Tag: 2021

Cover Reveal ~ While You Were Texting ~ by ~ Delancey Stewart & Marika Ray

While You Were Texting, an all-new sweet romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling authors Delancey Stewart and Marika Ray, is coming May 17th and we have the amazing cover!

Lincoln Cunningham doesn’t do relationships. Mostly because he learned in college that he doesn’t do them well. Translation: book smart guys focused on learning the art and science of vineyard tending aren’t always girl smart, and the humiliation that comes from being the only one invested in the relationship, well, that’s enough for him.

Lincoln’s mother, however, isn’t so sure. Her oldest son found his match, and now her sights are set on Linc. Why she insists on setting him up at the Paint it Pal pottery shop is beyond anyone’s grasp.

Hannah Delacourt never dreamed of a life spent handing customers ceramic monkeys and pots of paint and explaining the inner workings of a kiln. But she also never intended to spend a year trying to figure out whether the vineyard she inherited should be sold or might actually produce wine.

When the same cute guy comes in to paint on date after miserable date, she figures out what’s going on pretty quickly. He slips her an SOS and she texts him to help him out of the latest painful date. When he texts later to thank her, they hatch the perfect scheme.

She’ll pretend to be his girlfriend while he helps her figure out if her grapes are worth keeping. Everyone wins, right? But what happens when you fall in love when you’re texting with your fake boyfriend? Worse yet, what do you do when he’s clueless?

From two USA Today bestselling authors, a RomCom so sweet you’ll want to hug your kindle and never look at texting the same way.

Reserve your copy today! Amazon: https://amzn.to/3aqAiQf Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/WhileYouWereText

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3szvL4h

Cover Designer: Kelly Lambert Greer

About Delancey Stewart I’m USA Today Bestselling author Delancey Stewart. My contemporary romances run the gamut of settings and setups, but they always deliver humor, heart and heat. It’s a guarantee.

I write from my home in Denver, CO, where I manage a household full of boys and men. Okay, only one man. The hubs. But two boys. I mean, three if you count the hubs. (You see why I do words and not numbers. I was told there’d be no math in this bio. Someone lied.)

I grew up in California and have had more jobs than anyone on earth (personal trainer, pharmaceutical rep, copywriter, tech writer, marketing director, wine seller, elementary school teacher… I’m not kidding. The list. It goes on.) But the one I love the most is writing, in part because I get to meet people who love books and stories as much as I do! Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to say hello, and don’t forget to join my newsletter!

Connect with Delancey Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vzxpVv Facebook: https://bit.ly/3t6G0gF Instagram: https://bit.ly/3nAZAka Subscribe to Delancey’s newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/FancyForm Website: https://delanceystewart.com/

About Marika Ray Marika Ray is a USA Today bestselling author, writing steamy RomComs to brighten your day. All her books come with a money-back guarantee that you’ll laugh at least once with every book. Marika Ray spends her time behind a computer crafting stories, walking the beaches of southern California scoping out the lifeguards, and making healthy food for her kids and husband whether they like it or not. Prior to writing novels, Marika held various jobs in the finance industry, with private start-up companies, and then in health & fitness. Cats may have nine lives, but Marika believes everyone should have nine careers to keep things spicy.

Connect with Marika Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gUjxBa Facebook: https://bit.ly/333u1WP Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3t7VjFV Instagram: https://bit.ly/3aTuyPs Website: https://marikaray.com/

New Release ~ The Musician ~ by ~ Bella J.

The Musician by International Bestselling Author Bella J is live on Kindle Unlimited!

One-Click – https://getbook.at/TheMusicianBellaJ

Add it to your TBR on Goodreads today: http://bit.ly/TheMusicianTBR

Add it to your Wishlist on BookBub: http://bit.ly/TheMusicianBookBub

For years, I watched her. Drank her in as she performed in front of an empty theatre, pretending every seat was occupied, the cello settled between her legs as her dainty fingers made love to the strings…one beautiful note after the other. She thought she was alone, that no one heard her play. But I did. I heard every note, every tune, every vibrato. It drowned out the voices. Silenced the demons. It gave me peace.

I’d hide in the shadows so I could get high on the music that stemmed from her soul. It was entrancing. Beautiful. Utterly hypnotic.

She has no idea that I exist—that I live for the nights she performs for me, and me alone. But she will.

Soon she’ll realize how important she is to me.

My cellist. My soloist. My Requiem.

Pre-Order: https://getbook.at/TheMusicianBellaJ

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/TheMusicianTBR

BookBub: http://bit.ly/TheMusicianBookBub

MEET THE AUTHOR BELLA J.

Bella J is an International Bestselling Author, who loves writing dark and gritty romance with alpha-holes who have absolutely no redeeming qualities…until they do. Maybe.

Some of her bestselling novels/series include:

The Rise of Saint

The Fall of Sin

American Street Kings Series

Royal Mafia Series

She lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her husband, two kids, and a chihuahua who gets treated like royalty.

Bella J’s writing motto: The darker the road to love, the sweeter the HEA.

WEBSITE: https://www.authorbellaj.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/BellaJNovels/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bellajauthor/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BellaJ_Author BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/bella-j

Excerpt Reveal ~ Gravedigger ~ by ~ JC Jaye

Gravedigger, Dirty Boys Do It Better, Book 1 by JC Jaye is LIVE!

One-Click now available! http://mybook.to/GravediggerBuy

Add it to your TBR on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GravediggerTBR

Filthy doesn’t even begin to cut it…

Ex-soldier Clint ‘Gravedigger’ MacGregor is cool among the tombstones. Tilling the earth by hand, he’s King of Oaklawn and likes it that way. No annoying folks in his face, and plenty of solitude to muffle the PTSD noise upstairs. But once he spies a sexy, tousle-haired angel kneeling in the grass every Saturday, it’s time to rejoin the land of the living, stat. Here’s hoping his Sunshine doesn’t mind a little mud…

She’s been lost, but now she’s found.

The death of her twin has gutted Casey Rae Kent. Turning hermit, weekly plein-air grieving sessions are the sum of her social life. But a thwarted attack and subsequent rescue by a hot Viking lookalike have her shaking off the stupor. Is this spade-wielding hero a gift from the heavens? Can Mr. Badass and Brawny be her sweet salvation? Hmm, best get this dirty boy’s take on clueless virgin unicorns…

Two troubled souls, zapped by the lightning bolt to the heart. All’s fantastic until fate lobs more mega-grade grenades in their path.

Hell, who said love was easy?

**Adult content and language.

One-Click: http://mybook.to/GravediggerBuy

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GravediggerTBR

EXCERPT:

“God, baby. So fucking beautiful, you are…”

I slurred out half-formed fragments of garbled praise, the words thick and impeded as I stroked a single digit sideways. Flicking it against that drenched mound, I groaned, my eyes shooting from Sunshine’s dripping cunt to her lovely, flushed face.

“Oooh, Clint…”

Her eyelids drooped, lashes fluttering as my forefinger explored further.

Slowly, carefully…

Ah, Jesus. Her slit was sweetly pulsing, silky cream soaking my skin. Abundant juices slicking my knuckle, I felt sure my head was going to fly off my shoulders. And that the other head south of my belt was gonna blow like a geyser real fucking soon, with or without the lady’s assistance.

“So wet, baby. Goddamn, so crazy wet for me.”

Chocolatey eyes glittered through those heavy lashes as Sunshine bit her lip, nodding and gasping.

“Yes. Oh, yes, do that some more…”

Breathing hard, I added a second finger, gauging how snug she was, how tantalizingly tiny. My teeth gouged a hole in my own lower lip as my prick battered against denim, bigger and hungrier than it had ever been in its thirty-three-year-old existence.

Way way hungrier, no question. Making zero allowances for Sunshine’s dainty size, trying to punch its way through tough cloth to get to where it needed to be. It jerked again, swelling like a zeppelin, a rude and unruly beast.

Yeah. Where it needed to be:

Right. The. Fuck. Now.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

It was all Rhett and Scarlett’s fault. (Talkin’ the grand staircase scene, people.)

Stung by the literary lovebug at a tender young age, JC has been devouring spicy romantic fiction ever since. Seriously… What could possibly be more delectable at the end of a rough day than a big, bad, moody male brought to his alphahole knees by a gorgeous, kick-ass, rock star of a heroine?

Well, besides a hefty goblet of vino and some imported Brie.

Dreaming up “I wish” fantasies while slogging through the woefully Rhett-scarce world, JC invites readers to indulge in decadent escape through her foulmouthed and passion-saturated tales.

You heard foulmouthed, right?

WEBSITE | AMAZON | FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS | TIKTOK

Pre-Order Blitz ~ Impulsive Saint ~ by ~ Jess Bryant

Title: Impulsive Saint

Series: All Saints Security Series
Author: Jess Bryant
Genre: Steamy Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 10, 2021
Cover Design: Melissa Gill Design

 

Ashtyn Echols just made the most impulsive decision of her life. Maybe it’s a mistake, but it doesn’t feel like one. She can’t get married today. Not when she has her whole life ahead of her and a bucket list of things she wants to do before she ties herself down and becomes the perfect politician’s wife the way her family expects her to.
For the first time ever, Ashtyn is free. Free of all the expectations and demands. Free to make her own choices, and her own mistakes.
Tyler St. James has jumped out of airplanes, hiked into a volcano and plans to climb Everest someday soon. His brothers call him impulsive and it’s true. Adventure is his drug of choice which is why getting assigned security detail for the wedding of a Senator’s daughter seems like its destined to be the most boring day of his life… until she runs.
Putting her on the back of his motorcycle might seem crazy but it’s also the only responsible thing to do. If she wants fun, he’s the man for the job. She can check off a few of her bucket list items and he can keep her safe without her ever knowing he’s hired muscle.
Only, he never expected to fall for her during an impromptu road trip to Vegas. He never expected her to grow more independent and impossible to resist by the mile. And he never expected her to find out he was being paid to look after her.
Will the truth mean the end of their adventure, or is the destination just the beginning of their journey together?

 

 

ON SALE FOR $0.99 – MAY 3-7

 

Jess Bryant is an avid indoorswoman. A city girl trapped in a country girl’s life, her heart resides in Dallas but her soul and roots are in small town Oklahoma. She enjoys manicures, the color pink, and her completely impractical for country life stilettos. She believes that hair color is a legitimate form of therapy, as is reading and writing romance. She started writing as a little girl but her life changed forever when she stole a book from her aunt’s Harlequin collection and she’s been creating love stories with happily ever afters ever since. 
Jess holds a degree in Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma and is a lifetime supporter of her school and athletic teams. And why not? They have a ton of National Championships! She may be a girlie girl but she knows her sports stats and isn’t afraid to tell you that your school isn’t as cool as hers… or that your sports romance got it all wrong. 
For more information on Jess and upcoming releases, contact her at JessBryantBooks@gmail.com or follow her on her many social media accounts for news and shenanigans.
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Cover Reveal ~ Love is Never Lost ~ by ~ Faye Madden

Love is never lost - full-page-001

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Title: Love is Never Lost

Author: Faye Madden

Genre: Sweet, Wholesome & Clean Romance

Release Day: TBA

Cover Designer: https://getcovers.com – Get Covers

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Destiny brought them together during a freshers tour of the college library. It was love at first sight for Ruby and Benjamin who both believed it was a bond that would never be broken. But then life intervened and tore them apart. Now seven years later they remain separate and devoted parents to their beloved young son Mason who they co-parent. But Benjamin is deeply unhappy and blames himself for their breakup. Will he have the courage to abandon his corporate career which was the cause of so much pain, or has Ruby moved on with her new life as an artist? She too has regrets and cannot forget those magical first years together, but is fearful to change their relationship so carefully crafted for their son. Mason too has his own ideas and would like nothing more than for his parents to reunite. Can their young son find a way to bring his parents together and make them a family again? But, who has the courage to reveal their true feelings and face the possibility of rejection causing yet more confusion and heartache for Mason? Will Ruby and Benjamin have a second chance and perhaps discover that love is never lost?

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Faye Madden believes she is one of the lucky ones, because for her it was love at first sight. It is the moment of that first shy glance, when you know he or she is the one, your soulmate, lover and friend for the rest of your life. It is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the universe that two people make the biggest decision of their lives on a single look, guided only by the omnipotent hand of destiny.  Since that chance meeting with her wonderful husband David, she has raised a family, and now the children have flown the nest, she has the time to write, which is her second love.  All of her novels are sweet and wholesome, and through her richly crafted characters she explores all the heartache, pain, yet ultimately joyous happiness love brings, however that journey may unfold. Many of her novels explore this through the prism of a second chance romance, whilst others focus on love lost and found, or in unrequited love.  She shares a love of the outdoors with her husband, and together they can be found either sailing on one of the lakes near their home or trekking through the pine forests on horseback. And in the summer like a pair of snowbirds they love to holiday in pretty coastal towns with their beloved dogs, and where many of her novels are set.    

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New Release ~ Tempted with You ~ by ~ E.H. Lyon

Title: Tempted With You

Series: The Matchbox Series #5
Author: E.H. Lyon
Genre: Sports/Age-Gap Romance
Release Date: April 29, 2021
This former hockey player has never been so tempted…

Nate Kade is many things—former sports star, owner of the successful bar Matchbox—and there’s no shortage of women willing to warm his bed for the night either. Everyone around Nate is settling down, but that just isn’t his style. No, he prefers against-the-door activities with a woman he’s just met. But he should probably pay attention to details. Because that one-night-stand beauty?

Turns out she’s his business partner and friend’s newfound sister—oops.

Melanie is ten years younger, just discovered she has an overprotective brother, and is new to town. Nate makes it clear that their one night will not be getting a repeat, but she isn’t entirely on board with his policy. Not only is Melanie his new next-door neighbor, but she seems to be turning up everywhere—including the ice rink where she also skates. Nate is finding it hard to resist a second round. He’s just beginning to realize that he may finally be tempted to have it all with someone.

Tempted with You is the fifth and final sweet and sexy standalone novel from the “Matchbox” series, where you can revisit your favorite characters throughout.
 

 

Different With You ➜ available now
Crazy with You ➜ available now

 

Always with You ➜ available now

 

Again with You ➜ available now

 

 

E.H. Lyon hates folding laundry and decided one day to avoid it by writing witty and a little steamy stories. Her stories take you on a light and bantering ride until the very end, when your couple finds their happily ever after. Along the way, there may be the occasional emotional twist thrown in and the essential appearance of a bottle of whiskey. E.H. has a thing for witty women, determined well-dressed men who fall in love, and the steamy scenes that bring them together.

An American from the Midwest, she now lives in Northern Europe with her small pack of humans. She believes the essence of balance is sitting on a yoga mat listening to music whilst eating a donut. And she absolutely loves finding a new book boyfriend to swoon-over, hearing from other authors, and connecting with people who read her books.

 
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New Release ~ Savage Hero ~ by ~ Logan Fox

Title: Savage Hero
Series: A Crime Family Affair
Author: Logan Fox
Genre: Dark Cartel Romance
Release Date: April 28, 2021
Cover Design: Natasha Snow

 

Kick-ass assassin. Deadly drug lord. It’s a match made in hell.


Nyx Gray
Bryan Domingo wasn’t the first person I’ve been paid to assassinate.

But he was my first failure.

I’d been staking out the Dom of the Colombian cartel for weeks.

Everything was lined up perfectly…until the heir to his empire walked in.

Deadly, fierce, and hot as hell, Caesar ‘Savage’ Domingo ruined everything with one look.

Now I’m his captive until he decides what he wants to do with me.

For now, it seems tormenting me and treating me like his toy is his only interest.

There’s no way he’ll let me escape now that I’m his.

But even if I could…would I want to? He’s as vicious and brutal as his namesake. But I’m drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

Lines are blurring.

Rules are being broken.

If we’re not careful, we’ll both get burned.

Savage Hero is the first book in the Crime Family Affair Series, a dark cartel romance series. This book ends on a cliffhanger, and contains scenes of graphic violence, murder, and other mature content.Reader discretion is advised.

 

 

 

Hailing from the notoriously sunny South Africa, Logan Fox writes deliciously dark and twisted romance. Her books feature gruff, grumpy alphas that, although broken, can almost always redeem themselves to their feisty heroines. Her couples have enough chemistry to fog up an ice rink, and her stories the kind of the grit and grime she loves reading herself.

 

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New Release ~ Sonnets in the Sky ~ by ~ Charli B. Rose

Sonnets in the Sky Lyrical Odyssey Rock Star Series, Book 5, a Contemporary Rockstar Romance by Charli B. Rose is LIVE!!!

One-Click: https://mybook.to/SonnetsInTheSkyBUY

Add it to your TBR on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SonnetsInTheSkyTBR

Add it to your wishlist on Bookbub: http://bit.ly/SITSBB

Is love ever really meant to last?

MADDOX ~

My whole life, I’ve been looking for love. I find it and lose it often. I’ve accepted that love will be fleeting whenever I have it. So, I fall fast and hard every single time. I finally found someone who agreed to stick around. Ever since our trip to Vegas, she’s been wearing my ring. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened in Vegas. And when they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? They lie. It doesn’t. And I don’t know how to tell her. Either of them. Telling one of them could ruin what I have, and telling the other could ruin everything for her.

SKY ~

In the blink of an eye, life as I know it ends. My best friend is hiding something. His fiancée hates me. My fiancé is being weird. Then tragedy strikes, and I’m left floundering. So much is changing, and I can’t keep up. The solution is simple, or so I think. But Maddox thinks my plan is foolish. And I think he’s probably right. But I have no choice. It’s what I have to do in order to protect her. She’s innocent and needs me.

Is their love written in the sky or will loss erase their forever?

One-Click: https://mybook.to/SonnetsInTheSkyBUY

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SonnetsInTheSkyTBR

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/SITSBB

Meet The Author:

So, I know these things are generally written in third person as if someone else is talking about me. But I just can’t do it. LOL. It may be “unprofessional,” but I’m just me. And I hope that’s OK with you guys.

I’m a Carolina girl, through and through. I have lived in North Carolina my whole life. I’m a wife, a mom, a scientist and a freelance editor. And I’m really excited to add author to the list.

For as long as I can remember, reading has been my favorite way to pass the time. I always have a book with me and usually am reading more than one at any given time. Editing for indie authors gave me a unique glimpse into the indie publishing world. It’s a world I’m really enjoying becoming a part of.

WEBSITE | AMAZON | FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | GOODREADS | BOOKBUB

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Cover Reveal ~ The Control ~ by ~ Elena Monroe

Title: The Control
Series: The 4Horsemen #4
Author: Elena Monroe
Genre: Dark Forbidden Love Romance
Cover Design: Maria, Steamy Reads
Release Date: May 4, 2021

 

BLURB

 

My demons will ruin whatever is left of her halo.

 

 

BOWEN

 

I was living on borrowed everything: time, feelings, motives, even these stale breaths.
I was expired in every way.
No saving me.
He should have lived instead.
He deserved to squeeze every drop out of life and rub it in my face the way he always did.
I was stuck here as half of a person and Eve expected me to be whole enough to fix her.
We were too shattered to ever be put back together again.
I was her demon.

 

EVE

 

I was wasting every second of every day trying to make time move faster.
I was ready to throw away this life as the Princess of Denmark and go back home where Bowen would be waiting for me. There was no stopping me.
I had been promised to Bowen since our births.
I was determined to save myself for him and only him – my life line.
I may be bruised and broken but that only dirtied up my angel wings.
Nothing he couldn’t handle.
I would always be his angel.

 

 

 

PRE-ORDER LINKS
$2.99 for a limited time!
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

 

EXCERPT

 

I should have given him the truth. Anything but the silence lurking inside my mouth making me mute.
Just as I pulled the band away from his body his grip crushed my small hands so hard I felt myself wince. “We aren’t doing that here… I don’t need your pity,” his words might as well have been venom.
It was well-deserved, my body screamed: use me to bury the pain and my eyes were glazed over in sympathy.
“Bowen…” I was trying to slice through the immediate anger cocooning him when his grip didn’t let up, holding my hands still too tightly.
He looked down on me like I personally insulted him in less redeemable ways. “It doesn’t matter how damaged you are when you look at me like that. It would have been easier to just sit pretty and be the wife I don’t want. No demons except me. Now there is nothing holding me back from making sure that fake halo is replaced with horns.”
Standing up right instead of looking down at me like a silly girl who couldn’t handle his demons, his fists clenched making the wraps get even more taunt around his hands.
My mouth was still gaping open but no syllables or sounds came out. Not one word while I watched him square up to the bag hanging in its place. “You always wanted to match.”
My eyes stung with tears and I felt myself suck in my bottom lip like it was the key to holding back tears.
Hitting a small remote in his pocket music flooded his home gym, too loud to think or talk anymore.
Bowen’s fist drove into the bag over and over making me flinch every time. I pushed him to be someone to me and didn’t take into account how askewed how my expectations were.
My expectations were soul crushing.
My expectations were selfish.
My expectations disregarded trauma altogether.
I mumbled a quick sorry around my trembling bottom lip hoping that would suffice.
Few steps forward and ten back seemed to be the dance with the devil. He promised to fuck my halo into horns and now I felt overwhelmed by the need to be just as broken as him.

 

AVAILABLE NOW
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited

 

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
Free in Kindle Unlimited

 

AUTHOR BIO

 

Elena Monroe grew up in Florida scribbling down stories from a very young age. These stories were really just wavy lines filling the paper, but she knew each word, each emotion, each character’s name, and there was no tricking her into forgetting what each line signified. Just like her unconventional way of writing as a toddler Elena is setting her own rules and just telling stories. 

 

Much like her debut novel, The Best Years, life certainly imitated art. Transplanting from the South to the East Coast, Elena currently lives in Connecticut with husband, reformed bad boy.
Find her on her social media through Twitter at @elenamonroe, Instagram at @elenamonroewrites, Facebook at @elenamonroewrites, and more

 

AUTHOR LINKS

New Release ~ Fade Into You ~ by ~ Elle Greco

Today we have the release day blitz for Elle Greco’s FADE INTO YOU! Check it out and be sure to get yours today!

Title: Fade Into You

Author: Elle Greco

Series: LA Rock Star Romance

Genre: Rockstar Romance

About Fade Into You:

It’s all fun and games until someone falls in love.

 

Six years after the cops found Ear Assassins’ lead singer dead of a drug overdose, his widow Lydon Johnson has only just begun to pick up the pieces. Now she finds she’s fast running out of money to support herself and her son. A reality TV show is an unappealing means to an end, but in the interest of keeping a roof over their heads, she signs on. But the producers soon find out, Lydon’s kind of boring for a rock and roll widow.

 

Vince Davis, lead singer of Anthem, is a rock and roll legend two decades in the making. But when the head of his longtime record label is exposed as the cause of his son’s drug overdose, his attempt to split his band from the label comes with a personal cost that he’s not sure he’s ready to make.

 

Enter Lydon. Vince has an idea to spice up Lydon’s flailing reality show: pretend to be lovers. Thrust back into a glowing spotlight, can Vince’s amped star power get Anthem out of their contract on his own terms?

 

The reality TV producers think it’s a match made in rock and roll heaven. What could possibly go wrong?

 

When you hate the person you are supposed to fall in love with, LOADS.

Get Your Copy Today!

Exclusive Excerpt:

Vince flashed his panty-melting grin. “And now we also know that the feelings you have for me scare you.”

“Rubbish,” I snapped. His eyes danced with humor.

“Seriously, Lydon, I’m scared too.” His hands slid along my thighs. “But it’s worth the risk, don’t you think?”

I closed my eyes. “We can’t let Charlie know. I don’t want him hurt.”

“I’d never hurt Charlie.”

I opened my eyes to see his earnest look. “But you might hurt me, and right now that’s the same thing in his little boy heart.”

He pressed his hand over mine on my chest. “I don’t want to hurt you, Lydon.”

“We don’t go into these things wanting to hurt people. It’s just what happens. It’s a by-product,” I said. My brain flashed to Charlie again. He never knew Chad, so he never experienced that sort of aching loss. His loss was different—more of a sadness around never having a father. If Charlie got close to Vince and lost him… that pain rips through your heart and cuts into your very soul.

Was I willing to take that gamble with Charlie’s heart? Because it wasn’t just my own that was exposed.

“I can’t, Vince. It’s too risky.”

He leaned into me, a hand landing on the mattress by my hip. “Lady Ly, we are halfway there with this reality show. Maybe we should try?”

It was tempting. Vince was right. The sex we had was explosive. It was raw. It felt right.

But it had also been six years since I last got laid, so I couldn’t exactly trust what I felt.

I leaned away from him. “How about we just, you know, scratch the itch every once in a while?”

His head cocked. “Go on. I want to hear this.”

“I mean, we carry on as normal, faking it for the cameras and such. But if we get the urge to, you know…” I paused. “Have intercourse…”

Vince closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again, he pressed his forehead to mine. “So, friends with benefits.”

I stared at his full lips and tamped down the urge to kiss him. “We could call it that, I suppose.”

About Elle Greco:

Urban Fantasy lovers will know me as Karen Greco, author of the best-selling Hell’s Belle series. My Contemporary Romance books are written under Elle Greco. (That’s me, to the right, in a Covid 19 self-portrait!)

While the genres are worlds apart, strong female characters are the chain that links all my worlds.

These women are magical. They wield wicked weapons. They play a mean drum solo. They fall in love. They rule the boardroom and the bedroom.

Whatever they do, they do it with swagger.

I love escaping into their badass worlds. I hope you do, too.

 

Connect with Elle:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest