Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Cover Reveal: Paper Dolls by Hanna Peach




Title: Paper Dolls
Author: Hanna Peach
Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense
Cover Design: Romacdesigns
Release Date: April 24, 2016



Blurb

My life comes down to this. Two faces. One choice.

Salem is my twin sister. She loved me. She protected me. She forgave me, even after I failed her. I just got her back after searching for three long, lonely years.

Then there’s Clay. Sweet yet intense and nursing a dark past of his own, he’s all the redemption I don’t deserve. He wants to open me up and know the insides of my soul. I want to let him, but I’m scared he’ll run from what he finds.

But I can’t have them both.

My name is Aria. And today, I must choose. One of the two people I love has to die.

Pre-order Links




Excerpt

Prologue
 
In moments like these, everything slowed. Salem always joked that it was life’s way of making sure you didn’t miss the turning points, the important bits. As if gravity sank heavier and heavier with the weight of the moment until the world was too heavy to turn and everyone held their breath.
It certainly felt like that now. My next action, my next word, would change all of our lives.
“Aria,” Clay’s deep voice reached my ears. “Whatever happens…I love you.” The usual assuredness and authority was gone. Instead, strain and hurt had crumpled up and shoved into his throat. Choose me. Save me. Love me.
Before him my life had felt like a stack of old movies; frames missing or out of order, muted crackling sound, flickering and shuttering away, unloved and unseen in an old unused cinema.
Then I found him. Or he found me.
He created a warm shield around me where I could be safe. He coaxed away all my layers and shed all my masks and his love soaked right into my skin, right into the very soul of me. He pulled out the fossil buried inside that had been my heart and breathed life into me.
How could I give up the man I loved? The one who loved me with a fierce and unwavering passion, the man who made me feel like I could defeat demons as long as he was by my side.
Winking in the threads of sunlight piercing through the solemn gray clouds, seed fluff twirled about me like swirling, dancing couples. Spinning around like Salem and I used to do in our backyard, hands clasped together tightly, turning round and round, eyes to the sky, our twin voices giggling and floating into the air like dandelions.
She had been my shield before Clay.
“I’m nothing without you, Aria,” Salem’s voice trembled, desperation leaking into the breaths between her words. Choose me. Need me. Love me.
How could I end her? I just got her back. For so long we shared almost everything, and she protected me. Her whole life had been about protecting me. Because she loved me that much.
How could I turn against her, toss her away like an old broken toy?
But I had to choose.
I could see us now, the three of us making a chain like when I was a kid, folding pieces of colored paper into rectangles, cutting out an arm, a leg, and half a head, and unfurling my new patterns in the light to reveal a line of paper dolls. Clay, Salem and I − we were all just paper dolls in a paper chain, me in the middle, each end pulling tighter and tighter until something had to tear.
Even now as I stare between Clay and Salem, trying to digest our impossible situation, Hope is still there, that terrible pixie, fluttering on my shoulder, whispering.
Maybe it doesn’t have to end this way?
Fuck you, Hope. Here’s the truth.
Nobody is coming.
No one will save us.
And someone isn’t going to make it out of this forest today.
“Choose,” my sister screamed. “It’s either him or me.”
My fingers tightened around my gun in a reflex. This was it. I either ended her. Or destroyed Clay.
I squeezed my eyelids shut for a moment, just for a moment of peace. Just for an instant I could shut out the inevitable, and in this blessed darkness I believed I could conceive a way that both could exist in my life. A way that I could choose Salem and Clay.
You can’t have both.
You tried.
You.
Can’t.
Have.
Both.
Choose now.
But how?
What do you do when someone puts a gun to your head? Clay’s words came back to me, echoing as loud in my mind as if he had just spoken them. You refuse to bend. You push back. You find another way. You take that gun off him and put it back in his face. But you do not give in.
Find another way…
I knew what I had to do. A kind of peace settled on my skin, as delicate as gossamer, as light as silk.
I opened my eyes to a world of bright light until my vision adjusted. The torn and pained faces of the two people I loved came into focus. The only two people I’ve shared air with while we slept, the same two people I’d crawl into Hell to be with, and the only two people I would die for. I forced the ghost of a smile forward.
And turned the gun on myself.



Author Bio


Hanna is the bestselling author of the Bound romantic suspense series and the Dark Angel fantasy series. Although she writes in more than one genre she can’t write a book without weaving together a complicated plot and filling it with twists. She writes what she believes: good people can do bad things, ordinary people can do great things, and choose love above everything.

Eternally restless, Hanna has lived in Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Scotland, England, Croatia and Ireland – everything she owns fits into one suitcase. She’s planning her next move with her gorgeous (and understanding) partner right now. If not writing, she can be found wandering a dusty market in Marrakesh or trekking a mountain in Peru, often using her travels as settings in her novels.

To WIN a copy of her next release go to www.hannapeach.com/subscribe.
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Release Blitz: Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes #1) by C.J. Pinard

Title: Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes #1)
Author: C.J. Pinard
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Find on Goodreads

He's bearded, angry, highly trained, and has a job to do. 
She's the damsel in distress who's smarter than she looks, and doesn't want anyone's help. 
Could it be they both need something neither will admit to? Fate fueled by the laws of attraction may just decide for them. 

DUKE 
I didn’t ask for this. I was just doing my job, and they have the nerve to put me on a Witness Protection detail? This is crap. I’ll do my assignment, then go back to my job and what I love – kicking ass and taking names. I hadn’t spent 6 years in the Marine Corps to be put on babysitting duty once I’d joined the FBI. The witness they assigned me to, Rayanne, is an annoying, brainless blonde with a sassy mouth and a body that belongs on a website you have to pay to access. Not that I noticed or anything. 

RAYANNE 
I can look after myself. I don’t need anyone’s help, and the government is being ridiculous for putting me in the Witness Protection Program. I'll testify against my former bosses and then go back to my life as a single girl in the big city. I love my career as a paralegal, and once this Neanderthal they’d assigned to babysit me is out of my life, I'll go back to it. I just wish he wasn’t so easy on the eyes. The beard, hard body, and that voice. Why couldn’t they have sent me someone ugly – and nice? Because Duke is neither of those things. 

ABOVE PROTECTION is book 1 in the Imperfect Heroes Series.  For readers 18+.


My Review
If you enjoy bad-boy romances and badass ex-Marines, then Above Protection is just the book for you.

Pinard has written an intriguing book full of twists, turns and action - both the suspenseful type and the steamy. Above Protection is Rayanne and Duke's story. Rayanne has just entered the Witness Protection program because someone is after her and wants to see her dead. 

Enter Duke, a growly, bearded, sexy but angry ex-Marine. Once again in trouble, Duke is faced with two choices. While he doesn't like either one, he chooses to protect Rayanne, a witness in WitSec. From the moment Duke meets her, he does NOT like her. Too much of a Barbie for him, he finds himself irritated with Rayanne's every move. 

As they spend time with one another, their feelings begin to change and complicated doesn't even begin to describe it. 

While far from being a Prince Charming or knight in shining armor, Duke has an appeal to him, that gets not only Rayanne's panties twisted, but readers.

Hot, steamy, and suspenseful, Pinard's first book in the Imperfect Heroes series left me wanting more. I can't wait to see what the next book brings!


4 stars

From the corner of my eye, I watched Duke leave the kitchen. After I’d put the meat and sauce into a skillet and stirred it, I added the spices. The water began to boil, so I opened the box and pulled out a handful of stiff spaghetti. I broke it over the sink into thirds, then dumped it into the boiling water, adding a few shakes of salt.
I glanced once again at the doorway to the kitchen and saw Duke was long gone. Biting my lip, I reached up into the cabinet and moved the remaining spices aside. I grinned as my fingers wrapped around the bottle of Jim Beam. Chancing a glance once again at the kitchen entryway, I looked back down at the bottle. I slowly twisted off the metal lid and carefully brought the bottle up to my nose and inhaled – which was quickly followed up by a cough.
Whew, that’s potent stuff! Shouldn’t take more than a shot or two to relax me. This guy, this cabin, this whole entire bizarre situation had me on edge. I just needed a little something to take that edge off.
I searched the cabinets but did not find any shot glasses. I poured a small measure into a beveled green glass that looked like it belonged in the 70s. I stared at the amber liquid for a long time before working up the nerve to take a sip.
A sip! my subconscious teased me. Just shoot it, you wuss.
Lifting my shoulder in a shrug, I tossed back the glass, wincing as the bourbon burned its way down my throat, warming my belly. I slammed the glass on the counter and had to ball up my fist to keep from letting out a whoop at the wonderful burn.
The sizzle of the skillet captured my attention, and I stirred the sauce mixture again, turning down the heat as it was beginning to splatter on the outdated yellow gas cooktop – and me.
The whole damn kitchen was outdated. It looked like my grandmother’s growing up. Yellow and brown linoleum floors, sparkly yellow and silver countertops, mustard-colored appliances. I giggled at the absurdity of this kitchen, hell, this whole cabin, and then hiccupped. Slapping a hand over my mouth, I shook my head at my silliness. Yet, I really wanted another shot of that bourbon.
Just one more.
“Just one more,” I said out loud.
Glancing again toward the kitchen entryway and seeing no Duke, I poured another small amount and quickly shot it back, enjoying the burn.
Smiling, I looked at the boiling noodles, realizing I hadn’t set a timer and now had no idea how long they’d been in the water for. The sauce was most certainly done.
Hiccup.
Cheese! I need cheese. I always make cheesy spaghetti. I get compliments on my cheesy spaghetti!
Opening the fridge door, I stared for a good, long minute, trying to remember why I’d opened the fridge. Then I spotted the bag of already-grated cheese.
“Well, thank the lawrd for pre-grated cheese,” I said, okay I think I slurred, in the most exaggerated Southern accent ever. I already had a slight one, or so I’d been told, but now I just flat-out sounded like my grand-mama from Mobile, Alabama. Bless her heart.
Hiccup.
I set the cheese on the counter and poured more bourbon into the ugly-ass green glass. Was this glass or plastic? I tapped my fingernail against it. Glass. I think. Cool. I grinned.
I slammed the liquid back and quickly placed the glass in the sink. No more. I need to stop.
The water continued to boil. Since I was already practically in her kitchen, I remembered Granny’s advice about spaghetti. So with a shrug, I used the spoon to carefully remove a noodle. I inspected it close up, then, with all my might, I chucked it against the wall behind the stove. It did stick, and I smiled in victory. My pasta was good and cooked.
I turned off the burners to both. As I was about to begin to look for a colander to drain the pasta, a voice made me jump.
“What are you doing?”
Blinking in surprise, I cocked my head to the side and smiled. “Cooking.”
“Why are you throwing pasta?” Duke asked, standing at the entryway to the kitchen looking way too delicious.
“Um?” What was I gonna say? Wait, what was the question?
Fuuuuck it. I’ll just ignore him. I picked up the wooden spoon and stirred the sauce. Wait, what was I doing? I need to drain the pasta. Did this kitchen even have a colander?
I didn’t know, so I just stirred the sauce some more. Suddenly, a warm hand gripped my arm, then spun me around. I was met with stormy blue eyes.
I giggled. “Hi, Cowboy.”
He narrowed those beautiful eyes at me. The dark lashes framing them were just too much. “I asked you a question.”
Furrowing my eyebrows, I said, “What was the question?”
I noticed the wooden spoon was still in my hand and was dripping sauce all over the floor. As if in slow motion, I looked at the drips, then the spoon, and without thinking, I brought it up to my mouth. My tongue snaked out and licked the sauce, from the base to the tip of the spoon while I stared unblinking at Duke, waiting for him to tell me what his question had been.
“Holy fuck,” I heard him whisper, his eyes now fixated on my mouth.
I was suddenly acutely aware of how his hard chest was almost pressed against mine. While one hand still held the spoon, the other reached up. My fingertips grazed his rock-hard pec under his T-shirt. My eyes flicked back up to his.
Before I could register what was happening, his mouth crashed down onto mine, his right arm snaking around my waist and then down to my ass, grabbing it with his strong hands, pushing my body into his.
Wait.
Duke was kissing me. What the hell? He’s not supposed to kiss me! He’s a jerk. I don’t like him. I bit his lip – hard. He pulled himself away from me, his thumb grazing his bottom lip.
“You bit me!” he said, incredulous.
“You kissed me!” I replied, as if I had to remind him.
He stared at me dumbfounded for a few seconds, then said, “You were licking… you were ignoring me when I asked… you were giggling… oh, my God. What the hell is that?”
He reached around me and picked up my bottle of bourbon, holding it up. “Where did you get this, Blondie?”
I shrugged and giggled.
Hiccup.
“My spaghetti’s burning,” was all I said.
Turning my back on him once again I began to rummage through the cabinets for something to drain the pasta in. I grinned as I located a colander and placed it in the sink. Before I could pick up the heavy pot of water and noodles, Duke spun me around and pinned me against the countertop. This time, he pressed his hard body into mine, while shoving the booze bottle into my face.
“Where. Did. You. Get. This?” he asked.
Jerking a thumb behind me at the cabinet in which I was now pressed against, I said with a grin, “In there. You want some?”
It didn’t go unnoticed by me that he was pressing a very hard member of his body against my belly. I kinda liked it though, and began to wonder what he was working with under those jeans.
He sighed and pushed off of me, scrubbing a hand over his beard and storming out of the kitchen with my bottle of contraband in his hand.
I'm a California girl living in land-locked Colorado. Lover of red wine, wearer of fabulous shoes, and a die-hard Niner fan, I'm also an editor at heart. I've written over a dozen books and short stories that contain both contemporary/new adult and paranormal romance that are a little bit badass, a little heart-wrenching, and sorta funny (to me, anyway). Almost all my books usually contain law enforcement or military undertones, since strong, brave, alpha men and women are my weaknesses. When I'm not writing, I can be found working at a very strange day job, which may or may not have some mild influences on my gripping stories - so strange, in fact, I think I'll write a book about it one day.

I'm also a proud member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA).

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Release Day Blitz: Palm South University: Season Two Episode Four by Kandi Steiner

Title: Palm South University: Season Two Episode Four
Author: Kandi Steiner
Release Date: March 29, 2016
Find on Goodreads

Drama. Lies. Sex.

Welcome to Palm South University.

The weather isn’t the only thing heating up in South Florida. At a school where fraternities and sororities don’t exactly play by the rules, relationships are bound to be tested. Parties and sex are definitely key ingredients in the Palm South recipe, but what happens when family issues, secret lives, and unrequited love get tossed in the mix?

Follow Cassie, Bear, Jess, Skyler, Erin, Ashlei, and Adam as they tackle college at a small, private beach town university. Written in television drama form, each episode of this serial will pull you deeper and deeper into the world of PSU.

Where the sun is hot and the clothes are scarce, anything can happen. 
You can also grab the Season One Box Set today!
Tweet as you read using #PalmSouth and join the Facebook Discussion Group here.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, my forehead to hers. She nods, concern still written in her features as I kiss her again. It’s so strange seeing Bo this way, so nervous and unsure. She’s the confident one in the bedroom — commanding, strong. As Alex’s hand snakes its way into my hair and he pulls my mouth from Bo’s to his own, I wonder if he’ll be taking the captain’s chair tonight.
My heart hammers beneath my ribcage as I taste him, new and exotic. Bo’s lips trail down my neck to my cleavage as she palms the space between my thighs. Moaning into Alex’s mouth at the touch, he pops the button on his jeans without breaking our kiss. I hear his zipper next, and then his shorts are on the floor. He kicks them away, just as Bo pulls me from him, her hand tugging at my tank top. I lift my arms and she rips it up and over, tossing it to the side before making quick work of my bra.
It’s almost too much. We’re all hands and mouths — stripping, kissing, touching, stripping more. Somewhere along the way we find the stairs, which lead up to a master bedroom Alex is clearly occupying. The four post bed is built with dark wood and lined with deep red accents that match the comforter Bo and I slide onto easily, feeling the cool fabric against our skin. Alex makes his way between us, propping himself up against the headboard and taking each of us by the waist as we kiss over him.
Bo’s breaths are still shaky, her arms trembling as she holds herself steady on the bed. We’re leaning over Alex, our tongues tangled, while he slowly strokes himself and watches. I massage her tongue with mine, each kiss an attempt to bring her energy back to mine. Just when I have her there, Alex’s hand moves from my waist to behind my thigh. It hovers there for just a moment before I feel his fingers penetrate me, and from Bo’s reaction, his other hand is doing the same to her.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispers between our kisses. I pull back, panting at the feel of Alex’s fingers inside me and how turned on I am by Bo’s kisses.
“You don’t have to do anything to him. Or vice versa. Just focus on me.”
With that, I break contact from Alex and pull Bo with me, rolling over until I’m on my back and Bo’s straddling me. I love the way the skin stretches across her petite hips as she rubs against me, building a friction that will drive her to the edge. Alex takes my cue, moving between my legs and spreading my thighs open to him as I maneuver Bo up my body. When her knees are on either side of my head, I slide my hands down her neck, her arms, until I lace my hands in hers. Placing them on the headboard above us, I curl her fingers, locking them in place.
“Hold on tight,” I whisper, licking my lips.


REVIEW
With so much scandal going on at Palm South, I didn't know what would happen next in the latest episode of PSU! On Spring Break the KKB Girls and Omega Chi boys are stirring up drama, scandal, and intrigue with good times to be had for all. Erin and Ashlei are dealing with the backlash of the decisions that each made and as lovers of everyone in this book, my heart aches for these two! 


Besides the ramifications of Erin and Ashlei's decisions, there is so much drama for everyone in this book  even while they are all trying to enjoying Spring Break to the fullest. There were so many jaw dropping moments that left me thinking "WTF?" and wondering what in the world would happen next.

As always though, Steiner delivered greatness with her unique flair and style and I loved every moment of it! 


5 STARS!
Kandi Steiner is a Creative Writing and Advertising/Public Relations graduate from the University of Central Florida living in Tampa with her husband. Kandi works full time as a social media specialist, but also works part time as a Zumba fitness instructor and blackjack dealer.

Kandi started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic (like most girls brought up on Disney movies).

When Kandi isn’t working or writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys beach days, movie marathons, live music, craft beer and sweet wine – not necessarily in that order.

Release Day Blitz: Hard Ball by CD Reiss




Title: Hardball
Author: CD Reiss
Genre: Contemporary/Sports Romance
 Release Date: March 29, 2016



Blurb

Perfect ass.
Perfect arms.
Perfect swagger.

They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.
He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom.
When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame.
I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season.

Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.
My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.
But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.
Until the night I do. And everything changes.

Hardball is a SMOKING HOT, SEXY romance with a touch of angst and a ton of heart from CD Reiss. It's a fun, witty, full-length standalone meant for the over-eighteen crowd.







Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK
B&N / iBOOKS / GOOGLE PLAY






Praise for Hardball

“Dash Wallace is a dirty talking, sexy professional baseball player who falls hard for the girl next door, but beware... your heart will take a beating as you watch him struggle with sticking to all he's ever known at the risk of losing the best thing that ever happened to him. Hardball is one of those books that will suck you in and won't let you go until you devour every last, juicy bite.”
- Sawyer Bennett, NY Times Bestselling Author

“Fiery hot and enticingly realistic, CD Reiss's captivating writing, complex characters and explosive love scenes make Hard Ball an irresistible modern day romance.”
- Katy Evans, NY Times Bestselling Author

“Delightful, sexy, emotional, exciting, exhilarating. I loved every single second of it! A sports romance with a DASH of kink....it doesn't get any better than that!”
- Shayna Renee's Spicy Reads

“Unexpectedly emotional, beautifully written, and decadently naughty, CD Reiss once again owned me heart and soul. Hardball was an enthralling romance from start to finish!! And I never wanted it to end.”
- Angie and Jessica's Dreamy Reads



Author Bio


CD Reiss is a USA Today bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn't pick up she's at the well hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master's degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere but it did give her a big enough ego to write novels.

She's frequently referred to as the Shakespeare of Smut which is flattering but hasn't ever gotten her out of chopping that cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.



Author Links

Release Blitz: Convergence (Long Shot #3) by Michelle Grey




Title: Convergence
Series: Long Shot #3 
Author: Michelle Grey
Genre: Romantic Suspense
 Release Date: March 29, 2016



Blurb

Nothing comes between Tori Whitlock and her tornado chase season -- not a serial killer, not even the hot FBI agent who’s vowed to save her life. But Detective Jack Mathis plays tough. Ending this case isn’t just his job, it’s his mission. And he finally has the advantage.

He faces Tori’s hostility and objections head-on, interjecting himself into every aspect of her life, and leaving him no time to dwell on his own.

Through the twists and turns of the madman’s game, Tori is forced to adapt to her unwelcome circumstances. Still, she fights Jack's presence, and her attraction to him, as he tries to open doors better left closed.


For Tori and Jack, life and death decisions are part of their jobs. But, can they overcome their pasts and realize that there’s a difference between life and living?





Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK






Also Available


AMAZON US / UK



AMAZON US / UK



Author Bio


Michelle Grey is an avid lover of books, and had always thought that someday she would take up her pen and write romantic suspense. In 2009, Michelle was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer, and she realized that “somedays” aren’t guaranteed. This life changing event motivated Michelle to pursue her dream of becoming an author.

In January of 2013, Michelle released her debut novel, Dangerous Ally.

In September of 2013, the next book in her Long Shot Series, Unspoken Bonds, was published.

Now a cancer survivor, Michelle decided to use her platform to promote awareness of ovarian cancer and its symptoms. In January 2014 she published, Are You Listening: A Personal Journal of an Ovarian Cancer Survivor.

Because it is so important to spread the word, one hundred percent of the proceeds from this $.99 ebook go directly to the Vicki Welsh Ovarian Cancer Fund to support their mission of fighting ovarian cancer through awareness, education, research and support.


Michelle lives in the Midwest with her husband of twenty-eight years and has four amazing and unique children, a wonderful son-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters. Michelle believes that any day that involves family, writing, or reading is a great day, indeed.



Author Links

WEBSITE
GOODREADS



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