NA / Coming of Age
*The book contains adult content and is appropriate for ages 17+*
This means, the characters like to swear – or as we say in the south, cuss. While there is no strong sexual content, the story does imply the act itself. You have been warned 😉
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Other works by Sonya Loveday
The Casted Series
Twenty-three year old, Kamryn Cunningham has left all she’s ever known and moved to a small town where no one knows her name, who her parents are, or her social status in the horseracing world. Months after opening her own bakery and evading attempts of being set up by her new best friend, she meets Brody. But Kamryn fights the instant pull between them because there’s a detail she can’t dismiss. Brody’s married.
To say that twenty-six year old, Brody Saco has had a rough marriage would be an understatement. After marrying his pregnant girlfriend, he spends the next six years in a relationship filled with hatred, manipulation, and guilt involving a tragedy that happened five years earlier. When he keeps running into his sister-in-law’s best friend, Kamryn, he can’t ignore that she makes him feel more with just one look than his wife ever has; and soon he can’t continue fight his feelings for her.
When staying apart proves to be too difficult, Brody and Kamryn enter a relationship full of stolen moments and nights that end too soon while they wait for Brody to file for divorce. But the guilt that comes with their relationship may prove to be too much for Kamryn, and Brody might not be strong enough to face the tragedy from his past in order to leave his conniving wife.
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When I decided to write this story, I had people telling me not to. I had a lot of: “Uhh … are you sure you want to write about that?” “Maybe you should consider something else…” and “No, no. Absolutely not. Women will hate you.”
Well, considering I already had a lot of women mad at me over a certain male character and a scene that shall not be named in chapter 13 of a certain book … I was willing to have them hate me all over again. I don’t want to just write stories that will please people. I want to write real life. And Sharing You is real life.
Sure, we hear stories of cheating, and automatically we curl our lips at the thought. “How could he/she?” “What a home-wrecker.” “Poor (insert name here).” It’s the automatic thoughts that go through our heads, right? I know it’s what goes through my head every time. And it’s what went through my head when my husband told me about his work partner and his girlfriend I would be meeting that night. I’m pretty sure I yelled “What?!” really loud, said a few no ways, and had a disgusted look on my face. I was determined not to meet the girlfriend, and to forever hate my husband’s partner.
I had my arms crossed and a scowl on my face the entire drive to the restaurant, I was mumbling to myself, and I asked my husband how he could be so okay with it about fifty some odd times. And then I met them … and everything that had been going through my mind suddenly shifted. Now, before I continue, I should probably say I do not condone cheating. I feel like if you would cheat on your significant other, you should leave them before you do something with another person. But I could not help but get captured in a moment with this couple. I have quite literally never seen a couple more perfect for each other.
We started hanging out with them more and more, and one night, the girlfriend—we’ll call her “S”—told me all about her story with “R”. From the very beginning, to where they were at that point. It was heartbreaking, I cried with her, and I felt every emotion pouring from her over to me. I listened to the heartache they went through to be together, and witnessed how much this had taken a toll on them. I loved their story. Still wasn’t a fan of the cheating … but their love for each other … that’s what I loved. I was able to witness them finally getting married, and it is the only time I’ve been so moved by a wedding other than my own. R & S belong together, and that’s why I asked if I could write their story.
Because sometimes it’s not as easy as just blaming the “other woman”. Sometimes there are other things that come into play that we may not see/hear about. Like a very bad marriage that you feel trapped in. Sometimes the people who are suffering the most are, in fact, the ones cheating. My hope is that you can see that, and see why I decided to write their story despite the hard topic.
Molly’s Daily Question: Do you think that it is worth it to fight for your forever with the person you are meant to be with, no matter the cost?
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My phone started ringing as I stepped out of the shower, and I hurried to dry off before running to the nightstand. A wide smile crossed my face when I saw his name on the screen.
“Hey! I didn’t think you were going to call.”
Brody had come over the last two nights as well, but we were both worried about pushing our luck with a fourth. Even though I hated not knowing when we would get to see each other, or even talk again, the surprise of hearing from him almost made it worth it.
“Can I come over?” he asked hurriedly.
I frowned and glanced at my phone quickly before bringing it back to my ear. “Of course, are you okay?”
“I am, I just need to see you.”
My smile came back and I took off for the door leading to the garage. “Okay, I’ll have the garage door opened, and the other one unlocked. Just come in.”
“Be there soon.”
Running back to my bathroom, I threw the towel on the floor and brushed my teeth, cutting it short when I heard the door shut.
“Kam?” his deep voice called from the front of my condo.
“Shit!” I hissed, and rinsed out my mouth before running to my room. “Be out in a sec!” Throwing on the first tank top and shorts my hands touched, I took a few seconds to settle my breathing before walking calmly out to meet him.
He already had his shirt and vest off, and the way his dark eyes raked over my body had my stomach heating. There was a determined look on his face as he took long steps to meet me, and just before we got to each other, he shook his head and said, “I can’t do ‘slow’ anymore.”
His arms went around me, and he brought his mouth down to mine. The minute our lips touched, something in me ignited, and a small groan came from Brody when I opened my mouth to him and his tongue met mine. His large hands slid down my sides, his thumbs barely grazing the side of my breasts before continuing down to rest on my hips, pulling me closer to him. I let the tips of my fingers trail down his chest until I hit the bottom of his undershirt and lifted, letting him finish taking it off and dropping it on the floor.
“If you want to stop, you need to say it now.”
“I’m not saying anything,” I whispered against his lips.
I couldn’t. We’d agreed to go slow, but nothing about what we were doing was normal. Even though we’d kept the last three nights pretty chaste, the charge between us had been growing steadily, and we’d been in some sort of unspoken agreement that it was getting too hard to stay away from each other. Both silently moving away from each other when the electricity between us grew, both pulling away breathlessly from kisses that had our resolve quickly slipping.
Just before his mouth slammed down on mine, he mumbled, “Thank God.”
The force of his kiss surprised me and a high-pitched moan slipped from my chest. Brody laughed softly as one of his hands left my hip and went to my back and under my shirt, his hand leaving a trail of fire on my skin.
Turning us so the backs of his legs were hitting the couch, I pushed back and followed him down, planting myself on his lap and stifling another moan when our new position had his erection pressing against me. Brody brought our mouths back together and when I rocked against his hard length, he took my bottom lip between his teeth and tugged gently. When he released me, I sat up straighter so my chest was directly in front of his face and went back to rolling my hips against him.
With a growl, he leaned forward and pulled the stretchy material of my tank top down to free my breasts and sucked one nipple into his mouth. I whimpered when he bit down before resuming his torturous licking; when my eyes were finally able to flutter open again, I looked down to see him looking up from under his dark eyelashes and goose bumps covered my body at the sight. It was strangely erotic and I couldn’t stop watching him tease my nipple now that I’d started. The hand that wasn’t caressing my breast was gripping my hip and I reached down to slide his fingers under the thin material of my shorts.
He released my breast with a soft pop and brought my face to his, staring intently in my eyes. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
I sat up on my knees, giving him better access, and leaned in to whisper, “I was stupid to think we could take it slow.” I pressed my lips softly to his once, but didn’t move away. “Don’t leave tonight, Brody, please. Stay with me.”
His response was to kiss me deeply while his fingers moved to stroke along my soft folds. “Christ, Kamryn,” he groaned, and slid one long finger deep inside me as his thumb rubbed against my clit, and I couldn’t stop the whimper that bubbled from my lips from having him touch me like this.
I ground my hips against his hand as he continued to move his fingers in a way I’d never experienced with Charles, not that Charles and I hadn’t done numerous sexual activities, but he was always pushing for the ones that benefited him, and sex with him didn’t last long; so more often than not, I ended up frustrated or excusing myself to the bathroom to finish myself. The muscles low in my stomach tightened, and my entire body was warming, I was close to begging him not to stop when he slipped a second finger inside and my body exploded. Hard. My head fell back as a breathy cry left me and I rode out wave after wave of the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had.
His fingers didn’t still, but softened and slowed as he pressed his lips against my throat. “You’re so beautiful.”
Bringing my head back down, I rested my forehead against his as I fumbled with the zipper and button on his uniform pants, my hands were shaking so much from the after effects of my orgasm it took two tries just to pull the zipper down; but the moment I finally succeeded, Brody’s hand left my shorts and his large fingers curled around my wrists.
“I don’t have condoms.” He looked to the side and blinked a few times, his brow furrowed. “God I can’t even remember the last time I bought any.”
Brody’s hands preventing me from continuing only made me want this more. I flexed my fingers and knew that this stop was a good thing, something we should probably take advantage of. But I didn’t care. “Are you clean?” I asked softly.
“Yes, are you?”
I nodded. “And I’m on the pill.”
I’d barely finished my sentence before Brody had both of us off the couch, my legs around his hips, and was walking. “Room, Kamryn, where is it?”
“Down the hall, last door on the right.”
His mouth captured mine again as he turned toward the hall and began taking long strides. Not two feet from the opening his pants fell the rest of the way down and Brody tripped, sending us crashing into the wall. Our kisses never faltered, even throughout our laughing, but I unwrapped my legs from his hips as he hurriedly stepped out of his boots and pants. When he kicked them to the side, he grabbed the backs of my thighs and pressed his hard on against me as I wrapped my legs back around him.
“Bed … bed,” I pleaded around his lips, and once again he was walking us toward my room.
We made it the rest of the way without incident, and fell in a mess of searching hands, and tearing clothes onto the bed. My tank was somehow on the floor before I was fully on my back and I reached up to crush our lips together as his hands pulled my sleep shorts off at the same time I reached for the waistband of his dark boxer briefs.
His erection sprang free, and I didn’t even try to continue pulling his briefs down the rest of the way as I took his length in both of my hands. Brody groaned and his head fell to my shoulder as I watched both hands make their way up him. Letting one of my hands leave to edge the waistband down his hips, the other slowly pumped from base to head, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Everything about him was incredible and perfect.
“Babe—I haven’t been with anyone in years, so this already isn’t going to last long; but if you keep doing that it’s gonna be over before it can begin.”
I bit back a smile at his confession and leaned my head back when he started leaving open-mouthed kisses on my neck, and guided him to me. We both stilled for a few seconds, a harsh breath leaving him when he pushed into me; and I wanted to cry in frustration when his body left mine before he was slamming back into me. His name left my lips in a breathless whisper when he began moving inside me, and my fingers curled into his back as his pace quickened.
I could feel the muscles in his back tightening, and the pull in my lower stomach grew as I reached my climax.
“Come on,” his gruff voice whispered in my ear. “Give me one more.”
Bringing his hand between us, he rolled his fingers against my clit and I whimpered incoherent words as the mix of him moving inside me, and his hands on me, sent me over the edge. It felt like my body was suspended in air for long seconds before it came crashing down and Brody’s body shuddered beneath my fingertips as he followed me into his own orgasm.
Brody lazily kissed up my throat until he reached my lips, and I figured out how to release my death grip on his back to pull my hands through his dark hair as I returned the slow kiss.
“God, Kamryn. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get enough of you. Not after that.”
I smiled against his lips, and feeling his hard length still inside me, pushed him back and rolled us over until I was on top of him. He groaned when I moved my hips, his hands flying back to grab them. I’d been afraid he was about to stop me, but his fingers flexed against my skin before pressing me harder against him. Sitting up, I let him lead our movements, and my head fell back from the feel of the new position. This time was slow and controlled as we took our time getting to know each others body, but the heat and passion only seemed to grow.
My body curled over his, and I pressed my forehead into his chest when it was over. Every part of me felt like it was floating, and at the same time, I couldn’t find the strength to move from where I was laying on him.
“Come here,” he said as he pulled his body from mine and wrapped his arms around me.
Pressing a kiss to my lips, he tucked my head under his chin and messed with the comforter until he could pull it over us.
“You’ll stay?” I asked as I pressed closer to him.
“I need you in my arms right now,” he said simply. And just before sleep claimed me, I heard him say, “I’m not going anywhere.”
My body jerked awake, and I stilled as I listened for whatever had woken me. Brody was now behind me with his body curled around mine, and the sound of his soft snores was all that met my ears for a few moments. Closing my eyes, I relaxed into the pillow again when I heard the ringing. Moving from Brody’s arms, I glanced around for my phone, but didn’t see it and remembered I’d left it in the bathroom, and this was coming from outside my room. Grabbing for the pants that were on the floor of my hallway, I searched the pockets until I found Brody’s phone, and my body turned to ice when I saw the screen.
Olivia.
“Brody,” I said as I climbed back on the bed and shook his shoulder. “Brody wake up.”
His eyes shot open and moved quickly to the phone I was holding out to him. “What—”
“Olivia is calling you.”
“Fuck,” he whispered, and pinched the bridge of his nose as he turned to his back. Taking the phone from my hand, he cleared his throat a couple times and answered. “Hello?”
“Where the hell are you? Do you know what time it is?”
I didn’t need to be sitting directly next to him to hear her. I’m positive I would’ve been able to hear her shrill voice if I’d been back in the hall.
Glancing at his phone for a second, his aggravated expression never changed as he brought the phone back to his ear. “Yeah, Liv, I got caught up at work.”
“And you couldn’t call to tell me?”
“You said you’d be staying with your parents if you got back from Washington tonight, I didn’t know it would matter to you if I was late or—shit, Liv. Why … fuck, why are you crying?”
“Well, obviously I’m not at my parents’, Brody! I thought something had happened to you, you know, I’m trying to be a good wife here. And you are hours late and don’t even think to—” she cut off on a sob.
Brody’s hand fell over his face, and his head gently shook back and forth. “All right, I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have called you.”
“Come home, please. Please, come home.”
My body locked up when I heard her desperate plea, and I watched as Brody’s hand moved, and he turned his head to look at me. Even in the dark I could see the war he was fighting as he listened to his wife cry on the phone, and watched my every move.
Olivia said something that was now too low and mumbled for me to hear, but Brody’s expression suddenly looked like he was in pain.
“I’m finishing up a report, I’ll be back soon.” Without waiting for her to respond, he ended the call, and reached out for me, but I stopped his hand.
“Stay. Please.”
His jaw clenched shut, and he shook his head once. From the way his eyes studied my face, as if trying to memorize it, I knew he wouldn’t. Twisting away, I got off the bed. I needed to get away from him before I lost it.
“Kamryn, don’t do this, I’m sorry. But you know I—”
“I know. You have to leave, Brody, it’s fine.” I quickly grabbed at my clothes on the floor and dashed into the bathroom.
“Kamryn!”
Once my clothes were on, I pressed my hands to the marble counter as I bit down on the inside of my cheeks to keep from crying. I’d gone into our relationship knowing we wouldn’t be able to have this—have nights together with nothing standing in the way—but after the night we’d just shared, I’d let myself hope.
Having Olivia call had been like a slap to the face. I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t be this person. But as Brody came up behind me and eased his arms around me to press our bodies together, I knew that for this man … I would. I would go through anything if it meant he was mine in the end.
“I’m so sorry,” he said softly before pressing his lips to the sensitive spot behind my ear. “Please don’t be mad, I couldn’t handle it if you were.”
I kept my eyes trained on my hands gripping the countertop and nodded, not trusting my voice anymore.
“One day … one day we won’t have to do this anymore. I’ll come home to you, and get in our bed and never leave. I swear.”
My vision went blurry and I closed my eyes tightly against the tears.
How was it possible that I was already falling so hard for this man, that the thought of him anywhere but beside me had me feeling like I was drowning and unable to pull in the air my body needed to live? I was quickly becoming addicted to him, and the way he made me feel with the smallest of touches. We were dangerous together, but I knew I couldn’t live without him.
“Forgive me,” he pleaded, and suddenly his body and warmth were gone. And as much as my mind and body screamed at me to follow him, to beg him not to leave, I was rooted in place for long minutes until I heard my door shut, and his car start up in the garage.
Taking shaky steps back until I hit a wall, I slid down until I was seated on the cool floor, and the tears I’d been holding back fell mercilessly as desperate sobs worked their way from my chest.
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On-sale 7/1/14 | ISBN: 9780062299406
Amazon | B&N | BOOKS A MILLION | INDIE BOUND | BOOKISH
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Forbidden desire is just the beginning…
Jessica, a college student struggling with day-to-day bills, is given an offer she can’t refuse. A married woman who is convinced that her husband Kage is cheating on her offers Jessica enough money to repair her dying car in exchange for Jessica’s attempt to destroy the woman’s marriage.
Jessica succeeds but discovers something else—she and Kage are soulmates, destined to find each other.
But as they attempt to carve out their places in each other’s lives, Jessica finds herself plagued with doubts, and she begins to suspect that Kage is once a cheater, always a cheater. Can their relationship survive or was it doomed from the start?
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It was chilly in the basement. It was unfinished—concrete floors and walls, and a couple of shelves along one wall. It appeared to be the same size as the ground floor, but there were no walls. It was wide open. Mark wheeled out a few space heaters that had been hugging the wall, plugged them in, and turned them on. I stood next to one before deciding to go back upstairs to grab my coat. As I passed Diesel, he gave me a hateful look and that made me want to leave for good. So I grabbed my coat upstairs, but instead of heading back to the basement where the guys were tuning their instruments, I went into the bathroom and leaned against the counter, trying to decide if I wanted to find a place to sit tight or if I wanted to be brave and sit downstairs with a look of defiance on my face. Not sitting in the basement would be giving up. It would, on some level, be cowardly, and I knew that until his friends accepted me, I’d have to get used to their coldness. While it upset me on a personal level, I could understand where they were coming from when I really thought about it. Either they thought I broke up Kage’s marriage and I was here flaunting it (before the wedding corpse was even cold, so to speak) or they simply didn’t like a woman barging in on their guy time, especially practice time. If that was the case, I didn’t want to sit in there. I knew they were creating and working, and I didn’t want to interfere with it or make them feel awkward. If those had been the only vibes I thought I was getting, I could live with it and I’d even offer to stay out. Unfortunately, I was positive that wasn’t all I was feeling.
So I looked at my face in the mirror as though reasoning with myself, weighing the pros and cons that would influence my decision. I felt like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind, getting dressed before Melanie’s birthday party, only I didn’t have a Rhett demanding that I had to go. I was my own Rhett too, chiding myself for not moving, not going in there and dealing with whatever cold shoulders they wanted to give me. It was then, as I was focusing on my breathing and working up my courage, that I heard a tap on the door. I cleared my throat. “Yes?”
It was Kage. “Everything okay in there?”
I hadn’t lied to this man yet, and I wasn’t about to now. “No, not really.”
“Are you sick?”
“No.” I faced the door and turned the knob, peeking my head out.
“What’s wrong?”
I opened the door farther, inviting him in. I lowered my voice. “I feel really awkward around those guys. I know they resent me, and that’s fine, but I can’t decide if I want to hang out in the basement. I don’t know if they’re hating me because they think I’m the reason why you broke up with Fay or if they just don’t want me to watch you practice.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close after closing the door behind him. “Or maybe they’re pissed because I got the girl.”
I raised my eyebrows and smiled in spite of myself. “Oh, that’s not it.”
“Maybe it is.” I knew he was full of shit, but I didn’t mind when his lips brushed mine or when he drowned me in a kiss. It was easy to forget what I’d been feeling just moments ago. “They’re just going to have to get used to you.” He scanned my eyes until he could see my understanding, and then he kissed me once more. “Was it my imagination, or did you like my hand on your leg at the dinner table?”
If I’d blushed easily, my cheeks would have turned pink then, because I was surprised at how well he’d learned to read me in such a short time. My voice sounded hoarse and foreign to my ears when I responded. “The naughty side of me wanted you to keep going.”
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I had the privileged of Beta reading Second Chance Summer and hands down, Emma has done it again. You ALL really need to get your hands on this book (and all of Emma’s others) because the story and characters will capture you (and you will love Reese!)
Title: Second Chance Summer (Chance Series, #1)
Release Date: Monday, September 23rd
Cover Design by Emma Hart
Publisher: Self-Published
From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Love Game and Playing for Keeps is a story of hope and the beauty of getting a second chance at the kind of love that comes once in a lifetime…
“You don’t get a love like ours and get to leave it behind.”
Kia James was never meant to return to her hometown of Harlan Grove, Alabama… But she has.
And Reese Pembleton was definitely not supposed to still be in love with her the way she is him… But he is.
Last summer was the summer to end all summers. It was the summer they both fell in too deep to get out, and try as she might, Kia can’t deny that whatever was there between them a year ago is still there. If she’s honest with herself, there’s so much more there than there ever was, but the way her dad walked out six years ago has shattered her belief of that fairytale love every girl craves.
Reese isn’t giving up so easily. His biggest mistake was not chasing after Kia the way he wanted to when she upped and left him without a word. Despite what she says, he knows her better than anyone, and he knows she still wants him the way he wants her. And this time, nothing will stop him from getting – and keeping – his girl.
But nothing is that easy. When Kia’s dad arrives back in town, family secrets come tumbling out she never realized existed. Everything her mom has ever told her about the reason he left is a lie – but how can she trust the man who, by his own admission, didn’t fight for her as hard as he could have?
With her past and present wants and needs colliding, Kia is thrown into the turmoil of the biggest decisions of her life. And she realizes, sometimes a second chance is all you need.
“Are you gonna be wearing that dress all day?”
I suck my bottom lip between my teeth and look at him innocently. “Why?”
“I… You can’t answer a question with a question.”
“Fine. No, I won’t be.” I cross one of my legs over the other, my dress sliding up my thigh. Reese stretches his fingers on the steering wheel.
“You won’t be?”
“No. We’re going to the beach, right?” He nods. “Well, then. I’ve got my bikini on underneath. I’ll be wearing that.”
“Just that?”
“No, Reese,” I say dryly. “I have a trench coat in my beach bag I was planning on putting on when we get there.”
He’s silent for a second, his eyes flicking to me and back to the road again a few times before he says, “I like it when you turn on the attitude.”
“I don’t have an attitude!”
“Like that.”
“I don’t have an attitude!” I repeat, shifting in my seat. “Do I?”
“Yeah, you do, baby. And I feel like I need to respond with my own attitude.”
“The one that is supposed to sweep me off my feet, right? That attitude?”
We turn off-road, taking the shortcut we used last summer, and Reese nods. “That attitude.”
“And how exactly is that attitude going to help you now?”
The truck swerves suddenly and stops at the side of the empty road. My hand is released, and I hear the click as Reese undoes his seatbelt. He leans over toward me, one hand on the back of my seat and the other resting on my thigh.
I look up from where his hand is on my leg and straight into his eyes. His nose brushes against mine as he breathes out across my lips. My eyes shut slowly, and his fingers dig into my skin a little.
“This attitude,” he whispers huskily, his probing hand moving further up my leg until it reaches my bikini bottoms. He slips a finger under the waistband, running his finger along my skin from my hip to the clenching muscles between my legs, not touching them, and back again. His breath moves across my mouth as he breathes heavier than usual, and I can do nothing but sit here and let him do whatever. I’m frozen in place with anticipation. I’m blazing hot wherever he’s touching me, and everywhere he isn’t is ice cold.
I tilt my head back slightly, but he pulls away. I open my eyes and stare at a sea of gold flecked hazel. Hardened gold flecked hazel. Yep. He’s pissed.
“If you kiss me right now,” he breathes, his face as hard as granite. “There isn’t a chance in hell we’ll make it to that fucking beach today.”
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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17698941-second-chance-summer?from_search=true
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-chance-summer-emma-hart/1116818555?ean=2940045240215
Apple iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/second-chance-summer-chance/id697940659?mt=11
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/second-chance-summer-chance-series-1
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Trophy Husband by Lauren Blakely
Publication date: May 21st 2013
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance (the author describes it as mid-20s Sex and the City vibe)
Synopsis:Sometimes you can’t help falling in love, even when you try to do the opposite…Successful fashion blogger McKenna Bell has spent far too long protecting herself after the way her ex-fiancé left her at the altar for a college chick he met the night of his bachelor party. Loving again, trusting again, well, that’s just not in the cards. Especially now that her ex is back in town with his new woman, demanding custody of McKenna’s favorite creature in the whole world–her dog. No effing way. McKenna’s had enough of him, and she decides to even the score by finding her own hot young thing — a Trophy Husband. Sure, she’s only twenty-seven, but doesn’t that make it even more fun — and infuriating to her ex — to pursue a younger man? When she declares her intentions on her daily blog, her quest quickly skyrockets in popularity, and that’s when Chris enters the picture, and he’s got all the assets. He’s handsome, successful, and turns her inside out with a kiss to end all kisses, the kind that makes you feel like a shooting star. But loving again could mean losing again, and it’s so much easier to focus on getting even, isn’t it? Unless, you just can’t help falling in love. Which means McKenna will have to come face to face with what she really wants in life — protecting her heart from hurt, or letting go of her fears of a new beginning.
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trophy-husband-lauren-blakely/1115374686?ean=2940016440941
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CW0WELO/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trophy-Husband-ebook/dp/B00CW0WELO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369015634&sr=8-5&keywords=lauren+blakely
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Trophy-Husband-ebook/dp/B00CW0WELO/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369015683&sr=1-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/317654
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Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and good guys in novels. Like the heroine in CAUGHT UP IN US, she thinks life should be filled with movie kisses and coffee drinks. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.
Links:
Website: http://www.laurenblakely.com/
Blog: http://laurenblakelybooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LaurenBlakely3
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenBlakelyBooks
Lauren Blakely Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6860216.Lauren_Blakely
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GIVEAWAY
Rafflecopter Giveaway:
One Charm Bracelet + a signed copy (US/Can)
Rafflecopter: a Rafflecopter giveaway
For those of who don’t follow Emma Hart on Facebook or Twitter (I don’t know why you wouldn’t be!) since the beginning of April she has been running a giveaway where if you share the purchase links of The Love Game (on any platform links) you’re entered into a random draw to win a signed copy.
This weekend the giveaway is drawing to a close and it’s your final chance to be entered to win a signed copy of The Love Game and you totally want to win right? I LOVE THIS BOOK and you should too 😉
Here is what you have to do:
On Twitter, all you have to do is post this tweet:-
Have you read #TheLoveGame by @EmmaHartAuthor yet? If Grab your copy for 99 cents here: Amz http://amzn.to/15scdCi B&N http://bit.ly/17LW3mp
You can share twice per day on either/both sites, and that = 2 entries into the draw for a signed copy, and you can enter daily.
And on Facebook all you have to do is:
For a chance to win a signed paperback copy of international bestselling novel, The Love Game by Emma Hart, simply share the purchase link. If you share on Facebook, please provide a link to the share in the comments on Emma’s FB page so your entry can be checked and verified by Emma.
Synopsis
His challenge? Make her fall in love with him.
Her challenge? Play the player.
Until life changes the rules of the game.
Maddie Stevens hated Braden Carter on sight. Arrogant, egotistical, and the playboy of the University of California, Berkeley, he’s everything her brother Pearce has taught her to despise. So why, when the girls challenge her to play the player, doesn’t she say no? She doesn’t know either.
Braden wanted fiery little Maddie the second he laid eyes on her – and he’d do anything to have her, hence why he’s agreed to make her fall in love with him. After all, it’s the only way he’ll get what he wants. Sex.
But, as Braden discovers, there’s more to the girl from Brooklyn than he ever imagined – and he can’t help but care about the broken girl behind those pretty green eyes.
Maddie finds Braden isn’t just a walking erection – he actually has feelings. He can be sweet, funny and his good looks don’t exactly hurt. That means trouble – but when her brother Pearce turns up in Berkeley begging for her help, she realises Braden and Pearce aren’t so alike anymore.
And maybe, just maybe, they’re exactly what each other needs.
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Author Bio
By day, international bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to a terrible two year old and growing bump, due September 2013. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of juice and writes books. She likes to write about magic, kisses and whatever else she can fit into the story. Sarcastic, witty characters are a must. As are hot guys.
Emma is currently working too many books to even count – including Playing for Keeps, the companion book to the internationally bestselling novel, The Love Game. She likes to be busy – unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to when all the ideas come to life.
Find Emma online at:
Blog: http://www.emmahart93.blogspot.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/YAAuthorEmmaHart
Twitter: @EmmaHartAuthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6451162.Emma_Hart
Drowning In You by Rebecca Berto
Publication date: April 12th 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Synopsis:
Secretly crushing
Crushed by a tragedy
Charlee May’s been crushing on Dexter Hollingworth since she was fifteen. Five years later, a horrific skiing disaster at Mason’s Ski Lift Resort leaves her millionaire dad critically injured and her mom dead at the hands of Dexter operating the lifts. Charlee is suddenly the sole caretaker for her little brother while their world falls apart.
Dexter couldn’t be more different from Charlee. He’s tattooed, avoids exclusive relationships and his Dad has a fair share of illegal dealings. With Dexter’s reputation, almost everyone believes he planned the Mason’s skiing disaster.
And after all these years he’s still crushing on Charlee May, the girl who’s too good for him.
When this cruel twist of fate ties Charlee’s family and Dexter’s reputation together, Charlee and Dexter wonder if their feelings are reciprocated, while Dexter discovers his dad is trying to steal the May’s millionaire fortune.
But like an addiction, one look, one touch, one taste—they’re hooked no matter the consequences.
Purchase:
Amaon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drowning-in-You-ebook/dp/B00C83XWN4
Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Drowning-You-Rebecca-Berto/dp/0987456628/
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Drowning-in-You-ebook/dp/B00C83XWN4/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/302783
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Drowning-in-You/book-M3hQgv8Al0mA7rZ-wyjJPg/page1.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drowning-in-you-rebecca-berto/1115078156?ean=2940044423527
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AUTHOR BIO
Rebecca Berto is the author or the dark contemporary/literary novella, PRECISE and the upcoming new adult contemporary romance novel, DROWNING IN YOU. She is also a freelance editor.
She writes stories that are a bit sexy, and straddle the line between Literary and Tear Your Heart Out. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.
Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.
Author Links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
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GIVEAWAY!
It’s open internationally for 5 chances to win an ebook copy of Drowning In You.
Good luck!
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EXCERPT
Dexter
Charlee looks like her mind’s in another world for a moment, staring at me. She’s not looking at my eyes, but through me. She grins, but she turns before I can see it light up her face. Her hair covers her expression as she tucks her chin away. What on earth has she got to be embarrassed about?
“Hang on a sec,” Charlee says to me. She steps out of her car, into the drizzle. She tucks some wild hair blowing in the wind behind her ear and I still see it. That grin. But she’s trying to desperately to hide it.
Maybe I’m already in? No, Dex, no. There’s no way that fucking angel is in any way “in” with you. Or that you deserve her or any reward.
Thinking of this makes my head spin, reminding me I absolutely need sugar right now because I’m not sure this stupid body can walk itself back home, argue with Dad for ten minutes and then manage to sneak into the pantry for sugar before completely collapsing.
I hate this all-too-familiar sensation—the wobbling, separating from my thoughts, as if this isn’t my body and I’m stuck in this useless thing that won’t do as I say.
“Dex!” Charlee has my arm. She has my arm—my arm that’s rigid from pleasure, from her touch—in her little fingers. She holds my other one, too and she’s right there, that sweet candy perfume stripping the rest of the strength from my body, and it escapes in a soft, breathy sigh.
Having her sweet candy scent in my head is going to be hell from now on.
“Here, get in my car. It’s pouring!”
Now I notice the rain. Was it like that earlier? Maybe it was always raining this hard. All I know is if I can make out the two melons of her breasts through her loose top, the rain must be coming down. And I must be out of it to not have realized the weather before.
It would be so easy to slip into her car. I’d make her laugh again, so she’d do that thing where she would grin and tuck her chin into her chest, yet she couldn’t wipe me from her
mind, and then I could brush my fingers over her cheeks to behind her neck where I could pull her to me. I know she’d like that. All girls do.
But this can’t happen. I killed her mom. I’m responsible for her dad’s life hanging in the balance—which I hear about daily, thanks to mom’s updates. I deserve punishment. Why am I allowed to live my life as if nothing happened? I hate being let off without resolution. As much as I didn’t want to lose my friends, as much as I hate the stares, the egg-throwing and mass public hate, it gives me something to feel. I should be hated for ruining Charlee’s family. She should hate me.
Right now, all I know when I see her grin at me, and grip my arm and look like an angel is that I do not deserve this. I don’t deserve any pleasure from Charlee when I’m the one responsible for taking away all her pleasure in life.
What I really deserve is to watch her slip away. It would be the only real thing I’d feel when I’m confused and hating myself. It would hurt so bad that it would have to be real compared to the nightmare I now live.
But that means using her as a prop in my punishment, and that’s worse.
We share the same look for a moment, her eyes on my face and mine on hers. This moment is ours. My hand is so close to her hip that I could…
“Is he coming, Charlee?” Darcy yells over the rumble of the rain.
Charlee says, “Coming back now. Don’t worry.”
I can’t stop myself from wondering if her bra is black or gray.
She gives me a weird look so maybe she caught me. Good. Maybe now she’ll go and leave me—but then she does something really stupid and says, “You’re absolutely coming with me, Dexter. It’s pouring and you look like you’re going to faint.”
“Actually,” I say, and I’m grinning from ear to ear, like a total douche, “I think…”
My cell goes off. Saved by the bell. My crotch hates this moment, but my head knows I’ll look back and remember this as the best possible interruption.
Z. Elizabeth 