Tag Archives: Xpresso Book Tours

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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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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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

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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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Cover Reveal – Girl Of Asture by Keeley Holmes @XpressoTours

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Girl of Asture
Keeley Holmes
Publication date: June 2nd 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

My world controls when I can use my wings.

They control everything.

I’ve always felt trapped by the Order in Asture.

Quite literally.

You can’t escape unless you fly, or you defy. There’s no way out of this nightmare, not one without losing my family and everyone I love. I must follow the rules, align to their expectations. Time is running out. The constraints of the Order are pushing me in a direction I’ve always felt I would fight against. My rescue comes in a unique form.

An Otherworlder.

Ironically, the cage I hate so much is the only way I can see him. It’s our only way to be together.

To change the way of Asture, one must overthrow those who rule, but I’m not sure my level of rebellion and trickery can save everyone from the way of life enforced upon us.


Author Bio:

Keeley Holmes is the author of romance books. Lover of vegan food, herbal teas and chocolate, she advises that her books comes with a warning because there’s a high chance you’ll become best friends with the characters she creates. So, if fictional BFFs are your jam, so are her books! She lives in beautiful Yorkshire, where sometimes she leaves the house and appreciates the beauty, before crawling back into her cave to write.

Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram


—

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Giveaway – Starseer by Katya Hernandez @XpressoTours

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Starseer
Katya Hernández
Publication date: April 22nd 2023
Genres: Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Young Adult

A fate traced by the stars…

Fifteen-year-old Etar can see the future in the stars—a rare skill even among magicians. But while other Starseers before him have become the stuff of legend, Etar has never predicted anything more exciting than the weather. Orphaned at age five and living under his uncle’s disapproving gaze, he yearns to prove his worth.

Disaster strikes when, in defiance of his uncle’s orders, Etar breaks into the Starseeing Dome—an ancient structure built to potentiate the powers of Starseers. Aided by the Dome, the stars send Etar a vision of ironclad warships destroying Skalland, the tiny island he calls home.

Hunted by a bloodthirsty admiral who seeks to enslave his newly awakened powers, Etar will have to fight to protect his friends while grappling with his past, his out-of-control magic, and a budding friendship turning into something more.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Etar didn’t have time to process any of what Hans had said before he went back to the hallway to let someone in—and whatever Etar had been expecting, it was nothing like the man that walked in.

The stranger walked with a step so light Etar could barely hear it on the floorboards of his room. His long black hair caught light like flowing water, and his eyes were distant in a deep, wistful way, blue and luminous even under this morning’s gray light. He wore a black silken tunic embroidered with the most marvelous iridescent threads. Starbursts, suns, and moons, all decorated with tiny gemstones, crowded every corner of the fabric. Etar couldn’t help staring at his jewel-decked hands. He had long, delicate fingers, as though made for minute tasks like building watches.

As soon as Hans closed the door, the man bowed, a gesture Etar had never received from anyone. “Starseer,” he said, soft and reverent.

Panic rose in Etar’s chest. How did this man know he was a Starseer? “Um. Hello?” he said, his mind struggling for coherent thought.

“It is such a great honor to finally meet you. I have been looking for you far and wide.”

Etar couldn’t parse the words from this man’s mouth, so he gaped instead of replying. His eyes pivoted from him to Hans in search of explanations, but Hans only fell back into a corner of the room.

“My name is Áehd, and I am an alchemist,” the man said.

An alchemist. A trade Etar only knew through books. To his knowledge, there had been alchemists and magicians in this castle long ago, but his uncle had expelled them all.

Etar supposed he should introduce himself, but he was too stunned to act properly. “How do you know I’m a Starseer?” he blurted out. No formal salutation. No bowing to receive his guest. It showed so glaringly that he hadn’t been raised as a royal.

The alchemist offered a gracious little laugh and pulled something out from between the folds of his tunic. When he opened his hand, a butterfly flew out of it.

At first, Etar thought it was a real butterfly because of how dainty its legs were and how its wings broke light, but on closer inspection, it was made of metal and colored crystals. It emanated a soft, bluish glow from under its belly.

“My constructs respond to energy, and no energy is more attractive to them than that of a Starseer,” Áehd said.

The butterfly kissed Etar’s face, making him flinch when it came close to his eyes, but he was afraid of breaking it if he flapped it away. Its glow intensified whenever it grazed his skin, and Etar could feel warmth wherever it alighted. After a while, the alchemist caged it in his fingers and put it away in his tunic.

The butterfly dredged out a memory of one such toy Etar had since childhood but which no longer possessed this butterfly’s agency.

Author Bio:

Katya is a writer, illustrator, and graphic designer who lives with her partner, two cats, and two dogs in sunny El Salvador.

Her cats are her harshest critics, but she loves them all the same.

When she’s not writing or drawing the fantasy worlds that live in her head, she’s cosplaying as the creepiest monsters from all her favorite horror movies.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram


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  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

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


GIVEAWAY!
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  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

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

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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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  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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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 – 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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Giveaway – Bookworm by Cookie O’Gorman @xpressotours @CookieOwrites

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Bookworm
Cookie O’Gorman
Publication date: April 20th 2023
Genres: Romance, Young Adult

Bookworm (buk-werm): Someone who loves books, reading, and/or studying. For reference, see Charlotte Kent.

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Kent likes happy endings. Not that she’s looking for one herself. Awkward, never been kissed, and bookish to the core, Lottie would rather read about love than experience it.

But she enjoys helping others find their HEA in books.

Lottie loves working at the library…even if it means running into Bo Stryker.

Broody, athletic, and unfairly attractive when he frowns, Bo works at the flower shop across the street. Lottie is about to get rejected…when surprisingly, Bo steps in, pretends to be her boyfriend, and steals her first kiss.

One viral video later, everyone thinks they’re together.

Bo wants to keep pretending. Lottie wants to make amends—long story short: she was on a ladder; he startled her; the book slap was an accident.

A fake relationship may be the solution. But as they grow closer, Lottie can’t help falling for Bo—which is a disaster because grumpy sunshine only works in fiction…right?

This book features two opposites with undeniable chemistry, one lovable librarian, so many stolen kisses and answers the question:

What happens when a nerd falls for the grump-next-door?

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Rolling my eyes, I reached over, gently grasped his forearm and brought it closer.

“What are you doing?”

“Relax,” I said, trying not to laugh at the alarm I heard in his voice. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done it by now.”

“Says the girl who gave me a bookcussion” he grumbled.

Biting back a smile, I concentrated on his forearm, running my fingers over his skin to find the correct spot. This took a few moments. When I found it, I leaned closer, using my thumbs to press down, gently at first, then adding a little more pressure. Bo didn’t tense. He didn’t move a muscle. I might’ve thought he’d stopped breathing he was so still. But then I felt his breath against my neck.

The sensation sent shivers down my spine.

I counted the seconds under my breath and then released him.

“What was that, Kent?” he asked softly.

“I looked up how to treat a sprained wrist,” I said with a shrug. “It was nothing, just one of the techniques they recommended.”

“You looked that up?”

Meeting his eyes, I nodded. “Does it feel any better?”

Bo glanced down at his wrist before looking back up, locking me in his intense stare. “Yeah, it does. Thanks, Kent.”

For some reason, I blushed. “No problem.”

I didn’t know what made me say it.

But I added, “Maybe now, you won’t be so opposed to working with me.”

Bo shook his head. “It’s not that.”

“It’s not?”

“No,” he said. “I just don’t like the idea of you taking care of me out of some misplaced sense of guilt.”

Oh.

I hadn’t even considered that possibility.

“I thought you hated having me around,” I admitted.

“I don’t.”

“You even told me how much you hate people.”

“Not you,” he said.

My heart skipped a beat.

“I could never hate you, Kent.”


Author Bio:

Cookie O’Gorman Bio: Cookie O’Gorman writes YA & NA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns, quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her novels ADORKABLE, NINJA GIRL, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, The Kissing Challenge (YA novella), WALLFLOWER, CUPCAKE, and FAUXMANCE are out now! She is also the author of NA sports romances The Best Mistake, The Perfect Play, and The Sweetest Game. Her newest release BOOKWORM came out on April 20, 2023!

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


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Giveaway – Return To Hummingbird Way by Reese Ryan @XpressoTours @ReeseRyanWrites

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Return to Hummingbird Way
Reese Ryan
Publication date: April 25th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

In this heartwarming small‑town romance, can three months, two planning projects, and a meddling grandmother finally make two high school hate crushes see just how right they are for each other?

Ambitious real estate agent Sinclair Buchanan is ecstatic to be her best friend’s maid-of-honor—until she discovers the best man is Garrett Davenport. Sin and Rett’s mutual hate crush ignited when they were teens and hasn’t let up since . . . except for that one extremely hot (and extremely regrettable) night they shared five years ago.

Nothing gets Rett fired up like going toe-to-toe with Sinclair. She’s as infuriatingly stubborn, and as absolutely gorgeous, as when he fell for her back in high school. Working together to plan their best friends’ last-minute wedding is one thing, but when his matchmaking grandmother gets involved Rett knows he’s in deep. Attraction has always simmered between them, but this time, they’re both in danger of losing their hearts.

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

—

EXCERPT:

“Garrett Davenport, how very nice of you to finally show up.” Sinclair sashayed toward him, clutching a clear clipboard decorated with a colorful floral design.

Sinclair assessed him with disdain, flecks of green and gold dancing in those large hazel eyes he’d been mesmerized by from the first moment he’d laid eyes on them in high school. She pursed her glossy pink lips, her nostrils flaring, and planted a fist on one curvy hip.

The bossy little she-devil was infuriating, attitudish, and fucking gorgeous. And she damn well knew it.

Her floral, sleeveless dress showed off her toned arms and sculpted shoulders—a feature he’d never noticed on a woman before, let alone been attracted to. The hem of the flirty little skirt grazed her midthigh, accentuating her tawny brown skin, a shade that landed smack between her father’s dark brown skin and her mother’s olive skin tone.

Sinclair flipped her hair, a deep, rich brown highlighted with ribbons of honey blond, over one shoulder and ran her manicured nails through the waterfall of shoulder-length waves. Her gaze bore into him, and if looks could kill, he’d be lying on the floor stone cold.

“You do realize you’re an hour late to your own best friend’s engagement party.” She leaned into him, speaking in a harsh whisper that only he could hear. “You sure you gon’ be able to show up for the wedding on time?”

Her nasally voice reminded him of Whitley Gilbert’s from A Different World. And just a few minutes into the conversation, she’d already intimated that he was an unreliable slacker. Rett clenched his jaw. Yet, as annoyed as he was, he couldn’t help noticing how hot Sin looked tonight.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rett finally managed. He shoved his hands, balled into fists, into his pockets. “Something came up.”

Sinclair’s gaze dropped to the placket in front of his zipper momentarily. Her eyes widened and her cheeks and forehead flushed. She quickly returned her attention to the clipboard.

Maybe he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t forget their previous encounter.

“It’s always some excuse with you, Rett.” Sinclair wrapped her arms around the clipboard, clutching it to her chest. Her eyes didn’t quite meet his.

Was she clutching the clipboard because he made her nervous? Or was she shielding her body’s reaction after shamelessly ogling him two minutes into their conversation?

It didn’t matter. Because Sinclair Buchanan was as irritating now as she’d been when they’d been forced to hang out together while Dexter and Dakota had dated in high school. She seemed to hate him on sight back then. But he hadn’t helped matters when he’d tried to talk his cousin out of getting serious with Sin’s best friend.

When Dex had suddenly ended things with Dakota the Christmas after he’d left for college, Sinclair had confronted Rett outside his grandmother’s house. She’d been as mad as a hornet and had cussed him out six ways to Sunday—sure he’d been behind the breakup.

He hadn’t been. But he hadn’t bothered telling her so. Besides, as distraught as she’d been, he’d doubted Sinclair would’ve believed a single word he’d said.

Since Dexter and Dakota’s reconciliation, Sinclair must surely have learned the truth: he had nothing to do with Dexter and Dakota’s breakup back then. In fact, he’d been as shocked by it as anyone. But evidently, it didn’t matter, because Sinclair clearly still wasn’t a fan. Though she certainly had been that night in his hotel room, given the enthusiasm with which she’d called his name and the marks she’d left on his back.

“It’s not an excuse, Sin. I planned to be here on time, but I was sidetracked by—”

“Didn’t think you were going to make it.” Dexter approached, holding Dakota’s hand. The two of them looked ridiculously happy, and Rett felt a slight twinge of envy.

“And miss your engagement party?” Rett slapped palms and clasped hands with Dex. “No way, cuz. Been waiting half my life to see you finally tie the knot with this beautiful lady.” He turned toward his cousin’s soon-to-be better half. “Congrats, Dakota.”

“Thank you, Rett.” Dakota’s grin lit her brown eyes. She gave him a big hug. “And for the record, I knew you’d be here tonight. It was these two who were sweating it.” She gestured toward Dex and Sinclair, then glanced around the room. “Mama Mae didn’t come with you?”

“She’s sick and didn’t much appreciate me fussing over her,” Rett said.

“But you did anyway.” Dakota smiled. “The relationship you two have is adorable.”

“’Cause Mama Mae is the only woman who can get him to behave,” Sinclair muttered as she scanned her clipboard. When they all turned to look at her, Sin looked up and shrugged. “What? You know it’s true.”

“Be nice, Sin.” Dakota pointed a finger at her best friend. “You promised you two would get along.”

“Fine.” She flashed Rett a dead-eyed smile and turned up the Whitley Gilbert singsong southern belle voice. “We are so very glad that you could join us this evening, Garrett. I was just about to ask the staff to take the food away. So please make yourself a plate.” She batted her long, thick eyelashes. “In fact, why don’t I escort you to the buffet?”

Dexter and Dakota snickered, and Rett couldn’t help chuckling to himself.

That was as warm a greeting as he could expect from the former beauty queen, who now employed that same charm in her job as one of the island’s top real estate agents. Evidently, she reserved that charm for people not named Rett Davenport.

Sinclair turned and walked toward the buffet, indicating that he should come with. He did, captivated by the subtle sway of her hips as he followed in the wake of her soft, delicate scent. All of it taking him back to that night they’d shared in Raleigh five years ago.

Yes, he’d been an immature jerk to Sinclair in high school. She clearly still held a grudge and had no intentions of letting him forget it. Despite the night they’d shared.

Fine. Because he wasn’t here for Sinclair. He was here for Dexter and Dakota. For them, he’d tolerate Ms. Thing. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun with her.

Author Bio:

Reese Ryan writes sexy, deeply emotional romances with family drama, surprising secrets, and unexpected twists.

Past president of her local Romance Writers of America chapter and a panelist at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Reese is an advocate for the romance genre and diversity in fiction.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Youtube


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