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Betrothed
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GIVEAWAY!
Title: Broken Love Story
Series: Love Series #3
Author: Natasha Madison
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 10, 2018 Kindle Unlimited
Samantha:
I had the perfect life; a husband who loved me, and two kids who were my world.
Until someone else answered his phone and my perfect life shattered.
When he died, I was left with answers he couldn't give me and a box full of lies.
He left me broken.
Blake:
I fell in love when I was fifteen, knowing she was the one.
For five years, she was my everything—my every breath, every heartbeat, every thought.
She made me promise to move on, promise to find love again, but I broke those promises because I can't move on.
Two broken souls brought together by tragedy and heartbreak.
Can a broken love story be fixed?
Samantha
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in my room, I smooth down my black skirt. My blond hair is tied up in a ponytail, my cheeks are sunken in more than normal, and the blackness around my eyes indicates I haven’t slept well since this whole thing happened. Since I found out that not only did my husband die, but that he also married someone else. I sit on the made bed and look down at my wedding band. My thumb of my right hand touches it, and the lone tear that falls out of my eye lands straight on it. “Mommy.” I look back at Lizzie, who is standing in the doorway wearing a black one-piece dress similar to mine with ballerina flats. My mother-in-law went shopping yesterday and bought us all new outfits for today. “We need to put our best foot forward,” she said as I watched her walk in with the six bags. “We can’t let people talk.” I turned around and walked out of the room, going upstairs. Shutting myself in my bathroom with my back against the door, I cried quietly, trying to hide my sobs. “We can’t let people talk,” I whispered to myself. The hatred I had begun feeling when I remembered my husband. Lizzie walks to the side of my bed and sits next to me. “I hate this dress,” she says when I put my hand around her shoulder and bring her to me, kissing her head. “I know, baby,” I whisper, “but after today, it’s going to be all over.” “That’s what Grandpa A said.” She mentions the name she calls my father-in-law. Grandpa A because you can’t get better than an A. “Is everyone ready?” I hear Ethan yell from downstairs. “The limo is picking us up in twenty.” “Let’s go, baby,” I tell her, getting up and holding her hand while we walk downstairs. My in-laws are both sitting in the kitchen. My mother-in-law in a black skirt and top while my father-in-law has on a black suit. “Where is Daisy?” I ask them. “Elliot is upstairs changing her. She spilled milk on her dress,” Judy tells me, looking at Lizzie. “You look like such a big girl.” She blinks her tears away. Elliot comes down the stairs with Daisy on his hip, smiling at me when he walks in. “Okay, you girls go sit in the living room while us grown-ups talk,” my father-in-law says, and the girls both know to leave the room. When he knows they are both out of earshot, he starts. “Today is going to be tough, tough for us all, but we have to stand together. We have to be the family that we are.” I lean against the counter while he talks. “The situation with the other one has been taken care of, and she has been served papers.” I look at him and then at Elliot and Ethan, both of them looking down when our eyes meet. It’s almost as if they feel guilty for meeting this woman. My father-in-law continues, “After all this is done today, we are meeting with the lawyers in person, so we can go over the will, start the paperwork for the insurance, and make sure she doesn’t touch a thing that belongs to him.” I stop listening at this point, turning to look out the window at the backyard. The swing set that he built in one day to make sure the kids could use it when he left the next day. The patio set he had delivered to us, so I could have somewhere to sit while I watched the girls while he was living with another woman. I shake my head, walking out of the room. I sit on the couch, and the girls come to sit next to me, one on each side. “Today is going to be really hard,” I whisper to them, “but we have to be strong for Daddy.” They both look at me, their eyes exactly like their father’s. “But, if at any time, you need to leave or you need me… I don’t care who is talking to me or who is around; you come and get me.” “Grandpa A said we had to sit and wait,” Daisy whispers just as Elliot comes into the room and kneels in front of us. “What is this meeting about?” he asks, smiling at us. The circles around his eyes are just as black as ours. He hasn’t left our house since this happened. “Mommy said if we need her that we can go to her,” Daisy says, looking at him and then me, “even if Grandpa A said no.” He leans in, whispering, “You can come to me too, and I’ll make sure that you get Mommy.” “Okay,” Lizzie and Daisy both whisper at the same time, and then the doorbell rings. We get up, put our jackets on, and one by one file into the black limo that has come to take us to the funeral home. We arrive before everyone else. “We get an hour with him, and then they will open the door,” Adrian says as Judy grabs her tissue and dabs her eyes. I look around the funeral home. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, not sure where he is. I haven’t seen him since he kissed me goodbye four days earlier. His last words to me were, “Call you when I can.” That phone call never came. I follow my in-laws to the big brown door that is closed. “I want to go in before the girls.” Everyone turns to look at me. “We can keep them in the lobby,” says the lady who greeted us at the door. She told me her name, but I just didn’t listen. I nod at her as she turns to ask the girls if they want hot chocolate. Daisy’s eyes get big as Lizzie turns to look at me. I nod my head, giving her permission, so she can go with the woman. The doors open, and I don’t even know what to expect. I’ve never been to a funeral. Never known anyone well enough to pay my last respects. Judy and Adrian walk in first, followed by Ethan, and Elliot waits with me. I step foot into the room, and it’s so cold that I shiver. The smell of flowers hits me right away, making me turn my head. The number of flowers and wreaths shocks me; the whole room is almost full. Some wreaths blocking others. Rows and rows of brown chairs line the room, all facing toward the front of the room. My eyes land on the brown wooden casket at the front of the room. The open half showing you the white satin inside. I walk down the aisle toward him, and then my eyes land on him. Eric. I can’t take another step forward because my knees give out, and I fall. Elliot isn’t fast enough to hold me up, and my knee lands with a thud. But the pain doesn’t matter because nothing could take the place of the pain in my heart. The sound of wailing fills the room as I look up at my dead husband. I feel arms around me; I feel myself lifted; I feel myself almost floating. He isn’t the Eric who kissed me goodbye; he isn’t the Eric who I made promises to; he isn’t the Eric who made all my dreams come true. This isn’t him. The man with makeup caked on his face isn’t my Eric. My sobs overtake my body as I look at him, expecting him to open his eyes. Expecting something, anything but this. “I want the casket closed,” I say, my voice soft. “I want it closed.” “Samantha,” my father-in-law starts, “it’s—” I shake my head. “I don’t want the kids to see him like that,” I say softly. I know that for me they wouldn’t even consider it, but for the girls, they would move heaven and earth. “They need to remember him alive and smiling, not like that,” I say, pointing at the casket. “Dad,” Ethan says after me, “I agree.” “Me too,” Elliot says from beside me. “Close it.” He just nods at us, then walks to the man standing in the corner. The man looks at him as they have a hushed conversation and then just nods his head. “Do you need some water?” Ethan says to me, and I nod. I don’t bother listening to what else he says; instead, I get up and go to the casket. Standing before the brown box, I look at him, really look at him. You see some bruising under the makeup, and his nose is a little swollen. His hands are folded over his stomach, resting on his black suit. The suit he wore when we got married. Why? I ask him in my own head. Why did you do it? I ask him, hoping I can hear him whisper something to me, whisper anything back. To answer my questions, to give me something; anything to make me understand why he did what he did. Why he left me with so many fucking questions and not one answer. The man comes over to close the casket. Eric’s face disappears slowly, the shadow filling his face till the casket finally shuts. “I’m sorry for your loss,” the man says, nodding at me. “If at any time you want it open, we can open it back up.” I turn around now, looking at the chairs that will fill up as soon as the people start coming in. Ethan consoles my mother-in-law, and Elliot stands where we were just sitting, his hands in his pockets. “I’m getting the girls,” I tell them and then walk out with my head held high but my shoulders slumped. Defeated is a word that you use so many times not really understanding what can actually defeat you. I know now, my husband dying, him cheating on me, my kids without a father, my dreams of growing old with him gone. Beaten straight down to my core, straight down to my bones. I walk over to them as they look up. “Let’s go, girls,” I tell them as they both get up and walk to me. Lizzie takes one hand, Daisy takes the other, and we walk back into the room that holds a piece of our hearts. The room where their father lies, with no answers and no tomorrow. We stand in that room for four hours while people come up to me and give me their condolences. I nod my head and play the part of the grieving wife. I am the grieving wife, but I’m also the wife whose husband didn’t love her enough to just be with her. The wife who knew her husband was slipping away but couldn’t catch it in time. The wife he said he would love and protect. The wife who stands here between his girls wishing that for one second he suffered horribly. The wife who has to pick up the fucking pieces and lie to her girls about what a great guy he was. The wife who, at the end of the day, just wasn’t good enough. We listen as people tell us how amazing he was, how much he loved his family, and how much he loved his girls. The whole time, I’m yelling on the inside, ready to stand in the middle of the room, throw my head back, and yell at the top of my lungs. But I don’t do what I want. I don’t tell them what a fraud my husband was. I don’t tell them that it was almost all lies. I don’t tell them that the day he died, they called his other wife and not me. I don’t tell them that I wasn’t the one with him when he died. I stand here thinking about this other person—his other wife—and wonder how she would handle this. How she would be with my in-laws. Would she just let them control her and do everything for her? Would she want it to be open and weep for him beside the casket instead of standing next to it? I look around the room at all the people who came to pay their respects, and my eyes find someone I’ve never met before. Someone I’ve never seen before, and our eyes connect. His green eyes stare into mine as I watch him nod to me and turn to walk out. As he walks out of the crowded room, I strain my neck to watch his back. I don’t have long to think because Elliot comes up and whispers, “It’s time.”
When her nose isn't buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she's in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It's a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn't listen to her...
The Boyfriend Whisperer
-- EXCERPT: I crank up Mumford & Sons on my iPod and pull up the Boyfriend Whisperer Enterprises files on my tablet. With Valentine’s ten days away, I need to plot out some big moves for my clients. I start with Jolene. I watched Brendon staring at her this afternoon during the pep rally. He’s falling hard. No need to play it subtle. He likes spicy food, so Red Hots are an obvious choice, in a heart-shaped tin. What should the card say? Something super flirty. “Let’s heat it up on Valentine’s.” No … “spice it up.” I jot that down and move on to my next client. Just as I’m picking out a sweet YouTube link I want her to send her BF-to-be, Coach Reilly pulls my earbud out and scares me half to death. “Malloy! I’m talking to you. What are you working on?” I slam my tablet shut. “What? Homework. Sorry. What do you need?” She shoves my backpack to the floor and plops down beside me. “Let’s talk about tomorrow. We’re expecting scouts from all over. Rumor has it someone from U Conn might even turn up.” She pauses as if to gauge my reaction, so I force a smile. “U Conn? Wow. That’s great.” She leans in. “There’ll be a lot of buzz in that arena. Parents, coaches, other players. They’ll all be talking about the scouts and about you and your future. Here’s the thing: You need to ignore them.” “Ignore them.” “Exactly. You have one job tomorrow, and that’s to play the best game Alexis Malloy knows how to play. Run, pass, shoot, rebound. That’s it. The rest is static. Ignore the static.” “Got it. Static.” Coach furrows her brow. “You nervous?” “Maybe a little.” She pats my arm as she stands. “A little nervousness is good. You’ve got this, Malloy. You can do it.” I smile and slump back into my seat. The fact is, I’m not at all nervous. I only said that so she wouldn’t launch into a lecture about being too cocky. She’s forever vacillating between warning me not to be too nervous and not to be too cocky, when in reality, I’m neither. The truth is, when it comes to college scouts, I just wish they’d leave me alone.
GIVEAWAY!
Wicked Woods Omnibus Books 1-6
by Kailin Gow Publication date: February 28th 2018 Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult
Synopsis:
The Wicked Woods Omnibus contains 6 Full-length novels in the Wicked Woods Series. It started when Briony had to move to Wicked Woods, Massachusetts to live with her Great Aunt Sophie after her family disappears on vacation. The woods at the edge of Aunt Sophie’s inn is filled with secrets and inhabitants both seductive and deadly. Among them is a beautiful boy name Fallon who saves her one night in the woods. As Briony gets closer to Fallon, she learns he has a secret, as do most of the residents of Wicked Wood.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38913155-wicked-woods-omnibus-books-1-6?ac=1&from_search=true
Purchase: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B5VZQSB
Review:
I can’t believe I read all six books without taking a break from them! I usually don’t like doing that, needing a cleanser before continuing a series. However, there were so many little cliffhangers that I was drawn in. Briony was a strong female character. She was definitely written to inspire young women. She grew a lot throughout the books. She was loyal, sympathetic, caring, yet fierce. She started out naïve and ignorant to things around her, but she quickly grew into a commanding figure who deserved respect. I will say that the story arcs bothered me—the whole build up to the end. It got pretty redundant throughout each book. Not my favorite style. As these are for young adult, though, it works. It’s traditional. Another thing that bothered me was the love triangle. In the first two to three books, Briony doesn’t even hesitate to kiss and be in a relationship with two boys. There are no thoughts of regret or wrongness in that. Almost like it was a reverse harem, when it was not. It made her seem shallow. As the books continued, she finally started to think about how wrong it was. Still, both relationships didn’t seem involved. It was like an afterthought thrown into the story. Overall, the books are amazing for young readers. There is a lot of action and adventure. A fight between good and evil, and seeing in shades of grey.
4 Stars
AUTHOR BIO:
Kailin Gow loves things that are edgy, cool, bright, exciting, hopeful, glittery, and jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring. She loves writing, reading, and filming stories about people whose journeys take them beyond their boundaries – physically, psychologically, intellectually, and emotionally to arrive a point and a place of inspiration and hope. Her works have been recognized by the leaders in the industry in book publishing and entertainment to be “innovative” and “disruptive”, earning her awards from ALA, The IBPA, and festivals.
Title: Angry Annie
Author: Dawn L. Chiletz
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Humorous
Release Date: July 12, 2018
1. Infiltrate the life of the internet troll, Annie McClintonuck, who wrote a nasty review for her sister’s bakery before it even opened.
2. Write an article exposing Annie for a fraud, thereby catapulting Joslyn's stalled career from fact-checker to journalist.
3. Flirt with, but don’t fall for, said troll's hot, seemingly shy, incredibly edible next door neighbor, Rhode Bennett.
4. Try not to let one week change her life.
Not all trolls are cute and fuzzy but some lemons are gold in disguise.
Dear Reader:
STOP. Don’t waste your time going any further. This book sucks like a plunger in a toilet bowl. I don’t know what to say about this woman’s lack of talent. I’d like to call her an author, but just because you put a bunch of words on paper doesn’t make you a writer. Heck, my cousin’s five-year-old granddaughter wrote a three-sentence story about pizza that’s better than this. Dawn . . . what kind of ’70s hippie name is that, anyway? People name their kid Dawn when they’re too lazy to think of a real name. I’ve always preferred dusk to Dawn and she’s reminded me why. Go watch TV instead. Save your money. You’re welcome.
Annie McClintonuck
Dawn L. Chiletz resides in Illinois with her two boys and three dogs. Her love of reading began at a young age and continued into adulthood. Armed with a dream from the night before, she sat down at her laptop in the summer of 2014 and started the words to her first book, The Contest. She’s been writing ever since. When she’s not binge reading or writing you can most likely find her on social media avoiding laundry.
To find out more information, including her upcoming signings, please visit her website athttps://www.dawnlchiletz.com
Title: The Last Resort Motel: Room 29
Author: Megan Matthews
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Suspense
Release Date: July 12, 2018
Happy 30th birthday to me...or not.
Stranded at The Last Resort Motel with a stranger and his bag of guns is not what I pictured for my Vegas birthday getaway.
Lukis sees right through me. He's pleasant to look at, but he has a past. A dark one from the fact he's here to spy on one of the other motel guests. I only needed a place to spend a night or two, but I've fallen into something more.
When the bad guys come to call, which side will I end up on?
12 rooms. 12 authors. 12 unique stories.
12 rooms. 12 authors. 12 unique stories.
July - Megan Matthews - Room 29
August - Elizabeth Otto - Room 100
September - Ann Mayburn - Room 419
October - Geri Glenn - Room 666
November - Winter Travers - Room 19
December - Verlene Landon - Room 15
Megan Matthews writes smutty romance by day and hides behind her secret identity as a responsible Pinterest mom when other parents are around. She believes morning shouldn’t start until noon and chocolate should be calorie free. Living in Michigan she prefers sun over snow, hot chocolate over coffee, and wine over beer.
She’ll pick a book over nature every day. Megan once displayed the entire Goosebumps series on her bookshelf. Her taste in reading has matured. She now prefers her heroes with rippling muscles over brace-faced nerds running from murderous dummies.
Title: The Best Man: A Novel
Author: Kat Tammen
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Emelia Sullivan and Andy Dalton have been friends since they were five years old—the day his family moved in to the house next door. Connected by bedroom windows that faced each other and a treehouse they shared in the backyard, the two became lifelong best friends. Emelia loved Andy with all her heart.
But not like she loved his older brother, Samuel.
Tall, handsome, and the absolute best at everything he ever did, Samuel Dalton captured Emelia’s heart without even trying. He was her first, and longest-lasting, crush.
Children grow up and move away from home. With effort, some ties are strengthened by time. Some are frayed, on the verge of breaking.
For Emelia, coming home to see Andy over summer break is easy. Finding out Samuel is home for the summer too, however, provides a challenge she is determined to overcome. Will a friendly competition for the title of “Best Man” help Samuel see Emelia is not the same little girl he left behind years ago?
No matter how long she’s been away, home is the place Emelia can count on, where everything always stays the same.
Until it all changes.
Kat Tammen lives with her husband and son in a small town in Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. A true blue Cancerian, she enjoys writing stories which take readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From laughing to crying, and everything in between, she writes authentic and relatable characters readers care about.
A firm believer that life is too short to not have fun, she tries not to take herself too seriously. She’s been known to break into song mid-sentence, and frequently recites random movie quotes. She wishes sarcasm had its own font and thinks wine should be considered its own food group. She’s also very proud of the fact that she can solve a Rubik’s Cube. Most of all- she truly believes all you need is love.
Title: Lie to Me
Series: A Rising Star Novel
Author: Lee Piper
Genre: 2nd Chance Rocker Romance
Release Date: July 13, 2018
Cold. Distant. Unattainable.
Reid Tate wasn’t always like this. He once cared for me. Made music with me. Gave his heart and soul to me.
But I ruined it.
The breath-taking boy I used to love is gone. In his place is a man who wants to rip my heart apart and lay my soul bare before thousands. He doesn’t care about the secret that will ruin me. His brand of retribution is destroying my band and ruining our future.
But I promised myself never to let Reid Tate steal my voice again.
Except that’s the problem when dancing with the devil. By the time the music starts it’s already too late.
Review:
I really enjoyed this book! Reid was the definition of alpha hotness! Shiloh and her brother were hilarious, and I hope we get a Jasper book soon. There was angsty moments but were tempered with some steam from our couple and some drama. This novel is unique in that it’s about competing bands on a television competition show to become the next rock star. This is something I hadn’t read before and thought was clever. I’ve actually read this novel twice because I felt like I needed to absorb more of it. Lee Piper did an excellent job creating all these relationships between the characters. Their bonds were so real and clear that I hope every one of them gets their own story. I would definitely recommend to those who love rock star romance with a little angst. 5 Stars!
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Lee Piper is a lover of books. She often juggles reading seven novels at a time for the sheer joy of it. At the grand old age of five, Lee Piper decided to become an author, however found a limited market for her unicorn stories. So, high school English teacher it was.
At thirty-two, and grieving the loss of her second miscarriage, Lee Piper turned to novels—Kylie Scott to be precise—to escape the pain. This then inspired her to write Rock My World, the first in a four part contemporary romance series. Her debut novel not only reached the second round of the 2016 Emerald Award, but also became an Evernight Publishing bestseller within the first two weeks of publication.
Lee Piper lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her drummer husband, cheeky daughters, and one very crazy dog.
Title: Lighter
Author: Mila Cole
Genre: Age-Gap Romance
Release Date: July 19, 2018 Cover Design: Emily Wittig Designs & Photography Cover Photography: Lindee Robinson Photography Cover Models: Logan Barnhart & Jordan Dimatteo
She was spoiled.
She was forbidden.
She was untainted.
She was my job.
And...
She was only eighteen.
I couldn't help myself.
I wanted to unravel and devour every inch of her.
She was a blue-eyed, untouched, complication, and the cost of touching her was more than I could afford.
But... She was mine
Mila Cole is from Kentucky where she resides with her husband and two kids. Mila is a full time wife, mother, writer, and laundry washer. She has a big imagination, and writes under more than one name. ;) If you'd like to keep up with all the bad boys with big hearts that she writes about, you can join her newsletter. --> http://eepurl.com/dy957T
Title: Master's Boxset
Author: Bink Cummings
Genre: M/M BDSM
Release Date: July 12, 2018
His Master
Six years ago, I was accepted into an exclusive BDSM commune that caters to the gay elite, and molded into the submissive of every dom's dream. Under the ever watchful eye of Master Croy, my savior, I spend my days fulfilling my masters' every fantasy. It has become my solace. The only place I've felt at home. They respect me for who I am. Made me into the man I've become...It is my hope that I never have to leave...
Until now...
Because of him.
The master who makes me feel.
The gray haired God who sees me as more than a slick hole and pretty face.
I've never felt this way before.
Things are changing.
I'm changing...But I don't know what it means.
My home is here. I can't leave.
But what about him? Master Kellan. I think he wants me.
And,
Can I tell you a secret?
I think I want him, too.
Master's Vlogger
It's been over a year since Master rescued me from the commune. Now, I live my amazing life with the man of my dreams as I pursue my career as a vlogger. The only problem is, as much as I love my master and the life we lead, I've sworn off all male friendships aside from Jake's--our next door neighbor. It's nothing personal. I just can't seem to get past... the one thing that tore into my soul and won't let go. I don't want to be this way. But I can't seem to help it...
Will Master find a way to fix what's been broken?
Or, am I destined to live my life jaded, thanks to a scarred past?
I'm not a damn victim.
If only my brain would get the memo.
Bonus Content
Wonder what happened with Master and his Michael after Master's Vlogger? Look no further... Find out more in this bonus short story.
Warning: Read at your discretion. This contains a plethora of shameless sexual M/M content. Some emotional triggers. Fun plot. Adult F'in language. A smidgen of mushy love. Taboo elements including those of consensual BD/SM relationships. And whatever else that makes it unsuitable for anyone under the age of 18.
Author Bink Cummings was born and raised part of a biker/classic car addicted family. Upon coercion from her sacred sisters, she began her newest journey in life--writing. When she's not shacked up in her home writing sexy fiction at all hours of the night, Bink enjoys ogling motorcycles and the men who ride them, taking care of her family, reading spicy romance novels, feeding her sock and Funko addiction, and cooking huge meals--especially her infamous chocolate chip cookies.
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