Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Release Blitz: Meeting the Step by Ash Adams







Title: Meeting the Step
Series: The Step #1
Author: Ash Adams
 Release Date: July 8, 2015

Blurb


Max and Chelsea couldn't deny their instant attraction, which meant trouble.

Their parents would never approve, but who said they had to know.

It all started with one kiss and a weekend alone…

Him: When I returned from vacation my father dropped the news that he was remarrying. I would have a stepsister but I didn't want one. I told him he was twenty years too late for the whole sibling thing. I hated the thought of her until we met and then I couldn't get her out of my head.

Her: When my mother told me she was going to remarry, I died inside. She moved us to the suburbs in a perfect little neighborhood, but I didn't want to be there. I knew my mother's fiance had a son that was close to my age, but I didn't want anything to do with him until he rescued me from my abusive boyfriend. Somehow, with his prince charming, good looks, he had become my own personal knight in shining armor.

*This is a new-adult step romance on sale for .99 cents for a limited time only. Read for free with Kindle Unlimited*







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Excerpt


"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. I mean since we are going to be siblings and all," she said.

The word sibling disgusted me. I had no brothers or sisters and I would have to set that straight.

"You'll never be my sibling," I said to her. "I don't care what our parents do."

This made her slightly relax.

"You first then," I said.

She tensed again, the anxiousness returning. I could tell she was nervous by the way she would look into my eyes for a few seconds then turn her head. I often had that effect on women, but it was really cute coming from her. Chelsea was something else, a stranger that I wanted to know.

Author Bio



Ash Adams loves words and likes to pretend she is a super hero. Luckily, through her stories she can make that dream a reality. When she isn't busy writing and fighting fictional crime, she can be found exploring the great outdoors or lusting over mountain views. She enjoys a good cup of coffee and sappy chick flicks where the good guy always gets the girl. She's also a little obsessed with hashtags. #happilyeveraftersforever


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Excerpt Reveal: Illicit Temptations by Janine Infante Bosco




Title: Illicit Temptations
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Janine Infante Bosco


#‎JanineInfanteBosco‬
 ‪#‎IllicitTemptations‬
 ‪#‎Sexy‬
 ‪#‎Mob‬
 ‪#‎Princess
‬‪#‎AmericasNextGangster‬
 ‪#‎AreYouTempted‬ 



Michael Valente

My father was the Underboss of an organized crime family. He was murdered when I was a teenager leaving me broken. My mother died in a tragic accident, her death annihilated me. My life was in shambles until Victor Pastore, one of New York’s most notorious gangsters and my late father’s best friend, recruited me to work for him.

Everyone expected me to walk in my father’s shadow, to be the prodigal son, the next big thing to hit the mob. I was torn between filling those expectations and walking the straight line my mother wished I had. Nothing made sense and I felt as if I was just passing through life.

The only beacon of light in my otherwise dark world was the one girl that was off limits to me. The one girl who could bring me to my knees consuming my mind, body and soul.

She’s the sweetest temptation I’ve ever known and the most illicit.

Nikki Pastore

My father’s a gangster. My boyfriend’s is the king of New York’s nightclubs. I am often labeled as Vic’s daughter or Rico’s girl, never just Nikki. I struggle for people to acknowledge me for the woman I am and not for the men in my life. I’m fighting a losing battle.

There is only one person who sees me for me, my Mikey.

He’s wild.
He’s reckless.
He’s hot as hell.
He’s completely unattainable, but oh so tempting.




I nearly screamed when I felt two hands take hold of my hips and drag me back against a hard body, but my sixth sense kicked into gear when I felt his breath against my ear.

 I was safe.

It was him.

“Happy Birthday Princess.” My Mikey whispered before he turned me around to face him. His smile hypnotized me making me forget everything all I could concentrate on was him and the way he looked at me. His heated stare robbed me of my ability to speak invaded my thoughts and took my breath away. One glance at him dressed in that suit his eyes full of desire as they scanned my body completely inebriated me.

He reached out his fingertips grazing my cheek.

“God you’re so fucking beautiful.” He whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. He was so close his breath mingled with my own soft pants. I lifted my hand closing my fingers around his wrist. His hand stilled against my cheek and he let out an agonized groan.

“I’ve been watching you all night waiting to get you alone. I’m going to kiss you Nikki. I’m going to put my mouth on yours and show you what it’s like to be really kissed. I’m going to make you forget about any other kiss you’ve ever had so that you’ll only remember mine. I’m going to own that pretty little mouth of yours.”

A gasp escaped my lips as his groin brushed against my leg, he leaned closer, pressing his hardened cock against my thigh.

I was paralyzed watching the slow smile spread across his tantalizing mouth and then his lips brushed against mine.

“Get ready Princess, there’s no turning back.” He whispered, his voice full of promise before his mouth claimed mine.

His lips fused with mine working them tasting them sucking them between his. His tongue slid along the seam of my lips begging for entry into my mouth. My lips slowly parted inviting him to devour my mouth as I dreamed countless times that he would. His tongue slipped between my bruised lips invading my waiting mouth. Holy Christ! Our tongues met and there were fireworks honest to god I heard fireworks go off in my ears.

Mikey pulled away from me abruptly dropping his hand from my face. I opened my eyes startled at the sudden change, but before I could gauge his reaction or understand why he had ended our kiss, I heard someone scream out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Get down!” He shouted at me, reaching behind his back, he pulled out his gun. My eyes widened, as I stood still unable to move. “Nikki get down!” He ordered as he raised his gun aiming it behind me.

I could hear screaming coming from every direction. Mikey’s voice became muffled and all I heard were those damn fireworks again, only they weren’t fireworks they were actual gunshots. It hit me at that moment, everything I overheard upstairs flashed through my mind shouting at me that I should’ve warned someone. I should’ve warned my father, oh god my family was in there! I slowly turned around prepared to run to my family when I was thrown to the floor. Mikey’s body fell on top of mine acting as a shield.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I closed my eyes and listened to the blazing sound of the gunfire.





Janine Infante Bosco lives in New York City, she has always loved reading and writing. When she was thirteen, she began to write her own stories and her passion for writing took off as the years went on. At eighteen, she even wrote a full screenplay with dreams of one day becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love.  She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself. 



Release Blitz: Dangerous Desire by Sebastian Ex




Title: Dangerous Desire
Series: The Onyx Club #2
Author: Sebastian Ex
 Release Date: July 8, 2015

Blurb

My name is Brandon Edwards. Men like me don’t come along often. I’m a gentleman, a lover, a protector, and a Dominant. I’ve never been the type who can – or even wants to – commit to a womanuntil I met Penny a couple of years ago. Since then, we've been in a committed relationship. I adore and cherish her.

Penny has a darkness inside her, a yearning for extreme pain. But I don’t want that for her, nor can I give her what she’s so desperate for. Her craving has led her down risky paths, and it’s my job to keep her off those now.


There’s a dangerous desire lurking within all of us. But when does wanting more become too much?




Links to Buy

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AMAZON US / UK / AU / CA




Excerpt


“More,” she begs as I bring the cane down on her already red ass.

I drop the long thin piece of bamboo, it makes a sound as it hits the concrete of my playroom. “I didn’t give you permission to speak, Petal,” I say to Penny. My voice is low, angry though controlled.

“Please, Sir. Harder,” she begs.

Her body is filled with marks. Her alabaster skin is no longer white. It’s a perfect hue of flaming crimson. Welts have developed from every one of the toys I’ve used on her. I’ve spanked her, flogged her, paddled her and caned her. And with everything I’ve done she wants more.

I’ve noticed since Matthew and Ella’s wedding, Penny’s upped the ante with her pain tolerance. She’s begging for more, desperate to have pain in her life at every opportunity.

She’s tried to top me many times, just like she is now.

“Did I give you permission to talk?” I ask again.

I stand behind her, her legs open, her pussy on show to me along with her glorious ass. Her blonde hair is falling out of the ponytail she had it in, and the strands are a stark contrast against the rich brown of the leather from the spanking bench. She’s up on her knees, her wrists are secured to the front legs of the bench.

“So-sorry, Master,” she stutters.

I fucking hate it. She’s called me Master a few times and I know she wants that from me, but I don’t want a slave. I want a submissive.

Standing back, my eyes travel the length of her body. From her upper back all the way to her ankles- she’s marked. The heavier lashings are around her upper thighs and butt. Her mid-section only has slight color, because hitting with a heavy hand around the kidneys is not pleasurable. It’s flat out pain. 

Penny’s been wanting more pain and I’m not ready to take her there. Nor should she want to travel into such dangerous territory.



Author Bio

Sebastian Ex is a native of Sydney, Australia, having grown up in a tight-knit family mostly surrounded by women. From a young age he had a passion for all things green and outdoors, when he hit mid-teenage years he did an apprenticeship as a landscape gardener. 

A serial lover of women, Sebastian was encouraged to pen his words when a lady friend of his compared some paragraphs from contemporary erotic novelists to his scorching, hot sexts. Now, Sebastian is about to release his debut novel in a bid to transition from landscaping to writing full-time.

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Blog Tour: Not You Its Me by Julie Johnson

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Not You It's Me by Julie Johnson frontcover
Book Title: Not You It's Me
Author: Julie Johnson
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
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Book Blurb

Gemma Summers is unlucky in love.
She’s known it since third grade, when her first crush blew a spitball into her hair, and a decade-long string of bad dates, boring sex, and abysmal morning-afters has done nothing to improve her prospects.
But when a random radio call-in contest lands her courtside tickets to the hottest playoff game of the season, Gemma’s luck may finally be on the upswing — even if it doesn’t exactly seem like it when the dreaded jumbotron kiss-cam lands on her and her date, who’s too busy ignoring her to notice…

Chase Croft doesn’t date.
Despite ample opportunity as Boston’s most eligible bachelor, the reformed bad-boy would rather put his energy into taking over the family business than weed through a world of gold-diggers to find an honest woman.
But when the beautiful girl in the seat next to him becomes a courtside spectacle at the hands of her loser boyfriend, he can’t help but step in and save the day.

One kiss. Two strangers. No strings attached.
The only problem is, Chase is used to getting whatever he wants. And after kissing Gemma once, he knows one thing…
He wants more.

NOT YOU IT’S ME is a full-length, standalone contemporary romance about a girl who doesn’t believe in love… and the man who changes her mind. Due to sexy-times and strong language, it is intended for readers 17 and up.

excerpt

The camera’s locked on me, and it’s not moving. I catch a glimpse of myself on the huge, pixilated screen — a pale, dark-haired girl in a fancy black dress and ratty black sneakers. Too many curves, too many curls, and no one to kiss. I know there’s panic flashing in my eyes — hell, I can see it, blown up to jumbo proportions on every screen in the arena. And so can everyone else.

I’m a freaking ant beneath a microscope.

The crowd starts to titter — oh, honey, look at that poor girl, her boyfriend hasn’t even noticed — and I’m getting a little desperate, so I swallow hard, throw back my shoulders, and sneak a glance at Ralph. He’s still on his phone, the bastard, totally unaware that we’ve become the central act at the kiss-cam circus. Forcing a smile to cover my deep mortification, I elbow him sharply in the side, but he just bats me away with a hand and a glare before returning to his phone call.

I groan.

The crowd explodes with laughter.

I try to smile too, like I’m in on the joke, but it’s wobbly — I can feel it trembling on my lips — and I begin to wonder if the man behind the camera is some kind of sociopath, because frankly, the fact that he’s still filming right now — while surely entertaining for everyone who, you know, isn’t me — is pure evil.

I look up at the camera and shrug my shoulders, hoping the yes-my-boyfriend-is-in-fact-a-total-asshole expression translates to the crowd. I think I succeed, since the laughter gets even louder, but suddenly I’m distracted by the wall of man blocking my view of the jumbotron.

Green Eyes is out of his seat.

His eyes are on mine, and he’s reaching for my hand.

The crowd is going wild and my brain is short-circuiting, but apparently my hand doesn’t need executive functions to tell it what to do, because it’s lifting from my lap and slipping into his.

Before I can form a single thought, he’s pulling me out of my chair.

Sliding one arm around my waist.

Slipping one hand behind my neck.

His eyes never leave mine as he leans in, bending me backward over his arm in a full-on, movie-star dip, and the only thought in my head is ohmigod, there’s no way he’s going to kiss me right now, but then even that disappears when his lips move closer and my mind blanks entirely.

Because he’s kissing me.

And it’s good.

No, actually, it’s great.

It’s not the soft, sympathetic, pity-kiss you’d expect in a situation like this.

It’s a full on, invade-your-senses, shatter-your-world, boil-your-blood kiss. With tongue.

For a moment, I’m so stunned, I just hang there limply… but then my brain catches up to my body and I realize that the hottest freaking man I’ve ever seen is kissing me like I’ve never, ever been kissed before, and that I might never be kissed like this again for the rest of my whole pathetic life, so I damn well better enjoy it while it lasts.

Without another thought, my arms twine around his neck, my mouth opens under his, and I’m returning his kiss without hesitation, with abandon. He feels my response and a low growl vibrates from his throat — for as second, I think he’s angry, but I quickly realize it’s a good growl, when he pulls me tighter to him, so I’m fully plastered against the hard plane of his body. Thoughts long-chased from my mind, I don’t even try to think of reasons this is a bad idea. I melt into him like my limbs are made of water.

It’s easily the best kiss of my life, which doesn’t make any sense at all, because I don’t even know the man whose lips are devouring mine — hard, hot, with just the right amount of teeth and tongue to make things interesting.

I can hear the crowd going crazy, twenty-thousand people screaming at the top of their lungs, but somehow the sound of my own heartbeat is drowning them out. The kiss goes on for way, way longer than it should, but I don’t worry about that, or anything else for that matter, because there’s no room in my head for worries about my dickwad soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend or the crowd or the cameras.

Not when every mental faculty is consumed by Green Eyes and his perfect freaking kiss.
Teaser

Not You It's Me Julie Johnson Teaser

playlist

You Should Know Where I’m Coming From – Banks
Treacherous – Taylor Swift
Beneath Your Beautiful – Labrinth
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Stay With Me – Sam Smith
Gotta Have You – The Weepies
The Way I Am – Ingrid Michaelson
Lay Me Down – Sam Smith
Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
If You Leave – Nada Surf
The Writer – Ellie Goulding
You Are In Love – Taylor Swift
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

Meet the Author

Julie Johnson is a twenty-something Boston native suffering from an extreme case of Peter Pan Syndrome and an obsession with fictional characters. When she's not writing, Julie can most often be found daydreaming, drinking too much coffee, striving to conquer her Netflix queue, or stalking Goodreads for new books to add to her ever-growing TBR list. You can find Julie on Facebook, or contact her on her website www.juliejohnsonbooks.com. Sometimes, when she can figure out how Twitter works, she tweets from @AuthorJulie.

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Release Blitz: The Thief ( The Oracle Series Vol 4) by Cynthia D. Witherspoon



The best friends make the worst enemies.

Eva McRayne thought she’d be close to Elliot Lancaster forever. But one twisted mind and a vengeful goddess changed all that. Now, she will have to fight for her sanity as Elliot pushes her to the ultimate limit. 

When Eva is forced to return to her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, she learns that the past can be used against her in the worst way possible. The binds of love she thought served to make her stronger can be her downfall.

And memories can serve as the strongest of chains.









      


Prologue 
Kassandra, Former Princess of Troy

The Sibyl was exactly five rows in front of me. 
I could see the girl from my dreams sitting at a table in the front of the room. Despite the crowds clamoring to ask her questions, she held the air of someone who wanted to be anywhere else but where she was. Not that I could blame her. I’d come to this conference two days before. I’d suffered through classes on spiritualism. Pagan rituals. Even, dare I say it, the pantheons of the Olden Days.
These modern souls knew nothing of our gods. They told rehashed stories softened over time to be shared with children. Yet, I knew the truth. I had suffered greatly at the hands of our shared patron deity as most often do.
I will not discuss the manner in which they dressed during these modern times. I found it all to be quite horrifying.
“Alright. Can we get another question for our panel?” 
A man in a t-shirt that labeled him as a superhero held the microphone. He pointed to a girl dressed in Grecian robes. An obvious costume.  Not even the most desperate woman of Hellas would have worn such a thing. She was passed the microphone and almost dropped it with her nervousness.
“Miss. McRayne, my name is Riley. I have to tell you I’m a huge fan of Grave Messages. It’s such an honor to get to see you in person.”
The girl at the table tilted her head as she waited for the question. Even from a distance, I could see the strained faces around her. Three men, two more women – all who claimed to be conduits for spirits. Except the crowd wasn’t interested in them. They were here for one person and one person only.
Eva McRayne. The Sibyl. Daughter of Apollo.
“Anyway,” The audience member gushed. “I wanted to ask you what it felt like.”
“What do you mean? What does what feel like?” McRayne tapped her fingers against the table. “Being the Sibyl?”
“No, well, yes. I mean,” The girl shook her head. “Talking to the dead. It must be surreal.”
McRayne closed her eyes for a second before she glanced up at the ceiling. I'm sure she was asking for patience. When she finally answered, she smiled.
“It’s like talking to you right now, Riley. You’re a fan of the show, and I’m grateful for that. Talking with you is special. That’s what it’s like to talk to the dead. Special.” 
The girl squealed and almost dropped the microphone before the man took it from her. I couldn’t help but shake my head. We had heard talk of Hera’s contact with the Sibyl. How this one, solitary creature had managed to steal the Queen of the Heaven’s knowledge. It seems she stole much more than that.
The Sibyl had stolen her charisma as well. The crowd applauded McRayne until two of the panel members got up and left the room. McRayne watched them go before turning her attention back to the audience.
“Was it something I said?”
Laughter. More applause. Those who had attended the panel on spirit communication were not disappointed in the entertainment the Sibyl offered them. I raised my hand as the other three panel members left the room but the moderator had other ideas.
“Eva,” He jogged down the aisle between the seats and up the stairs to face the only participant left at his table. “Tell us again how you became the Sibyl.”
The girl with the golden eyes winced. “Do I have to?”
“Please.” The man gestured out to the crowd. “I’m sure that our guests are dying to hear it from you.”
"They always are." The girl closed her eyes once more. "Fine. I'll tell you. It's not like my transformation is a secret or anything."
The Sibyl. The great Crusader who had vanquished the Erinyes and Hera herself looked as if she were in pain for only a second before her crafted mask fell back into place. She twirled a golden strand of hair around her finger before she began to speak.
“It was here at ParaCon two years ago. We had just gotten the go-ahead for Grave Messages and I was nothing. I’m still nothing. But I was sitting right there when I knocked over Kathy Carter’s laptop and she changed my life forever.”
The girl pointed to a seat in the front row. The man sitting there now leaned forward as if she had tugged on a string. She dropped her arm, folded her hands before her on the table, and continued.
“Kathy Carter was my predecessor. She tricked me into coming up onto this stage and saying the oath of the Sibyl on Apollo’s mirror because she was tired of life. According to Cyrus, she had taken the mirror over a hundred years before.”
Cyrus of Crete. We all knew the infamous Keeper of the Sibyl. Once a great general for Greece, he too had suffered Apollo’s wrath. I smiled at the thought. The Golden One had long been a favorite in Olympus, but his gifts often turned out to be curses. Nothing gained from his hands was ever truly golden. Only gilded.
Just as I had discovered so very long ago.
“I didn’t believe it at first.” McRayne shrugged. “I mean, who in their right mind would? You can never look into a mirror again without seeing spirits? I thought I’d hit my head and suffered a concussion.”
“What changed your mind?” A voice called out from the enamored crowd. “Was it Cyrus?”
“Partially.” The girl nodded. “But it was hard to deny the faces I began seeing in the glass. I couldn’t ignore the whispers circling around me. Those whispers became the centerpiece around Grave Messages. I mean, if I was going to be hunting for ghosts, then I might as well listen to what they had to say instead of letting them drive me insane.”
Listen. Deny. Insanity. I clinched my hands at her choice of words. This girl knew nothing about denial. She had the entire world listening to her every utterance. No one dared to call her mad. 
Not as the world had done to me. I spoke the truth and was condemned for it.
I swallowed back my own hatred. This was not why I had come to New York. Nor could I allow my spite to overwhelm me. Despite my dislike for the Sibyl, we were both products of a vengeful god. Apollo had cursed me just as he had cursed her.
Eva McRayne would listen to me. She would believe me. I could feel it.
I waited until she finished her tale before I stood up. 
“May I speak with the Sibyl?”
The moderator bounded off the stage until he stood in front of me. Hera’s gift of immortality had preserved my beauty and I used it to my advantage. I brushed the red curls off of my face before I took the microphone from him with a soft expression. I watched the desire arise in his eyes and I knew I could get anything I wanted from him.
Men, no matter how high they rise, will always prove themselves to be savages. 
Once I had the microphone, I turned my attentions onto the girl. I waited for the world to grow still. I waited for eyes to go blind to my surroundings. I willed my ears to deafen to the soft sounds of the audience around me. 
Flashes of prophecy burst behind my eyes when I began to speak. I could see the girl struggling against the worst enemy she had ever been forced to fight.
Herself.
“Sibyl, daughter of Apollo. A messenger will come after a great devastation. Yet, we are sisters, you and I.  Both corrupted by Apollo. Twisted into unnatural beings. As such, I have come to give you a warning. You suffer from the hands of a vengeful creature.”
“Ok.” The man tried to take the microphone out of my hands. “That’s enough. You will not speak to Ms. McRayne…”
“There will be much woe, Daughter of Apollo. You will suffer.”
 I tried to wrestle the microphone out of the man’s grasp. Two large men joined him on either side until he had won his precious device back. I turned towards the stage to see that the girl had stood up. Her beloved Keeper had appeared by her side within seconds. 
“Do not wallow in ashes!” I screamed at the girl as the men began to pull me away.  “Or else you will fall! Do not fall, Daughter of Apollo! Do not fall!”













Cynthia D. Witherspoon is an award winning writer of Southern Gothic, Paranormal Romance, and Urban Fantasy. She has been published in numerous anthologies since 2009.
Her work has appeared in several award winning collections including Dark Tales of Ancient Civilizations (2012) and Pellucid Lunacy (2010). Thief is her fourth full length novel in the Oracle Series.