zaterdag 23 juli 2022

Release Blitz ~ Stolen Paradise by Mila Young & Harper A. Brooks

 

Title: Stolen Paradise
Author: Mila Young & Harper A. Brooks
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance
Cover Designer: Maria Spada
Publication Date: June 23rd, 2022
Hosted by: Lady Amber's PR

Blurb:

These monsters rule the city... and I've become their newest obsession.

 

I've been caught in a war between the three most powerful gangs in the city... and I'm trapped with the most dangerous of them all.

 

The Kings.

 

With each passing day, they lurk closer, their darkness pulling me a bit deeper. They push me, demanding everything I have when my world is falling apart.

 

Chaos is about to break out, and I'm finding myself craving the men who could just as easily break me. Ruin me. Kill me.

 

I vow to escape, but I’m losing myself to this world of lust and war.

 

The Kings of Eden don’t have hearts. So they want mine... 





Harper A. Brooks lives in a small town on the New Jersey shore. Even though classic authors have always filled her bookshelves, she finds her writing muse drawn to the dark, magical, and romantic. But when she isn't creating entire worlds with sexy shifters or legendary love stories, you can find her either with a good cup of coffee in hand or at home snuggling with her furry, four-legged son, Sammy.

She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

RONE Award Winner

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

International Bestselling Author

Author Links:

Amazon | Twitter | Goodreads</ a> | Website 

Instagram | Facebook |  Bookbub | Reader Group




Bestselling Author, Mila Young tackles everything with the zeal and bravado of the fairytale heroes she grew up reading about. She slays monsters, real and imaginary, like there's no tomorrow. By day she rocks a keyboard as a marketing extraordinaire. At night she battles with her mighty pen-sword, creating fairytale retellings, and sexy ever after tales. In her spare time, she loves pretending she's a mighty warrior, cuddling up with her cats, and devouring every fantasy tale she can get her pinkies on.

Author Links:

Facebook | ReaderGroup |  Twitter | Instagram

Website | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon



Book Blitz ~ Of Fae & Hate by Quirah Casey #Giveaway

Of Fae & Hate
Quirah Casey
(Of Fae & Hate, #1)
Publication date: July 23rd 2022
Genres: Adult, Reverse Harem, Urban Fantasy

Hate is a strong word, but at the Nadouraz Academy it’s deadly.

I never wanted to attend Nadouraz Academy.
The school for fae is full of spoiled, bratty, powerful royals. I’m none of those things.
Most importantly, no one even knows if I’m even fae.

The first week of school I find myself in a rivalry with more fae than I can keep track of, but it becomes the least of my worries when I end up cursed. What’s worse is that the curse binds me to three fae I hate and one who just may be a demon from the darkest pits of hell: Soskia, Alik, Fox, and Brynsyn.

Now a promise to give the pretentious academy a try, an unbreakable contract, and a wicked curse may seal my death.



Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

I’m halfway to my dorm when I become aware of footsteps marching in time with mine.

I whirl around prepared to give the fox guy another piece of my mind, but I pull up short when I see the guy who’d waved at me the first day I got here.

His eyes are a mystic green that seem to swirl with magic as he watches me. His lips spread into a wide grin, showing off pearly white teeth. He drifts close to me, a chain hanging from his dark jeans. When he stops a foot away from me, my eyes move down to his nails, taking in the black polish covering them.

“Let me guess, you want to take on round three of my anger,” I say to him coldly, preparing myself for another argument.

Just my fucking luck.

But instead of saying that I don’t know who he is or one of those other cheesy lines that seem to be in abundance at this school, he only huffs out a laugh. His eyes twinkle as they roam over me. “I’m not here for an argument. I figured I could escort you to your room, keep you out of trouble since you seem to attract it.”

Mirth dances in his eyes.

“Really? Because something tells me you’re the exact type of trouble I need to avoid.” He gives me the classic bad boy vibes and how could he not with his leather jack, dark features, and crooked smile. He’s shirtless under the jacket, but I refuse to let my eyes really inspect all the smooth, toned skin.

“Me?” he asks, placing a hand to his chest. “I’m about as innocent as they come around here.”

“Why do I doubt that?” I ask even as my shoulders relax.

“Because you’re a smart girl,” he drawls, moving close to me until we’re almost standing chest to chest.

Heat swarms my body as I tilt my head back to look up at him. My breath stut- ters in my chest as his eyes swirl from green to a near pitch black. The sense to run away overwhelms me but it’s battled by the feel to get even closer to him.

I lean closer to him, my mind obviously made up about which side we want to be on.

He chuckles and I feel him reach up and wrap a lock of my hair around his fin- ger. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he twirls the curly, purple hair. He chuck- les as he pulls a piece of spaghetti from the strand.

“So does that mean you’re going to let me escort you to your room, gorgeous?” he asks, raising a brow.

Okay, yeah, definitely trouble.

It feels like I’m broken from a trance as I take a step away from him and yet my heart is still beating rapidly in my chest. The urge to get closer to him is still strong but I choose wisely this time, moving away from him.

“You can walk me,” I tell him. “But if you try any bullshit-”

“You’ll threaten to smack me like the other bitches?” he asks in amusement.

I blink. “You’ve been following me?” I ask.

“As it happens, I wasn’t following you, not at first,” he says, but he doesn’t elaborate any further. He turns, walking away and I only stare at him. He pauses, looking over his shoulder at me and raising a brow. “Are you going to come?” he asks and I realize he’s already walking in the direction of my dorm.

I move to catch up with him, keeping space between us as I fall into step be- hind him. He noticeably slows the pace of his long legs.

“You know, if you’re trying to convince me that you’re not stalking me, the fact that you know where my dorm is isn’t helping,” I tell him.

He peeks down at me, “And yet, you’re still following me.”

I am.

Conversation dulls as we walk the rest of the way to my dorm, but it’s surpris- ingly pleasant. I don’t feel any pressure to speak to him, nor is the silence awk- ward.

When we make it to my room, I find myself wishing the trip wasn’t over. After running into so many annoying, over chatty people, this guy is like a reprieve.

I lean against my door, one hand behind me on the handle as I look up at him. “I don’t believe I quite caught your name.”

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you, Nerrysa Ebirac.”

“Definitely a stalker then,” I mutter before raising my voice slightly, “because I definitely didn’t tell you mine either.”

“No, you didn’t,” he agrees, drifting close again.

“And you seem to have a problem with personal space as well,” I tell him as he twirls yet another lock of my hair. Thankfully, food doesn’t come with it this time.

His grin is ruthless and when he leans close to me, his breath fanning over my neck, I decide he just may be combustible. Because I’m on fucking fire.

His lips move so close to my neck that I can feel them brushing over my skin as he speaks. “I have a lot of problems to be honest,” he mutters, “but you may be my solution, little Nerys.” I have no idea what he means, but I really don’t give a fuck, feeling dizzy from his close proximity.

His fingers dance over my hip before suddenly he’s pulling away.

He takes a step back, eyes bright. “And my name is Brynsyn Challard,” he says before disappearing down the hall, leaving me confused and eerily enticed.


Author Bio:

Quirah is still a new author, but not new to writing. She has been writing since the first grade, and has been winning awards since kindergarten, when she told her teacher about her trip to Chicago. Her teacher wrote down the story for her and she won the young authors contest at 5 years old! Quirah plans on working hard in the next couple of years to publish as many books as possible from her chöąts world.

In the meantime, catch up and follow Quirah online at the following links be- low.


 

Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

vrijdag 22 juli 2022

Book Blitz ~ Love You Again by Julia Kent #Giveaway

Love You Again
Julia Kent
(Love You, Maine, #2)
Publication date: July 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Set in the woodsy small town of Luview, “Love You,” Maine – a tourist favorite where every day is Valentine’s Day – local police officer and single dad Luke Luview has spent the last two years making his young daughter his priority after his wife’s death. When first-love Kylie Hood comes back into town under bizarre circumstances, he learns that nothing’s a coincidence – and maybe second chances are possible after all.

If you’re looking for a fun read about first kisses, second chances, featuring a hot single dad small town police officer and his accidental nanny, set in a small town in New England, with a golden retriever named Jester, a heroine whose dream in life is to run a fairy camp, and a hero who wants to build a place where everyone belongs – then this is your book.

Grab a cup of coffee, tea, and maybe some edible glitter, and get your happy meter ready as you read the second book in the Love You, Maine series – where love isn’t just a feeling – it’s a way of life.

✓Single Dad
✓Second chance
✓Small town romance
✓Local police officer and his last-minute nanny
…and a Golden Retriever named Jester

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

A white puff of air filled the space between him and the steering wheel, and he realized he’d sighed. How long had he been sitting here, mind and memory in the past? Shoving his hands into gloves, he opened the rear door, grabbed the white plastic bag, and made his way to the front of the bin.

Determined, focused, and grim: That was Luke Luview these days. A bad match for a town that existed to make people feel good about love.

Living in Love You, Maine–heck, being a Luview–was never harder than when you had a broken heart.

Time to let go of some of the pain.

“AAAAAAooooooooo,” called out a band of coyotes in the distance, making Luke jolt. His personal weapon was at home. He didn’t carry it in the glove compartment or on his body when he was off duty, but as the coyote population grew in the area, maybe he should.

A few feet from the donation bin’s front, he looked at the lever to pull down, squeezing the bag slightly. A whiff of Amber’s perfume caught his nose, so faint he almost imagined it.

Colleen had washed all the clothes a few weeks ago, so he knew he imagined Amber’s scent. Didn’t matter. He’d take the illusion. That was how much he hurt.

A skitter inside the box made him frown.

Damn animals. They got in those bins all the time. He felt sorry for the poor sap who emptied these metal boxes, carting all the goods to the warehouse in Manchester where they cleaned and sorted, getting it all ready for the second-hand retail stores.

Just do this, he thought, swallowing hard as the coyotes mated in the distance. The sound was violent and creepy, but for whatever reason, it felt fitting.

Throwing the tangible reminders of that terrible day into the donation box felt dangerous, too.

“I love you, Amber,” he murmured. “But I have to let you go. Have to let that day go. Harriet needs a daddy who isn’t tied down by grief. Just because I’m doing this doesn’t mean I love you any less, though.”

Tears pricked his eyes. “Why is this so hard? Because it’s hard,” he said with a huff. “That’s what you would say if you were here. You’d hug me and comfort me and tell me feelings are meant to be felt or they’d be called something else. You’d have all the right words. I don’t have any. I just have a big hole in my life, Amber. And you’re never going to fill it. Colleen says I can’t feel guilty for moving on. I don’t. But I sure do feel weird.”

And then he reached for the handle, pulled it down, and threw the bag in while calling out loudly, “I love you.”

To his utter shock, she replied from the darkness of the box, “I’m in here!”


Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Amazon / Bookbub / Newsletter


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:
XBTBanner1

donderdag 21 juli 2022

Cover Reveal ~ Bar Down, Baby by Georgia Royce

Bar Down, Baby
Georgia Royce
(Rose City Rendezvous, #1)
Publication date: August 2nd 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Extra spicy with a sweet happily ever after, BAR DOWN, BABY is not your average surprise pregnancy love story.

Things were finally looking up for Megan Massey. She moved out of her toxic ex’s apartment. The online store she’s been managing is finally taking off. And she just took a road trip with her new (amazing!) roommates—and had the hottest hookup of her life with Derek Carroll, head coach of Portland U’s men’s hockey team. She’s truly living her best life.

Except now she can’t keep her lunch down. She’s tired all the time and come to think of it, it’s been. . . a while since her last cycle. A baby is the last thing either of them expected, but Derek surprises Megan by committing to co-parent—platonically.

As they navigate the pregnancy together, Megan can’t help but wonder if there could be more between them. Her pregnancy hormones are definitely getting in the way of this whole ‘taking it slow’ thing. And his longing stares and lingering touches aren’t helping. But even as they grow closer, she can feel him pulling back, like there’s something he’s hiding. What could be worse than falling for your commitment-phobic baby daddy?

A gutsy, tenacious heroine with a chip on her shoulder. A hockey coach with a secret, looking for redemption. Bad bachelor party favors, weird ice cream flavors, and ALL. THE. FEELS.

TW/CW: Contains mentions of (off page) pregnancy loss, drug abuse, and suicide.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order


Author Bio:

Georgia Royce writes kissing books when she’s not downing coffee, refusing to use an umbrella in the rain, or stepping on rogue Lego. She lives in Portland.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram





Hosted by:
XBTBanner1

Book Blitz ~ Spark of Madness by Brynn Ford #Giveaway

Spark of Madness
Brynn Ford
(Ember Glen, #1)
Publication date: July 21st 2022
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Dystopian

In Ember Glen, men purge under the full moon. It’s the duty of women to serve them. When Mercy refuses to serve, Arlo will force her to find absolution through three brutal trials. But will their forbidden romance destroy their world?

Mercy
Neglecting my duty to serve is a sin, and during the last full moon, I became a sin- ner.

He saw me run from my duty, chased me, and caught me.
He promised me that I would be punished.

But I never could have imagined the hellish fate that would be chosen for me. More than that, I never could have imagined the maddening lust that would spark between me and the man who caught me.

This passion is forbidden...and it might set us on fire.

Arlo
It’s my role to catch the sinners, and Mercy sinned gravely.

I saw her and I chased her, drawn to her inexplicably.
She sparked something within me, but she had to be brought to judgment.

Her punishment is coming in the form of an archaic ritual we’re bringing back to make an example of her. I’ll be her warden, her keeper, the man to ensure she stays alive between her torturous trials.

Something within her brings out the worst of me...and the worst of me wants to ruin her.

AUTHOR NOTE: This is a dark romance series that involves many triggering elements which may be upsetting for some readers. A complete list of tropes and triggers can be found on the author’s website at brynn- ford.com/triggers.

SERIES NOTE: Spark of Madness is book 1 of 3 in the Ember Glen series and it ends on a cliffhanger. The author plans to publish all 3 books by the end of 2022. The trilogy follows Mercy and Arlo and must be read in order.

READING ORDER
Book 1: Spark of Madness (July 21, 2022)
Book 2: Blaze of Misery (October 20, 2022)
Book 3: Embers of Mercy (December 29, 2022)

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

I sinned.

I ran, and I hid.

I rebelled from my soul’s purpose, and I was promised punishment.

He’s come to punish me.

As soon as the realization hits me, I scramble, kicking against the earth to push myself backward and crawl out from beneath him. He ignores me as I awkwardly rush to my feet and back away; instead, he bends to pick up my mother’s journal.

No!

I lunge for it, but he jerks his hand away, holding the journal beside his head.

“Give that back.”

“No,” he says plainly.

He slowly lowers it in front of him, thumbing open the pages.

I lunge again to snatch it, but he only steps back, narrowing his eyes at me with his head tilted toward the pages. “Stop. Your property is my property now.”</ p>

“What?”

What is he saying?

I’m entitled to have my own things.

Except, the Control has license to take authority over the personal property of sinners.

And I’m a sinner now.

I feel frozen as I watch him flip through the pages, reading a sentence here and there. A shiver runs up my spine despite the warmth of the sun, and I hug myself, running my hands up and down my arms. Movement in the distance catches my eye; standing at the tree line, at the edge of the meadow, are the other six mem- bers of the Control.

Watching.

Waiting.

The notion of my death claws through my mind, scratching away all other thoughts.

Have they come to kill me?

Will I die today?

How will they do it? Burned at the stake like my mother?

“What is this?” Arlo asks, closing the journal and holding it up. “Is this your mother’s?”

I hear him, but I struggle to respond. The very essence of my being is trapped behind a thick wall of ice inside my mind, frozen and paralyzed to thoughts of pun- ishment and death.

“Forget it,” he says with exasperation. “Come with me.”

He holds out his palm, covered with a black leather glove, and I stare at it as if it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen, as if it’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen...because it is.

If I take his hand, he’ll lead me away, only I don’t know where to and I don’t know what will happen then. I don’t know if I’ll be hurt or tortured, or if I’ll be killed immediately.

I lift my gaze from his hand to meet his stare. “Are you going to kill me?”

His eyes are blue—bright blue, like the clear sky above. They sparkle as he watches me, waiting for me to take his outstretched hand.

I think it’s the first time I’ve ever really looked at him. I’ve only known him by name and in passing before the other night in the forest. I knew of </ em>him; I’d seen him and could identify him easily. But looking at him now, I know I’ve never truly seen him before.

“Not personally, and certainly not today,” he offers. “Come along now. We have things to discuss.”

“What things?”

He takes a step closer, and instinctively, I step back.

“Mercy.”

“What’s going to happen to me? Please. Can’t you just tell me now?”

“I’m not going to ask you again.” His offered palm twitches with threat. “We will drag you away if you insist on resisting.”

Part of me wants to resist. If my fate has already been decided—and I suspect it has—then resistance won’t change the outcome. Resisting might make me feel like I did something, that I at least tried. That part of me makes my knees bend with the urge to run.


Author Bio:

Brynn Ford writes dark romance for daring readers. She is a lover of the dark, twisted, and playful, and strives to bring these elements into her stories.

When she isn't obsessively writing, you may find her binge-watching favorite shows while eating far too much junk food or fanatically reading, always seeking to lose herself in the emotional roller coaster of a damn good story.

She's a firm believer that her characters continue to live outside the pages in the minds of her readers. Stories don't end just because there aren't any more pages to turn.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Instagram / Newsletter / TikTok / Amazon / Bookbub


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

woensdag 20 juli 2022

Release Blitz ~ The Lost Elemental (Royals of Kingwood Academy) by Tessa Hale

I can’t help but notice how my skin hums when they touch me.

The Lost Elemental, an all-new epic and spellbinding reverse-harem paranormal romance and the first book in the Royals of Kingwood Academy Trilogy from bestselling author Tessa Hale, is live now!

It was supposed to be simple. Graduate, get a job to keep my mom from drowning in mountains of medical debt, and maybe score a scholarship to a decent college.

All of that changed in a single breath. Because it turns out I’m not human. And I just knocked out the power on an entire city block.

In a split second, all of my carefully-laid plans go up in smoke. There’s no chance for college because I’m being hauled off to Kingwood Academy. They say it’s for my own protection and those around me. But I know one thing for sure...

I’m not welcome here.

The mean girls don’t stop at insults and tripping you in the halls. They’re wielding magic that could cost me my life. And the rest of the school sees me as either a halfling that should be cast out or a powerhouse to be brought down.

Everyone except them.

The charmer. The gentle giant. The psychopath. And maybe even the cruel prince.

The royals of Kingwood Academy have taken me under their wing and I can’t help but notice how my skin hums when they touch me. I shouldn’t be dreaming about a single one of them, let alone all four. But I can’t seem to stop myself.

Only someone doesn’t like the attention the royals are showing me. And when the attacks start, the princes will do anything to protect me. But they don’t know the true evil we face. The kind who will do whatever it takes to seize our power, even if that means stealing the very last breath from our lungs...

Grab your copy today!
FREE in Kindle Unlimited
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BEp47a
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/LostElement

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3N7BR76



About Tessa
Author of love stories with magic, usually with more than one love interest. Constant daydreamer.

Connect with Tessa
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ucyx1S
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3zKGOes
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ui8Ahb
Join Tessa’s Facebook Reader Group: https://bit.ly/39Ngx4x
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/39EmIrB
Stay up to date with Tessa by joining her mailing list: https://bit.ly/3kKqtlW
Website: https://www.tessahale.com

Book Blitz ~ A Little Wilder by Serena Bell #Giveaway

A Little Wilder
Serena Bell
(Wilder Adventures, #4)
Publication date: July 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

What happened in Vegas? Definitely didn’t stay in Vegas.

Gabe’s the oldest. Brody’s the bad boy. Clark’s the strong, silent warrior. Amanda’s the girl. And Easton—well, Easton’s the panty melter.

I’m Kane.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad job. But usually, I’m not the one people are talking about.

That’s about to change. Because the woman I had a smoking hot one-night stand with in Vegas? The one I should have stayed far, far away from, since women like her are my kryptonite?

She’s the same woman my brother just hired to redesign his fancy new glamping RVs.

I haven’t seen her since Vegas, but the instant I lay eyes on her, I can tell my quiet role as the boy-next-door brother is about to change.

She’s pregnant.

And it’s mine.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

There’s a knock on Bernadette’s door.

It pulls me out of deep concentration on the trailer project and sends a small thrill of anticipation up my spine.

Kane.

It’s gotta be Kane. It’s not like I get visitors.

I haul myself off the couch—an increasingly challenging undertaking. Even though I know it has to be him, I peep out. One of the awesome mods on Bernadette, courtesy of her previous owner, is a peephole, which is super useful when you’re a single woman on the road alone.

And even though I know it has to be him, I still feel a surge of pleased surprise when I see his face.

“Delivery,” he says, holding out a big, round Tupperware… cake holder? “Boston cream pie.”

Holy shit, he found it.

I yank open the door and have to stop myself from snatching the cake out of his hands. Or throwing my arms around him and hugging the crap out of him. “Where did you find it?”

“I—”

He stops, appearing to think better of whatever he was about to say, but it’s too late. I know where that sentence was going.

“You made it?”

“Amanda helped,” he says, like that’s going to take anything away from a six-foot-something built-like-a-God man who bakes Boston cream pies.

“Aaaaahhhh!” I cry, overcome. “You are a saint and a genius.”

He tries to bite back a smile. “I think you’re overstating things a little.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. I have been fantasizing about yellow custard, soft yellow cake, and chocolate ganache nonstop since before I knew Kane had planted this baby in me. “Come in. You have to have some, too.”

“It’s all for you,” he says. “I wouldn’t take any of your special treat. Your presentation was fantastic. You deserve all the cake.”

This guy. I swear. He was too much in Vegas, when all I knew about him was that he asked real questions and knew how to use his body for both good and evil. Now…
“Well, come in anyway.”

He hesitates again, then follows me in, setting the cake on the counter. I wash my hands and take two small plates down from the cabinets. I grab two forks from the utensil drawer and two mugs from the overhead hooks. “I don’t have coffee—” I gesture at my belly, “—but I have tea, milk, or water.”

“Water would be great,” he says. “And no cake. I’m serious. It’s yours.”

I wrestle the cake carrier open and cut into my prize. My mouth waters as I do. It’s so—
Not gonna say moist, but holy shit, it soooo is.

We sit at Bernadette’s little pink dinette table. I’d forgotten how small this table is with two people at it. Or maybe it’s how big Kane is; his knees touch mine, and his arms cover so much territory, even with his hands folded. I force myself to look away because staring at close range is both rude and dangerous.

His eyes are very, very blue.

I dig in. “Oh, wow,” I say. “Wow.”

It’s soft. Moist (again, sorry!). Tender, springy. The custard is cool and smooth on my tongue, the ganache dark and flavorful.

“Mmm. Just. Thank you.”

Kane grins at me, like he’s pleased, though there’s something else in his expression I can’t quite read. “I did good?”

“You did amazing. So good I could kiss you.”

One eyebrow goes up, but he only says, “How does it rate among the Boston cream pies of the world?”

“It’s up there. Although pregnancy might be biasing me.” I lick a bite that’s mostly custard from my fork, and catch a glimpse of Kane’s face. His eyes are… interested. I lick again, for good measure, and notice the muscle in his jaw tense.

A ripple of tension slides down the lower slope of my belly and lodges itself in my internal muscles. In their constantly primed state, they… quiver dangerously.

The next time I look at him, Kane’s eyes are on my chest. I’m wearing a flowy green maternity dress with a low scoop neck, and, why, yes, it does show off my newly ridiculously huge boobs to excellent advan—

“You have—“

He reaches out. “Some cake—”

His finger almost touches the upper curve of my breast, and, oh, whoops, yes, that is cake on my boob. I use my own finger to scoop it up, then lick it clean.

I hear the moment the breath leaves Kane’s lungs.

I see the moment his gaze travels from my chest to my mouth, when it fixes on my finger, sliding between my lips. The moment it sticks, and stays, right there on my mouth, even as my hand drops away.

“Mari—”

His voice is hoarse.

“Do it. Just—do it,” I order him.

Then he’s leaning over the table, setting his mouth over mine, hot and unhesitating and so, so good.


Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Serena Bell writes contemporary romance with heat, heart, and humor. A former journalist, Serena has always believed that everyone has an amazing story to tell if you listen carefully, and you can often find her scribbling in her tiny garret office, mainlining chocolate and bringing to life the tales in her head.

Serena’s books have earned many honors, including an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, Apple Books Best Book of the Month, and Amazon Best Book of the Year for Romance.

When not writing, Serena loves to spend time with her college-sweetheart husband and two hilarious kiddos—all of whom are incredibly tolerant not just of Serena’s imaginary friends but also of how often she changes her hobbies and how passionately she embraces the new ones. These days, it’s stand-up paddle boarding, board-gaming, meditation, and long walks with good friends.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram / Newsletter


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:
XBTBanner1

dinsdag 19 juli 2022

Release Blitz ~ ~ Royally Indecent by Kelly Jamieson

Royally Indecent by Kelly Jamieson is available now!
Available on All Platforms

A warrior. A prince. The one woman who can reconnect their broken hearts...

Chelsea Alderich

From the moment Ford rescues me from a bad date, I feel a spark. Too bad he’s gay, but he quickly becomes my best friend. And a roommate I can’t stop having hot dreams about. Then, at a charity gala, I meet Prince Griffin of Eria, a reformed playboy who runs a non-profit for veterans. And it isn’t long before flirting turns into falling in love.

Griffin Marlow

This American girl is messing with my head. I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s sweet and pure, and I’m falling hard, but there’s no way we can have a future together. I’m only here in the U.S. temporarily. I have to go back to Eria to take my place in line to the throne.

Ford Sullivan

Chelsea’s my best friend and my roommate, and even though my feelings for her are more than friendship, I won’t touch her unless she wants it. I know she’s seeing someone else, and to be honest, I’m a little jealous. Until I walk into our apartment and meet her new boyfriend— Prince Griffin of Eria. Then I’m freakin’ ballistic.

About Kelly Jamieson

Kelly Jamieson is a USA Today bestselling author of over 40 romance novels and novellas.

Her writing has been described as “emotionally complex”, “sweet and satisfying” and “blisteringly sexy”. She likes black coffee, white wine and high heels...and of course cheering on her Winnipeg Jets during hockey season!

Connect with KellyWebsite: www.kellyjamieson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyJamiesonauthor
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2wkUtxp
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Ikekli
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KellyJamieson
Instagram: http://instagram.com/authorkellyjamieson

Book Blitz ~ Dark Hearts by M. O’Keefe #Giveaway

Dark Hearts
M. O’Keefe
Publication date: July 19th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

“No man ever made me so curious. Or reckless.”

Poppy lives a charmed life. From the outside she’s the wife of a wealthy senator, wearing jewels and designer clothes. Other people don’t know she lives in the dark. Her husband is a monster in a bespoke suit.

Then Ronan Byrne shows up on their marble doorstep, armed and dangerous. He sees through her calm, cultured facade to the fear underneath.

He’s determined to help her, whether she wants it or not.

“M. O’Keefe brings her A-game in this sexy, complicated romance where you’re left questioning if everything you thought was true!” – New York Times bestselling author K. Bromberg

DARK HEARTS is a boxed set that contains three full-length novels: Ruined, Broken, and Untamed by bestselling and award-winning author M. O’Keefe.

Welcome to the Midnight Dynasty… The warring Morelli and Constantine families have enough bad blood to fill an ocean, and their brand new stories will be told by your favorite dangerous romance authors.

WARNING: This book is intended for readers eighteen years old and over. It contains material that some readers could find disturbing. Enter at your own risk…

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

You want to know what the rich and powerful do? They go to parties like this one. And on little plates they carry food around that they don’t actually eat. In heavy crystal glasses they drink champagne and scotch. Rivers of it. They laugh and whisper and watch each other out of the corners of their eyes.

But really what they do is pretend. That’s all. They play pretend in their four-thousand-dollar tuxes and ten-thousand-dollar dresses.

They pretend to care what the person they’re talking to is actually saying. They pretend to give a shit about whatever cause to which they’re donating money. Or in the case of tonight’s party—the marriage of a 20-year-old girl to a 48-year-old man.

They pretend that it’s not gross.

My sister Zilla and I played a version of this exact same game that hot summer under the willow tree at the back of our estate. Wearing our mother’s nightgowns with thin little straps and lace that fell past our little girl knees, Zilla would hold out a leaf with a worm on it.

“It’s a delicacy where I come from,” she’d say in a ridiculous accent.

“After you,” I’d say, trying to sound like the Queen of England but getting tangled up somewhere in the deep south. And then, because she was fearless, Zilla would pick up that worm, bite it in half, and swallow it down.

“Show me,” I’d say, and she’d open her mouth to reveal nothing but her molars poking through the tender pink of her gums. And then she’d dab the corners of her mouth with the leaf, and we’d tip our heads back and fake laugh.

But the fake laughs always turned to real ones. Ones that shook our bellies and made us collapse onto the ground.

That was not going to happen at this party.

“Are you all right?” asked Mrs. . . . oh, god, what was her name? She was important, I’d been told that earlier. I’d been told not to forget that this woman in the vast sea of important women at this party, was important.

“I’m fine,” I said, but there was sweat pooling between my breasts. The sweat had nothing to do with the heat of summer in Upstate New York and everything to do with my life ending while people ate shrimp cocktail.

The harpist in the corner struck up what sounded like the exact same song she’d been playing for the last hour. It was. It was the same song. The harpist was playing a joke on all the assholes at this party.

Oh god, the thought just occurred to me—she thinks I am one of the assholes.

“As I was saying,” the important woman said. The diamonds in her ears were the size of pea gravel and could keep Zilla in Belhaven for a month. “The senator has done excellent work for the state in Washington. Everyone here fully supports his tax relief bill.”

“I’m sure he appreciates that.”

“Tell him, won’t you?” she asked, leaning in closer. “I have a nephew graduating Harvard and he’s hoping to intern with the senator next year.”

Little did Important Woman know, I had no power. Everything about me—from the dress I was wearing to the seven million thread count pillowcase I would lay my head upon tonight—was a loan I was in the process of paying back.

“Sure,” I said.

“You must be so excited,” Important Woman said. “How that man has managed to stay single is a mystery to me.”

“I think I just need to get a breath of fresh air,” I said and then rudely, really rudely, just walked away from that important woman.

Whoa.

I was really starting to unravel. Despite being in this house roughly a million times, I couldn’t seem to find a door leading to a room I wanted to be in.

There was like . . . a hysterical giggle in my chest. Or a scream? Maybe it was a scream. Or a sob.

All three?

Was that even possible?

I’d wished a million times since all this started that I was more like my sister. Tougher. Stronger. Angrier.

Strong was never a word anyone had applied to me.

I had to get out of the Constantine compound. Now. Three seconds ago.

The champagne glass in my hand was empty, and I handed it to a waiter, not waiting to answer his polite question about having more of the expensive bubbly. If I opened my mouth too wide I was afraid, well, not afraid as much as I was sure, absolutely sure that I would ruin not just this night. But everything—the whole spider web keeping my sister and me safe would be torn apart. So I kept my mouth shut as I pushed past Tinsley Constantine.

“Are you all right, Poppy?” Tinsley asked. We weren’t close, me and Tinsley. The Constantine children breathed rarified air, and when I was around them, I felt all the arrows of my circumstances. We’d been raised as cousins of a sort, but we all knew that was a lie. Now, since leaving college, I was staying in their pool house. And they never intentionally made me feel bad, but I could tell they didn’t like how much their mother cared about me.

And they really didn’t love me staying in the pool house.

“I’m fine,” I said with what I hoped was a smile. I could see across the room Winston and Perry, Caroline’s sons, tracking this conversation. And more eyes were not what I needed. “I just need some air.”

They were one hundred percent pitying me and barely hiding it.

I was one hundred percent freaking out and barely hiding it.

The front doors were still open, people walking in and out, and the big veranda would be just as crowded as this ballroom, so I followed a server out the door and through a wood-panelled study full of men in tuxedos.

I didn’t look at their faces. In this world, this place, they all looked the same. White, slightly saggy, watery-eyes behind glasses that assessed my worth as I went running past.

In my desperation, I got turned around inside the sprawling mansion and found myself in the small sitting room being used as a bar for the catering staff. The same room where Caroline had changed my life forever—god, was that . . . Christmas? How had my life changed so dramatically in a few months?

“You have to listen to me,” Caroline said, sitting next to me on the little settee facing the icy window. The white twinkle lights reflected in her eyes. “This is serious. And this is hard. But you’re not a little girl anymore.”

“I know,” I said. I’d turned 20 in the spring. And now that Dad was dead, I was Zilla’s legal guardian. Frankly, I hadn’t been a little girl since Mom died. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt like a little girl.

“Your father . . .” Caroline took a deep breath. “There’s no money, Poppy.”

“For what?” I asked.

“There’s no money for you. For school. For Zilla. You need to sell the house to pay off what he owed.”

“Okay,” I felt the ground shifting under my feet. “The life insurance—”

“He cashed it out a year ago.”

“My college fund?”

“Gone. The money from your mother’s estate. All gone. There’s nothing, Poppy.”

“How will I pay for Zilla—”

“You’re going to need to drop out of school, and we need to figure something out.”

“You all right, miss?” a server asked while trying to get by me with a tray of empty glasses from the kitchen.

“Bad place to stop,” a guy said, lifting his tray of full glasses over my head as he went by.

“I just need . . . fresh air.”

“The front—”

“And privacy.”

The server nodded once, her no-nonsense ponytail swishing over her dark vest. “Follow me,” she said.

Maybe I could get a job as a server with this catering company. She probably made good money. I didn’t have any experience serving appetizers on trays, and probably way too much experience eating them. But I could learn. Probably.

We were through the kitchen and down another hall, and finally she pushed open a door to a small brick patio with a few chairs around what looked like a fire pit. I could see the swimming pool beyond. The pool house where I’d been staying since Christmas like some very unwanted guest. The gazebo. Tennis courts. The manicured lawns slipped down over the hills to the shadowed tree line. Fresh air abounded. The sounds of the party were muffled.

I could almost pretend I was far away from it all.

“You should be okay out here,” the server said in her neat vest and bow tie. I loved bow ties. Honestly, I was made to be a catering server.

“Thank you so much!” I said, showing way too much enthusiasm for the kindness she’d shown me, but there’d been a real lack of kindness—big or small, in my life in the last year so I always got a little messy around it.

“It’s just where the servers smoke, nothing to get excited about,” she said with lots of side eye.

The server vanished through the open doorway, and I walked out into the grass, past the edge of the light thrown from the lantern fixture over the door. In the distance was the thick tree line that separated the Constantine land from my parent’s old house. When Zilla found out what Dad had done, she burned the house down. That’s when we knew the medication wasn’t enough. That’s when Belhaven happened. When everything changed. What was left of the house after the fire and the willow tree had been bulldozed, the pond filled, the land sold to the Constantine’s.

I could run around to the front of the house and get a key from the valet. Any key. Any car. And I could drive away.

Except, you idiot, you don’t know how to drive.

I could run. Just . . . run. Even as I thought it, I was slipping out of my shoes. The grass cold and damp and real beneath my feet. That was how bad I wanted to escape—my body was committed to action before I’d fully finished the thought. God. I wanted to RUN.

Run and do what? Go where? What about Zilla?

The thoughts were chains erupting out of the grass and wrapping around my feet.

Hands in fists, tears in my eyes, I opened my mouth ready to scream. Ready to let all the poison out, no matter who heard me. Let all of them hear me—Important Woman with the earrings, the Constantine children, the server who in another life might be my best friend—I’d go back in there in a minute and smile and thank them. Show them the stupid rock on my finger and blush and laugh, but now, let them stand in those rooms and know they were robbing me. Killing me. Let them—

“Jesus Christ, you okay?” a thick Irish accent asked from the darkness in the corner of the patio, and instead of screaming I kind of squeaked.

Which, honestly, was about right.

Author Bio:

M. O'Keefe is the darker, more dangerous pen name of bestselling author Molly O'Keefe. She is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Everything I Left Unsaid series and the upcoming Stolen Hearts. To find out more visit www.molly-okeefe.com

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram





GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:
XBTBanner1