We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for Larissa Ione’s HADES! HADES is a novella in Larissa’s Demonica Series as part of the 1001 Dark Nights Collection and is exclusively available as Amazon Kindle and Paperback. Grab the latest installment in this sexy series!

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HADES Review & Excerpt Tour

May 22

BBF Book Boyfriends Forever-Excerpt
Books Can Take You There-Review & Excerpt
Collector of Book Boyfriends-Excerpt
Cosying Up With Books-Excerpt
Indy Book Fairy-Review & Excerpt
Read-Love-Blog-Excerpt
When Books Defy Gravity-Excerpt

May 23

BookHounds-Excerpt
BookLovers for Life-Review & Excerpt
Deluged With Books Café-Review & Excerpt
The Book Blog-Review & Excerpt

May 24

Books That Hook-Review & Excerpt
Cocktails and Books-Review & Excerpt
RhiReading-Excerpt
Undercover Book Reviews-Excerpt

May 25

Booky Ramblings of a Neurotic Mom-Review & Excerpt
Grownup Fangirl-Excerpt
Literary Misfit-Review & Excerpt
Love Affair with Fiction-Excerpt
New Syndrome Book-Excerpt
Rambling Reads-Review & Excerpt
TSK TSK What to Read-Review & Excerpt

May 26

A Fortress of Books-Review
CJ’s Book Corner-Excerpt
Diane’s Book Blog-Review & Excerpt
Home is Where the Wine Is-Review
Mama Reads Hazel Reads-Review & Excerpt
Reads All the Books-Review & Excerpt
Sultry, Steamy Reading-Review

May 27

Book Lovin Mamas-Review
Little Read Riding Hood-Review & Excerpt
Lostinthegreatperhaps-Review
The Reading Chameleon-Review & Excerpt

May 28

Between the Lines-Review
Kelsey’s Corner Time-Review & Excerpt
Nite Lite Book Reviews-Review & Excerpt
Reading in Pajamas-Excerpt
Revenge of the Feels-Review & Excerpt
Smut Book Junkie Reviews-Review & Excerpt

May 29

Girls With Books-Excerpt
Got Nikki?-Excerpt
Reading Between the Wines-Excerpt
Travels N Reads-Review & Excerpt
Us Girls & A Book-Review & Excerpt

May 30

Book Liaison-Review & Excerpt
Jax’s Book Magic-Excerpt
Kayla’s Place-Review & Excerpt
Red Moon-Excerpt
Roxy’s Reviews-Excerpt

May 31

Becky on Books-Review & Excerpt
Evermore Books-Review & Excerpt
I Heart YA Books-Excerpt
Vera is Reading-Excerpt

A fallen angel with a mean streak and a mohawk, Hades has spent thousands of years serving as Jailor of the Underworld. The souls he guards are as evil as they come, but few dare to cross him. All of that changes when a sexy fallen angel infiltrates his prison and unintentionally starts a riot. It’s easy enough to quell an uprising, but for the first time, Hades is torn between delivering justice — or bestowing mercy — on the beautiful female who could be his salvation…or his undoing.

Thanks to her unwitting participation in another angel’s plot to start Armageddon, Cataclysm was kicked out of Heaven and is now a fallen angel in service of Hades’s boss, Azagoth. All she wants is to redeem herself and get back where she belongs. But when she gets trapped in Hades’s prison domain with only the cocky but irresistible Hades to help her, Cat finds that where she belongs might be in the place she least expected…

“And what does good and evil feel like?” he rasped. “On your skin, I mean?”

“I’ll show you.” She moved toward him, every step popping out her hips and making her breasts bounce in a smooth, seductive rhythm. His mouth went dry again, but then it began to water as she reached out and placed her palm in the center of his chest.

Very slowly, she dragged her hand along the contours of his pecs, her touch so featherlike that he barely felt it, and yet, he was hyper-aware of every move her hand made, every centimeter of skin her palm passed over.

“Goodness and light,” she said softly, “is like bathing in Champagne. It’s tingly and effervescent. It wakes you up even as it relaxes you.”

“Like sex,” he murmured. “With someone you like.”

“With someone you like?” She blinked. “Why would you have sex with someone you didn’t like?”

A rumbling purr vibrated his chest. “Baby, it’s like fighting, but with orgasms.”

“And less blood, I suppose.”

“Not if you’re doing it right.” He waggled his brows, and she rolled her eyes. “So what does evil feel like to you? If good feels good, then does evil feel bad?”

“That’s the funny thing.” She inched closer, adding another palm to his chest, and he gripped the cup so hard he heard it crack. More. He needed more. And damn her for making him crave it when he’d been perfectly fine being alone for all these years. “It’s as seductive as good, but in a different way.” She shivered delicately. “It’s hot. If good is like bathing in Champagne, evil is like bathing in whiskey. There’s a burn, but it’s almost always a lovely burn.”

Yeah, he felt that lovely burn where she was touching him. As she talked, it spread across his chest and into his abdomen, then lower, to his pelvis and groin. Everything tightened and grew feverish with lust.

“Seems to me,” he said in a humiliatingly rough voice, “that bumping up against evil would be an incredible temptation for angels like you.”

“It is,” she purred. “Which is why we aren’t allowed to leave Heaven except under certain circumstances, and even then, we must have an escort. It’s one of the reasons I know I can’t ever enter Sheoul. To become a True Fallen would be to have my full powers of detection restored, and I’d be skewed toward evil. The few Seraphim who have become fallen angels are like drug addicts, seeking out the most evil beings they can find, to serve them, to just be near them.”

He wondered how having a Seraphim fallen angel as a warden in the Inner Sanctum would play out. Then Cat dragged her palms down his chest to his abs, and he forgot all about everything except what was happening right now, right here in his home.

Only Larissa Ione could make a trip to hell so much fun!!  I couldn’t wait to revisit Ione’s Demonica series, I’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series.

Hades! I loved getting to know more about Hades.  Before reading the novella, I’m not sure who I would have pictured in a match up.  Cat was fun to read and she was perfect for Hades.

I might have liked Hades and Cat’s story to be longer but the novella works.  Their story makes for a fast paced, fun and suspenseful read.

Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.

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Author Goodreads ** Novel Goodreads

(Heat Wave Novel #2)

Adult Contemporary Romance

Release: October 1, 2012

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In LAST CALL, Gavin McLeod is a man who has it all. His corporate climb has positioned him as the next CEO at Holden Enterprises and he is financially stable, allowing him to provide for the grandfather who raised him. His private life is also on fire, as evidenced by the successful seduction of a sexy bartender who gets under his skin and makes him crave more than just sex. Life is perfect until the alluring woman in his arms turns out to be a serious road-block to his future, one that could bring everything he’s worked for crashing down around him.

Sunny Black has spent her entire life tending to the needs of others: caring for her younger brother since she was ten, and serving bar patrons night after night. For the first time in years, she puts herself first, taking a trip on the wild side with a customer whose raw sexuality is too strong to deny. The next morning, however, she learns that in addition to rocking her world, the stranger might destroy everything and everyone she’s worked so hard to protect.

A game of sexual seduction and corporate chess ensues, but when Gavin and Sunny are unable to negotiate a satisfying resolution, Gavin’s boss steps in and puts both their lives at risk.

Each book in the Heat Wave series stands alone and can be read out of order.

Last Call is the second in the Heat Wave series and is a standalone read.  This is the second book I’ve read by Alannah Lynne and she had quickly become an author I look forward to reading.

Gavin and Sunny’s story makes for some steamy and entertaining reading.  The storyline is dynamic and progresses with a few twists.

Alannah Lynne’s Heat Wave series is one that I’ll be picking up as each new book is available.

About the Author

Alannah believes there’s nothing more magical than finding the other half of your soul, experiencing fiery passion, and knowing you’ve found happily-ever-after.

She loves going to work each day (in sweats and a T-shirt) and writing about hot heroes and feisty heroines who torment each other in the most delicious ways before finding their happy ending.

She lives in the coastal region of North Carolina with her husband, who also happens to be her best friend and biggest fan. They have two sons, a dog, and two cats.

Website | Blog | Facebook |Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

About ONLY FOREVER

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If you need to catch up on the Only series, you can start with ONLY FOR HIM here!

I couldn’t wait to read this final installment in Grayson and Emma’s story.  I was anxiously waiting from the moment I finished reading Only Us.  I needed to know how Emma’s secret was going to play out.

The best of the Only series by Cristin Harber is how real the story feels.  Throughout the 4 installments, Grayson and Emma’s story was full of emotion.  Characters came to life with Harber’s seemingly effortless writing.  I couldn’t help but want the happily ever after for this family.

GIVEAWAY

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ABOUT CRISTIN HARBER

Cristin Harber is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author. She writes sexy, steamy romantic suspense and military romance. Readers voted her onto Amazon’s Top Picks for Debut Romance Authors in 2013, and her debut Titan series was both a #1 romantic suspense and #1 military romance bestseller.

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The Wedding Gift
Save The Date #3.5

By: Cara Connelly

Releasing May 5, 2015

Avon

What’s the New-Jan-Plan? Discover the answer in Cara Connelly’s newest Save The Date Novella, and see how mousey Jan Marone gives herself the gift of living, laughing, and finally loving … all under the hot Key West sun.

She’d come to Key West for a wedding, only to discover the hotel had messed up her reservation. So although Jan Marone has to share a tiny room with sexy Mick McKenna, it shouldn’t really be a problem. Mick’s her best friend, and he doesn’t think of her “that way” … or does he?

Mick McKenna loves hard and plays hard. His thick black hair, chiseled jaw, and hard, muscled body make him irresistible. But when once-innocent Jan walks into his hotel room, Mick can’t believe his eyes. Now she’s wearing a sexy bikini and telling him it’s time for her to “get lucky,” making him protective and tantalized at the same time.

Worried she might be in over her head, he decides never to leave her side … and suddenly their hotel room seems smaller—and hotter—than ever. Mick’s always been hands-off with Jan—but has the right woman been under his nose the whole time?

Link to Follow Tour:  http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/04/the-wedding-gift-save-date-5-by-cara.html

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Jan made a move to duck out from under his arm, but he tipped his head toward the eye in the sky. “We want her to think we’re a couple, right?”

             She let out a hiss. “I can’t take you anywhere.”

             “I’m a certified pain in the ass.” He wheeled her suitcase along as they walked lockstep to their room.

             When the door closed behind them, he questioned his sanity again. The room was claustrophobically tiny. And her light scent—the same strawberry shampoo she’d used since tenth grade—permeated the air, unsettling him to his marrow.

             While Jan took it all in stride.

             “We should hang our wedding clothes on the bathroom hook,” she said, all business. “That’ll cut down on wrinkles.”

             She patted the bed, and he hefted her suitcase onto it, standing numbly by as she opened it. Then she took a flowered dress off the top, and he got a glimpse of what was under it.

             Black lace panties.

             Black satin bra.

             His eyes fell out of his head and rolled onto the bed.

             NO!

             Jan was supposed to wear granny panties and old-maid bras. White cotton; no lace. He was absolutely, unequivocally certain of that.

             She glanced around. “Where’s your suit?”

             He opened his mouth but no words came out.

             “Mick? Hey, are you having an attack? Can you breath?” She dropped the dress and pressed her ear to his chest, listening to his lungs.

             Her cheek seared the skin over his heart.

             Curling his hands into fists, he turned his eyes up to the ceiling. “I’m fine,” he got out. “I haven’t had asthma in twenty years.”

             “Mmm, well, your lungs do sound clear,” she murmured. “But your heart’s beating like a drum.”

             He took a half step back, away from the yard of soft hair tickling his bare chest like fingertips. His shoulders hit the wall with a thud.

             She gazed up at him like he was a doofus. He could see the flecks of green in her root beer eyes. “Don’t knock the wall down,” she said, “or we’ll both be out on the street.”

             And she turned away, oblivious to the emotions storming through his system.

             “Where’s your suit?” she asked again. “Don’t tell me you haven’t unpacked it.” She bent over his suitcase, her ass six inches from his crotch, and he snapped back to life.

             Bad enough he’d seen her underwear; she didn’t need to see his.

             Batting her hands away, he closed the lid. “I dropped it at the cleaners. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.” He nudged her aside with his hip. “Why don’t you suit up? The water’s perfect.”

             “Okay. I got a new bathing suit. What do you think?”

             With that, she dug through her suitcase and pulled out a—God help him—bikini.

             A sound erupted from his throat. Distress, but Jan took it as derision. Her face crumpled.

             “I thought …” She plunked down on the bed. “I just wanted to try something different. A new Jan.”

             The hurt on her face made him pull it together fast.

             “First of all,” he said, “there’s nothing wrong with the old Jan. And there’s nothing wrong with…” He waved a hand at the pink-polka-dotted Band Aids that passed for a swimsuit. “It just surprised me. You always wear a one-piece.”

             “I know.” She met his gaze, her expression earnest. “Maybe I should just—”

             “You should just put it on. It’s”—too skimpy—“cute. You’ll look”— too sexy—“great.” He faked his best-pals smile. “See you at the pool.”

             He did a one-eighty, and scrammed.

The Wedding Gift is a sweet and funny friends to lovers romance.  I’m quick to pick up a romance with the friends to lovers trope and was thrilled that Cara Connelly delivers a memorable one.  

This latest in the Save the Date series is a wonderful read leading into summer.  With a setting that takes you away to Key West, I was ready to get swept away with Jan and Mick.

I’m enjoying Connelly’s Save the Date series and looking forward to reading more.

CARA CONNELLY is an award-winning author of contemporary romances. Her smart and sexy stories have won high praise, earning Cara several awards including the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart, the Valley Forge Romance Writers’ Sheila, and the Music City Romance Writers’ Melody of Love. Cara, who lives in rural upstate New York, works as appellate court attorney when she’s not crafting steamy novels of love and romance.

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Sinful Rewards 11
A Billionaires and Bikers Novella

By: Cynthia Sax

Releasing May 12, 2015

Avon Red Impulse

Bee Carter has been invited to one of Chicago’s most glamorous charity balls. Attending this high-society event will be a dream come true, giving her the sense of belonging she’s always craved and memories she could never duplicate.

But it will also test her relationship. Because her date won’t be the man she believes she loves. Instead, she’ll be arriving on the tuxedo-clad arm of his rival, a man who has never stopped wanting her, desiring her touch, her kisses, and her passion.

How much will Bee risk to make a dream come true? Will her newfound love withstand the temptation of another, a man willing to do anything to claim her?

Link to Follow Tour:  http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/03/sinful-rewards-11-billionaires-and.html

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“The Magnificent Ball is tonight.” I keep my tone casual, informational.

Hawke slides his glance to my face. “You want to go.”

Sometimes I wish he wasn’t able to read me. I set my glass on the counter. “I sent out the invitations. My friend Susan says the room will be beautiful with a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling and lights everywhere. The women will be dressed in floor-length designer ball gowns, diamonds sparkling around their necks and in their hair. The men will be wearing tuxes.” My voice warms. “It’ll be like a fairy tale. Anyone who is anyone will be there.”

“I know everyone will be there.” Hawke stabs an egg. “The hostiles know this as well.”

He worries about me, about all of the guests attending. “The event will have security.” He’s security. I look at him. “Will your team be there?”

He gazes at me, not answering.

“Right, you don’t talk about clients.” My laugh is semihysterical. I’m screwing this up. “I realize you don’t like to attend fancy society events, and I’m okay with that. I can go with a friend.” It’s the only way I can go. Nicolas is the person with the invitation.

“You’ll go with Nicolas,” Hawke says the billionaire’s name with distaste. “Why do you want to attend this ball?”

He isn’t buying my “it’s like a fairy tale” excuse. I push my food around my plate, considering my words carefully. “I’ve been excluded my entire life, not considered good enough.” I can’t look at him, can’t see the judgment in his eyes. “I want to know what it feels like to belong, to just once walk into a room filled with important people and know I deserve to be there.”

My little speech is followed by silence.

Hawke doesn’t like the idea, doesn’t think my foolish dream is worth the risks. That’s why he isn’t saying anything. I set down my fork and brace myself for his refusal.

Number 11 means there’s only one installment left!  I’m going to be sad to see the end of Cynthia Sax’s serial, Sinful Rewards.

This latest installment is a fun, sweet, hot, quick read.  I’ve really enjoyed seeing how Hawke and Bee’s relationship has developed.  While at times I found myself a little frustrated with Bee, her growth has endeared her to me.  I can’t help but want her to get that happily ever after.

I’m looking forward to seeing what is going to happen next and how it will all end.  And if Sax decides to write another serial, I’ll all in.

Sinful Rewards Series Buy Links

Sinful Rewards 1

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Sinful Rewards 2

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Sinful Rewards 3

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Sinful Rewards 4

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Sinful Rewards 5

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Sinful Rewards 6

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Sinful Rewards 7

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Sinful Rewards 8

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Sinful Rewards 9

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Sinful Rewards 10

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Cynthia Sax lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever. Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads

Digital Download Bundle of SINFUL REWARDS Bks 1-6

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We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for Cora Carmack’s ALL PLAYED OUT! ALL PLAYED OUT is a New Adult Contemporary Romance and is the 3rd book in the Rusk University Series, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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All Played Out Review/Excerpt Tour

May 7

BookAngelBooktopia-Review & Excerpt
Book Vigilante Reviews-Review & Excerpt
DanaSquare-Review & Excerpt
Britt’s Book & Life Blog-Review & Excerpt
Love at First Page-Review & Excerpt
LuloFangirl-Review & Excerpt
Red Hot + Blue Reads-Review & Excerpt
The Book Hammock-Review & Excerpt
WanderLust Book Reviews-Review & Excerpt

May 8

Ali’s Reviews & More-Review & Excerpt
Bloggers[Heart]Books-Review & Excerpt
BookCrushin-Review & Excerpt
Fictitious Delicious-Review & Excerpt
Kindle and Me-Review & Excerpt
NC 2 DC-Review
Sanaa’s Book Blog-Review & Excerpt
The Reading Realm-Review & Excerpt

May 9

Addicted to Books-Review & Excerpt
Booklovers For Life-Excerpt
Crazy Chaotic Book Babes-Review
Musings of the Book-a-holic Fairies, inc.-Review & Excerpt
Confessions of a Y.A. and N.A. Book Addict-Review & Excerpt
Short and Sassy Book Blurbs-Review & Excerpt
This Wacky Momma Reads-Review & Excerpt
Winter Haven Books-Review

May 10

Anatea’s Bookshelf-Review & Excerpt
BookStacked Blog-Review & Excerpt
Stacks Waiting-Excerpt
Behind Closed Covers-Review & Excerpt
buttermybooks-Review & Excerpt
Random Book Muses-Review
One Guy’s Guide to Good Reads-Review & Excerpt
Ticket to Anywhere-Excerpt
What a Nerd Girl Says-Review & Excerpt

May 11

Always YA At Heart-Review & Excerpt
Book Briefs-Review
Girl Meets Books-Excerpt
Books by Migs-Review & Excerpt
Kimberlyfaye Reads-Excerpt
Prisoners of Print-Review & Excerpt
Snuggling On The Sofa-Review
Travels N Reads-Review & Excerpt
Words With Sarah-Review & Excerpt

May 12

Book Labyrinth-Review & Excerpt
FMR Book Grind-Review
Margay Leah Justice-Review & Excerpt
New Adult Addiction-Excerpt
Reviews by Tammy & Kim-Review & Excerpt
Tar Heel Bibliobabe-Review
Vi3tbabe-Review & Excerpt

May 13

Babbling Chatter Reads-Review
Book Sojourner-Review & Excerpt
Bridger Bitches Book Blog-Review & Excerpt
Grown Up Book Reviews-Review & Excerpt
Read Between the Books-Review & Excerpt
Reese’s Review-Review & Excerpt
What Sarah Read-Review & Excerpt
Romance Addict Book Blog-Review & Excerpt
Reading is Sexy-Review & Excerpt

May 14

Bibliobelles-Review & Excerpt
Book Butterfly in Dreamland-Review
Hopeless Book Lovers-Review & Excerpt
jordansbookreviews-Excerpt
Nomi’s Paranormal Palace-Review
Ripe For Reader-Review & Excerpt
The Secret Life of a Bookworm-Review & Excerpt
Stay Bookish-Review & Excerpt
Never Judge A Book By It’s Covers-Review & Excerpt

May 15

Book Bitches Blog-Review & Excerpt
Books and Swoons-Review and Excerpt
Jen in Bookland-Review & Excerpt
I Dare You To Read-Review & Excerpt
Lost in Lit-Review & Excerpt
Zili in the Sky-Review & Excerpt
The Slanted Bookshelf-Review & Excerpt
Stuck in Books-Review & Excerpt

May 16

Closet Geeks and Slow Mo-Review & Excerpt
Dark Obsession Chronicles-Review & Excerpt
Making It Happen-Review & Excerpt
Mia’s Point of View-Review & Excerpt
In Clouds of Pages-Review & Excerpt
That Book Life-Review & Excerpt
The Book Belles-Review
Stuck in YA Books-Review
A Bookish Escape-Review

First person in her family to go to college? CHECK.
Straight A’s? CHECK.
On track to graduate early? CHECK.
Social life? …..yeah, about that….

With just a few weeks until she graduates, Antonella DeLuca’s beginning to worry that maybe she hasn’t had the full college experience. (Okay… Scratch that. She knows she hasn’t had the full college experience).

So Nell does what a smart, dedicated girl like herself does best. She makes a “to do” list of normal college activities.

Item #1? Hook up with a jock.

Rusk University wide receiver Mateo Torres practically wrote the playbook for normal college living. When he’s not on the field, he excels at partying, girls, and more partying. As long as he keeps things light and easy, it’s impossible to get hurt… again. But something about the quiet, shy, sexy-as-hell Nell gets under his skin, and when he learns about her list, he makes it his mission to help her complete it.

Torres is the definition of confident (And sexy. And wild), and he opens up a side of Nell that she’s never known. But as they begin to check off each crazy, exciting, normal item, Nell finds that her frivolous list leads to something more serious than she bargained for. And while Torres is used to taking risks on the field, he has to decide if he’s willing to take the chance when it’s more than just a game.

Together they will have to decide if what they have is just part of the experiment or a chance at something real.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this. I’ve gone crazy. You’ve made me crazy.”

Torres’s hand lingers at my waist for a long moment before he does what he’s supposed to and helps boost me up onto the base of the Rusk statue that we talked about at breakfast a few days ago. The base alone comes about as high as my chest, and I never could have gotten up without him. Or a ladder. The statue’s pose is reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial, with Rusk sitting down, only his hand is open and stretched out, and that’s where I’m heading. If I can manage to climb all the way up without falling and breaking my neck. When Texas was an independent republic, Rusk served first as secretary of war and later the Supreme Court chief justice. And when Texas became a state he was elected as one of its first senators.

And now I’m honoring his memory by doing my best to climb up into his lap like he’s some giant bronze Santa Claus. I step up on his foot and try to haul myself up onto his knee, but I have a pitiful amount of upper-body strength. As in … basically none. I jump, hoping that might help, but I only end up clutching ridiculously at the knee, unable to pull myself up but too afraid to let myself drop for fear that I might twist my ankle landing on the statue’s foot.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Torres says, having hopped up behind me with zero assistance. Then his hands are on my ass, and he’s pushing me up onto the knee.

“Did you suggest we do this just so you could grope me?” I call down to him.

“Unexpected benefits.”

Carefully, I climb to my feet, holding on to Rusk’s outstretched arm to keep me steady. Then, after one deep breath, I scramble my way onto his large bronze arm and shimmy my way down into his hand. I sit in his palm, and have to hang one leg over each side. My thighs are a bit too large to fit comfortably, so I feel like I’m wedged into his hand. And one look down at Torres’s grinning face tells me what an idiot I am.

I’m straddling the statue’s hand.

And while it’s holding my weight just fine, there’s no way I don’t look ludicrous. And probably a little lewd.

“Most people don’t actually sit in his hand, do they?”

“It’s the knee for most people, true.”

“Torres!”

“What? I figured go big or go home. Besides … it’s pretty fucking hot.”

“I’m going to kill you as soon as I get down from here.” I start trying to shift myself out of the hand, but my butt really is entirely too large for this thing.

“No! Wait,” he says. “Let me jump down and get a picture. You’re up there already. Might as well make the most of it.”

I try to scowl at him. But it is pretty funny when you think of it. And it will make a good picture. When my brother and I were growing up, Leo’s room had been covered in stuff like this. Photos with friends. He had a big stop sign on his wall that he and his friends had stolen God only knows how. He had souvenirs from places they’d been and things they’d done. Nothing crazy because we weren’t quite well off enough to travel or anything. But little things that meant something to him even if they didn’t matter to anyone else.

Memories.

I had trophies. Medals. Certificates. Those were my memories. But no one takes those kinds of things to college with them. You’re supposed to pack them away in boxes because as soon as you graduate, they don’t really matter anymore.

But now… I have this.

While Torres descends, I look out at campus. It’s dark, but there are streetlamps dotting the sidewalk. Noble Library is a few blocks over, and is still open, but otherwise the university seems abandoned. The statue is in the middle of a grassy courtyard, surrounded by old oaks trees that have probably been growing since the university was founded back in the late 1800s.

It’s peaceful and beautiful, and it occurs to me that I’ve never just sat somewhere on campus and looked. There’s always been somewhere to go or something to do, and I’ve never taken the time. I lean back on my hands and breathe in the night, and when Torres calls for me to look at him, my smile is wide and genuine.

“Come on! Get crazy,” he says.

I throw my hands up and smile even bigger. He laughs and snaps another picture on his phone.

“You’re a real wild one, Antonella De Luca.”

Then something occurs to me, and my stomach tumbles with nerves and a surprising feeling of exhilaration. Can I check two things off my list with this late-night adventure? Can I actually be a little wild for a change? I think about Torres’s words. You’re up there already. Might as well make the most of it. I take a deep breath, shift to sit on my knees, and wait for Torres to slip his phone back in his pocket.

Then I call, “Hey, Mateo!”

When he looks up, his eyes questioning, I gather my courage and the hem of my shirt and lift it up for one, two, three seconds. Then I tug it back down, keeping my eyes squeezed shut because I’m too scared to see his face.

All Played Out the third in Cora Carmack’s Rusk University series might just be my favorite.  I loved Nell and Mateo!  Their match makes for a sexy, fun read.  The serious academic and the wild football player.  Their chemistry made for some hot scenes.

With every book, Carmack’s writing smoothly delivers a story that pulls the reader into the character’s lives.  It felt like I was right there along with Nell working through her list.

In a series, it is always great to catch up with previously featured characters.  Carson, Dallas, Dylan, Silas, Brookes, Ryan, and Stella.  I’m very much looking forward to Stella’s story.

And don’t miss the first two books in the Rusk University Series…

ALL LINED UP, Book 1

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ALL BROKE DOWN, Book 2

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 For more of what’s next in The Rusk University Series, go here!

Add Book 4, ALL CLOSED OFF, to your Goodreads now!

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something New York Times bestselling author who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She’s done a multitude of things in her life– boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She now splits her time between Austin, TX and New York City and spends her days writing, traveling, and spending way too much time on the internet. In her books, you can expect to find humor, heart, and a whole lot of awkward. Because let’s face it . . . awkward people need love, too.

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On the heels of Dirty Secret, here is a sizzling hot romance featuring another Burke brother and the girl he can’t resist, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Game series.

Walking out on my wedding wasn’t my best idea.

Neither was throwing my cell in the lake and taking a job as PA for Dirty B, America’s favorite rock band, complete with every teen girl’s dream man, the eldest of the Burke brothers.

Tate Burke is pure sex. Women actually throw their panties at him during shows. And Ella Dawson is the lucky little thing that gets to escort their fangirling butts out when he’s done with them.

Yay.

He’s a cocky son of a bitch, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Every now and then Ella gets a rare glimpse of the Tate behind the “bad boy” act, and it attracts her in the most annoying way. The most annoying, heart-thumping, panty-wetting way.

When her abusive ex turns up at the hotel room Ella and Tate are sharing, raging mad, she knows she’ll need more than just a little protection. Tate sees red, and Ella can’t help but lean on him, despite his bad-boy ways.

And now? Now, he’s in a whole lot of trouble.

Goodreads

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“I can pay for mine.”

“Sure you can, but I’ve done it now.”

“I’m paying you back.”

“I’m sure you will, Els.”

“Will you stop calling me that?”

“Will you stop lyin’ about why you’re here?”

I inhale slowly when he opens the trunk and puts the shopping in. “I’m not lying.”

“Mhmm.” He pushes the cart to the security guy, who wheels it over the cart shelter. Then he walks to me, slowly, and reaches around my body to the car door. With his fingers curled around the door handle, he leans his face toward mine. “Then why,” he whispers, “don’t you look at me when you tell me?”

I avert my eyes to the side, saying nothing. He’s standing so close to me, and he smells good. Like, really good. Like coffee and cinnamon—warm and comforting. Nothing like the harsh cologne Matthew used to wear, and definitely nothing like the whiskey and cigarette smoke he occasionally smelled like.

“Huh?” he prompts, his voice still a gentle breezing whisper. “That’s what I thought.”

“Leave it alone,” I reply, finally bringing my eyes to meet his. They’re burning into me, thrilling and scary, and it’s all I can do to ignore the shiver that cascades its way down my spine. “Please,” I finish quieter.

“Never.” He steps forward. There’s barely a breath of space between our bodies, and my heart is pounding double-time, but I don’t know why, because this is wrong, he’s wrong. “I will get it out of you, Ella Dawson. I’m dyin’ to know why a pretty little city girl like you is slumming it on a tour bus with a boy band. And, darlin’…” He runs his thumb along my jaw. “I will get it out of you, even if you’re on your back beneath me when I do.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Still not happening.”

“The telling or the fucking?”

Defiantly, I stare at him, despite the quivering of my hands. “Neither.”

After reading Dirty Secret, I was looking forward to reading about the other Burke brothers.  I couldn’t wait to find out which brother was going to be featured in the next story.  Dirty Past, the second in the series is Tate Burke’s story.

I enjoyed the match between Tate and Ella.  I liked that although the chemistry couldn’t be missed, Ella was a challenge for Tate.

I’m left wondering who will be next, which rocking Burke brother do we get more of in the next book?  Looking forward to more and more of the Burke brothers.

DIRTY SECRET

Conner Burke never expected Sofie Callahan to come back.

Where she’s been for the last two and half years is a mystery, and so is the reason she left in the first place. Now, though, she’s back in their hometown of Shelton Bay, South Carolina, at the same time Conner’s band Dirty B is home on a tour break.

Sofie Callahan has spent the months since her father’s death avoiding anything to do with her home town. But with her brother in Afghanistan, she has no choice but to return and sort out her father’s house, even if it means facing the boy she fell in love with and revealing the reason she left.

Conner has questions, and when his broken heart and her guilty one collide, Sofie has to start answering them. Their present is rocky, their future unknown. Only one thing is certain:

Sofie’s daughter will change everything.

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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.

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