Tag: New Release

New Release ~ Ruin ~ by ~ L.A. Cotton

 

Title: Ruin: The Reprise
Series: Black Hearts Still Beat #4
Author: L. A. Cotton
Genre: New Adult Rock Star Romance
Release Date: November 17, 2020

 

BLURB

 

Working for America’s hottest rock band should be a dream come true for Phoebe Halstead. 

 

And it would be, if it wasn’t for lead singer, Levi Hunter.
Tortured… Brooding… Broken. He’s everything she should stay away from.
Unfortunately for Phoebe, she’s exactly the kind of girl Levi needs. The light to his dark. The calm to his storm.
He wants to be worthy of her; she knows he’ll never change.
Everyone knows the greatest love stories end one of two ways:
… with a happily-ever-after or in heartache and ruin.

 

 

 

PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

 

EXCERPT

 

“Why does this feel so right?” She broke the kiss, blinking up at me with her big honey eyes. 

 

“Because maybe it is. Maybe we just both have to take a chance.”
“I can’t do it again. I can’t watch someone I…” She stopped herself, letting out a heavy sigh. Part of me was relieved. I didn’t want to ever hear those words. “I’ll never be the most important thing in your life. I deserve that, Levi. I deserve to come first.”
Her honesty shook me to the core. Phoebe had scars. The deep kind. The kind I knew I couldn’t fix. The kind I knew I would only rip open if I pursued this thing with her.
But I couldn’t walk away.
I couldn’t do it.
So long as she was on tour with us, we would continue to go around in circles until one of us cracked. Or I fucked things up for good.
Touching my head to hers, I breathed her in. “I’m not a good guy, Bee, but I’d try to be good for you.”
A shiver ran through her as she swayed gently. She was drunk. Maybe more than I’d first thought.
“Come on,” I said, guiding her toward the bed. “You should get some sleep.”
Phoebe began stripping out of her clothes with haste, as if they were suffocating her. “Stupid shirt,” she groaned as she tried to yank it over her head.
I stood back, smothering the laughter rumbling in my chest. “Need some help?”
Her eyes snapped to mine, glittering in the dark. “I can manage.”
After a couple more failed attempts, I crouched down and nudged her hands away. “Here, let me.” My fingers brushed her bare skin, and she whimpered again.
My dick strained against my jeans, desperate to feel her again. But the next time I was inside her, I wanted Phoebe to know exactly who she was fucking.
I pulled back the cover. “In you go.”
“I can’t believe this happening,” she mumbled. “How embarrassing.” Phoebe buried her face in the pillow.
I made quick work of stripping down to my boxers and climbed in bed beside her. She tried to roll away, putting as much space between us as possible.
But fuck that.
I hooked my arm around Phoebe’s waist and pulled her back against my chest.
“Levi, we can’t snuggle…”
“Why the fuck not?” I tangled my legs with hers, fighting the urge to press my hard length right up against her ass.
“Because I’m your assistant and you’re…” She let out a little huff of frustration.
“It’s okay, honeybee,” the nickname rolled off my tongue as easy as breathing, “you can say it. I’m the best sex you’ve ever had.” I breathed against the shell of her ear.
Her sweet laughter filled the small room. “You’re definitely the biggest ego I’ve ever had.”

 

 

ALSO AVAILABLE
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS
GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK

 

AUTHOR BIO
Author of over thirty mature young adult and new adult
novels, L A is happiest writing the kind of books she loves to read: addictive
stories full of teenage angst, tension, twists and turns.Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being
a full-time writer with being a mother/referee to two little people. In her
spare time (and when she’s not camped out in front of the laptop) you’ll most
likely find L A immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life.

AUTHOR LINKS

New Release ~ The Christmas Plan ~ by ~ Samantha Chase

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without a new Christmas romance from Samantha Chase! THE CHRISTMAS PLAN is out now and it’s the perfect way to kickstart your holiday reading!

About THE CHRISTMAS PLAN

If only life was a cheesy holiday movie…
Unfortunately for Aspen Harris, her life doesn’t even come close.

Finding herself unemployed just before the holidays, she has no choice but to move back home and in her parents’ house. And that means leaving behind her best friend Gabriel and all her dreams of someday owning her own chocolate shop. So when Gabe suggests she come to Silver Bell Falls to spend the holidays with his family, it seems like the perfect distraction.

What’s so great about holiday movies?
Don’t people realize that living in an actual Christmas town is anything but magical?

Every year, Gabriel Andrews goes home to Silver Bell Falls to help his father run the family Christmas tree lot. When Aspen tells him she has to move to the other side of the country after losing her job, he suggests she come home with him for the holidays. It’s the perfect way to spend as much time together as possible before a whole country separates them.

But this is Silver Bell Falls at Christmas time…between a mother with matchmaking tendencies, tight living quarters and far too much chocolate, it doesn’t take very long for life to start imitating art.

Add THE CHRISTMAS PLAN to your TBR!

Get your copy of THE CHRISTMAS PLAN!
Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo

 

 

About SAMANTHA CHASE

Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

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New Release ~ Protecting Her Mate ~ by ~ Ariel Marie

Title: Protecting Her Mate
Series: The Nightstar Shifters Series #2
Author: Ariel Marie
Genre: F/F Paranormal Shifter Romance
Release Date: November 17, 2020
Cover Design: Crimson Phoenix Creations

 

 

Robin Nova was a wolf shifter longing to find her mate. Settling wasn’t in her vocabulary, but her animal was getting restless. She didn’t desire a relationship of convenience, she wanted the one person whom fate had designed for her.
A night out with a few friends and she meets a beautiful human who caught her wolf’s attention.
Heather Wright, whose sweet scent drew Robin to her. The pull to mate was strong, but she had to tread carefully. Heather wasn’t a shifter and would have to be taught their ways.
But it would seem Robin wasn’t the only person enthralled by the beautiful accountant.
Deadly rogue wolves who blew into town and set their sights on Heather. They didn’t abide by the laws of shifters and that made them extremely dangerous.
Robin vowed to do everything in her power to keep Heather safe. As long as she had breath in her body she would defend Heather.

Ariel Marie is an author who loves the paranormal, action and hot steamy romance. She combines all three in each and every one of her stories. For as long as she can remember, she has loved vampires, shifters and every creature you can think of. This even rolls over into her favorite movies! She love a good action packed thriller! Throw a touch of the supernatural world in it and she’s hooked! 
She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where she currently resides with her husband and three beautiful children.
 
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New Release ~ Ronan ~ by ~ Kathryn Shay

Title: Ronan
Series: The Casella Cousins Novel 6
Author: Kathryn Shay
Genre: Contemporary Romance Novella
Release Date: November 17, 2020
 

 

 

 
 

 

Ronan Casella left home at eighteen. He could never tolerate his mother, and he was sorry to abandon his beloved sister and brother. But he couldn’t stay there any longer after his father died and after Ronan’s girlfriend was involved in a fatal car crash. He heads to Hollywood where he becomes a television and movie star. After ten years, he disappears from that job, too.
The mystery as to what’s happened to Ronan in the intervening decade is revealed in The Casella Cousins Book 6.
Don’t miss all The Casella Cousins Books: Hayley, Seth, Finn, Alessia, Gideon and Ronan from the NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author Kathryn Shay.

 

 
 
“Cut!” Ronan Casella ran his hand through his dark hair, already messy from the gesture. “It’s not working.”

“Of course, it’s not.” His choreographer, next to him, used her I-know-better-than-you tone, which belied the vulnerability her tall, slim build gave her. Combined with a lovely complexion framed by auburn hair and green eyes, she was a beautiful woman. And could be stubborn as hell.

Ronan sighed. “Losing the leading man a month before opening can’t be fixed. Poor Art. He was so good in the role.”

“I know you were devastated by his heart attack and so am I. But the issue with the play can be fixed, Ron,” she challenged him. “And you know how.”

“Take ten,” he called out to the cast on stage then turned to her.

Eliza Ellington had become his closest friend. She’d been through every single play he’d directed since he started Off Off Broadway five years ago and never backed down from a fight.

“Okay, smarty pants. How?”

“You can fill in for him.”

A feeling of dread went through him. “Me? I’m not an actor.”

“Don’t give me that crap. I’ve seen you act a million times when you help someone on stage with his or her part or demonstrate what you’re after in a scene. You’re spell-binding. And you could recite this script all the way through, with all the parts, if you wanted to.”

Because he had a photographic memory, which he’d never shared with anybody, even when he worked in Hollywood. Ronan Casella, aka Ronny Case, and now Ron Klein had a lot of secrets.

“It’s out of the question. We’ll have to cancel the show. Art’s not coming back, and it’s too late to find anyone else.”

“It’ll break their hearts. Especially when they…” she nodded to the stage “…find out it’s your last production in New York.”

“I should have told them before.”

She arched an insufferably arrogant, reddish brow. 

“All right, you advised that. I didn’t listen.”

Grasping his arm, she moved in close. “Ron, please, just do it this once.”

What she didn’t know, of course, was that he resisted acting because he didn’t want people to recognize him. Then again, it had been ten years since his last movie. And he looked a hell of a lot different: Ronny Case had long, dark hair, scruff, and a swagger that went with his braggadocio attitude. It all wouldn’t matter anyway, once he went back to Hidden Cove in a few months as he true identity.

Someone approached them. Connor, who was the understudy for the antihero of the play, Bludgeon. “I can’t do it this quickly, Ron. I’m sorry. I won’t embarrass myself.”

“I understand it’s not working.” In reality, Ronan wanted to throttle the man. He should have been up on the part. 

When Connor left, Eliza said, “This is Off Off Broadway. It doesn’t attract the most talented of actors. Though you’ve worked miracles with them.”

God, she could read his mind.

“Off Broadway attracted you.” He tossed the words back at her.

Her lovely face, unlined at forty, flashed with annoyance. “And you know why. I told in confidence. Which is more than I can say for you, you tight-lipped bastard. Get your chakras in order.” Head held high and with perfect posture, like the dancer-turned-yogi she was, Eliza walked away.

Chakras be damned. But she was right. About everything. He stared at the stage. The cast was back. They were depending on him. He had investors, for Christ’s sake. Did he really have a choice?

There’s always a choice. That mantra had gotten him out of a situation that would surely have killed him. So, he chose. He walked up the steps and faced them. “Somebody grab me a book.”

One of the stagehands scrambled to get one.

“All right. Let’s start at the top.”

Everybody clapped.

“Now!” He tried to be gruff. But this particular cast was one of his favorites. 

Act 1 Scene 1

(Contemporary set, bedroom in background, Roger Blakely sits on a stool, spotlighted. He holds a gun. Is looking down at it.) 

ROGER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I said I was serious all those times before.

(An uncomfortably long pause.)

ROGER: What am I waiting for? Who the hell knows? Who the hell cares?

(The stage goes dark. The scramble of resetting. In minutes, a group of dancers filled the floor. And Roger Blakely is at the forefront.)

Ronan hadn’t forgotten how to dance, though he’d had no lessons in ten years. He was rusty, but he managed the steps.

At the end of the rehearsal, the cast circled around him. “You’re so good, Ron. You could be on Broadway.”

“I’d rather be behind the camera.”

“You’ll put us all to shame.”

“Don’t say that, Mark! You are all solid actors. With hard work and study, this entire cast could be on Forty-Second Street.”

Nods and thanks.

“All right.” He peered out into the audience. “Eliza, do you have notes?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

After which, the group exited and the Ronan and Eliza sat alone in the theater side-by-side in seats. She picked up his hand. “Who are you? And don’t give me any shit. I’ve respected your wishes for five years, but since this is your last play, I want to know now.”

Should he tell her? This lovely person who was the best woman, outside of his family, he’d ever known in his life.

#

Since the time she’d met him five years ago, Eliza had been in the dark about Ron Klein’s past. They worked together better than she’d ever worked with a director. They’d come to know each other outside of their careers. He’d been her colleague, her friend, her sounding board. And there had been an attraction there, on both sides, which they ignored in order to carry on a professional relationship and a friendship that neither wanted risk. But she still knew so little about him. Every time she asked him directly, like tonight, he flatly refused to tell her anything about his past. She only wished she knew what he was hiding from. 

As she unlocked her apartment door in the financial district, a home she and Taylor had gotten in the divorce, she called out. “Taylor, are you here?”

Her daughter exited her bedroom. Her long blond hair was down and pulled back with clips. In contrast, her dark as night eyes brimmed with love and a smile bloomed on her face. Eliza was ever so thankful that Taylor, at seventeen, liked her, in addition to loving her as a mother. “Hello, Mother.” She used the proper term Craig had preferred, as a mockery of her father. She hadn’t yet forgiven him for finding another woman while he and Eliza were still married, moving out to live with his young girlfriend, who’d eventually given him a son that he always wanted. 

“How was school today?” 

“I had great dance classes. Still struggling with AP Chem and English.”

“English? You love your teacher.”

“I do, but boy is she tough.” She took a bead on her mother. “You okay? You look tired.”

“Crises always drain me.” 

She dropped down on the white sofa, Taylor sat, too, and Eliza explained the issue of the leading man and Ron acting as his replacement.

“Hmm. I always thought he had…stage presence, I guess.”

“You should have seen him. He was electric. Too bad he never did it for a living.”

“Maybe he did. He clams up whenever we ask him about his life before we met him.”

“I guess. This is our last play together. So, it doesn’t matter much.”

Gently, she touched Eliza’s arm. “Are you sad he’s going to Hidden Cove to live for a while?”

“In some ways.” She scrunched her nose. “In other ways, I’m grateful.” Mostly because the move put him out of her path.

“Do you have another job yet?”

“No, honey. I’m going to spend the spring and part of the summer with you, before you leave for Butler in August.” Her stomach clenched at the notion of her baby going to college. “I wish you’d chosen the number one dance school here in New York.”

“Butler’s number three. Besides…” Taylor glanced away, then looked at her feet. 

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Honey, we don’t keep things from each other.”

“All right. The City Ballet in Chicago contacted me. They offered me a student’s spot in their summer program.”

“A student’s spot?”

“In the ensemble. They take one a year.” 

“That’s quite an honor.”

“I have all my graduation credits, but I could get a tutor for the AP exams I need to take in May.” 

“Isn’t this late to be asked? Aren’t they already rehearsing?”

“Apparently, I didn’t make the first cut, but someone dropped out. They want me now and I’ll have to catch up.”

“Did you apply for this?”

“No, the recommendation has to come from a teacher.”

“Oh, honey, I’d rather finished high school. And you have to go to college.”

“This is only for four months. I’m going to college, Mom.”

That’s what I thought, too. All those years ago, when Eliza was asked to be part of a troupe for the summer, then was heading to NYU. But she’d gotten sucked in and the entire trajectory of her life changed. 

“I’m not you, Mom. I know you wish you’d done things differently.”

“This isn’t about me.” She took Taylor’s hand. These were the hardest parenting moments. When you wanted your child to make one choice, yet you knew in your heart she’d make another. “What do you want?”

“I want to do go.”

Eliza’s throat clogged. Already Taylor was setting herself up a very cruel world of professional ballet in a big city. 

Just as Eliza had done.
 
 


 
 
 
 
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, print books with the Berkley Publishing Group and Harlequin Enterprises and mainstream women’s fiction with Bold Strokes Books. She has won many awards for her work: five RT Book Reviews awards, the Bookseller’s Best Award, Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year and several “Starred Reviews.” One of her firefighter books hit #20 on the NEW YORK TIMES list. Her novels have been serialized in COSMOPOLITAN magazine and featured in USA TODAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and PEOPLE magazine. There are over ten million copies of her books in print and downloaded online. Reviewers have called her work “emotional and heart-wrenching.”
 
 
 
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New Release ~ Midnight Dance ~ by ~ Alexa Padgett

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All secrets come with a price in this page-turning Romantic suspense by USA Today Bestselling Author, Alexa Padgett. Someone will stop at nothing to silence her… Ethical hacker Tawny Reed chose the FBI over a possible criminal record….and gave up any semblance of a life to meet her handler’s stringent demands. But getting stabbed in the line of duty wasn’t part of the plan: she deals in code and algorithms, not the blood and violence that cost her father his life.  Biology professor Colt Rippey rushes to save an injured woman on the side of the road. That white-knight act tumbles him into Tawny’s world of power built on lies–and people’s lives. When Tawny reveals she has nowhere to go, Colt suggests they hide in his cabin deep on the Olympic Peninsula. There, he hopes to save Tawny and even give his life some meaning. Danger stalks Tawny and Colt, making it difficult to know who they can trust. The sanctuary Tawny finds in Colt’s arms and bed are temporary. Isolated in a remote cabin, hunted by figures who want to silence her, Tawny must outpace and outmaneuver the men who destroyed her life years before. The hunt is on…will Tawny’s timebomb explode while Colt risks his life and future to keep Tawny safe?

♦ ♦ ♦

#MDRD-10

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY Alexa Padgett

Enter to win HERE!

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October 19 & RELEASE DAY Midnight Dance teaser

October 26 & RELEASE DAY Midnight Dance teaser

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#MDRD-7 Be a deer, be a deer,” I whispered, even as my palms began to sweat, and my heart slammed against my ribs. “Or a mountain lion. Or…”  I trailed off because the long, tangled honey-colored hair was clearly attached to a human head, and, as I inched closer, I ascertained that the body attached to that head and hair was in the shape of a woman.  A small one, maybe even tinier than my little sister. She wasn’t dressed for the winter chill. I pulled over, trying to swallow past the dryness in my mouth as I pocketed the car keys. Not what I had in mind when I thought about shaking up my situation. I’d been considering online dating.  Whatever this was, it was way outside my area of expertise. I exited the vehicle, taking slow, measured steps toward her. I gulped down the fear that sizzled in my guts. “Um… Miss?” No response. My stomach iced over. What if she were dead? Had she been hit by a car? I leaned down and noted the bloodstain around her thigh.  Shit. That couldn’t be good. I tugged at the edge of her pants and grimaced at the sight of her ragged flesh.  All right. An injury of this magnitude I could deal with. It was above her knee and long—but it wasn’t too deep, through the outer layer of flesh, and the edges of the wound had already begun to scab over. I headed back to my car and pulled out a T-shirt. I ripped it into long strips and then made a pad out of the remainder. I placed the pad against her leg and then wrapped the strips around her thigh, securing the knots.  “No. Don’t touch me,” she said. The words were a moaning whisper, a bit too thready. “You hurt me, Howie.” Howie? The only Howie I knew was engaged…no…married to Kara.

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#MDRD-6

Read the First Chapter HERE!

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#MDRD-11

November 18, 7-10 pm EST, The Boudoir (Bang Love Affair Boudoir)

November 19, 8:30pm EST, All Things Schmexy

November 22, 7 pm EST, Late Night Support Group

November 23, 7 pm EST, Dirty Bad Boom Boom Room!

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#MDRD-4 SmallerHeadshot_Alexa USA TODAY Bestseller Alexa Padgett’s books have garnered accolades from Kirkus Reviews, National Indie Excellence Awards, The Romance Reviews, and Readers’ Favorites. Her last few novels have been added to several Goodreads Best lists. Alexa spent a good part of her youth traveling. From Budapest to Belize, Calgary to Coober Pedy, she soaked in the myriad smells, sounds, and feels of these gorgeous places, wishing she could live in them all–at least for a while. And she does in her books. She lives in New Mexico with her husband, children, and Great Pyrenees pup, Ash. When not writing, schlepping, or volunteering, she can be found in her tiny kitchen, channeling her inner Barefoot Contessa.

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New Release ~ Little Lies ~ by ~ H. Hunting

“H. Hunting delivers what must be the most beautifully written, and certainly emotional New Adult books of the year.” – LJ Shen, USA Today bestselling author

From New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting writing as H. Hunting, comes a beautifully written and emotional new adult romance, Little Lies, available now!

I don’t want you. You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords. And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gn18sL Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/littlelies Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3aWyq0C Audible: https://adbl.co/32HTPIe

Add LITTLE LIES to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2IUtW0y

About Helena Hunting

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

Connect with Helena Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kN5wdZ Twitter: http://bit.ly/2mloUim Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Zt1xm5 Facebook Fan group: http://bit.ly/2kN5yCD Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/

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New Release ~ Snowed in with the Firefighter ~ by ~ Victoria James

Today we have the release day blitz of Victoria James’s Snowed In With the Firefighter! Check out this gorgeous new romance and be sure to get your copy today!

Title: Snowed in With the Firefighter

Author: Victoria James

Genre: Holiday Romance

About Snowed In With the Firefighter:

Dr. Melody Mayberry’s life just took a turn that’s left her questioning everything. Where better to hide out than the remote family cabin in the mountains? The last thing she expects to find there is her swoon-worthy brother-in-law, the one man who may have more baggage than her.

 

Finn Matthews is not ready to face the fact that the recent injury he sustained in a fire may have ended his firefighting career. He’s not interested in sharing the cabin with anyone, let alone Melody, and their family just texted with yet another unwelcome surprise—they’ll be there Christmas Eve.

 

To keep their meddling family at bay, the two team up to fake a little holiday cheer. But between ridiculously competitive Monopoly games, marathon Christmas decorating, and a storm that strands them together with nothing but a fire and a warm couch, they realize something major—their fake holiday cheer isn’t feeling so fake anymore, and that’s something neither of these two Grinches expected…

 

 

Get Your Copy:

Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Kobo | Apple | Audible | Goodreads

 

 

Exclusive Excerpt:

“Christmas with all of them? Decorating? He pointed at Melody with his coffee mug. “This is your fault. You can’t just go around saying our worst nightmares out loud and expect them not to happen.”

She gasped. “That’s ridiculous. And not at all how the world works.”

He shook his head. “You believe what you want. We’re stuck either way. The worst part is they’re all…” He grimaced. “Nice. Like, too nice. And over-the-top happy. And this is their cabin, so we can’t even say no.”

She groaned. “I know. They probably think they’re doing us a favor. We have no choice. Other than just run away, which is still a possibility, but that’s too obvious at this point. I guess we’re doing Christmas and we have to fake being happy.”

He frowned. “I’m happy.”

She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing on him. “You’re about as happy as I am.”

“Fine. But I wouldn’t say I’m that bad.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He sipped his coffee slowly, deliberating whether or not he wanted to start an argument or end this conversation. If he ever hoped to get her to open up, an argument probably wasn’t the way to go. “I’m just saying, you seem really unhappy, and it seems like I’m not the only one who thinks that. Everyone must. That’s why they’re coming up here. They probably already assumed you wouldn’t go back for Christmas.”

“How do you know this is about me? If I were them, I’d be more worried about the person who’s been locked away up here for months,” she said with a triumphant little smirk, which he found inexplicably adorable.

He grunted. “Well, when they get here, they’ll see just how happy I am.”

She shook her head and crossed the kitchen, grabbing a notepad and a bunch of different-colored pens from her purse. He straightened up, worried, as she started writing. “What is all that?”

“Planning. Faking happiness and Christmas cheer takes a lot of work. No one will believe us. No one will believe you, especially with that beard. So now we’re going to start a list of things to decorate and get ready so no one thinks we’re miserable. We have three days to get happy.”

He walked over to the island. “Can’t a man let his facial hair grow without constant commentary? This doesn’t mean I’m miserable.”

She gave him a side-eyed glance and continued with her notes. “You need to shave it off. They won’t stop bothering you until you do.”

He turned his attention to what she was writing. The page was divided into columns, and the heading for the first column was Happy Decorations in red ink, underlined a few times.

The next column was Happy Food.

He didn’t even know what was happening anymore. “I didn’t know there was happy food.”

She paused and gave him a pitiful glance. “Of course, because you’re not happy. Hot chocolate, eggnog, gingerbread cookies…oh, marshmallows for the hot chocolate—happy people love adding those—and we should get some kind of pre-fab gingerbread house for Isabella.”

“I think happy people make them from scratch,” he said, just to bother her.

She shook her head, still writing. “We don’t have time.”

“None of that stuff is going to make people think we’re happy,” he said, pointing to the ridiculous list.

She put down her pen with a theatrical sigh and turned to him. “Do you have a better idea? I mean, the only thing I’ve heard out of you since we got the text is blaming me for bringing the family down onto us and your self-consciousness about your beard. We’re stuck in this situation together, so it would be really nice to have some cooperation. Think outside the box. Like, look at this chart I’m making. I think we should make more coffee and brainstorm.”

He was barely following her train of thought. “What? I’m not making a chart on how to be happy, Melody. I know how to be happy. I’m a very happy person. No color coding in the world is going to make me look happier,” he snapped.

She gave him a side-eye and a smirk. “Sure. So happy.”

He ran his hand over his beard and forced himself to not sound irritated. “Also, I’m not self-conscious about my beard.”

She raised a brow and picked up a green pen. He had the uncontrollable urge to grab all the pens and throw them in the snow.

“You know what this is?” he asked, wondering how he hadn’t seen this all along.

She finished her coffee and let the pen fall from her hands before crossing her arms over her chest and turning to him again. “Let’s hear it. Hopefully, it involves shaving the beard.”

He frowned and ignored that comment. “Well, you know how they’re all sitting there plotting about us. Trying to set us up?”

She frowned. “No, I don’t think so. I think they got the message. Nothing would ever happen between us.”

He took a step closer to her, slightly irked that she felt that way. “Fine. Wishful thinking. Ben’s trying to get me back because this is what I did when Molly moved to Shadow Creek.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You set them up and meddled?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, it was pretty bad. I literally threw him under the bus. Our mother was coming out of surgery, and I told her they were engaged. I’m basically responsible for their entire relationship.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sure that’s a gross exaggeration. But anyway…so? What does this have to do with us?”

“Ben and Molly must actually think they can do the same thing to us. What I did took talent. The whole idea is ridiculous. Way too much snooping in our lives. They won’t let you go away for the holidays and run from whatever it is you’re running from, I’m not allowed to grow facial hair without a doctor’s note, and then they make it obvious they’re trying to set us up. Clearly the only logical thing for us to do is actually pretend their dumb trick worked.” He leaned back and grinned. “We pretend to be a couple for the holidays.”

She choked on her coffee. “Are you kidding me?” she managed in a strangled voice, her eyes wide.

He wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or be insulted. “Why would I lie about this? Think about it: we’ll get the ultimate victory when Christmas is over, and we tell them it was all a joke. As if you and I would ever get together.”

 

 

 

About Victoria James:

Victoria James is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance.

 

Victoria always knew she wanted to be a writer and in grade five, she penned her first story, bound it (with staples and a cardboard cover) and did all the illustrations herself. Luckily, this book will never see the light of day again.

 

In high school she fell in love with historical romance and then contemporary romance. After graduating University with an English Literature degree, Victoria pursued a degree in Interior Design and then opened her own business. After her first child, Victoria knew it was time to fulfill her dream of writing romantic fiction.

 

Victoria is a hopeless romantic who is living her dream, penning happily-ever-after’s for her characters in between managing kids and the family business. Writing on a laptop in the middle of the country in a rambling old Victorian house would be ideal, but she’s quite content living in suburbia with her husband, their two young children, and very bad cat.

 

Sign up for Victoria’s Newsletter to stay up to date on upcoming releases and exclusive giveaways, follow her blog for daily antics and insight into her daily life, and get to know her on twitter and Facebook. She loves hearing from readers! www.victoriajames.ca

 

Connect with Victoria:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

New Release ~ Hypocritically Yours ~ by ~ Hayley Faiman

Title: Hypocritically Yours
Author: Hayley Faiman
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: November 16, 2020

He’s sixty-two. She’s twenty-three. Is it just a love affair or could it be forever?

Landry had always imagined at the age of sixty-two that he would be rocking his grandchildren and enjoying a life of retirement. 

Life has a funny way of disrupting your plans, and Landry just hired a twenty-three-year-old single mother as his assistant who seems to do just that… stand in the way of his plans. 

He’s raised his three children to adulthood. He’s supposed to be settled down. However, he can’t seem to get Tennessee Bradley out of his head. 

She consumes his every waking thought. 

She’s too young for him. 

Far too young. 

Except, she’s everything he thought that he could never have in a partner. She’s soft, gentle, caring, and kind.

Is it just a fantasy, or could she be his future? 
 
 

As an only child, Hayley Faiman had to entertain herself somehow. She started writing stories at the age of six and never really stopped.

Born in California, she met her now husband at the age of sixteen and married him at the age of twenty in 2004. After all of these years together, he’s still the love of her life.

Hayley’s husband joined the military and they lived in  Oregon,where he was stationed with the US Coast Guard. They moved back to California in 2006, where they had two little boys. Recently, the four of them moved out to the Hill Country of Texas, where they adopted a new family member, a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.

Most of Hayley’s days are spent taking care of her two boys, going to the baseball fields for practice, or helping them with homework. Her evenings are spent with her husband and her nights—those are spent creating alpha book boyfriends.
 
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New Release ~ Savage Poet: The Entire Salvator Syndicate Trilogy

Title: Savage Poet: The Entire Salvator Syndicate Trilogy

Author: Jax Hart
Genre: Enemies to Lovers/Dark Romance/Mafia Romance
Release Date: November 12, 2020

 

I’m a bad man.
This is my story. The one where I find my redemption. But it’s not pretty. My words are full of passion, spilling across pages in bold ink.
But I’m warning you, I’m not some unsung hero. I’m dark. Dangerous…deadly.
This story catapulted me into international celebrity status. Is is true? Or is it fiction? You decide. But it all did start one day with a girl with flaming hair and smug eyes who met a boy turning into a man. He was filled with so much darkness he wanted to steal all her light…
Some say I’m a hero. Others a villain. My nickname is Romeo Roque, but I’m just a Savage Poet.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Oh yeah and my bestie Johnny, he got screwed over by a woman, too. When he gets his revenge for her breaking his heart… it’s pretty savage, too. I included his story after mine, for free. Because it’s just that good.
Note: This is the entire Salvatore Syndicate Trilogy with bonus chapters including The #2 Guy.

 

Can a character in an author’s story write their own? I’ve had to triple my security. I’m not sure who is more dangerous, my enemies that always lurk in the shadows or my new sex-crazed, over-worked fans…?

“We’re live in three, two, one…”

“And we’re live on Bratva TV. I’m your host Alexi. We are here with none other than the king himself, the man of the moment ROQUE SALVATORE!!!!

Women scream. The bright lights make me wince. I turn, face the camera and give my smuggest smile with a special wink, knowing she’s on the other side of the lens, watching me. “It’s a pleasure to be here in Russia.”

“Tell us, is there really a Viktor, “The Russian?”

“Of course, there must be millions.” The audience laughs. My rivals seethe. I’ve turned the mob, the cartels, every crime organization on its head with my defense. I’ve fictionalized them all while they go between admiring me and hating me more. I’ve exposed our dirty, dark underworld in five hundred plus pages of pages that smell freshly printed. I’m a number one bestselling author in ten countries. My movie is set to premiere in six months. I’m no longer a suspected mafia Don but a beloved bestseller. “Savage Poet” made the NYT and USA Today. I can’t wait until it smashes the box office.

“Where is your leading lady? We all want to know!”

“Watching this show, of course!”

More laughter rings out. I’m killing this interview. “What inspired you? How did you come up with this crazy story?”

I school my face into a mix of pain and sadness. Looking down, I perfect the perfect tortured look and hunch forward as if I’m about to spill the biggest secret on the planet… the audience bends forward toward me and holds its breath. “My family was the mob. The Salvatore’s and The Fiorelli’s have been blood enemies for generations. My father did order me to kill the girl and avenge my family.” Shocked gasps echo around the studio. “But I couldn’t do it. I fell in love at fifteen and that was it. She was it for me from the moment we met…”

The gasps turn to sighs as all the women’s eyes glaze over wanting that HEA for themselves.

“Some say it’s not fiction. A few anonymous sources have called major news networks claiming they have proof your book is a memoir not a ‘dark romance.’ What do you say?”

“Please, I laugh. No one could get away with a fraction of that shit. Of course it’s fiction.” But I wink at the audience, grinning my ass off.

“When is your next book coming out?”

“I’m focusing on my poetry right now. Would you like me to read one of my latest pieces?”

Everyone starts clapping. I reach inside my Tom Ford suit, finding my new leather journal hidden inside the inside pocket. I clear my throat as I flip open the pages until I find the one poem that I keep going back to… the one that haunts my own soul. “It’s called Sub Rosa. That means ‘happening or done in secret’ in Latin.” My fingers still on the page, tracing the title she penned in that loopy cursive of hers. I wrote the poem, but I wanted her ink on the title.

“I betrayed the dead when I gave you back your life. The scent of your fear was the sweetest perfume. Your skin blushed like the fairest pink rose.

Just like that my dark soul was exposed. I purged you in ink but the pages bled. Over and over like a song on repeat, you were in my head.

So I tried something else, taking you to bed. In the dark hours you came for me. Cried out for the one who took and gave everything in return. Over and over we burned. Was it real or just a dream? Only you and I know the truth of every dark deed.

Sub rosa my love, under the rose; sealed with poisoned lips doth do I pledge my last kiss.”

I finish to silence. “Doth wasn’t a typo. It was a nod to the old Shakespearean language. It’s the artist in me to mix one word from that time in my modern poem.”

The audience stands. “A standing ovation for Roque Salvatore! Stay tuned, hot kitty is up next and more from the contestants from sink or swim!” The lights fade. “And we’re off.”

I deftly unclip the mic from the lapel of jacket. I’m such a fucking good actor. The darkest new golden boy in Hollywood. I’m only doing all this publicity to keep myself and my woman out of jail. It’s already been polled. It won’t look good for the current administration to lock up the couple everyone on the planet is rooting for.

I wave as I exit the stage and practically run into my hired car. “Where to Mr. Salvatore?”

“The airport. I have a plane to Switzerland to catch.” I take out my bestseller with my own face on the cover. It’s vain as fuck but the publisher felt my face and body could outsell every other book if I agreed to do it. Hell, the luscious fans are right. This isn’t a romance but a memoir. A real-life story… and I’m guilty as hell for every crime I wrote down… I open the first chapter and lose myself in my own words. Maybe I truly am a narcissistic ass after all but the story is damn good. Everyone agrees…

 

Jax Hart: Singer, a songwriter, living creatively through art. Dirty Romance author from the great state of Washington. Duke is his first full-length novel. He generally hates most people, plays the bass guitar, and enjoys camping trips with his son. 

 

Connect with him online.
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New Release ~ A Touch of Magic ~ by ~ SR Mitchell

 

 

Title: A Touch of Magic
Author: SR Mitchell
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Release Date: November 10, 2020

 

 

Can she save the people and their land without losing her heart? Or is it all intertwined?
Clara…
She was a little white witch from a little northern Massachusetts town. Clara thought she had her life figured out.
That is, until one night everything changes and she is transported back in time and straight into the arms of a very handsome Highlander. She is thrust into a place and time she has no clue about, with people that expect the world of her, and Clara is just trying not to hyperventilate.
Sooner or later Clara expected something to happen, but being knocked into the past, literally, had not crossed her mind.
Then there is the handsome Laird. He influences her magic. Not only does she need to heal people, heal him… but she must heal the land before his people starve.
As she accepts her destiny it is not just the land or people at stake, it’s her own heart.
Bruce…
The last thing he expected was for a beautiful mystical female to emerge from the woods, injured, on the night of Samhain.
The last few years had been harsh on his lands. Food was scarce and people were suffering. His healer was old and did not possess enough power to heal the lands. He did not pretend to understand the meaning behind everything the old healer Tibith told him.
He is instantly drawn to Clara. It doesn’t take long for the lass to soften his scarred heart. The fire in his chest for this bonnie lass builds by the day. Either he can release it or let it consume him.
Only time will tell if he will be strong enough to resist her or if he will succumb.
He does not realize it, but Clara will save him and his people in numerous ways.

 

 

S.R. Mitchell is the Author of Historical Romance, Historical Paranormal Romance, and Contemporary Paranormal Romance.
S.R. Mitchell loves spending time with her family. She makes her home in southern Texas where she spends her time writing her own enchanting historical romances and caring for her three spirited children! She is a Texas born, wife, mother, and writer.
S.R. Mitchell loves writing words to enchant your soul and fill your heart with love…

 

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