Tag Archives: adult fiction

Giveaway – A Seasonal Song by Dan Shaskin & Deb Wesloh @XpressoTours

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A Seasonal Song
Dan Shaskin, Deb Wesloh
Publication date: March 21st 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Discover love and music in the sultry streets of Miami with “A Seasonal Song.”

Clarissa Bianchi, a talented violinist, lands her dream internship with the Miami Orchestra, but little does she know that she will also discover the love of her life. Jack Williams, a rugged rock guitarist with a broken heart, meets Clarissa and is instantly drawn to her beauty and passion for music. Despite their different musical backgrounds, their mutual love for music brings them together on a journey filled with passion, growth, and unforgettable memories.

As the summer draws to a close, Clarissa and Jack must navigate their intense feelings for each other and determine if their love is strong enough to withstand the distance between Miami and Boston. Will their hearts play a different song, or will the romance come to an end?

“A Seasonal Song” is a love story that will leave you humming a sweet tune long after you turn the last page.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Current Year

Clarissa gazed at the horizon as she sat on the beach. The breeze provided little relief from the oppressive heat and humidity. Her cotton shirt clung to the contours of her body as sweat dripped down the back of her neck. The wind and humidity disheveled her long brunette hair.

She paused and whispered under her breath. “Here I am, again. Back in Miami.”

They say history repeats itself. From her perspective, she concurred.

So much heartache, so much love, and such beautiful memories. The smell of the ocean brought a tear to her eye. The tear slowly trickled down her cheek, dropping from her chin into the ocean.

She smiled as she thought of her last summer in Miami. Some would categorize it as a summer fling, but the passion and intense emotions they shared were real.

Jack was twenty-seven and designed custom yachts. She was twenty-one, a sophomore at Berklee College of Music. An unlikely pair, but perhaps their paths collided for a reason.

She strolled to the water’s edge. The sand stuck to her feet, leaving deep imprints on the beach. The waves crashed against her legs, throwing her slightly off balance. She steadied herself as she walked back to her towel.

Her mind drifted back to her job last summer at the Purple Penguin Café. Where it all began.

As she remembered when she first met Jack, her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing became slightly labored.

Last summer at 6:30 p.m. on June 25th Jack walked into The Purple Penguin. She chided her silliness for remembering the exact date and time, but she did, and the memory was as crisp as if it had happened yesterday.

Last year

All teal chairs and tables were occupied at the eclectic-furnished café. Loud conversations inundated the room.

Several people waved, trying to get her attention. She was exhausted, and her feet ached. She wished her shift would end.

As she served a table, he entered the café and waited to be seated.

A table soon opened, and the hostess assigned him to her section. She finished serving her current table and approached him, greeting him warmly.

“Hi. My name is Clarissa. What can I get for you?”

His warm brown eyes glanced up from the menu and met hers. “Hi, nice to meet you, Clarissa.”

It surprised her to hear her name. Although she always introduced herself, the customers rarely repeated her name.

“What’s in that silver penguin shaker thing I saw you take to the other table?”

“Shake Your Penguin, our signature cocktail. It’s a mix of Absolut Vodka, pomegranate juice, lime soda, and berries. It’s very popular and tastes great. I should know. I’ve sampled a few of them.” She winked and laughed.

He smiled. “I’ll take your word for it. Let’s start with one of those Shaky Penguin things.”

She returned a few minutes later with his drink.

He took a sip. “Wow, this is good!” Jack continued. “Listening to your accent, you don’t seem to be from around here. Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want.”

Clarissa laughed, “It’s okay. The short answer is, I’m from everywhere.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Well, when I was growing up, I was an Army brat. Between the ages of two and nineteen, I lived in eight states, and three years in Stuttgart, Germany.”

Jack smiled at her. “Sie müssen dann fließend Deutsch sprechen?”

Clarissa smiled. “Yes, I speak German, but fluent is an exceptionally strong word. Let’s just say I can converse in German with few errors.”

She found him intriguing. Perhaps it was the warm manner he talked to her. She calculated he was slightly older than her, maybe in his late twenties. He had a sincere smile and kind eyes.

“Most of our clientele are tourists and stay at the Purple Penguin Hotel next door,” she said. “We don’t get many locals. Are you from around here?”

“I’m originally from Boerne, Texas, just northwest of San Antonio. I’ve lived in Miami for five years. A business client is staying at the Penguin Hotel. I just dropped him off, saw the restaurant, and here I am. Never been here before.”

“How’d you get from Texas to Miami Beach?” she asked.

“I’ve always loved the ocean. Growing up, I spent my weekends in Aransas Pass hanging out on the beach. I’m experienced in construction, saw an opening in Miami, and here I am.”



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Cover Reveal – In The Moment During by C G Coppola @XpressoTours

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In The Moment During
C.G. Coppola
(The Coyote And The Claw Companion Series, #2)
Publication date: June 23rd 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Urban Fantasy

After an unexpected hookup, I end up dating Grayson Knight—my former mortal enemy. We still argue constantly, and I’m sure we’ll break up at some point, but after a family dinner goes well with Dad—the city’s Police Sergeant—I have hope.

Then I start noticing things. Like how Grayson gets called away at odd times, or how skilled he is with gymnastics. Then there was the fight at school—the one where he dominated his opponent. None of it seems important until we’re attacked by a monstrous creature—and Grayson springs into action. It’s almost like he knows what to do…like he’s done it before.

Knowing something is off, I confront him about his unusual behavior, but he dismisses it. Not satisfied, I decide to discover the truth for myself. Because Grayson has a secret—and I’m going to find out what.

Pre-order


Author Bio:

C.G. Coppola is the author of the sci-fi adventure series, Arizal Wars, and the contemporary romance series, Better Than This. In addition to stories that explore magic and the paranormal, she writes realistic fiction set in fantastical universes, usually with a lot of kissing. Married with two fur-babies she spoils rotten, C.G. Coppola lives in Florida where she grew up and attended college. When not writing, she can be found decorating the house, bantering with her husband, or dancing to Meghan Trainor–sometimes all at once.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram


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Giveaway – Call Sign: King by Livia Grant @XpressoTours

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Call Sign: King
Livia Grant
Publication date: May 8th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

He got cocky. Let his guard down.

Now the love of his life is paying the price.

For a moment he’d forgotten there were men who wanted him dead. Men who lived their lives in the dark, who could reach out of the shadows he used to live in, and he’d been naive to think the light inside her would keep her safe.

She was too bright to hide away though, made for the spotlight, and he’d felt warmer just by being near her… then everything went cold so fast.

In a breath she was gone, in the hands of his enemies, and he’d seen first hand what happened to women who crossed paths with the Volkov Bratva. They’d touch her, hurt her. She’d be afraid, suffering.

All because of him. All in the name of vengeance.

But that was their mistake, because in the maddening darkness her absence has put him in, a beast was sleeping… and they woke him up. Now everyone will pay.

Black Sky Ops – Danger for Hire

This network of global mercenaries stay in the shadows, going on the impossible missions no one else will take. The elite soldiers of Black Sky Ops aren’t afraid to break the rules as long as it’s for the greater good — and the paycheck is high enough. But sometimes the line between right and wrong gets blurry, especially when protecting the people they love.

Note: The Black Sky Ops series is made up of full length novels with no cliffhangers and guaranteed happily-ever-afters. Each book is a standalone and the series can be read in any order.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

It was on the sideline of the theater he literally bumped into Trevor — the only other man on the planet he felt confident leaving his wife’s safety too.

“That was one of her best performances,” Trevor said. “I knew when they were filming last year it was special.”

“Yeah. She better damn well win this year.”

“She will,” Trevor said sounding as proud as Ryder felt. “And while she deserves it, each notch she raises on the ladder of fame makes our job just that much harder.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Ryder groused, as aggravated today as he had been four years before by the impossible love match between an international celebrity and a deep-cover agent. “As much as I love being here with her tonight, I can’t shake the feeling that it was a mistake to come.”

Ryder tried not to share his fears with Khloe, but he hid nothing from Trevor McLean, his queen’s Royal Guard.

“Your contacts at the CIA gave you a clean report last month, right?”

“Just because the Volkov’s have been wounded, I’ll never count them out — not until Alexi runs them into the ground for good.”

Just thinking about his last mission in Russia before he burned his cover put him on edge.

“You said yourself he’s a weak leader compared to his dead cousins. But if he’s still a threat, why not just have BSO take him out?”

Trevor asked a question Ryder had found himself contemplating more often these days.

He sighed. “Because killing him would be just another ‘whack a mole’ mission as the team likes to say. Someone new would take his place… maybe even someone worse. At least I know him — understand how he thinks. And anyway, the Volkovs are just one of a dozen crime families that would love to see me six-feet under. I can’t very well take hits out on all of them,” Ryder groused, never taking his eyes off his beaming wife.

“Why not?” Trevor asked.

It was a simple enough question, and in all honesty, it was a solution he had the means and resources to pull off.

“I guess because despite all of the fucked up shit I’ve done, my moral compass has always pointed squarely in the good-guy direction. Voluntarily taking out dozens of marks I haven’t interacted with in years just so I can get a better night’s sleep seems like a slippery slope.”

“I get that, and even respect that, but at the end of the day, they’re the bad guys — not you. And certainly not Khloe. I love seeing her this happy. You being here made that happen.”

Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Livia Grant lives in Chicago with her husband and furry rescue dog named Max. She is fortunate to have been able to travel extensively and as much as she loves to visit places around the globe, the Midwest and its changing seasons will always be home. Livia’s readers appreciate her riveting stories filled with deep, character driven plots, often spiced with elements of BDSM.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Giveaway – Of Blood And Light by C Monk @XpressoTours

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Of Blood and Light
C. Monk
Publication date: April 30th 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Arthurian legend, bodice-ripping, and capybaras: welcome to Thule.

A girl with a secret . . .
In the back of an ambulance, River Greer counts each breath her little sister takes until the final one: Sage’s body is giving up, ravaged by a mysterious illness. The late-night rush to the ER, however, turns into a surreal nightmare when River is abducted and ferried across the universe to the fabled Thule: a world beyond worlds, where Victorian mores collide with magic and Arthurian legend.

. . . meets a knight on a mission to save his world.
There, his grace Hadrian Landevale of Caid is fighting losing battles of his own: to recover Isolde, his runaway wife, and against the blight that threatens the ichor, the source of all life on Thule. To add insult to injury, the captured fugitive Thule pathfinders just brought back from Earth is not his duchess but an eerie doppelgänger.
When it becomes clear that someone on Thule will go to any length to silence River, Hadrian offers his protection to this enchanting, obstinate stranger . . . whose secrets might be the key to saving Thule’s most precious treasure: the light in its blood.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

“I have a lot more questions than you,” I murmur, tracking the movements of a pair of lone figures across the lawn. A man in farm clothes and a woman wearing some sort of maid outfit carry buckets and packages from a carriage stationed on a gravel path. They mill around, seemingly unbothered by the fractured moon and massive misty planet looming over their heads.

By the time the two strangers disappear, I realize Hadrian is still supporting me, one arm curled over the front of my torso while the other rests around my waist. I cautiously pry myself from his hold. He lets go and takes a step back, allowing some salutary distance between us. “What is this place?”

“Thule,” he reasserts.

“I heard you the first time, but that’s not what I’m asking.” I stagger away from the windows, unable to tear my gaze from the foreign sky outside. “Are we in space?”

One of his eyebrows rises a fraction. “Miss Greer, everything is, by essence, in space.”

“Are we in space elsewhere than on Earth? Like . . . how far?” I urge, desperate for tangible facts to hold on to as I plummet down this rabbit hole.

He motions to the evil chair he used to trap me earlier. “You seem quite overtaxed; would you like to take a seat?”

I shake my head to signal I’m never sitting in that thing again. “How far?”

“We’re approximately two hundred and ninety light-years away from Earth.”

A tremor snakes up my legs; I grip one of the bedposts for support. “How is that . . . No. No. It’s not possible.”

“The paths connect our worlds, as they have since the very first breath of time. The Dekwenn Tīrr, through which Eliud ferried you, is one such path. That is how you came to be here.”

“But it only took a second!” I shriek, the chaos of my thoughts coalescing into something cold and dark. Was it truly a second, or have I been asleep in that bright void for years and lost everything?

“Time and space are quite altered within the paths,” he notes.

“What do you mean? How long have I been here?”

He pulls a gold pocket watch from his waistcoat, flicks it open, and checks the dial. “Slightly over six hours.”

My initial rush of relief becomes a leaden sensation in the pit of my stomach as I recall the twisted physics of Miller’s planet in Interstellar—where severe time dilation caused by a neighboring black hole turns every hour into seven years.

“How long has it been on Earth?” Please let it not be forty-two years. Please.

A crease forms between his eyebrows. “The same amount of time, one should expect.”

“Exactly the same? So six hours? A quarter of a day?”

“A tenth, rather,” he corrects. Seeing my face scrunch in confusion, then panic, he adds, “While I’ve never had the privilege of visiting Earth, it is my understanding that solar days there are quite short.”

One-tenth . . . I whip my neurons into action and do the math, the room spinning around me as I process this new level of weird. “Sixty hours. Your solar days last sixty hours.”

“Indeed. It is past midday—” He checks his watch again. “Precisely thirty-two o’clock.”

“Give or take a light-year.”

“As I’ve already explained to you, the rules of time and space do not apply within the paths. Nothing does, in truth,” he adds, like an afterthought.

The room is warm, but I’m trembling, freezing. “I can’t be here. Please let me go home. Take me back through one of those paths!”

The lines bracketing his mouth deepening as he turns to face me once more. “I cannot.”

His earlier conversation with Eliud rings back in my ears: under arrest for the illegal crossing of an unregistered path . . . crimes for which even the wife of a knight must be held accountable.

“You can’t because it’s forbidden even to you.”

A single nod from him. “All paths have been strictly regulated for centuries. Only pathfinders are permitted to cross them freely. Thule’s legislation on the matter is enforced with the greatest severity.”

Centuries. That might explain why Thule hasn’t yet caught up with Earth’s latest fashion and tech and, instead, appears suspended in this weird Victorian bubble. “How severe are we talking?”

“Death.”

Author Bio:

Visit camillamonk.com for signed books, updates on upcoming titles, free reads, and giveaways.

C. Monk grew up in a Franco-American family and rose to dubious fame with a romantic suspense series starring an OCD-ridden hitman and a wide array of strange and occasionally angry animals. These days she shares her writing time between high-octane adventures in the same vein and fantasy, her secret love (but with weird animals, too.)

In another life, she lived in Paris and Tokyo, and spent ten years in advertising, building rickety websites for M&A boutiques and hedge funds. All of that somehow landed her in Montréal, where she keeps a close watch on the squirrels and complains on a daily basis about the egregious number of Tim Hortons.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram


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Giveaway – Mother Knows Worst by Sofia Bella Roman @ireadbooktours

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Book Details:

Book Title:  Mother Knows Worst by Sofia Bella Roma
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  280 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction, Novel
Publisher:  Mascot Books
Release date:  December 2022
Content Rating:  PG -13 
Pinnacle Award Winner!
“Author Sofia Bella Roma tells an absorbing story about two people from very different backgrounds falling in love and struggling to navigate the circumstances and people around them. Infusing romance, humor, and plenty of drama, Roma weaves an engaging narrative that keeps hold of the reader until the last page. Mother Knows Worst is not just a dramatic comedy but also a novel that showcases the challenges people sometimes face in adapting to other cultures, especially in relationships involving in-laws. The characters have their own idiosyncrasies, which make them very intriguing to read. Rose and Anil’s dynamic feels genuine, as do their respective struggles and conflicts. Recommended to readers who savor drama novels revolving around relationships.” – Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers’ Favorite

“A lively, thought-provoking journey into one young woman’s marriage, cross-cultural encounters, and life. Mother Knows Worst is recommended not just for novel readers seeking stories of women’s experiences, but for reading groups interested in the psychological entanglements between different cultures and generations.” – Reviewed by Midwest Book Reviews
Book Description:

After trying her hand at acting, Rose decides to change career paths and enter law school.

She enrolls in law school in a sleepy New England town, only to find that the practice of law is not all she will study. This quirky thirty-something Italian girl falls in love when she lays eyes on Anil, a handsome intellectual from India. The two discover a deep connection and quickly begin a romantic relationship. What could go wrong as their romance blossoms? Their future looks bright. They have each other. They have great friends. They also have Anil’s mother. Inspired by true events, Mother Knows Worst is a humorous and heartfelt novel. Rose is on a path to finding herself, love, and relationships, taking the reader on a delightful and often comedic journey as she explores two cultural worlds colliding.
BUY THE BOOK:
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add to goodreads

Meet the Author:

Sofia Bella Roma is a lawyer in North Carolina. She has been practicing law since 2009. She was first licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and then went on to become licensed attorney in North Carolina. Sofia has spent most of her career telling stories. She regularly performs to judges when litigating her cases. Mother Knows Worst is Sofia’s debut novel. This book tackles common problems in relationships and takes on mother-in-law drama with a quirky point of view. Sofia knows firsthand about difficult relationships since she has been practicing law as a divorce attorney. She currently lives with her son and their pet lizard. She has a love for the arts and enjoys making people laugh.

Enter the Giveaway:


MOTHER KNOWS WORST Book Tour Giveaway




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Giveaway – Undertaking Love by Megan Montgomery @XpressoTours

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Undertaking Love
Megan Montgomery
Publication date: April 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Bethany West upgraded her lucrative career as a sex worker for her dream job as a death worker when she partnered at Smythe & Co. Mortuary. She expected her eco-friendly innovations and death positive attitude to blow the roof off the Victorian-era relic. But that was seven months ago, and during that time, she’s only managed to piss off her embittered business partner, George Smythe, a man dead set on maintaining the status quo and driving Bethany out of his namesake business.

When the pair reluctantly travel together to a mortuary conference in New Orleans—and compete in dueling embalming demonstrations—George finally recognizes the value of Bethany’s business model for the first time. He’s also starting to recognize a growing attraction to his blonde bombshell business partner. Meanwhile, Bethany learns the truth behind George’s cold contempt, and it’s much worse than she thought, stemming not from a single incident, but from the constant on-call status, the compassion fatigue, and the overwhelming stress of the job.

Bethany has 4 days to crack open his tough outer shell to reveal the compassionate man she knows is inside, and she has a plan, but unless George learns to open his heart and lean on her, at the risk of succumbing to their cremation-level attraction in a dangerous way, he’ll jeopardize both the business and their hearts by refusing the true partnership they both need.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT

Bethany

My body was broken.

I blinked hard to lubricate my eyes, struggling to stay awake behind the wheel. The vent blasted tepid air into my face, trying its damnedest to desiccate my skin and sabotage the efforts of my latest hyaluronic acid injections.

My stomach churned from too much coffee and too little sleep.

A sweat broke out under my arms and boobs.

Great. Now I could smell all that coffee excreting from my pores and ruining my favorite silk blouse.

I glanced at the man in the passenger seat.

George’s pores were looking perfectly dry, as usual. He wouldn’t think of sweating, even from the most strenuous effort.

I’d seen him pull a rotund, decomposing man out of that impossible space between the toilet and the bathtub and plop him on a mortuary cot in an un-air-conditioned, third-floor apartment in the middle of August without breaking a sweat.

The man never had a hair out of place, was never not freshly shaven, and he never forgot to button his suit jacket when he stood, or unbutton it when he sat.

And he was a consummate professional—as long as you didn’t work with him.

And as long as your name wasn’t Bethany West.

I breathed in a lungful of stale air. Even now, in the mortuary van, George managed to smell fresh, yet intensely masculine. The faintest notes of sandalwood and citrus wafted toward me as he fiddled with his ear, pushing his earbud deeper in.

I suspected he wasn’t listening to anything producing actual sound; the earbuds were just a tactic to try to keep me from making “unnecessary” conversation.

I was almost too tired to care.

I stifled a yawn, hoping he wouldn’t catch it.

He did, of course.

I saw the tick of his jaw from the corner of my eye. Glaring at the screen of the laptop balanced on his crossed legs, his flexed fingers hovering over the keyboard, a ballpoint pen clutched in his teeth.

I’d never seen the man smile except for a wince-like approximation of the real thing, and he saved that stingy expression for our clients.

After an entire life spent in the trenches of the funeral business, his handsome face was permanently etched into a show of bland sympathy—except when he scowled in contempt.

That expression was reserved exclusively for me.


Author Bio:

Megan Montgomery writes romance. Sometimes they’re funny. Sometimes they’re morbid, but all her characters have cool jobs. She and her husband, Johnathon Olavarria co-host Forced Proximity podcast, a weekly romance book and movie club.

Her debut novel, Well . . . THAT Was Awkward was inspired by her homesickness for southern Maryland. She now lives halfway across the US on the prairie with her husband, son, and mom.

When she’s not writing, reading, lifting weights, or cooking dinners her son won’t eat, you’ll find her toiling in the garden or brewing potions from her medicinal herbs.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub


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Giveaway – Stay With Me by Tam DeRudder Jackson @XpressoTours

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Stay For Me
Tam DeRudder Jackson
(The Balefire Series, #5)
Publication date: April 27th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Garrett

I’ve made a few mistakes over the last decade, but the one I regret most was letting Olivia Carter go. When I see her again, the past crashes over me, reminding of everything I ever wanted and gave up when I let our dreams separate us.

Managing Balefire into the world’s biggest rock band came at a personal cost—walking away from my only love. When fate brings her back into my life, I’m determined not to screw up again. After Balefire hires her studio to produce their next music video, I have a second chance to rewrite our song—if I can convince her I’m a changed man.

Olivia

Ten years ago, Garrett Phillips chose to go with “his boys” and leave me in the dust of a ratty old tour bus. Now I’m working my ass off to make a name for myself as a Hollywood music video director. Unfortunately, my fledgling studio is bleeding money, and my only hope of saving it is to make a video with the biggest rock band on the planet. Too bad that means working with the man who tore my heart out of my chest when he chose his rock ’n’ roll dream over me.

He says he’s grown up. He says we can make things work. But can I truly trust that this time he will stay for me?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

Garrett’s nostrils flared, and he shifted on his stool. His eyes remained locked on mine as he slid his headphones from his head and set them aside. Cursing the tiny tremor in my hands, I removed my headphones and set them somewhere on the control board beside me.

“Olivia.”

My name on his lips rasped over me like calloused hands over my skin. Involuntary shivers rippled through me, and I clamped my thighs even tighter together.

I stopped whatever he wanted to say next with my finger pressed to his full lips. For a long moment, neither of us moved. Then he reached up and smoothed his fingers up my palm and higher along the length of my fingers. His eyes dipped to our hands. Though we barely touched, sensations like electric currents sparked every nerve, beginning in my hand and arcing up my arm to trip my heart nearly into arrhythmia. My breath caught as he slid his fingers through mine, up and down, up and down, before he twined our hands together with a gentle squeeze. I closed my eyes and worked to find some air.


Author Bio:

Tam DeRudder Jackson’s love of all things Celtic led her to write the Talisman Series. Steeped in Celtic mythology, these steamy, fated mates, paranormal romance adventures are set in the mountains of Tam’s native Montana and the Highlands of Scotland. Rogue, the most recent book in the series, was named a best romance of 2022 by the Independent Book Review.

An avid fan of rock music, Tam never misses a chance to see a live show, especially if it’s Shinedown, one of her favorite bands. Her love of rock music inspired her contemporary rock star Balefire Series, a sexy fun ride following the lives and loves of the members of a fictional mega-band. Readers of this series consistently give the books five-star reviews.

Tam earned her BA in English from Montana State University and her M.Ed. in literacy from Lesley University. After a short teaching stint in Bath, England, she settled in the wilds of Wyoming where she taught adolescents all about the Celts and a bit about writing before she stepped out of the classroom to pursue her writing career full time.

When she’s not writing, you can find her working her way through her mountainous TBR piles, alpine skiing, or traveling to some new place on her ever-expanding bucket list. To stay up to date on her adventures, connect with Tam on her website www.tamderudderjackson where you can subscribe to her newsletter.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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Giveaway – Alaska Blaze by Lolo Paige @XpressoTours @LoloPaigeAuthor

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Alaska Blaze
LoLo Paige
(Blazing Hearts Wildfire Series, #3)
Publication date: April 30th 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

Can an Alaskan firestorm lead to true love under a midnight sun?

Alaskan firefighter Raynie Atwood thinks she know what she wants—until a walking encyclopedia disguised as a hotshot firefighter storms into her life. Grieving loss and betrayal by the man she once loved, Raynie sets her sights on a top command post for wildland fire. But when an extended drought, a high heat, and beetle-killed forests add up to the perfect firestorm, Raynie’s leadership is put to the test.

To add fuel to the fire, Cohen Tremblay tests Raynie at every turn as she works to save sled dogs and Iditarod mushers dog kennels in a deadly Alaskan conflagration…and to make matters worse, a deadly threat from Raynie’s past has her fearing for her life.
But when Raynie’s world goes up in flames, Cohen may be the only one Raynie can rely on…hard to do when she no longer trusts any man, let alone a bullish co-worker. Instead, she constructs a rock-solid containment line around her heart. But fire is unpredictable, and so is love. Will their chance for love be snuffed before it ignites?

Romance, fire, and betrayal…another deadly mix!

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

Saving himself and these dogs would be a tricky maneuver. Cohen had no time to lose. Ash and embers scorched his tongue as if the devil was licking it. Hot air pressed down on him. He couldn’t swallow—no saliva.

I’m out of time! Time to deploy my fire shelter. How will I fit three adult dogs, me, and a sack load of puppies inside my shelter?

Cohen stuck the neck of the burlap sack in his teeth, as he couldn’t set the puppies down in the water. He reached behind and retrieved his fire shelter. He tugged it from the case, yanked the cords, and shook it out.

“Rooby! Wacko! Come here!” he commanded, spitting around the burlap clenched in his teeth. The terrified dogs sidled in next to him, and he crouched down, spreading the fire shelter over them. He tied the end of Madonna’s rope around the neck of the sack and draped it around his neck, so the sack hung on his left side. As long as Madonna sat in front of him and wouldn’t bolt, this might work. He wrapped a corner of the shelter around Rooby and another around Wacko and held the corners with each hand.

This has to work. He had no other choice. They couldn’t outrun this fast-moving wildfire. He tasted ash, a bitter mixture of wood and dirt. The fire bellowed like a savage dragon, hellbent to destroy in the blink of an eye what took decades to grow and mature.

Don’t panic! Keep it together. If I panic, the dogs will, and we’ll all go up in smoke.

Cohen held the shelter down over the dogs and himself as best he could, pressing the dogs close to him. Flames swept the clearing from all directions, obliterating all sound except their tornadic roar. Crouching low in the water, he did his best to keep the puppies above the boggy surface—and prayed the dogs wouldn’t panic and run—or they’d all die.

A dog barked; Cohen didn’t know who. Another yipped and cried. Madonna howled and Cohen felt her tense and brace, as if ready to run. “Whoa, Madonna, whoa Madonna…” He didn’t know how many times he repeated the husky’s name as the raging fire whipped around them. The natural water barrier certainly helped, but the winds tore at his shelter. He gripped it so tight he worried his hands would cramp and lose their hold. Despite his layers of protective Nomex, heat encased his fire shelter and pierced him as if he was the delicacy cooking on a closed outdoor grill.

The hot destructive flames licked at the very edges of his shelter. He prayed it wouldn’t melt and collapse on him. A burning tree crashed into the bog in front of them, and Madonna yelped. The husky yanked away from their huddle, and Cohen watched helplessly as the sled dog bolted, jerking the burlap sack from around his neck and dragging the bundle of puppies through the water—straight toward the destructive flames.

Author Bio:

LoLo Paige is an award-winning author and former wildland firefighter whose debut novel, Alaska Spark, has received several awards for best indie romance. Her second book, Alaska Inferno, was a finalist for best indie romance in the 2022 Kindle Book Review Awards.

LoLo writes strong female firefighters and hunky smokejumpers who battle wildland fire in Alaska. She loves writing about the trust, friendships, and pitfalls of falling in love in the action-packed, perilous world of wildfire in her action adventure romances in The Blazing Hearts Wildfire Series. The characters in her stories are battling more than just fires, they’re struggling to stay alive—and they’re willing to risk it all for love.

Alaska Spark and Alaska Inferno have ranked No.1 on the Amazon Bestseller Lists for action adventure and romantic suspense in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The true story about LoLo’s fire crew escaping a runaway wildfire won an Alaska Press Club award and inspired her debut novel, Alaska Spark. The third book in her wildland fire series, Alaska Blaze, drops this spring.

In addition to her action-adventure romance firefighter series, LoLo also writes romantic suspense thrillers and romantic comedies. Other books under her romance umbrella are, Hello Spain, Goodbye Heart, a recently released travel romance, and Irish Thunder, to be released later in 2023, by The Wild Rose Press.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Twitter


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Giveaway – Witches and Walk Ins by Tammy Tyree @XpressoTours

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Witches & Walk-In’s
Tammy Tyree
(A Castle Point Witch Series, #1)
Publication date: April 28th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal

Betty Burke has just awakened from a long coma, but there’s a problem; she’s not Betty.

Whip-smart Hypnotherapist Alexandra Heale leads a double life. A natural-born witch, she lives under a death sentence, with a cauldron full of secrets.

When she tries to help Betty; a woman possessed by a traumatized spirit, Alex finds herself under attack – and in danger of being exposed.

Against her better judgment, she enlists the help of Deputy Sheriff Blake Sheraton, a man she’s sworn to hate, with dark secrets of his own – if only he could keep her secrets and ignore his pledge to uphold an evil law.

The paranormal world of demons & spirits is about to descend on peaceful Castle Point, and only one witch can stop the unthinkable.

Even if it costs her life.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Betty

The cool air tickled my arms. Tiny hairs rose with the gooseflesh. Small mounds of pimpled thermometers popped up over my arms, chest, and neck.

I heard a beeping sound, faint at first, then slowly it became louder and closer. The scent of cleanser assaulted me, harsh and chemical.

My eyes stayed firmly shut as if glued at the seam, or tiny weights held the lids down. My breath came in rhythmic, even bursts.

What was that in my mouth? My tongue wiggled and slammed against the hard plastic. I couldn’t taste anything other than stale, rotting breath, but I could tell something was firmly lodged in my mouth.

What the hell was it?

Why was it there?

I forced my eyes open a fraction. Moonlight filtered through the splintered cracks of my heavy lids and shattered against my eyes. Too bright! I closed them again, only long enough for my tongue to push up against the plastic in my mouth.

I could feel it now, not just in my mouth, but going down my throat. A swell of panic ran from my toes to my nose. I wanted to gag.

Spurred by the beeping beside me, louder now, my eyes flew open. I tried to sit up. I couldn’t move. I laid back against the softness of what must be a bed and peered around the room.

A hospital room.

I felt a heaviness as if underwater, the weight of my arms, legs, and chest making it difficult to see or breathe. The scent of cleanser pierced the back of my nose as I tried to breathe.

What was that thing in my mouth and down my throat? I forced my eyes to open wider, but they burned and felt gritty like someone had sprinkled fine sand under the lids. I blinked several times to clear the grit. My eyes took a while to adjust.

I looked down and saw a tube coming out of my mouth. My heart rate sped up. The beeping beside me kept pace as it beat faster and faster.

Why did I wake up in a hospital?

Was I in an accident?

The beeping sped up again, fast enough to send a wail of high-pitched signals through my room and into the adjoining hallway.

The large door burst open, startling me, which made the beeping speed up yet again. A nurse with short dark hair, dark-circled eyes, wearing pink scrubs with multicolored cartoon puppies on her shirt rushed in.

“Betty! Oh my god, she’s awake!” she practically screamed, to whom I couldn’t imagine. I assumed she was talking about me, however, as she leaped to the beeping machine and pressed a button to stop the noise.

Much better.

But… Betty?

Was that my name?


Author Bio:

Demons, witches and ghosts – oh my!

Tammy (she/her) writes about what she knows – ghosts, hauntings, entities, witches, demonology and the paranormal!

A Clinical Hypnotherapist, Tammy infuses; tales from her actual case files of demonic possession and entity attachment with her knowledge of ancient demonic lore and witchcraft into artfully woven fiction and memoir.

Her upcoming ‘Castle Point Witch Series’ is due to release in early 2023 and promises to be full of paranormal goodness.

Her memoir ‘Dead Men Still Snore’ is a page-turning, award-winning true story of love, loss and channelling her husband’s messages from the other side.

Visit https://tammytyree.com/ for more info about Tammy, her work and to receive updates for future books!

Happy reading!

Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok


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Giveaway – We Are All Villains Here by Quinn Blackbird @XpressoTours

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We Are All Villains Here
Quinn Blackbird
Publication date: July 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Romance, Thriller

From the author of the DARK FAE comes this *dark slasher romance* in vein of our beloved 90s Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Sailors Bay has a bit of a problem… a serial killer problem.

What should be a sleepy old fishing town—a place so silent and forgotten that it slips off the map—has murder in the air and secrets poisoning the heart of the town.
Here… no one is safe when a masked killer starts terrorising the town.

Blood Hood is coming after them: Billie—from the wrong side of the tracks—and her friends… The ones who have a deadly secret of their own, one they kept for seven years… a dark secret that Blood Hood seems to know all about.

One by one, Blood Hood hunts them down to avenge the murder that started it all.

And Billie finds herself running from Blood Hood as well as the love of her life and ex, Dalton.

With slashed-up bodies piling up all over, Billie flees more than a masked killer… Dalton hunts her to every corner of Sailors Bay, intent on stealing her back… whether she wants him to or not.

Love is meant to flourish. Poison corrupts.
Poison is all I know.

We are all villains here….

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Preston’s lashes lower over coal-black eyes. His pink upper lip curls as he rounds on her.

Billie just watches him.

Her eyes are dead… or they should be, because that’s how she feels inside… but then she feels the warmth of a tear run down her cheek.

She doesn’t so much as swat at the tear.

It’s too late to try and hide it. He’s seen it—his gaze shifts to her cheek for a mere millisecond before he comes to a stop in front of her.

Her back presses a tad harder against the refrigerator as his hand presses against it, right next to her head. “So,” he repeats, towering over her, “why don’t you start telling me the truth, Billie? You owe me that.”

Billie’s lips twitch with a smirk.

Liquid courage? Pushing him away? She doesn’t know anymore.

And yet—

She smirks. “I don’t owe you shit, you rich entitled—”

It happens too fast for her to see it coming. But in a blink, his hand pulls back from the fridge, clenches into a fist, then smashes right into that same spot, right next her head.

Billie flinches. “What the fu—”

“You owe me everything!” he shouts down at her.

In this moment, his want to break her, it was more than a passing craving, a fleeting urge. Rather it was surging up inside of him, blood boiling and crashing like furious waves, an all-consuming need.

She could read it in his blazing eyes.

He adds darkly, “And I owe you everything I fucking have, you selfish bitch, you good-for-nothing alky.”

Her eyes widen, turn wild with the same rage that snarls her lips. If he braces himself for rotten, rancid words aimed his way, then he braces himself wrong.

Billie jerks her head forward—not with a headbutt, with a spit.

She spits right at him, and the gloss of it catches his cheek.

Preston’s lashes lower, his eyes shut.

He’s still for a beat, a statue with a fist pushing into the refrigerator door, his other hand fisted at his side, and a wad of spit on his cheek.

He lifts his hand.

Slowly, he opens his eyes—and looks right into her fucking soul with the kinda promises, the kinda threats that only the devil can make.

This time, she can’t fight her tremble. It runs up her spine, but she lifts her chin and meets his stare dead-on.

Bring it.

Instead, he touches his fingers to the spit… He wipes it away in one swift move, then brings it to his mouth.

Their eyes stay locked.

Her jaw tenses—

And he licks his fingertips.

Billie and Preston have had fights before. Some real nasty shit. Wouldn’t be a lie to say she’s hit him with a vase or two before. Or tried to clip him with her truck.

Some real nasty shit, she’s never denied that.

But never… never before… has she been afraid of him.

Not like this.

She swallows, hard. A lump in her throat, swelling. Tears in her defiant eyes, flowing.

Billie flinches with a yelp—

Preston snatches her by the neck.

With one hand, he pins her against the refrigerator. His body shoves against hers, his other hand grabbing the meat of her thigh, hard. Her skin screams in protest, but before she can utter a word, he’s hiking her leg over his hip and crashing his mouth down on hers.

Her shout is muffled, almost silenced, by his mouth. A kiss that tastes of her tears and his rage—of their poison.

A poison she’s so fucking addicted to.

Teeth aching, and the back of her head pulsating against the hard, dented refrigerator, Billie hits out at him. One hard fist to the side of his head.

It doesn’t stop him. He only shoves her up the cold door, off the floor, and his mouth twists against hers.

“I fucking hate you,” he growls and—hand abandoning her thigh—reaches down for her pajama shorts. With a single tug, he rips them apart, between her legs, right at her core.

And jolts of electricity fire through her.

Billie gasps something breathy into his mouth.

Tell me again.

Tell me how much you hate me.

Tell me anything but love.

Author Bio:

Quinn Blackbird is a dog-mum, full-time cog in the machine and full-time book lover.

When not writing and daydreaming, Quinn is snuggling on the couch with her three doggos.

If her love of literature could be matched, it would be by film.

Ask her about her list of underrated films… you’ll be there all night.

She has always been fascinated by the anti-hero, and often found herself rooting for the villains (their speeches are making a lot of sense, don’t lie).

Creepy dreams (nightmares at times) are the cause of a lot of Blackbird’s books – thanks to overactive imaginations!

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


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