Release Blitz ~ Imperfect Love ~ by ~ Jade Royal

Title: Imperfect Love
Series: Limits of Love Series Book One
Author: Jade Royal
Genre: Dark Erotic Romance
Release Date: June 17, 2017
Harrison is a ladies’ man. Women flock to him like bees to honey. He’s tall, smooth, handsome and chocolatey fine. The fact that he’s a military man only heightens his appeal. Harrison is used women flirting and enticing him, but he never thought that Shelly would be one of them.

 


After indulging in one too many spiked eggnogs, Shelly decides to flirt with the man t she’s been in love with since she was a teenager. How far is she willing to go to try to convince Harrison to give them a try?

Hello,


I’m Jade and I’m a closeted writer. I’ve been writing short stories and the likes since I was a young girl but kept all of those words for myself. I’ve been told a number of times that I write well and that I should publish. The thing is… you can’t put yourself out there for that level of criticism unless you’re ready. I had a small blog years ago but I failed to keep up with it because I wasn’t as committed to my craft. Those days are long gone and here I am. It’s take a while but I’m finally ready to make that leap.

I’m working on my first series that will include multiple books of a BDSM series. I write Erotica, Romance, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, and other forms of Fiction. I also love to write Shorts. They can be as short as a bio of a person that I’ve seen or imagined to as long as a few chapters. I take creative inspiration from everything around me but I never use the source directly. For instance, if I see a blue bird singing in a tree by the time that my mind has come up with a story it be a black cat purring the same tune.

As for the fun stuff! I also read by the dozen, use my culinary skills to bake and cook, entertain a swarm of nieces, nephews, and any other adoptive children that I can. I love to host parties, entertain, and talk to my two dogs who happily keep my feet warm.

I was born and raised in good old Cincinnati, OH but I love to travel and see new places. I have yet to travel outside of the US but I’m working on it. I don’t have any biological children but you can’t tell all my previously mentioned children that. Feel free to stick around to find out more about me because I’m sure there’s a lot more.

Welcome To My World…


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Release Blitz ~ Fifty Shades of Austen ~ by ~ A.L. Ady

Title: Fifty Shades of Austen: Steamy Stories of Austen’s Naughty Women
Author: A.L. Ady
Genre: Steamy Regency Romance
Release Date: June 15, 2017

 

Are the Shades of Pemberley to be thus Polluted?

Jane Austen’s stories may focus on the romantic rewards of her principled heroines, but there are the less than proper female characters that give into their passions and abandon propriety with equally depraved men. The stories of these women are full of intrigue, desire, enticement, and wanton disregard for their family reputations, all for the often short-lived affection of a top-hatted, cravat wearing bad boy.

These steamy short stories are written in first person by Austen’s characters themselves in secret diaries detailing every aspect of their romantic desires, manipulative schemes and sensual experiences. Find out what really happened the night Lydia stole away with Wickham, how Lucy Steele seduced the brother of her fiancé, and why unmarried Isabella Thorpe ended up in bed with the heir to Northanger Abbey. Celebrating the gloriously greedy, sassy, snobby, brazen, and too-fashionable-for-you women of Austen, these steamy stories will have readers cheering for the bad girl.

 

A. L. Ady is a woman of particular tastes and refined sensibilities. When she is not sipping tea in the garden reading a Jane Austen novel, she can found curled up in a wing-back chair with a laptop, drinking iced coffee and writing regency romances.

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Release Blitz ~ Thorne: Rose’s Dark Awakening ~ by ~ R.B. O’Brien

Title – Thorne: Rose’s Dark Awakening (Book 3)
Author – R.B. O’Brien
Genre: Erotic Romance
Release Date: June 17, 2017
“In the small hours
we are unadorned 
our psyche 
naked 
in death 
no more veiled intuition
we know who we truly are.” ~Sebastian Nox
At last, the highly-anticipated conclusion to William and Rose’s story is here!
When William Thorne meets the unassuming but beautiful Rose (Victoria) Wellington, he begins to unmask the true man he has buried for years under hired personal assistants and obsessive work behavior fighting the tobacco industry. But after another tragedy shakes him, all his demons resurface, awakened with ferocity. This time, he will leave Rose behind to protect her, and he will embrace the William that has kept him stable all these years.

With a confession about to go public in seeking atonement for his past deeds, deeds that very likely will land him in prison, William marvels at his Rose’s growth personally but saddens as she moves on in her love life and her career without him. He, too, tries to move on by hiring a beautiful, submissive personal assistant to fulfill all his salacious needs. Each time he sees Rose, his fight to stay away from the beauty becomes unbearable, but his impending future leaves little to change it.
The Thorne Series is a sensually erotic and deeply emotional story with twists that will make you go back to read from the very first page of the series all over again.

I placed the cool cloth against Rose’s forehead and she moaned, opening her lips slightly as Katie danced the ice into the opening. Rose’s eyes fluttered open and she pushed herself to get up, her eyes darting from me to Katie. She took the cloth in her hands from her forehead. “What happened?” she asked, embarrassed. “Sorry…I…I need to go. I was just…I will be going…”
“Sssssh,” I said. “Lie back down. Let us take care of you.”
 “Us?” Rose said with unease. “So, you two are…an us?” Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and I felt my stomach turn. I didn’t want to see her in any more pain ever again. God. Did I have to keep doing this to her over and over?
Katie looked at me, asking for permission to speak and I shook my head no.
“Rose,” I said sternly. “There is no us here. Katie was starting as my PA today. But guess what?”
Katie began to wipe Rose’s tears from her eyes and Rose looked at me, confused, emotional.
“William.” Rose sucked in her breath to stop the tears. “I need to go. This is too much, William. Please. I can’t handle seeing you…the two of you…oh my god…this…”
“Rose, stop it, and listen. The only us is you and me. I’m not going to fight it anymore. I can’t. I won’t.”
“But,” she started. “You clearly have fought it. You have clearly moved on.”
“Yes. I tried. But I can’t. I realize that now. I’ve always known it. I love you, Rose.” I kissed her lips, cold from the ice, and Katie hung her head.
“I’m sorry, Katie.” I said finally. “I will pay you in full.”
She looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Let me serve you.”
“I can’t, Katie. Not now. I can’t hire you. I was forcing something that I knew wasn’t right. You are lovely. Truly. But I can’t.”
I placed the water at Rose’s lips so she could drink and when she had finished, Katie sat at the top of the bed, Rose’s head on her lap. She stroked her hair back and looked at me. “Let me help before I go. That is what I wanted to ask you earlier. If I could please stay and help you. Serve you.”
I smiled and looked at Katie, her need to please me the only thing she cared about. I looked down at Rose and began to unbutton her dress. She trembled at my touch, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. “William…what…what are you doing?”
I rolled her nipples in between my fingers, now free from the confines of her bra. I had plucked her breasts to sit atop the lacy fabric. I was going to have my way.
“Oh god.” She moaned.
Katie continued to stroke her hair to relax her, and I unbuttoned the rest of her dress to reveal her body, still slightly glistening from the heat and her exhaustion.
“Lift up,” I ordered and removed her underwear.
“William, please…what are you doing?” she asked again.
“What am I doing?” I said with a sarcastic tease. “I am going to make you feel good. And you are not going to stop it unless you use your safeword. You remember it, no?”
Her eyes shut and a tear slipped out.
“Hey. Sssssh. Let us make you feel good. Let me love you the best way I know how.”
“Oh, William. I can’t…No…this isn’t right…I can’t…”
“Ssssh,” I said again. “Safeword or nothing. But you can use it. Otherwise, give in, just as I am giving in. I love you.”
I nodded at Katie and stood up to get some bindings. One thing I knew about Rose: she would struggle to stay still and to accept the sensations.
I threw some double handcuffs over to Katie.
“Put those on her wrists. Then secure them to the bedpost with the other half.”
“Yes, sir,” Katie said, all too eager to please.
I looked down at the slightly trembling Rose and knew that even though she was nervous, she was aroused. “Take off all your clothes, Rose.”
She shook her head and I laughed. “Is that a safeword?”
She squeezed her eyes shut again.
Katie lifted her back and removed the dress. I removed the bra fully and nodded again to Katie to secure her wrists. I began to tie the rope around Rose’s ankles.
“William,” Rose whined, but the lust could not be denied. “I’ve missed you,” she said, surprising me.
I drew myself over her and kissed her. Hard. She began to cry again as her tongue pushed its way into my mouth. “I love you,” she managed to say as the force of her kiss broke for only a moment.
“I want to torture you right now, Rose, to bring you to unimaginable pleasure. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She nodded.

 

“If it’s too much, use your safeword. I am starving for you.”
Thorne: Rose’s Dark Contract (DOWNLOAD FREE)
Thorne: Rose’s Dark Secret (ON SALE 99 CENTS)

R.B. O’Brien has always been drawn to the more taboo side of storytelling, even as a young adult, from hiding books from strict Catholic parents as a teen to getting lost in the erotic sections of bookstores for hours. As a writer, O’Brien explores the darker, erotic nature of relationships, those riddled with the reality of insecurities and human folly, exposing the vulnerability, emotional turmoil, and occasional pain that can come from losing oneself in the heat of passion. 


O’Brien holds a degree in English literature and happily resides in the Northeast of the United States. Her first series, the highly acclaimed Natalie’s Edge trilogy, is now available in ebook format, the third of which, Redemption, was nominated for the Golden Flogger Award for best BDSM romance. THORNE, O’Brien’s second dark romance suspense series is complete and available NOW, a tale where things are not what they seem. O’Brien has just released her award-winning series, formerly the Capture of Rosemary, The IMOGEN series. 

“To write is to descend, excavate, to go underground.”—Anais Nin.

O’Brien is a member on The Nu Romantics, a collaborative group who strives to redefine romance.

 

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Release Blitz ~ Cody ~ by ~ Jessie Cooke

Title: Cody
Series: Southside Skulls Motorcycle Club
Author: Jessie Cooke
Genre: MC Romance
Release Date: June 16, 2017


Cody Miller has just been released from serving 8 years in prison for avenging the death of his brother.


His only family are those at the Southside Skulls Outlaw Biker Club, where the girl he loves lives, but he hasn’t heard from her since his incarceration and no one is telling him what he wants to hear… that she still loves him.

Macy Linden awaits anxiously for Cody’s return, and how he will react when he learns of her life now. 

No longer the boy she last saw, Cody is now six foot two and two hundred and thirty pounds of solid muscle, driven by the need to complete some unfinished business.

Macy has something else she has been hiding. A big secret that will threaten to drive them apart.

Can they still find the love they once had after all their secrets are revealed?

This is the second book in the Southside Skulls MC Series.
This is a Standalone Romance Novel but is intended to be read after book one – DAX – where characters in that novel are main players in this story too. HEA and No cliffhangers.
Intended for Mature Readers.




Jessie Cooke writes hot romance novels about tough guys, bad boys, bikers, fighters and lovers and the women of strong character who tame them.

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Release Blitz ~ Rough & Ready ~ by ~ Hayley Faiman

Title: Rough and Ready
Series: Notorious Devils MC #5
Author: Hayley Faiman
Genre: MC Romance
Release Date: June 16, 2017
Cover Designer: Pink Ink Designs

Cleo Hill is a married woman, in love with a man she’s never really known—her husband, whom she hasn’t seen in eleven years.

Paxton “Torch” Hill is a Notorious Devil, a man who’s been wrestling with his personal demons since before he knew the horrors of war.

When a threat against his club means danger could be lurking around his estranged wife’s door, Paxton is determined to protect her. Yet, one look at the woman he left behind, and he knows his plans are about to change. 

The past is not an easy thing to forget, especially not for a woman scorned. While Cleo isn’t the innocent catch he once knew, there’s something about that rough and ready man she’s not sure she can deny.

After all—they promised each other forever. 

*Recommended for readers 18+ due to Language, Sexual Content, and Violence

32 years young… born and raised in California, did a stint in Oregon only to return to the Golden State. Lived that life a while until the Lone Star State called to us, Hill Country, Texas is where we call home, where our boots rest and loving that country life. Living the life with one bearded power pole climbing husband, two little boys that are full of energy and drive us crazy plus a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.


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Release Blitz & Review ~ More Than Need You ~ by ~ Shayla Black

Release Date: June 13, 2017

Designer: Rachel Connolly

Photographer: Sara Eirew

Add To GoodReads Here

I’m Griffin Reed—cutthroat entrepreneur and competitive bastard. Trust is a four-letter word and everyone is disposable…except Britta Stone. Three years ago, she was my everything before I stupidly threw her away. I thought I’d paid for my sin in misery—until I learned we have a son. Finding out she’s engaged to a bore who’s rushing her to the altar pisses me off even more. I intend to win her back and raise our boy. I’ll have to get ruthless, of course. Luckily, that’s one of my most singular talents.

Sixty days. That’s what I’m asking the gritty, independent single mother to give me—twenty-four/seven. Under my roof. And if I have my way, in my bed. Britta says she wants nothing to do with me. But her body language and passionate kisses make her a liar. Now all I have to do is coax her into surrendering to the old magic between us. Once I have her right where I want her, I’ll do whatever it takes to prove I more than need her.

This book is the second in the More Than Words series. The books are companions, not serials, meaning that backstory, secondary characters, and other elements will be easier to relate to if you read the installments in order, but the main romance of each book is a stand-alone.

This book contains lines that may make you laugh, events that may make you cry, and scenes that will probably have you squirming in your seat. Don’t worry about cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed! (Does not contain elements of BDSM or romantic suspense.)

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More Than Want You, Book 1

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More Than Love You (More Than Words, Book 3)

Available for Preorder – Arriving February 13, 2018

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TBRreview

First, you need to read More Than Want You.  It’s a different couple but it builds upon the previous story.  Plus you meet Britta and Griff in the first book and so you can start to know them.  And by the end of that book, you want Britta and Griff’s story because MTWY sorta ends on a cliffhanger but for Britta and Griff.

This book picks up right where MTWY ends, Griff just found out a secret that Britta kept from him and he’s going to confront her about it.  Except Britta is now celebrating her engagement when Griff shows up.

Griff has learned a lot in the 3 years since he broke Britta’s heart.  And that’s thanks to Keeley.  Griff has needed someone like Keeley to help him heal from events in his life.  Griff now knows that Britta is it for him and he’s going to set about to prove to Britta that he’s the man for her and he’s going to do it by any means necessary.

5 stars!

Shayla Black is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty novels. For nearly twenty years, she’s written contemporary, erotic, paranormal, and historical romances via traditional, independent, foreign, and audio publishers. Her books have sold millions of copies and been published in a dozen languages.

Raised an only child, Shayla occupied herself with lots of daydreaming, much to the chagrin of her teachers. In college, she found her love for reading and realized that she could have a career publishing the stories spinning in her imagination. Though she graduated with a degree in Marketing/Advertising and embarked on a stint in corporate America to pay the bills, her heart has always been with her characters. She’s thrilled that she’s been living her dream as a full-time author for the past eight years.

Shayla currently lives in North Texas with her wonderfully supportive husband, her teenage daughter, and two spoiled tabbies. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, reading, and listening to an eclectic blend of music.

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Co-hosts

Blog Tour & Review ~ Gun For Hire ~ by ~ J.J. Montgomery

Gun For Hire

The Maui Heat Series

by J.J. Montgomery

J.J. will be awarding 5 ebook of Gun For Hire to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other tour stops. You may find those locations here

BLURB:

The job should have been easy—patrol a swank beach that serves as a backyard for Maui’s rich, kick out the riffraff, and get a tan in the process. But rent-a-cop Samantha Winters didn’t anticipate a deliciously grumpy cop, Sergeant Grady Roark, who comes down to the beach to bust her chops and instead leaves her breathless…and wondering why the one man who could help her seems determined to thwart her at every turn.

Grady is keeping secrets from Sam that have him walking the line between attraction and duty. But when Sam becomes the target of a shadowy organization, Grady will have to choose between the law and the temptation of a woman who has him breaking every rule he’s ever known.

The job should have been easy, but when the bullets start flying, Sam learns nothing is as easy as it seems when you’re a Gun for Hire.

Buy Links:
Amazon | The Wild Rose Press

Excerpt: 

“Why John Deacon, Sam?” Grady’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
I threw my hands up. “It could be Jesus Christ himself signing my paycheck and I’d still be doing it for the same reasons! The job works for my family. What is your problem with John Deacon? And don’t tell me nothing—you owe me more than that.”
“Maybe I’m just jealous.” Grady stared ahead. “Like you said.”
My stomach did a loop. “Don’t use your charm on me, I’m immune—”
“You think I’m charming?”
“Hell no, I don’t! And particularly not when you’re avoiding my question.”
“But you said I had charm.” He tilted his head and gave me a long, sly look from the corner of his eyes. His teeth flashed white from that tanned face and I nearly had to fan myself when I realized I loved the feeling of Grady teasing me.
I threw my hands up in the air. “I give up!”
He wanted to talk about confusing? All I knew about Grady prior to this day was that he was six-foot-two of gorgeous and about as warm as a polar bear on the North Pole in January. And now—
TBRreview

A great first book! Sam is funny but in a quirky way. She’s a former cop turned security guard (not telling why) and she’s working a beach community in Maui. She’s just trying to do her job, keeping the local nudists off the public beach with the help of Maui PD – if they’ll help her. Grady Roark does not want to help Sam and doesn’t really trust her. Except she suddenly seems to be the target of a hit man. Then Grady is forced to believe her.

Sam and Grady have an unparalleled attraction to each other. Each interaction is heavy with sexual tension. But Grady just doesn’t know what to do about Sam and Sam is not looking for a relationship.

A great story from a first-time author. Exactly what I like: funny, suspense, romance and adventure.

5 stars!


Author Bio: 

J.J. MONTGOMERY writes romantic suspense novels with a sense of humor. Her heroines are as smart as they are smart mouthed and the men in their lives are just trying to keep up. Gun for Hire is the first book in J.J.’s Maui Heat Series. 

If you’d like to know more, including info on her newest book, where she gets her ideas, and how it’s possible she can’t use Facebook, please visit her:


Social Links: 
Website | Facebook |  Twitter  | Instagram 

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Release Blitz ~ Above and Beyond ~ by ~ Kathryn Shay

Title: Above and Beyond
Series: To Serve and Protect #1
Author: Kathryn Shay 
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 13, 2017

A family of heroes, all in dangerous jobs, all irrevocably tied to those they love. Read about the Marino clan in this fast-paced, emotional new series, To Serve and Protect, by NYT bestselling author Kathryn Shay.

Nick Marino is the top guy on POTUS’s Secret Service detail. But he’s temporarily sent to upstate New York to guard the president’s sister, Isabelle Barton, who is being threatened in anonymous notes. There, Nick becomes involved with the widowed mom and twin boys, who quickly win over what he thought was his hardened heart. Amidst the heightened anxiety of tracking down the threats, the constant vigilance and an ever-growing sexual attraction between Isabelle and Nick, these two people must uncover not only the plot against her, but determine what to do about their impossible romance.

ABOVE AND BEYOND provides a deep dive into the life of a Secret Service agent and a close look at being related to the most powerful man in the world, along with the glamor of Washington, D.C. politics. The story will keep you interested and capture your heart.

Prologue  

“I need you to go to Catasaga, Nick. Indefinitely. Isabelle is getting threatening notes. She could be in grave danger.”

Special Agent in Charge Nick Marino stared over at the President of the United States, trying to hide his shock. The Oval Office felt hot all of a sudden, though the cool rain dribbled down outside the open window facing the Rose Garden. “Seriously?”

From behind the big oak desk, the President gave a small smile.

Nick’s reaction was inappropriate. He shook off the emotion. “Excuse me, sir, but I’m surprised. Of course, I’ll do this willingly.” 

Tall and built like a football player, James Monroe Manwaring snickered. “You’re probably furious as hell with me. But there are a couple of perks to the assignment. I’m sending Agent Dwyer in with you.”

“Ah.” He’d never worked with his cousin Whitney, who’d become a legend of her own in the service. Manwaring would know her presence in upstate New York sweetened the pot.

“And in a year, when your time on the presidential detail is up, I’ll see what I can do for you. I hear one of the deputies to the director might be leaving then.” 

Nick would move heaven and earth to get in line for the agency’s head job, and the President knew it. Since Nick had joined the Secret Service eighteen years ago, his sole aspiration was to fill the position. Every single career move he’d made had been calculated with that in mind.

“But there’s more to why I chose you.” The President frowned. “The agency has had too many screwups lately. I need someone I can trust up there.”

In recent years, several incidents had blighted the reputation of the service big-time. Agents had allowed the White House to be breached. They’d been drunk and disorderly on the grounds. And most reprehensible, they’d behaved abominably on advance travel visits. His own brother had been a victim of one of these events, though there were extenuating circumstances.

“I understand, Mr. President. And I apologize for my initial reaction.”

“I appreciate your cooperation, Nick.”

“Do we have any leads on who’s threatening her?”

“No, we don’t. My gut says that it’s me they’re after, through Isabelle. I’ve alienated people, even before I became President.”

He had. As attorney general, he’d busted up a ring of dirty cops, been responsible for a myriad of drug arrests and even taken on two corrupt senators and one judge. Because of all that, when he was elected POTUS, he’d been given the code name Pit Bull.  

Sighing, Nick tried to accept that he was going to be a babysitter for several weeks. The very thought of it frustrated him. Because there was nothing more that Nick Marino wanted than to be in the kill zone.

A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Kathryn Shay has been a lifelong writer and teacher.

She has written dozens of self-published original romance titles, including print books with the Berkley Publishing

Group and Harlequin Enterprises, and mainstream women’s fiction with Bold Strokes Books. She has won five

RT Book Reviews awards, four Golden Quills, four Holt Medallions, the Bookseller’s Best Award, Foreword

Magazine’s Book of the Year, and several “Starred Reviews.” Her novels have been serialized in Cosmopolitan

Magazine and featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and People magazine.

There are over five million copies of her books in print, along with hundreds of thousands

downloaded online. Reviewers have called her work “emotional and heart-wrenching.”


Release Day Launch & Review ~ My Kinda Night ~ by ~ Lacey Black

Today we have the release day blitz for My Kinda Night by Lacey Black! Grab your copy today!

Title: My Kinda Night (Summer Sisters, Book 2)

Author: Lacey Black

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Photographer & Cover Design: Sara Eirew

About My Kinda Night:

Payton Summer doesn’t have time for love. Between running her own business in her hometown of Jupiter Bay and her monthly night out with her sisters, Payton has no room for men, dating, or the drama that it entails. Her life is fine just the way it is. Yet, her attraction to the one man she shouldn’t want can’t be ignored.

Dean McIntire has one rule: don’t date clients. It’s a lesson he learned the hard way, and sees the consequence every day when he looks at his five-year-old daughter. It’s not a rule he’d break again. Until he meets the gorgeous Payton Summer, and suddenly, Dean finds himself ready to throw the rule book right out the window.

What happens when the sparks of lust can’t be denied? One night turns in to two, and two turns in to more. Payton and Dean find themselves unable to stay away, but can they survive when their secrets are exposed?

*Though part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone. It is intended for those 18 and over due to graphic language, descriptive sex, and the world’s most inappropriate grandparents.

Get your Copy Today!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Goodreads

Catch up on the series today!

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Exclusive Excerpt:

It’s a Summer sister tradition that on the first Saturday of each month, the six of us get together. We take turns picking the location or activity, anything from margaritas and a movie to wine and painting classes at the small gallery uptown. One thing, though, is as certain as the sun rising over the Chesapeake Bay every morning; there will be alcohol involved.

Always.

Tonight, it’s another stupid painting class. Create and Paint, that’s what this class is called. I prefer to call it “Painting sucks, let’s get drunk!” while I chug my fruity Moscato because that’s the only wine worth drinking. Abby whips out red every once in a while and I swear to God Almighty that I’m going to shrivel up and die like those nasty, sour grapes used to create red wine.

I’m the oldest of six Summer girls. Of course, I’m the boss, the leader, and the best at everything (except painting, obviously). As I approach my thirty-third birthday in a couple of weeks at the end of January, I also realize that spending time with my sisters as much as I do is going to become more of a challenge.

Jaime is three years younger than me. She’s the sister who ran away to college and never came back. Well, at least until her fiancé left her the week before the wedding. She moved home, had to move in with our dad and grandparents, and worked for me at Blossoms and Blooms for a short period of time.

Then she met Ryan. Watching those two discover their love for each other was like watching soft porn. Sparks and hormones flew like fireworks every time those two were within a fifty-foot radius of each other.

AJ is the third sister at twenty-eight, or Alison Jane as her birth certificate states. Though, we’ve called her by her nickname for as long as I can remember. She’s the eighth grade math teacher at Jupiter Bay Junior High, home of the Hawks, where she’s taught ever since receiving her teaching degree. She has also enrolled in online classes for her Master’s degree. As of January twentieth, AJ will be a night student.

After AJ comes Meghan. She’s twenty-six and a hygienist at the local dental office. How someone can work inside another’s mouth all day and not get grossed out is beyond me. But she does it. Daily. Meg is also engaged to Josh, a man who treats her like the princess she is. Meg and Josh became engaged in December during a romantic trip to New York City for their anniversary. He went all out: Empire State Building, fancy dinner, down on one knee. It was perfect, just like they are.

Rounding out the Summer sisters are the twins, Lexi and Abby. Lexi, short for Alexis, gives me a run for my money in the boss department and is a hairdresser uptown. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, Chris, who rarely attends any of our family functions. He’s busy trying to take over the financial world, and believes that the only way to achieve that is to work nonstop. I don’t think it’s all roses and fairytales at the Jacobson house.

Abby, or Abigail, was born mere minutes before Lexi, but is as different as can be. She’s reserved, quiet, and shy in ways that the rest of us aren’t. Abby is an English Literature major and works as an editor for a major publishing house out of California. She’s on her computer all day, and rarely ventures out of her little apartment. It’s my goal in this new year to get her out and into the dating world, especially in light of the fact that her love for her best friend is unrequited. Levi is a great friend, but doesn’t see the wonderful woman before him. He’s too busy sticking his penis inside of every woman in the state of Virginia. (I say that lovingly.)

Let’s not forget our father, Brian, and our grandparents, Orval and Emma. Inappropriate doesn’t quite adequately describe the older couple who helped raise all six of us after our mom died. I was seventeen when she succumbed to ovarian cancer, leaving my father behind to get six girls through the teenage years. Enter the grandparents. I’ve got stories for miles, but we’ll get to those later.

Born and raised in Jupiter Bay, a small town of about eight thousand along the Chesapeake Bay, I’ve become accustomed to the small town lifestyle. I own the local flower shop, where I devote every ounce of my soul to making it a success. I’m not gonna lie, I had my doubts there at the beginning. I didn’t know anything about running a business, but was determined to make it work. It’s a lot of work, especially with a small staff of one other employee to keep overhead down, but I’m successful. And proud of it!

And that brings us to tonight. It’s the first Saturday of the New Year and we’re busy celebrating with sandcastles and wine. Hops and Grapes, a local retailer for microbrews and wines made on the east coast, is the place for tonight’s Paint and Create class. Right now, my beach scene resembles something a kindergartener would draw with finger paints.

“Mix together a little white with the brown until you get the light sandy color you’re looking for. Dab your brush in the water and then in the paint, and make long strokes across the canvas.”

Giggles erupt beside me. “She said long strokes,” Lexi whispers not so quietly.

“I get to make long strokes. Ryan is impressively large in the man-junk area,” Jaime says, gulping the last of her wine.

“Yes, we know. You tell us every chance you get.” This from Abby.

“Yeah, it’s starting to get annoying. If I had an impressive man-sword waiting for me at home every night, I’d never leave the house,” AJ adds.

“Not worth it. I’ll take my rabbit over a man any day. That baby has seven speeds and a rotating head,” I grumble, making a mess out of my sandy beach.

“Stop being so grumpy. Maybe if you actually had the real deal for a while, you wouldn’t be so damn cynical all the time,” Jaime says from across the table. She never takes her eyes off her canvas as she makes smooth, straight brushstrokes.

My face burns and I pray the vultures I share genes with don’t notice. Of course I don’t get so lucky. I’ve always said if it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. Trying to concentrate on my masterpiece, I keep my eyes down and focused on the sandcastle in the corner of the scene.

“I think there’s more to the story! Do you see her blushing?” Meghan’s laughter flits from the opposite end of the table. How in the hell she can see my face is beyond me. It’s probably that sister-radar all of us possess. It’s so damn annoying.

“I am not.” It’s a weak defense, I know, but it’s all I’ve got.

“Deny it all you want, big sister, but your face is definitely blushing,” Lexi adds.

“Ladies, when you get your sandcastle the way you want it, we’ll add a few details and highlights before moving on to the water.” The woman instructing our class has worn a constant smile the entire hour we’ve been here, and frankly, I’m starting to think she hit the sauce way before our arrival tonight.

“Why does my sand look like cellulite?” AJ asks. “I give up. I’m just drinking from here on out.”

Jaime glances over at our sister’s painting. “My God, that’s horrible. Thank God you’re not the art teacher!”

“Cheers,” AJ replies, raising her glass and tapping it against Jaime’s.

“Any wedding plans yet, Meg?” Abby asks, wetting her brush before swiping it through the paint. Always the perfect student, that one.

“Not yet. We’re thinking fall, though.” Meghan’s face lights up at the mere thought of her pending nuptials to Josh.

“That’ll be the perfect time.” Abby’s able to keep her smile happy when she’s in discussion, but I’ve seen the desolation in it too. Even tonight, I see something in her eyes that makes me sad. I’m sure her best friend is the root of her anguish, but I won’t call her out on it tonight. That’s a conversation to have at another time (with less alcohol).

By the time our three-hour torture session is up, each of us has painted waves rolling onto the beach, with a shovel, pail, and sandcastle. We pose as a group for pictures, each of us proudly displaying the fruits of our labor. My sisters each discuss where they’re going to hang their newest creation, while I contemplate which closet I’ll throw it in.

“Yours is great,” Abby says with a big smile.

“Helen Keller could have done a better job,” I retort with a snort of laughter.

As we say good night and thank the instructor, we all walk out together into the crisp early-January night. Not surprisingly, Josh and Ryan are waiting. Jaime and Meg practically run towards their men, each one jumping into their arms as if it’s been days since they’ve seen each other instead of a few hours. Longing rips through my chest and settles into my stomach, heavy and unrelenting. I try to push those pesky feelings aside, but sometimes, it’s just no use. They plant in my chest and brain and dig in deep.

“Good night,” Abby says, pulling me into a hug.

“You going out tonight?” I ask, recalling her mention of Levi’s gig earlier in the evening.

“No, I’m going to take my new painting home and hang it on the wall.”

“Wow, don’t overdo it now on a Saturday night, Abs. Too much excitement will cause wrinkles.”

“I just, I don’t really go to his gigs anymore.”

“Why?” I ask, though already knowing the answer.

She shrugs her shoulders and gives me a small smile. “Just not feeling up to it.”

I let it go. I already know she doesn’t go anymore is because it’s too painful to watch him leave with some skanky bimbo with a dress size bigger than her IQ. Levi may very well never know what he’s missing with Abby, but the romantic in me is still hopeful of him getting his shit together and realizing he loves her.

Hey, I may be cynical as hell in the love department, but I’m still a woman. And this woman wants only the best and a happily ever after for every one of her sisters.

As for me? Well, I’ve decided that my happily ever after will be in the form of cats. I’ll be the little old lady wearing hair curlers and her bathrobe around town, picking up every stray feline she can find.

And you know what? That’s okay. Not everyone is cut out for the spouse, house, and perfect postcard life. Despite what they tell you in the romance novels or in Disney movies, there isn’t someone out there for everyone. Sometimes, a person is just supposed to be alone.

That’s my destiny.

 

TBRreview.png

LOVE this series! I love the Summer sisters and their crazily inappropriate grandparents. If you want a laugh with sweetness, this is the series for you.

Payton has watched her sister Jaime find love and others find love. She had love, or so she thought, 6 years ago when her fiance broke it off. She’s resigned herself to living a lonely life with cats and going to the monthly nights out with her sisters – and their significant others who come along.

Dean is fairly new to town but has been interested by his client Payton. But he won’t get into a relationship with someone he works with again. Payton just does something to him. Payton doesn’t want a relationship either but she’s attracted to Dean also. And that seems to work for them until it doesn’t and they want more.

5 stars!

About Lacey Black:

Lacey Black is a Midwestern girl with a passion for reading, writing, and shopping. She carries her e-reader with her everywhere she goes so she never misses an opportunity to read a few pages. Always looking for a happily ever after, Lacey is passionate about contemporary romance novels and enjoys it further when you mix in a little suspense. She resides in a small town in Illinois with her husband, two children, and a chocolate lab. Lacey loves watching NASCAR races, shooting guns, and should only consume one mixed drink because she’s a lightweight.

Lacey’s debut novel, Trust Me, was released in August 2014 and has been an Amazon Bestseller twice for Free e-books, as well as #1 for Contemporary Romance. All of the Rivers Edge books have been bestsellers in the Romance and Contemporary Romance categories.

Connect with Lacey:

Email: laceyblackwrites@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlaceyblack

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthLaceyBlack

Blog: https://laceyblack.wordpress.com

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Release Blitz ~ Hard Stick ~ by ~ L.P. Dover

Title: Hard Stick
Series: A Breakaway Novel
Author: L.P. Dover
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Random House/Loveswept
He carries a big stick. And he’s not afraid to use it.

On the ice, I’m Kellan Carter, powerhouse enforcer for the Charlotte Strikers. Off the ice, I’m just a regular guy. The last thing I want is to get mobbed by a bunch of groupies who are only after me for my fame and money. My ideal woman knows how to enjoy a little good, clean fun—and maybe some not-so-clean fun too. That’s the kind of girl I’d never let go.
When Kristen Robinson, the gorgeous, down-to-earth bartender I’ve been crushing on, agrees to let me take her out, I’m thrilled. We have an amazing night together, culminating in the most electrifying kiss of my life—and that’s it. Kristen tells me we can’t see each other again, but I know that kiss meant as much to her as it did to me. What I don’t know is that Kristen has a dangerous secret. . . .
I’ve proved to Kristen that she can trust me with her body and her heart. But when her past comes back to haunt her, I need to prove that she can trust me with her life. And I might have to get my hands dirty after all.
** Hard Stick is an action-packed romantic suspense. Just to warn you, the story line does NOT center around hockey. The main character plays but a lot of the book is set outside of the rink. **


“So what happened to Maddox? I couldn’t help but notice his face.”
Dallas and Braeden glanced at each other and chuckled. “Kellan fucked him up in practice,” Dallas replied.
I gasped. “Why?”
He finished off his beer, and I could tell he was feeling it by the lazy smile. “It’s what he does. Maddox was being a dick and Kellan put a stop to it. It’s why he’s our captain.”
“Wow, that’s craziness.”
I ran his card and held it out to him, but he grabbed on to my hand. “You haven’t agreed to go out with him, have you?”
“Who? Kellan?” I asked. The girls gawked at me and snorted.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“No, why?”
“Just asking,” he said with a shrug. He put his arm around the blonde and they started for the door. “It’d be nice to get the five hundred dollars.” They stopped and he smiled at me over his shoulder.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
Braeden sighed and smacked Dallas on the back of the head. “Stop fucking with the girl.” Then he turned to me. “It was just a stupid bet.”
“Stupid?” Dallas laughed. “You put three hundred on it, so I don’t want hear that shit.” In a drunken haze, he smiled over at me. “Just do us a favor and don’t go out with him until after the weekend. We made a bet that he couldn’t get you by the end of the week.”
Braeden hit him again. “What the fuck? Shut the hell up.” He pushed Dallas out the door and they all followed him. So Kellan agreed to the bet? That was mighty bold of him.
I could hear steps on the hardwood floor behind me. “You all right?” Chris asked.
Turning on my heel, I smiled. “Yep.” If Kellan was trying to win the bet, he wasn’t trying very hard. But then again, maybe five hundred dollars was nothing compared to the money he earned. I used to make a good living, but at least I was able to retrieve the money I had in the bank before my supposed death. Having that money helped, especially since I didn’t make nearly as much working at the pub. Hopefully soon I’d be back to doing what I loved.
“Why don’t you go home? I can finish up here,” Chris offered.
“You sure? I don’t mind staying.”
He shook his head. “Go. You do enough here as it is.”
I hurried behind the bar and grabbed my purse. “Thanks, Chris. After all the training Aylee puts me through, I’m exhausted by nine o’clock.”
“I can imagine.” He laughed. “I know not to mess with you now.”
Aylee taught me many self-defense techniques and how to fight. Before, I had no clue what to do if someone attacked me. After everything that happened with Mitchell and Cole, I had to make sure I was ready for anything. At least now, I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
I waved goodbye to Chris and then walked out the door. The night was cool and I breathed in the clean air; the smell of rain was near. We needed it after the long, dry summer we had. Looking over at my car, I didn’t realize there was a truck parked next to me with someone leaning against it. It wasn’t just anysomeone, either.
“Where were you tonight?” I asked, looking straight at Kellan’s smiling face. He had on a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips with a snug green T-shirt that showed off his perfectly sculpted arms. Why did he have to be so sexy? Not to mention, he had perfectly straight, white teeth, which I thought would be a rarity among hockey players.
“So you missed me, huh?”
His smile was infectious and I caught myself smiling back. “I wouldn’t say missed, but I was curious where you were. I saw what you did to Maddox.”
He shrugged. “It had to be done. Maddox has a large fucking head and needed to be brought down.”
I held up my hands. “You don’t have to explain. I, of all, people know what kind of head he has.” It was the size of the entire country.
Chuckling, he stepped forward, his gaze roaming over my body. “You seem different tonight. It’s not very often you smile.”
I hadn’t had a reason to, but I couldn’t tell him that. “Maybe it’s because I know something you don’t.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Uh, I don’t know, perhaps something about a bet?”
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she began her literary journey she worked in periodontics, enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.

She loves to write, but she also loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes and white water rafting, and has a passion for singing. Her two youngest fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime, usually Christmas carols.

Dover has written countless novels, including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, the Gloves Off series, the Armed & Dangerous series, the Royal Shifters series, the Society X series, the Circle of Justice series, and her standalone novel Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense, but if she got to choose a setting in which to live, it would be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.
L.P. Dover is represented by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency and Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management for dramatic rights.

 

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