Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Waiting on Wednesday: The harder you fall (Original Heartbreakers, #3) by Gena Showalter

Gena Showalter’s THE HARDER YOU FALL is coming! Being released on November 24th, this fantastic contemporary romance in the Original Heartbreakers series is a scorching tale featuring an aloof bad boy and the rowdy Southern belle who rocks his world, published by HarlequinHQN! Pre-order THE HARDER YOU FALL from the links below for an sneak peek opportunity!

The Harder You Fall - Cover
 

Pre-order THE HARDER YOU FALL here!

Amazon * Kindle * Barnes and Noble * Nook * Book Depository * Powells * iBooks * BAM * Kobo * IndieBound

  THE HARDER YOU FALL Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter comes another scorching Original Heartbreakers tale featuring an aloof bad boy and the rowdy Southern belle who rocks his world… Millionaire video-game creator Lincoln West has a dark and tragic past. The sought-after bachelor lives by a rigid schedule and a single rule—one relationship per year, lasting no more than two months. No exceptions. When he gave up the big city for a small town, he hoped to escape the worst of his memories—until a brash beauty dredges up long-buried emotions. A reformed party girl, Jessie Kay Dillon is determined to walk the straight and narrow. But her love-hate sizzle with West is just too irresistible. They can't be near each other without tearing off their clothes, but the last thing she needs is to be his next two-month dump. Will she become the one exception? Because as any former girl-gone-wild knows: rules are made to be broken. "Emotional, heart-tugging, kept me turning the pages!" —Carly Phillips, New York TimesBestselling Author

Add it to your Goodreads Now!

 

Pre-Order THE HARDER YOU FALL, Register your Pre-Order and be one of the first to have a sneak peek at the newest book in the Lords of the Underworld series!

  The Harder You Fall - Preorder teaser  

 

About Gena Showalter:

Author pic- Gena ShowalterGena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series--Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles--and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series.  In addition to being a National Reader's Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she's appeared onNightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black--if you ask her about it, she'll talk for hours…hours!  Her books have been translated in multiple languages. She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books
at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfan  


  

Review: Wire (Pierce Securities #2) by Anne Conley





Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Evan Rocco has been a hero to Paige Lawson for as long as she could remember.  So when she runs into him in a bar after a major professional coup, she’s feeling celebratory and reckless.  But it can’t go anywhere, because after all, he’s Evan Rocco.  When she finds her gaming company in trouble, there’s only one man she can turn to.
Evan can’t get the woman who disappeared after their one­-night­ stand six months ago out of his head.  He’d honestly thought there was more between them besides just sex—a connection he’d never felt before.  When PSL, his favorite game software company, is the victim of sabotage, he jumps at the chance to help them solve the mystery behind The Crimson Lady, the fan­made character   who’s taking credit for murder.  Maybe it will get his mind off the woman of his dreams.
When he realizes who the CEO of PSL actually is, he has to get over his own issues or else he’ll put the one woman in danger he never wanted to hurt. 
This is book two in the Pierce Securities series, a stand­alone story.  The first book, while not necessary to read, is Craze.

BUY IT NOW





REVIEW:


I am a gamer (at least that's what I say to myself), so I was pretty excited about reading this book. Both Evan and Paige are involved in the gaming world, and so does the killer of this story who uses a character from a game named Crimson Lady to convince some people to harm others. Paige hires the firm Evan works for to find the identity of the person who uses Crimson Lady and save her company and they have a chance to develop the feelings that started to be created from their one night stand several months ago.

I don't know if it was me or the author, but I felt that she gave clues about the killer during the story and it didn't come as a shock to me in the end. From now on I will use a he when I refer to the killer, but that doesn't mean that the killer is a man. (And yes, I am going stereotypical here and choose the killer to be man in my review). I will use it to make things easier for me. I knew who the killer was from the moment I read his name. And to add to the injury the pieces of the puzzle fell into place as soon as I had them, while Evan couldn't put two and two together making him a not so smart cookie in my eyes. I was expecting more from a gamer.

I am going to follow the series. I can see Zack and Bonnie ending up together. There is something between Quinten and Miriam and I would like to see what that something is.

****This review is based upon a complimentary copy of the work provided by the author in exchange for an honest review on behalf of This Redhead Loves books****



















Book One in the Pierce Securities series, Craze, is available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and most other online retailers.

When Krista catches her boss doing the unthinkable, the only thing she can do is run.  Straight into the arms of the eye­candy she’s been trying not to flirt with on her lunch break.  But whose side is he on?
Ryan’s security firm is having a hard time getting off the ground, and this may be just the job to help the company out.  But pseudo bounty hunter isn’t really what Pierce Securities is trying to get a name for.  When he finds out their target is the classy lady from the park, all of Ryan’s senses go on high alert.  What do these men want with her?
Krista is forced into Ryan’s sanctuary in the woods, where she realizes just how wild he is, but she doesn’t want to tame him.  He may feel his methods of protection endangered her, but without Krista in his life, Ryan is crazed.
This is book #1 in the Pierce Securities, a Romantic Suspense series by Anne Conley, author of the Stories of Serendipity and The Four Winds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She's been writing for public consumption for the last four years. Currently she is writing three romance series. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God's four closest archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, falling in love and becoming human. In Pierce Securities, she gives us Ryan, Evan, Miriam, Zack, Quinten, and Simon. She lives in rural East Texas with her husband and children in her own private oasis, where she prides herself in her complete lack of social skills, choosing instead to live with the people inside her head.

Join her mailing list, follow/friend her on facebook, twitter, and her blog, where you can read first chapters and find purchase links...
Amazon's Anne Conley page:  http://amzn.to/1FkJagc
Friend Anne Conley on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/anne.conley.752
Like her on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/anneconleyauthor
Twitter:  @anneconley10
Her blog and website:  http://www.anneconley.com






Cover Reveal: The blood scion (The Scion Legacy, #1) by Nazarea Andrews

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Today we are having a cover reveal for THE BLOOD SCION by Nazarea Andrews. This book will be released in November and it is the beginning of a brand new series from Nazarea, The Scion Legacy. As an added bonus, The Scionless House, a novella in the series, will be FREE when it releases on October 30th! Check out the exclusive excerpt below for a sneak peek at each title.


Click here to add THE BLOOD SCION to Goodreads

THE BLOOD SCION Blurb:

I was just a reporter, trying to stay ahead of my student loans. I knew the rules, and I followed them. I thought I knew how the world worked—humans lived their petty little lives in the safety of the sun. We loved and fought and—when the sun sank—we scurried behind our walls and lived in fear. That is when the monsters came out to play. And even in the safety of the sun, we knew who ruled us. The Houses. And their Scions. Everyone knows the great Houses and their Scions—they are feared and loved and hated and envied. They are the gods who walk the shadows and rule all of our lives. They are salvation and death. And somehow, I am one of them.

 

Exclusive Excerpt:

“Farley?” I blink, and stare at my intern. She’s a tiny little thing, and it occurs to me—not for the first time—that I have no business putting her in an office like this. We aren’t doing the smart thing—we don’t toe the House line. We’re too little for them to care, but I’m well aware that it’s not exactly safe. “What is it?” “You have a lunch appointment, ma’am.” I frown. “Since when?” “Hendin set it up.” I breathe a curse. Kevin Hendin might be the best damn editor I’ve ever met, but he’s still a fucking pain in the ass. I swallow that thought down and save the draft I’m working on, rising and shrugging into my suit coat. “Where?” “Silver and Ivy.” I go still. Who the hell are we meeting that can afford S&I? It’s one of the finest restaurants in the city, completely human, and expensive as fuck. Winston took me there when I graduated from NYU. Of course, it was for a tiny glass of wine and a shared dessert—neither of us could afford more than that—but it was a sweet gesture that meant a lot, especially coming from my ridiculously practical brother. “Ma’am?” I blink out of my thoughts to focus on my intern, and snatch up my laptop and phone. Shove both with my wallet into my messenger bag and snag my glasses and notebook before I dart out. It’s ridiculous to use a notebook, these days. Everyone has gone digital—what was a gathering wave before Brakken—became a way of life in the aftermath. The Houses controlled everything after, and pushed tech hard. Some people believed it was out of kindness. It wasn’t. But I’ve never been blinded by the pretty veneer of the Houses or their Scions. Silver and Ivy is one of the last places in New York that can still maintain their human only clientele. Because they cater to the wealthy, and even in the aftermath of the plague and all the change that the Houses inflicted on us, the wealthy maintains a level of untouchability. They are protected by that comfort of security that money can buy. Even the wealthiest in our country could be bought by one of the Houses, but I think it amuses them to let the one percent cling to the illusion that they are still different from the rest of us. I step into S&I and belatedly realize that I don’t know who I’m meeting. I mutter a soft curse and the eyebrow of the host twitches in response. No, I suppose he isn’t used to young reporters with a gutter mouth spilling into his lunch hour. I grin, and run a hand through my hair. I’m about to screw up his whole day. I amble up to where he wait and he gives me a frosty stare. “I’m meeting someone,” I say. His gaze sweeps over me and his lips curls just a little, all annoyed disdain that pisses me off. “And you are?” “Farley Hart.” His eyes go wide and he pales, so much so I take a step back. Something is very wrong about all of this, and Winston always told me to listen to my gut. I take another step, and a hand clamps down on my arm, rooting me to the spot. It’s icy and burning and so damn unmovable. I know, even before I let my gaze crawl up. Shiny boots, a pristine black suit that cost more than my degree, a startlingly white shirt with a skinny black tie. Wide shoulders, thin waist, and a hand that’s fucking huge, latched onto me. A ring glints on his finger and I focus on that, on the strange sigil worked into the metal. It’s not gold, and it sure as hell isn’t silver. It’s almost dull. Iron? “Oh shit,” I mutter. A vampire is holding me, keeping me from bolting. And if that weren’t bad enough—it’s a damn Blood Prince. Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000446_00073]

Click here to add THE SCIONLESS HOUSE to Goodreads

THE SCIONLESS HOUSE Blurb:

Twelve Houses. Twelve vampire lines. We ruled from the shadows, and manipulated the world, and when humans came too close to destruction, we intervened. Every House has a Scion. A fragile, easily broken human that stood shoulder to shoulder with the house Princes and Princesses. Except for ours. The Ravens, House Cantelie. We've been without a Scion for almost fifteen years. But that will change...and her life will be mine to protect.

 

Exclusive Excerpt:

The Blood Scion: I was just a reporter, trying to stay ahead of my student loans. I knew the rules, and I followed them. I thought I knew how the world worked—humans lived their petty little lives in the safety of the sun. We loved and fought and—when the sun sank—we scurried behind our walls and lived in fear. That is when the monsters came out to play. And even in the safety of the sun, we knew who ruled us. The Houses. And their Scions. Everyone knows the great Houses and their Scions—they are feared and loved and hated and envied. They are the gods who walk the shadows and rule all of our lives. They are salvation and death. And somehow, I am one of them.    


  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  

NazareaAndrewsNazarea Andrews (N to almost everyone) is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. Which means she writes everything from zombies and dystopia to contemporary love stories. When not writing, she can most often be found driving her kids to practice and burning dinner while she reads, or binging watching TV shows on Netflix. N loves chocolate, wine, and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, spoiled cat and overgrown dog. She is the author of World Without End series, Neverland Found, Edge of the Falls, and The University of Branton Series. Stop by her twitter (@NazareaAndrews) and tell her what fantastic book she should read next.

AUTHOR LINKS:


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Irresistibly Yours (Oxford #1) by Lauren Layne



Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Releasing October 6, 2015

Loveswept

Blurb:

Meet the men of Oxford magazine! In the first captivating spin-off of Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series, a not-so-friendly battle of the sexes turns into a scorching office romance.

Hotshot sports editor Cole Sharpe has been freelancing for Oxford for years, so when he hears about a staff position opening up, he figures he’s got the inside track. Then his boss drops a bombshell: Cole has competition. Female competition, in the form of a fresh-faced tomboy who can hang with the dudes—and write circles around them, too. Cole usually likes his women flirty and curvy, but he takes a special interest in his skinny, sassy rival, if only to keep an eye on her. And soon, he can’t take his eyes off her.

Penelope Pope knows all too well that she comes off as just one of the guys. Since she’s learned that wanting more usually leads to disappointment, Penelope’s resigned to sitting on the sidelines when it comes to love. So why does Cole make her want to get back in the game? The man is as arrogant as he is handsome. He probably sees her as nothing more than a barrier to his dream job. But when an unexpected kiss turns into a night of irresistible passion, Penelope has to figure out whether they’re just fooling around—or starting something real.

Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/08/irresistibly-yours-oxford-1-by-lauren.html Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23395414-irresistibly-yours Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/149063-oxford

Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo




Review:


Do you know who Jackson Burke is? Of course you don't. He appears for a very brief amount of time (in the epilogue) and is going to be the main character in the second book of the series. Do you know who Lincoln is? If you have read the Stiletto series you definitely do and probably want to read his story. He is going to get his story in the third book and I am going to wonder what happened to him and when he is going to get his happily ever after. I am a little mad because after some parts that I disliked in this book I found out that Lincoln isn't going to get his story soon, but some guy Jackson Burke will. And there is a hint that he cheated on his wife. After reading the blurb for the second book things made a little more sense, but that's not the best first impression.

Penelope is mostly my kind of girl. With the exception of the onion rings. I hate those. At a point I was wondering if there was going to be a love triangle-ish situation because she was showing too much interest in Lincoln. That was a little frustrating. I can say that the first 40% didn't entirely agree with me. I was happy that the who is going to get the job part was solved fairly quickly. I liked Cole as a person and I was happy to see that he knew he had made mistakes, even if he didn't try to fix them.

The story was good, but it felt like the kind of movie you watch and know from the beginning how things are going to happen and how it’s going to end. I guess that if you liked the stiletto series you will like this book too. The fact that I spend most of this view complaining about the next books and those complains were the first thing that came into my mind when I started writing this review show to me that I didn’t find the story very original or captivating.

Excerpt:

Oxford was the country’s top selling men’s magazine where Lincoln—and most of Cole’s other closest friends—worked.

But more important, it was also where Cole worked.

Well, sort of.

He would work there. Just as soon as he found the asshole who was after his job.

Cole wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t have a competitive streak. It was a prerequisite for someone whose bread and butter came from knowing the nuances of professional sports.

And it was rare that Cole felt a personal investment in a competition. But tonight? Tonight, it was definitely personal. Cole was the competitor.

The prize?

The title of Senior Sports Editor at Oxford.

The magazine was finally getting a real sports section. Their token two-page spread on fantasy football squeezed in between cologne reviews and the proper way to wear a tie clip was being expanded to a multipage, multitopic sports section.

A section that needed an editor.

Cole was the right man for the job. The only man for the job. Not only had he been writing for Oxford as a freelancer for years, but the editor in chief, Alex Cassidy, was one of his closest friends.

When Cassidy had come to Cole and explained that he wanted to make Oxford a serious contender for the Sports Illustrated readers, Cole had been damn sure that Cassidy was offering him the job.

Hell, Cassidy had been begging him for months to join the team, and Cole was finally ready—ready for a steady paycheck.

Ready to belong to something.

Because, although Cole wasn’t exactly dying to buy a house in the ’burbs and settle down with a nice girl, it wasn’t just about Cole.

It was about Bobby, and the fact that Bobby’s care was getting more and more expensive. His brother needed more than Cole’s occasional freelance checks could provide.

Cole wasn’t just ready for this job. He needed it.

And that’s when Alex Cassidy had dropped his bomb.

The job wasn’t Cole’s for the taking.

So, goodbye to Easygoing Cole. Hello, Gladiator Cole.

Because, really, what the fuck?

Cole hadn’t minded that they’d had to publicly post the position. He understood there were HR boxes that had to be checked. But never had Cole thought there’d actually be competition. Not only were the Oxford guys practically his family, but Cole was the best damn sportswriter in the city.

His application should have been a formality. Their request that he update his résumé and

submit a portfolio should have been just a matter of documentation.

The position was his, damn it. Cole was the Oxford sports section.

Except he wasn’t. Not yet anyway.

Cassidy had called him yesterday to inform Cole that he was a finalist. A fucking finalist.

Pissing Cole off even further, Cassidy wouldn’t tell him who his competition was. Cole had named every worthwhile sportswriter in the city, but Cassidy wouldn’t so much as grunt in confirmation.

Damn Cassidy and his unshakable professionalism.

His friend hadn’t left him completely in the lurch, though.

Cassidy had pointedly mentioned to Lincoln that the other candidate had been invited to the suite reserved by Berkin’s Hospitality Group for tonight’s Yankees game.

Lincoln had, of course, told Cole.

So here they were, trying to sniff out the competition.

It was the only reason Cole would be caught dead in the luxury suite. Cole hated luxury suites.

This wasn’t what baseball—or any game—was about. Baseball was about the peanuts, the rowdy crowds, the overpriced beer. It was about the sound of a fastball smacking against the catcher’s glove, the satisfying crack of a wooden bat when a rookie pinch hitter really got hold of one.

For Cole, watching baseball was about sitting with his brother in the stands, watching Bobby’s face go positively ecstatic every time they did the wave, and the way his brother never, ever got tired of the seventh-inning stretch.

That was baseball.

And Cole wanted nothing more than to be an anonymous part of the rowdy crowd, preferably on the third baseline, watching the Yankees hopefully trounce the Blue Jays.

Instead, he was stuck here with a bunch of fools who wouldn’t recognize a line drive if it hit them in the ass.

Adding insult to injury, it was all for nothing. There was no sign of his competition. Cole knew every decent sportswriter in the city, and none were here tonight.

It was possible, he supposed, that Cassidy was considering some out-of-town jock for the position, but a quick scan of the room showed only familiar faces, all corporate bigwigs.

“Let’s get out of here,” Cole said to Lincoln, downing the rest of his beer in three gulps.

“You don’t want to wait for Cassidy?”

“Nah, I’ll catch him tomorrow.”


Author Info

Lauren Layne is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015. Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads



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Cover Reveal: The Infected (PODs #2) by Michelle K. Pickett




The Infected (PODs #2)
Release Date: October 12th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:


From the author of the award winning Unspeakable, and the best selling PODs, comes the highly anticipated sequel to PODs. A world where death stalks the unsuspecting, and this time even the PODs might not save them. 


A virus nearly wiped out humankind...

Months have passed since a human infection has been reported. Survivors of the deadly pandemic have finally started to build a life in a world left devastated by plague. 

Ironically, for nineteen-year-old Eva, life made more sense when she battled the deadly Infected than it does in the serenity of her new home in Rosewood. Separated from fiancé and former POD-mate, David, after an impossible ultimatum, Eva finds her life a little lonely and a lot confusing. 

But as troubled as Eva’s life is, it's about to take a turn for the worse as untold dangers watch and wait for the right moment to attack…

The virus refuses to die quietly.

Book One
(click on image for link)



About the Author

I can’t write without a hoodie. Yeah, I live it Texas. We all have our quirks.

I majored in accounting in college. I was required to declare a major, but I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I picked accounting because it was the first thing listed in the booklet the counselor gave me. Surprisingly, I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Go figure.

Forget coffee. Hand over the Red Bull or Monster Khaos and no one gets hurt. Seriously, just set it down and step away. I will turn into a normal human after I guzzle my can of caffeine.

I hate to cook, but love to watch cooking shows on television.

I paint my nails weird colors just to see my husband roll his eyes and make my 9 year-old twin girls giggle. Oh, and mortify my 13 year-old son.

I’m a hopeful romantic and love swoon-worthy endings that keep the butterflies going for days, but I don’t believe a HEA always ends with the boy getting the girl. Sometimes a HEA is an ending we don’t see coming, but is still best for the characters.

I write across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups while eating way too many peanut butter M&Ms (but we’ll keep that second part just between us).

I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now live in a suburb of Houston, TX with my very supportive family, a 125lb rescue “puppy” and a 12lb attack cat, also a rescue animal.

And last, (but certainly not least), I love my family with everything in me. Everything I am, is theirs. There are no words in any language known to man to describe my love for them. They are my center.

I’d love to hear from you. So drop me an email! Let’s chat. You tell me what you like in books, what you’d like to see happen in the writing community, what type of books you like to see more of…less of—I want to hear it all! So tell me, please. Because the one thing I wish I could put on my list, but I still haven’t figured out how to do, is mind-reading. But don’t tell my kids. I still have them fooled. J:)
 



Author Links:
 photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png  photo icongoodreads32_zps60f83491.png  photo icontwitter-32x32_zpsae13e2b2.png  photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png

Chapter reveal: Fatal Beauty by Nazarea Andrews


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Today we are revealing chapter 1 from FATAL BEAUTY by author Nazarea Andrews. This book will be released October 13th and it is an Adult Thriller.

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Click here to ADD THE BOOK TO GOODREADS

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FATAL BEAUTY BOOK BLURB:

Charlotte was a good girl. Sweet and innocent, a debutante with her Daddy’s credit card and a fiancée who doted on her. She was destined for a perfect picture life in Charleston. Until everything goes wrong. EJ grew up with everything she could ever want, and bored as hell. Nothing surprises her and nothing ever changes, and she wants out—whatever it takes. Getting involved with Anthony Jacobs is probably the worst idea she’s ever had—and that makes it irresistible. Until Charlie needs her. New Orleans. Los Angles. Vegas. Beautiful girls who know just how to get exactly what they want. It’s all fun and games, sexy nights and wild parties. But you can only manipulate your way out of so much, and when their past catches up, not even a pretty fucking smile will get them out of trouble this time.

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EXCERPT:

  Las Vegas Police Department, Interrogation Room B. Detective Blackmon: State your name for the record. Charlotte Brooks: (clears throat) Charlie Brooks. Detective Blackmon: Your legal name, ma’am. Brooks: Charlotte Suzanne Brooks. Detective Blackmon: Have you been advised of your rights, ma’am? Brooks: (soft laugh) you advised me of them. So yes. Detective Blackmon: Do you want to tell us how you came to know Ms Ella Jane Munro? Brooks: Where is she? Detective Blackmon: Ma’am, I need you to calm down and give your statement. Brooks: Where the fuck is EJ? Detective Blackmon: At night fifty pm the LVPD were called to a hotel room secured with a credit card in your name. Upon searching it, we found drugs, weapons and almost two hundred in cash. Do you want to say anything about that? Brooks: I wasn’t in that room, and neither were my belongings. You verified that. My wallet was stolen. And I want EJ. Brooks: Why the hell are you looking at me like that? Detective Blackmon: Ma’am… Brooks: (screaming) where the hell is EJ? Chapter 1 If she could look at it, with the hindsight of everything that had happened, she would say that it all began six months before Wallace Bryce Talbert went missing. The day Ella Jane Munro sold Llewellyn Koonts a hit of blow in the locker room of her father's country club. Of course, if she had the luxury of hindsight, she might have changed everything by simply going to lunch at the Greenhouse instead of tennis at the club. Then again. Charlotte had never had much use for hindsight and even less for regrets. * Charlie Brooks was an institution at the Buringtree Country Club. She had grown up in the halls, played tennis early and well, swam in the summer and pranced around the greens in tiny shorts, her blonde hair bobbing in her signature braid. She was a perfect debutant. Sweet as sugar when it suited her, and an utter bitch when it didn't. The staff at the club lived in fear of her temper. HR had to step in when she was in high school and they couldn't keep a staff--Charlie either terrorized them into quitting or demanded they were fired over minor infractions. And because she was Travis Brooks only daughter, she usually got her way. Ella Jane Munro was different from Charlie. Just as bitchy, just as demanding. Filthy fucking rich. But Charlie revealed in who and what she was born to. She never wanted anything but to be the queen bee at her private school, at the club, and Vanderbilt. Everything she did was carefully calculated for how it would reflect on her and how people viewed her. It’s why she and Ella Jane had never gotten along, despite being in the same circles. From the outside, they would have made the perfect frenemies. Self-destructive, the kind of too close back-stabbing that would fuel the wet dreams of high school boys with visions of love hate sexcapdes. Ella Jane and Charlie didn't cooperate. Ella was bored to death with country club life and everything expected of a deb. And she might be an it girl, in her blasé way, but she never aspired to steal Charlie's crown. They existed for most of their life, in a kind of live and let live détente. No one could explain why that changed. It was whispered about, of course. Two of Charleston's favorite daughters, suddenly inseparable? Everyone had a theory. No one knew the truth, though. No one would have ever believed the truth. * The door to her office opened and closed again, in the kind of way that was an announcement. She swallowed a smirk and layered another coat of pale pink on her nails. Most girls would pay for a manicure, but she had always found the ritual of her nail care to be soothing. The cash slapped down on her desk and she blinked at it slowly before letting her gaze slide lazily up to the woman across from her. Sharp green eyes, long jet black hair with a single streak of magenta in bangs cut across her forehead. A pair of designer skinny jeans and a loose, sheer black tank top scattered with polka dot skull and cross bones, lace edged cami under it showing off her amazing tits. Only Ella Jane could stalk into her office in designer jeans and a Walmart clearance top and look perfect instead of ridiculous. “Your half.” She says. Charlie finishes her last finger, admiring it briefly before screwing the lid on her nail polish and giving the other woman her attention. “When are you meeting with Jacobs?” “Tomorrow. Don’t be impatient, greedy girl.” She bites down on the acidic response that wants to rise, and arches an eyebrow silently. EJ stares at her for a long moment, before she huffs a sigh and drops into the high back leather chair across from her. “You can’t do anything until Monday anyway. Isn’t your engagement thing tonight.” It’s posed as a question, but she knows damn well when it is. Charlie goes still and her gaze clouds for a heartbeat. “Do you want me to come?” EJ asks, quietly. The offer startles a laugh from Charlie and she grins, a dry, mocking thing. “And how the hell would I explain that? No. Stay on your side of the club, and I’ll stay on mine. I’ll be fine.” There’ a tense moment, as they stare at each other, and Charlie wonders just how much EJ suspects. They weren’t supposed to become friends—it was a business arrangement. One that benefited them both and made EJ’s supplier happy. But it had evolved. It made her nervous, and nothing made her nervous. She didn’t like it. “Don’t be a bitch, Charlie,” EJ says coldly. “Then don’t fucking hover.” Charlie snaps. Anger flares in EJ’s eyes, for a moment, and then it vanished, and she stands. “Fine. Have fun with your boy.” Her tone is mocking and knowing and it stings a little as she watches EJ leave. For a moment, it occurs to her that she should apologize. She dismisses it just as quickly and grabs the stack of cash, standing and moving to the wall where her safe is. It’s crammed with cash and a small black revolver. As she adds the new stack to the others, she touches the gun. It’s soothing, and her unease and nerves settle at the touch of the cool metal. It’ a standard black Glock. Most of her girlfriends carry a tiny pink pistols they can tuck into their Coach bags with equally ridiculous sized dogs. But Travis Brooks always said that if she wanted to be man enough to carry a gun, she’d damn well carry a man’s gun. “Charlotte? We have a meeting with the partners.” She snaps the safe shut, keying the lock and spins to smile at her fiancée. Wallace Bryce Talbert the Third. Tre to his friends and enemies alike. A golden boy in her father’s law firm, and the man she had promised to spend her entire life with. He’s grinning at her, holding a hand out and she swallows her nerves and fear as she places her hand in his and follows him out of the office. * EJ pads out of her bedroom, her naked body wrapped in moonlight. A bottle of spumante sits discarded in a silver wine chiller, and she grabs it as she moves to her purse and pull out a pack of cigarettes. She smokes almost pensively, staring out the window. Behind her, she can hear him moving and she keeps her gaze trained on the window as smoke curls around her, dissipating slowly. “You should come back to bed,” he says, and she can hear the tease in his tone. She barely manages to keep from rolling her eyes as she wraps her lips around the cigarette again, pulling one last time before dropping it into a forgotten champagne flute. “You should go. I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.” Surprise and anger chase across his face, and she waits to see if he’ll follow through. Clayton Poole was the heir of an ancient oil tycoon, and would be much more interesting if he would lose his temper every once in a while. He was a fun fuck, always took care to get her off, and he opened doors even she couldn’t walk though. But he was boring as fuck when they weren’t naked. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says, lamely, and she flick a look at him as she pours a glass of spumante. “Don’t. I’ll call you soon.” She gives him a smile and kisses his cheek before returning to her bedroom. She lets out a sigh when the door shuts behind him, and settles on her bed. It smells of sex still, but she’s too drunk and lazy just now to strip the sheets. Besides, she likes the smell of sex, even if Clayton isn’t her favorite fuck buddy. There is a joint in her bedside table and she fishes it out and lights it, pulling on it deeply as she thumbs through her social media. The entire newsfeed is abuzz with the engagement party of the year, and she grits her teeth. She should have been there. Clayton had been invited—Charlie will be pissed he didn’t show, a thought that strings a smirk across her lips—and she could have crashed it. Nothing to be done once she was there. Once upon a time, it would have been amusing just to get a rise from Charlie. When the fuck had that changed? When she realized that Charlie was just as unhappy in their fucking perfect life as she was? Or was it when Charlie blackmailed EJ into sharing her distribution, earning her respect as more than another empty headed social climber. She huffs, and takes another pull on the joint. The smell of weed fill the bedroom, covering the scent of sex. Her muscles are loose and relaxed against the bed and she let’s her phone drop beside her, drifting on her high, drunk and post-orgasmic relaxation combining to pull her down into sleep. The room is pitch black, her body hot and sweating against the rough duvet when she wakes. Her mouth is dry and for a disorienting moment, she wonders where the hell she is, and what happened. Her phone buzzes against her thigh again, and she fumbles for it. “Charlie?” she croaks, and swallows. Reaches for the spumante on the bedside table. “I need you.” The whisper from the other end of the line chills her, and she shudders, rubbing away the goosebumps that trace along her arms. That’s it—those three words and nothing more. Sleep is forgotten completely as she sits up and nods. “I’ll be right there.”




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  

NazareaAndrewsNazarea Andrews (N to almost everyone) is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. Which means she writes everything from zombies and dystopia to contemporary love stories. When not writing, she can most often be found driving her kids to practice and burning dinner while she reads, or binging watching TV shows on Netflix. N loves chocolate, wine, and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, spoiled cat and overgrown dog. She is the author of World Without End series, Neverland Found, Edge of the Falls, and The University of Branton Series. Stop by her twitter (@NazareaAndrews) and tell her what fantastic book she should read next.

AUTHOR LINKS:



Blitz: Shades of dragon by Catherine Vale



Shades Of Dragon

Blurb:
Abandoned by his mother as a young boy and taken in by the elders of the Redwater clan, Tegan isn't your typical hero. In fact, if you ask him, he wouldn't call himself a hero at all.  Yet when he is asked to investigate the outcome of an attack on the nearby human villages, what he discovers invokes the rage of a thousand storms, and he finds himself on the run with a beautiful stranger.

Tegan may be half dragon, half human, but he's all heart.  If he doesn't stay focused on the mission at hand, he will find that the curvy woman he's determined to protect, could be on her way to stealing it.

On the run, they must fight their way to safety before time runs out. Tick, tock.

Purchase Links
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015Q9EB0Y
Amazon UK http://amzn.to/1iyK0SQ
Amazon CA http://amzn.to/1gRJEFS

Paperback http://www.amazon.com/Shades-Dragon-Catherine-Vale/dp/1517383242
* * *

Oct 6th: Between Two Wolves

Link for pre-order : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0153VNL2Y

Blurb:

Frustrated by a recent breakup, Risha escapes to the peace and tranquility of Mount Folknore, one of the most challenging to climb, and at the top of her bucket list of things to do. What better time to climb a mountain, and say goodbye to the world below than after a rough breakup? 

Except peace and tranquility isn't exactly what she finds when she meets up with not one, but two, wildly handsome strangers. She's heard the legends that talk of werewolves that live deep within the forest, but could those stories be true? If there’s one thing she’s certain of, it’s that Colt and Jericho are hiding a secret.  When a rainstorm destroys her camp, and she winds up fleeing to the shelter of a nearby cabin, she may uncover more than she bargained for. 

And every woman knows that there is no better place to be than in the arms of a sinfully possessive man... except perhaps, between two wolves.


About The Author

Catherine Vale has been writing fiction for as long as she can remember, but it wasn’t until she wrote her very first paranormal romance story that she found herself hooked on the raw, edgy love affair of shifters, vampires and other dominant alpha males and the captivating women that love them.

Catherine writes both contemporary and paranormal romance that always include powerful alpha males, smart and sassy heroines and a happily-ever-after (even if she often puts her characters through hell to get there!)
  
Connect with Catherine:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ValeRomance
Facebook: http://facebook.com/CatherineValeBooks