New Release ~ Zhanshi ~ by ~ Anna Edwards

Title: Zhànshì

Series: Sinister Fairytales Collection

Author: Anna Edwards

Genre: Dark Fairytale Retelling

Release Date: May 26, 2020

Lia has known she was different since the age of five when her father taught her the skills of her ancestors. His stories of heroic exploits have fueled her fantasies for years. Little did she know that her expertise would be called upon when two cities, two triads, go to war. Will it be a step too far to think she can hide who she really is?

Jaxon has known his career path since he was a little boy when his father promised his only son to the leader of the Yu Shi triad. Jaxon doesn’t mind—it allows him to center his chaotic thoughts and fight his opponents to the death. But when he’s partnered with a mysterious new recruit, he begins to question everything he knows. What is the young boy hiding from him?

Zhanzhi is a modern day retelling of the tale of Mulan for the Sinister Fairytales Collection. Warrior Lia must find her inner strength to defeat a deadly enemy, who’s been left bitter by his quest for absolute power, while at the same time falling in love when she least expects it. Nothing will be as it seems in this dark triad world where a moment’s hesitation can be your downfall.

All I am a British author, from the depths of the rural countryside near London. In a previous life, I was an accountant from the age of twenty-one. I still do that on occasions, but most of my life is now spent intermingling writing while looking after my husband, two children and two cats (probably in the inverse order to the one listed!). When I have some spare time, I can also be found writing poetry, baking cakes (and eating them), or behind a camera snapping like a mad paparazzi.

I’m an avid reader who turned to writing to combat my depression and anxiety. I have a love of travelling and like to bring this to my stories to give them the air of reality.

I like my heroes hot and hunky with a dirty mouth, my heroines demure but with spunk, and my books full of dramatic suspense.

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New Release ~ Accidentally Family ~ by ~ Sasha Summers

**Today we have the release blitz for Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!!**

Title: Accidentally Family

Author: Sasha Summers

Genre: Contemporary Romance

**About Accidentally Family:**

Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.

Life for Felicity, and her teen children, is finally back on track. After her divorce, she wasn’t sure if her sweet family would ever be the same. But things are good––right up until her ex’s spirited toddler lands on Felicity’s doorstep. If the universe is going to throw lemons at her, thank God she has her best friend, Graham, to help her make lemonade out of them. How did she never notice how kind and sexy he is?

Graham is still recovering from his wife’s death years ago and trying to help his teen daughter get her life together. Who is he kidding? His daughter hates him. Forget lemons––he’s got the entire lemon tree. So when Felicity suggests they join forces and help each other, he’s all in. And suddenly he can’t stop thinking about her as more than just a friend. Too bad their timing couldn’t be worse…

Because life rarely goes as planned. Luckily there are many different kinds of family to hold you together and lift you up…plus maybe even a little love between friends.

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Publisher Weekly Review:

“… Readers will find it easy to root for their mutual care to blossom into love, but the pair’s children have a tougher time adjusting to their new relationship, providing some thorny obstacles for the budding couple. Graham and Felicity are great parents and they make great partners, and Summers does a good job of grounding all the drama of their lives in sweetness. Readers will be pleased.”

Exclusive Excerpt:

Her sister was the strongest person on the planet, but she had to be running on fumes. Not that Felicity would say so, or confide, or lean—she was way too into the big-sister protector thing. Still, Matt had been dead five days. In those five days, her sister had been saddled with his funeral arrangements, keeping her kids’ spirits up, and the whole “when will the ex’s illegitimate love child and destroyer of her niece and nephew’s happy family wake up from his coma?” thing.

Charity felt for the baby, she did. But her loyalties were here, to Nick and Honor, and Felicity, too.

She grabbed a bag of sour-cream-and-onion chips and added it to her pile of snacks, then backed out of the kitchen. “Who’s hungry?” she asked, flopping onto the couch beside Honor.

Honor was watching the bloody melee on the television, a growing look of disgust on her face. “This is horrible. I keep jumping.”

Nick chuckled. “You should try it. Definitely calms the nerves.”

Charity snorted. She was pretty sure trying to shoot a zombie before it bit into you wasn’t relaxing. At least not her idea of relaxing.

“Right?” Diana added. “Dad took my game away because of the whole pot thing. It sucks, big time. Which is why I have lots of sleepovers.”

Charity didn’t say a word. She wasn’t sure how to read Diana yet. Was she really messed up? Or was she acting messed up for attention?

“Pot?” Honor asked.

Diana nodded, taking a licorice lace from Nick. “It’s no big deal. It was one joint. One. The school totally flipped out and expelled me.”

“You were expelled?” Nick looked skeptical.

“Why else do you think I’m going to your school next year?” Diana rolled her eyes. “Dad can’t buy my way back into any of the private schools. Why he thinks I’m better off at a private school versus a public school is beyond me. Where does he think I bought the pot to begin with?”

So, the real deal then. Not that she was going to judge the girl. She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to lose a parent. There had been plenty of times during her school years when she’d wished her parents would leave her alone—disappear even. But death? Permanently losing one? She couldn’t imagine that.

Was this one of those times she should act like an adult or not? Felicity would probably pop off some after-school-special message that would instantly and forever change Diana’s outlook on life into some happy rainbow-and-cupcakes-kitten thing. But Charity didn’t know how to do that. She didn’t know how to be a mom. The kid in her belly was getting a raw deal. She needed to start taking notes on Felicity’s parenting style.

About Sasha Summers:

Sasha Summers grew up surrounded by books. Her passions have always been storytelling, romance and travel–passions she uses when writing. Now a best-selling and award winning-author, Sasha continues to fall a little in love with each hero she writes. From easy-on-the-eyes cowboy, sexy alpha-male werewolves, to heroes of truly mythic proportions, she believes that everyone should have their happy ending–in fiction and real life.

Sasha lives in the suburbs of the Texas Hill country with her amazing and supportive family and her beloved grumpy cat, Gerard, The Feline Overlord. She looks forward to hearing from fans and hopes you’ll visit her online. Facebook: Sasha Summers Author, Twitter: @sashawrites, or her website: http://www.sashasummers.com

Connect with Sasha Summers:

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New Release ~ Love & Whiskey ~ by ~ Allie Able

Title: Love and Whiskey

Series: A Magnolia Distillery Novel

Author: Allie Able

Genre: Romance

Release Date: May 26, 2020
Cover Design: Amanda Walker PA and Design Services

Lillian Chant is determined to float through life without forming any real attachments. Abandoned and thrust into the world at an early age taught her one valuable lesson–the only person you can really count on is yourself. She’s spent her adult life moving from state to state, recreating herself using her smile and well-crafted lies to get by. The last thing she expects is to meet a man who resists all of her efforts to push him away, but that’s exactly what happens when her world collides with Matthew Breaux.

Matt is fascinated by Lily. For the past ten years, his sole focus has been on building his business, but now he finds himself distracted by her beautiful gray eyes and the secrets she’s trying so hard to keep.

Will she drop her walls enough to let him in, or will her darkness swallow her whole?

Love and Whiskey carries powerful tones that kept me captivated from beginning and to the end. There is real, raw emotions laced within the carefully crafted words and it has me wanting to see what will come next.Highly recommend if you’re looking for a sexy, enticing story. — Author Brooke May

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“You are stalking me!” she shouts, surprising the hell out of me for a minute.

I recover quickly and shake my head as I let out a quiet chuckle. “I assure you that I am not.”

She doesn’t look like she believes me, and she also looks ready to bolt at any second.

“I live right there,” I say, pointing in the direction of my condo. “I was just leaving to go grab a drink when I saw you walking out of the gallery. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

She sighs and waves away my apology. “It’s fine.”

She turns to walk away, and I scramble to think of an excuse to talk to her a little longer. This woman makes me feel irrational. She clearly wants nothing to do with me, yet I still can’t seem to give up.

“Would you like to have a drink with me?” I ask her back as she walks away.

She briefly glances at me over her shoulder. “No.”

There is zero hesitation in her answer, and for some reason, her abrupt tone just makes me laugh. I jog to catch up to her, and she looks over at me with an annoyed expression.

“Why not?” I ask with a smile.

“God, you’re annoying,” she mumbles. She abruptly stops and turns to me. “I don’t date, Matt. I’m sure there are hundreds of single, straight women in this city who would love to go on a date with you. Go find one of them.”

She doesn’t give me a chance to respond before she continues walking.

That’s the first time she’s ever said my name, and I take it as a good sign that she actually remembers it.

“I wasn’t asking you on a date, Lily. I was asking if you would like to have a drink with me.”

“You would drive someone to drink. That’s for sure.”

I chuckle and shake my head. “You don’t mince your words, do you?”

“Why would I? So many people feel the need to sugarcoat their words, and it’s bullshit if you ask me. If you’re firm from the get-go and people know where you stand, it cuts out a lot of useless chatter.”

“You’re beautiful, and I find you extremely fascinating.”

“Why?” she asks.

“Why what?”

She doesn’t immediately respond. We walk a couple more steps before she stops again to face me.

“Why do you find me fascinating?”

I have a feeling the next words out of my mouth are going to make or break me, so I take a second to really think about my response.

Dropping my smile for a minute, I hope she can hear the sincerity in my words. “Because you wear your darkness well. I want to know all about your secrets and the pain you try to hide behind those gorgeous eyes. You’re beautiful and different, and I’ve always liked that sort of thing.”

Allie Able is a romance writer who tries to juggle her time between being a mother and an author. Allie was raised in a small town in Mississippi and now resides in Florida. Reading and writing romance has always been her first love. She decided to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer full-time, when the characters dancing around in her head wouldn’t stop demanding her attention. Now she can be found sitting at her desk, feeding her coffee addiction, as she creates heartbreaking romance with spicy ever afters.

I love getting to know fellow romance authors and readers, so stop by anytime
for a chat.

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New Release ~ Flatline ~ by ~ Linda Bond

**Today we have the release day blitz for Flatline by Linda Bond! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!!**

Title: Flatline

Author: Linda Bond

Genre: Romantic Suspense

**About Flatline:**

People are dying in Dr. Joshua Salvador’s ER. His medical assistant, only weeks from delivering her baby, hangs on to life by a thread. The symptoms seem horrifyingly familiar, and he begins to suspect the deaths are targeted at him. But, before he can figure things out, top TV investigator Rachel Wright is standing in the middle of his ER, convinced an outbreak, an epidemic, or even a botched flu vaccine could be the cause, and she’s going to tell the world.

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Catch up on the Series!

Alive at 5:

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CUBA UNDERCOVER

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Exclusive Excerpt:

“We should go to the bedroom.” His eyelids were heavy, his eyes intense with desire. “Your mom.” He sounded winded. “Elizabeth.” Like he was having trouble breathing, too.

“Both asleep.” All Rachel could think about was how long she’d fantasized about this very moment. The reconnection. She wanted it fast and furious. “I’ve waited five years. I’m not waiting a second more.” She reached for his shirt, to pull him closer.

His hand shot out. Stopping her.

Her heart skidded. “What?”

“At least let me…” He sprinted to the wall near the hallway. “Turn off lights.” He flipped the switch.

The room went dark.

The hair on her arms rose.

“We’ll just be quiet.” Suddenly, he was on her again, arms around her waist, pulling her up, lifting her into him. Onto him. If only she didn’t have the damn yoga pants on.

He took a step back. Wobbled.

She threw out her hands, looking for something to steady herself. Her right hand knocked her wine glass, sending it sliding across the marble island, dropping to the tile floor with a loud crash.

They froze. She wrapped her legs around his body, wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face in that warm space where his neck and shoulders met and held her breath.

No lights flipped on.

No one was coming.

That’s when she heard it. The sound of his desire. Blood pumping through the artery in his neck, pulsing with intensity.

Then, she felt it.

His heart thumping in his chest like a boxer’s fist.

Her own flapping against her rib cage in time with his.

She couldn’t breathe in this loud silence. Couldn’t see in this blinding darkness. But she could speak. “Oh God, don’t stop.” This time, her mouth found his, and she kissed him, urging him on.

He carried her across the room, stumbling as his foot hit a piece of furniture, spinning. He hit a wall. He broke the kiss. “Your bedroom would be safer.”

“I don’t want safe.” Her arms went up.

“You never did.” He set her down.

About Linda Bond:

Author Linda Bond was born in San Francisco, California but spent most of her life in the south, attending middle and high school in Greenville, South Carolina and college at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

She’s worked as a television news reporter and anchor in Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, Florida. For more than twenty years, she’s been a reporter, sharing important information with viewers on the latest medical breakthroughs and writing emotional, human-interest stories on those who have the courage and spirit to fight for their lives.

She writes every day, under deadline, but has always loved losing herself in a good fiction story.

Entangled Publishing released Bond’s two romantic thrillers Alive at 5 and Cuba Undercover. Flatline her newest medical thriller, releases in May 2020.

Bond has received numerous writing awards in Romance Writer’s of America chapter contests.

She has also won 13 Emmy awards, numerous Society of Professional Journalist, and Associated Press awards, as well as a Florida Bar award and Edward R. Murrow award.

This former baton-twirling beauty queen from the deep south, now lives in Tampa Florida with her husband, two daughters and two stubborn Bulldogs named Sanford and Athens.

Connect with Linda Bond:

Email | Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Newsletter | YouTube | Pinterest | Author Page | Instagram

New Release ~ Rebel Princess ~ by ~ Lynn Stevens

New Release Tour for Rebel Princess by

Lynn Stevens

Powered by Forever Write PR

REBEL PRINCESS by Lynn Stevens is a modern romance retelling of the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Fans of military romance, sweet love, and coming of age stories will enjoy this new adult romance. The next installment of the Modern Princess Collection is now LIVE!

Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

♛ Amazon ➝ https://amzn.to/2XiKFjh

♛ Goodreads ➝ https://bit.ly/2xl2SBV

I was born to rebel.

Against love. Against authority. Against myself.

Perfect precision, that’s how I planned my life. Dancing was my whole world. I wanted to be in the spotlight with all eyes on me, but recently, my heart’s pulled me in a different direction. Writing for the school paper has excited me in a way dance never has. Exposing truths trumps pirouettes and countless hours in the studio and being true to myself is more important than keeping dangerous secrets hidden.

Getting close to Colin and his lacrosse buddies allowed me access to their secrets—but I had no idea how deep they went. On the brink of exposing them, I was set back. No sources, no boyfriend, and no way to get justice. No matter which angle I pursued, my story kept getting shut down.

Until I met the guy with the scars. The one who helped me when I didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. He came into my life out of nowhere, saved me, and taught me to believe in myself. Then, when I finally did, he didn’t believe in me. I had to stand on my own two feet, fight for my values, and for what I needed—for what I had earned—and learn that justice always comes with a cost.

About Lynn

Lynn Stevens flunked out of college writing her first novel. Yes, she still has it and no, you can’t read it. Surprisingly, she graduated with honors at her third school. A former farm girl turned city slicker, Lynn lives in the Midwest where she drinks coffee she can’t pronounce and sips tea when she’s out of coffee. When she’s out of both, just stay away.

About the Modern Princess Collection

Once upon a kiss, a modern romance becomes a fairytale.

The prestigious Camelot University comes fully equipped with elitist guys, a castle, and a Glass Ball, but these self-proclaimed princesses don’t need crowns to prove their worth. They’ve taken love and life into their own hands and written their own fairytale.

Follow seven of your favorite fairytale heroines as they find their happily ever after, in these standalone, contemporary romance novels. The ladies of Cam U are a dangerous combination of cute and badass, full of attitude and imperfections, and an innocence only fairytales can convey.

Want to keep up with all the Modern Princess Collection news? LIKE the Rewritten Fairytales Facebook page!

~*~*~

This promotional event is brought to you by Forever Write PR.

New Release ~ The Beginning of the End ~ by ~ R. Holmes

**Today we have the release day blitz for THE BEGINNING OF THE END by R. Holmes! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!**

Title: The Beginning of the End

Author: R. Holmes

Genre: Contemporary Romance

About The Beginning of the End:

Ambrey
My last name was royalty in New Orleans, at least, I guess to those who mattered. But to me…my last name was a curse.
High society. Expectations. Old money. Politics. Everything I despised.
If only they could see what happened behind those high-society closed doors. The same doors my daddy paid a lot of money to keep closed.
Deceit. Destruction. Bribery. You name it, my family was guilty of it.
My father’s throne was built on lies. Our family was the epitome of faux royalty.
Then, I fell in love and oh what a fool I was. I was just a pawn in my father’s game. And to use the man who claimed to love me…
Five years ago, I walked away, and left my father to his riches.
And that man who left me in broken, jagged pieces?
Well, what goes around, comes around.

Grey
Four years in a prison cell changes a man.
I spent those five years fighting to survive.
When I emerged, I was nothing like the man who had walked through those cell doors all those years ago.
I overcame things that I never imagined I’d be faced with..
The one person who promised to never leave, did.
The life I thought I knew, gone.
The future I once thought I had, up in smoke.
Like so many things in my life, my story and my future were stolen from me.
Sure, it’s made up of the usual parts…a beginning and an end. But just like every story, there’s a hero, there’s the villain…and then there’s me.
And this is the beginning of the end.

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Exclusive Excerpt:

Pain.

Something I knew better than most.

The worst types of pain, I knew them intimately.

But pain is subjective, we all feel it differently.

Pain takes a body and leaves it hollow, a mere shell of the living, breathing human that it used to be.

Sometimes I wonder how one person can feel so much pain yet never die?

But, here I still stand. Living proof that no matter how much pain you’ve endured, the worst part was living through the memories of it.

Eight years ago I was thrown inside a concrete prison, a four-by-four cell where I would grow up. I would be taught all the fundamentals of life, my mentors and instructors the lowest of criminals. They would take me, shape me, make me. Leaving me nothing of the man whom I once was.

I learned the hardest lessons in life, alone.

The worst lesson I learned?

Love was foolish, but it wasn’t what made me a fool.

What made me a fool is that even though love put me in prison, I still sought that love out in my dreams. Like a siren, she sang to me.

I would’ve followed her wherever she called.

That was before.

Before I sold my soul to the devil in exchange for her freedom. She doesn’t have to know the truth.

The truth won’t set her free.

It’ll shackle me to the walls of this concrete prison and I’ll gladly take my sentence for love. It’s what put me in here anyway.

About the Author:

R. Holmes is from a small town in southern Louisiana where she lives on a farm, with her husband and two little boys. Whenever she’s not chasing around the goats and her boys on the farm, she spends her time watching ridiculous amounts of Netflix and is almost always stuck with her nose in a book. She thrives on horror films, sarcasm, and reruns of Harry Potter. A perpetual night owl, you’ll find her in her office locked away until the wee hours of the morning. She loves to meet her readers and discuss her latest favorite books and her upcoming projects!

Connect with her via Facebook, Instagram (@RHolmesAuthor) and twitter!

Connect with the Author:

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Enter R. Holmes Giveaway:

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New Release ~ Right Princess ~ by ~ Autumn Archer

New Release Tour for Right Princess

Autumn Archer

Powered by Forever Write PR

Autumn Archer’s modern Princess and the Pea retelling follows Ada in her search for the right guy in RIGHT PRINCESS. Readers who love friends to lovers will love this new adult romance. The next installment of the Modern Princess Collection is now LIVE!

Only on Amazon + Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

Add to Goodreads

Ada is the daughter of jewelery designer royalty. An age-old contract stipulates that as she is the next in line to take over the family legacy, she must marry wealth. Ada goes to Camelot for both education & to find a suitor. She attends incognito as doesn’t want people to know who she is.

Theo Hunter is the bar manager of The Reef and becomes her best friend. They do everything together. He dates a string of women bc he can’t find the right girl… even though he knows Ada is that girl … but she’s infatuated with her roomie’s big brother, Ro Huxley.

Ro Huxley will inherit billions. He’s the captain of the football team and drop-dead gorgeous…the ideal candidate for marriage but is he the right one for Ada?

About Autumn

A Northern Irish #1 Bestselling Romance Author who thrives on gin and the written word. She’s a mother to two cool kids, two cute dogs and has a fluffle of wild rabbits in the back garden. Between working in the city during the day, entertaining the brood, feeding the husband and cuddling with the pups, she somehow manages to write romance.

She delves into the darker element of life at times giving her romantic suspense books a curious edge, with alpha men who have to work hard to win over strong women. That being said, she also loves to write sweet and swoony books that make you fall hard. The stories always have a heap of sexy scenarios that are best enjoyed by adults.

About the Modern Princess Collection

Once upon a kiss, a modern romance becomes a fairytale.

Want to keep up with all the Modern Princess Collection news? LIKE the Rewritten Fairytales Facebook page!

~*~*~

This promotional event is brought to you by Forever Write PR.

New Release ~ Loving Callie ~ by ~ Julia Jarrett

Title: Loving Callie

Series: Lucky Strike Lovers #1

Author: Julia Jarrett

Genre: Contemporary Romance (meant to be lovers/first loves)

Release Date: May 21, 2020
Cover Design: J.M. Walker of Just Write Creations

On tap at the Lucky Strike Pub… One gorgeous doctor, and one hot bartender. Can they ignite a passion that will last?

First love is forever love for Doctor Callie Scott and pub owner Jake Evans. When fate gives them a second chance to get to know each other, the sparks fly, but Callie finds it hard to trust their chemistry. Jake won’t let her get away again, so when she comes into his bar again, he knows it’s meant to be. He just has to prove that to her.

But Callie’s parents have different plans for her love life, plans that suit their ambition and not her happiness. Jake will have to work hard to get her to see that he can be the family she has always longed for. Breaking free from family expectations will not be easy for Callie, and it will take a terrifying crisis to show her that the one thing more important than her parents approval, is the steadfast truth of Jake’s love.

Jake’s low voice sent shivers down Callie’s spine when he said, “Let’s get out of here. Ryan can handle things out there. I need to get you home and in bed so I can tear your clothes off and feel all of you in my arms.” He paused to tuck her hair behind her ears lovingly. “So just one question. Your place or mine…”
Callie replied with the truth that came straight from her heart. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Home is wherever you are, Jake.”

Julia Jarrett is a busy mother of two boys, a happy wife to her real-life book boyfriend and the owner of a rescue dog. She has a passion for writing contemporary romance novels that are full of relatable heroines and the men who fall in love with them. If she isn’t writing or chasing kids, she’s most likely drinking tea, reading a book and dreaming of a sunny vacation.

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New Release ~ The Man Next Door ~ by ~ Roya Carmen

Title: The Man Next Door

Author: Roya Carmen

Genre: Romance Suspense

Release Date: May 21, 2020

I was just a girl, a young neglected girl with issues. I was a mess. A mess he wanted nothing to do with. He knew better. But I certainly didn’t. All I knew was that I liked what I saw.

I grew up in small town Michigan, raised by a single alcoholic father and two older brothers who never gave me the time of day. All I had were my best friends, Izzie and Gavin, a reclusive broken man, ten years my senior. My father forbade me to see him, but I didn’t listen. I was crazy about him and he adored me. Even when our small community was rocked by a heinous crime and Gavin was the main suspect, I still loved him.

When tragedy struck, I finally escaped. As far away as I could.

I’ve been in Chicago ever since, trying to forget all about my past. Yet, I find myself still thinking about my past, about Gavin and Izzie, about my other life. I’m not truly living anymore, just going through the motions. Until…

Noah Reed. My new neighbor. Beautiful, sweet and intoxicating. There’s something about him I just can’t put my finger on. He’s the first man since Gavin I truly let myself fall for. I think he might be the one. Until…

… the day I discover his secret.

His sky blue eyes are fixed on me, and I freeze. We’re both without words. No, it’s not just my imagination. The boy definitely wants to get into my pants, or my sweats, as it were.

“I’ve been busy,” he says, not taking his eyes off me, “but not that busy. I just think you should stay away from me, Abby. I’d be nothing but trouble for you.”

My breath hitches. What does he mean? “Why?”

“I’m a mess. I’m bad news, Abby. You’re probably better off to stay away.”

“Why? What did you do? Are you in the mob? Did you kill someone?”

He laughs. “No. And no.”

“Then what is it?” I ask, breathless. “Do you have a girlfriend? A secret wife? Are you a grieving widower?”

He smiles. “No… single at the moment. And not a grieving widower… never married.”

I stare down at my fuzzy socks. “It’s because I’m too old, right? You don’t get mixed up with women my age. You probably want some hot young thing.”

He shakes his head and catches me by surprise when he takes my face in his soft hands. “You’re not too old. You’re beautiful, Abby.”

My silly heart skips at his words.

“Then why?” I ask softly.

His pupils grow, his eyes darken, and his beautiful lips slightly part open. I stretch my neck up, and tentatively press my eager mouth against his, just a soft kiss.

He doesn’t move, doesn’t react, and it breaks my heart. I can see desire in his eyes, as clear as day. I can feel the attraction between us, in every cell of my being. He’s as tempted as I am, yet he won’t—

He grabs my face again, but this time, he’s not gentle. He presses his mouth against mine and licks my bottom lip. My whole core is on fire. I reach for his jaw, and rub my palms against his five o’clock shadow. When his tongue invites mine to dance and play, it eagerly accepts. His hands travel to my hair and his long fingers get tangled in my locks as his mouth is busy exploring me, undoing me. My whole body is lost to him. I haven’t been kissed like this since…

Since Gavin.

I want more. I lean in, and press myself harder against him, my desire possessing me unapologetically, making me numb to the world outside. I run my hands down his torso, and he groans when I reach the band of his pants. Is this wrong? Is this too early? We barely know each other. He’s too young for me.

My heart jerks when he suddenly pulls back and pushes me off him. My stomach falls. I’m an idiot. He clearly doesn’t want to get involved with me. Why am I acting so aggressive, so desperate? “I’m sorry… I got carried away.”

He’s breathless when he tells me, “No… it was me. I just think this is a bad idea, Abby. That’s all.”

Why is it such a bad idea? I want to scream. Tell me why?

“You should probably go.”

“Yes… sorry.” I rise and turn on my heel. I’m not staying there another second. I get it. You don’t want me. You don’t have to tell me twice.

He nips at my heels as I practically sprint out of his loft. “I’m sorry,” are the last words I hear before I slam the door into his face. I run to my apartment in tears.

My movie is still on. Richard’s character climbs the fire escape to reach Julia’s, despite the fact that he’s terrified of heights. He’s wielding a bouquet of roses, and his heart is hers. Forever.

Stupid movie.

Bleeding hearts bared, total abandonment and grand declarations of love… that’s not how real life works.

It’s all a bunch of crap.

I click off the TV, and cry in my pillow.

Roya Carmen is a busy mom, romance writer, designer, bookworm, chocoholic, and hopeless romantic. There’s nothing she enjoys more than making up stories about love, and sharing them with her readers.

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New Release ~ Fourth A Lie ~ by ~ Pepper Winters

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“There was a truth once. Truth we shared in the dark and scribed scars upon our hearts.

There was a lie once. A lie that shattered our hard-earned truth apart.”

Eleanor Grace did the unbelievable. She fell for a man who trades in women, dabbles in myth, and has the morals of a cold-hearted beast. However, love isn’t enough where past sins are concerned and only pain can follow.

Sully Sinclair did the impossible. He gave his trust to a goddess who has the ultimate power to break him. Unfortunately, paradise is just an illusion, his islands aren’t impenetrable, and now he has to pay the price.

A fledgling connection.

A war they can’t stop.

A future that doesn’t bow to fate.

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Calling all audiobook lovers!

Listen to books 1-3 today!

Once A Myth:

Audio Amazon | Audio Audible | Apple Books Audio

Twice A Wish:

Audio Amazon | Audible | Apple Books Audio

Third A Kiss:

Audio Amazon | Audible | Apple Books Audio

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Enter the release day giveaway here!

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Read the first chapter here!

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I WAS A SCIENTIST—not because I’d been born into the lineage—but because I had an obsessive need to chase the impossible. I didn’t accept that a human body was at its full capacity in its current pathetic state.

I believed we were a battery—a machine working at thirty percent—and all we needed was a compound or chemical…something to trigger a new state of being. A stronger state, an invincible state.

Medical advances had gotten me closer to that goal.

Trials and failures had inched me closer to achieving what no one else had before.

But it was fury that shattered the threshold of evolution.

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Pepper Winters is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today International Bestseller. With a catalogue of over twenty titles, she’s hit the bestselling lists over thirty times.

She loves romance, star-crossed lovers, and the forbidden taboo. She strives to write a story that makes the reader crave what they shouldn’t, and delivers tales with complex plots and unforgettable characters.

After chasing her dreams to become a full-time writer, Pepper has earned recognition with awards for best Dark Romance, best BDSM Series, and best Hero. She’s an #1 iBooks bestseller, along with #1 in Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotica Thriller. She’s also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestseller.

After releasing two books with Grand Central, Hachette (Ruin & Rule and Sin & Suffer) Pepper is a Hybrid Author of both Traditional and Self-published work.

Represented by Trident Media, her books have garnered foreign interest and are currently being translated into numerous languages, including already released titles in Italian, French, Hebrew, German, and Turkish. Audio Books for her entire back-list will be available soon