Taste Test - new release

Title: Taste Test

Series: Sensations Collection #2

Author: L.B. Dunbar

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Release Date: September 1, 2014

 

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22684294-taste-test?ac=1

 

Buy Links: Links will not work until the book goes LIVE

Amazon: http://goo.gl/MPcKNf

Amazon CA: http://goo.gl/XUZCfi

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/CSrgVP

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/HVDNl6

B&N: http://goo.gl/E3DjWj

iTunes: Coming Soon

Kobo: http://goo.gl/x0i1si

 

Blurb:

In a modern twist of fairy tales,

what if the beast is a woman instead of a man?

 

Ethan Scott

I was about to find out when a mysterious job led to the secluded home of a horror novelist. I’d lost everything: my scholarship, my education, and my way. In denial of my family inheritance, I took the unusual employment as a chance out of a hole, but I found myself buried in the unknown trauma of another situation much deeper.

 

Ella Vincentia

I had changed my name and my address to keep myself hidden, but my scars were more than physical. Living as a recluse in the woods, I was used to being alone, so I wasn’t happy when a certain someone was always in my space. Our first encounter was less than pleasant and tension continued at every attempt to tame me.

 

Secrets

I knew she was keeping secrets and I wanted to help, but she was cutting me down and cutting me off every time she opened her mouth. Our frustration with one another grew until a misunderstanding changed everything. How can I be the next guy after something so tragic? It was a challenge I wasn’t sure I was willing to take.

 

Excerpt:

Ethan

I knew I was taking the dirt road a bit fast, but I felt exhilarated with the prospect of my new job. It sounded simple. Cook. Live in the woods. Keep a secret. Easy. My thoughts were screaming a song in my head about freedom when I turned one of those unexpected curves in the winding drive and pulled up short in front of a girl.

I noticed her hair immediately. It was brown with reddish tints, like a perfect combination of brilliant fall leaves wild and blowing in the September afternoon air. A storm was definitely coming and I was mesmerized for a moment as the startled girl looked up at me. I couldn’t slam on the brakes of my motorcycle without flying over the handlebars, so I slowed as best I could and skidded to a halt inches before her.

​“Jesus Christ,” I yelled over the dulling roar of the cycle as I yanked off my helmet, releasing my own set of wild waves. The girl was frozen like a deer in headlights looking back at me. Her bright blue eyes pierced my own deep brown ones.

​“Are you okay?” I asked as I squinted with concern. She turned her head just the slightest bit and I noticed a horrid scar down the right side of her face. Three long gashes dragged down her cheek and neck, ending under her white tank top. Her bright highlighter-orange shorts and the earbuds in her ears made it obvious she had been out for a run. I flicked my glance from her scar to the shorts and back to her hair. I didn’t want to stare at her face. I knew how much I hated it when people stared at Mum and her bald head from chemotherapy. The girl’s tongue sneaked out to wet her pink lips and she bit her bottom one slightly.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but the girl bolted for the woods. She propelled herself through the greenery and disappeared before I could get off the bike. I had no idea where she went due to the thickness of the trees and shrubs. Shaking my head as if I had seen a mirage, I sat back on the motorcycle, returned my helmet to my head, and roared the bike back to full life, taking the road more slowly as I exited Winters Trail.

 

Sound Advice (Sensations Collection #1) (Cover Attached)

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22064954-sound-advice

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://goo.gl/C6b8n7

Amazon CA: http://goo.gl/da0viT

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/050iLw

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/2bMKvg

B&N: http://goo.gl/114zqL

iTunes: http://goo.gl/cclQYA

Kobo: http://goo.gl/Ugixp7

 

Author Bio:

I’d like to say I was always a writer. I’d also like to say that I wrote every day of my life since a child. That I took the teaching advice I give my former students because writing every day improves your writing. I’d like to say I have my ten-thousand hours that makes me a proficient writer. But I can’t say any of those things. I did dream of writing the “Great American Novel” until one day a friend said: Why does it have to be great? Why can’t it just be good and tell a story?

As a teenager, I wrote your typical love-angst poetry that did occasionally win me an award and honor me with addressing my senior high school class at our Baccalaureate Mass. I didn’t keep a journal because I was too afraid my mom would find it in the mattress where I kept my copy of Judy Blume’s Forever that I wasn’t allowed to read as a twelve year old.

I can say that books have been my life. I’m a reader. I loved to read the day I discovered “The Three Bears” as a first grader, and ever since then, the written word has been my friend. Books were an escape for me. An adventure to the unknown. A love affair I’d never know. I could be lost for hours in a book.

So why writing now? I had a story to tell. It haunted me from the moment I decided if I just wrote it down it would go away. But it didn’t. Three years after writing the first draft, a sign (yes, I believe in them) told me to fix up that draft and work the process to have it published. That’s what I did. But one story let to another, and another, and another. Then a new idea came into my head and a new storyline was created. 

I was accused (that’s the correct word) of having an overactive imagination as a child, as if that was a bad thing. I’ve also been accused of having the personality of a Jack Russell terrier, full of energy, unable to relax, and always one step ahead. What can I say other than I have stories to tell and I think you’ll like them. If you don’t, that’s okay. We all have our book boyfriends. We all have our favorites. Whatever you do, though, take time for yourself and read a book.

 

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LB-Dunbar/716870221703877  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbdunbarwrites

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22064954-sound-advice?from_search=true

Website: http://www.lbdunbar.com/

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lbdunbar/

 

Giveaway:  5 - Signed Paperback of Taste Test, 1 – Signed Paperback of Sound Advice, 1 - $20 Amazon Gift Card

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Desired - spotlight

Title: Desired

Series: True Alpha #1

Author: Alisa Woods

Release Date: September 2014

 

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/DesiredTA1onGR 

 

Buy Links: B&N Link will not work until book goes LIVE

Amazon: http://goo.gl/kSEz9C

Amazon CA: http://goo.gl/zst0vw

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/tmQ2CR

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/Talb4z

B&N: http://goo.gl/StuaPY

 

Book Cover (Attached)

 

Blurb:

Shifters live in the shadows of Seattle, just under the skin of the alpha male, dot-com entrepreneurs who are building a new Silicon Valley in the Emerald City.

Mia is just a college girl trying to earn her business degree and dig out of the poverty she was born into—being a shifter is something she hides, hoping her secret won’t sabotage her dreams. 

Lucas is a broken alpha, a wolf who lost his mate, his pack, and almost himself—he wasn’t looking to rescue a girl or start a pack war. But now he has to keep her safe or it won’t just be her life, but his whole family at risk… only his inner wolf can’t seem to keep its paws off a girl who has secrets of her own.

 

Teasers (Attached)

 

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Lucas leaned his elbows back on the bar and pulled in a full draught of the human pheromones and perfumes swirling in the air. Musky fragrances mixed with sweet sweat, underscored by a tangy taste of arousal. And that was just the women. The males were overly scented as well, at least the human ones, as if they didn’t understand the power of their own natural scent. The blue-neon sign outside the nightclub called it The Deviation. Inside, lithe human bodies pulsed to a techno rock beat coming from the live band on the stage. It was a ripe hunting ground for shifters and humans alike. Prey, his inner dark wolf panted, but Lucas backhanded that thought into the recesses of his mind. He may be hunting for a pleasurable companion for the evening, a temporary relief from the ghosts that haunted him, but he wasn’t that kind of predator.

Not that there weren’t plenty of those in the room.

This was neutral territory. He was rogue now, but even if he had a pack, he wouldn’t make trouble in a closed environment filled with humans like The Deviation. The throng pushed right up to the bar where he stood, leaving not much distinction between those dancing and those watching. Cutout panels behind the band let in beams of purplish light that stabbed through the tight crowd and washed everyone in a deep otherworldly glow. The shifters were indistinguishable from the humans, everyone dressed in the same tailored silk shirts and curve-hugging black dresses that comprised the nighttime uniform of web entrepreneurs and their groupies.

Indistinguishable for most. But Lucas recognized a few.

Three shifters from the SocialHacks pack were in the thick of the dancing, hands running free over their female companions. His father’s pack allied with the SocialHacks early on, their social media startup pairing well with his father’s internet business development firm. Nearby was a trio from Red Wolf, another company that cultivated the dot-com businesses of Seattle and helped match them with investors. They were his father’s bitter rivals—not only did they skate close to that invisible line shifters didn’t cross, the one that kept the normal human citizenry of Seattle unaware of the wolves in their midst, but they were as ruthless in pack matters as they were in business. Lucas had seen more than one omega from the Red pack end up in a dingy alley missing a few vital organs. Tonight, the Red pack was hanging at the fringes of the crowd, watching. Like Lucas.

But that was all they had in common.

“How are you doing here, sir?” The soft voice behind him belonged to the female bartender. He could tell by her scent before he turned around: slightly musky with the dampness of the nightclub, but with a light woodsy taste. It wasn’t a perfume, which Lucas had an instant appreciation for.

He turned and gave her a smile. “I’d like another, please. Vodka, neat.” She wasn’t one of the celebrity bartenders who drew patrons to The Deviation, but he wasn’t the type to drink the latest fad cocktail, either. In fact, he rarely was in a club long enough to finish a drink before a companion for the night found him. And having full command of his faculties, especially with a human, was key to leaving her satisfied, not sliced to ribbons.

The bartender gave him a fleeting smile, then dropped her brilliant blue-eyed gaze, brushed her long black hair out of her way, and reached under the bar for a bottle. He hadn’t been to The Deviation in a while, but he guessed she was new—to the club, maybe to bartending as well. Her all-black uniform—slim dress pants and collared shirt—had turned purple with the hazy light from the stage, but it fit her feminine curves in an understated way. He appreciated that, too, but bartenders weren’t good prospects, not least because they might remember him the next time he came hunting.

She poured his drink, and he noticed her hand quiver. The liquid sloshed but not enough to escape the shot glass. He frowned and looked up, but she was already moving on, down the bar, to another customer. She gave that guy the same fleeting smile, but Lucas could see something wrong in it now. Something off. Her lips were slightly parted, her breaths shallow. She was panting, and not in a good way. The girl rushed through a bourbon-and-seven for her customer, then shuffled to the end of the bar, where her fellow bartender, a male, stood flirting with one of the female patrons. The girl had a quick, whispered exchange that Lucas couldn’t hear over the pounding music, and then she slipped around the end of the counter and into the crowd.

Lucas straightened, looking for her over the sea of bobbing heads and waving hands. She was a tiny black-haired rabbit weaving through the weeds, tall enough to poke above them when she wasn’t ducking under drinks held high or flailing arms. He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t stop tracking her.

He left his drink, untouched, and slid along the bar, keeping her in his sights. She broke free of the crowd near the back wall, where blue neon signs bulged with the letters of the club and the outlines of spilt electric drinks.

It was the same wall where the three Red pack members lounged.

The girl threw open a door which had been invisible a moment before, probably because it fit seamlessly into the black matte of the wall. Then she was gone, the door slowly easing closed behind her.

The Reds had watched her all the way out.

Lucas froze at the edge of the crowd, his unblinking stare trained on their bent heads and moving lips. Not my territory, he told his snarling inner wolf. Not my pack.

But he didn’t look away.

 

RELEASE SCHEDULE - 2014

9/2 - Desired (True Alpha 1)

9/2 - Guarded (True Alpha 2)

9/16 - To Be Named (True Alpha 3)

9/30 - To Be Named (True Alpha 4)

10/14 - To Be Named (True Alpha 5)

10/21 - To Be Named (True Alpha 6)

10/28 - Box Set (True Alpha 1-6)

 

 

Author Bio:

Alisa Woods lives in the Midwest with her husband and family, but her heart will always belong to the beaches and mountains where she grew up. She writes sexy paranormal romances about alpha men and the women who love them. She enjoys exploring the struggles we all have, where we resist—and succumb to—our most tempting vices as well as our greatest desires. She firmly believes that love triumphs over all. True Alpha is her debut New Adult Paranormal Romance.

 

Social Media:

Facebook: http://bit.ly/AlisaWoodsFB

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlisaWoodsBooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AlisaWoods

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/alisawoodsbooks/

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/AlisaWoodsNewsletter

 

Giveaway: Grand Prize – “Wolf’s Heart” Incense Oil + Wolf Paw Print Talisman

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A White Hot Christmas - cover reveal

★★COVER REVEAL ★★

*

A White Hot Christmas: Novella By Rene Webb

Genre: Holiday, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Novella

Release Date: September 9, 2014

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions (http://bookenthusiastpromotions.com) 

Giveaway:

$10 Amazon Gift Card;  2 $5 Amazon Gift Card 

Enter here ➜ ➜  http://bit.ly/VJUi7r 

Pre-order link: http://amzn.to/1AKH0XI 

Add the book to Goodreads ➜ http://bit.ly/1oSzDou 

Synopsis:

It's Christmas morning and June Evans is wondering how a vacation in search of a white Christmas led her to having a hot and hard man moving between her trembling thighs.

Tom Allen was meant to be spending a quiet holiday with his family, but a freak snowstorm traps him with what he wanted most this year, a chance at love.

Meet the Author:

Rene Webb, a former Catholic schoolgirl and 80’s child, is a recovering Soap Opera addict who grew up watching General Hospital. She became weary with the relentless drama and sought out stories with happy endings, which lasted. Now, Rene is an erotic romance author, where there is always a happily-ever-after!

Growing up in New England, Rene spent her childhood playing make-believe, acting out stories with her Barbies, Legos, My Little Ponies and Playmobile. She has since taken to writing down the dramas that invade her mind.

Authors such as Jane Austen, Kristen Ashley, Sylvia Day and Bianca Giovanni have inspired her. They all create strong female characters, swoon worthy men and stories that leave you with the hope, that you too will find your own HEA!

She also enjoys reading, baking, seeing movies, going to museums and spending time with her friends and family.

Rene lives in Washington DC, with the cactus she’s desperately trying not to kill.

a.k.a. Kitty Bennet on the book blog Lit. 4 Ladies, which she runs with her sister.

Social Links: 

http://twitter.com/renewebbauthor 

http://facebook.com/renewebbauthor 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7383980.Rene_Webb 

http://amazon.com/author/renewebb 

www.renewebbauthor.com 

Excerpt:

"Oh God!" I gasp loudly with pleasure, as the man above me moves in long, hard and possessive strokes.

I'm only half aware of my surroundings and of the Nor’easter still raging outside. Somewhere nearby fire embers crackle loudly, wind whistles and bare branches knock on the windowpanes.

In this moment, the only things that matter are the soft warm bed beneath me and the man above, who’s pounding white hot pleasure into me.

As I become enveloped in sensation, my thighs begin to shake from where they are wrapped tightly around his back. My newly manicured nails dig into his back and my last coherent thought as I fall into the oblivion is, "How the hell did I get here?"

Fighting for Arielle - review

Brilliant addictive read. This is a really amazing debut novel. I found it to be a really heartwarming story. 

Arielle is really unhappy and so lonely in her marriage. Her husband Brodie is not what she thought he was. Arielles life changes when she meets the mysterious and sexy McCrary. I thought the author did a great job with this story. I found myself going through Arielles pain with her. 

With some angst I thought this was a brilliant read. I ended up reading this in one afternoon as I really didn't wanna put this book down.

Fighting for Arielle - blog tour

BLOG TOUR

Title: Fighting for Arielle

Author: Karina Sharp

Release Date: July 31, 2014

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22735515-fighting-for-arielle?ac=1

 

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://goo.gl/jlGXNJ

Amazon CA: http://goo.gl/1qwU0p

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/iuBdpy

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/mM11az

 

 

Blurb:

Arielle Abbott has the world at her fingertips but soon loses her way. As a young Navy wife, she thought she was headed for a life of adventure, but instead found herself in an unhappy marriage to a controlling man. In a chance meeting with a handsome stranger named Mick, Arielle begins to envision a way out. She soon finds out that Mick is a Navy JAG officer. He is the person best in a position to help her. However, she begins to fall for him and learns that their relationship is taboo. With just a pet tortoise and her new friend Macy to keep her sane, Arielle embarks on a journey to find self-fulfillment and love.

 

Excerpt:

Arielle, reaches over to me and gently massages my ear as she searches my face- for what, I’m not certain.  Then, she leans into me and kisses me delicately.  

I love all of her kisses; they all speak different words and sometimes even different languages, but I understand each and every one.

We hold hands as we get up from the table and walk into the grass, which is cool and soft.  We sit next to one another, she lays her head on my shoulder, and we look out onto the moon reflecting off the water.  I hear Arielle taking in controlled and deliberate breaths as if she’s gearing up to say something.  I wait patiently for her to say what she needs to say.  

Upon completion of a few more deep breathing exercises, she keeps her head on my shoulder, looking out onto the water, and says hesitantly, “Show me the way.”

Not sure that I heard her correctly, I ask to clarify.  “What?”

She keeps staring at the water, but grips my hand tighter.  “Show me the way.  I trust you to light the way, so lead the way, and I am right there behind you.”  She lifts her head, searching my face in the darkness.  

“I'd rather you be beside me,” I say as I take in her soft and lovely features.

Her eyes show a degree of uncertainty.  

I smile in response and brush her wavy hair behind her ear.  “I will hold your hand the entire way.”         

Arielle’s face is illuminated by the moonlight, and I can see signs of both worry and hope in it.  Her expression is earnest as she asks, “Promise?”

“Scout’s honor.”  

I kiss her knuckles one by one as she nestles her head and body deeper into my shoulder.  

I am both thrilled and fearful of her trusting me so unconditionally.  The gift of holding someone’s heart is a monumental responsibility with the potential for very grave and detrimental consequences.  It is not a decision to be taken lightly, but Arielle trusts me enough to give it to me, and I will prove to her that I am worthy of her tribute.  I need to show her what she means to me and how seriously I feel about her.  I need her to know, without a doubt, that she too holds my heart, and together we are complete.  I will protect her and devote myself to her happiness, because from this moment forward, my life and future is no longer I or me- only us.

I run my hand over her soft hair and inhale her.  I brush my thumb behind her ear and move it down her cheek, across her jaw, and to her chin.  I gently pull away, leaving her chin resting in my hand, and lower my head so that my eyes are level with hers.  

I look into her uncertain, yet trusting eyes.  

“Let’s wrap the moon around us and feel what it is for me to worship you.”

Author Bio:

Karina Sharp is a former Navy spouse and former Navy Command Family Ombudsman.  Karina is passionate about creating stories about relationships with strong female characters who not only find romance, but also learn about themselves in the process.

 

Karina Sharp was born in Southeast Texas, but has lived all over the country.  Karina holds a Master’s of Education in Counseling Psychology from the University of Louisville and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology from Chaminade University of Honolulu.

 

She has worked with a diverse population of clients- from convicted felons to the severely mentally ill to adolescents who have been placed in the care of the Child and Family Services, and she uses her experiences as inspiration to help give others a voice. 

 

When she is not writing, Karina teaches aerobics, and runs races.  She has also danced burlesque. 

 

Karina lives in Louisville, KY with her husband, their two children, two chocolate labs, and two turtles.

 

Social Media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/karinasharpauthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/thekarinasharp

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Arielle-Karina-Sharp-ebook/dp/B00MALSZ90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407174114&sr=8-1&keywords=fighting+for+arielle

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22735515-fighting-for-arielle

 

Giveaway: 2 Signed Paperback Copies of Fighting for Arielle (International)

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Hard Knox - review

This is a really great story about college experiences. The main storyline is about the date rape drug. I don't think I've read anything on this subject before. I thought the author took a sensitive issue and wrote it about it tastefully. 

Charlie is feisty and independent. I didn't like her straight away but she grew on me as I kept reading. Knox is fantastic. Just love him:) loved the interaction between these two main characters.

This is a really great romantic read with suspense running through it. Loved it.

Hard Knox - blog tour

HARD KNOX

A New Series by NYT Bestselling Author Nicole Williams

 

 

The Outsider Chronicles, #1

New Adult/Adult Contemporary

Released August 12, 2014

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Knox Jagger. The name inspires resent in every male at Sinclair University, want in every female, and contempt in Charlie Chase.

Charlie can be summed up in three words: independent, independent, and independent. To Charlie, Knox epitomizes everything that’s wrong with college males: prolific one-night stands, drunken senseless fights, and a body that hints at prioritizing gym time over study time.

As an up-and-coming writer for Sinclair University’s newspaper, Charlie’s tasked with getting to the bottom of who’s been dropping little white pills into girls’ drinks at parties. In an ocean of All-American boys sporting polo shirts and innocent smiles, Knox is the obvious suspect. As evidence piles up against the bad boy of Sinclair, Charlie becomes more and more certain it isn’t Knox. But when her drink is dosed at a party and she wakes up on Knox’s couch the next morning, Charlie’s left with more questions than answers when it comes to Knox Jagger.

How can Charlie ever hope to uncover the truth behind a guy so closed off he’s become . . .

Hard Knox.

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22672422-hard-knox

 

About the Author

I’m the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the CRASH series (HarperTeen, S&S UK), LOST & FOUND series, UP IN FLAMES (S&S UK), The EDEN TRILOGY, and a handful of others. I write stories about everyday kinds of people who find themselves in extraordinary kinds of situations. I tell love stories with happy endings because I believe in making the world a better place, and that’s one tiny way I can make it so. I’m one of those people who still believe in true love and soul mates, and would rather keep my head in the clouds any day over having my feet firmly on the ground.

Blog | Twitter | Facebook

 

 

Purchase links:

 

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Knox-The-Outsider-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00MN0TTI4

 

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hard-knox-nicole-williams/1120116551?ean=2940150334458

 

 

 

 

My Heart to Fear - cover reveal

Title: My Heart to Fear

Author: Lulu Astor

Release Date: September 16, 2014

 

 

Blurb:

Devious. Dangerous. Demonic. Damien.

 

People were either slavishly devoted to Eric Damien or they jealously hated him. Sometimes even both.

 

Eric Damien hunted and fed off shyness and innocence. Ali Spencer was a sitting duck.

 

He would learn all of her secrets while he had her locked in his rooms and at his mercy. Appeasement of all of his desires was his own personal manifest destiny—he honestly believed that was true.

 

Excerpt:

Prologue

Portland, Oregon

June 2001

 

The small room was illuminated only by moonlight that trespassed between the wide slats of the white plantation shutters. By day the bedroom was cheerful, awash in feminine shades of the palest pink and green with scalloped white wood furniture and a small white iron chandelier dangling daintily from the ceiling. Now, after midnight, it was dark with silvery light pooling just below the large window. The room’s inhabitant was long asleep, her dark hair fanned out across the shell-pink pillow, framing her China doll face and roseate lips. She’d been tired, having endured a long day of anticipation. Right now her peaceful slumber was interrupted by an abrupt inability to breathe. The resulting gasping caused her to waken suddenly, panicked.

“Shhh. It’s just me. Stay still.”

The gravelly voice came out of the darkness. Ali knew it belonged to her aunt’s boyfriend. He’d told her to call him Uncle Joel but Ali had just met him four days before. Aunt Lauren and Joel were staying the week with Ali and her mother, visiting for Ali’s birthday—a surprise to make up for the fact that her father was away. But why did Joel keep coming into her room? Last night she’d awakened to find him looming over her with scary eyes. The night before that she bolted up from a deep sleep, afraid that someone was hiding in the shadowy corner near the drapes. And now this, tonight.

“Stop! Get off me! I can’t breathe… Maaaaa!” she screamed, feeling his hands all over her body. He clapped his huge hand over her mouth mid-scream, roughly grinding her lips into her teeth, abrading her gums. The taste of salty blood and her inability to draw any breath caused her to kick her legs wildly in boundless terror. Undeterred, his other hand yanked down her white cotton underpants covered in tiny blue rosebuds, as she desperately tried to squirm away, but he had her pinned down. A few inches were all she managed to travel before he swiftly halted her progress, grabbing her with both of his meaty hands and dragging her toward him. “Come back here, you little bitch. I’m not done with you. If you scream again, I’m going to spank your heinie bloody. Now shut up and be nice to me!”

He tore off her pajama gown and touched her naked body everywhere, putting fingers into her private places, licking her with his gross tongue, grunting and breathing noisily. He got spit all over her skin and it smelled sour. The nauseating odor rushed saliva into her mouth where it roiled with blood, and she began to choke as it trickled down her throat. Ali heard him unzip his pants and she didn’t know why but she was too frantic to wonder. He was in the process of flipping her over onto her stomach when she again screamed, this time at the top of her lungs, and then the door flung open so hard it slammed into the wall with a thunderous bang, leaving a crater in the wall the size of the doorknob.

She’d never heard her mother sound like she did, the blackest fury barely contained as she attacked the man with her voice. “Get off my daughter, you disgusting, vile piece of nothing,” her mother screeched at a bloodcurdling pitch. “I’ll rip your balls right off and make you eat them.”

Joel stood up. That’s when Ali saw he was in his boxer shorts, his pants around his knees. He scurried out of the room like a panicked rat, without a backward glance, as her mother came forward to embrace her daughter in her arms. The girl was trembling from head to toe and her nostrils were still filled with the man’s rank odor of stale beer and old sweat. She didn’t think she’d ever forget it.

“Shh, come sleep in my bed tonight. Everything will be fine, I promise,” her mother’s voice crooned but Ali had never heard it so shaky. As she hugged her mother, it was hard for her to tell which one of them trembled more. “Tomorrow is your birthday and we’re going to have so much fun. I’m so sorry, Ali. It will all be okay.” She tightly grasped her daughter, rocking her back and forth, over and over. They sat like that for nearly an hour. Ali sensed her mother’s uncertainty.

Finally, she released her grip and Ali scampered into her mother’s room, climbing up into the big bed. Nothing was as comforting as a mother’s bed and so she managed a small smile and curled up into a ball. If she made the ball really, really tight, the shivering stopped. From that night on, it was how she always slept, in a tight fetal position, impregnable and protected by her hard outer shell. Tonight, sleep was long in coming and she so wanted to get there so she could wake up and it would be morning—and not just any morning, but the morning of her tenth birthday.

 

 

Author Bio:

 

Lulu Astor is a New York City girl, born and bred. She met her husband at a doggie play group in Tribeca in the ‘90s and together they embarked on adventures, moving first to Chicago, where their first son was born, then on to Santa Fe, New Mexico, followed by Los Angeles, Cali. Eventually they headed back to NYC where their second son made his debut shortly thereafter.

 

Beginning her writing career with nonfiction, she began writing short fiction (her first love) in grad school, moving on to longer works shortly thereafter. She wrote the Complements series in 2010, and it was published on KDP in 2013. Three and a Half Weeks was initially conceived as a short story but evolved into a full-length (very full) novel as time went on.

 

Immersing herself in fiction (whether reading or writing) every minute possible, she also teaches writing and literature as an adjunct professor in the New York-Connecticut area where she currently resides. Her books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Goodreads. You can follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter (reluctantly).

 

Social Media Links:

 

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6927265.Lulu_Astor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-and-a-Half-Weeks/279815512183392?ref=br_tf

Blog: http://luluastor.wix.com/complements

Twitter: https://twitter.com/luluastor

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lulu-Astor/e/B00J7JN0NY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1409519592&sr=1-1

 

 

 

Liliana Rhodes - author spotlight

About Liliana Rhodes

Liliana Rhodes is a USA Today Bestselling Author who writes romance with fun, engaging characters. Blessed with an over active imagination, she is always writing and plotting her next stories. She enjoys movies, reading, photography, and listening to music. After growing up on the east coast, Liliana now lives in California with her husband, son, two dogs who are treated better than some people, and two parrots who plan to take over the world.

http://www.LilianaRhodes.com

~*~ Book List ~*~

His Every Whim series

Lucky Break

Made Man series

The Crane Curse series

The Ballad of Jude

Wanting Him series

~*~ Social Media Links ~*~

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6597194.Liliana_Rhodes

https://twitter.com/Liliana_Rhodes

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLilianaRhodes

https://plus.google.com/+LilianaRhodes/posts

Ten Below Zero - review

Oh my dayz. What the hell have I just read. I really didn't know what I was expecting when I signed up to review this. All I knew was I loved the cover. This book has literally blown me away. 

I'm not going to say anything about the storyline except I love Everett and Parker. This book is so so much more than the synopsis. It gripped me from page one and held my heart in a tight hold until the last page. Even the acknowledgements hit me. There are a few twists and turns that had me nearly hyper ventilating. This is an emotional read. Anyone that follows my reviews knows I rarely cry reading a book. This book had me sobbing. Yes I had to put my kindle down & have a wee cry before I could read any more. That set me off and I sniffled to the end. 

After reading this I had to find the author and let her know how much emotions she brought out in me. Yes Whitney your mission has been accomplished :)

Grab the tissues & 1-click this. You won't regret it. Absolutely fantastic read. Now I'm off to see what else Whitney has written. This author is certainly an author I'll be keeping my eye out for in future. If I could give this more than 5 stars I'd be doing just that.