tennis pro, he was an up and coming agent. The last thing either of their careers needed was the heightened publicity of a controversial relationship, even if Jack Harrison was far more of a gentleman than any guy she’d ever met. Sometimes a little too much of a gentleman, truth be told.

Jack shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder again before facing her fully. “I’m sorry about this.”

She reached out and took his hand, “We both agreed,” she said, entwining their fingers together, “it’s just between us for now. It makes sense for the both of us.” Pressing his lips together in a thin line, he nodded, but she knew he wasn’t entirely convinced. “Jack, we talked about this. You said you were okay with it.”

“I just wish it were different,” he said, tugging her closer, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. His hands released hers and dropped to her hips, the edges of his thumbs brushing against her hipbones in slow circles sending shivers over her skin.

“Me too.” She wanted to scream it from the rooftops that this amazing guy was hers. That he had deep green eyes and a smile that brightened them whenever he looked at her. That he was brilliant in ways that she couldn’t even fathom with his degree from Harvard. That he’d fought their attraction for so long because of that ingrained sense of honor, like one of those heroes in a fairy tale, except Jack was real, flesh and blood.

“Have you thought…maybe we should tell Penny?” Indy asked, her fingertips landing on his forearms, gently stroking up to his elbows and back down to his wrists.

Jack let out a heavy breath. “Penny has a lot on her plate right now.”

“I know, I just feel funny keeping it from her. Jasmine knows.”

“We’ll do whatever you want to do. This is your show, baby.”

“I don’t need a supportive…” she hesitated, almost using the word boyfriend, but that didn’t really fit, did it? Not if they were keeping it a secret, “I need honest Jack.”

He leaned back, looking her in the eye. “Honest? Honestly, my sister doesn’t do well with change. It freaks her out and right now, I’m not sure that the idea of you and me will go over that well. On the other hand, if we don’t tell her and she finds out?”

“She’ll be pissed.”

“Yep.”

“Maybe we wait a little longer. We could tell her in London?”

Jack nodded, “Face to face instead of over the phone.”

“There’s always Skype,” she said, not really sure if she wanted to know what Penny, the only girl who’d made an effort to befriend her when she first arrived at OBX, would think if she found out she and Jack were together.

“There’s that.”

Indy shook her head. They should do it in person. They should have done it before they left Paris, but Penny had been so devastated by withdrawing from the tournament that it hadn’t felt like the right time then either. “In London. We’ll be there in less than a week. We’ll tell her then.”

“Okay, in London.” They stood there for a moment, just breathing each other in until Jack leaned away. “I’ve gotta go. I have a meeting with a potential new client this afternoon and I’ve got to prep.”

Indy snorted a laugh. “Right, like you don’t already have a complete profile worked up along with potential sponsors to contact if they sign.”

“You know me so well,” he said, leaning around the building, checking the pathway for any more unwanted spectators. “I’ll go this way.”

Indy nodded back in the opposite direction. “And I’ll go that way.”

With a bow, he was gone, around the corner and out of sight, so she turned and adjusted her bag over her shoulder, heading out from between the buildings and towards the library. She’d have about half the time to get her Calc done than she originally planned. Fingertips pressing against that spot on her neck lightly recalling the feel of his mouth and the way her entire body was lit on fire by his touch, it was totally worth it.

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” a voice rang out from just a few steps behind her, the French accent giving its owner away, if the superiority and condescension weren’t enough of a clue. Indy spun around and came face to face with her agent, tall, blonde, perfectly put together in a silk blouse and linen skirt, somehow looking completely cool and calm despite the blaze of the sun. She was in town before they all left for England, mostly to go over her plans for Indy’s future off the court.

A denial formed on Indy’s tongue, but she knew it was useless. Caroline had seen them and it probably just confirmed what she’d suspected for a while. Her agent was damn good at her job and it wasn’t like she and Jack had been super careful about keeping private moments behind closed doors. “Good idea or not, it’s none of your business.”

Raising her eyes to the sky and shaking her head Caroline said, “You are my business, Indiana.”

“How many times do I have to say it? Don’t call me that, and my tennis is your business,” Indy corrected. “Keep your nose out of everything else.”

“It is not that simple,” Caroline insisted, her voice inching up in pitch.

“It really is.” She turned on her toe and walked away, wanting to look back, hoping that Caroline’s brow was furrowed and her hands were on her hips, lips pursed in aggravation. But looking back would ruin the moment because despite getting in the last word, Caroline now had the upper hand and it was only a matter of time before she used it to her advantage.

 

About Losing at Love:
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Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning. Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well. When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell. For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams?

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To celebrate the cover reveal, Game. Set. Match. is on sale for .99!!

About Game. Set. Match.:
book1-publicity-full
Nestled along the North Carolina coast, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the world’s most elite training facility. In this pressure-cooker environment, futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant. Penny Harrison, a rising female star, is determined to win the French Open and beat her archrival, Zina Lutrova. But when her coach imports British bad boy Alex Russell as her new training partner, will Penny be able to keep her laser-like focus? Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. The daughter of two Grand Slam champions, she’s hell-bent on extending her family’s legacy and writing her own happily-ever-after…until her chosen Prince Charming gives her the just-friends speech right before the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic. With a powerful serve and killer forehand, newcomer Indiana Gaffney is turning heads. She’s thrilled by all of the attention, especially from Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and hot older brother, except he keeps backing off every time things start heating up. With so much at stake, dreams—and hearts—are bound to break. Welcome to OBX: Where LOVE is a four-letter word, on and off the court.

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About Jennifer Iacopelli:

Screen Shot 2014-08-07 at 3.09.39 PMJennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave…ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor’s degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master’s in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

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Cover Reveal – MAYBE ME by Amber Hart

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We’re so excited to reveal the cover for MAYBE ME by Amber Hart! Maybe Me releases this fall from Kensington Teen!

 

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About MAYBE ME:

A sliver of a second is all it takes.

Maria Reyes knows what it means to come from nothing. Escaping Cuba, the States have given Maria new dreams. Like graduating high school. Going to college. Making something of herself. Forgetting a past that always seems to creep up on her family. But mostly, staying out of trouble. Which is why falling for Hale is out of the question.

An unguarded moment, a simple mistake.

Hale Watson is a flash of a second away from being locked up for good. With a rap sheet longer than the list of homes he comes from, Hale has one more shot at making things right. Graduate senior year. Don’t mess up. Don’t get caught. That’s the plan. Until he meets Maria.

And everything changes.

Add MAYBE ME to Goodreads here! You can also preorder it below (more retailers coming soon)!

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MAYBE ME is the third book in the Before & After series, but it can be read as a standalone! You can find out more about BEFORE YOU and AFTER US here!

About Amber Hart

Amber Hart grew up in Orlando, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. She now resides on the Florida coastline with family. When unable to find a book, she can be found writing, daydreaming, or with her toes in the sand. She’s the author of the Before & After series (BEFORE YOU; AFTER US; MAYBE ME), and the Until You Find Me series (UNTIL YOU FIND ME; CAPTURED BY YOU). Rep’d by Beth Miller of Writers House.

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New Release – RISE by Karina Bliss

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NEW RELEASE

Rise-KarinaBliss-1600x2400

 

Adult Contemporary Rockstar Romance

Release: January 28, 2015

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“You have the ability to make controversial characters sympathetic. Maybe I just want to be understood.”

Acclaimed literary biographer Elizabeth Winston writes about long-dead heroes. So bad boy rock icon Zander Freedman couldn’t possibly tempt her to write his memoir. Except the man is a mass of fascinating contradictions – manipulative, honest, gifted, charismatic, morally ambiguous.

In short, everything she sought in a biography subject. When in her life will she get another chance to work with a living legend? But saying yes to one temptation soon leads to another.

Suddenly she’s having heated fantasies about her subject, fantasies this blue-eyed-devil is only too willing to stoke. She’d thought self-control was in her DNA, after all she grew up a minister’s daughter. She thought wrong.

Outside your comfort zone is the only place worth living…

Zander Freedman has been an outlier – many would say an outcast – for most of his life. But there’s no disaster he can’t overcome, from the break-up of his band to the fall-out on his reputation. His Resurrection Tour is shaping up to be his greatest triumph – if his golden voice holds out. Contracting a respected biographer is simply about creating more buzz; Elizabeth’s integrity the key to consolidating his legacy as one of rock’s greats.

All the damn woman has to do is write down what he tells her. Not make him think.

Or encourage the good guy struggling to get out. And certainly not to fall in love for the first time in his life.

Turns out he is scared of something – being known.

Rise – a redemption story of a rock star going straight(er) through the love of a good(ish) woman.

Add to your Goodreads list!

 

Why are rock stars so popular with readers?

By Karina Bliss

 Oh sure, they’re sexy, rich and famous but so are a lot of other fictional romance heroes. Here are four traits that distinguish rock stars from other bad-boy heroes:

 

  1. They’re musically gifted, which means they’re creative, playful, pre-disposed to sensitivity and have a sense of rhythm. Useful to our heroine in all sorts of ways…

 

  1. They don’t have to be alphas. The band dynamics throw up opportunities to write the artistically-sensitive beta. Not every hero has to be a showman, (though the hero of Rise, Zander Freedman, definitely is!). But because of their musical temperament, even the alpha rockers are more emotionally expressive than other hero types like your warrior or chief.

 

  1. They’re unobtainable. Every woman wants them but only one – the heroine – can win their heart.

 

  1. They’re born rebels. Musicians are genetically pre-disposed to being self-determining, stubborn and interesting individuals because they choose the road less traveled.

Do you agree or do you believe rock stars are the self-indulgent, depraved egotists my heroine expects Zander to be? Enter the Release Giveaway and go into the draw for an e-book of Rise.

 

About the Author

New Zealander Karina Bliss’s debut, Mr Imperfect, won a Romantic Book of the Year award in Australia, the first of eleven books published through Harlequin SuperRomance. Her most recent release, A Prior Engagement, was a Desert Island Keeper at likesbooks.com. Her next release, Rise, is a single title, self-published contemporary which continues the story of Zander Freedman, who first appeared as a villain inKarina’s bestselling title, What the Librarian Did – a book that made DearAuthor’s Best of the Year list in 2010.Two of Karina’s books have also featured in Sizzling Book Chats at SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.

Find out more at www.karinabliss.com

 

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Cover Reveal – LOVE, LIES AND DECEPTION by L.P. Dover

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Love, Lies and Deception has a brand new sexy cover!
Love Lies Deception-high
What do you do when the one person you thought you knew
turns out to be the one you knew the least?
Twenty-three year old Marissa Chase, and soon to be college
graduate, has everything going for her: wonderful friends, a lucrative degree,
and a chance to explore the world. What made it even better – or so she thought
– was when her path crossed with the alluring Alec Holden. Unable to stay away
from him, Marissa experiences a love like no other, and falls into his world of
passion and intrigue. However, things begin to shift when this path takes a
deadly turn.
Her trust is put to the test when hidden dangers unfold
before her, revealing secrets that have been buried for years. Secrets that
were meant to stay hidden. Murder, lies, and betrayal … will Marissa figure it
all out in time and escape with her life intact, or will she be too late and
fall into the trap of deception?
AMAZON Barnes & Noble SMASHWORDS

 

 

EXCERPT
Bending low, he continued his torturous teasing by breathing across my neck. My eyes fluttered closed as his lips connected with the tender flesh at my collarbone. I shivered as the chill bumps fanned across my skin and made me weak. His voice in my ear immediately counteracted the chills. “If you want to call this dating, then I think that usually requires a little bit of touching, does it not?”
My breathing accelerated as Alec’s body grew flush with mine, leaning dangerously against me. He tilted my head back slightly so I had to look into his face. Slowly, I placed my hands on his hips, and instead of
touching the waist of his jeans I was met with the bare skin of his body where his shirt had lifted up.
Holy shit, his skin felt hot! I could feel the ridges on his sides where they disappeared beneath his jeans, and I wanted nothing more than to trail my tongue down the contours of his muscles.
With hooded eyes, and a raspy, breathless voice, I replied, “I’m sure it’s customary to withstand some touching, but not too much since I don’t know you very well.” I said it, but my body didn’t really mean it, and he could tell I was lying to myself.
Slowly, he brought his hand to my face and trailed one of his long, lithe fingers over my cheek and down my neck. “Like this,” he insisted, swirling his finger around my neck. “Is this the kind of touching
we’re allowed to do?” Chill bumps exploded across my skin, making me shiver.
“Yes,” I breathed, relishing in the feel of his touch. “Just like that.”
Closing my eyes, I sighed as he trailed his finger further down, stopping at my navel. The heat of his breath fanned across my face as I felt him dipping lower. I didn’t dare open my eyes and risk breaking the connection, but I wanted to see the heat in his gaze. Ever so slowly, his mouth connected with mine, soft and confident. He lingered for a moment, not moving, just his lips touched lightly to mine.
I wanted more … a lot more.

USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries. Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can’t forget the passion for singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols.

Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over nine novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, and her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.

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Sale – Beauty Series Bundle by Georgia Cates

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The New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal
Best-selling Beauty Series is now available in a single volume.
BEAUTY FROM PAIN: Aussie winemaker Jack McLachlan and
American musician Laurelyn Prescott agree to a three month relationship while
keeping their true identities secret.
BEAUTY FROM SURRENDER: A heartbroken Laurelyn Prescott
returns to Nashville to pursue her music career and finds the success she’s
always dreamed of. Jack Henry McLachlan spends three months searching for his
beloved but their reunion doesn’t come easy. Will she be able to see beyond the
glitz glamour and visualize a life that includes him?

 

BEAUTY FROM LOVE: Life for Jack Henry and Laurelyn is
beautiful until their post-wedded bliss is cut short when his dark past springs
into their present happiness. He wants to shelter Laurelyn but keeping her
untainted by his previous life proves impossible when yesterday’s sins insist
on returning to haunt him. Will it be possible for them to find happiness in
their forever with a past like his?
AMAZON

 

Beauty from Pain Excerpt
Jack McLachlan’s POV
I sit in the dark corner and scan the room like a starved predator searching for prey. I haven’t chosen her yet, but the woman who will share my bed for the next few months is in this room right now.
I watch a lovely blond approach my table. “What can I bring you?” Hmm. A waitress—not at all my usual taste.
I have a type. Attractive. Mature. Refined. This barmaid meets the attractive requirement well enough, but she’s void of refinement or maturity as displayed by her choice of apparel—a white, barely there tank top and frazzled cutoff denim shorts. She doesn’t do it for me. Plus, my last two companions were
blond. I want a different flavor this time, but no redheads. I want a brunette.  A beautiful one.
I remind myself I’m not in Sydney where I have an endless variety of sophisticated women from which to choose. My choices are more limited in the small town of Wagga Wagga, but that doesn’t mean I have to settle for the first attractive woman I see.
“I’ll have a Shiraz.”
I’m prepared for a more prolonged relationship this time—three whole months instead of the usual
three or four weeks. I’m looking forward to keeping this one around a little longer, and that’s all the more reason to be certain I make a wise choice.
I begin my search of the club with the first table toward the front of the room. A brunette beauty sits with a group of women. I watch her for a while, but decide she’s too friendly with the woman sitting next to her. Lesbians aren’t in my repertoire.
I spend the next hour scanning the club and come up empty-handed. I’m discouraged. No one stands out as the one and this club is by far my best bet for meeting single women in this town. Maybe I should consider coming back another time when it’s not open mic night. Tonight, the place is crawling with boozed college students.
Tonight’s search has been a failure, but at least the karaoke was entertaining.
I’m finishing off the last of my wine before I leave when an announcer from the club takes the stage and asks for the next singer to step forward. A small group of people across the room nominates one of its own. My view of the poor bastard is blocked by the crowd of intoxicated kids standing between us, but
I’m certain this is going to be another delightful train wreck.
The club erupts into cheer and chants. “Do. It. Do. It. Do. It.” A young woman walks onto the stage and stands with her back to the crowd as she lifts a guitar from its stand. She lifts its strap over her head and then tosses her long brown hair over one shoulder. When she’s finished settling the guitar into place, she
circles around and sits on the stool in the middle of the stage.
She’s beautiful. And somehow overlooked during my search.
She’s wearing a short ivory dress and a denim jacket with brown cowgirl boots. She bares her thighs as she lifts her feet to rest on the bottom rail, but she’s careful to push her dress between her legs so she doesn’t provide a peep show to the crowd.
She strums the borrowed guitar a few times and then leans into the microphone. “Is everyone having a good time tonight?”
She’s American. I think. Her accent sounds different—not like what I’ve heard in the past.
The crowd erupts into a drunken cheer and I hear a man’s voice yell over the crowd, “It’s better now, sweet thing!”
 
She smiles and adjusts the mic. “I’m not from around here. It’s my first night in Australia.”
“Leave with me and I’ll make you feel right at home!” a man shouts from the back of the room.
She ignores the fat, ugly bastard yelling at her. “I don’t know what kind of music Australians like, but this has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember.” She strums a few more chords. “This is ‘Crash Into Me’ by the Dave Matthews Band.”
She sings it slower than the original, putting her own twist on it. Her voice is raspy and sexy, her eyes closed. She oozes eroticism. She tilts her head and opens her eyes when she begins to sing the chorus. I swear it feels like she’s looking right in my direction, singing to me. “Oh, and you come craasshh … into me. And I come into … you … And I come into you … in a boy’s dream … in a boy’s dream.”
The stage lights shine in her face and common sense tells me she can’t see me sitting in the dark corner at the back of the club, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping.
She finishes the chorus and shuts her eyes again. Her long legs bounce against the rail of the stool to keep rhythm and I fall victim to her siren’s song. She has bewitched me. And I want her. She’s the one.
Georgia resides in rural Mississippi with her wonderful husband, Jeff, and their two beautiful daughters. She spent fourteen years as a labor and delivery nurse before she decided to pursue her dream of becoming an
author and hasn’t looked back yet.
When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. When she’s being domestic, she’s listening to her iPod and visualizing scenes for her current work in progress. Every story coming from her always has a song to
inspire it.
Representation: All questions regarding subsidiary rights for any of my books, inquiries regarding foreign translation and film rights should be directed to Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich.
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Release Day – HELL’S INK by Nicole Reed

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Congrats & Happy Release to Nicole Reed!

Hell’s Ink is LIVE!

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hell's ink

Blurb

In this Brotherhood you live or die by the three-piece patch. For Hold Dawson, Vice-President of the Hells Highwaymen Motorcycle Club, it’s not just black ink tattooed on his body, but the religion he worships, and the law that governs his life. Nothing else matters. Family by choice and not by blood. More sacred than a shared name. Bound by respect. Loyal to death.

Unity.  Respect.

Love.   Devotion.

Forever.

But there’s another side to this life. One the President, Hold’s own father, lives and regulates by.

Merciless. Wrathful.

Murderous.    Dishonest.

Lethal.

It’s blood in and blood out and only one man gets to be king.

 

hell's ink teaser 1

 

Excerpt: Meet Hold

He watched her slender artist’s hand caress her taut, tattooed abdomen, instantly jealous that it wasn’t his own blunt fingers that idly drifted across her silky flesh. Her eyes flickered with awareness to where he stood at the end of the bed watching her. It only made his balls draw up tight. His rock-hard erection jutted outward, thick and long. He couldn’t halt his hand from massaging it with slow, steady jerks. His teeth burrowed painfully into his bottom lip. – Hell’s Ink

hell's ink teaser 2

 

Additional Books in this Series

beautiful ink on sale now.

 Beautiful Ink (Book One) by Nicole Reed

ON SALE NOW!!!!

ONLY $0.99

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Author Information

nicole read

Nicole Reed is the New York Times Bestselling Author of Ruining You.  She is a true Southern girl, enjoying life with her husband and three children in the peachy state of Georgia.  As a child, she discovered another world between the pages of a book and that has lead to her dream job as a writer.  In 2012, she self-published her first book Ruining Me, and then followed it with Ruining You, Cake, and Wasted Heart.  Her books have also been listed on the overall Top 100 Amazon and Barnes & Noble Bestselling list.  She is represented by Ginger Clark with Curtis Brown, LTD.

 

Stalk Her: Facebook | Twitter | Email | Website | Goodreads

 

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$50 Gift Card & Prize Pack including: T-shirt, hat & Signed Paperback

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Cover Reveal – SIDELINED by Emma Hart

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RELEASE DAY: MARCH 2, 2015

 

SIDELINED EMMA HART AMAZON KINDLE EBOOK COVER (1)

Three people. Three motives. Three reasons.

When the game leaves the field in the second book in the USA Today bestselling BY HIS GAME series and mixes with sex, lies, and betrayal, the future isn’t the only thing on the line…

 

Macey Kelly has sworn off men. Unless they’re going to zip in and out of her apartment—and her vagina—quicker than they can give her an orgasm, she’s not interested. Finding out her boyfriend of three years got her cousin pregnant was a total confidence knock. Luckily for Macey, confidence is

something she has in abundance, so all Mitch’s asshole move did was make her pretty cynical toward men.

The last thing Jack Carr needs at the start of the season is for a dark-haired, sexy as sin, gyspyesque beauty to be consuming his thoughts. Football is his life, which leaves no time for girls. Unless they’re the love ‘em and leave ‘em girls. Becoming one of the best running backs the league has ever seen by racking up the yards is his top priority… not bedding Macey Kelly, despite her affinity for blow jobs and total sexual abandon.

Avoiding each other is the perfect solution, but when your best friends are in a serious living together kind of relationship, that isn’t always an option. Sometimes, sex on tap is the easiest option. And the sweetest.

Until Mitch shows up with a bombshell that could shatter Macey’s perfectly carved out life. It’s been a year, but he isn’t giving her up, not now he has a chance at winning her back. And he knows her buttons. Every single one of them.

Unfortunately for him, Jack Carr isn’t a loser. The star running back has his eye on the Vince Lombardi—and on Macey. But seeing her hanging between them both isn’t something he’s down with, not when he discovers why she’s so against anything more-ish, as she puts it.Macey quickly realizes she’s the ball being passed between two desperate yet opposing teams, and that only one of them can score the touchdown. But will the winner be the guy she lived with and loved for three years, or will the winner be the guy who understands her and makes her body come alive?

In this game, someone will be sidelined, and calling the play isn’t always as easy as it seems.

 

(SIDELINED is a full-length, standalone novel. It’s not necessary to read BLINDSIDED before this book, but it is advised.)

 ADD TO GOODREADS

 

EXCERPT

“Put the drink down, M,” he whispers. “It’s fucking with you.”

“Really? I thought that was you fucking with me,” I respond, turning to him and pressing a hand against his chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Like, right here. Literally.

“It’s my best friend’s birthday.” He smirks. “Why’ve you been staring at me all night like you wanna suck and bite my cock simultaneously?”

“I assure you it was the latter.”

“Sure it was.” Jack steps into me again, and I grab my glass with the hand closest to him so I don’t grab his ass or something, ‘cause, shit. He’s got a sweet as hell ass.

“It was.” I drink. Again. Where the hell are my girls? “I feel like dancing.” I finish the glass and twist my body away from his.

His hand finally falls from me as I stalk toward and down the stairs. I slip into the moving crowd, but I’ve barely moved my hips when two large, strong hands clasp me and tug me backward. The wall of muscle my back slams into is solid, and I exhale on a whoosh, even as I close my fingers against the ones clasping my hips.

“Nice try, baby,” Jack says into my ear. “Run if you want. I’m a running back. I’ll chase you and catch you every fuckin’ time.”

“Sounds like a promise you can’t keep, doll,” I reply, my breath catching when he moves my hips against his.

“Sounds like a promise you’re afraid of.”

I laugh and shove his hands away from me. I turn to face him. Even in the darkness, his eyes blaze bright green, so fucking bright they’re close to blinding me every time the strobe lighting coasts across his face. And, shit, it does it so many times, and every time, it illuminates every line and curve of his perfectly sculpted jaw.

“You wish, Jack Carr. You fucking wish.”

His hands snatch mine and he pulls me through the crowd. I fight his hold, but his grip is too tight.

My heart pounds as he drags me through the hall with certainty, and in two minutes, I find myself pressed against his goddamn car in the parking lot.

“What the fuck?” I shout, shoving at him.

He grabs my hands once more and pins them over my head, effectively bending me backward on the hood of his SUV. “What the fuck?” he replies, leaning into me, his voice low. “Is that hard or soft, quick or slow, deep or shallow? ‘Cause baby, I can fuck you all six of those ways in one go.”

“None of them,” I snap. “What the fuck, as in, what the fuck, asshole?”

“Oh, that what the fuck.” He bends forward a little more. Until his mouth is against my ear and his hard body is pressed right up against mine. “Maybe it’s the what the fuck I felt when I felt your eyes on me all night. Maybe it’s the what the fuck I felt when you looked at me like you wanted to fuck me one minute, then the next, slice my balls in two. Maybe it’s the what the fuck you’ve got in your eyes while you let me lie my body over yours in a motherfucking parking lot seconds after I ask you how you want to be fucked tonight.”

“I don’t want to be fucked,” I reply, doing my best to slam my hands into his hood. I fail—shit, he’s so fucking strong I can’t even twist my hands in his grip.

“Baby, your body says otherwise.”

“My body is an impulsive fuckwit.”

“Your body knows me.”

“Again, my body is an impulsive fuckwit.”

“You never did say.” He breathes against my jaw and brushes his lips against my skin. “How do you want to be fucked?”

He tilts his face into my neck and kisses. Oh, hell, he kisses my neck, right beneath my jaw, where my chin meets my neck, and I pause. I inhale sharply.

“Get in the goddamn car,” he orders, releasing me.

“Excuse me?” I push up and stare at him.

“Get in the goddamn car,” he repeats, pulling open his door and staring me. “Or have I gotta throw you into it?”

“I am not getting into your car!”

He slams his door shuts and rounds on me. I step backward, but he’s too quick, and he wraps an arm around my waist. My body slams into his yet again as he opens the passenger side door of his SUV and throws me into it.

“Get. In. The. Goddamn. Car.”

“This is kidnap!”

He slams my door, and I both see and hear him laughing as he walks to the driver’s side. “Sure it is, baby. I’m startin’ the engine now, so you got ten seconds to get the hell out before I drive. One…two…”

 

 

 

From Emma Hart, the New York Times bestselling author of the
Game series, comes a brand new series where the game is realer, the tension is
tighter, the sex is hotter, and the stakes are the highest of all…
Two people. Two agendas. Two games.
What happens when the out-there It-Boy of football meets the
secret It-Girl of fashion?
As the daughter of Hollywood’s sweetheart, Leah Veronica
can’t even buy a coffee without finding her face on a magazine stand, so it’s no wonder she’s launching her first fashion line in secret. With it debuting at New York Fashion Week in just under a month, extra time in the spotlight is the last thing she needs.
The son of the best quarterback the league has ever seen, filling legendary shoes as the L.A. Vipers’ quarterback was inevitable for Corey Jackson. So was meeting Leah Veronica—the first girl to hand him his ass without putting a hair out of place.
Getting the handsome, prickly blonde into his bed becomes
his number one goal. But getting the sexy, over-confident footballer the hell away from her becomes Leah’s—at least until she realizes the best way to do that is to give him what he wants.
If only it was that simple.
When Corey discovers who she is, and private photos of Hollywood’s finest find their way online, everything they thought they knew is thrown into disarray.
And when secrets are exposed and hearts are shattered, they have to figure out if they’ve been blindsided by love or reality, and if it’s worth running the extra yard to win the game they never meant to play.
AmazonUS   **   AmazonUK   **   Barnes & Noble   **  iBooks   **   AmazonAU   **  AmazonCA

 

By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies – usually wine – and writes books.

 Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love.

She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.