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Title: Going for the Hole
Author: L.P. Dover
Genre: Sports Rom/Com
Release Date: June 25, 2018 Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser @ RBA Designs
“I absolutely loved everything about this story!!I literally devoured it in one sitting…” ~ Marybeth (Goodreads review) “I’m addicted to L.P’s books and Going for the Hole is by far my favorite book.” ~ Veronica (Goodreads review)
Stroke it smooth.
And you’ll sink right into the hole. That’s my motto both on and off the golf course. The women come in full supply everywhere I go and there are no complaints. Maybe it’s the size of my driver that gets them going.
I’m Lucas “Ace” Montgomery, professional golfer and world record holder for the longest drive in golf history. The PGA Tour has been my life, but it’s time for a break. A few relaxing weeks of drinking and golf with friends in Myrtle Beach is what I need. However, when a bright pink ball knocks me out on the course, and a blonde beauty comes to my aid, I expect to see a gallery girl, a.k.a a member of the Party Groupie Association. Trust me, those girls know how to have fun. Although, to my surprise, it’s not what I get at all.
Dr. Ashley Locke is beautiful and everything I’d want if I was ever to get serious about someone. Unfortunately, she has no interest in me whatsoever which only makes me want her more. All she wants is to get through her friend’s bachelorette weekend and go back to her life. But after injuring me on the course, I’m not letting her run away so easily. When I want something, I get it.
I’m not competing for money this time. All I want is to win her heart.
“When can I see you again?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I took a needle in the ass for you. Surely, that deserves more of your attention?”
Why did he always have to give me that devilish smile of his? As much as I wanted to hate it, I couldn’t. “Why are you doing this? Can’t you find someone else?”
“Of course I can, but I want you. We can have secret meetings in here if you’re still embarrassed to be seen in public with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not embarrassed. You’re you, and I’m a respectable member of society.”
He burst out laughing. “Okay, I see how it is.”
“I just don’t want the publicity,” I added. “You can understand that, right? You of all people should know what it’s like not to have privacy.”
His smile faded. “You’re right, I do, but it’s my life. I can’t change who I am.” My body shivered with the intensity of his stare. “For once, I thought I’d found someone who wanted me for me and not my money or fame.”
Guilt racked my body and I sighed. “Okay, I give in. I can see you tomorrow, after I get out of the spa. Maybe we can order in room service.”
Eyes twinkling, he went over to the door and opened it. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”
Before I could walk out, he stood in my way, body close to mine. “I’m going to break through that ice wall of yours, sunshine. One way or another.”
I batted my eyelashes in an innocent matter. “Good luck with that.”
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she began her literary journey she worked in periodontics, enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.
She loves to write, but she also loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes and white water rafting, and has a passion for singing. Her two youngest fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime, usually Christmas carols.
Dover has written countless novels, including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, the Gloves Off series, the Armed & Dangerous series, the Royal Shifters series, the Society X series, the Circle of Justice series, and her standalone novel Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense, but if she got to choose a setting in which to live, it would be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.
Just Jenny
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- EXCERPT: We’d just ordered our drinks when Dylan Conrad walked into the lounge. He paused in the entryway, his gaze scanning the room. The man was so freaking hot. At seeing me, he smiled, making my heart thump in my chest. “Mind if I join you?” he said, coming to a stop behind the empty chair at our table for four. “Unless you’re expecting someone.” That was said to me. “Nope. Have a seat, Chief.” I had a sudden fantasy of playing cop and criminal with him, me being the bad guy and him having to frisk me. I hoped my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. He sat next to me, and I caught a whiff of man and something spicy. I also hoped I didn’t start drooling. His eyes danced with amusement. “Introduce me to your friends, Red.” Oh. Right. I was sitting here staring at him like an idiot, and now I knew for sure my face was beet red. “Ahem, this is my best friend, Autumn Archer, and her soon-to-be husband, Brian Stratton. Guys, this is Dylan Conrad, Blue Ridge Valley’s new police chief.” “Welcome to Blue Ridge Valley,” Autumn said. “I’ve heard great things about you.” Dylan sat back in his chair. “Oh?” I kicked her under the table. That devilish gleam in her eyes meant she was up to no good. “Yep. You have really pretty eyes, by the way. Jenn said they were the color of Tennessee whiskey, and she’s right.” I kicked her again. Harder. Dylan turned those beautiful eyes on me. “You been talking about me, Red?”
GIVEAWAY!
Title: One Week
Author: Roya Carmen
Genre: Steamy Contemporary Romance (standalone)
Publication Date: June 21, 2018 Cover Design: Calico Images
A troubled marriage. A one week hall pass.
Gabriella Moore has it all; a beautiful husband, two adorable children, and a dream home. Yet, when, by chance, she befriends Eli online, she falls fast. And hard. She knows she must let him go, and saying goodbye is one of the hardest things sheâs ever done, but she resolves to move on and forget about her beautiful stranger.
But then⦠she makes an unexpected discovery, and it shakes her perfect world to its core. Rules donât apply anymore. An arrangement is made, and her husband gives her just one week with Eli. The rules are clear: One week. Sex only. No contact thereafter. Seems simple enough, but itâs never simple when it comes to love.
âRoya Carmen's storytelling captures you and makes you want to be part of that world. This book hooked me from the beginning; I couldn't put it down and got to the end thinking "but I want more!" - A Book Lover's Emporium âAs soon as I saw the blurb I knew I needed to read thisbook. It's not an easy read, it might shake you a little, but it's worth it.â - The Bookery Review "You are the Queen of theforbidden. I loved this story. It captivated me from the beginning..." - Geneva (reader)
Prologue
Dear Eli,
First, I just want to tell you how much you mean to me. And thatâs the problem⦠you mean more to me than you should. I keep telling myself that weâre just friends, but I think we both know weâre more than that. Iâm not exactly sure what I am to you, but you are everything to me. I think about you all the time, every hour of every day. Itâs a little ridiculous, to be honest. I am a happily married mother of two, and I should start acting like it.
Iâve really enjoyed our conversations about art and life, but itâs time for me to end this. For a bachelor like you, this is just a fun distraction Iâm sure. But for me, itâs so much more, and it really shouldnât be. What Iâm doing with you is not right. I love my husband and my children, so itâs because of them that I need to say goodbye.
Iâll always remember you. : ) And Iâll smile every time I do.
Your friend,
Gabriella
Itâs just one or two paragraphs, but Iâve second-guessed every word, have pored over every single sentence, debating whether the right sentiments were expressed. Iâve spent over an hour going over it. Over and over. Iâve read the message more times than I can count. The last thing I want to do is hurt him. He just doesnât fit into the picture. My picture; John and me, and the kids, and the white picket fence, the perfect life. He should have never been in it. Some days, I wish Iâd never met him. Others, Iâm so glad I did. For the brief time that I knew him, he truly was one of the best things in my life.
My heart is hammering, threatening to burst as I swallow hard, and finally press on the âSendâ arrow. As soon as I do, I feel sick. A heavy weight presses down at the center of my chest, threatening to crush me. Iâve never felt so horrible, so lost.
But it had to be done. I tell myself Iâve done the right thing. For my family. For me. For him.
Our relationship flashes before my eyes â the laughs, the jokes, every single conversation, every wink, every little skip of my heart, his beautiful eyes, and his sweet smile. Damn⦠his smile.
It all started innocently enough, as these things often doâ¦
Chosen
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo
Excerpt:
Cole, in all his confidence, stared at me. His features were gentle. Seeing that I was frozen, Cole took slow deliberate steps toward me, and I wrapped my hands around the swing ropes so tightly that my knuckles were turning white with my grip. Stepping into the well-worn hole in the earth from years of people kicking off the ground to swing, he came closer until our knees were pressed together and I could feel the tips of his shoes against my boots. I stood to move away, but he wrapped his hands over mine. His skin was warm and like it transferred heat, my body felt like it was rising in temperature. The minimal space between us was making me crazy. I glanced up and he leaned his head closer to mine. I should be stopping this. I should have shoved him away and let loose a string of profanities at him for thinking that I would kiss him. I should have done a lot of things, but I didn’t. Swallowing the insanity of nerves raging in my body, Cole’s eyes watched the movement of my throat before they slowly trailed up my neck and to my lips. Images from last night when he had been this close forced themselves to the front of my mind. Both of us on the floor, watching one another with hungry eyes, and yet distance still separated us. I would have done anything to twine my fingers in his thick brown hair and pull him tight against my body and never let go of his mouth. A shaky breath escaped my lungs at the thought. I started to realize how crazy he made me feel, especially at this proximity. The desire to kiss him overwhelmed my senses, and I caught myself unintentionally wetting my lower lip with the tip of my tongue. Just a taste, I thought. Cole was the one to swallow this time when he saw my tongue stealthily sweep out over my parted lips. It was like I could see him giving in to temptation in his raw stare. Slowly, his hands ran up my arms, leaving chills across my skin at the heat brewing in my body, igniting my impatience to have him in my arms. Even though we were outside, the air did nothing to cool the electric feeling between us. It was like I had become the sun and he was my sky, enveloping me until the universe became just him and me. The tips of his fingers gently caressed my neck, sending faint tickles down my spine. He inched closer and closer until he stopped a breath away, our eyes not leaving the others’. As the end of his nose brushed the tip of mine, my eyes fluttered shut, anticipating his touch.
Review:
A YA paranormal that takes an old concept and adds a new twist to it. First, I did get bored at some points. Nothing really happened until after the 50% mark, and that was a long first half of the book. The main character, Kaddy, just had a lot of band practices and weird fevers. With a paranormal, you expect more action and more pieces of the puzzle for the hero or heroine to figure out by the 50% mark. We don’t really get that. I was intrigued, but not as much as I normally would be with a paranormal. Kaddy was not your typical girl. Her past was really dark and cruel. She never seemed to get a break with anything. I am interested to see if her family comes into play in the next book(s). I have a lot of questions about her parents and brother. I loved Mike, Kaddy’s best friend, and the rest of the guys in her band. They were a dynamic group, and they all had this up and down relationship. I kept thinking that Mike would become the love interest, but that never happened. I also thought Mike would be a lot more involved, too, as the story progressed. Sadly, he was left in the dark. With Cole, the new guy in town, I don’t feel like I know enough about him and his character to say much. He was there, but his character fell flat with me. I don’t know if I was just waiting for something amazing with him or I was feeding off Kaddy’s initial assessment of him. He just didn’t seem 3-dimensional. Overall, the writing is amazing, if a little long-winded. The story itself is original-ish. And the characters are fluid.
3.5 Stars
GIVEAWAY!
Title: Second Chance
Series: Chances #2 (interconnected standalone)
Author: BJ Harvey
Genre: Angsty Contemporary Romance
In this hot new angsty romance from USA Today bestselling author BJ Harvey, the once-burned-forever-commitment-shy best friend from One Shot faces her own moral dilemma of the heart
When life gives me lemons, I always make lemonade.
Living every day like it could be my last, I'm content with the choices I've made and do so unapologetically. With a relationship that makes me happy, and a job that I love, life is good.
But when the man I've just agreed to marry, has his estranged wife and five-year-old daughter turn up on his doorstep, I'm not the only one reevaluating things.
He didn’t plan for that—and I didn’t plan for my childhood sweetheart to return, wanting me back.
Sometimes lemons can be sour, sometimes they can be sweet, and sometimes, all it takes is a second chance to make things right again.
You just need to get that second chance in the first place.
Prologue
Grabbing life by the short and curlies is usually my deal. It’s not the deal of the man kneeling at my feet, a black velvet box in his hand with the platinum ring inside almost as bright as the diamond it holds. He’s the cool, calm, and collected one. The ‘take it easy so Gaby doesn’t freak out’ one. He’s not a man I thought would ever do this.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
He looks up from where he kneels, his sly grin making my heart stop. “Living in the moment, Gabs.”
Bruno is a one-of-a-kind guy, a once-in-a-lifetime chance any woman shouldn’t—and wouldn’t—give up. But I’m not any woman and in this one move he’s taking the poker hand that is me, disregarding the odds, doubling down, and going all in.
Three hours ago, I was comfortable. I had nothing to worry about beyond the orgasm I was chasing.
Looking into his gorgeous eyes, the ones that are normally both soft and intense, they’re now fierce, tinged with a sliver of uncertainty. His jaw is tense; his body is wired.
How did I get to this point, and how did I not see it coming? Things have been good—fucking brilliant, actually—but this development was never on the cards. Why did he have to go and ruin a good thing?
“Bruno…” I say, my voice a hushed whisper. I don’t want to do this here. In fact, I don’t want do this at all. I got close once and vowed never to again. Not just with Bruno, but with anyone.
“Gaby, this is me telling you I wanna be the last man you’ll ever want and need. This is me telling the world that I love you and want my ring on your finger and yours on mine.”
I look up, scanning the room for Kenzie who’s standing off to the side. Her eyes are glued on me, her hand covering her mouth. I silently plead with her, hoping she’ll save me from making this into a scene no one wants to see—one where I break a man’s heart and cut him off at the knees with a rejection we can never come back from.
She shakes her head ever so slightly. I read it straight away. My heart pounds, my lungs seize, and my throat tightens until it’s damn near shut. I can’t do this here. I can’t do this anywhere, but definitely not in front of all of my family and friends.
My entire body is shaking and to anyone else, I’m sure it looks like I’m simply overcome with emotion. I am, just not the right one for this moment.
Reaching out, Bruno takes my right hand and laces his fingers with mine, his pleading eyes boring into me.
It must seem inevitable.
Surprise party? Check.
Family, friends—everyone close to us? Check.
The man I’m living with? Check.
The man I love pledging his life to me? Apparently so.
But despite the deafening silence in the room, every cell in my body is screaming at me to run and hide.
Then, as if in a moment of clarity, I hatch an escape plan, a way to save face and shield Bruno from the humiliation of a no when the only answer he wants to hear is a yes.
I’ll explain later, when we’re at home and alone and I can make him understand that everything is fine between us without that.
With one last glance at Kenz, I look down at Bruno.
I swallow hard, suffocating on the word threatening to catch in my throat. I hope he forgives me for this. He has to.
“Yes.” My voice is a rough whisper. His expression morphs into one of pure, unadulterated joy.
Amongst a roar of cheers and applause, he launches to his feet. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me up, swinging my body from side to side before crashing his lips to mine and kissing the living shit out of me. I kiss him back, holding on tight and pouring everything I have into it. It’s all I can do in the moment—give him whatever I can so that when all is said and done, after I’ve ripped his heart out and stomped all over it, there’ll be a slim chance he’ll still believe me when I say I love him.
When I tell him I can’t possibly marry him, but still want to be with him.
Stranger things have happened, right?
He lowers me down to my feet, grabbing hold of my hand and sliding the diamond ring onto my finger. It’s stunning, and despite resenting the institution of marriage, there’s no way I can deny the beauty of his gift.
It’s just not for me.
My eyes burn with unshed tears as he puts his thumb under my chin and gently tilts my gaze to meet his. I register an unrecognizable female voice behind me. “I’m looking for Bruno Duncan.”
Bruno goes impossibly still, his attention locked over my shoulder.
I try to turn around to see what’s going on but his arms shoot out, his hands framing my shoulders. “Gaby, whatever’s about to happen, promise me you’ll let me explain,” he says roughly, his voice laced with a desperation I’ve never heard from him—or anyone—before.
“What’s going—”
“No! I’m not going until I speak to him,” the woman shouts.
I step out of Bruno’s reach and spin around just as the man himself moves past me and walks over to the front door and a stunning blonde woman. She’s not anyone I’ve seen before. She’s dressed nicely, her gold hair tied up in a high ponytail, her face perfectly made up. But she’s definitely not someone invited to the party. Not going by the way she’s dressed anyway. One hand is on her hip, and the other is gesticulating in the air to Millen, whose lips are moving but his words are not registering with me.
Bruno stops in front of them, his shoulders pulled back, and even from twenty feet away I can see he’s on alert. The blonde waves her arm toward me, and as much as I’d love to walk towards them, my lead feet would make that impossible right now.
Kenzie moves to my side and wraps an arm around my waist, having my back, side, and front, as always. “Who’s that?”
“You tell me and we’ll both know,” I mutter.
“You have to leave, Tate. This is a private event,” Bruno says, his voice of the ‘don’t fuck with me’ variety.
I still when I realize he called her by her name. He knows her.
“We need to talk, Bruno.”
“Not. Fucking. Here. And not tonight. Actually, not. fucking. ever, Tate.”
She looks over his shoulder to me, narrowing her eyes as they drop from my face to my ring finger. With a pale face she looks back at Bruno. The room goes deathly quiet, and I stand there, waiting with bated breath for whatever is about to happen next. “Well, isn’t that a nice way to speak to your wife and the mother of your child?”
And for the second time in my entire thirty-two years of life, my world stops spinning.
BJ Harvey is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Bliss Series. She regards herself as a smut peddler, suspense conjurer, and a funny romance thinker upper. An avid music fan, you will always find her singing some hit song badly and loving every minute of it. She’s a wife, a mom to two beautiful girls, and hails from what she considers as the best country in the world—New Zealand—although she currently lives in Perth, Australia.
Title: Hell Upside Down
Author: Mia Villano
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Release Date: June 29, 2018 Cover Designer: J.N. Sheats
Scarlett Ferguson wanted out of her dreary life in Cutler, Maine. Every day was only an existence living in poverty in a run down trailer with her dad and his girlfriend. Working a dead end job in a restaurant, Scarlett’s life changes the day Hugh Cruz walks into her world.
He is gorgeous, rich and charming, sweeping Scarlett off her feet after a few dates. When he wants to marry her in a rush, she thinks nothing of it, other than it is true love. That changes on the night of her honeymoon. The night Scarlett realizes, things are not what they seem. It doesn't take long for Scarlett to become someone she swore she never would be, in a life she swore she never would want.
Heartbroken and confused, Scarlett realizes that the life she ran away from is the life she truly wants. Secrets unravel as Scarlett discovers the real reason Hugh came into her life. No one is who she thought they were and the people she trusted are soon revealing their true identity. Hell Upside Down is a dark, emotional standalone novel filled with suspense. Each page has you wanting more.
I'm a new erotic romance author with two books currently out. Loving the Senator and The Ambassador and Me. Both were Amazons Hot New Release and Bestsellers. Soon to release on November 3rd Paris, The Ambassador and Me the second in the Trilogy. On November 27th, I will be releasing Loving The Candidate the Second in the Capital Affairs series. Around Christmas I plan to release a very emotional book called Just Breathe Again.
I've been writing since I was seven when I won my first essay contest in our state. From then on I wrote as much as possible. It wasn't until four years ago when I decided to write what I loved to read, erotic romances. Back in the day I would steal my moms Jackie Collins books and read them repeatedly tucked in between my Little House in the Prairie books and late at night with a flashlight under the covers. It never hit me to actually write romances until I spent a few days in New York went to Central Park with my laptop. I closed my eyes while I typed my first sex scene (it really helped) and I haven't looked back.
When I'm not writing I hike, cook and spend time with my family. I have two daughters and two dachshund's.
Title: Perfect Vision
Author: L.M. Halloran
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Dark
Release Date: July 19, 2018
*Hindsight isn’t 20/20.*
When London flees to Los Angeles, she isn’t interested in making a new life from the ashes of her old one. All she wants is to survive. But with her reputation and career as a journalist in shambles, surviving alone in the city is easier said than done.
After struggling for months to make ends meet, she unknowingly applies for a bartending position at an exclusive sex club. The pay is incredible—and more importantly, no one expects her to participate.
But at the infamous Crossroads, London finds more than an a crash course in kink. She finds a life. Friends. Laughter and excitement. And a man who infuriates her, challenges her, and mercilessly batters at the walls around her heart.
Dominic Cross is everything London doesn’t want. But when ghosts of the past appear with a vendetta, he’s everything she needs.
L.M. Halloran is an emotional delinquent and glutton for angst who gleefully takes her characters to hell and back. When she's not reading or writing, the author enjoys walking barefoot, subjecting her husband to questionable recipes, and chasing her spirited toddler. She's a rabid fan of coffee, moon-gazing, and small dogs that resemble Ewoks. Home is San Diego, CA, but her heart lives in Portland.
Always Been You
by Sadie Allen
Cedar Lake Series, Book 1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Design: Oh So Novel
Release Date: July 19, 2018
Synopsis
Emma Taylor ran away from home in a cloud of dust, taking the pieces of her broken heart with her. Fifteen years later, she is back to care for her grieving father and to face the boy who once broke her heart.
Brazos Huntswell was dealt a bad hand. Life hasn't turned out the way he envisioned it in high school. He's a single father to a moody teenage girl and trying to make a go of the cattle ranch his father left him.
Trouble is brewing in the town of Cedar Lake, and people are turning up dead. Will Braz and Emma be able to weather the coming storm and take a chance on forever? Or will a ghost from the past destroy that chance... permanently.
Add to your Goodreads TBR List:
About the Author
Sadie Allen lives in Texas with her husband and three young children. When she's not writing, she's reading, catching up on her favorite shows, or chasing her family around the house.
Social Media Links:
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Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/sadieallen
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/238185666721154/
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Title: Just Like This
Series: Just Like This Series #1
Author: Rebecca Gallo
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2018 Cover Design: Amy Queau/Q Design
When I saw him I knew - I had been waiting for something just like this.
And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
After giving up a lucrative career in Seattle, I was content with my life in Gig Harbor, taking care of my father during his battle with cancer. Until I met Garrett and he showed me what my life was missing.
Passion. Desire. Love.
Two weeks was nothing but to us it was everything. We scrambled to make the most of our short time together but bitter jealousy, painful truths and devastating grief forced Garrett and I to prove to one another that love can grow almost instantly.
The memories we created were supposed to last, were supposed to carry us through our darkest moments. But what if Garrett doesn’t return? What if I never feel something just like this again?
“I have something kind of awkward to ask,” Garrett said quietly once we left the bar and were in the car headed back to my house. I was itching to ask him about his text messages, to have him say the words he had typed aloud, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much influence the liquid courage provided by alcohol had on his bold declaration. When he finally said them to me, he needed to be stone-cold sober.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Can I stay in your guest house until I deploy? Palmer kind of kicked me out.”
Under my breath, I muttered, “Asshole.” Palmer seriously needed to grow up and get a clue. There was never going to come a day when I was going to change my mind. He needed to accept that and move on. Otherwise, we couldn’t be friends.
“Yes, of course,” I told him. “I kind of have a favor of my own to ask.”
“Whatever it is, the answer is yes.”
I winced. “You should probably wait until you know what it is first.”
“Fine. What can I help you with?”
“I’d like you to meet my father,” I said timidly.
The car became uncomfortably silent, and I didn’t have to look at Garrett to know he wasn’t expecting me to ask that.
“He asked about you today,” I elaborated. “He wanted to know if you’re handy around the house.”
Garrett chuckled softly. “I know enough to get by. Why did he ask?”
I explained to him how Valerie embarrassed me when we went to visit my dad. “I didn’t really want to tell him,” I admitted. “But I think he wants to know that I’ll be taken care of after he’s gone.”
Garrett reached across the console and plucked one of my hands from the steering wheel. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently. “Then yes, of course, I’ll meet him.”
When we arrived at my house, I unlocked the guest house for Garrett and left him to get settled before walking across the driveway to the main house. I told him to meet me out back when he was ready. While I waited, I prepared dinner for us. Soon, Garrett’s shadowed figure appeared outside, and I watched him through the windows, enthralled by his handsomeness and the way his body moved as he lit a fire in the backyard.
It was so easy to deny that what I felt for him was love because he scared me. In a matter of days, he would be halfway around the world, risking his life on a daily basis. My hands trembled as I chopped vegetables; my mind raced as I thought about the worst possibility. If he died, no one would tell me. I’d be completely alone in my grief. My thoughts distracted me, and when I felt the blade of the knife slice across my hand, I yelped in pain and surprise.
“Shit!” I hurried over to the sink and ran my bleeding hand under the water. Garrett noticed my panic and rushed inside.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice thick with concern. He was quick, grabbing my hand and wrapping it in a paper towel.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” I explained. “I was thinking about…” I let my voice trail off for a moment before I said, “I just wasn’t paying attention.”
Gently, Garrett unfolded the paper towel that covered my hand and ran it back under the water. He dabbed it gently with a clean towel before inspecting it carefully. “I don’t think it’s deep enough for stitches. Do you have a first-aid kit?”
I nodded. “In the bathroom.” I showed him the way as he walked with my hand still cradled in his. He directed me to sit down on the toilet seat and, when he found the kit, started carefully cleaning and bandaging my cut.
“What were you thinking about?” Garrett asked softly.
“You,” I confessed. “I’m scared.”
“I know. You told me.”
I shook my head. “No. What if you die, Garrett?” My question was unexpected, and he looked up at me, his eyes large and dark. “I love you, and who’s going to tell me if you die? Who’s going to know that I love you? That you’re mine just as much as I’m yours? That scares me, Garrett, so much. I’m already losing one man I love. I can’t lose another.”
My voice was on the verge of hysterical, and my words came out too quickly, almost incoherent, but Garrett knew; he understood. The next words that bubbled up were immediately swallowed by Garrett’s crushing kiss. His large hands slid under my jaw, cupping it as he devoured every fear that threatened to surface. My uninjured hand twisted in the front of his shirt, and I pulled him closer, returning his kiss with my own ferocity.
“You might just be the death of me,” Garrett said breathlessly, breaking our kiss.
I grinned in reply, but it quickly faded when I noticed Garrett’s grim expression.
“I’m scared too, Cami. But you can walk away. I won’t ask you to make this kind of commitment.”
I slipped my uninjured hand into his and squeezed. “I’m not leaving. I’ve wanted something just like this for a long time, and now that I have it, I won’t just give it up.”
Rebecca Gallo was first indoctrinated into the romance genre by her babysitter who watched hours upon hours of daytime soap operas. She harbored many inappropriate crushes on fictional characters such as John Black from “Days of Our Lives,” Orry Main from the mini-series “North & South,” and Edward Fairfax Rochester from Jane Eyre. She is still in love with Davy Jones from The Monkees.
Rebecca currently lives in the Southwest with her husband, tiny four-year-old terror, and a tuxedo cat with a limp. When she isn’t swooning over book boyfriends or dreaming up romances, she can be found educating the youth of America. Or eating tacos.
Alpha
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- EXCERPT: The rain stopped, and the wind outside had settled, leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake. I didn’t have a problem with the quiet. I liked it, in fact. But this was something a little different. This was uncomfortable. The kind of stillness that came from forced proximity to someone or something that made your skin itch and your stomach roil. The kind of hush that usually set in right before a devastating storm or a natural disaster. He did this sometimes. Just sat across from me and stared. He usually wouldn’t even say anything. I didn’t think he expected me to say anything, either. He just looked. Sometimes it lasted a few minutes, just long enough to send that chill skittering up and down my spine. Other times it would go on for hours. He’d blink and breathe and fidget, but his eyes…those remained locked on me, his unhealthy mix of sadness and lust and greed and anger crushing me to the point of breathlessness. We were at it again, and I was just about out of patience. It was one thing to have been ripped away from my home, from my life, by that madwoman, Cora Anderson. It was another to have her poke and prod and use me as a science experiment. She’d altered my mind. Made me forget most of my life before the day I woke up a prisoner on the floor of her cold, dank cell. Those things were all bad, but having been “rescued” by this bastard and forced to stay by his side at all times? That was an entirely new level of torture. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” His tone was acidic and his jaw tight. He had a temper, this guy. I’d seen it multiple times. He’d never done anything more than scream at me, but it was only a matter of time with people like this. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I felt it in my bones. Maybe I’d known someone like him at home. Maybe it was just intuition. “Yes,” was all I replied. I found that simple, one-word responses went over the best. Or, more accurately, the worst. When I said too little, he grew agitated. He wanted me to talk to him, yet the things that came out of my mouth weren’t ever what he wanted to hear. I didn’t act like he’d hoped I would, didn’t say the things he longed to hear. Some days he was determined to change me. Others, he was rabid, blaming me for not behaving like myself and demanding that I wake up. Forget that I had no idea who I was. “While it’s not okay, I understand.” He offered me a smile—a small, tentative twitch of his lips and gentle shrug of his shoulders. He was making an effort to be kinder today, going out of his way to speak softer and move slower. That made me even angrier. “You understand? Then my life is complete. All I’ve ever wanted was the understanding of a serial killer.” Even if I hadn’t been thinking about…someone else, I would have lied. The fact that I wasn’t focused on him, and him alone, drove Dylan—my savior, my captor—crazy. But the truth was, I was thinking of him. That other him. How could I not? Even if I didn’t find myself missing him every moment of every day in an almost physical way, I wouldn’t be able to put him out of my mind because he was technically sitting here across from me.
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