Friday 31 January 2014

RELEASE DAY BLITZ - Damaged by Becca Vincenza


 Damaged by Becca Vincenza
Published: January 31st 2014

Blurb:
There are some beings in this world, long thought to be extinct. Some seek to protect them, others want control, but some . . . some are hell bent on their destruction.
Audrey was taken from her father, hidden away from the world, and tortured for five years. She was rescued, but is she really safe, or is there someone else waiting to betray her? Can she trust those who saved her? Can she learn to accept who she really is?
Stone was on a routine mission to extract valuable information from a rival clan of paranormals. Instead, he and his team find something much more valuable: a scarred, damaged young woman who holds many secrets, and whose power is beyond anything they could ever have imagined.There is much more to Audrey than meets the eye and Stone is determined to protect her.
Audrey and Stone are about to find out it’s hard to know who to trust.

Buy Links:
Amazon E-book: TBR (to be released)

About the Author:
Oh jeez…do you know how many people I told I didn’t want to write this? So here is the one my friend made me:
BeccaVincenza lives in wonderful Michigan. She has a love for Skittles, rainbows, Star Wars, *giggles* and Hot Men. She spends time in her basement with Airicka… Apparently that’s where the best ideas come from.
Any who….she loves meeting new people, so feel free to message her on Facebook and friend her on Goodreads!
Although her phone number will not be given out because, well…she doesn’t like heavy breathing.
So a sort of serious one: For real, I am a geek. I grew up watching Star Wars, and my father read Lord of the Rings to us, along with the C. S. Lewis series. I love to write. In all honesty, it took me a lot of work to get where I am today and I don’t regret a moment of it. Reading and writing are honestly the best things ever. I couldn’t be happier that my parents put me through so much extra help. Anyways! Me, me, me…. Huh…I love paranormal stuff…Love it.

Stalker Links:


Wednesday 29 January 2014

EXCERPT BLAST - The Minaldi Legacy by Courtney Cole

TML Excerpt Blast Banner

We are extremely excited to be able to share an excerpt from Courtney Cole's new book THE MINALDI LEGACY! THE MINALDI LEGACY is a dark, contemporary romance and will be released on February 6th, 2014!!!     

The Minaldi Legacy Cover

  Synopsis:
“I’m a monster, Eva. There’s no saving a monster. But I love that you want to try.”

Luca Minaldi is rich, powerful and mesmerizing. He’s also a reclusive enigma. He lives in Malta, a fairy-tale place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best-kept of them all. 
 Eva Talbot moves to Malta to finish her doctoral dissertation in Psychiatry. When she meets Luca, there is a very real and instant attraction that she has never felt before. But even still, she senses the darkness that lives within him. 
 Eva is hired to care for Luca’s mother, a woman who suffers from dementia. It is Luca, however, that Eva will eventually risk everything to save… as the legacy that plagues him continues. 
 As the darkness swirls ever more tightly around her, Eva realizes that no matter how hard she tries, she might not be able to save Luca without losing herself. 
 Eva and Luca are thrust into a world where their love is tested and darkness reigns. Amid chaos and treachery, love and hate, Luca and Eva learn one important thing. Love is dangerous. 
 But it also might be the one thing that can save them all. 
 ******** 
 The Minaldi Legacy consists of two parts, part one: Of Blood and Bone and part two: Of Darkness and Demons. It contains adult themes and content.  

Minaldi Legacy-Kissing behind fountain
 
  EXCERPT:
Prologue

Luca is gone. 
I know it before I open my eyes.  The weight of his body next to me is absent, the scent of him gone from the air.  I sigh, reluctant to begin this day because I know what it holds for me.  I know that if Luca is truly gone, I will spend every hour frantically searching for him.
Gazing around, I find my large suite empty.  Everything is neat and tidy and exactly in place. Each lavish piece of furniture is polished with lemon oil, each extravagant painting on the wall carefully dusted.  Each expensive vase, each crystal lamp, each woven rug is perfectly aligned and exactly how I left it.  Something is different, though, somehow changed in this room that I fell asleep in last night.
My sleepy eyes do another quick sweep, and this time I notice the balcony doors standing wide open while the bright morning sun streams onto the mahogany floor and the white sheer curtains on either side flutter in the sea breeze.  
This is the difference and it slams into me like a concrete wall.  I didn’t fall asleep with those doors open. I would never do that now, not since I know what dangers lurk in the world, the darkness that can find me.
Immediately after I notice this inconsistency, I also see that across the room, my bedroom door is tightly closed and the bolt is still slid firmly in place.
Just as I left it last night.
My heart stutters as I realize what this means. 
While I slept, Luca must have climbed from my balcony ledge to escape.  But the drop is well over thirty feet and there are sharp rocks at the base of the house.  There are gardens directly behind, but beyond that, there is a cliff with a hundred foot drop to the sea below.   
I leap naked from bed and rush to the balcony’s edge.  My bare breasts press against the cold railing as I peer down at both the gardens and what I can see of the pristine sand beyond that.  Luca is not lying broken and bleeding there, so I try to still my racing heart.  I search the beaches and craggy landscape on both sides of my periphery and I still do not see him.
He somehow survived the fall.
A hundred different things run through my mind, but the one that stands out in the forefront is the image, the possibility, that he managed to drag himself, broken and bleeding, to a different location, somewhere where he is even now waiting for me to help him. 
Because I promised. 
I promised him that I would help him, that I would keep him from the darkness that plagues him, that I would heal him. 
That I would save him.
I swallow hard and as I do, I realize that my throat is tender from Luca’s hands last night. I know that if I look into a mirror, there will be a bruise in the perfect formation of his long fingers around my neck. 
As I softly touch it, I remember his face from the night before.  It was shadowed in the moonlight and like always, he was beautiful.  Luca is handsome in a very classic and beautiful way, dark hair and cut cheekbones.  His bangs are long and almost hide his magnificent dark eyes until he shakes his hair away.  And when he does, the sadness that dwells there is apparent to anyone who knows him.
But last night, I didn’t need to look into his eyes to see that his darkness had returned.  I knew it from the moment he stepped into my room.
I can always see it.  It changes everything about him, even the way he walks and moves.  The way he stands.  The way he speaks.  The way he feels. 
He is an entirely different person when the darkness comes. 
These are the moments that he dreads with every breath when he is himself; the moments when he is no longer Luca.  In these moments, he is filled with thoughts that are no longer his own. 
He cannot help it, he cannot control it, he cannot stop it.
But I promised him that I would.
And I have failed him.
I scramble to my wardrobe and pull on clothing, choosing a shirt with a collar, hoping to somewhat hide the bruise on my neck.  The only other people here at Chessarae are servants, except for Luca’s mother in her lonely wing.  But she is locked in so she never comes into the main part of the house.  No one will see me but the staff.  And they are used to seeing strange things.
I rush through the house, through the extravagant corridors and over the marble floors, the rich and polished surroundings that I would never have dreamed I would find myself in.  I don’t notice it now though.  It has faded into an insignificant corner of my mind.  All that matters now is Luca.
I make my way out the back of the house, through the gardens, through the English maze that is perfectly manicured and challenging to maneuver.  I manage it with ease, however.  I memorized its twists and turns on a happier day.
The weather is stormy today and the normally cheerful and bright Maltese sky is gray and thunderous. I can feel the electricity in the air, snapping the ends of my long hair with static.  This day looks as foreboding as I feel, which I hope is not a sign.
I search through the maze.  I search the beaches as my feet sink into the cool sand.  I search the gardens with their exotic and sweet-smelling blooms and then I search the garage.  His car, a shiny black Jaguar, is still in its slot and its hood is cool to the touch.  Luca has not driven it today.  I search the front lawns and the back.  And just when I begin to panic, to fear that he has not returned to Chessarae after all, I search the stables.
As I walk through the heavy wooden doors, the smells of the horses and the hay and the saddle-soap and leather assail my nose and I breathe them in.  I’ve always loved this place.  It is peaceful here.  And I suddenly know, because I can feel it, that Luca is here. 
I walk quietly down the main corridor, staring into each stall as I pass.
And finally, finally, when I come to the very last stall on the left, Luca is there and my breath hitches in my chest, freezing on my lips.
Luca is slumped on the ground, in the corner, his expression desolate. He is beautiful even here, even in this condition, and I cannot help but stare down at him as tears fill my eyes.    
He is dirty and his clothing is torn.  There are smears of blood on his shirt, dried now to a rusty dark brown.  I swallow hard, trying not to imagine where the blood has come from. 
Luca’s face is tortured as he stares up at me, his head in his hands.  There is blood on his fingers. 
“It happened again.”
His words are low and husky and rough, yet elegant at the same time.  He is always refined, always perfect, always Luca. 
His self-loathe is apparent and it breaks my heart. 
I nod mutely because there are no words for this moment.  I bend to help him to his feet.  At 6’3”, he towers above me.  He is slender and strong and masculine.  He is lithe and powerful, beautiful and graceful.
And sometimes, on his very darkest days, he is a depraved killer.
But I have gotten ahead of myself.  I should begin at the beginning. 
If I don’t, you will never understand. 

~~~~~~

ABOUT COURTNEY COLE: 
Headshot
 Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people. Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.     

  LINKS: 



COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY - The Sex on the Beach Series


Today is the big cover reveal for the SEX ON THE BEACH series! This series includes the novellas BEFORE YOU by Jenna Bennett, BETWEEN US by Jen McLaughlin, and BEYOND ME by Jennifer Probst. 

the SEX ON THE BEACH series
coming MARCH 4th

NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS:

Dear Reader,
Prepare yourself for Sex on the Beach, a trilogy featuring BETWEEN US (Jen McLaughlin), BEYOND ME (Jennifer Probst), and BEFORE YOU (Jenna Bennett). Three separate novellas. Three different authors. One literary world. Read them all, or just read one. It's up to you! No matter which route you choose, these standalone novellas are sure to satisfy your need for sizzling romance and an emotion packed story.

Happy Reading!
Jen, Jenna, and Jennifer 


BEFORE YOU by Jenna Bennett

BOOK SUMMARY:
It’s all fun and games
I had a simple plan for spring break.
Sun, sand, and a hot guy. Sex on the beach, with no strings attached.
A chance to get rid of this pesky virginity once and for all.
And when I met Tyler McKenna, I thought I had it made.

Until someone gets hurt

But then girls started turning up at Key West landmarks. Girls who looked like me, but with one crucial difference: They’d all been drugged and relieved of their virginity.

The virginity I still have. The virginity Ty refuses to take.
And now I’ve begun to wonder whether there isn’t more to him than meets the eye.
Suddenly, sex on the beach doesn’t sound so good anymore...




BETWEEN US by Jen McLaughlin

BOOK SUMMARY:
I’m just a girl…
I’m a famous country star who’s spent her life cultivating a good girl persona to avoid bad press, but I’ve reached my limit. I’m going away for spring break with my two best friends from college, and we’ve vowed to spend the vacation seeking out fun in the sun—along with some hot, no-strings-attached sex. The only thing I needed was the perfect guy, and then I met Austin Murphy. He might be totally wrong for me, but the tattooed bad boy is hard to resist. When I’m in his arms, everything just feels right.

And I’m just a guy…

I’m just a bartender who lives in Key West, stuck in an endless cycle of boredom. But then Mackenzie Forbes, America’s Sweetheart herself, comes up to me and looks at me with those bright green eyes…and everything changes. She acts like she’s just a normal girl and I’m just a normal guy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. My past isn’t pretty, you know. I did what I had to do to survive, and she’d run if she learned the truth about my darkness. But with her, I’m finally realizing what it’s like to be alive. To laugh, live, and be happy.

All good things must come to an end...


BEYOND ME by Jennifer Probst

BOOK SUMMARY:
Can fun in the sun turn into lasting love?

Spring break in Key West with my besties was supposed to be casual fun. But I never expected to meet James Hunt. Sex and frolic? Yes! A relationship? No. But his hot blue eyes and confident manner drew me in. And when he let me see the man behind the mask, I fell hard, foolishly believing there could be a future for us. Of course I never considered our relationship might be based on lies...or that his betrayal could rock my foundation and make me question everything I believed in...

Or will a life built on lies ruin everything?

The moment I saw Quinn I knew I had to have her. She hooked me with her cool eyes and don’t touch me attitude. I had it all, money, social status, and looks. I could get any girl I wanted...until her. When my friends challenged me with a bet to get her into bed by the end of the week, I couldn’t pass it up. But sex wasn’t supposed to turn into love. She wasn’t supposed to change me, push me, and make me want more for myself. She wasn’t supposed to wreck me in all ways. And now, if I can’t turn my lies into truth, I just might lose her forever...
-------------------------------------------

a Rafflecopter giveaway


GOODREADS CONTEST
For each book that gets to 500 adds, 5 pages of that novella will be released! 10 pages will be released after 600 adds, 15 pages after 800 adds, and 20 pages after 1000 adds! So, spread the word and be sure to add each book to your goodreads list.

LINKS: 
BEFORE YOU - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20371409-before-you
BETWEEN US - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20369409-between-us
BEYOND ME - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20371567-beyond-me


Time for some teasers!





FOLLOW THE AUTHORS

Jenna Bennett:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads



Jen McLaughlin:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads




Jennifer Probst:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads








Waiting on Wednesday (#73)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine,
which spotlights upcoming books we can't wait to read.


My WoW for this week is:

In the Lyrics
by Nacole Stayton

Goodreads Summary:
Hensley Bradley is the definition of the girl-next-door. She’s kindhearted, beautiful, and talented. Bored with her mundane life, thoughts of fleeing her small town begin to consume her. With aspiring dreams to use her voice as a one-way ticket, she suddenly discovers that music might not be her only passion.

After a fallout back home, Colby Grant decides to leave his family’s farm, determined to show his father he’s more than just a wanna-be country singer. With his All-American good looks, it doesn’t take long for girls in his new town to focus their eyes on him. But things aren’t what they appear from the outside, and it isn’t long until Colby feels he doesn't fit into the perfect world that so quickly embraced him. 

A chance encounter places Hensley in Colby’s path, but it isn’t her natural beauty that first captures his attention – it’s her voice. 

When love and music mix, will the combination blossom into a beautiful melody or wither into a heart-wrenching tune?

Warning: This book is intended for readers 18+ due to explicit language and sexual encounters.

My thoughts:
I like the sound of this one. I love contemporary books that have a music element so this one immediately caught my eye. 


Expected Release Date: February 7th 2014


What book are you waiting for?



Tuesday 28 January 2014

BLOG TOUR - Cyrus by MJ Fields (Excerpt & Giveaway)



Title: Cyrus (Men of Steel #2)
Author: MJ Fields
Hosted By: Romance Addict Book Blog

Synopsis:
~Cyrus~
Truth
I know who I am. I’m Cyrus Steel, son, brother, uncle, friend to people I choose to bring into my life.
Truth
I could fuck up anyone I want.
Truth
I know the devastation I can and have caused.
Truth
I can’t change the past, but I have chosen how to live now.
Truth
I like to fuck, and I will do a chick better than she’s ever been done. Hard and wild. No more than three hook ups. No expectations, no one gets hurt. As long as she agrees …it’s on.
One of my favorite tattoo’s bridges the V, and it says Truth.
A constant reminder of who I was and who I am now.

~Tara~
I wasn’t sure I knew how or even if I should tell him there was no one who loved me. Tony was the last person to say those words to me and he hadn’t meant it. He just wanted to use me.
That’s what this beautiful man underneath me, showed me today. He hadn’t used me, he didn’t even know me. But he thought I was beautiful, and he was nice to me. Tony was wrong about him, and even though I never want to see him again, I wish I could tell him just how wrong he was.

Can truth be altered? Can truth be seen when walls are built for protection, for self preservation? Will self doubt and years of pain cloud two hearts from finding their truth?





I never liked it when the tourist season slowed down on the shore. It meant less business at the shop and more free time on my hands. “Idle minds are the devils play yard”… that’s what Momma Joe always says. I suppose that’s why we started Forever Steel to begin with. Sure, it brought in more money than the restaurant did, especially this time of year. I buy that-- but with four boys I'm pretty damn sure it also had a hell of a lot more to do with our idol hands than our minds. Pretty sure the idea came about when she caught Zandor with our neighbor’s wife. Funny as shit watching her chase them both out of the garage with that broom.
Zandor's pants were around his ankles as he ran out and Miss Betty’s tits were flying in the air. She still had her pants on, so I was confused... nah-- more like curious at first to what REALLY went on in our garage that night. That was until Jase and I overheard her going off about how wrong it was to have sex with a married woman. She was sputtering in half Italian and half English her hands flying everywhere. I remember it like yesterday.
 “Momma, I didn’t have sex with her. She was performing fellatio.”
“Where do you learn words like that, Aleszandor?!”
“In your books, Momma. It’s beautiful-- adoring one’s body, and your body being adored. Miss Betty was showing me the art work she had just gotten done, and ...”
“ZANDOR STEEL! Miss Betty has the leprechaun from that cereal tattooed on her fake breasts! It’s not art! Now is there something on your penis that she needed to adore?”
“Momma, not to brag but my penis IS a work of art….”
Jase and I were rolling when she pushed through the door and grabbed our ears, mind you we were a bit old for that shit but when your Momma is Josephina Steel-- that don’t matter at all. She dragged us out to the table and sat us down for one of those ‘chats’. Xavier was due home anytime, he was actually late but we convinced her that he had said after nine, not nine.
 I rocked back in my chair and looked out the window as Xavier was running through the back yard zipping up his pants saying goodbye to Miss Betty’s oldest daughter. I laughed out loud and Momma tossed me a nasty look. Jase saw him too and he was dying. No doubt he was high, back then then… Jase was a fucking wreck with losing Charlee and then Little Bell. Xavier winked when he came and Zandor gave him a high five.
I knew right away that those fuckers planned it. He diverted the mom while Xavier finally tapped that ass next door. Betty’s daughter Sally, yeah Sally, was the neighborhood tease. You know the type, hot as fuck, but too good for anyone around here. Xavier sat down and Momma walked around the kitchen yelling, pleading…. she even cried. Well, fake tears but she gave it her all. Not quite Oscar worthy--maybe a daytime Emmy.
Zandor gave him a look that asked how it went and Xavier winked. Momma’s back was turned when Xavier reached across and swiped his finger under Zandor’s nose. Fucking pig! Zandor gave him the attaboy look and Xavier continued the game of sexual charades telling us what had happened. He sucked his fingers and Zandor mouthed ‘Good?’ He shook his head yes and sat back. Zandor made a circle with one hand and pointed one finger and mimicked intercourse. Xavier mouthed ‘Tomorrow’. Jase smirked and made a gesture mimicking a blow job and he shook his head no. Jase whispered, ‘She gave me one.’
Both Zandor and Xavier gasped and Momma turned around and continued her rant.
By the end of it, they all placed bets on who would get it first and I threw my chips all on the table. I was going to have them both…at the same time.
Momma was at the restaurant the next night helping Dad close up. I had one day left of leave before I deployed again so I took over a bottle of scotch, along with an apology to Miss Betty for my mother’s behavior. Sally came home and we did a few shots. One thing led to another and well let’s just say I won that fucking bet.
Later that night I shared the information with my brothers. Sally wasn’t as pure as she would have you believe. Betty wasn’t either. Xavier was pissed at me, honest to God I didn’t see that coming, or I swear I wouldn’t have bothered. I had plenty of two on one action. I got my heart broke too, once, and never fucking again so that was it. Why the fuck would I want a relationship that I had to worry about feelings, and dates, and hearts, and flower shit so that I could make love to a chick? Fuck the pleasantries! New rule for me since then, three times that’s it. I don’t miss guide anyone-- they know the drill. I’ll fuck you hard and wild, probably ruin you for anyone else but that’s all you get. You wanna ride this train? You bring the condoms and it’s on, if not, get to step-in. Let’s be honest here-- sweaty, dirty talk, ball slapping that ass, sloppy wet blow jobs ending in my cum all fucking over your face fucking, was better than hearts and flower’s  bullshit… any day.


I am a very new self published writer. I will tell you I have always had a very vivid imagination. Starting at age 3 (as it states in my Baby Book).

Sigma was my very first love (imaginary boyfriend). He lived about fifteen miles from my childhood home, (a farm). I took him chicken noodle soup every night on one of our families snowmobiles, (Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring). Apparently he was very ill and "Thank God" I was able to take care of him.

Next was my very first self publishing gig. At eight my cousins and I (and yes I was the president) wrote a newsletter and sold it to our family members.

Years later I decided to put it back into print to entertain my cousin as she was on an aircraft carrier on 9/11 (Kick ass cousin BTW) and very far away from home during a very scary time for our country, (protecting our butts).

Fast forward to 2012. I read 50 shades and thought, I can do that, (meaning writing). I have two complete series The Love Series, and Wrapped. I have two new series Burning Souls and Men of Steel. Ten books in 13 months. CrAzY and wonderful.

I love love! ( I would love to reference Pinks new song here, however I am not sure if that would cause copyright issues.)I also tend to enjoy watching people grow and change with self realization and moments of clarity that just sneak up behind you and smack you in the head. I love people and have always been able to see both sides of a story. Each person that comes into our life leaves us with something it is what we choose to do with it that helps us grow.

I live in central New York in the middle of nowhere and am surrounded by family and friend most the time. I run a small business out of my home and spend time reading and doing the typical Mommy things. Our house is full of pets and friends and noise ninety percent of the time, and I would have it no other way.
I love people,music, laughter, hugs, and books.

Website: http://mjfieldsbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MJ-Fields-books/514446948612589
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mjfieldsbooks

RELEASE DAY BLITZ - Forsaken by Kristen Day


Forsaken
Daughters of the Sea-Book #1
By Kristen Day 

Blurb:
Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…
Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitmans three years ago.
Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her.
Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and  dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity.
Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendants of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she.
But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love.
She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesied to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it.


About The Author-
I am a southern belle at heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to escape at every opportunity. I love all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky. I've been told I see the world through rose-colored glasses, but I prefer to think of them as kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and morphing reality into something I can digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really kiwi strawberry jelly beans?).
I am the author of the DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA Series , which includes FORSAKEN, AWAKEN,  CHOSEN, and HEARKEN so far. I love all books, but really enjoy writing young adult, paranormal romances. I've loved to write for as long as I can remember. My first published work was my poem RED in second grade (you guessed it - it was a poem about the color red - life altering, I know) that won me 5 gold stars and a spot in my elementary school's poetry book. That's when my addiction to the written word officially began. I was the only kid in fifth grade that actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. Go ahead and laugh – it’s okay.
When I'm not writing I'm making jewelry, painting, drinking sweet tea, watching the discovery channel, or going on random adventures in the mountains of North Carolina with my amazing husband. I graduated from Appalachian State University and dream of becoming a full time novelist.