For two FBI agents with a past, love becomes a matter of life and death in the new Hidden Sins novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert.
Maggie Gaines used to be an FBI agent—top of her class and one of the bright, up-and-coming stars—until she spectacularly fell apart during her first high-profile case. That was eight years ago. Now she’s a ranger at Glacier National Park, and she’s found some measure of peace. But when the body of a murdered woman is discovered, she must finally put the past behind her and work with the one man she thought she’d never see again.
For months, Vic Sutherland has been hunting a killer who’s been targeting unsuspecting hikers in national parks—and now the predator has come to Glacier. Vic knows the case will bring him face-to-face with his former partner, yet nothing can prepare him for seeing Maggie again after all these years, or for the memories of passion it stirs in both of them.
As the investigation brings them closer together—and closer to the killer—Maggie and Vic fear they have only each other to trust. But even that might not be enough to make it out of Glacier alive.
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it ‘a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension.” When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
Today we are sharing an incredible giveaway hosted by the 2017 ‘Best First Book’ RITA Nominated Authors! They are giving away 2 prize packs! The grand prize winner will receive a paperback copy of each of the 6 nominated books. A second winner will receive an ebook copy of each of the titles. Be sure to sign up below and check out the authors who are participating and their incredible novels!
Book Blurb:
If anyone saw the prom boards Amelia Blanco makes on her favorite fashion app, they’d think Ethan Laurenti was her boyfriend. They wouldn’t know that all the plans she’s made for them are just dreams, and that she’s the girl who watches him from the kitchen while her parents cook for his famous family.
When Amelia’s abuelita enrolls her in a month-long fashion internship in NYC, Amelia can’t imagine leaving Miami–and Ethan–for that long. As soon as she gets to New York, however, she finds a bigger world and new possibilities. She meets people her own age who can actually carry on a conversation about stitching and design. Her pin boards become less about prom with Ethan and more about creating her own style. By the time she returns to Miami, Amelia feels like she can accomplish anything, and surprises herself by agreeing to help Ethan’s awkward, Steve-Jobs-wannabe brother, Liam, create his own fashion app.
As Liam and Amelia get closer, Ethan realizes that this newly confident, stylish girl may be the one for him after all . . . even though he has a reality TV star girlfriend he conveniently keeps forgetting about. The “new and improved” Amelia soon finds herself in between two brothers, a whole lot of drama, and choice she never dreamed she’d have to make.
This full-length novel by debut author Natalie Blitt is a pitch-perfect blend of Stephanie Perkins and Miranda Kenneally that proves the age-old adage: opposites attract.
Seventeen-year-old Abby has only one goal for her summer: to make sure she is fluent in French—well, that, and to get as far away from baseball and her Cubs-obsessed family as possible. A summer of culture and language, with no sports in sight.
That turns out to be impossible, though, because her French partner is the exact kind of boy she was hoping to avoid. Eight weeks. 120 hours of class. 80 hours of conversation practice with someone who seems to wear baseball caps and jerseys every day.
But Zeke in French is a different person than Zeke in English. And Abby can’t help but fall for him, hard. As Abby begins to suspect that Zeke is hiding something, she has to decide if bridging the gap between who she is and who he is is worth the risk.
Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.
Music means more than anything to high school student Cate Reese; it’s also what unites her with Cal Woods. Devoted classical guitar players, Cate and Cal are childhood friends newly smitten by love—until a devastating car accident rips Cal out of Cate’s life forever. Blaming herself for the horrific tragedy and struggling to surface from her despair, Cate spirals downhill in a desperate attempt to ease her pain.
Fellow student David Bennet might look like the school’s golden boy, but underneath the surface the popular athlete battles demons of his own. Racked with survivor’s guilt after his brother’s suicide, things get worse when tragedy darkens his world again—but connecting with Cate, his sister’s longtime babysitter, starts bringing the light back in.
As Cate and David grow closer, the two shattered teenagers learn to examine the pieces of their lives…and, together, find a way to be whole again.
ONCE AND FOR ALL: AN AMERICAN VALOR NOVEL by Cheryl Etchison
Book Blurb:
The Rangers of the 1st/75th fight hard, train hard and play hard. They are physically strong and mentally tough, disciplined and courageous. But all their military training hasn’t prepared them for falling in love.
Rule #1: Military and matrimony don’t mix.
But if there’s one person Staff Sergeant Danny MacGregor would break all his rules for, it’s Bree–his first friend, first love, first everything. Maybe he likes playing the hero. Maybe he’s trying to ease ten years of guilt. Either way, he’ll do whatever he can to help her.
Wish #1: A little bit of normal.
Bree Dunbar has battled cancer, twice. What she wants most is a fresh start in a place where she can find a new job, and where people aren’t constantly treating her like she’s sick. By some miracle her wish is granted, but it comes with one major string attached– the man who broke her heart ten years before.
The rules for this marriage of convenience are simple: when she’s ready to stand on her own two feet, she’ll walk away and he’ll let her go. Only, as they both know all too well, things don’t always go according to plan…
A disgraced scholar running from her past and an entrepreneur chasing his future find themselves thrown together—and fall in love—on a Tolkien tour of New Zealand.
Allison Shire (yes, like where the Hobbits live) is a disgraced academic who is done with love. Her belief in “happily ever after” ended the day she discovered her husband was still married to a wife she knew nothing about. She finally finds a use for her English degree by guiding tours through the famous sites featured in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. By living life on the road and traveling New Zealand as a luxury tour guide, Allison manages to outrun the pain of her past she can’t face.
Jackson Gregory was on the cusp of making it big. Then suddenly his girlfriend left him—for his biggest business competitor—and took his most guarded commercial secrets with her. To make matters worse, the Iowa farm that has been in his family for generations is facing foreclosure. Determined to save his parents from financial ruin, he’ll do whatever it takes to convince his wealthy great-uncle to invest in his next scheme, which means accompanying him to the bottom of the world to spend three weeks pretending to be a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan, even though he knows nothing about the stories. The one thing that stands between him and his goal is a know-it-all tour guide who can’t stand him and pegged him as a fake the moment he walked off the plane.
When Allison leads the group through the famous sites of the Tolkien movies, she and Jackson start to see each other differently, and as they keep getting thrown together on the tour, they find themselves drawn to each other. Neither expected to fall in love again, but can they find a way beyond their regrets to take a chance on the one thing they’re not looking for?
Fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Jenny Han will fall in love with this heartfelt and humor-laced debut following one zodiac-obsessed teen as she struggles to find the guy of her cosmic dreams.
As the daughter of an expert astrologer, Wilamena Carlisle knows that truth lies within the stars. So when she discovers a planetary alignment that won’t repeat for a decade, she’s forced to tackle her greatest astrological fear: The Fifth House—relationships and love. But Wil must decide whether to trust her heart or her chart when she falls for a sensitive guitar player whose zodiac sign points to cosmic disaster.
If Wil’s fate is truly written in the stars, then this summer is about to go supernova. . . .
12 Masters. 12 Desires. 12 Fantasies Come to Life.
Meet the Masters of Blasphemy…
About MASTERING HER SENSES (Blasphemy #2, 2/21/17):
12 Masters. Infinite fantasies. Welcome to Blasphemy…
He wants to dominate her senses—and her heart…
Quinton Ross has always been a thrill-seeker—so it’s no surprise that he’s drawn to extremes in the bedroom and at his BDSM club, Blasphemy, where he creates sense-depriving scenarios that blow submissives’ minds. Now if he could just find one who needs the rush as much as him…
When an accident leaves Cassia Locke with a paralyzing fear of the dark, she’ll try anything to get help. Ready to fight, she knows just who to ask for help—the hard-bodied, funny-as-hell Dom she’d always crushed on—and once stood up.
Quinton is shocked and a little leery to see Cassia, but he can’t pass up the chance to dominate the alluring little sub this time. Introducing her to sensory deprivation becomes his new favorite obsession, and watching her fight fear is its own thrill. But when doubt threatens to send her running again, Quinton must find a way to master her senses—and her heart.
“Where are you, Cassia?” Master Quinton asked, slowly swaying with her on the crowded dance floor.
“Um…” She swallowed, hard, blind beneath the thickly folded lace. “Yellow, Sir,” she said, feeling weak at the admission.
He kissed her, soft and sweet and approving. “Good girl. Always want you to be honest with me. If it’s too much, squeeze my shoulders three times. Otherwise, no talking.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said, knowing that they’d just slipped into a scene without him having to tell her. And that helped tip the scales toward the more positive reactions he’d unleashed. Because her body was a live wire waiting to see what he had in store for her. Why had she teased him again?
Words rumbled into her ear. “There’s a couple right behind you. Almost touching you. The man is dancing behind the woman, and he’s pulled up her skirt.” Cassia’s heart tripped into a sprint. Master Quinton squeezed her ass with one big hand as they danced, his body tight against hers. Other bodies bumped against them, too, against her elbow, her heel, her hip. “She was naked beneath,” he continued, “and her pussy is bare. The man is teasing her, rubbing his fingers over her lips without really hitting her clit. The look on her face is pure torture.”
Each word painted a new stroke of color against the blackness of her eyelids—and over all the most sensitive places of her body. Her nipples. Her neck. Her clit. Cassia shivered as the image Quinton described came to life in her mind’s eye.
Slowly, Master Quinton dragged his tongue up the column of Cass’s neck, adding to her own torment. And then his lips were at her ear again. “He’s fingering her now. Forcing her to keep dancing while he does it.” He swallowed thickly. “Aw, fuck, Cass, he’s making her suck her own wetness off his fingers.”
Cassia moaned at the vivid picture she now had, and at the rough arousal in her Dom’s voice. His lust stoked her own, made her wish that they were the ones doing what he described.
Quinton licked the shell of her ear, unleashing goosebumps all down her neck and shoulders. “He’s taking his cock out now. Lining it up between her legs… Oh, yeah, he just slid into her from behind. Right here on the dance floor.”
A whimper spilled from Cassia as heat roared over her body. Suddenly, she could barely stand the thin fabric of her dress against her skin.
“Mmm, like that idea, do you?” Quinton said, his dirty words a secret the music helped them keep. “Looks like she does too, the way her Dom is taking her right here in the middle of all these people, all of them watching her, touching her. Can you see it, Cassia? Can you see him fucking her?”
She gave a fast nod, almost forgetting not to speak. But, God, she wanted to. She wanted to beg.
For Quinton. For his touch and his tongue and his cock.
“Yeah, I know you can. You can see his cock sliding deep. I bet you can even feel it.”
Jesus, she was going to come. She was going to come from his words alone.
On some level, she knew what he was doing. And she freaking adored him for it, for the way he’d put light in the darkness with just his voice. But she was too invested in the story to think about it. She needed more. She needed it all.
Laura Kaye can write hot BDSM like no one’s business. I’m not one who is into the tying up and whipping but dear God I was a lot into everything Master Quinton was doing. And boy is he a hot dirty talker. *whew*
Poor Cassia has a fear of the dark – legitimately so. She meets with Master Quinton who wants to help her get over her fear. While Quinton is a definitely dominant Dom, he also truly cares about Cassia and her fear and helping her get over it.
A great series if you like something a little different but super duper uber hot!
Join the MASTERING HER SENSES Facebook Party on February 21st! JOIN THE PARTY HERE!
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thirty books in contemporary and erotic romance and romantic suspense, including the Blasphemy, Hard Ink, and Raven Riders series. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. Laura also writes historical fiction as the NYT bestselling author, Laura Kamoie. She lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
Ophelia Lang needs money, and she needs it bad. Her parent’s restaurant is going under, and ever since she lost her job teaching third grade elementary, scraping enough cash together to pay the bills has proven almost impossible. Her parents are on the brink of losing their home. The vultures are circling overhead. So when Ophelia is offered an interview for a well-paid private tutoring gig in New York, how can she possibly say no?
Ronan Fletcher is far from the overweight, balding businessman Ophelia expected him to be. He’s young, handsome, and wealthy beyond all reason. He’s also perhaps the coldest, rudest person she’s ever met, and has a mean streak in him a mile and a half wide. A hundred grand is a lot of money, however, and if tolerating his frosty temperament, his erratic mood swings and whatever else he throws at her means she’ll get paid, then that is what Ophelia will do.
Her new boss is keeping secrets, though. Awful, terrible secrets.
The ghosts of Ronan Fletcher’s past are about to turn Ophelia’s future upside down, and she can’t even see it coming.
Note: Between Here and The Horizon is a brand new standalone contemporary romance novel from USA Today bestselling author, Callie Hart. Between Here and the Horizon does contain some scenes of violence and sexual content, and so is directed at audience 18+.
CHAPTER ONE
AFGHANISTAN
2009
“Get back, Fletcher! Get back! The tank’s gonna blow!”
I was running. Behind me, seven miles of desert stretched out toward Kabul city, glowing in places where burned out military trucks were being devoured by fire. Twisted metal rained down from the sky, on fire and sharper than a razor’s edge, impacting in the dirt. Thud. Thud, thud.Thud. Shrapnel whistled through the air, striking the ground a few feet away from me as I weaved my way through the wreckage. Smoke was biting at my lungs, acrid and burning, making it hard to breath.
“Fletcher! What the fuck, man!”
Behind me, Specialist Crowe was losing his mind. Alternating between shouting into his radio and shouting at me, he couldn’t seem to decide which course of action to take. I’d ordered him to follow, but I could understand why he hadn’t. The situation was more than unsafe; charging headlong into the fire and destruction was a suicide mission, and I knew it. I also knew that my men were trapped inside the upturned vehicle still a hundred feet ahead of me, however, and I knew the truck was going to blow any second. They were going to burn to death if I didn’t help them. I wasn’t going to abandon them to that fate.
“Captain! God, man, stop!”
My heart was surging, my veins overflowing with adrenalin. My boots hit the dirt, left, right, left, right, left, right, my fists pumping back and forth as I sprinted toward the truck that was laying on its roof up ahead. Through the fractured windshield, I could see Hellaman and Wicks still strapped into the front seats of the vehicle, upside down and unmoving. They were either unconscious or dead. Hopefully they were just out for the count, but there was a lot of blood splattered on the inside of the glass. A lot of blood.
Black smoke curled upward from the underside of the truck, and I could already hear the hissing sound of fuel burning and sizzling somewhere. Groaning. I could hear groaning, too.
I reached the truck just as something inside the engine caught fire, and Hellaman came to. His eyes were wide with pain and fear as I dropped down onto my belly next to the driver’s side window, which was smashed out, small cubes of safety glass scattered into the dirt.
“Captain? Captain Fletcher. Shit, I can’t breathe. I can’t…breathe.” His face was deathly pale, and his hands shook violently as he tried to claw at the seatbelt that was digging into his chest.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Private. We’re gonna get you out of there, okay? Just hold on a moment.” My bowie knife was in my hand. I took it and made quick work of slashing through the webbing holding Hellaman in place. There was nothing I could do to cushion his fall. Slamming into the roof of the truck, Hellaman groaned weakly, and then passed out again, either from pain or from the shock, I didn’t know. I stowed my blade and grabbed him by the shoulders, then wrestled him free through the window. His face was cut; his arms were striped with blood and running rivers of crimson out onto the ground. No time to be gentle, though. No time to be safe. I hooked my hands under his arms and I quickly jogged backwards, dragging him away from the wreckage. Twenty feet was enough.
I ran back to the truck. Flames were visibly licking at the underside of the vehicle now, snaking upward toward the night sky. Wick was still out cold. I ran around to the back of the truck and tried to force the loading doors open, but they were jammed closed, bent and warped, refusing to budge.
“Shit.”
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
There was someone alive inside. Running out of time. Almost no time left. I positioned myself by the truck’s rear right window, thanking god the thing was already splintered. The bulletproof windows on military trucks were no joke. You could take a semi automatic to them and it would take longer than I had to smash them. The impact of rolling three times had obviously been enough to compromise the glass, though.
“Shield your faces,” I hollered. “Glass, glass, glass!” Bracing, I spun around and smashed the sole of my boot against the window as hard as I possibly could. The glass groaned, fracturing some more, but it didn’t shatter. I kicked again, and again, and again. Finally, the window exploded in a shower of bright shards, giving in under the force of my boot.
“Captain, there’s fuel in here,” someone inside yelled. “Get back!”
I ducked down and lay flat on my stomach again, crawling in through the now empty window frame. Inside the truck, gasoline hung heavy in the air, burning my nostrils and my eyes. Next to me, Roberts was dead, his head twisted at an odd angle, eyes staring, unseeing into the abyss.
On the other side of the truck Private Coleridge, Sam, a nineteen-year-old kid from Houston, was lying on his back on the roof, holding his rifle in both hands, his body convulsing wildly. His eyes swivelled to look at me, but his head remained locked in position, his teeth grinding together.
“What…what happened, Capt’n?” he asked. “We were drivin’ along, and then…everything was…spinning.”
“IED,” I told him. “Desert’s full of them. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
“I can’t…move. I can’t feel…anything.”
He wasn’t paralyzed. If he were, he wouldn’t be shaking the way he was right now. He was just in shock. A sharp slap to the face would probably go a long way to getting him moving, but there simply wasn’t time for that kind of motivation. Grabbing him by the webbing stitched onto the strap of his pack, which was still on his back, I hauled him to me and then backed out through the window as quickly as I could. The fire was raging now. I dragged Sam back to where I’d left Hellaman and was about to run back to the truck when a loud metallic crack split the air apart, and then a ball of fire rocked the truck, a wall of heat and pressure slamming into my body, sending me reeling back into the dirt.
“Oscar!” Sam yelled. “Oscar’s still alive in there!”
“Fuck.” I was up on my feet and running. The heat was intense—so intense that I had to shield my face as I grew closer to the wreck. The fire had consumed the underside of the truck, the tires blazing, the gas roaring as the fuel line was engulfed. And I could hear screaming. The kind of blood curdling, awful screaming of a man being burned alive.
My radio headset crackled with static, and then Colonel Whitlock’s voice barked out through the speaker. “Fletcher, do not go back inside that vehicle. Do you hear me? Do not go back inside that vehicle.”
Disobeying a direct order from a colonel was an offence worthy of court marshal. I ripped my headset from my ears and threw it to the ground, ignoring it. Ignoring the consequences. Another blood curdling scream reached me, and that was it. I was on my stomach, crawling into the mouth of hell.
My side pressed up against the frame of the window, and pain tore at me, sinking its teeth into my skin. Heat. The heat was overwhelming, so fierce and violent that there was no oxygen inside the truck. Only smoke and confusion. Only death.
“Oscar!” I called out, reaching with both hands, trying to find him. “Where are you, man?” The truck was only a six-guy transport, but the billowing, rolling clouds of black smoke hid everything. I went by touch until I heard him cry out again, weaker this time, voice riddled with agony. He was at the very rear of the truck. A few seconds was all I had. Any longer and I would either suffocate or burn up myself. My head was pounding, my lungs begging for clean air, and I could feel myself start to drift.
The journey to the back of the truck took an eternity. One hand over the other, I pulled myself around an upturned transport box, and jammed my body in between the narrow gap at the right hand side of the vehicle, reaching out, groping, searching, until I found what I was looking for. A leg. A foot, to be precise. I grabbed hold of it and pulled. An agonised yell filled the truck.
“Ahh, my leg. My leg. It’s fucked!”
“I know. I’m sorry, man. I can’t get you any other way.” I gritted my teeth, and I pulled. In any other situation it would have been a crime that I was handling an injured man this way. The clock was running down, though, and if causing more pain, causing even more damage meant the difference between one of my guys being injured or being dead, then I was going to do what I had to do.
I somehow managed to maneuverer myself so that I was over Oscar—I couldn’t even see his face, the smoke was so thick—and then I started shoving. Six hard pushes and I managed to drive him through the gap in the window frame, out onto the desert floor. His body was ripped away, pulled free by someone else, and then he was gone. I was almost too tired to heave myself free, but I scrounged up my last scrap of energy and I crawled forward, determined to make it out before the entire vehicle was enveloped. Halfway out, my fingers clawing in the dirt, my body lit up with pain. Indescribable. Unbearable. A pain so sharp and breathtaking that I couldn’t even cry out. It felt like something was ripping my body in two. I spun around and looked up to see a burning line of fuel pouring down on me, hitting my side, burning into me. I was on fire.
I kicked and jerked myself out of the truck, ripping at my jacket. Tearing at the material, trying to get it off. The fabric seemed to come away in my hands, and then I was shirtless in the cold, cold desert, rolling on the ground, trying to put the flames out.
The world went black. Someone threw something over me, and then hands were beating at my body, slapping and trying to roll me. A strangled gasp worked its way out of my mouth, but that’s all I could manage. The flames were out. The thick, heavy material that had been thrown over me was pulled back, and Crowe stood over me, face covered in soot and grease, eyes the size of dollar coins. I could barely see him properly. Barely hear the words coming out of his mouth.
Colonel Whitlock appeared next to him, and then the sky was filled with the beating thump of helicopter blades. They spoke for a second, and the thundering drum of the helo overhead dipped long enough for me to make out what Crowe said to Whitlock.
“He didn’t stop, sir. He didn’t stop until they were all out.”
Whitlock scowled. “I can see that, Specialist. He disobeyed a direct order in doing so, too.”
“He’ll be reprimanded?” Crowe asked. He was speaking as if I was no longer present; both of them were.
“No,” Whitlock said sternly. “Ironically, I think Captain Fletcher’s more likely to be honored than punished in this particular instance. Now get him on the chopper before I change my mind. The crazy bastard’s bleeding everywhere.”
Trailer
Teasers
Callie has experienced many changes throughout her life, and gone through many ups and downs that have all worked towards shaping and moulding her into the person she is today: fun loving, active, social, and hard working. The only thing that has remained a constant throughout her life is writing. Creating characters who will tear your conscience in two is a favorite pastime of Callie’s. There are few real saints and sinners in her books; more often, the denizens of her stories are all very human. Broken, flawed, and always with the potential for redemption.
Despite the subject matter being markedly hot and heavy in comparison to the stories she wrote in elementary school, there will always be an element of fairytale to her work.
Callie Hart is the author of the Blood & Roses Series. Zeth & Sloane’s story is now complete, but there are a number of stories still to be released under the Blood & Roses banner. 2015 will see Cade, Michael and Rebel’s stories being released, as well as a number of brand new stories, all of which will be Dark Romance novels.
If you would like to contact Callie, you can do so here.
If you would like to sign up to Callie’s newsletter for info on upcoming releases, exclusive teasers, excerpts and competitions, you can do so here.
From the New York Times bestselling authors of Stuck-Up Suit and Cocky Bastard, comes a sexy new standalone novel.
Money or love? Which would you choose?
You probably just answered the question in your head thinking it’s an easy decision.
For me, it’s not. Did I mention it’s a lot of money? A hell of a lot.
I needed to go far away to think it through.
As I embarked on an impulsive trip, I hit a detour when I met sexy Carter in the airport lounge. We struck up a heated conversation.
Then, he left.
I thought I’d never see him again.
But fate had other plans.
Surprise! He was the pilot of my flight.
The bigger surprise was the adventure that followed after the plane landed.
Carter was dangerous and always on the move.
Even though our connection was magnetic, I knew it was only temporary.
He would give me tickets, and I would follow him around the world to exotic places.
A bevy of flight attendant exes and rumors about Carter’s reputation were never far behind.
I didn’t know what to believe.
But I was addicted. Nothing else mattered anymore. And I was going to get hurt. Because a part of me wanted to be the one to finally ground the playboy pilot.
At the very least, he was taking me on a thrilling ride.
All good things must come to an end, right?
Except our ending was one I didn’t see coming.
Excerpt
“Carter? What are you doing?”
Shit.
I laughed under my breath and banged the back of my head against the wood. “Praying?”
“Do you always breathe like that when you’re praying?”
“It’s an intense prayer.”
“What are you really doing?”
“I think you might know what I’m really doing, Kendall.”
“Can I come in?”
Still fully erect, I tucked my cock back into my pants as best I could before opening the door.
Her eyes trailed down to my massive erection. “I’m sorry….to make you resort to that.”
“It’s okay. My hand and I haven’t spent time like this since I was a teenager. I think he missed me.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“You.”
“Yeah…but what specifically?”
“It was this fantasy of fucking you on the dance floor back at the club.”
She looked down at me again. Her expression was serious when she asked, “You need some help?”
“I thought you said we weren’t going to go there.”
“I can’t have sex with you. But I want to touch you. I could take my clothes off, let you finish what you started. You know…help you.”
Looking up at the ceiling, I shook my head. “You have no fucking clue, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“How crazy you make me. There’s no halfway with you. Jerking off with your naked body right in front of me…not being able to do what I really want to you…would be torture. I don’t have that kind of willpower, not with you, not anymore. Even when I kiss you, all I can think about is burying myself inside of you. But you naked in front of me? Too much, Kendall. When you strip down for me, I want it to be when you’re ready to let me have you. Otherwise, it’s better if I don’t know what I’m missing out on.”
Looking filled with remorse, she waved her hands. “Okay. I get it. I’m sorry…for interrupting.”
“Go back to bed. I’ll be right there.”
After Kendall left, I closed my eyes in regret. Was I crazy for turning her away like that?
Now that she knew what I was up to in here, I couldn’t relax. Still needing release like a motherfucker, I turned on the shower and got in. Ironically, I jerked myself to thoughts of her naked body against the bathroom door and imagined she was watching me.
Fuck my life.
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Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eleven novels. Her books have placed on the New York Times bestseller list fourteen times. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism (the inspiration for the character Callie in Gemini) and a 10-year-old boy. Penelope, her husband and kids reside in Rhode Island.
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. With more than a million books sold, her titles have appeared in over fifty Bestseller lists and are currently translated in ten languages. She lives in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Resistance comes this new STANDALONE contemporary romance.
Because first love deserves a second chance
One month.
One movie.
One shot at a second chance.
I fell madly in love at first sight with Jane Lewis.
The girl with bright green eyes, a pretty smile, and great ass owned my heart. I thought she was happy with the status quo, but ten years later, I foolishly let her go. Despite dating other women, no one compares to my first love. We are meant to be together, and I’m going to try my damnedest to convince her of that.
Luke Anders tricked me. The deal was sealed before I knew he was behind it.
We agreed to be just friends. Simple. Easy. But it’s not just the weather that’s hot in Texas. I was a fool to think I could resist him. He knows how to work his charms and those kissable lips, that great jaw, and biceps. We are here to work, but he has become downright distracting.
I’m strong. I can handle one month of his flirtatious sexual torture. But if I happen to fall in bed with that sexy bastard for a night, or three, does that make me weak? Asking for a friend, of course.
I guess I’m about to find out when love gets messy, it’s not just the talk that’s dirty.
**BONUS BOOK EDITION of Dirty Talk includes the full novel of Sweet Talk. “Sweet Talk is a fun, sexy, emotionally-rich second chance romance with a charm-your-panties-off hero.” ~ New York Times Bestselling Author, Violet Duke
Excerpt
~Jane Lewis~
The panic subsides and then reality hits me.
Luke Anders is right next door to me. For a month.
I’ve only been here for a minute or so and I’m sweltering. The air hasn’t cooled me off so I pull my shirt away from my sticky skin. A knock on the window makes me jump; my hand instantly covers my heart.
Luke steps away from the car with his hands up in surrender. He mouths, “Sorry.”
Shaking my head, I take another quick breath to calm myself, and push the button that slides the window down.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was sneaking up on you.”
“It’s okay,” I reassure him, my heart racing—from his close proximity or from being startled I’m not quite sure.
When I open the door, he opens it wider and I get out. I can’t help but take him in, my breath escaping me just like the first time I ever saw him. He’s stunningly handsome, maybe even more so. Definitely more so. One month without seeing him and now he’s trying to kill me. His rugged good looks, the T-shirt stretching across his broad, hard body, and a week’s worth of beard growth makes me want to rub my fingers and other things on it to see if it’s rough or soft.
In a word?
Damn. Hot.
Fine, two words, but he’s worth breaking the rules for.
And just like that, all my better senses fly out the window. “Have you been working out?” I regret saying it the second I do. I regret it doubly when that cocky smirk that made me fall in love with him appears, transforming his entire attitude.
He pops a bicep for me, and replies, “I’ve gotten in a little gym time recently.”
“Well, it shows.” Shut up, Jane. I wave my hand in the air, unable to control myself. “I’ve got a VIP ticket to the gun show. Any idea where I might redeem it?” What the hell am I doing? He drives me nuts and I fall for it every time.
Luke laughs. Pretending to take the imaginary ticket, he stashes it in his back pocket. One arm goes out and then the other. “Bam. Bam! Check these babies out.”
Now I’m a giggling mess. Running my hand over one then the other, I smile. “It was worth every dime I spent on that ticket.” I squeeze his muscle.
He laughs and drops his arm. “And how many dimes did you spend?”
“Ten shiny dimes for each.” I walk around to the back of the car and open my trunk.
Luke chuckles even harder. “Glad you got your money’s worth then.” He comes around and grabs the large suitcase out, setting it on the sidewalk and pulling up the handle.
I reach in the backseat and pull out the last box, but he moves in and grabs it for me. “Take the suitcase. I’ll carry this for you.”
Rolling the suitcase behind me, we walk along the sidewalk back to the hotel as if we’re friends, as if we haven’t hurt each other’s hearts. I ask, “What were you doing out here?”
“Getting coffee. I heard Jo’s is great. It’s next to the hotel.”
“I could use one. The drive was exhausting.”
He walks one step to the side and behind me. “Why did you drive?”
“I wanted to have a car.” I hate lying, especially to him, but I’m not ready for him to know I don’t have a place to call home anymore or a place to store my car in LA for a month. I’ll have to face the fact of my reality once this film wraps, so I choose to hide my eyes and stick with the white lie.
A silence pervades the journey as we walk through the courtyard. I stop in front of my door. Looking to his, I wonder if he realizes the relation of the two. Turning back to him, his smile is much nicer, more the sweet boy I once knew. I still struggle with what to say, so I awkwardly shift, and signal to the door behind me. “This is me.” I unlock the door, and step inside.
“Right next door.” He follows me inside. After setting the box down on the table, he looks around the room. “Just like mine. It’s nice we’ll be neighbors.”
“Quite the coincidence.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Maybe not?”
“Could be fate, Janie.”
“You never believed in fate.” I sit on the bed just as some of the old feelings come swirling back in the quiet of the room.
“I believe in destiny these days.”
Luke is a MASTER at dirty talk and boy does Jane know it!
Luke and Jane were high school sweethearts who broke apart. But neither has forgot the other and how much they miss each other. But Jane is engaged and Luke enjoys playing the field, right?
They are thrown back together to work on bringing Jane’s play to life on the big screen. Luke producing Jane’s play-turned-movie. They’re “stuck” with each other for a month and Luke couldn’t be happier. He wants to win back Jane amd her heart all over again.
4 stars!
New York Times and USA Bestselling Author, S. L. Scott, was always interested in the arts. She grew up painting, writing poetry and short stories, and willing her days away lost in a good book and the movies.
With a degree in Journalism, she continued her love of the written word by reading American authors like Salinger and Fitzgerald. She was intrigued by their flawed characters living in picture perfect worlds, but could still debate that the world those characters lived in were actually the flawed ones. This dynamic of leaving the reader invested in the words, inspired Scott to start writing with emotion while interjecting an underlying passion into her own stories.
Living in the capital of Texas with her family, Scott loves traveling and avocados, beaches, and cooking with her kids. She’s obsessed with epic romances and loves a good plot twist. She dreams of seeing one of her own books made into a movie one day as well as returning to Europe. Her favorite color is blue, but she likens it more toward the sky than the emotion. Her home is filled with the welcoming symbol of the pineapple and finds surfing a challenge though she likes to think she’s a pro.
A girl has to work to pay the bills, but my family would not approve of my methods. Burlesque is my release and paycheck. Nursing is my future and current frustration.
Between dancing and playing mind games with my sexy neighbor my life is beginning to be fun again. He likes to watch me, and I like to put on a performance of a lifetime. When our lives collide, things get hot and heavy. We need to be careful for many reasons, but I can’t bring myself to care about any of them.
This is a short happily ever after steamy novella, containing insta-love.
Excerpt
“Do you want me to fuck you?”
“Yes,” I bite out, barely able to speak.
“Good, now be a good girl and stand up. Bend over and brace yourself on the chair.”
I do as I’m told looking back over my shoulder to see him watching me.
“You’re beautiful, but you’ll look even better when I’m balls deep inside of you.”
I moan at his words. “Yes, please. Now,” I say unintelligibly. Slowly, too slowly, he slides in. As good as this feels, I need more. I need it hard and fast. “Faster, please. I need it fast!”
“Shhh,” he says soothingly.
“I know what you want, and I’m going to give it to you, but let me feel this first.”
I groan out my impatience. He glides in and out causing the most exquisite friction. As good as it feels, it’s maddening. It’s just enough to keep me hanging on the edge, but not enough to tip me over. I begin gyrating my hips backward to create a faster tempo. It has the opposite effect as he pulls all the way out.
“Are you about done rushing me, love?”
Daydreamer by day professional child wrangler by night. Bred in the Midwest, I often would conjure up stories in my head to fill my day. When I’m not concocting a delicious new tale, I can be found curled up in a corner with a cup of coffee and the newest page turner.
About Laura Kaye:
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eleven novels. Her books have placed on the New York Times bestseller list fourteen times. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism (the inspiration for the character Callie in Gemini) and a 10-year-old boy. Penelope, her husband and kids reside in Rhode Island.
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