Today is our stop on the blog tour for Exit Wounds by Nikki Archer. We’re so excited to share this contemporary crime novel! Check out our post and grab your copy today. About Exit Wounds: Colt is on the run. After a family argument ends with her father dead on the floor and the murder weapon in her hand, the heiress to Mexico’s largest drug cartel is left with few options. As the police rush to piece together evidence and name a suspect, Colt and her boyfriend speed south. If she wants to stay out of jail, she’ll have to sacrifice a different sort of freedom and leave America for the anonymity and relative safety of Mexico. But at her drug lord uncle’s Playboy-esque villa, the outlaw princess must make a choice: accept her place in the family legacy, or try to make her way alone. And her uncle may have more skeletons in his closet than even Colt could’ve imagined.
EXCERPT:
My father named me Colt, after his favorite pistol. It should go without saying that he was expecting a son. Instead, he got me. It’s this same pistol that sits across his lap as he stares unblinking at the TV, some eighties movie that I don’t recognize blaring from the old, boxy set. I stop in the doorway of the living room when I spot the gun. It’s a bad day. "Dad?" I have to yell to be heard over the actors on the screen, but I don’t want to startle him. My father is like a wounded animal in that way. Sneak up on him with the best of intentions and get your eyes scratched out for your trouble. His gaze meanders over to me, his eyes glassy and, I notice as I step closer, picking my way around dirty laundry and old fast food bags, his pupils are pinned—tiny black fly dots in a brown soup. My father, you see, is a junkie. "Whudduyu want?" his words slur together, sleepy and slow. I lean against the doorframe and run a hand down my face. Tuck my hair behind my ears. "Ma sent me to check on you. Your landlord called again and said he’s evicting you next week if you don’t come up with rent. Says you’re dodging his phone calls." I’d almost told the guy to come down here himself, but I knew he wouldn’t. He might own the shithole apartments, but that doesn’t mean he’ll set foot in them. Dad stares at me, his mouth partway open, exposing uneven yellow teeth—junkie teeth, let’s be honest—but doesn’t answer me. It’ll take him a minute to catch up, but I don’t have the patience to break it down for him into child-sized pieces. The wrinkles in his brown face twist when understanding finally dawns. "I don’ owe that man nothing. I give him an ounce of weed las’ week an’ only charge him two hundred." He waves his hand like he’s dismissing me. "We square." I have to fight down the urge to correct his English, a habit I’d fallen into as a young kid already more fluent in the language than both my parents who still, a decade later, have Mexican accents that are hard to miss. "Well, there’s an eviction notice on your door, so apparently he doesn’t think you’re square." I nod toward the .45 across his legs. "Do I even want to ask what that’s about?"
Nikki Archer lives in New England, where she teaches high school English and spends her free time pursuing as many degrees as humanly possible. She divides her life into hockey season and baseball season, and she really really hates socks. She spends all of her extra money (and some that’s not exactly extra) on concert tickets and trips to interesting places. Her first novel, “Whatever’s Left,” is a YA romance, but “Exit Wounds” is her first venture into the world of crime writing. Connect with Nikki: Facebook | Website
Enter Nikki’s Giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway
0 Comments
The F-Word by Sandra Marton releases on January 17th! Sign up to be notified when LIVE: http://eepurl.com/csZBLj Blurb Matthew O’Malley is one hell of a catch. He’s rich, handsome, charming, smart—and every woman who’s slept with him says he’s fantastic in bed. This is all true, but he’s also a guy who got where he is today by working hard and by hiring the best people. Bailey Abram is one of those people. She’s Matthew’s PA. She’s loyal, efficient, brilliant—and she’s never been with a man in her life. Suddenly, it’s crisis time. Bailey’s cousin is getting married and Bailey’s mother insists she come home for the wedding. Bailey refuses. She and her cousin have a long, unpleasant history. Bailey was the straight A student. Violet was the prom queen and she’s never let Bailey forget it. So Bailey tells a huge lie. She can’t come to the wedding, she says, because she’s going away for the weekend with a rich, gorgeous, sexy guy. Matthew overhears this. And he sees her burst into tears when she ends the call to her mother. He hates to see Bailey so unhappy. After all, this is his PA. His dedicated paragon of efficiency. Impulsively, he offers to help. Why not go to the wedding with her? Play the part of her rich, gorgeous, sexy boyfriend? So what if it means spending four intense days getting to know each other outside the office? So what if it means turning Bailey from a woman who dresses like somebody’s maiden aunt into a hot-looking babe? So what if it means teaching her how to touch him and be touched by him, kiss him and be kissed by him? There won’t be any real sex because it’s only a game. Right? That’s all it is. Just a smoking-hot, set-fire-to-the-sheets game. About the Author Sandra Marton is a USA Today Bestselling Author with approximately 35,000,000 (and counting!) books in print in twenty-plus languages. Sandra’s Harlequin Presents novels all feature the sexy, gorgeous, complex, tough on the outside but tender on the inside Alpha heroes she loves to create. So do all her brand new single title novels: The Prince of Pleasure, Emily: Sex & Sensibility (The Wilde Sisters, book one), Jaimie: Fire & Ice (The Wilde Sisters, book two) and, coming soon, Lissa: Sugar & Spice (The Wilde Sister, book three). Sandra has won the Holt Medallion. She’s been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA award four times. She’s won eight Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers’ Choice Awards and was honored with their Career Achievement Award for Series Romance. Sandra always dreamed of becoming a writer. She wrote poems when she was little, moved on to writing short stories by the time she was in university. She was graduated with Honors in English but, she says, life—a lovely one—intervened with her writing dream. She married, had a family, became active politically in the small town outside New York City where she and her husband lived. Then, one day, she paused long enough to realize her dream was getting away from her and decided to do something about it. Sandra wrote her very first novel, a romance she called Rapture in the Sands. She sent a synopsis and one chapter to several publishers. A senior editor at Harlequin liked what she’d read and asked to see the rest. After revisions, Harlequin Mills and Boon Ltd bought and published the book. Today, Sandra is a full time author. She lives in northern Connecticut with her husband, who was her childhood sweetheart, in a sun-drenched house surrounded by woods. Stalk Her: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads The Highlander Who Loved Meby Tara Kingston Highland Hearts #1 Publication Date: December 12, 2016 Genres: Adult, Entangled: Select, Historical RomanceBUY:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gYyNeI
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2hbF
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2h1oAij
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2gyWPN3
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2hbJI4a
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2hbNiLK
iBooks: http://apple.co/2hbNXw
Synopsis: He may be her fiercest ally…or a scoundrel waiting to betray her.Johanna Templeton is on a life-and-death quest. Swept into an intrigue that rivals the tales she pens, she joins forces with a Highland rogue to find the treasure that will save her kidnapped niece—a prize the Scot seeks for reasons that have nothing to do with ransom. Engaging the Highlander in a sizzling battle of the sexes, Johanna shields her heart. Connor MacMasters, spy for Queen Victoria, is a man on a mission—keep a legendary gemstone from an evil man. Trailing an American novelist who holds the key to the treasure should’ve been simple, but Johanna awakens feelings he’d long thought dead. Torn between duty and desire, he wants her in his bed, but loving her would be a fool’s game. Blasted shame his heart doesn’t agree.
Playlist for The Highlander Who Loved Me
1. Make You Feel My Love — Adele 2. Something — The Beatles 3. Open Your Heart — Madonna 4. Breathe — Faith Hill 5. Stay With Me — Sam Smith 6. Take My Breath Away — Berlin 7. Maybe I’m Amazed — Paul McCartney 8. Love Me Like You Do — Ellie Goulding 9. Skyfall — Adele 10. Unconditionally -- Katy Perry 11. Nobody Does It Better -- Carly Simon 12. Kiss Me -- Ed Sheeran 13. I Choose You -- Sara Bareilles ABOUT TARA KINGSTONAward-winning author Tara Kingston writes romance laced with intrigue, danger, and adventures of the heart. A Southern Navy brat transplanted to a quaint Pennsylvania town, she lives her own love story with her real-life hero in a cozy Victorian. The mother of two sons, Tara’s a former librarian whose love of books is evident in her popping-at-the-seams bookcases and collection of unusual bookmarks. It goes without saying that Tara’s husband is thankful for the invention of digital books, thereby eliminating the need for yet another bookcase. When she’s not writing, reading, or burning dinner, Tara enjoys cycling, hiking, and cheering on her favorite football team. Learn more about Tara at www.tarakingston.com.Website | Facebook |Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter | Amazon Author Profile ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
Title: Swing
Series: Landry Family #2
Author: Adriana Locke
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: December 19, 2016
Blurb
Screw him and his perfect stats.
Sinful smirk.
Delicious body.
Lincoln Landry probably even has game-winning stamina.
I’d like to screw her and her perfect ass.
Dangerous curves.
Sweet smile.
Danielle Ashley probably even has a game-changing personality.
There’s no denying the chemistry between them. It’s so fiery, it’s undeniable. They partake in it. Enjoy it.
They really enjoy it.
Attraction is not a problem. Nor is their banter, relationship status, or habits. That’s all fine. Perfect, actually.
The problem is as tangled up as their sheets.
A STANDALONE romantic comedy from USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke.
Excerpt
Why they call it a farmhouse is beyond me. That word paints an image of a little white house with a chicken coop. This is a Southern plantation. A huge, wide porch with pillars looks to encompass the entire place. Mums line whiskey barrels and give the clean exterior pops of burgundy, orange, and yellow. It’s breathtaking.
“This is gorgeous,” I breathe as it comes into full view. “Not what I expected.” “This is my second favorite place in the world,” he whispers against my ear. “Second? What could be more perfect that this?” “Inside you.” Before he can pull away, I turn my face so my lips capture his. He deepens the kiss, our lips working against one another in perfect harmony. As we pull away, breathless, he grins. “Thank you for coming.” “I’ll ensure you come later,” I promise. “Naughty girl,” he chuckles as the car rolls to a stop. “I like it.”
“You will.”
Also Available
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Author Bio
USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.
She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket. For sneak peeks, giveaways, and more, please join Adriana's Facebook Group, Books by Adriana Locke, or her Goodreads group, All Locked Up.
Author Links
Unexpected by KG Fletcher is stopping by today for the blog tour. Check out this great new contemporary romance and grab your copy today! About Unexpected: Recently jilted Josephine Davis wasn’t looking for love…. A chance encounter along the sweltering highway with Atlanta’s own millionaire bachelor changed all that. Devastatingly handsome and full of unexpected talents, William Prescott Harrington, III shows beautiful Josie a life that she could have only dreamed of; his excessive wealth and generosity eventually threatening her very existence. Two star-crossed lovers from polar opposite sides of Atlanta navigate their way through a maze of greed and jealousy desperate for only one thing – each other. Her heart made a wish. Will her dream become reality or will the nightmare destroy them all?
Dream Cast
Rachel McAdams as Josephine Olivia Davis & Chris Pine as William Prescott Harrington, III
Jack Black as Edward Covington (William’s best friend)
Taylor Momsen as Tiffany (Edward’s girlfriend) Kevin Connolly as Jake (Josie’s ex-fiancé)
Anna Chlumsky as Karen Davis (Josie’s sister)
Jane Fonda as Bunny Harrington (William’s mother)
Get Your Copy Today!
About KG Fletcher: KG Fletcher is the author of the romantic suspense novel, Unexpected released in December, 2016. She is an active member of RWA and the Georgia Romance Writers Association. She was a singer/songwriter in Nashville, TN and a recipient of the “Airplay International Award” for “Best New Artist” showcasing original songs at The Bluebird Café. She earned her BFA in theater at Valdosta State College and has traveled the world professionally as a singer/actress. She currently gets to play rock star as a backup singer in the National Tour, “Remember When Rock Was Young – a Tribute to Elton John.” (www.almosteltonjohn.com) KG lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Ladd and their three gorgeous sons. She is a hopeless romantic continuing her work on her original cabaret act called, “Love” to help promote her romance novels. Connect with KG:
Website: www.kgfletcherauthor.com
Twitter: @kgfletcher3 Facebook: www.facebook.com/kgfletcherauthor Instagram: kellyf9393
Enter KG’s Giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway
JL grew up in a small town in Illinois. Not to be mistaken for Chicago. She currently resides in Southern Kentucky with her husband, three children and their fur-baby, Buster Malone. She has lived an adventurous life…doing just that, living. Dream it. Do it. Live it. JL is a hopeless romantic, who loves seeing love unwind before her eyes. When she can’t see that for herself with other people in real life, she writes it or reads it. Writing has been a part of her life since she was a little girl, along with being an avid reader. She will continue to write until the pen will not allow it anymore. Author Links: Author Group Link: http://bit.ly/2gvoB13 Facebook Link: http://on.fb.me/1QBq13o Author Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/jllong Website Link: http://www.jllong.net/ Amazon Author Page Link: http://amzn.to/1Y334vQ2 ••*´¨`*•.☆A Dance Worth Dancing••´¨`*•.☆ "I can't promise you any of that, Rori. I'm not the guy who sticks around. I don't want to be that guy... I'm sorry." -Colt A Dance Worth Dancing blurb: WARNING: This book contains situations not suitable for all readers. This includes vulgar language. Love is a strange thing. It can heal, it can hurt and it can be astonishing. For Rori and Colt, it's a mixture of all of these things. Rori is a single mom who is looking for love in all the wrong places. Until one fateful night her hero comes to her without her even knowing it. She has too much at stake to risk a dance on the wild side. Colt isn’t the type to settle down. He’s been there, done that and was left high and dry. Colt’s just surviving by throwing himself into his work on SWAT and living the simple bachelor life with his dog Tank. Or at least it was simple, before Colt’s greatest demons come crawling to the surface. Can they pull through when it seems like the universe is doing everything in its power to pull them apart? Can love really conquer all? #FREE with KU Get it here : http://amzn.to/2gqA4K8 ••*´¨`*•.☆The Sacred Truth••*´¨`*•.☆ "Someday, you'll understand why I did it." -Nolan The Sacred Truth blurb: The only failures in life are the mistakes you don’t learn from. It was only supposed to be casual. Then I fell for her. Falling head first in love, only to have fear rip it out from underneath me. I severed us with my destructive words. Correcting all the mistakes I’ve made is what I have to do, I just don’t know how. She does. She always knows what to do. However, fate has a way of deciding things like this for us, doesn’t it? This is part of the Tactical Men Series. It can be read as a standalone though we meet Nolan and Jenna in A Dance Worth Dancing. **Warning- Intended for readers 18+. This book contains situations not suitable for all readers.The only failures in life are the mistakes you don’t learn from. #FREE with #KU Get it here: http://amzn.to/2gPQPPO ••*´Copperfield Lane (With Love at Christmas Anthology)••*´ Copperfield Lane Blurb:
Selena They say your heart will always lead you home again. I've returned to the place I was my happiest. However, I never expected to find everything I needed but wasn't searching for. **** Lawson Now that Lena's come home, to the place most sacred to her, I'll never let her go again. She belongs here. I just have to make her see she can't live without me. Get it here: books2read.com/With-Love-at-Christmas Today we have the blog tour for Miss Hollywood by Marie Garner! Check it out and grab your copy today!About Miss Hollywood (The Misses Trilogy- Book 3)Clare Martin has spent the last ten years in the spotlight, becoming Hollywood’s It Girl. On the surface her life looks perfect, but in reality she’s faltering. And the last person she expects to provide any relief is her best friend’s brother, the man who’s been tying her in knots for months. Alexander Richards has paid the price for every single mistake he’s made. He makes no excuses for what he’s done, and wants nothing more than to find some peace. But that may be impossible since he has to help the woman who’s been driving him crazy since he moved to California. Thrown together in the middle of nowhere, there’s no way to deny the attraction that burns within them. But how can they build a future if they can’t address their own insecurities? And what happens when secrets and lies from the past threaten to pull them apart?
EXCERPT:
His lips brushed against hers. Once. Twice. A whisper of what was to come. “I get it. Even if I didn’t before, the last couple of days have shown me who you are. You’re amazing, and you take care of your family and your responsibilities with very little complaint. I’m glad I came, and I want to help your family get their shop up and running agian.” “Okay,” she sighed, satisfied with his answers. He was seeing her, and she needed him. “Can we table to rest of the conversation and seal it with a kiss?” “I’ll do something better,” he murmured, his lips coming over her in the way she’d become familiar with. He consumed her, and she didn’t want him to stop. She opened her mouth, sighing when his tongue entered hers in a silent battle of duels. She let him lead, content to have him take her where he wanted her. He broke off the kiss, and they panted out their breaths while their eyes met and held. He took her hand, leading her to the bed, and watching as she pulled her night shirt on over her head. She crossed her arms to ward off the chill, and cover herself, but he seemed to know what she was doing because he caught her arms and pulled them down. “Let me see them. Have I told you I love your breasts?” He asked while laying her down on her back. He pulled off his shirt, staring at her the entire time to gauge her reaction before straddling her with his knees on the bed. She ran her hands over his muscular thighs, watching him swell before her. “You haven’t, but I figured that’s how you felt when you’re always staring at them. “Guilty,” he grinned, leaning down to take the left one in his mouth. He swirled his tongue around her nipple, biting lightly. She hissed, her hips lifting off the bed at the onslaught on sensation. “Wait a second,” he muffled against her breast, patting her legs to go back down before her focused on the other breast. She let go, allowing him to use her body in the way he saw fit. He was a master, and seemed to know exactly what she needed. His tongue swirled a pattern down her stomach, stopping before her shorts, where he ran a tongue from one side of her stomach to the other. Her muscles quivered, and she wanted to shove his head further, where she really wanted him. He lifted his head to grin at her. “Maybe we should stop here.” He started to get up, but she practically jumped off the bed to push him back down. “Don’t you dare,” she warned. Catch up on the series!
MISS CONGENIALITY:
Amazon -Barnes & Noble - iBooks - Kobo MISS MAN EATER: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - iBooks - Kobo About Marie Garner:Marie Garner is a North Carolina girl who grew up in piedmont and attended college in the mountains of Cullowhee, NC. She graduated with a degree in Social Studies education, and spent several years spreading her love of history and political science to young minds.Her nose was stuck in a book since she was little, and she spent years writing down all the crazy ideas floating in her head. She has published the first two books in her trilogy, The Misses Trilogy, with Miss Hollywood slated for release in Fall 2016. Her writing explores the complexities of relationships, something she’s all too familiar with as part of a large, crazy family. When she’s not locked in her writing cave she can be found cheering on the Washington Redskins or watching The Walking Dead, and thinks there’s nothing sweeter than a cold Diet Coke.Connect with Marie Garner: Author Website- www.authormariegarner.com Facebook- www.facebook.com/authormariegarner Twitter- www.twitter.com/themariegarner Newsletter- http://eepurl.com/bav2PHEnter Marie’s Giveaway:a Rafflecopter giveawayThe CEO’s Seductionby Diane Alberts Publication Date: December 12, 2016 Genres: Adult, Entangled: Indulgence, Contemporary RomanceBUY:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gZFBv8
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2ho2
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2go28B4
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2habgYU
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2ho9Qc9
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2gfhXf5
iBooks: http://apple.co/2gZx5w
Synopsis: The last thing Brett Ross wants is to be back in the same old damn small town he grew up in, but his best friend is getting married, so there’s no way he’s skipping yet another visit back home. He knows what he’s getting into, coming back here, but the one thing he didn’t count on was the way Anna Hamilton made him feel the first time he sets eyes on her…and she’s all grown up.Anna’s always been in love with Brett, even if she’s always been his best friend’s annoying little sister to him. But when he looks at her, she doesn’t see annoyance in his eyes anymore. If anything, she sees a silent calling for her to save him from himself…and she’s just the girl to do it. All she needs is to find a way to escape her pesky, protective older brothers… And then the game is on.
EXCERPT:
Brett cleared his throat. “Lead the way.” “Follow me,” she said, her voice light and flirty. As usual. “Gladly.” Brett stepped aside to let Anna walk past him. She started up the stairs, her hips swinging with every step she took. Looking at the rest of the Hamiltons, he raised a brow. “I’ll catch up with you guys in a few?” “We’ll be waiting,” Eric said, his jaw tight. “Don’t take too long.” “Of course not.” Don’t worry. I’ll only take long enough to defile your sister in the upstairs hallway. “We’ll be right back.” As he followed Anna, his gaze level with her swinging hips, four sets of eyes bored into his back, singeing holes in his favorite suit jacket. Just in case they could see through his skull, he focused on the back of her head. Her blonde curls bounced with each step she took. For some reason, he found himself wondering if her hair was as soft as it seemed, and he almost wanted to find out. When they reached the top of the steps, she held on to the banister. “Don’t pay attention to them. They still think I’m a little girl who needs protecting.” She did need protecting. Men were assholes. “Aren’t you?” “Oh God.” She turned on him, her frown showing him her disappointment even if she didn’t sound mad. “Not you, too?” “I’m not going to be protecting you, if that’s what you’re asking.” He stopped on the second-to-last step. “But I think you’ll always be someone they need to protect. Kind of goes hand in hand with having four older brothers.” “Yeah, well, I don’t think they need to worry about you.” She motioned toward him, her cheeks going bright pink. “I mean...it’s you. You’re nothing to worry about.” He swallowed a laugh at her words. “Are you insinuating I can’t get it up, Twinkletoes? Because I assure you, I’ve had no complaints in that area.” “Yeah, I know. I’ve heard,” she muttered. “Wait. What?” “I mean...” She gestured somewhere in the vicinity of his cock. “What I mean to say is, I’m sure everything is fully functioning down there. Not that I’ve asked around or anything. That would be super creepy. Like, really creepy. It’s not like I talked to your exes, or put up cameras—” He held up a hand, choking back a loud laugh. “Maybe you should just stop now while you’re ahead. If you tell me you’ve been watching me on surveillance cameras, even I’ll get freaked out, and I do some sketchy shit to close a deal at work sometimes.” “God, yes. I’ll just stop talking now. Like, forever.” ABOUT DIANE ALBERTSDiane Alberts is a USA TODAY bestselling Contemporary Romance author with Entangled Publishing. Under the name Jen McLaughlin, she also writes New York Times, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling books with Penguin Random House. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. Diane is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency. Diane has always been a dreamer with a vivid imagination, but it wasn’t until 2011 that she put her pen where her brain was, and became a published author. Since receiving her first contract offer, she has yet to stop writing. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, and three cats. Her goal is to write so many fantastic stories that even a non-romance reader will know her name.Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Mailing List | Amazon Author Profile ENTER THE GIVEAWAYCOVER REVEAL FOR CROWN OF LIESA Brand New Erotic Romance Coming Soon From New York Times Bestseller, Pepper Winters. BLURB “I met the man I wanted. But then he vanished and a new man claimed me instead. My father approved, my colleagues congratulated, and behind closed doors, I was bedded by a master.” Noelle Charlston lived a fairy-tale life: a doting father, a powerful job, and a future blessed with financial security. However, two meetings with two men changed her happy existence forever. First, she met the man who made her heart sing. Second, she met the man who made her blood quiver. Noelle’s freedom was no longer hers. It belonged to the stranger her father believed was the perfect match. The stranger who pulled his lies over everyone he touched. Including her. The lies he spins, the truth he hides, the mystery he webs—it’s all enough to slowly erode the woman she’d been and turn her into something else. Until her past collides with her present. And it’s her turn to lie. To everyone…including herself. Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2fhNdcM Enter MASSIVE GIVEAWAY: http://gvwy.io/5xejb9a Pre-order on iBooks: http://apple.co/2i2Exbj Sign up for Release Alerts: http://bit.ly/2cpSLhF Pepper Winters other books: http://bit.ly/2bUTvgO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOsjYJif6M&t=1sEXCLUSIVE EXCERPT R18 ONLY (unedited, subject to change, copyright 2016 Pepper Winters) * CROWN OF LIES * “YOU MUST BE Chloe.” “I am.” The girl who tormented me in high school simpered, tossing her chestnut hair like a high-strung pony. Her green dress complimented the tan she said she’d earned from the Caribbean last week. Her gaze sank into Penn as if he were some prize to be won. A prize she’d very much like to taste. Penn pulled me into his side, running his hand erotically up and down my arm. “And I believe you know my partner Elle.” “Wait, partner?” She blinked. “I thought she was with Greg.” Finally her eyes left Penn and locked on mine. “You got two men now, Ding Dong Bell? A little greedy don’t you think?” Her giggle sounded forced and fake. I wanted to sink into the ground and never reappear. I waited for Penn to mock the nickname, just like Greg had. But he stood cold and primitive, a velvet purr falling from his mouth. “She only has one. Believe me, all she needs is me.” I opened my mouth to reply but Penn squeezed me, keeping me silent. His arm was a hot band controlling me and making me wet in equal measure. The other girls from school slowly looked up from their conversations, paying attention while trying to appear uninterested. They didn’t fool me or Penn as he smiled his signature sexy smirk and grabbed my chin. His lips planted on mine in a brutal kiss, bruising me, consuming me as his tongue took liberties and his power stole all my remaining breath. He made me stupid. He made me proud. The instant I lost the tension in my spine, he let me go—almost as if he’d kissed me deliberately to keep me out of my head and in my body with him. “Are you going to tell them the good news, or shall I?” His authoritative tone blended with a dark flirt. I blinked. “Tell them what?” I was one step behind. I couldn’t catch up. I’d never been that way before. I’d always been the boss, leading. I didn’t know if I liked being the follower. “Tell them you’ve decided to let me own you.” “Wait, what?” Chloe’s mouth hung open. “What does that mean?” I shook my head, rubbing the sudden goosebumps on my arms. Penn said we were playing a game. And yet I didn’t know the rules or what was expected. He answered for me again. “We met a few days ago and it was love at first sight.” He dragged me close, his eyes black. “It took some convincing but Elle has agreed to give me a chance.” He glanced at Chloe, filling his handsome face with ardent satisfaction. “She said yes.” “Yes to what?” Frankie appeared, eyeing Penn from his black shoes to his five o’ clock shadow. “Yes to marrying me.” The world screeched to a halt. What? I flinched, trying to tear myself from Penn’s embrace. He held me tighter, his fingers sinking like keys into my arms, turning a lock, keeping me bound to him and useless. Chloe’s mouth hung open. “Wow, Elle, I never knew—” “Never knew she was the sexiest woman alive?” Penn snarled with sudden viciousness. “Never knew she worked so damn hard, first for her father and now for thousands of employees around the world? Never knew she was one of the richest women alive? Never knew that she was ten times the fucking woman you’ll ever be?” Whoa, this was too much. Too fast. Too scary. Too far out of my comfort zone. Yes to marrying him? I never agreed to that. I’d agreed to sex. Stupid, silly, sensual sex. And now it’s time to say no. I tore myself from his embrace, my body shaking. “Stop. That’s not true. Don’t spread such lies.” I stared helplessly at Chloe whose face had turned snow white. “I’m so sorry. Ignore him. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. We’ve only just got together. We’re not engaged. He’s not—” “What my fiancé here is trying to say—” Penn interrupted. “Is she’s too kind-hearted to rub her success in your face even though you do the same to her. I don’t need to hear stories of what it was like to grow up with you. I see her and I see you and I understand the shadow you made her exist in. But not anymore.” His teeth flashed as he snarled, “I’m stealing her from you now. From all of you. She’s mine. And it’s a sad loss that you never figured out what an incredible creature you had under your noses the entire time.” Greg sidled up, hate stares fired at Penn. “That includes you.” Penn pointed at him. “I don’t know how long you’ve known each other but you fucked up.” He laughed low. “You’ll never get her back because she’ll never be the same once I’ve had her.” My cheeks turned into flames of hell. I ducked my chin, doing my best to hide. I wanted the club to vanish and Penn to disintegrate into dust. Words and curses tangled to spew at him but he pulled me from the crowd, away from cringe-worthy declarations, away from high-school trolls and wanna-be boyfriends, and through the nightclub to the fresh air outside. I managed a few gulps of oxygen before he yanked me down the alleyway between the nightclub and a restaurant and slammed me against the brick wall. Quicksilver memories of another alleyway and another man once upon a time tried to twist my present with my past, and then it had no power as Penn’s lips crashed over mine and he kissed me. He kissed me and then he kissed me. Each swipe of his tongue blasted through my decorum, dragging alive the sexual being inside who’d never been allowed to evolve. His right hand bunched my dress up my leg. My brain tried to split—to focus on the foot traffic only a few metres away and not on the blistering heat of his fingertips on my inner thigh. And then nothing else mattered as his touch found my core, pushing against my underwear. He didn’t ask permission. He didn’t pull back to see if I was okay with this. He merely kissed me and fingered me over the lace. All I wanted to do was to let go. To trust in the magic he created in my blood and allow him to be as arrogant as he wanted. To take charge. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let him get away with what he’d said. His lies. His verbal telling off to people I had to converse with. He was far too brash and daredevil for my world. His mouth kept working mine, dragging a moan deep from my lungs. I had a second before I drowned under his powerful wave and lost myself. A second and then I would be gone and I couldn’t blame anyone but myself. So I bit him. My teeth sank into his lip, not holding back as I did the only thing I could to slow things down and breathe. He stumbled backward, holding his bottom lip where a bead of blood welled. “Fuck.” My ribcage rose and fell. I sucked in gasps, giving in to the slight hysteria he’d caused. I held up a shaky finger. “Don’t touch me.” “Touch you? Fuck, I own you.” My plait caught like Velcro on the bricks behind me as I shook my head. “No, you don’t.” His eyes etched with black. “You said yes, remember?” “Yes to a beneficial sexual relationship. Not to damn marriage!” He chuckled. “That’s what’s got you afraid? Marriage? I have no intention of marrying you.” I frowned. “Then why lie about it?” “Why not?” He shrugged. “Why do other people have to know exactly what we do and who we are? Why do they have to hear our truth when they’re so fucking fake themselves?” I hated that he had a point. He placed a hand on the brick wall by my head, his body swaying into mine. If he touched me again, I doubted I’d have the willpower to stop him. My clit still throbbed from his touch, the echoing bands of release a phantom cry in my veins. “Stay back.” He lowered his head, a tight smile on his lips. “Fine.” Holding his hands up in surrender, he kept his distance but didn’t move away. “What will it take for you to let me touch you again?” His voice dropped to sand and sleet. “Because I really want to touch you again, Elle.” I shivered, doing my best to keep my thoughts focused and not on the molten heat inside. Having him so close didn’t help. He’d been gorgeous in the club—dappled in strobes and painted in shadows—but out here; out here where the vague lights of apartments and street lamps didn’t dare enter the sanctity of the alleyway, he was cloaked in darkness. His shoulders strained against the stitches of his suit. His forearms ropy and tanned with his cuffs pushed up. His entire body flexed as he waved a hand with feline grace, hiding the throbbing tension between us, pretending he hadn’t just fired my libido to the point of excruciation. “I’m not answering anymore of your questions,” I hissed. “Who the hell are you? What do you want from me?” Sighing heavily, his lips pouted, blood smeared a little to make him seem part vampire. “You already know what I want.” “But who are you?” “I’m someone you can be free with.” “I don’t know what that means.” “It means you don’t need to be afraid of me.” I clasped my hands together, seeking comfort from myself. Fighting with a strange man—even one who’d touched and kissed me—in an empty alleyway wasn’t exactly encouraged. “I’m not afraid of you.” He cocked his head, his throat muscles tight and tense. “Are you sure about that?” “I’m not sure about anything anymore.” He ran a hand through his hair, disrupting the strands into a mess. “Isn’t that the point?” “Stop answering everything with a question.” “Fine.” He stood tall, his legs spread with dominion. “You said yes to me. I won’t let you take that back. But I will try to ease your mind.” His face tightened as if this game had higher stakes for him than he let on. “I’ll only say this once so listen carefully. I will lie to others about us. I will paint a picture that isn’t true for people who wish to know what we do. I will curse and hurt and do whatever I damn well want, but you have my word on one thing.” My voice carried on a hesitant whisper. “What word?” “That I won’t lie to you. What you see from me will be the honest fucking truth. I’ll only hurt you if you want me to hurt you and I’ll protect you even while I do it. Give me yourself, let me take control, and I promise you, you’ll enjoy it.”Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2fhNdcM Enter MASSIVE GIVEAWAY: http://gvwy.io/5xejb9a Pre-order on iBooks: http://apple.co/2i2Exbj Sign up for Release Alerts: http://bit.ly/2cpSLhF Pepper Winters other books: http://bit.ly/2bUTvgO About the Author Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex... her books have sex. She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. STALK Pepper: Website | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Goodreads Pucked Off by Helena Hunting Publication Date: February 21st, 2017 Genre: Contemporary RomanceSocial Butterfly PR is thrilled to present the cover for PUCKED OFF, a sexy, new standalone coming soon from Helena Hunting!Synopsis:***A Standalone novel in The Pucked Series*** I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance." I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want. Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way. I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve. At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark. I shouldn’t want her. But I do. I should leave her alone. But I won’t. Add to GoodreadsPre-Order Links:Amazon US: http://amzn./2hOwiPo Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2gi1Blb Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2gBS6O2 Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2g4xhY5 Nook: http://bit.ly/2gcXaEs Kobo: http://bit.ly/2gyCH0Q iBooks: http://apple.co/2fnVHNQ About the Author:NYT and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy. Connect with Helena:Instagram: http://instagram.com/helenahunting Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaHunting Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Zt1xm5 Facebook Fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/385795934890523/ Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/ Never miss an update! Subscribe to Helena's mailing list: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/f4p1t7 |