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Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Nothing but Trouble - Giveaway

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Nothing But Trouble (Irresistible Billionaires, #1) by Ashley Bostock 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Release Date: August 28, 2018 

Billionaire CEO Michael Vilander needed just one date. 

Creating a fake profile on his own matchmaking website may not have been his brightest move. But then Sophia Baldwin’s arresting face pops up on his CHAT NOW feature. Not only is she gorgeous, but after spending half the night exchanging messages with her, he finds her to be naive, innocent and way too sexy. Twenty-four-year-old Sophia Baldwin is barely able to make ends meet. Caring for her sick grandmother prevents her from having a normal life—aspirations of attending college full-time to become a nurse are on the back burner—but then she meets the charming and dazzling Clint on an online dating site. When he asks her to the Denver Arts Foundation’s Annual Valentine’s Day Gala, she’s confident things are looking up. Once Sophia learns that her hot date is none other than website mogul Michael Vilander, she’s definitely not mentioning her night job. What’s a lie by omission anyway? After all, it’s only one date…Until Michael’s ex flaunts her fancy engagement ring in Michael’s face and something compels Sophia to announce her and Michael’s engagement. AKA, fake engagement. They agree on one month to pretend they’re in love before all bets are off. Pretending to be in love with a sweet and sexy billionaire, but not actually falling in love, ahem, how hard could it be?






Ashley Bostock was born and raised in Colorado where she currently resides with her husband, two children and her animals. She loves reading, writing, and music and is always trying to find more time in the day to incorporate all three. Seeking an outlet and pursuing her life-long passion for writing, she began composing her first novel in 2013. She has traveled all over the world, but still has an extensive list of places she would love to visit. Anywhere near a sky-blue ocean will always be at the top of that list. She carries a Bachelor’s Degree in History with a concentration in Elementary Education from Metropolitan State College of Denver. While she loves children, she now fears teaching, which probably has something to do with being a stay-at-home mom. She is mostly active on Instagram, but feel free to follow her at any or all of her social media pages!





Monday, August 27, 2018

Until We Are More

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We're so excited to be celebrating the release of UNTIL WE'RE MORE by Cindi Madsen! Get your one-click finger ready!



Title: Until We're More
Author: Cindi Madsen 
Age: NA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Embrace

Chelsea is smart, funny, gorgeous, and the best friend I’ve ever had. Ever since she left,
I’ve been a wreck. I’ve been focused on keeping my family’s MMA gym afloat while I
train and coach fighters, anything to not miss her more. But now she's finally back, along
with her grumpy, possessive cat, and things are weird between us.

By weird, I mean I can’t stop thinking about her in that way. She’s in the room next door,
and it takes all my control not to storm in there, sweep her up, and bring her back to my
bed. Even stranger, I’m pretty sure she’d be into it.

And this time, I’m not going to stop fighting until we’re more.









About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author Cindi Madsen sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting, revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she'd be even crazier. She has way too many shoes but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they're sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.

Visit her at www.cindimadsen.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter and learn about upcoming releases.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Captured by her Cougar - Review + Giveaway

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New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton is here today for the book tour of her new shifter romance release, Captured by her Cougar, the second book in her brand new Cougar Creek Mates Series. Set in her popular Eternal Mates world, Cougar Creek Mates takes you into the deep Canadian wilderness to a secret place that’s home to a cougar shifter pride led by four sexy brothers, each guaranteed to steal your heart and set it racing! With all four books in the series releasing just weeks apart, this is going to be one hot summer.
Check out the book, download it with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one, and be sure to enter the awesome grand giveaway happening at her website!

About the Book


Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 2)
Felicity Heaton

In the wake of an Archangel attack on Cougar Creek, Storm is seething with a need for revenge against the hunter organisation and the key to it might be the petite blonde mortal he’s locked in his cabin, one he’s determined to make sing for him. Only the beauty has a fiery temperament to match his own, and the more time he spends with her, the more she stokes a fire inside him. One that fills him with a startling and undeniable need to make her sing in another way—in his arms.
Gabriella isn’t going to take her captivity lying down. She’s going to give the pig-headed brute holding her against her will hell until he finally believes she’s innocent. He might be a cougar shifter, but she isn’t afraid of him. Or at least she isn’t afraid of what he is. The way he affects her, the flames that lick through her whenever they’re close, terrifies her though, because the longer she’s around the towering sexy-as-sin shifter, the hotter that fire blazes, and it’s only a matter of time before it burns away all her restraint.
With the mating heat and the attack bringing cougars back to the creek, Gabriella is a complication Storm doesn’t need, but she’s one that he wants… because she might just be his one true mate.

Purchase Links
Read it with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription or buy now from…

Welcome back to Cougar Creek! Mating season is near and I hope you have your wits about you because this cougar likes a verbal sparing to start...

Captured by her Cougar is the second book in Felicity Heaton's new series. This is set in the Eternal Mates universe, so if you read those (or some) you can easily understand how the fated mates works. But if you are new, this is a short new series for you to get hooked in this world! And leaen about this unique universe.

Storm is cack at Cougar Creek to help his brothers with the gathering but wants nothing more than go back home. After Archangel got them again, he wants revenge and Gabriella is the closest he has to get it. As the younger brother he couldn't protect his family during the first attack but now he can and is determined to do it. Gabriella isn't sure how all this happened or how she ended up as a prisoner in the middle of nowhere. Her brother pushed her to do yet another thing she didn't want and now she's going to end up dead like him.

Storm is a handful. He's a protector and his family comes first but when he sets his eyes on Gabriella everything he knows, wants and has to do goes up in smoke and he doesn't know what way is up. I really like how the author can make such a perfect combination between alpha male and animal and still be able to show a sensitive and sweet side to them.
Gabriella is used to luxury and comfort even when it comes at the cost of doing what her brother wants. But we get to see her grown and fight for herself here. We see the firecracker she can be and how surrounded by wilderness she can still flourish.

I really enjoyed these two! Their struggles and fears were so easy to relate. They were scared to trust and to let go but together they were perfect. They had SO much chemestry! Their relationship goes at a steady pace that never feels rushed and keeps you engaged through the whole book. And I absolutely loved their arguments! I think this element really helped move the story forward and revealed so much about the two of them that without it it wouldn't be the same.

I really can't wait to see what happens next in the series!


Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win one of a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card at the Captured by her Cougar book page. This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on September 2nd. Enter now by clicking on the image


Excerpt

Gabriella glared at the black log burner set against the wooden wall of the small cabin, her fingers digging into her knees beyond the end of her grey pencil skirt, her shoulders rigid beneath her white blouse. Her lips compressed, jaw tensing as she listened to the infuriating silence punctuated only by the rapid but steady pounding of her heart.
He would come back.
He never left her alone for long.
She tilted her head to her left, just enough that she could see the door of the all-too-rustic house and the woods beyond the glass. Thoughts of escape pushed her to rise to her feet.
Her very bare feet.
The bastard had taken her shoes from her the first time she had tried to get away from him.
A sneaky tactic suited to the pig, and one he had completed with a satisfied twist to his bowed lips and a mocking sparkle in his grey eyes.
What sort of man resorted to removing her shoes so if she did manage to break free of her cage, she would be hobbled, slowed as she tried to pick her way through the dense coniferous forest that swamped the mountains in all directions?
Easy to capture again.
Gabi huffed, dragged her gaze away from the outside world, and tried to drag her thoughts away from escape but that was impossible now. Escape had been firmly on her mind for the past twelve hours, since she had come back to the world to find herself a captive. She didn’t remember much about what had come before, only recalled snippets of wandering around the cabin in a stupor, shell-shocked by what she had witnessed.
She stared at the fire, not seeing the flames as they devoured the meagre supply of fuel.
She saw that man killing Alexander.
Saw Alexander attacking Ivy.
Kept hearing Alexander’s words as he had forced her onto the helicopter in Calgary, telling her it was time she witnessed the truth of this world with her own eyes and saw justice dispensed.
Only when they had arrived in the godforsaken cluster of cabins in the disgusting wilderness, she hadn’t seen justice.
She had seen Alexander and two hired mercenaries wielding weapons of war, armed to the teeth against men who had been leading what had looked like the picture postcard of a peaceful life before her half-brother had brought a battle to their doorstep in the name of revenge.
Men who had transformed into beautiful golden cougars before her eyes.
The door opened and she jumped, entire body tensing as her gaze whipped towards it and her heart lodging in her throat.
The man filling the doorway just looked at her in silence, handsome face devoid of emotion.
But there was a softness in his grey eyes as he gazed at her, one that was far from the look she had expected him to level on her after her last pathetic attempt to escape.
One that had ended with him growling at her and grabbing her, hauling her off her feet as if she weighed nothing and dumping her on his worn brown leather couch and telling her in a gruff deep voice not to move.
She hadn’t.
Not because she was afraid of him, but because she was tired, soul-deep weary and didn’t have the strength to move. She just wanted to curl up and sleep, to forget where she was and everything that had happened. She just wanted to go home, back to her family’s mansion in England, to lounging by the indoor pool sipping cocktails and going clubbing with her friends.
God, things had to be dire if she wanted to go out with those vapid excuses for people.
Alexander was gone now. She had no reason to play her part anymore, to smile and please his friends and their friends, keeping them sweet so their investments kept his business afloat.
He was gone.
That still hadn’t sunk in.
She stared at the brute as he ran a hand over his spiked sandy hair, combing it back. A few scars peeked out from the sleeves of his tight black t-shirt, red and raw, and she had a flash of him fighting, launching as a cougar to land on Alexander’s back and bring him down.
To protect Ivy.
And his brother.
Bile rose up her throat as she saw that dark-haired man on top of Alexander, punching him. There had been so much blood. On Alexander. On him.
The man stepped into the cabin and closed the door, dragging her back to him. She studied him as he moved into the small kitchen area to the left of the door, using him to distract her from memories as he poured himself a glass of water, turned and planted his ass against the wooden counter.
Stared right back at her.
“How is the other man?” she whispered, needing to break the silence because it was pressing down on her, felt heavy on her shoulders and as if it might crush her.
His lips twisted in a sneer. “What do you care? Or do you want to know my brother is dead? Like yours.”
She scowled at him for that.
She had never been close to Alexander, but he was her brother.
Had been her brother.
Her eyes burned, but she didn’t have any tears left for him, felt dried up inside, a little hollow and numb, and now that the shock was wearing off, she felt something else too. She felt… relieved.
Was that wrong of her?
Alexander hadn’t been the easiest man to live with, had resented her from the moment she had been born, as if he had blamed her for the fact his mother had remarried after losing his father. He had always made it painfully clear that her life of luxury came from his father’s money too, had made snide remarks about how her father was weak and pathetic, unworthy to bear the name of his family.
A name his mother had insisted on keeping when she had remarried.
Lord.
It suited Alexander, because he acted just like one, all entitled and pompous.
Had suited Alexander.
Maybe it suited her too, because hadn’t she acted the same way? Didn’t she love her life of luxury and leisure?
“How is Ivy?” She wouldn’t let him get away with refusing to answer that question. “I want to know how Ivy is. She was hurt.”
The bastard just regarded her with cold grey eyes, making it clear she wasn’t going to get anything out of him.
Gabi shot to her feet. “I have a right to know. Ivy is my friend. I was the one who arranged for her funding. I’ve known her longer than you and I want to know how she is! Is she a captive here too? Is that what you all do? You capture women and… and…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say it.
The man’s face darkened, as if he didn’t like the accusation she was hurling at him either, and then calmly set the glass down and pushed away from the kitchen counter. He rounded the brown leather couch, advancing on her, long black jeans-clad legs devouring the short distance.
She stood her ground on trembling legs, her heart hammering against her ribs.
He stopped close to her, towering over her. She barely reached his broad shoulders, had to tip her head back to keep glaring at him. His eyes shifted, growing more golden as he stared down at her.
“I have a right to know.” Those words came out unsteady, trembled on her lips as she faltered, fear getting the better of her. More powerful men than this one had tried to intimidate her and had failed. She wasn’t going to let him win. She wasn’t going to be cowed by some country brute, no matter how much stronger he was than her. She clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes on him. “Tell me how Ivy is.”
He responded by seizing her right upper arm in a bruising grip and she leaned back, grimacing as she tried to wriggle free of his iron grasp. When he shoved past her and tugged her with him, her eyes widened and she shook her head.
He was taking her towards the bedroom.
His voice was a low growl as he uttered, “You gave up all your rights when you invaded our territory.”
Gabi shook her head faster and frantically clawed at his hand, leaving red marks on his golden skin as she desperately tried to prise his fingers off her. Her heart went wild, thundering as fear pounded through her veins.
“Please,” she whispered, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at the back of his head and leaned away from him, trying to use her slender weight to slow him down.
He yanked her forwards and shoved her into the bedroom.
Her knees hit the bed and she fell onto it, gasped as she twisted to face him, her fear rising to swamp her and leave her quaking as cold sweat slid down her spine.
Darkness descended as the door slammed.
His gruff voice echoed through it. “You’re not to leave that room. If I see you outside it, there’ll be consequences you won’t like.”
Her eyes went wider. She had thought he had been about to deliver consequences she wouldn’t like, and God, it was a relief that he hadn’t. She sank against the soft bed, her breath leaving her on a long tight sigh as all her fear drained from her, leaving her shaking and weak, feeling sick to her stomach.
He moved around the other room, muttering, “Fucking humans… like I’d want one again.”
She frowned at that and pushed up onto her elbows, using his words as a distraction she badly needed as she got her shaking under control. So, he had desired humans in the past? What had happened to make him hate her kind so much?

Purchase Links
Read it with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription or buy now from…

Books in the Series


Book 1: Claimed by her Cougar – Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Book 2: Captured by her Cougar – Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Book 3: Courted by her Cougar (coming 8th September 2018)
Book 4: Craved by her Cougar (coming 29th September 2018)


About Felicity


Felicity HeatonFelicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

Monday, August 20, 2018

Catch Him if You Can - Giveaway

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In Jennifer Shirk’s newest installment in her Accidentally Yours series, town widower Wade Roberts is being bombarded by Cape Harmony's matchmaking mamas. His only way to stop them: pretend to be in a relationship with his sister's best friend, Arden Pearson. But when what started as an act begins to shift into something more, it might take a village to convince Wade that Arden’s his perfect match.


Catch Him If You Can by Jennifer Shirk
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 13, 2018
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Series: Accidentally Yours
Format: Digital eBook
Digital ISBN: 9781640636156


Veterinarian Wade Roberts is done with love. But try convincing the elderly folk of Cape Harmony who are determined to play matchmaker. Now the young single women in town are bombarding him with baked goods and love notes, and being “taken” is the only way to stop the meddling grannies—which is why he needs a fake fiancée. Fast.

Arden Pearson loves planning weddings. Other people's weddings, that is. After her own engagement ended in disaster, she prefers to live vicariously through her work. But when she needs to persuade a big client that she’s capable of planning the celebrity wedding of the year, she’s willing to go as far as pretending to be engaged herself to her best friend’s older brother.

Soon their ruse has everyone in town believing they make the perfect couple—including Arden. She’s always been nothing more than a kid sister to Wade, and it might take a village to convince him otherwise...

Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes


Excerpt:
Copyright© 2018 Catch Him If You Can
Jennifer Shirk

Wade stood in line at the Drip N Sip, about seven people back, mentally warming up to let good old matchmaking Judy Tavish have an earful. What a friggin’ exhausting morning he’d had at work on Saturday, combating the flirting, the date requests, and the come-ons. Becky was right. His office had served more like a singles bar than a veterinary clinic. Well, no more. He was done with that, but mostly he was done with the meddling gray-haired coffee barista, looking over at him now and shooting him that wide, cheery-assed smile of hers.
“Oh, hello, Wade!” Judy waved, all sunny and good-natured, which ironically had the direct opposite effect on his already foul mood. He gritted his teeth and didn’t wave back.
“And what animal peed on your parade?” a feminine voice asked beside him.
He glanced to his right. Arden Pearson stood next to him with arms folded and an amused grin on her glistening pink-glossed lips. Arden was his sister’s best friend and all-around town sass-mouth—at least to him. He’d known her since high school when she had braces and blond hair down to her butt. Her mouth was still as sassy—maybe more so—but the braces were gone and her straight hair was cut shoulder length in a mature, professional style now. He’d always thought she was a cute girl back then, but as an adult, she was pretty damn stunning—when she wasn’t ribbing him. She had moved back to Cape Harmony about five years ago to open up her wedding planning business. Wade rarely ran into her in town unless she was with Kinsley, which made this day all the more agitating.
He turned away. “Right now, I’d actually welcome being peed on,” he muttered.
She made a tsk tsk sound. “Wow, you are having a bad day. Well, join the club.”
“Join the club?” Wade turned back to her and blinked. Damn, she had the prettiest eyes. The most unique kind of blue he’d ever seen. He immediately looked away. “Are you being bombarded at work and at home by hordes of single marriage-minded women?”
 “Well, no— Wait.” She laughed. “Hold on. Are you?”
Yes. And it’s all Judy Tavish’s fault,” he said, jerking his thumb in Judy’s direction. “She’s taken it upon herself to become my own personal walking, talking Tinder account.”
“Hmm…” Arden’s delicate brows drew together. “So, does this mean you want to book me ahead of schedule for a discount, or do you want to wait until the actual wedding proposal?” she said with a chuckle.
 “I knew you wouldn’t see the seriousness in the situation.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” She shrugged. “I mean, so what if Judy thought you should get out and have some fun and gave your number to a few nice women. Oh, boo-hoo.”
He looked her dead in the eye. “Twenty-six women, Arden. Twenty-six. Not including the crowd that showed up at the clinic on Saturday with their fake sick pets. And did you know that when I got home from work there were brownies and half a baked chicken left on my doorstep.”
Arden whistled. “Damn. Remind me to use Judy when I’m looking for a date. Or need a snack.”


Rafflecopter for Catch Him If You Can Blog Tour Giveaway

Jennifer is offering one lucky grand prize winner a $10 Amazon Gift Card and five Runner-ups an eCopy of Bargaining with the Boss, book #1 in her Accidently Yours series! To enter for your chance to win one of these exciting prizes, please fill out the Rafflecopter link below


About Jennifer Shirk

Jennifer Shirk is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Montlake Romance and Entangled Publishing. Her novel, FIANCE BY FATE—a 2015 Readers' Crown Finalist—became an Amazon #1 best seller for Series Romance. And recently, Wrong Brother, Right Match, WON the Sweet Traditional category of the 2017 Golden Quill Contest and became a #1 Amazon bestseller for Holiday Romance.

She resides in a beach resort in NJ, so when she's not writing or working on her tan, she's taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter and puppy (Sox).

Check out her website for News and Links: www.jennifershirk.com

And don't forget to join her mailing list for a chance to win monthly giveaways and free ARCs: eepurl.com/Q6TH1

Connect with Jennifer:  Website  | Facebook |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  BookBub



Thursday, August 16, 2018

Siren's Curse Review + Giveaway

9:00 AM 0 Comments

SIREN'S CURSE, a dark and haunting standalone novel in the multi-author series, The Sea King's Daughters is LIVE! 

In SIREN’S CURSE by NYT Bestselling Author, Katee Robert, a cursed mermaid has lost her powers and her ability to shapeshift and the only creature that can help her reclaim herself is one who may mean her the most harm…

Add SIREN’S CURSE to your TBR pile on Goodreads then keep reading to get a sneak peek excerpt and your chance enter the giveaway to win one of TEN (10) eBook copies of SIREN’S CURSE!

Siren’s Curse by Katee Robert
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: August 13, 2018
Publisher: Indie
Series: The Sea King’s Daughters
Page Count: 76 pages
Format: Digital
ASIN: B07DJK2HQR

Lorelei Fischer is cursed. A mermaid who can’t shapeshift, can’t create portals, and is no longer fully who she was meant to be. Too ashamed to admit how badly she failed to her sisters, she takes refuge in a small town in northern California and opens a used bookstore. With no way to regain what she’s lost, she resigns herself to a life half-lived.

After nearly drowning under the dark of the new moon, there’s no escaping the truth. She’s being hunted, and this enemy will stop at nothing to take her.

Lorelei must find a way to reclaim her birthright and her abilities before it's too late. Because the sea holds more monsters than she could have dreamed—and one of them wants her dead.
Look for other stories in this exciting Urban Fantasy series from Philippa Ballantine, Stacia D. Kelly, Lauren Harris, and Asa Maria Bradley.


Available at

This was too short!! Katee gives us a glimpse into a exciting new world were big sharks are the least of our problems while in the ocean and I can't wait to get my hands in the other books!

Lorelei is a Mermaid sent by her father to help her kind, but here alone she looses her powers and ashamed she isolates herself. But something is after her and she needs to know what it is and why.

Lorelei is such a strong character. When the book started I thought she was broken, but when danger came we get to see this girl who's willing to go down fighting to protect others.

Katee bring us a mistery with a sexy evil. Honestly I didn't know what to do with him. This powerful being so contradicting at times.

Siren's Curse is a fast read that will keep you at the edge of your seat and eager to know what is happening and what other dangers hide under the sea. ANd maybe a bit afraid...

Enter to win one of TEN (10) eBook copies of SIREN’S CURSE! 




Siren’s Curse Excerpt
Copyright © 2018 Katee Robert

I start for home, the wind and water turning my hair into blond snakes that whip around my head. Less than a quarter mile to my house and it might as well be on the moon. I pull my jacket tighter around my body and pick up my pace. Each harsh breath makes my chest ache, reminding me about the way this morning started.
I shouldn’t be alive.
There’s no other way to say it. When I closed my eyes, parted my lips, and inhaled… I made my choice. That I hadn’t died. That I woke up on the beach… Someone put me there, though I can’t begin to guess their purpose.
Lorelei.
I jump and spin in a circle, searching for the source of the voice. There’s no one in sight. There isn’t even a single pair of headlights on the road. Just the trees whipping back and forth in front of me and the beach at my back. I turn slowly to face the beach—the water—and squint into the driving rain. No part of me is dry at this point, so I might as well investigate.
Lorelei.
There it is again, barely more than a whisper on the wind. Calling me back to the water.
I take a step before what’s left of my self-preservation kicks in. “No.” I don’t mean to say the word aloud, but it settles something inside me. I am not some weak-willed creature to be drawn in by curiosity. Whatever has the power to reach me here on dry land is something I want no part of. “Get the fuck out of my head.” That’s where I must be hearing him. There’s no way he’s actually speaking to me on the wind.
Whoever he is.
I have something you want.
I freeze. The faintest tugging in my stomach dials it up a notch. It never really goes away, even when I’m sequestered in the bookstore and surrounded by earth instead of sea. That tug tells me the exact direction my necklace—my powers—lay. I never get more than a hint of water that’s such a dark blue, it might as well be black, or an intense pressure that conveys exactly how far from the surface my necklace is kept. Too deep for humans and their machines.
Too deep for me.
I start for the beach before I can think better of it. For over two years, I’ve been missing a vital piece of myself, walking around as only half of a whole. I might not be completely helpless in my current state, but I’m easy pickings for any supernatural creature who decides to gun for me. Last night more than proved that the sea will take me, one way or another
 It might as well be on my terms.
Lightning flashes, bright enough that spots dance over my vision for the several seconds of silence before thunder rattles my bones. The storm isn’t directly overhead yet, but it will be soon. I’m a damn fool if I’m still out by that point.
I yank off my boots and socks and toss them onto the beach just out of reach of the waves coming faster and faster. One step, maybe two, and I’ll be submerged up to my ankles. My finding power will spiral out of me, instinctively seeking the one item I want more than anything in this goddamn world.
Not my sisters.
Not even the portal home.
No, what I want more than anything is to be whole again.
I should just turn around and go home. Whoever this voice belongs to, they mean nothing good for me. There’s a proper way to reach out, and it’s not by drawing a finless one of the merfolk into the ocean and nearly drowning her human body. Stepping into the ocean will boost what little magic I have left, and it will create a clear channel for him to speak to me.
I take that first step, and then the second. My power streaks out into the deep and then rebounds, slamming me with a vision of my necklace. It’s different than it’s been in the past. Barely any pressure to speak of. Blue-gray water that stretches for miles and miles and miles around without encountering land. A vaguely fishy taste on my tongue.
Tentacles.
And then his voice is in my head, curling through me in a way that’s just shy of being invasive. Hello, pretty.
Telepathy isn’t one of my skills, but apparently his is so strong that it allows me to fire off a reply. Tell me what you want and get out of my head.
His chuckle is pure predator. More like I have something you want.
Surely not. The Deep Dwellers, sworn enemy to my people, wouldn’t be so foolish as to lose a coup like my necklace. In the endless history of wars between our kind, I can’t think of a single instance when they’ve managed to steal the very essence of what one of the merfolk is—to sever one of us from our power. It’s priceless. They wouldn’t have traded it—would have, in fact, guarded it with their lives. So why does this monster in my head have access to it?
I cross my arms over my chest and tell myself that the shiver racking my body is from the cold. I’m listening.
Come to me.
That surprises a laugh out of me. Pass.
You’d turn down a chance to regain yourself?
I’d turn down a chance to walk into a trap like an idiot. I shake my head. This is a waste of time. I turn for the shore when power slams into me, sending me to my knees. The water rushes in—or maybe I rush out—and the next thing I know, I’m up to my chest.
Don’t be a fool.
This deep, I finally have a sense of him. He must have held himself back up to this point, because he’s positively ancient. Older than anything I’ve ever felt—even my father—and so powerful that pain lances through my head. It would be so easy to give him what he wants, to stop fighting, to…
“Get the fuck out of my head!” I sprint for dry land. This deep, it’s more of a fast wade, but I curse and spit and fight the pull of the magic current trying to yank me off my feet. “No, no, no, no, get your stupid magic off me!
He releases me all at once and I fly the last few feet and land in a heap just past the now-normal waves. I sit up and scrub sand from my face. Even without the water connection, his dark amusement slithers through me. Another time, pretty. His presence recedes faster than any tide, leaving the storm just a normal storm.
It’s official—I’m in even worse trouble than I could have imagined.


About Katee Robert

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it 'a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension."  When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram | BookBub


Friday, August 10, 2018

Love, Across the divide - Giveaway

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When politically ambitious Republican Megan Thompson falls for her Democrat roommate, Andrew Croswell, she must make the choice between career over love, or love over politics. Fans of Jojo Moyes’ One Plus One will love this sexy debut which smashes stereotypes and strives to make sense of our not-so-brave new world. Most of all, it asks a crucial question: Can love bridge the great American divide?

https://weallmakemistakesinbooks.blogspot.com/2018/08/love-across-divide-giveaway.html

Love, Across the Divide by Krystal Ford
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Krystal Ford
Format: Digital eBook / Print
Digital ISBN: B07CZN3XQH
Print ISBN: 9780692111932


On the eve of the 2016 elections, young Republican Megan Thompson faces a once-in-a lifetime opportunity when her boss decides to groom her to run for his congressional seat in 2018. Ambitious and pragmatic, Megan is missing just one thing: a wealthy, well-connected trophy husband.

So, when Megan moves from Florida to DC and lets the congressman broker a power match, she’s looking to get down to work, not fall in love. And she’s definitely not looking to make nice with her new roommate, Andrew Croswell, a liberal environmentalist determined to make her life hell.

After a series of unpleasant blind dates, Megan begins to lose hope of finding her shiny white Republican knight in time to boost her appeal to donors and voters. At last she hits it off with Brock, a dashing, Don Draperesque spokesman for the NRA, and even love-shy Megan thinks he could be “the one.” But as the year progresses, she and Andrew start getting along a little too well, and Megan finds herself second-guessing all her well-laid plans.

Things start spinning out of control when a special election pushes everything up by a year. As Megan races against the clock, she’ll do anything to win—almost. Now she must choose: career over love, or love over politics?

Love, Across the Divide follows genuine, familiar characters from both sides of the aisle, smashing stereotypes and striving to make sense of our not-so-brave new world. Most of all, it asks a crucial question: Can love bridge the great American divide?

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Available at:  Amazon

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Krystal is offering one lucky grand prize winner a Vote, Women Tote Bag and signed paperback copy of Love, Across the Divide and three Runner-ups an eCopy of Love, Across the Divide! To enter for your chance to win one of these exciting prizes, please fill out the Rafflecopter link below

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Copyright© 2018 Love, Across the Divide
Krystal Ford

He turned to her, holding out a bag of corn tortillas. “We are making tacos.” He put her in charge of prepping the toppings, then disappeared into the fridge. When he emerged, his hands were full. “Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cilantro, avocado, cheese.”
She took the ingredients one by one from his hands and set everything in its place on the counter, beside the cutting board. She stared at the food items like they were questions on a pop quiz she hadn’t studied for. What was she supposed to do with them? Only pride kept her from asking for direction. She lifted the block of cheese and found a grater. This, she could handle.
The kitchen started to fill with the enticing scent of garlic in the frying pan. “Salsa!” Andrew barked. “Mild, medium, or hot?”
Megan didn’t hesitate. “Hot, please.”
“That’s my girl. Chop some onions.”
She flushed with pleasure. Or was it the green chiles he’d just added to the pan? Jeez, pull yourself together, Megan.
“What are you doing?” Andrew yelled, stepping up behind her and cautiously stripping her paring knife from her clenched hand, as though he were talking a suicidal victim off the ledge. “This is not what you chop onions with,” he admonished, holding up the ancient paring knife. “It’s dull as a butter knife! You’ll cut yourself sawing away with it. Now this”—he unsheathed a ten-inch Japanese chef knife from its block of wood—“is what you chop onions with.”
“I know how to cut onions,” she insisted, and started to cut tentatively. Andrew’s watchful gaze made her nervous. Her knife movement was clunky and awkward, leaving her with large, uneven hunks of onion.
He smiled indulgently and stepped closer. From behind her came traces of his hippie soap—eucalyptus and mint, she believed—and a pleasant hint of body odor. “May I?” he asked, encircling her arm with his and wrapping his hand around hers, showing the proper way to hold the knife. “Now start with the tip, and then as you push the weight of the blade down, you make a little rocking motion.”
As they chopped together in culinary intimacy, an unexpected image flashed in her mind, of him fleeing her room with a teddy bear barely covering his muscular butt. And suddenly it sank in—something he’d said during their session with Emily: I’d already gotten undressed for bed.
So, she thought, Andrew sleeps in the buff.
Her cheeks flushed as he murmured gentle encouragements. When he slowly released his grip and took a step back, disappointment flooded her body.


About Krystal Ford

Originally from Montreal, Krystal Ford has fallen in love with the Hudson Valley, New York, where she calls home with her husband and two children. She has a Master of Arts from New York University and, when she's not writing, works as a community organizer around environmental issues. Her favorite pastimes are reading books and gardening.

Connect with Krystal:  Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter GoodreadsAmazon


Thursday, August 9, 2018

It Began With a Lie - Giveaway

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Here’s your FIRST LOOK Michele PW’s upcoming romantic psychological thriller, IT BEGAN WITH A LIE! Join us as we get our first peek at this psychological thriller with an eerie twist of romantic suspense. Plus, enter to win one of ten digital ARCs of IT BEGAN WITH A LIE!

It Began With A Lie by Michele Pariza Wacek
Release Date: September 10, 2018
Publisher: Love-Based Publishing
Series: Secrets of Redemption #1
Genre: Psychological thriller, romantic suspense, paranormal
Word Count: 110K
Format: Print and digital


A fresh start. That was what Becca hoped the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin would be for her troubled family. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter.

But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into the mysterious past she barely remembers, as she is now living in her aunt's house (or what the locals call "The Witch House").

But is the house really haunted? Or is there something far more sinister out to destroy them?

Add to Goodreads Pre-Order Now: Amazon




Don’t miss Michele’s bonus novella THE SECRET DIARY OF HELEN BLACKSTONE. 

Enter to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and One of Ten eARCs of IT BEGAN WITH A LIE!

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IT BEGAN WITH A LIE Excerpt
Copyright © 2018 Michele PW

"You're right. It's perfect for us. I'm so glad we're here," I said, lying through my carefully pasted-on smile.
I tried to make my voice bright and cheery, but it sounded brittle and forced, even to me. I sucked in my breath and widened my smile, though my teeth were so clenched, my jaw hurt.
Stefan smiled back—actually, his mouth smiled but his dark brown eyes, framed with those long, thick lashes any woman would envy, looked flat … distracted. He hugged me with one arm. "I told you everything would be okay," he whispered into my hair. His scent was even more musky than usual, probably from two straight days of driving and lack of shower.
I hugged him back, reminding myself to relax. Yes, everything is going to be okay. Remember, this move represents a fresh start for us—time for us to reconnect and get our marriage back on track. It’s not going to happen overnight.
His iPhone buzzed. He didn't look at me as he dropped his arm and pulled it out of his pocket, his attention already elsewhere. "Sorry babe, gotta take this." He turned his back to me as he answered the call, walking away quickly. His dark hair, streaked with silver that added a quiet, distinguished air to his All-American good looks was longer than normal, curling around his collar. He definitely needed a haircut, but of course, we couldn't afford his normal stylist, and not just anyone was qualified to touch his hair.
I wrapped my arms around myself, goosebumps forming on my skin as a sudden breeze, especially cool for mid-May, brushed past me—the cold all the more shocking in the absence of Stefan's warm body.
He has to work, I reminded myself.  Remember why we're here.
I remembered, all right. How could I forget?
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms as I took a deep breath, and finally focused on the house.
It was just as I remembered from my childhood—white with black shutters, outlined by bushy green shrubs, framed by tall, gently-swaying pine trees and the red porch with the swinging chair. It sat all by its lonesome in the middle of a never-developed cul-de-sac, the only “neighbors” being an overgrown forest on one side, and a marshy field on the other.
Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly the way I remembered it. The bushes actually looked pretty straggly. The lawn was overgrown, full of dandelions going to seed, and the porch could definitely use a new paint job.
I sighed. If the outside looked like this, what on earth waited for me on the inside?
Inside.
I swallowed back the bile that rose in the back of my throat. It slid to my stomach, turning into a cold, slimy lump.
The house of my childhood.
The house of my nightmares.

About Michele PW

Michele Pariza Wacek (also known as Michele PW) taught herself to read at three years old because she so badly wanted to write fiction. As an adult, she became a professional copywriter (copywriters write promotional materials for businesses, nothing to do with protecting intellectual property or putting a copyright on something) and eventually founded a copywriting and marketing company. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and currently lives with her husband and dogs in the mountains of Arizona. You can reach her at MicheleParizaWacek.com. She’s published two novels, “The Stolen Twin” and “Mirror Image,” both psychological thrillers/mystery/suspense books.