Monday, July 31, 2017

Pre-Order blast from guest author @jacqbiggar Read a teaser #romance

HOLD 'EM:
A GAMBLING HEARTS NOVEL
by Jacquie Biggar

Genre: Contemporary Romance


In the game of love all bets are off

When professional poker player Matthew Shaughnessy wins the pot of a lifetime, he didn't expect to land himself a fiancée.

Cassandra Gardener is left with little choice but to play the part of a Texan's fiancée for a week if she wants to clear her father's gambling debt.

Can two people with so much to lose win the biggest bet of all- love?



Cassandra gazed in astonishment at the small town laid like a sparkling blanket in the foothills outside of Austin, Texas.

“This is your home?” She came from a well-off family and had grown up visiting her friends sprawling mansions and fancy condos, but this was something altogether different. They’d landed in Austin’s International Airport mid-morning and had traveled south almost non-stop since. She was hungry, tired, her butt hurt, and she really needed to pee, but all of her discomforts were temporarily forgotten as she took in the scene on the horizon.

She looked at Matt and caught the gleam of his smile in the dashboard lights.

“Yep, that’s home,” he said, voice ringing with pride. “Not what you expected, Princess?” He slowed to a stop and rested his arm on the steering wheel to look at her. “It still grabs me that way, and I grew up here. It’s been in our family for five generations and Grannie has managed it for the last fifty years. We have two hundred forty-seven employees and run cattle and horses across two hundred and fifty thousand acres. It hasn’t all been a bed of roses, but an oil find back in the seventies helped make her what she is today.”

“It’s beautiful, Matt.” Cass was unaccountably moved by the obvious love he had for his childhood home. With a father who had been in the military before his appointment to the Canadian Senate, she’d lived in a variety of countries and houses—she could never call them homes. She envied him his heritage.

“Thanks,” he said. “Ready to meet my family?”

Uh, sure,” she answered, while inside the jitterbugs started dancing again. Anyone who managed an operation this large had to do it with an iron hand. She pictured Matt’s grandmother with a baseball bat in one hand and a horsewhip in the other.

He shifted into gear and the truck started rolling toward the pit of doom. “Don’t worry, they’ll love you.”

Sure they will. Until they found out the engagement was a big, fat hoax—then, all bets were off.

The ranch house sat on a knoll overlooking the rest of the complex. As they drove up, lights flickered to life behind gauzy white curtains. The double Spanish style entry doors of the hacienda-type structure swung open, and what seemed like half the village spilled out onto the courtyard.

Cassandra turned accusing eyes on Matt. “You told them we were coming.”

He grinned and shut off the truck. “Of course, I did. The eldest son is bringing home his future bride. It’s cause for celebration.”

Before she could blister him with the words on the tip of her tongue, he hopped out and held his arms open to a gorgeous young woman who’d been practically jumping up and down since they pulled up. More arms opened, and more, and soon he was swallowed from view. Cassandra wished she could vanish herself. Back to before she ever knew Matthew Shaughnessy.

Short of sliding into the driver’s seat and disappearing into the sunset—oh, so tempting as it was—Cass pulled up her big girl panties and opened the door of the truck. The noise hit her first, a cacophony of laughing and crying, and what seemed like a hundred voices talking all at once. This was ten times worse than meeting Jeff’s family. For one thing, he hadn’t deserted her like bait left out for the wolves to find.

A pair of muscular arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the seat to her startled shriek. She had a blurred vision of laughing blue eyes, then she was swung around and set down in the middle of the crowd. A younger, carbon-copy version of Matt leaned down and kissed her cheek before he stepped back after a stern warning from a tart voice.

And then Cassandra was face to face with the matriarch of the Shaughnessy family.

Far from the dragon lady she’d been imagining, Matt’s grandmother looked as though sugar wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Slim, tiny, with smooth unlined skin and hair that still retained much of its natural thickness and wave—though Cass had been told the chemo was taking its toll—she rolled closer and held out her hand, the wheelchair cutting a swath through the crowd.

“So, you’re the young lass who stole my grandson’s heart.”

Cassandra squirmed under her piercing gaze and cursed Matt for leaving her alone. She gently took the old woman’s papery hand in greeting, but when she tried to let go, Grannie tightened her grip.

“Let’s have a look at you then,” she said as if Cass was a horse at market. Should she show them her teeth?

“Gran, let my fiancée go, you’re scaring her,” Matt’s laughing voice came from behind Cass. She turned… and his lips grazed her cheek to take possession of her mouth.

She froze, shocked to the core by the heat and textures bombarding her senses. His mouth stilled, then moved against hers, soft and demanding at the same time. The noise faded, taken over by the buzzing of her pulse and the encouraging murmur coming from his throat—or was it hers?

A loud war-whoop from nearby broke them apart. Cass stared into his chocolate brown eyes and saw the same bemused arousal that she was feeling. Not good. Not good at all.

She yanked herself out of his grasp and turned back to Grannie, ignoring the cheers for more from the crowd. “Is there some place I could get cleaned up? It’s been a long trip.”

Grannie’s speculative gaze turned sly. “Of course, honey. We don’t stand on ceremony around here. I know how you young people are so I had Sophia put you in the adjoining suite next to Matthew. Matt, take her to your room, son.”

“Oh, but,” Cass protested, but Matt cut her off.

“I missed you, Gran.” He leaned down and gave his grandmother a hug filled with a little boy’s love. “We’ll let you get off to bed and talk more in the morning. I can’t wait for you two to get to know each other.” He grinned at Cassandra and grabbed her hand. “C’mon, darlin’, time to hit the hay.”

Cass stumbled along behind him, not sure how she’d managed to fall down this rabbit hole.






JACQUIE BIGGAR is a USA Today bestselling author of Romantic Suspense who loves to write about tough, alpha males who know what they want, that is until they're gob-smacked by heroines who are strong, contemporary women willing to show them what they really need is love. She is the author of the popular Wounded Hearts series and has just started a new series in paranormal suspense, Mended Souls.

She has been blessed with a long, happy marriage and enjoys writing romance novels that end with happily-ever-afters.

Jacquie lives in paradise along the west coast of Canada with her family and loves reading, writing, and flower gardening. She swears she can't function without coffee, preferably at the beach with her sweetheart. 🙂

Free reads, excerpts, author news, and contests can be found on her website. You can follow her on FacebookTwitter or email her via her web site.

Jacquie lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and loves to hear from readers all over the world! You can join her street team on Facebook, her exclusive Review Crew or sign up for her newsletter.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Visiting author Lauren Marie leaves a #teaser and #giveaway as she tours with new #PNR

A DEMON SCHEME
The Haller Lake series, book 1
by Lauren Marie

Genre: Paranormal Suspense Romance


KRIS BENNETT is an art consultant and lives by Haller Lake. On an evening after an opening for a new artist, she drinks a glass of Brael Mist wine. The peach chardonnay is tainted with cyanide, other poisons and an evil enchantment spell. It opens her mind to a spiritual world she never believed existed.

ROMAN is a guardian of Haller Lake. He is told by the Lakeman's Oracle he must watch over Kris and keep her safe from an evil interested in her abilities. When she drinks the wine she is able to see Roman and the other lake guardians. His love for Kris comes on quickly and helps her understand the new world she is experiencing.

ABEDNEGO BRAEL is a low level demon who wants Kris body and soul to be possessed by the ghost of his long dead love ROCHELLE. He's done it before, but that body aged and died, releasing Rochelle back into the world. SHADRACH AND MESHACH are Abednego's brother demons who are also after Kris, but for different reasons. They realize she has a great power and if they are able to turn her, they could take the power for their own uses.

When the wine opens Kris's mind, she learns about her own magical powers from her alter ego, ELZABETH, who has long lived deep inside her mind and guided other women in Kris's family, who also had magical abilities.

With the help of the Haller Lake guardians, Kris fights to retain her very soul and her growing powers.

Kris backed up a step away from Abednego. “What do you want?” she hissed.

He smirked at her. “I think you know, Miss Bennett.”

“What is this place, Abednego?” Kris asked and looked back at him.

“It's the Between. Your spirit is in the space connecting the different realms.” He smiled at her and looked aloof.

“How is it I’m here? Roman has the sage and lavender pots burning. You shouldn't be able to reach me.”

Abednego looked over his shoulder at the woman and started to laugh. “Your other should never have let me touch her. Once I felt your essence there was a connection. I know you felt it, too, my dear.”

“Yeah, my skin crawled.”

“Miss Bennett let me ask you a question. Why have you denied your abilities all of these years?”

“I don't know about any abilities,” she said.

“Someone who is so honest is telling a lie. You've always known about them.” He continued to stare with eyes black. “There was a time when you were young. You played with jacks and when your mother came out to get you for lunch all ten of the metal pieces spun like tops.” He closed his eyes. “I can hear her voice tell you the powers should never be used or seen by anyone. You must always keep them to yourself, she said.





Lauren Marie’s first published series - The Men of Haller Lake - originally came out in 2010. She’s learned so much over the last seven years and it’s been a dream to get the stories re-edited and problems with point of view corrected. With Books to Go, Now’s help the dream has become a reality with the release of A Demon’s Scheme - Book 1 of the Haller Lake series.

She is also the author of Big Mike-Little, Golden Ribbons - story 4 of the Miss Demeanor Private Detective Agency series, I’m Not What You Think, Love’s Embers - book 1 of the Canon City Series, Love on Ice - book 2 of the Canon City Series, One Touch at Cob’s Bar and Grill - story 3 of the Montana Ranch Series, Love’s Touch - Then and Now, Going to Another Place.

She lives in Western Washington State with four cats, Agamemnon, Tazmania, Jericho and Jasper.

Lauren likes to receive feedback. If you want to send her likes and dislikes, you can go to the contact us page on the web-site laurenmariebooks.com or write to her at themenofhallerlake@hotmail.com. or friend her at facebook.com/laurenmariebooks. She does respond to feedback.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Patti finds her #Dom in #flashbackfriday #romance teaser @evernightpub

When a fleeting encounter with a handsome stranger ignites Patti’s repressed loneliness she has to admit she longs for the love of a sensual Dom.
Luck is on her side when she goes out for the evening and meets delicious Cameron in The Club—but is he all that he appears to be?
Cameron’s overwhelming attraction to Patti is tested when she inexplicably fails to show up for a date
—Just what is going on and will they ever get together?

An erotic romance with Dom/Sub spanking elements—a contemporary, magical love story.

Flashback Friday teaser


Tingles raced along the arm he’d slid around Patti’s slender waist. Cameron sighed with pleasure. He thought about the women he’d been with before––there weren’t that many, but they were nothing like Patti. Usually taller, with long hair, long dark hair, he amended, maybe they were a type. 

The doors to the restaurant were automatic and both opened at once. He didn’t have to let go of Patti for them both to walk in. Cameron smiled. I really like this girl. I can hardly take my hands off her. It’s going to be such a pleasure being with her and maybe, just maybe, this time something else will develop. He squeezed Patti against his body and then let her go. “I should let you go. I don’t think they’ll let me have you sit on my knee here.”

Patti laughed. “Probably not, but is that what you’d like?” Her brown eyes sparkled at him.

Cameron grinned. “Yeah—you felt good on my lap the other night.”

Patti gazed at him. Her eyes grew even darker.

He traced her lips with his gaze. An intense longing to crush her to his body and kiss her senseless consumed him. He grasped her hand. “They can’t stop me holding your hand. Let’s go get a drink.”

They stood on the mezzanine floor looking out of the picture window at the sun going down across the wide expanse of river. Cameron took a drink of his continental beer and watched as Patti sipped at the fruit juice cocktail she’d ordered. Can I just come out and say how much I already want her in my life? “Tell me all about yourself, Patti.”

She smiled. “Really, there’s not that much to know. I work for a fashion magazine. I live over the river in a warehouse conversion. I drive a pale blue Mustang. I like movies and music. That’s it.”

Cameron couldn’t help himself. He reached out and held her jaw. He brought his mouth down on hers in a kiss that tightened his stomach.

She responded to his kiss with a little moan of pleasure, moving toward his lips as he drew away.

He knew she wanted more. “Later, darling,” he whispered. He took her hand. Their dinner table would be available.
With Patti seated opposite him Cameron moved the small ceramic bowl of purple anemones from the center of the table to one side. He pushed his hand across the table. “Give me your hand.”

Patti slipped her hand into his.

Her soft skin against his palm sent a jolt of attraction up his arm. He stroked her wrist gently and saw goosebumps raised on her arm. “Are you cold, or am I making you shiver?”

Cameron enjoyed the effect he had on her. Her eyes were dreamy and dark. Her bra must be thin because her nipples were visibly peaked under the bodice of her dress.

Her breath caught as she answered. “It’s you, Cameron.”

A spike of sensation went through his stomach into his cock. He smiled at her. “You’re so pretty, so sexy … I’m so glad we met.”

Just then a server showed up at the table and they ordered.
Cameron wanted to know more about her. He wanted to see if she could be truly his. Tonight he intended taking her back to The Club after dinner and giving her so many orgasms she’d crave his touch forever. His thoughts brought a memory of her coming on his fingers and his cock stirred again. He sighed involuntarily as he gazed at Patti.

“I’m happy we met, too.”

“Okay, tell me about your work. What do you do for the fashion magazine?” As Patti told him about her work, Cameron stored away the picture of her lips and the way her eyes sparkled as she spoke. He memorized the way she looked at him and swore to himself he saw affection in her eyes. He flicked his gaze over her creamy shoulders and decided when he had her alone he would suck along one and mark her as his. He held himself back from pulling down one of the shoestring straps and dislodging the dress to reveal a breast. He longed to suck on her nipples.

Their dinner arrived, and they ate little bites as they talked.

Cameron asked about the music she liked and they talked about movies they’d both seen. He ordered a chocolate ice-cream dessert and fed her a couple of spoons full. He put down the spoon and traced a pattern on the crisp white tablecloth with one finger.

“I did intend to take you back to The Club and a private room, but now I want something different.” He met her expectant gaze.

Patti darted her tongue over her top lip. Her voice low, she gave him a look and he knew she’d do what he asked. “What is that? I want you to have it.”
She trusts me. It could be anything. Cameron’s heart filled up with a powerful emotion he struggled to identify. Her trust was a gift and he wouldn’t let her down.

He smiled at her. “I’d like to see you naked in the moonlight. I know a place along the river where we can be together. Naturally you must use your safeword, if you become uncomfortable.”

“It sounds exciting.”

Cameron paid the bill. He took her hand. “There’s a path through the park next to the river.” Outside on the sidewalk he put his arm around her shoulders and traced his fingertips over her the top of her breast as they walked.

Patti was silent as he led the way.

He turned in through the open wrought iron gates of the city park and stopped to kiss her.

She molded against his body, softly murmuring.

The kiss hardened his cock. The anticipation of having Patti naked in the soft summer night set his heart hammering. He broke away from the kiss. He held her around the shoulders and took her along the path and down to the river. Old-fashioned lantern streetlamps lit the path, but as he led Patti into an area sprinkled with low shrubs and clumps of flowers, the lights disappeared. Closer to the riverbank, but semi-hidden by clipped box, was a bench seat. Cameron stopped by it. He put Patti an arm’s length away from him. The river lapped against the man-made bank supports in this area, making soft music. The moon hung almost full in a cloudless sky.


“Take off your dress.” He gazed at Patti through lust heavy eyes.
Copyright Elodie Parkes Evernight Publishing



Thursday, July 27, 2017

At the end, love outweighs everything. New release #romance #teaser and #giveaway @suzannejenkins3

THE JADE EMPEROR
by Suzanne Jenkins

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction


A marriage of nearly half a century faces its greatest challenge when a stranger arrives, bearing life changing news. Although Steve and Kelly Boyd live together, they barely tolerate each other. Marrying in their teens and quickly becoming parents, the separation due to the war in Vietnam forms the foundation for the next forty-five precarious years.

Filling the empty marriage with the companionship of her twin sister, Karen, and the family she made with Steve, Kelly’s life revolves around her six adult children.

The stranger’s sudden appearance clarifies so much about Steve’s lifetime behavior to Kelly.

Heartfelt conversations at the local coffee shop where son Reggie works as a barista, help the family resolve differences, build new relationships, and grow in acceptance of one another.

At the end, love outweighs everything.


Before night fall, Kelly Boyd’s life revolved around her marriage and children. After sundown that same day, many of the things she’d based her life on would no longer exist.

In Michigan, autumn meant apple cider and donuts; pumpkins piled high at every market, the pungent smells of campfires in backyard fire pits, and hay bales stacked decoratively on suburban porches instead of in horse and sheep troughs. Loving fall the best out of all the seasons, Kelly hoped to spend part of the upcoming weekend visiting a local cider mill with her children and grandchildren, initiating the onset of autumn. No one questioned what the weekends would bring; Kelly had something planned for each one far in advance. Looking forward to it all week, the excitement and anticipation made the stress of her job recede. Kelly didn’t need vacations; cruises and trips to exotic places held no interest for her because her family provided all she needed in life.  
Simmering away in the back of her subconscious was a seed of non-specific unease that grew and festered if she gave it too much of her attention. A common occurrence for her, she thought it was simply women’s intuition instigating worry with no foundation. Sticking rigorously to her schedule no matter what; her husband, Steve once joked that he could be having a heart attack on the floor, and Kelly would finish whatever task she was doing before she’d stop to call 911.

“That’s not even funny,” she replied the first time he said it, frowning, but he wouldn’t relent.

The routine had become essential for her wellbeing. After a week of grueling hospital work as a nurse, Kelly spent each Friday night cleaning house so the weekend would be free. Dinner long over, she’d talk on the phone to her sister with reruns of Hoarders on the television as background noise while she cleaned. Steve, her husband of over forty years, sequestered in his basement man-cave watching sporting events on a ninety-inch flat screen, was oblivious to whatever Kelly was up to until he heard the vacuum running.

On this particular Friday, the weather was warm; the last days of Indian summer in progress, and in honor of it she’d left the front door open, locking the storm door. While mopping the wood floors that covered the dining room and front hallway, she heard a car pull up in front of the house.

“Hold on for a minute,” she told her sister, holding on to the phone.

Going to the door, she looked out at a Yellow Cab that had stopped directly in front of their house. A tall, thin, man got out of the back, and leaned through the window to chat with the driver. Kelly saw him reach into his pocket to retrieve paper money, watching as he counted out bills, handing them through the window. The driver drove off, and it wasn’t until then that Kelly realized the man was headed to her house.

“Beaver, come,” she called to the dog in a low voice.

Their shepherd - boxer mix obediently came to her side and gave a low growl as he watched the man walk up the steps. Wishing the TV wasn’t on so loud; if she needed to yell for Steve, he’d never hear her. Standing with the mop handle in her hand, the young man came up the steps, smiling. Attractive, clean cut, and possibly Asian, she thought if he’s going to attack me, he’d bust through the door right away, but the dog would get him.

“Hi, I’m sorry to show up at this hour. Is Augustus Boyd here?” he said loud enough to be heard through the glass.

It was uncommon for someone to come to their house late, and never for her husband. Kelly hesitated, wondering if she should at least ask his name, or why he wanted to speak to Steve, but decided against it; she’d let Steve handle it.

“I’ll get him. Wait here just a moment.”

The young man nodded his head, and Kelly, on a whim, shut the big door and locked it, putting her mop handle against the wall, moving quickly to the basement landing. She opened the door and ran down the steps. Steve looked up when she entered his den.

“What’s up?”

“There’s a man at the door asking for Augustus.”

“Did he give a name?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I was standing there like an ass with the door wide open cleaning when the cab let him out, and all I thought of was how quickly I could get the door shut without offending him.”

Steve got out of his recliner and followed her up the stairs.

“Who’d come here in a cab?” he said, his lips set in a line.

“I have no idea.” Kelly stepped aside so Steve could get to the door.

Opening it, the young man looked at Steve, smiling. They watched each other, looking into each other’s eyes.

“Can I help you?” Steve asked, his heart pounding, the unfamiliar intrusion upsetting.

Not a deep thinker, something told Steve this man would alter the course of his life.

“Can I talk to you in private?” the young man asked, looking around Steve’s shoulder at Kelly.

Steve looked at her, too and shrugged his shoulders. He unlocked the storm door.

“Sure,” he said, stepping out onto the porch, closing the door behind him.

Kelly wondered what could be so important, or so private that the man couldn’t talk about it in front of her. Picking up the phone, she spoke, but her sister had hung up. Calling her back, for the next ten minutes, they speculated about who it might be.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know what’s going on,” she said before hanging up.

Walking to their bedroom, she grabbed the linen hamper, circling through the rooms on that floor to grab what needed washing, taking it to the basement. Nothing, not even a mysterious stranger could disrupt her routine. Moving clothes from the washer to the dryer, she then fed more dirty clothes into the washer. If she timed it right, she‘d have all their laundry done by midnight.

Life had become regimented for Kelly and therefore tolerable; grocery store after work at the beginning of the week, housework on Friday, visiting on Saturday, outings on Sunday. Monday she’d start all over again, cooking for the week, visiting her children when she could in the afternoon, often lingering over their kitchen tables long after she should’ve been home. Getting things done, being organized; that was what mattered to her. Having every area of her life under control was what brought her anxiety-ridden thoughts into submission.

Their six children lived locally. Augie, Jr., twins Ben and Lisa, Ken, Reggie, and Alice. Two were married with children of their own; they lived in houses and apartments spread around town. Proud of her children, she and Steve had worked hard to educate them, and they were all employed in some form.

Running up the stairs with a basket full of folded laundry, she yelped when she opened the door, Steve standing in the kitchen surprising her.

“You scared me. Who was it?” she asked, taking the laundry back to their bedroom.

Not answering, he followed her.

“I’m going to drive him to his hotel so he doesn’t have to wait for a cab,” he said, picking up his wallet and money clip off the dresser.

“Who is he?” she asked again, making his and hers piles on their bed.

He didn’t answer again, and Kelly turned to look at him.

“Steve, who is it?”

“The son of a friend,” he said. “I’ll be gone about an hour. Do you want anything while I’m out?”
It was so odd, him leaving like that on a Friday night; she was concerned only from the standpoint that he’d be safe and nothing else. She didn’t distrust him, certainly. There was no reason not to trust him.

“No, I can’t think of anything. Are you okay?”

Taking a moment to really look at him, he was as white as a sheet. “What’s going on?”

He went to her, took her by the shoulders, kissing her forehead, so out of character; she knew something was terribly wrong. Steve hadn’t kissed her in months.

“I’ll get the full story from him on our way into town. I’ll have my cell phone if you decide you need anything.”

She thought, what would I need?

“Hurry back,” she said, concerned.

Trying to think what friend had a son who’d show up on a doorstep at ten at night, no one came to mind. Steve was a pipefitter, and the shop where he worked had almost a zero turnover. When he retired in one more year, it would be the first opening they’d have in almost fifteen years. She knew everyone he worked with, and his friend-pool, although she could hardly say they were friends, was made up of other pipe-fitters. They’d all worked together since they were kids. Could it be a son of someone from work? She picked up the phone, wanting to speculate with her sister. It was almost eleven, but she knew Karen would still be up, running the vacuum.

“What did the man look like?” Karen asked.

“He might have been Hispanic or Asian,” Kelly said. “Foreign. Tall. Black hair, high cheek bones, almond eyes. I couldn’t really tell because the light is dim on the porch and it was late. Anyway, like no one I know. Maybe late thirties.”

“Well, you’d better text me the minute he comes back because now I won’t sleep. I’m getting ready to take my shot so you know I’ll be up for a while.”

Kelly laughed heartily. Karen had a shot of vodka nightly, and Kelly’s concern for her sister’s liver was a running dialogue.

“Your husband will drink a six pack tonight. How good can that be for his liver?” Karen said. “Pour another glass of wine. You deserve it.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” she said, going to the fridge. “I’m going to do it right now.” She took the bottle out and poured a healthy glass of wine. “Okay, I’m all set. Thank you for listening.”

“Don’t forget to text me,” Karen said.

“I won’t. It might be late. He said an hour but who knows,” Kelly said.

She’d polish the furniture while drinking the wine.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said.






Suzanne writes page-turning contemporary romance, mystery, and women's fiction with passionately gripping characters that stay with readers long after they turn the last page. The Detroit Detective Stories, beginning with The Greeks of Beaubien Street are a reflection of American fantasy with historical reality. Pam of Babylon books consistently rank in the Top 100 Best Sellers in American Drama with over 500,000 downloads. A retired operating room nurse, Jenkins lives in Southern California.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Michelle Vega has everything to hide except her beauty and her instant attraction to Dominic #midweektease #romance #suspense

Midweek Teaser is from An Unusual Vacation
erotic, romantic suspense from Evernight Publishing 


At thirty-two Dominic Carr thinks it’s time he met a girl he could love. He’s tired and jaded from his high power job, and hoping that this summer’s vacation will be refreshing. When he sees Michelle Vega in the art gallery of a harbor town he visits, her long legs in pink couture shorts grab his attention.

Michelle Vega has everything to hide except her beauty and her instant attraction to Dominic. She’s not on vacation as she visits the gallery—more like on business.

As the two of them fall into a hot romance, Dominic is sure Michelle could be ‘the one,’ but Michelle is filled with doubt when she considers how he might react to discovering her secrets.


When Michelle’s business takes a dangerous twist Dominic finds he’s pulled into a perilous situation.

Will this be a test of his love or the finish of it?

Read the Midweek Teaser

Michelle Vega wound her long hair up into a topknot. Assigned below to the cabin for hours, she needed some fresh air. Jackson was at the helm when she stepped up onto the deck. She stood beside him, hanging onto the rail as the powerboat jumped in the water. They’d dropped Brad and Connor at the first riverside town to meet with their client, and now hurtled up river to the log cabin, where they were to lie low until contacted. The beams from the huge spotlights on the powerboat lit the way. The wooded riverbanks loomed in the darkness, briefly lit, and then receding in strange shapes as their boat flew by.

“What’s the hurry now, Jackson?” Michelle called as the wind whipped some of her hair from the topknot and slapped it against her lips.

Her brother glanced hurriedly at her. “Once I’ve dropped you, I have to clean and dump the boat a few miles upstream, and hike back to the cabin. I just want rid of it.”

A moment later, the spotlights picked out the private mooring of the log cabin hideout and Jackson brought the motorboat alongside the wooden, planked walkway.

“Michelle, take the gym bag from below with you. Be careful with it. I’ll be back in about an hour.”

She nodded at her brother, nervous about arriving at the cabin alone in the pitch-black night. She stepped down into the small covered area. The bag was bulky and misshapen. Michelle grabbed a flashlight from where two lay on the bench seat, next to the bag.

Jackson gave her the slightest goodbye, then reversed the boat, and took off up river again.

Michelle stared after him for a moment before aiming the beam of her flashlight along the walkway to find the path through the small trees and shrubs to the cabin. A bird flew up with a squawk, and still other birds fidgeted in the taller shrubs as she passed. The soft gurgle of the river, and the scrunch of twigs and gravel under her feet, emphasized how alone she was in a place she’d never been before … and at night, no less. Hell, I hope this place is safe. I hope Jackson gets here soon. I hope Brad and Connor are okay and on their way here. I wish we’d never taken this job. The bag bumped against her leg when she found a shallow pothole with her boot and stumbled a little. What’s in this bag, anyway?

The log cabin looked bigger than she’d imagined as she approached. A small Jeep stood to one side of it. The moon didn’t provide much light and the place seemed to crouch like a predator surrounded by the trees. Connor had said the cabin wouldn’t be locked. Michelle tried the door and when it opened, she aimed her flashlight around inside before walking in. To her surprise, there were modern lights, and she flipped them on as she explored each room. Michelle grinned to herself. She’d expected some kind of primitive shed, but the place was more like someone’s home. If the cabin belonged to her, she wouldn’t leave it unlocked, ever. She clicked down the catch on the Yale lock of the front door and heaved a sigh of relief.

The cabin was comfortable with supplies laid in by Connor. It was where Connor took his fishing breaks and had been his dad’s place until he passed a few years ago. A change of clothes for each of them had been left there, too, and Michelle had given Connor a backpack with some underwear and toiletries to leave for her as well as the clothes.

She dumped the gym bag and flashlight on top of a large desk in one corner of the room and went off to make coffee. She checked inside the fridge for something quick to eat, and found sliced cold chicken in a deli pack. She turned on the TV affixed to the wall and flipped through the channels for news, before making a sandwich as the coffee percolated. Then there it was—Alexander Probert, the billionaire entrepreneur, was to fly home from his vacation in the Bahamas as his staff reported a theft from his city home, and police were investigating the audacious robbery. The broadcaster flashed up photographs of the city home, presumably the staff member who’d reported the theft, and, inexplicably Probert’s country mansion, and then the billionaire, but when questioned at the news conference, the police admitted there were no leads as yet and their investigation would continue.

Copyright Elodie Parkes, 2016 Evernight Publishing 
4 and 1/2 stars from Manic Readers
Every time I think I have Parkes figured out, she imagines a story that is purely different from what I expected.
HOP to the NEXT  MIDWEEK Teaser 


Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Embark on a remarkable journey of drama, romance, and passion... #romance #drama #booktrailer @marielavender1


 Directions of the Heart 


Genre: modern romantic drama collection


Blurb:

Embark on a remarkable journey of drama, romance, and passion...


​In all of these amazing stories, there's one burning question...is love worth the risk?



Without You


Reece and Jenna are two childhood friends separated by time and distance. Can they find a way to heal their bond, or perhaps forge a new one?


Strange Heat


Spurred by her friend’s close call, Victoria decides to take a risk and prove the lifestyle she led was her downfall. But as Tory sinks deeper into the tumultuous abyss of desire with the mysterious Rick, can she climb back out before it’s too late? Or does she even want to?


Memories


Struggling to run her family’s farm on her own, Sadie takes on a hired hand, Matt. As they grow closer, so does the danger. Someone wants her legacy. Can they combat this new threat, as well as the demons of the past, before Sadie loses everything, including her life?


A Touch of Dawn


Caitlyn thought she’d be in the dark forever. But with the light came Jack, the police consultant who found her. Can they take a journey of healing together, or will Caitlyn retreat into the darkness of her mind, where she lived for so long?


(CONTENT WARNING: With an abuse awareness theme in this collection, there may be triggers here for past trauma sufferers. However, HEAs are guaranteed.)


Facebook release party (lots of prizes): https://www.facebook.com/events/1070356223094698/

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Read a Sexy Excerpt
“Tory?” Rick asked groggily from the doorway.  ‘“What are you doing, querida?”
She hadn’t heard him open the door. “Just finishing up,” she replied, setting down the hairbrush.
“Come back to bed...”
She gazed at his image in the mirror. His eyes heavy-lidded with sleep, his dark hair mussed, she knew the lonesome puppy look wasn’t real. No, he was a full-blooded man. He was capable of more than she’d ever given him credit for, and she had played with fire too often with him.
Before she could reply, he’d stepped forward to wrap his arms about her body, one hand resting beneath her breasts, with the other placed all too close to her soft mound of femininity. Even though the bathrobe was thick, she knew it was hardly an obstacle for his competent hands. “Mmm,” he said, and the hair near her neck shifted. “You smell good.” He nibbled her ear in a playful fashion. “You taste good too. Por Dios, Tory, I want you again.”
What he did to her was wonderful. “You haven’t stopped wanting me,” she murmured as she felt the hard proof of his arousal against her buttocks through the fabric between them.
“I know. I must have you or I’ll die.”
She giggled. “Rick, that’s not likely,” she protested against his lips as with a gentle hand on her jaw, he turned her head to kiss her.
“I know. But, this time it will be different. You, my little vixen, will be in control.”
When his lips raced down her throat to her beating pulse, she managed, “What...I don’t understand.”
His gaze briefly held hers before he possessed her lips again. “You will,” he whispered.
Soon, she came to realize what he meant. Suddenly he released the sash of the bathrobe she wore, and it billowed around her feet. He eased her down upon the tiles. She moaned when he cupped her breasts in turn, grazed his thumbs over them. Then he squeezed one gently. A free hand swept between her thighs, as if testing her response.
He groaned. “Always so wet for me, gorgeous.”
Just when she expected him to take her, he didn’t. He held her close, rolling with her until she lay astride him. Moving inside her, he used his hands on her hips to guide her further. He wore no condom this time. Her eyes flew to his face, but his lids were lowered. He appeared to be in another world, waiting for her to take the reins.
Uncertain, she figured she may as well try. She moved to take him deeper and sighed at the wonder of it. Soon, her body became more urgent, eager for release. Vicky rode him rhythmically, arching her back for the intense pleasure. Thinking he was lost to her, she knew she couldn’t be more wrong when his fingernails dug into the flesh of her hips.
His lids lifted and that dark gaze caused her to shiver, the shockwave shifting somewhere inside. Rick reached between their bodies to stroke her and she moaned, threw her head back as she moved. It was wild, animalistic, unpredictable. Everything she thought she wasn’t. And yet, he gave her this gift, to feel more than the Victoria she’d always considered herself to be. With his offer of such treasure, she felt powerful.