Friday, January 29, 2016

Without You by Lindsay Detwiler


Title: Without You
Author: Lindsay Detwiler
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: December 1, 2015  Publisher: Limitless Publishing 
On the surface, Jenna Landsen has it all…
She’s smart, beautiful, confident, and married to Camden Landsen, who happens to be drop dead sexy and just as successful. But after five long years, all the success in the world hasn’t brought the romantic spark back into her marriage. Jenna fears it never will.
When life gives you lemons, open a bakery and name it Vi’s…
Violet Streiff made the exact mistake her mother warned against—she fell in love with Liam Coffman, a charming finance major. When he left her heartbroken to further his career, Violet drowned her sorrows by opening a bakery, and now relies on Bob, her eighteen-pound cat, for warmth at night instead of a sexy man.
To find love, sometimes you first have to discover yourself…
When Jenna’s job offers an extended trip to New York, she packs her bags and takes a two-month vacation from life. The chance of her marriage surviving looks grim, until the surprise of a lifetime throws a wrench in her plans to stay in the Big Apple for good.
You can bend the rules—but sooner or later they’ll break…
When Violet meets a gloomy but totally drool-worthy guy named Camden in her shop, she’s sure her luck has changed. There’s no denying the chemistry, but he’s married, and that’s a major problem. Violet isn’t a homewrecker. Still, staying away from Camden proves nearly impossible. That is, until his wife comes home.
Two women.
Two men.
Double the chance to find love in the most
unexpected places—or double the chance for disaster.

Chapter Four
Violet
“Earth to Vi, Vi, are you in there? Did you hear me? I said he’s here,” Margaret pleads, pulling on the arm I’ve been leaning on behind the register. The slowness of our day and low coffee sales led me into daydreaming world. Margaret pulls me out with her tugging.
“What?” I sleepily reply, tucking a loose curl behind my ear. “Who?” I scan the room. Just then, he strolls through the door. Oh, hell no. Not on a Monday.
“I tried to warn you,” Margaret hisses, heading back to the storeroom to get some more scones. Great. As if today isn’t dreary enough.
“Hi, welcome to Vi’s,” I exuberantly cheer, faking my enthusiasm.
“Vi, Violet, Vi-o-let, how are ya? Happy Monday,” he explodes, the senseless chatter rolling off his tongue as he pats the sweat off his balding forehead.
“What do you recommend today, sweetie?”
For starters, I recommend you stuff your nasty, flirtatious pet names, I think between gritted teeth. Instead I say, “Oh, I don’t know, how about a triple chocolate muffin?”
“Sounds great, muffin. So…are you busy tonight?”
Yep, and every night for the rest of my life.
“Um, oh, yeah, Chuck, sorry. Crazy busy tonight.”
Doing nothing. Watching Family Feud reruns and eating cookie dough. And watching my plants grow. Even though I don’t have any plants.
“Oh, that’s too bad, Vi. But you know, you can’t turn me down forever. Good ol’ Chuck can’t wait to take that sweet bottom of yours out on another date. It’s gonna be great and you know it. But I’m patient. I can wait.” He winks at me so robotically I would laugh if I didn’t know he was serious.
I smile through my disgust, trying to quell the vomit rising in my throat. “Four ninety-eight,” I offer methodically. He hands me a five.
“Keep the change.” He winks again as I pass him his paper sack. He brushes my fingers purposefully, sending a shiver down my spine. Not a good shiver in any sense of the word. And with that, my weekly Chuck encounter is over. Thank God I can check it off the list. Root canal or Chuck—I’d choose root canal. Five times.
“Is he gone?” Margaret ventures out of hiding.
“For now,” I reply, grimacing at the icky feeling left over from Chuck’s brief yet highly distressing presence.
“If I were you, I’d kill your mother over him.”
“Oh, I’ve thought about it,” I admit
And I truly mean it.
When you’re twenty-six and heartbroken, people tend to pity you. When you’ve been alone for a year and have no hopeful prospects in sight, people want to take action to help you. So my mom decided last month to act on this fear. One night, she called and informed me she set me up on a blind date.
“Violet, come on—it’ll be great. You can’t mope around those books and coffee beans forever. You’re turning into a crazy cat lady already,” she replied to my immediate no.
“Owning a single cat does not make one a crazy cat lady, Mom.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“Vi, it’s not healthy. You need to get back out there. So, do this. For me, please? Think of it this way, at least you’ll get a free dinner.” When did Mom become such a proponent of love? When did she decide men were, in fact, worth it after all? And when did it become such a priority to find me one?
Nonetheless, the offer of free dinner helped make it easier to give in. So I agreed to go on a blind date to the Pasta Palace with a friend of one of my mom’s cousin’s friend’s older brothers. Yeah, sounds promising, I know.
Three milliseconds into the date, I tugged on my turquoise dress anxiously, tapping my ballet flats together hoping, like Dorothy, I could magically be transported home. Or to the local dump. Or to hell.
Anywhere but a date with sweaty, bald, creepy Chuck.
As soon as I could scarf down my chicken parmesan and make a decently sound excuse to leave early—my black cat Bob had a cough, and I better get home to check on him—I made a faster getaway than a bank robber and vowed two things. One, I would kill or at least strangle my mother. Two, I would never, ever, ever go on another blind date. Ever.
I stuck to promise two on my list. Promise one on my list was becoming more likely because Chuck found out I owned Vi’s. He decided to start visiting my coffee shop.
Every week.
Despite my obvious hints I wasn’t into him. Yeah, the guy was persistent.
“Well, Vi, maybe you’re being too hard on him,” my mom argued when I called her after the first impromptu visit.
“Really, Mom? Have you seen him? He’s at least twice my age and he must use at least two sticks of deodorant a day. I mean, really.”
“Well, Vi, maybe you’re being too picky. You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
“Wow, Mom. Thanks a million. While I greatly ‘appreciate’ your kind efforts to pair me up before I become an old spinster, I think I draw the line at, I don’t know, excessive sweat and gross innuendos. Thanks but no thanks,” I retorted, sarcasm oozing out of my words.
I was met with a humph and an end of discussion. My mother hates admitting I’m right.
So, now I am left with two unfortunate facts in my life.
Mondays are creepy Chuck day, and even my mother thinks I’m getting desperate in the man department.
Oh, life is grand.
I am a high school English teacher, an author, and a fan of anything pink. I am truly the English teacher cliché; I love cats, reading, Shakespeare, and Poe. I currently live in my hometown with my husband Chad; our cats Arya, Amelia, Alice, Bob, and Marjorie; and our Mastiff Henry.
As the author of two novels, Voice of Innocence and Without You, I have many inspirations in my life as a writer. My parents instilled in me a value for education and reading from the time I could talk. One of my earliest memories is sitting with my parents as they taught me to sound out words. My husband has also inspired me to pursue my dream of writing. I met Chad in an art class when we were only twelve. He has shown me that love is real, is enduring, and is our most important ally in this sometimes harsh world. He has supported me through this entire process, believing in my writing even before I believed in it myself. 
My hope is that by becoming a published author, I can inspire some of my students and other aspiring writers to pursue their own passions. I want them to see that any dream can be attained, and publishing a novel isn't out of the realm of possibility.
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Friday, January 22, 2016

Heat by Holly S. Roberts

Title: Heat
Series: Hotter Than Hell Series Book 1
Author: Holly S. Roberts
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Release Date: January 18, 2016
After a shoulder injury ends her respectable career as a police officer, Mak also known as Maddison Abigail Kinloch turns to the seedy world of private investigations by default. Now her job consists of cheating douchebags and baby daddies dodging child support. Things can’t get much worse. 
Moon controls Arizona’s largest crime syndicate. His bronze skin and blue eyes leave a girl breathless even when that girl knows he’s bad news. Moon doesn’t give a flying fig what Mac thinks; he wants her—ex-cop, bad attitude, and all. 
How does she resist the dark side when her body craves Moon’s searing touch? Things only get hotter in Phoenix when Mak finds herself in a deadly situation and must turn to Moon for help. 
He’ll help but there’s a price. Heat turns to sizzle and hearts combust when Mak and Moon find themselves wanting more than a few hot nights beneath cool sheets.

Nice Excerpt (unedited)
My throbbing head wakes me. The last thing I want is to open my eyes. Maybe someone set off explosives in my brain. I can hear the soft whir of a ceiling fan while the cool air cascades over me. My head actually thumps to the whir. While I’m contemplating opening my eyes, I use my other senses to give me a clue about what’s happened.
I’m not in my own bed. Mine has a lumpy mattress. The bed I’m lying on is firm and comfortable. The ceiling fan in my bedroom twirls with a loud, steady hum. This one is finely balanced and it’s only the generated wind that makes noise.
Like a remembered nightmare, I suddenly recall Dandridge’s hairy dick, a silver bat, and several men with guns. My eyes pop open. The room, thankfully, has muted light though I still squint as I look around. I give a small scream when I see a man sitting in a large chair in the shadowed corner of the room. He’s watching me. My head objects to the scream so I slam my jaw shut, roll to my side and cover my face with my forearm. A soft moan caused by the pain escapes my throat. The man doesn’t make a sound. It’s a minute or two before I can peel my eyes open again.
He’s still there.
His arms are stretch along the armrests of the chair and his fingers wrapped over the ends of the armrest. He’s tall. I know this because there is no chair-back behind the top of his shoulders and head. His legs are long and clad in suit pants similar to the ones the thugs wore. They must keep Thugs-R-Us in business.
“Miss Kinlock.” His smooth whiskey voice fills the room.
“Who…” I croak and try again, “Who are you and where am I?” A sudden ache travels behind my head and I wince and shut my eyes again.
“Lift up.” His voice startles me because it’s directly in my ear. I never heard him move. His hand slides beneath the pillow beneath my head and he helps me sit up slightly. The cool rim of a glass meets my lips. “I have something here for pain but take a drink of water first.”
He smells good—in a musky, delicious cologne and man kind of way. It’s such a stupid thing to think about when my last memories are of Dandridge’s dick and thugs with guns. I take a sip of water and then have two pills slipped between my lips. There’s this strange jolt of pleasure at his touch. It throws me off balance, more than a blow to the head has, and like an idiot, I swallow. I have no idea what kind of pills I’ve just taken. My brain is quite slow on the uptake and I decide if I swallowed illegal drugs, I’ll live with the consequences as long as they take away my damn headache.
I inhale slowly and open my eyes just in time to see the man lean his hip into the mattress and sit beside me. The sheet covering me stops just below my breasts and his movement pulls it down a bit further. He doesn’t so much as sneak a peek at my breasts. I’m impressed.
“You are?” I ask in a low voice that doesn’t distress my brain too much.
He has such an intense look of concentration on his face. I feel like a puzzle he’s attempting to put together. He moves a section of my hair off my cheek. His eyes follow the movement of his hand and I think he’s actually surprised at what he’s done. “Call me Moon.”
Damn. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’m in a bad situation. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him. It’s the shadows of the room and the damage to my brain cells. Or, at least that’s the story I’m feeding myself. I’ve seen countless pictures of him. He’s usually escorting some woman to a ritzy fundraising event though he somehow manages to turn his face from the cameras. If not a public appearance, the pictures are taken with a telephoto lens trying to catch him in illegal activity.
Naughty Excerpt (unedited)
My teasing earns a reward. In one fluid move, he stops and pulls me into his chest. We’re in the shadows and even though I know he has guards, I feel that we’re the only two people inside his walled paradise. His lips are gentle. His hands go to my ribcage beside my breasts while he licks and tastes my lips. His thumbs glide across the material of my shirt in a soft caress over my breasts, though not quite touching my nipples. The kiss remains playful and I want sensual. I try to angle my head and but he moves with me and keeps things light and flirty. I moan into his mouth and receive a small answering groan.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask throatily after he releases my lips and places light kisses along my jaw.
“Because you always taste so damn good,” he breathes. His teeth scrape where his lips left a burning trail of fire. “Here too.” He bites down on the tendon of my neck and my body heads into the danger zone. The zone that says, fuck me and please make it good.
I lift my hands to his jaw running my fingers over the sexy scruff. It sidetracks me from what he’s doing until he slides his hands between us and cups my breasts. Now, his thumb rubs across my nipples. My entire body is at attention. He moves one leg between mine and pulls me closer so my crotch is riding his thigh.
Fucking hell.
The friction of our clothes and the pressure of his leg drive me wild. My clit swells as I rub myself against him. Moon’s right hand slides down and he gains access beneath my shirt. I react with a shudder when he touches the bare skin on my side. His fingers are so damn hot, they burn. His other hand goes to my ass and he pulls me tighter against his leg. I need to be naked and not standing outside with clothes separating us. I need to fuck him instead of humping his leg. I need so many things at once—more pressure, nipple action, him—inside me.
It’s only been about two minutes since he started this and my blood is roaring through my body while Moon’s heat consumes me. His lips return to mine with more light nibbles. He’s controlling my body and keeping me from ending this slow torture. Then, like he’s reading my mind again, his fingers slip beneath my bra and tease over my nipples. His mouth leaves mine and he rakes his teeth down the sensitive skin of my throat. His large hand cups my other breast and his fingers squeeze until I’m on my toes and panting in his ear. I’m holding onto his waist for dear life. The pulsing ache spreads from the juncture of my thighs to my nipples and back again. The two points are a circuit of energy. Then, he’s back at my mouth and he’s done playing around. I place my hand at the front of his pants and press against his erection. He moans while his tongue delves deep. He squeezes my nipple with slow steady pressure. It hurts. It’s delicious. It’s exactly what I need. He moves his hand down so he can cup my ass again. He grinds me against his leg. The sensations are overwhelming. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. But fuck do I feel. I’m caught off guard when an orgasm jolts through me. I’ve never felt this way before. I get off on control even when it comes to my orgasms. Moon takes me over the top with nothing but the pressure of his leg and his damned fingers that have switched to my other nipple so both are sore and needy.
My blood is pumping through my veins with the pulses of my orgasm. I fall against his chest and his arms surround me as I ride out the waves. When the last ripple fades, he kisses me again before allowing me to bury my face in his neck. Why the hell did he give me that? I’m too undone to think of a possible answer.
Holly S. Roberts is the USA Today best-selling author of the Completion Series and Club El Diablo Series. She lives high in the Arizona Mountains with her husband and two spoiled dogs.
Title: Heat
Series: Hotter Than Hell Series Book 2
Author: Holly S. Roberts
Release Date: Spring 2016
The Arizona Desert sizzles and it's hotter than hell.

Alex Gomez is the enforcer for the largest crime syndicate in Arizona and makes no excuses. His hands are covered in blood and the lines between right and wrong blurred.

Celina Thomas has a deadly secret. Only money can fix her problem and she needs a lot of it, quickly. She’s gifted with a body and face that men are willing to pay for. She makes the decision to enter the world of high class escorts but her heart cries at the injustice.

One night with Alex and Celina’s plan turns upside down.

One night with Celina and Alex’s heart of ice begins to melt.

Celina’s secret could kill them both. Can she trust Alex and place her life in his hands? Can Alex let her escape regardless of the consequences?

Passion ignites as Alex and Celina sizzle with burning need while death lurks on the sweltering Phoenix horizon.
 
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