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Exclusive Excerpt

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPTS: Not My First Rodeo 2

 

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We present you with not one, not two, but THREE excerpts from the new novella collection NOT MY FIRST RODEO 2 by Donna Alward, Jenna Bayley-Burke, and Sarah M. Anderson. Keep reading!

EXCERPT ONE – SEDUCING THE SHERIFF

Joe turned over onto his side, wishing he could fall asleep. Crime in their little town was generally the mild sort, and armed robbery was a total anomaly. But it wasn’t the seriousness of the crime keeping him awake. It was Cassidy, in his bed, dressed in some flimsy pink pajamas.

Bringing her here might have been a mistake. In the office, it had seemed perfectly sensible and platonic. They’d always been friendly. But sitting with her on the sofa as she got tipsy on a little bit of whiskey was something else. She brought out his protective instincts. She brought out more than that, too. When she’d looked up at him and said that she trusted him today…something had changed. He’d felt it, like a thump to the chest. There was something about the way she’d looked into his eyes. Nothing was completely platonic. They were two people of roughly the same age, single, and damn, she was pretty. Even during the stress of the day, she’d managed to crack a few jokes. He admired that.

He flipped over to his other side and closed his eyes, focused on slowing his breathing, and tried to lull himself into sleep. If only he could shut off his brain.

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Giveaway

GIVEAWAY: The Colorado Mountain Series by Kristen Ashley!

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ANNOUNCING THREE BEAUTIFUL NEW TRADE PAPERBACK EDITIONS FROM THE COLORADO MOUNTAIN SERIES!

THE GAMBLE

Life isn’t meant to be perfect. It’s meant to be lived . . .

Nina Sheridan thought she’d found the perfect man who would become the perfect husband. She was wrong. When Nina realizes the man she planned to grow old with doesn’t know her at all, it’s time to rethink her idea of perfect. And what better place to get her life in order than a remote Colorado mountain town halfway around the world?

Gnaw Bone, Colorado, may not be flashy or cosmopolitan, but it’s got a brand of hospitality all its own. Nina isn’t entirely sure she’s ready to trade the life she thought she wanted in England for cozy evenings in her mountain retreat, and she definitely isn’t sure she’s ready to handle the connection she feels to the owner of her rental house, Max Holden . . .

Nina didn’t come to Colorado to find love, but even the best-laid plans can go awry. Now, if Nina can let go of her past, Max-and a future in Gnaw Bone-might just be the perfect second chance she’s been waiting for.

Add The Gamble to your shelf on Goodreads!

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Guest Post

Good Lies by Charlotte West

Good_Lies_(A_Wild_Mind_Novel_Book_1)_Charlotte_West_Cover
If Warren Price was gasoline, I’d be a lit match.

Addison Wanks, rock ’n’ roll’s favorite daughter, is good at keeping secrets.

Secret One

She’s responsible for the long-standing feud between her father’s band, Wanks and Janks, and younger band Wild Minds. She may or may not have let Wild Minds’ sexy bad-boy lead singer Warren defile her backstage at a concert. Okay, she totally did.

Secret Two

She’s supposed to be attending college but instead skips town to follow Wild Minds on their European tour. Addy adores Warren Price.

Secret Three

Europe doesn’t go so well. Her sexy lead singer turned out to be king of a**holes. He’s arrogant, demanding and controlling. Addy loathes Warren Price. Oh, well.

Secret Four

Fast forward a few years and Addy is planning to attend her father’s farewell tour when she hears the news—Wild Minds is back in the good graces of Wanks and Janks. The two bands will be headlining together. This is going to make avoiding Warren difficult. Especially since it seems Warren doesn’t want to be ignored. He also doesn’t want a divorce. That’s right, Addy is married to the Wild Minds front man. Shh. Don’t tell.

What will happen when all Addy’s secrets are revealed?     

Check out an excerpt below! 

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “Paranormal Heroes” by N.J. Walters

Drakon's Promise N.J. Walters

I’m a writer, but I am also a reader. I love to curl up with a good book and lose myself in a story. Like any reader, I have my favorite heroes. They’re usually the emotionally or physically wounded, the anti-heroes, those tough men who don’t believe they could ever be anyone’s hero. Flawed and sometimes broken, they nevertheless stand head and shoulders above the usual leading men.

There are far too many to list them all, but here are five of my favorite paranormal romance heroes.

  1. Rhage from J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I admit that I put off reading this series when it first came out because the blurb from the first book just didn’t hook me. But it kept getting such great reviews I ended up reading the first three books one after another, and I fell in love with the brotherhood, but most especially with Rhage. He’s handsome, but it’s not his looks that drew me in. It was his tortured soul and his huge capacity for love. How can you not love a vampire who can morph into a purple dragon to save the people he loves?
  1. Kaleb Krychek from Nalini Singh’s Heart of Obsidian. I was a huge fan of her Guild Hunter series, but had never read any of her Psy-Changeling series. Then I read about Heart of Obsidian and bought it, even though it meant starting in the middle of a series. Kaleb is arguably the most dangerous man on the planet. The only person he ever loved was kidnapped and it has taken him years to find her. The ones who took her from him will pay, even if it means he has to lay waste to the world.

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Autumn Thorns Yasmine Galenorn
News

Happy Release Day, Freya Barker!

Still Air Freya Barker

Can you smell it in the air? It’s that beautiful Tuesday smell of new books! What makes this Tuesday special, though? Freya Barker has a new book out and we’re foaming-at-the-mouth excited! The brilliant close to the Portland ME series, Still Air is finally out!

Deprival haunted her…

Regret troubled her…

Silence left her detached…

A life in the service of others is both penance and a blessing. She soothes her personal hell by pulling victims from theirs, helping them on their path to survival; never finding her own. When a crippling blow finally evaporates her last hope, the temptation to give up is strong. Still, she can’t find it in her to turn her back on those who need her: the innocent, whose rescue is her perpetual goal.

He was blind, but now he sees how his family has sifted through his fingers. The reality hits hard when his son becomes a stranger, slipping deeper into transgression. Concern has him call on the one person he fears will see his own failures all too clearly. A woman he’s kept his distance from for his own protection.

What appeared to be an incompatible pairing, turns out the unyielding bond needed to heal them all.

Author of the popular Cedar Tree series, as well as the critically acclaimed standalone From Dust, Freya Barker is driven to make her stories about ‘real’ people; with characters who are perhaps less than perfect, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills, and some hot, sizzling sex in their lives.

Recipient of the RomCon Reader’s Choice Award for best first book, Slim To None, Freya has hit the ground running. She loves nothing more than to meet and mingle with her readers, whether it be online or in person at one of the signings she attends.

With her kids grown and out in the world, Freya has poured her creative energy into spinning story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Freya can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and FreyaBarker.com.

Q&A

Q&A: Tessa Bailey of WOUND TIGHT

Wound Tight Tessa Bailey

Tessa Bailey is here, and she’s brought exactly what we needed to veg out to after a long day of work: Movies. So many great movies. Tune in for an awesome chat with a fantastic author (and phenomenal lady) and don’t miss her latest M/M Romance, Wound Tight, out today!

What are your five favorite movies with romance or romantic elements?

Oooh! This is going to be fun. Here they are in no particular order!

Silver Linings Playbook: The romance between Pat and Tiffany hits me really hard every time. The progression of it, the arguing, the blowups, the moments of connection culminating in the dance contest. All of it was perfect to me.

Safety Not Guaranteed: Man puts out an ad asking for someone to help accompany him to the past in his time machine. Journalist (Aubrey Plaza) answers the ad. I won’t ruin the ending, but I dare you not to cheer when it happens. It’s amazing.

Love and Basketball: I played varsity basketball for four years in high school and whenever we rode the bus to away games, we huddled together and watched this. It’s a gorgeous movie. The couple has a lot of bumps along the way but their love wins. Young Omar Epps, you guys. Get in on this.

Bridesmaids: To me, there are two romances in this film. And my favorite is between Annie and Lillian (her best friend). It’s such a realistic portrayal of friendship between women (like, apart from the pooping in the street). The romance between Annie and Rhodes, the Irish cop, does not hurt, either.

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “Top Ten Gifts For The Guys In Your Life” by Jenna Bayley-Burke

Compromising Positions Jenna Bayley-Burke

Why, yes, I do have a new book out. But more importantly, I have holiday shopping to do. Lots of it. I’m one of those people who loves giving gifts, especially when I can find just the right thing. But you know the hardest people to shop for – DUDES! They’ve got everything they want, and everybody else will be getting them a funny tee or tie or gift box of something from the ‘For Men’ gift display. You could go that route, or you could try out one of these suggestions…

BEER CHOCOLATE! Yes, that is a thing. From my favorite Moonstruck Chocolates no less. They have a distillery series too. We’re all about our alcohol in Oregon. I think it’s all the rain.

TESLA COIL LIGHTER! It’s totally a thing, so cool, and he probably doesn’t have one. Dollars to doughnuts, he’s going to light something on fire within the hour.

TACTICAL PEN! Every man I’ve ever known has a part of him that wants to be McGyver. This will likely live forever in his glove box, but every time he sees it, he knows he’s prepared to be a hero.

CELL PHONE CAMERA LENS KIT! He would never buy it for himself, but he’s going to be playing with it as soon as he opens it. Holiday memories need to be recorded after all.

PARACORD KEY RING! I can hear you now, “Jenna, how is that exciting enough for an exclamation point?” Remember the McGyver thing? That.

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “Favorite Man Parts” by Vanessa Vale

Their Brazen Bride Vanessa Vale

Yes, the title drew you in, right? Everyone’s got a spot on a man that just melts their butter and I’m not talking about his ‘man part’. I’m keeping this post PG. I personally like the spot on a man’s thigh that peeks below the edge of his boxers. I had a hilarious conversation one time with my grandmother about boxers vs. briefs. While you’ve already guessed, I’m a boxers girl. She, though, liked a man in briefs (specifically my grandfather). She said, “I like the line that briefs gives.”

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Q&A

Q&A: Kendra C. Highley of THE BAD BOY BARGAIN

The Bad Boy Bargain Kendra C. Highley

We high five with the amazing Kendra C. Highley yet again over perfect taste in movies (you could build world peace around Princess Bride if you tried) and talk a little bit about her favorites! Her latest book, The Bad Boy Bargain is out right now!

What are your five favorite movies with romance or romantic elements?

The Princess Bride, Pride and Prejudice (A&E version FTW!), Beauty and the Beast,  Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Sense and Sensibility.

 

Describe your favorite scene from each one (you can include a Youtube clip if you want as well).

Princess Bride: The scene at Miracle Max’s and the whole debate about “true love.”

P&P: The pond scene! The look on Lizzie’s face when Mr. Darcy comes across the grass in a wet shirt? ::fans self::

Beauty and the Beast: When the Beast has to let Belle go…and she comes back.

Four Weddings: When Charles admits—at his wedding to another woman—that’s he’s in love with Carrie, then asks Carrie not to marry him.

Sense and Sensibility: Am I on a Hugh Grant roll here? Yes, and Edward’s scene at the end with Elanor is sweet and lovely, but it’s Alan Rickman’s Colonel Brandon bringing Kate Winslet’s Marianne in out of a rain storm then asking for a job when she’s ill that demonstrated the love he had for her. SWOON! (Plus the happy bride with her dashing husband being watched by the lover who jilted her watching from a distance is a fitting ending).

 

Did you have any of these scenes in mind when writing scenes from your latest release?

No, but I made a lot of Princess Bride references in my previous book, Defying Gravity.

 

FIVE BOOKS

 

If you could only read five books for the rest of your life, what five books would they be, and why?

Pride and Prejudice—because Jane Austen is AWESOME.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy (I’m cheating) by Laini Taylor…the writing is so beautiful and the story is great.

The Red Rising Triology (Still cheating) by Pierce Brown. Visceral, violent, but so compelling I have a hard time putting it down.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy (yep, I’m a cheater) by Rae Carson. The heroine is unique, self-sufficient, and strong, and the love story is outstanding.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I know, I know) because…J.R.R Tolkien, elves, Aragon, and a great story. That Arwen/Aragorn love story is one of my favorites.

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Exclusive Excerpt

Exclusive Excerpt: Nancy Corrigan’s SHARED FOR LOVE

Shared For Love Nancy Corrigan

Look, we know it’s a Tuesday and we know you’re half-(mostly)asleep. Which is why we brought you some pure, unfiltered tension from the brilliant Nancy Corrigan! Check out this excerpt of Shared For Love below and pick up the book, because it is out right now!

“Are you done imagining what I would look like naked, or do you want me to stand here longer?” His rough voice zinged through her, setting her on edge. Not in a bad way. Awareness settled low. She ignored the instant arousal and yanked her gaze to his face. Green eyes framed by dark lashes snared her attention.

She inhaled sharply. Never before had she seen a shifter with green eyes. The rare gene offered power, just as the combination of her black hair and blue eyes gifted her with strength.

She let her gaze map his face as she had his body. Dark blond hair set off the deep emerald color of his eyes and framed a harsh face, but his shaggy locks softened his features. She doubted he’d styled it on purpose for the effect. The uneven ends gave the impression he’d hacked it off with scissors and didn’t give a shit if it looked nice or not.

The shadow of his beard added to the image of indifference. The uneven growth covered his cheeks, chin, and neck. Her fingertips itched to touch his jaw and see if the stubble had reached the point of softness or if it would tickle her skin and make her squirm. She curled her fingers and fought to contain her runaway thoughts. They weren’t appropriate, especially after being in Ethan’s arms. She swore she could still smell him on her skin.

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