Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Release Blast: Blurred Lines by Lauren Layne






Title: Blurred Lines

Author: Lauren Layne


Publisher: Loveswept

Genre: Contemporary Romance


Release
Date: August 25, 2015


Blurb


In a novel that’s perfect for fans of Abbi Glines and Jessica Sorensen, USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne delivers a sexy take on the timeless question: Can a guy and a girl really be “just friends”?

When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they’re still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland’s trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker’s boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben’s no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can’t seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.

The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker’s ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can’t go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.









Links to Buy

AMAZON US / UK







Excerpt

My sophomore year of high school, I had a short-lived friendship with this girl named Korie Hamilton.
 
She was nice enough.
 
A little too much purple eyeliner, a few too many likes sprinkled throughout her constant chatter, but we had every class together our first semester, so we kind of became friends by default.
 
Anyway, Korie was forever yammering on and on about how her best friend on the entire planet was Stephen Daniels, a boy she’d known for all of four weeks before promoting him to BFF status.
 
Apparently it was, like, ohmigod, like, the best thing ever to have a guy she could talk to without complicating things with romantic entanglements.
 
Please.
 
Real best friends can generally go more than a couple hours without mentioning each other’s name, but Korie found a way to fit Stephen’s name into every other sentence.
 
Just friends my ass.
 
I guess technically they were platonic for a while. Stephen had a girlfriend named Libby Tittles, or something unfortunate like that, and Korie had this on-again-off-again thing with her junior high boyfriend.
 
But anyone who’s ever seen a movie, or watched TV, or just had basic awareness of human interaction saw exactly where Korie and Stephen were heading: Humpville.
 
Even though Korie swore up and down that she didn’t like him like that, both of their significant others were long gone by Thanksgiving of sophomore year.
 
By Christmas vacation, Korie wasn’t uttering quite so many likes. Why? Because Stephen’s tongue was in her mouth before school, after school, and every freaking weekend.
 
But we all know how this ends, right? Just a few short months later, not only were Korie and Stephen no longer dating, they sure as hell weren’t best friends.
 
Their short-lived romance and ensuing breakup barely even registered a blip on the gossip chain, but I’d like to think it taught some of us high school girls a valuable lesson:
 
Guys and girls can’t be just friends. Or not best friends, anyway.
 
Shit gets too complicated.
 
But let’s fast-forward a few years, shall we?
 
I’m now twenty-four, and I have a public service announcement to make: I was wrong.
 
Guys and girls really can be best friends.
 
It is possible to have a platonic relationship with a guy where there are no romantic inklings, no sexual fantasies, and no naïve proclamations of I don’t like him like that in a torturous attempt to hide an agonizing unrequited love.
 
How do I know this? How do I know that a guy and a girl can be best friends without romantic entanglements?
 
Well, let’s see, I’ve been on the female end of one such platonic relationship for six years now.
 
Six. Years.
 
!
 
True story:
 
Ben Olsen and I met the summer before our first year at University of Oregon during freshman orientation. We were assigned to the same group in one of those terrible ice-breaking activities where you have to put a sticky note on your head and guess what kind of safari animal you are, or something, and we just . . .
 
Clicked?
 
I don’t know why we clicked in the Hey, you’re cool but I have no interest in boning you kind of way, but we did.
 
Maybe it was because I was in stupid insta-love with another guy in our group. Or maybe because my ovaries were hyperaware that Ben’s ridiculous good looks would lead to heartbreak. But whatever the reason, we did the implausible.
 
We became best friends.
 
And, yes, every single one of my female friends has given me the exact same warnings I gave Korie Hamilton way back when: It won’t work.
 
My friends are split down the middle on how it will actually go down, but they’re all convinced that it will go down.
 
Half think that Ben and I are soulmates who are just biding our time until marriage and babies.
 
The other half think that we’re going to have too much to drink one night, have awful sex, and never speak again.
 
Ben and I proved them wrong when freshman year ended and our friendship was still intact. Sophomore year? Repeat.
 
Junior year, we really upped our game. Not only were we closer than ever, but we became roommates. It happened sort of by accident when one of his housemates backed out at the last minute, and I belatedly realized I couldn’t bear one more year of dorm food, so I moved in. And it worked. So we did it again senior year.
 
Here we are, two years after graduation, still living together, although we’ve upgraded from crappy off-campus housing in Eugene to a slightly less crappy two-bedroom house in the Northwest neighborhood of Portland.
 
And yes. Still platonic as ever, with not so much as a hint of change in the air. I’m crazy in love with Lance Myers, my boyfriend of five years, and Ben . . .

Well, Ben’s on a rather awe-inspiring mission to seduce the entire female population in western Oregon.














Author Bio




Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.




Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.





Author Links

Giveaway

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IMPORTANT NOTE
Although this series deals with romance, it is not written to
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highly erotic, dark, and contains violence and scenes that may disturb some
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Combining fast-paced action, dark humour,
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us on a journey alongside werewolves and their enemy, The Tridents, beginning
with Lydia – a twenty-five-year-old waitress trying to find her way, who has no
idea what she is, or who she's destined to be mated to.

Sex, secrets, lies, and the dawning truth
of what really matters, come to the fore as every phase of the moon brings a
new surprise. With four books already out, and two more to be published, it's
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Lydia Martin
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One night, however, instead of their usual, erotic encounters, she finds him in
her dream, chained to a wall and screaming in pain. Not only that, but she
thinks she recognises the building he's being held captive in as one that's
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Awaking with an irrepressible need to save her fantasy lover, Lydia decides to
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What unfolds is beyond even her wildest imaginings, as she's sucked into a
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3. Heart Of The
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4. Return Of The
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5. Rise Of The
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6. Reign Of The
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Release Day: Accidentally Seduced by Carmen Falcone


A spy, a thief and a CEOBe Accidentally Seduced Carmen Falcone!

Coming August 25th is the third novel in the Naked Truth series, Accidentally Seduced from Carmen Falcone! Read about a man trying to become the CEO, a assistant who is really spying on her boss and both are trying to stay ahead of a thief determined to rob the company blind. 

About ACCIDENTALLY SEDUCED 


Devon Wilder wants to leave the scandal involving his name behind and focus on the race for the CEO title. Yet, his sexy assistant is an unexpected and dangerous liability—especially after he suspects she could be the one stealing money from the company.
Elena Moretti’s libido was comatose until Devon strode into her life. Ever since the end of a troubled marriage, she never wanted any man the way she does him. Unfortunately for her, Devon is also the man she’s been hired to spy on and find evidence to prove he’s embezzling and dragging Wilder & Co.’s name through the mud.
As the hunt for the real thief advances, they need to figure out if they’ll cling to old fears or throw themselves at the new, tempting opportunities—and each other.

“This is just a friendly game of trust. You trust me, right?” he mocked.

The salmon-colored dress she had picked out to wear screamed “My vagina has been revived.”

On Sale in Digital: August 25, 2015
Amazon       B&N



Excerpt

**************
“We’ll go over there”—she pointed at the forested area—“and you will touch and feel a tree, then your partner will lead you away. Then you will remove the blindfold and try to relocate the same tree you hugged.”
Hhhmmm… Okay.” She placed her hands on her waist. “It all sounds great, but most peeps are in pairs already or doing other activities.” Any other activity sounded better than having a coworker lead her anywhere.
“I’m free,” said a deep voice behind her, awakening all her nerve endings.
Janie crossed something off her clipboard and smiled. “Perfect. Get her eyes covered then join us to the left. It will start in a few minutes.”
Elena turned around, the anticipation alone a dangerous venom skating into her bloodstream. The moment her gaze landed on his, a part of her softened into a warm bread pudding, straight out of the oven. Shit. What the hell was happening? “We don’t have to do this.”
He flashed her a smile. “I’m supposed to mingle with the employees,” he said casually.
“I don’t think we need any extramingling.”
He held her stare, and even though she wanted to will herself away from him, she couldn’t. Her body balked, and she was scared her treacherous, throbbing heart would spill out of her mouth if she choked out a word.
The sound of a whistle almost made her jump, and she glanced at the group. Almost everyone was ready, and Janie was in full-on recreational mode, no doubt enjoying being the one to boss everyone around. Crap. Leaving would probably be a bigger deal than staying.
“This is just a friendly game of trust. You trust me, right?” he mocked.
“Not one bit.”
“Good. That means you need to play. Turn around.” He gestured with his hand, and she did as commanded. He erased the distance between them, and again that dangerous energy twirled around her. She closed her eyes, licking her lips like she was about to eat an ice cream cone. Maybe dark chocolate gelato.
When he put the soft fabric on her, a delightful shiver coursed through her, and her skin prickled as if said ice cream had melted on her flesh. Or, maybe, it was just the man who was exponentially yummier than any icy treat. A sound yanked her from her reverie. It was the clearing of a throat, but she couldn’t know for sure if it had come from her or him. Opening her eyes, she could barely see the sunlight. Her eyelashes rubbed on the blindfold, and she realized then how vulnerable she was to him. Even when she couldn’t see him. Maybe even more so. She caught a whiff of his male scent, the lingering fragrance teasing her.
A game of trust. She could laugh at the irony—and almost did. A nervous chuckle escaped her lips before she could stop it.
“See? You’re having fun already,” he said, and her blood went on a low simmer.



 Add ACCIDENTALLY SEDUCED to your TBR pile on Goodreads!
Check out the other books in the Naked Truth series!


CELEBRATE THE RELEASE WITH A GIVEAWAY!
Grand Prize: $25 Amazon or B&N gift card 
2 Runner-up Prizes: Digital copies of any one (1) book by Carmen Falcone from her backlist



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio: Carmen Falcone learned at an early age that fantasizing about fictional characters beats doing math homework any day. Brazilian by birth and traveler by nature, she moved to Central Texas after college and met her broody Swiss husband—living proof that opposites attract. She found in writing her deepest passion and the best excuse to avoid the healthy lifestyle everyone keeps bragging about. When she’s not lost in the world of romance, she enjoys spending time with her two kids, being walked by her three crazy pugs, reading, catching up with friends, and chatting with random people in the checkout line.
She loves to procrastinate, so please indulge her and drop her a line @ carmenauthor@yahoo.com. For more info, visit her website: carmenfalcone.com

Connect with Carmen:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram





Tasty Release Blast: Immortal Matchmakers, Inc. by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff


Grand Prize Giveaway
5 Accidentally Yours Paperbacks + a signed copy of
Immortal Matchmakers Inc 
+ magnets and bookmarks + a SADDLEBACK leather tote.  

Four Runners Up a signed copy of Immortal Matchmakers + magnet + bookmark



IMMORTAL MATCHMAKERS, INC.
Immortal Matchmakers #1
Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Released Aug 24th, 2015



BECAUSEdysfunctional immortals need love, too.

ANDRUS
Once the most powerful immortal assassin ever to exist, this demigod now spends his days pining for the girl who got away: Helena. Doesn’t help that he’s also Helena’s full-time nanny slash bodyguard. But now that the apocalypse is over and her husband, the vampire general, has returned home for good, it’s time to move on.

But can Andrus let go of the woman he secretly loves?
 Cimil, Goddess of the Underworld and owner of Immortal Matchmakers, Inc., knows the solution is finding another gal.
The right gal. But getting a woman to date this callous, unrefined, coldhearted warrior will prove to be the biggest challenge of her existence. Good thing they’re in L.A.

When aspiring actress Sadie Townsend finds herself one week away from being thrown out on the street, the call from her agent is like a gift from heaven. But when she learns the job is teaching the world’s biggest barbarian how to act like a gentleman, she wonders if she shouldn’t have asked for more money. He’s vulgar, uncaring, and rougher around the edges than a serrated bread knife. He’s also sexy, fierce, and undeniably tormented.

Will Sadie help him overcome his past, or will she find her heart hopelessly trapped by a man determined to self-destruct?

BUY NOW

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | Author



a Rafflecopter giveaway







New York Times and USA Today bestselling Romance author, host of the radio talk show, Man Candy, on Radioslot.com.

When San Francisco native Mimi Jean went on an adventure as an exchange student to Mexico City, she never imagined the journey would lead to writing Romance. But one MBA, one sexy husband, and two rowdy kids later, Mimi would trade in corporate life for vampires, deities, and snarky humor.
She continues to hope that her books will inspire a leather pants comeback (for men) and that she might make you laugh when you need it most.

She also enjoys interacting with her fans (especially if they're batshit crazy). You can always find her chatting away on Facebook, Twitter, or saying many naughty words on her show MAN CANDY on Radioslot.com !

Find out more about Mimi and upcoming books at www.mimijean.net.