Jul 28, 2014

Seeing Stars by Ellie Potts

SOR Seeing Stars VBT BannerGenre: Contemporary Romance

 Can one secret stop two broken hearts from mending?



Alisa, bank clerk by day-self published writer by night, gets a phone call that will change her life. Hollywood wants to make one of her books into a movie. The news comes on the day she starts vacation, excited, she leaves work early to surprise her husband. To her surprise he is already home, and well even more surprising he is sexing up the neighbor in their bed.



Heartbroken and angry she makes a decision to head off to Hollywood on her own. Before the meeting she meets her TV crush Logan Rider. Logan has not only read her book Portals, but he wants to direct the movie. The offer is almost too good to be true! Alisa is thrown into a whirlwind of Hollywood as she sees stars, learns the movie business, and uncovers a few secrets. Secrets that prove actors are just as flawed as regular people. But there is one secret that can destroy Logan’s career. Will Logan be devoured by this secret, or can he find the strength to conquer it with Alisa’s help?


“I’m too shy. I was horrible in drama in high school. They teamed me up with my first high school crush on our first partner thing. And I was just trying not to do anything embarrassing. I end up transferring out.”

“What did you take instead?”

“A study class was open.”

“I take it you were bored?”

“Not at all. I wrote.”

“I wish I had some other talent.”

“You act,” Alisa replied.

“Well, yes, but I wish I could do something else. Do you have any other hobby then writing?”

“I knit.”

“Well that is something I would like to learn.”

“I do it on looms. It is pretty simple.”

“Can you show me?” Dawn asked her eyes shining with anticipation.

“Sure.”

“Cut!” Roman shouted. “Okay we are going to set up for Logan and Dawn. Ten minutes!”

Ray Day sat down heavily in a chair beside them. “I really hope we get done soon. I have to start Twin Falls in a month, and I really wanted a few days off. I want to have mimosas and spend a kidless day in Disney.”

“If my kids found out I went without them they would shank me,” Dawn said seriously.

“You break too easy. Send them to school and get your Disney on.”

“I heard Disney what is going on?” Logan said as he walked over to them.

“I was talking about mimosas and then Disney without kids,” Ray said with a small sigh. “Before I have to go to Canada to film Twin Falls.”

“I will pass on the mimosas, but would love some Disney time. It’s been a few months. How about you Alisa, when was the last time you went to Disney?”

“Uh—” She thought about it. “Maybe ten years I want to say.”

“Do you not like Disney?”

“I love Disney, it is just kind of expensive to go,” she said, shrugging.

Logan put his hand on her shoulder. “Maybe we need to make a trip.”

“No trips!” Roman shouted. “Dawn and Logan, come on.”

Ray sighed again watching Logan leave. “That ass is amazing.” He looked at her. “I see that smile. You can agree.”

“I do agree.”

“Good. Step one of surviving actors. Some of us are loud and outspoken, don’t be shy jump in.

“Check, jump in.”

“It’s nice seeing Logan happy. After the breakup he was so sad. I believe he thought she was the one.” She watched Logan and Dawn have an argument, until someone said the wrong line and they started giggling.

“CUT!” Roman screamed making Alisa flinch.

“Step two. Some directors are just assholes. You just learn to deal.” Logan turned to them and winked

“Check, assholes.”

“You are cute. I think we need to go on a double date.”

“I have no double,” she said turning to Ray.

“There is Logan.”

“Ah—We’ve only known each other for two days.”

Ray shrugged. “You guys could have been married and divorced by now, you know typical celebrity life.”

They laughed as they turned back to watch. After Dawn and Logan it was the whole cast, then Logan and his pretend off and on crazy girlfriend. Alisa watched Roman, she watched the stage hands, she watched the camera people, sound people, and all the rest.

A little nagging voice sprang forward. You don’t belong here.

But I want to belong here, she replied to the voice.


Buy Link:    Amazon



Somebody told Ellie Potts you had to be rich to be eccentric otherwise you were plain crazy. She set out to prove them wrong doing things she was told she couldn't do like dressing for pirate and renaissance faires, get her stories published, playing video games, planning to survive a zombie apocalypse, and other antics most women stay away from.



She is also a Whovian, Browncoat, Star Wars addict, and collector of arcane knowledge. Now she lives in California's Central Valley where most of her stories and books take place. Her and her husband are owned by their attack Bugg, and her red eared slider turtle minion who live in the backyard.



Author Links:  Site   Blog    Facebook    Twitter    Goodreads

Jul 24, 2014

Strangers on a Bus by Rob Manary

SOR Strangers on a Bus VBT BannerGenre: Romantic Comedy
If you liked When Harry Met Sally, you'll fall in love with Robb and Gertrude from Strangers on a Bus...

Robb is crushed by a failed relationship with the love of his life and finds himself unexpectedly on a long bus trip from his adopted home in the U.S. back to his native Canada.

At the first stop in NYC, a girl gets on and so begins a contemplation of life, love, and strange events that will bring tears of laughter and heartache streaming down your face.

Is this girl Robb's real true love or just a rebound? How far can they get on a bus ride anyway?

This is a true story.




The sun started to come up as we crossed into Canada, and Gertrude told me we wouldn’t be making out once it was daylight. Lip dancing on a brightly lit bus was too “tacky” for her, and besides her lessons were having a not entirely unpleasant side effect on her.

I find it best to try not to understand women at all. But, there is one phenomenon that causes me more confusion than any of the other baffling behavior women indulge in.

When you tell a woman something and she doesn’t believe you, so you tell her the opposite, and she doesn’t believe that either, I like that.

So, you tell her the first thing you said was, indeed, the truth, and she doesn’t want to believe that one either.

Confused?

So am I. Here is the latest incarnation of this occurrence.

Gertrude: “All this kissing isn’t bothering you? You’ve got more restraint than any guy I’ve ever met. I thought you would have been trying to feel me up hours ago.”

Me: “Would it have worked?”

Gertrude: “Maybe, probably not. I think it’s nice. You’re a gentleman.”

Me: “Not really. Every time we stop I take care of that in the bathroom.”

Gertrude: “You’re such a pig! You washed your hands right! You’re so gross! You didn’t! Did you?”

Me: “I thought I was a gentleman! I lie! I lie! I lie! Of course I didn’t.”

Gertrude: “You’re such a pig! You did! Didn’t you? You’re so gross!”

Me: “Stop laughing at me if I’m so gross! I didn’t! I didn’t!”

Gertrude: “You did so! You’re such a pig!”

Me: “Okay. Fine. I did.”

Gertrude: “No you didn’t! You’re not that big a pig. Close. But no. You didn’t.”

Me: “I tell you I didn’t and you say I did. I tell you I did, and you say I didn’t. You’re such a weirdo.”

And then I kissed her, because the sun was rising quick, and because I couldn’t see another way to end that conversation. It is possible that debate could have gone on indefinitely, and there was no way I could prove conclusively what I had or had not done in a bus stop bathroom.

After what might be our last extended lip dancing lesson Gertrude whispered in my ear, “I was horny and wanted Dicky-bird…that is fun to say, so in the bathroom… I did.”

Buy Link: Amazon



Robert Manary is an international playboy and man of mystery, with the charm and sophistication of James Bond shaken not stirred with a couple ounces of Cyrano de Bergerac, a dash of Rasputin, and garnished with the rapier wit of Thurston Howell the Third.

That’s how he sees himself, anyway.

The truth is Robert Manary is a construct created to protect the dubious reputation of his Clark Kent like mild mannered writer/puppeteer/the man pulling the levers and breathing life into the Great and Powerful Oz (don’t look too closely behind the curtain).

Robert Manary’s alter ego dropped out of Radio Broadcasting College to pursue a lucrative career bartending at a seedy gentlemen’s club, played around stocking shelves at a small grocery store until he screwed up badly enough to be given a promotion, and finally left the glamorous life of fighting with Parmalat representatives over the quantity of soy milk required for a small Northern Ontario town to function adequately, for the bright lights of New York.



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Jul 23, 2014

Field Season by Cory Rivers

SOR Field Season VBT BannerGenre: F/F Adult Nature Adventure



Each year during the field season, an expedition of biologists plunges into the Amazon rainforest. They live and work together at a field station so remote that telephones and Internet access are a distant dream, and the only entertainment they have is one another. Peggy Cole is a natural at the nature side of things. She faces down vipers, tarantulas, and jaguars while spearheading a groundbreaking project on short-eared Amazonian bush dogs. Peggy’s real struggle is with people. She must grapple with her unexpected love for Julie and a shattering betrayal from her beloved mentor.








Just like her professor, Peggy Cole knew at once that she was in a sacred place. The canopy was so dense that they walked in light made green by leaves hundreds of feet overhead. The air was alive and heavy. It vibrated with the breath of insects and the hum and song of birds. Peggy felt as if she could dissolve into it.

“What do you think?” Professor Jay Lions asked her. He always went by Jay with his students, even his undergraduates.

“It’s unreal,” Peggy said, tilting her head back. The rainforest was rich in all three dimensions. Vines twined up the tree trunks and a group of monkeys swung about the top of a tree that sprawled across the sky. Peggy had never seen wild monkeys before, and she pointed them out to Jay. When he saw that the monkeys were wearing magnificent white handlebar mustaches, he took off his hat and put it over his heart.

“Those are good friends of mine,” he said. “They got me my PhD.” Peggy knew what they were because Jay had been telling her about them for years. She named them out loud - Emperor Tamarins - and saw the subtle shift of a fine facial muscle at Jay’s temple. Peggy suspected he was pleased, but she did not realize that he was ecstatic. He was home.

“Soon all this will be yours,” Jay said to her, sweeping his one free hand around him in a grand gesture as the other tugged on a wheeled duffel bag. Now, as Peggy helped lug the expedition’s equipment from the boat landing up a treacherous staircase and to the field station laboratory, she understood that none of her previous fieldwork could compare to this. This was the most alive place on earth.

Lunch didn’t much interest Peggy, even though she was ravenous. She would eat thousands upon thousands of lunches in mundane places. Now she was in the Amazon rainforest and there was no sense being inside.

“Jay, Daphne, can I go have a poke around?” Peggy asked after she had cleared her plate. Jay’s wife only went by her first name with older students, but Peggy had been underfoot for so long that it would be bizarre to call her anything different.

“Hold on just a second, I have to give a quick introduction,” Jay said. Peggy looked at him keenly for a moment and turned to chat with her soon-to-be roommate. Someone pointed to a sizeable rat near the ceiling on a support beam, and Peggy looked up. It was gigantic, and not like the ones Peggy had seen before. It was tawny-colored and stocky and watched them with impunity.

“Don’t mess with the rats,” Daphne warned them, and Peggy laughed with the rest of the students. “You laugh, but you know what happened to the old freezer? A rat chewed through it. True story,” Daphne said. With that, she stood and Jay joined her. Peggy looked around as they started the introduction. The dining hall had a high lofted roof and a seating area with old couches in the corner. It was the centerpiece of the field station, flanked on both sides by laboratory facilities, with three dormitories in front of it, between it and the main river. All of the buildings on the field station’s main campus had metal roofs and were connected by an elevated wooden walkway covered in palm thatching. Behind the dining hall was a facility to dry equipment, a grill, and a diffuse cluster of cabins that trailed into the forest. All together the station could house 60 people and host 40 active researchers, although it rarely ran at full capacity.

Daphne explained the location of all the facilities and reminded everyone that other research groups would be joining them, and they should expect to share their dormitories with those students. They then went over the projects with everybody again. Peggy’s boyfriend, the only other undergraduate on the expedition, was working with a pair of grad students on one part of Daphne’s macaw feces composition project and listened carefully while Daphne explained where the refrigerator for their samples was and where they should do their fecal dissections.

“I don’t want the bench next to theirs,” Peggy’s roommate muttered to her during Daphne’s introduction. The affectionately labeled “bird-shit project” was in the far lab near the dissecting equipment and refrigerator. Jay’s projects, which as far as Peggy knew involved observing monkeys, were in the main segment of the lab on the left side of the dining hall.

“Okay, my group, let’s go check our equipment,” Daphne announced. She stood up, and her students and postdoc followed her to the lab. Peggy’s roommate and boyfriend made exaggerated sad faces as they left her, but they were distracted before they left the dining hall. They had spotted a lizard basking on the walkway.

“My group, go unpack the equipment and sort it out. Meet in your project groups and get ready for an orientation hike before dinner,” Jay said.

Peggy waited as the other students congealed into their groups and gravitated to the lab. She looked out the window to the lab building and saw Daphne showing her students around. Daphne smiled faintly at Peggy as Jay’s other students lingered to see which team Peggy would be joining. Her official expedition title was ‘field assistant’, and that could mean anything. She waited for one of the groups to claim her, but they all trickled out of the dining hall and disappeared into the lab.



Buy Links: Amazon    BookStrand   Crimson Frost Books





Cory Rivers is a tropical field biologist, or at least a graduate student. She does the bulk of her fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest but has also studied at field stations in Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico. Her fascination with tropical biology began when she was a young kid listening to her mother’s stories about growing up in a tropical village in Tanzania. Unlike her mother, she never got to school too early and found a lion on the swing set, but during her own field seasons she was treed by a stampede of tropical boars called peccaries, shared a bathroom with a spider the size of a dinner plate, and had the spectacular luck of twice seeing a short-eared Amazonian bush dog.



In fact she has been very fortunate to behold some of the rainforest’s grandest wonders. She has followed a family of giant river otters on canoe and spotted a jaguar lurking on the riverbank by night. She has seen tapirs, giant anteaters, caimans, and the extremely dangerous bushmaster viper (which she was happy to see from a comfortable distance). Unlike some tropical biologists, Cory has only been set upon by wasps once, and was lucky that they were a relatively lazy species that did not chase her too far. She also, by complete accident, interrupted a pair of 10-foot-long boa constrictors during their mating ritual. They were very gracious about the disturbance. Cory has sparred with army ants and been bullied by Capuchin monkeys. During one field observation session a flock of toucans settled right above the field site and heckled her for nearly an hour.



Cory’s observations of people and animals have provided a fruitful avenue for storytelling, and began during her undergraduate years. While in college Cory won the Hoopes Prize and the Blumberg Creative Science Prize for her writing in and out of the classroom. She has been an aspiring novelist for many years and Field Season is her first novel.



Jul 22, 2014

Captivated by Ashlynn Monroe

SOR Captivated VBT BannerGenre: Erotic Science Fiction Romance
Will Franny choose to live or just to survive?
Hardship, pain, and strife describes life on Utopia, a mining colony far from Earth. Women are a rare commodity. When an alien trade ship arrives with a cargo containing a human woman, every man on Utopia shows up to bid. Three friends pool their funds in the hope they'll have a human woman in their beds to keep them warm on the long nights of the coming harsh winter.
Francesca Dehart suffered the terror of aliens abducting her from a country road. The horror of being kidnapped and then sold as a sex slave is beyond anything Franny has ever imagined. With no hope of being rescued she finds herself with a new definition of hell—Utopia.
Can Cade, Nebraska, and Dawson show Franny her new life is more than a prison? They need her, but will she stay with them or run at the first opportunity? Can they hold onto the woman they've grown to love and protect her from the others who will stop at nothing to have her?
Content Warning: graphic sexual content and multiple partners



The reality of the danger put Franny's relationship with these men in an entirely different light. She needed them to want to keep her, to fall in love with her. Her protection demanded she seduce them, all of them. Franny felt sick. She wasn't into mind games, but she didn't want them tossing her out into the fray when they tired of her. Love was the only thing that could keep her from that fate.
If she resisted, eventually they'd decide to recoup the investment. It was common sense. Playing mind reader was dangerous, but these men weren't under the same social and moral constraints as the men of Earth. She saw the lust, and it was time to make a decision.

Franny put her hand on top of Dawson's and watched his eyes widen just a little before he glanced at the door and glared more fiercely. She could almost feel the barbaric change in him. He was going to keep the inquirers from becoming rapists with all of his might. Somewhere in her brain, in the primal part she thought she was too good for, she liked knowing he'd protect her.

Cade put his hand on the doorknob. "I'm goin' to count to three before I shoot. One…you still out there? Two."

"Fine, Cade. We're going, but if you change your mind, the offer stands. When you get sick of her, we'll pay good money for a turn."

"Do I have to say three?" Cade asked. There was no mistaking the anger in his tone.

There was a long pause. Cade gave Dawson a look, and then he opened the door a crack, sticking the riffle barrel outside. He looked out before he shut the massive slab and replaced the heavy bar again. Cade visibly sagged with relief. "They're gone," he said.

Franny relaxed, but she wasn't sure how long her security would last.

When there was another knock at the door, Cade's posture said he was ready to fight. "Who's there?"

"I'm back," Nebraska said.

Cade opened the door and Nebraska came inside. Cade went over to the stove. He stirred something that she assumed was the stew. She'd never seen a real woodstove in action before, and watched him with fascination. He grabbed a pan and added a little water. Nebraska went over to a small cupboard and took out bowls and wooden spoons. He looked fresh. His hair was damp, and he was wearing clean clothes.

Watching the males in this domestic setting, she could almost forget they'd bought her as if she wasn't a person. The room grew overly warm. She suspected they'd normally have had the shutters open, if not the door too. After the visitation, she understood why they didn't open everything up, but that didn't make it any cooler.

Cade took the antique basin from where he'd put it on the floor and poured the water in. He came over to her, holding the large, ornate porcelain bowl and a dingy rag. She flinched as he started wiping at her face, but then forced herself to hold still. She'd forgotten her head hurt until he disturbed the wound. His large hands awkwardly cleansed her face. His mouth was set and his eyes gazed at her with an intensity and focus that seemed to define this man.

He wasn't like any of the men back on Earth. He looked at her in a way that made her feel raw. His eyes bore into her soul. She bit her lip to keep from asking him why he was looking at her as he did. When he finished with her face, he started to wipe at the dried blood on her shoulder.

His touch was gentle. She didn't turn away from him, instead she let him touch her and found herself enjoying it. That fleeting desire burst into flame inside of her, and for the second time since her ordeal began, she found herself liking what he was doing.

"I…Thank you," she whispered softly.

His gaze met hers and a smile slowly curved his lips. "You're welcome, darlin'."

The endearment made her stomach feel funny. She hated that she liked the deep cadence of his voice. She detested how right his use of the generic sweet talk sounded. She should be trying to escape, not sitting there wanting him to act on his claim of ownership.



Buy Links:   Beachwalk Press   Amazon     Barnes & Noble 



Ashlynn Monroe is a busy wife and mom. She enjoys writing about anything and everything paranormal or fantasy related. She spends most of her time daydreaming up her next tale of romance.


Author Links:   Site    Facebook Author Page



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Jul 21, 2014

Stepping Stones by Elizabeth Morgan

SOR Stepping Stones VBT 2 BannerGenre: Sweet Contemporary Romance 



 There's nothing like a wedding to bring the family together....

If not for her baby sister’s impending marriage, Margaret West would never return home. But after six long years, she finds herself a maid of honor who must answer to the people she left behind.

If her parents’ interrogation doesn’t drive her to drink, facing her foster brother, Adrian, just might. To make matters worse, her ex-fiancĂ© is the vicar who will conduct her sister’s ceremony.

Everyone demands to know why she ran off. But the more time she spends at home, the more Margaret realizes even she doesn’t know the real reason.



“When is Aidy getting here?” Jessica grabbed the large bowl of scrambled eggs and brought it closer to her plate.

“I think his flight is due in at three.” My mother placed a dish of bacon on the table and took a seat beside me. “He will be in time for the wedding rehearsal; don’t worry.”

My stomach clenched. “Wedding rehearsal?” I coughed, trying to clear the chunk of toast lodged in my throat. “What wedding rehearsal?”

“Today at four. We’re running through the service.” Jess scooped egg onto her plate. “I told you.”

Nervous laughter bubbled in my throat and try as I may, I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “No.” I patted my chest.

“No, you never mentioned a rehearsal.”

“Oh.” She placed the bowl back in the middle of the table. “I could have sworn I did.”

“Nope, you didn’t. Believe me, I would have remembered otherwise.” I grabbed my mug and knocked the coffee back before finishing my piece of toast.

“Well, it’s no big deal.” Edward took the bowl of eggs and helped himself. “Just a quick run-through.”

“Will everyone be there?” Forcing a smile on my face, I looked up at them both, hoping like hell my question would pass as innocent and genuine curiosity.

“Anyone who is involved in the wedding itself will be.”

Great. So that meant Jessica, Edward, the parents, and the bridesmaids, plus me. That left Adrian and…. “Will Vicar Taylor, be there?”

Oh God, did my voice just go higher?

“Yes, Margaret, William will be there. He is the one who is marrying Jessie and Edward, so he needs to be there.” My father skewered some bacon and tomatoes onto his fork.

Grimacing, I reached out and grabbed another piece of toast. “Just a question, Pa.” A stupid one, but a question nevertheless….

“It is normal for people to have wedding rehearsals, Margaret. Just because you—”

Jess picked up the coffeepot. “Does anyone want more coffee?”

I straightened, my focus fixed on Pa. “I’m aware of that.”

“Maggie?”

My father’s shoulders went rigid. He lifted his head and our gazes locked. I didn’t miss the way the muscle in the side of his neck ticked. Arguing with my father in front of Jessica and Edward was not an option, so I looked away.

“Please.” I held out my mug and Jess poured the dark liquid.

I could kick myself. A wedding rehearsal hadn’t even crossed my mind. Having to stand at the altar before William on the actual wedding day would be hard enough, but having to do it twice…my stomach churned.

“So, will Adrian come straight to the church?” Edward cut the awkward silence.

“Yes. He will get a taxi to the church, and then we will bring him and his luggage back here.” My mother held her mug out to Jess.

“Adrian is staying here? Tonight?” I added sugar to my coffee. “Won’t it be crowded? I thought—”

“No more crowded than it was in your childhood.” My father took a bite out of his toast.

More and more good news. Of course he would be staying here; it was his family home after all. I guess, it was stupid of me to hope that he would go to a B&B, but my parents wouldn’t have allowed it even if he did suggest it. I hadn’t seen him in six years, hadn’t spoken to him. And yet, in a couple of hours I would be locked in the same house as him.

Buy Links:  Amazon   Barnes and Noble 



Elizabeth lives in a small country village in Cheshire, England, with two cats. You will always find her on the computer, blasting music and writing away. She started life wanting to be an actress because she loved performing. She enjoyed nothing more than being able to make people laugh, to distract them from reality for a few hours. She studied Musical Theatre in college, but during her second year, her mind started to overflow with ideas for scripts and she began writing plays. Slowly over the following three years, she was writing more and more, channeling her imagination into more detailed manuscripts...

Here she is, years later, hiding away like a hermit, writing like crazy and loving every minute of it.

Author Links:  Website   Blog   Twitter   Goodreads   Amazon  


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Jul 19, 2014

For Ben by Kate Richards



Roy Simms
is about to make full partner in a big NYC law firm. HIis wife, Teri, assures
him that once they reach their career goals, they can relax and enjoy
life…maybe even consider starting a family. He’s not sure how much longer their
marriage can survive if they don’t make time for one another. One evening of
passion and spanking makes him ache for the connection they’ve almost lost.





Teri Simms
doesn’t understand why Roy needs so much prodding to reach for the stars. With
his education and talent, he should be senior partner long since. But he’ll get
there. Her own vice presidency occurred only
five years into her tenure with the financial firm, and if it takes
seventeen hours a day and most of her weekends, so be it. Roy will just have to
continue to be understanding. 


A phone call from a
stranger will change everything. This two-job-no-kids couple is a family, due
to the tragic death of  Teri’s sister and
brother in law. They must fly immediately to Corbin’s Bend, Colorado and take
charge of little Ben, almost four years old. The change of scene brings to the
forefront everything good and bad about their marriage. It’s time to face some
difficult truths.



And he grabbed her hair and pulled. “No biting, sweetie. But there is a punishment for that.”

As she cursed again, he brought the spoon high and down across her thighs with a whap. Lifted it and did it again and again. Five times. Ten. Fifteen. “I am not stopping until you calm down.”

Please calm down before I do any damage to you.

A row of welts rose along the tops of her legs, red and white rows illustrating his passage.

Please, Teri, please stop.

His hand rested on her hot bottom, fingerprints and spoon marks decorating her from the top of her butt to almost the backs of her knees. He no longer felt the slightest bit of arousal, nausea replaced it. He wanted to get through this. It had been a mistake, but how could he go back on is word? If not, how could he get through to her. It wasn’t just the two of them anymore. They were a family.

Her shrieks faded away and her sobs took over. Deep and heart-wrenching, but not angry. So sad.

Swallowing hard, he used his best lawyer voice. “If you are ready to discuss these matters calmly, I will let you sit up.”

“Okay.” She fell silent and Roy lifted her until she sat on his lap. He eyed her red eyes and blotchy cheeks, waiting for her to demand a divorce for his brutal behavior, but instead she threw her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his chest.

“You okay?”

“Well, my husband just beat my ass with a wooden spoon.”

“Technically, I swatted your legs with the spoon. Your ass, I spanked with my hand.”

She sniffled against his shirt. “Whatever. I won’t be able to sit down in comfort for a week. It’s lucky we’re here in Podunk Bend. I’d never be able to explain this back home.”

Kitchen Safety by Teri Simms
Rumor has it that many of the women in Corbin’s Bend are excellent cooks. It’s true, and so are many of the men. I know it to be true because they are also amazing hosts and have had Roy and little Ben and I over for some amazing meals. Sam Elder and his wife, for example, invited us to their lovely home and served her grandmother’s spaghetti and meatballs shortly after our arrival. And tiramisu…

My husband’s part-time legal partner married an Italian-cooking goddess! It’s true, the old guy couldn’t quite give up working in retirement, so if you want Sam to handle any contracts for you, he’ll be in town from May to September, when the summer days fade and he and his wife head to warmer parts. Otherwise, he assures you Roy can handle things.

There followed one meal after another of delicious food, church potlucks, and a street festival celebrating the many cultures of  the locals until the hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches I served began to make me feel like less than a successful wife and mother. Sure, the guys were supportive, but I know they were sneaking out for burgers or enchiladas.

Determined to keep them from dying of starvation or eating too many fries, I set out a week ago Sunday to prepare a traditional family dinner. We even went to church first. Hey, it happens. Even a heathen can kneel and be grateful for a good life from time to time.

I turned the oven on and got a beautiful pot roast from the refrigerator. With detailed instructions from a kind neighbor in hand, I cut vegetables, pared potatoes and laid it all out in a big pan.  Tip one: check your oven. I never actually planned to use it and had a box of financial statements stored in there. Maybe do not store paper in the oven should be the tip. Either way it’s hard to miss smoke pouring out around the oven door.

Anyway, with a smoking box of paper in the sink, I checked for any more  potential fire hazards and swept out the door with my family dressed in their finest for a morning of hymns and prayers. Could you ask for a better image of a family?

Tip 2: Do not leave food cooking in your oven and leave the house. If Kirsten had not tripped by on her way to the store and smelled something cooking, stopped to ask what I was making and noticed nobody was home, we might have had a bigger fire. Lucky she had a key! Maybe the tip should be, don’t cook your pot roast at 450?

We returned home to find the pot roast on the counter, fully cooked and looking delicious with a note from Kirsten sharing the tip…it was definitely, cook while at home. 

I have also learned:
Do not microwave aluminum foil.
Do not leave anything on the stovetop while working on a big financial merger.
And,most important of all…a few peanut butter sandwiches never hurt anyone.

I am not giving up, but rumor has it cooking lessons are in my future. Along with a big tube of Lady Juneau’s Organic After-Balm. Roy is trying to help me remember kitchen safety. Luckily, most of his lessons start in a spanky way and end in a passionate one.

Greeting from Corbin’s Bend!


Kate Richards divides her time between Los Angeles and the High Sierras. She would gladly spend all her days in the mountains, but she’d miss the beach…and her very supportive husband’s commute would be three hundred miles. 

Wherever she is, she loves to explore all different kinds of relationships in her stories. She doesn’t believe one-size-fits-all, and whether her characters live BDSM, mĂ©nage, GLBT or any other kind of lifestyle, it’s the love, the joy I one
another, that counts.




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Jul 11, 2014

Dreams of Perfection by Rebecca Heflin




What if perfection isn’t truly perfect?



Best-selling romance writer, Darcy Butler, is holding out for perfection in the form of her own carefully-crafted heroes. Once blissfully engaged to be married, Darcy’s post-traumatic commitment phobia is depriving her of the very thing she wants most: her very own happily-ever-after. Now, here she is just six months shy of her thirtieth birthday, and not a Prince Charming in sight.



Successful lawyer, Josh Ryan, is the boy-next-door with a soft spot for the less fortunate, and Darcy’s best friend without benefits. Darcy often comes to him lamenting her love-life, or the lack thereof, whereupon Josh patiently doles out his sage advice. Problem is Josh is in love with Darcy.



But when Darcy finds herself looking into the handsome face of the man who graces the cover of her soon-to-be-released novel, she’s convinced her dreams of perfection have come true. Or have they?




Rebecca Heflin is an award-winning author who has dreamed of writing romantic fiction since she was fifteen and her older sister snuck a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss' Shanna to her and told her to read it. Rebecca writes women's fiction and contemporary romance. When not passionately pursuing her dream, Rebecca is busy with her day-job as a practicing attorney.



Rebecca is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Florida Romance Writers, RWA Contemporary Romance, and Florida Writers Association. She and her mountain-climbing husband live at sea level in sunny Florida.



Awards:

2013 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award Finalist (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence Winner (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Virginia Romance Writers Holt Medallion Award of Merit (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Georgia Romance Writers Published Maggie Finalist (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Shooting Star Award (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Finalist (Rescuing Lacey)
2013 Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers' Awards Finalist (The Promise of Change)
2011 Royal Palm Literary Awards Finalist (The Promise of Change)

Website    Blog      Twitter      Facebook


Rebecca will be awarding an author-graphed ebook to two randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter. For more chances to win follow the tour.



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Jul 10, 2014

Dangerously His by A.M. Griffin


Title: Dangerously His
Genre: Science Fiction
Flame rating:Scorching
Released: May 28th, 2014
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Loving Dangerously, Book Four

Justin “JB” Blake has never met a woman he couldn’t bed—or one he wants to keep. That changes the second he lays eyes on Princess Saia Xochis. The beautiful alien makes his body burn and his heart ache. She will be his. All JB has to do is risk life and limb at the hands of her abusive father, her protective brother, and her warmongering intended mate.

The possibilities of death and dismemberment have never stopped him before.

Inside Scoop: This book has a small taste of female/female fun—as well as scenes of abuse that are decidedly not fun.

A Romantica® sci-fi erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave


JB looked toward the door as everyone else did. Taio stood at the entrance, with Eva on one arm and a taller female who looked just like him on the other. He waited as everyone rose to their feet.

“That’s his mother, Queen Fainia Xochis of Drazlan,” Lo’Ren said from the seat next to him. “It’s customary for you to stand when she enters the room.”

“I’ve already pissed him off today, no need to do it again if it’s not totally necessary.” JB stood.

Taio proceeded through the door, followed by three other females. JB immediately found himself staring at one in particular.

Her head was cast down slightly, her face obscured by waves and waves of jet-black hair that brushed the swell of her round butt. She wore a pale-purple form-fitting dress. The floor-length gown had designs made of colored crystals. Her skin was the same color as Taio’s, but different. It seemed to glow. Her build was tall and slender with a hint of curves where they were needed most.

She turned her head.

He caught his breath.

Beautiful.

As her lavender eyes locked on Lo’Ren, he willed her to look his way. Her features were sharp and foreign, but beautiful in every way. Her cheekbones were high and defined. Her lips were full and pink. She had a look of longing in her eyes and he wanted to know why.

No, he needed to know why.

Was she upset?

Who had taken the joy away from such a perfect female?

Look at me. I want to know you.

“Uh, unless you’re inviting Taio to kill you, I would sit down,” Lo’Ren said, tugging on his sleeve.

He glanced around to find he was the only one still standing. JB sat but kept his eyes on the female across the room. “Why would he kill me? She’s not human.”

“She’s his younger sister, Princess Saia.” Lo’Ren popped a piece of meat in her mouth and chewed. “Look the other way, human.”

That information alone should have been enough to make him turn his head and focus his attention on something else, but he couldn’t.

Princess Saia.

Rasha grabbed Saia in a bear hug and lifted her from her feet. JB watched, waiting for her to turn his way. His heart thumped. He wanted to go to her, meet her.

She was his.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the misplaced thought.

Where the hell did that come from?

Then she turned toward him. Their eyes met.

And there it was.

His heart felt as though it was seized in a tight fist then dropped to the pit of his stomach.

“This is where you take my advice before you get into trouble.”

“She’s looking at me,” he whispered.

Every nerve in his body sprang to life. Her eyes were framed in the heaviest lashes he’d ever seen. And when she blinked, they looked like wings of butterflies.

He sighed and felt as if his body had melted into the chair.

Lo’Ren groaned. “Taio will kill you.”

“I don’t care.” He couldn’t drag his gaze away. A small smile graced beautiful full lips. Lips he wanted to claim for his own. From the side, her face had appeared long, but no, it was round and soft. Her nose was perky and petite. “Princess Saia,” JB said breathlessly.

Lo’Ren shook her head. “I shouldn’t have told you her name. I don’t want any part of this.”

“I would have found out anyway.” Nothing could have stopped him from knowing her name.

Lo’Ren blew out a heavy breath. “Did I mention that she’s Taio’s only sister?”

Buy links: Amazon       Ellora's Cave


A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She's a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.
For more information please visit www.amgriffinbooks.com


A.M. Griffin is giving away a $10 GC and signed cover flat and handmade book mark for Stone Soup Designs


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Four-Leaf Clover by Charmaine Ros





A sexy, sugar-laden David vs Goliath story about a local bakery, a national chain, and what really matters.

Clover Loveday has worked hard to get her café Four-Leaf Clover up and running, her ticket out of an increasingly alarming financial situation and her dream come true. When she literally falls off her ladder into the arms of national bakery chain Upper Crust owner, sexy-as-sin Liam Sinclair, who owns the new bakery being built just across the road, she decides that no matter how nauseated she is about the idea, it is best keep your enemy close, rather than leave things to fate.

Liam has never put too much thought into the competition when he opens a new outlet, other than taking their customers and strengthening the Upper Crust brand. But here in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, Clover Loveday’s cafe is a little too close for comfort, and Clover Loveday a little too good-looking. So Liam asks his PA to put together a Fact Sheet about his new competition. He has a business to run, a father to please, and hundreds of people to keep in jobs. Surely information can keep an unwanted strong sexual pull at bay…

A sexy, caffeinated, satisfying story about unexpected temptations, forgiveness, and putting love before money.



Clover was tired. More tired than usual. Lack of sleep often did that to her, compounding the effects of a physical day. She’d been unable to go to sleep because of a kiss she hadn’t wanted or asked for and still couldn’t seem to push from her mind. Clover checked the bread in the covered bowl she’d set aside that morning. She always liked the smell of raising bread in the morning. Made it more earthy.

It had been a nice kiss, well, a great kiss. She rolled the risen dough onto the floured surface and started kneading. Hell, it had knocked her socks off. Left fist. Exactly what she hadn’t wanted. Right fist. Clover blew a strand of hair from her face. Making dough usually let off steam, but this morning it didn’t have the desired effect.

She rolled the soft dough into a long sausage. The dough would make great lunch rolls. She’d add them to today’s menu. Take the rest to the shelter at finish time. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and where she wanted to be. No diversions.

She’d never got so caught up before. Now the sausage was too thick, so she had to start again. This time less force. She just didn’t need a man in her life, no matter how good he was at kissing. She certainly didn’t need to feel so damn good because of it. She picked up a broad-bladed knife and chopped the sausage into sections. Chop. Chop. Chop. The blade made a satisfactory thump on the cutting board. What was it about Liam that had her all confused about her simple life’s rules?

‘Man trouble?’

‘Huh? Clover looked up to see Holly lounging on the doorframe. Holly looked from the knife in Clover’s hand to the small blobs of dough scattered over the bench. ‘Are you planning to make rolls for dwarves?’

Clover kept in the sound of frustration as she gathered the bits of dough and started kneading. Again.

‘I’m okay. Just couldn’t sleep last night,’ Clover said.

Holly locked her arms over her chest and rested a hip on the bench. ‘Ah-huh. Any reason you want to particularly share?’

‘No reason.’ The kiss wasn’t the problem. It was the fact she’d let him do it. Just stood there, waiting for him to plant his mouth on hers. She hadn’t the will power or the inclination to stop him. And it had been so nice to let him do it to her. So nice to feel desired, wanted. Nice to give in to what she craved. Just for a moment. A nano-second of bliss.

Then reality had stepped in. Knew where a kiss could lead and that she couldn’t let it pull her into its sweet embrace. The nagging weight of responsibility pushed on her shoulders and she had listened, like she always did. Responded by letting him walk back out her door, angry that she had let it happen in the first instance. Besides, she’d be getting into bed with the enemy. She just couldn’t do that.


Buy Links:   Amazon     Barnes & Noble




I live in Upwey, a very leafy suburb of outer Melbourne. I can hear most Melbournians say, ‘Where?’ Think Puffing Billy, the hills and inexcusably steep driveways and you're there. We have a house with room for the kids to play in the backyard, the cat to sleep wherever and the husband to lounge on a bean-bag in front of the telly. I love romance because it adds so much to the story. Everyone needs a little love to take them away.

Author Links:      Site    Facebook    Goodreads 


harmaine will be awarding a copy of the book during the tour. 

For a chance to win please fill out the rafflecopter below. For more chances to win follow the tour HERE




Jul 1, 2014

Savannah Sacrifice by Danica Winters

SOR Savannah Sacrifice VBT BannerGenre: Paranormal 
Series: Nymph Series Book 4

Answers that she must find… A truth that he can’t escape…And ghosts up to no good…

Being a demi-god has its privileges. For the young nymph, Starling Jackson, it means the gift of seduction and more than that—near immortality. Yet, when her life is filled with spirits, immortality may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

With the help of her bodyguard, Jasper Gray, and secret books left to her by her late-mother’s friend, she may have found the answer to all of her problems. First, they must find a way to locate the books in their enemy’s hotbed all while staying safe and most importantly—without falling in love.

In the battles between the head and the heart and enemies and friends, tough decisions must be faced—and sacrifices made.


SORM excerpt
It was a strange feeling to know that she was probably going to die and to not really care. The last year of Starling Jackson’s life had been filled with ghosts, lies, her mother’s murder, and the death of an enemy—a death fraught with dangerous threats. Finally, the time had come to make her stand against her world and the ghosts and enemies who inhabited it, even if that stand cost her the only thing she had left to give: her life.She walked through the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and to the baggage claim area where a cluster of people moved in a precarious dance of personalities, the boldest of which pushed to the front of the group while the rest escaped to the far recesses of the room. Starling stood in the middle, pushed back by those struggling for a place at the front and nudged forward to stand as a barrier from the melee by those who hated the entire situation.Don’t let them push you. You are stronger than this … take control, the familiar voice of the ghost Asclepius echoed in her mind.“Oh, I’ll take control.” Reaching into her bag, Starling took out her pills and swallowed down a tablet. That made six. Or was it seven pills today? Regardless, it was a new record. There was no doubt the medicine was losing its effect in keeping the spirits at bay. If she didn’t find the Libros Umbrarum books soon, there wouldn’t be any break from the endless whispers and threats of the ghosts that invaded her reality.I’ll be back … You will have to listen to me soon enough … Asclepius quieted.

“Not if I have my way.”



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9781440565472Winter Swans

Nymph Series Book 3

A curse that forbids her to love…A child that he must accept… And a battle that could get them killed…

After the death of his troubled ex-wife, the professional poker player, Chance Landon, finds out he is the father of a strange girl who carries even stranger secrets.

Swan-shifting nymph, Harper Cygnini, is a driven by the need to succeed in her professional life. When she meets Chance and his daughter, it becomes only too clear that there are things missing in her life—feelings and needs laid dormant after the mistakes of her past.

When Chance makes a choice that puts them all in danger, Harper must choose between her job and her heart. Chance may be the gambler, but should she risk making the same mistakes and pinning her hopes on a future that may cost Chance his life and his daughter—or is that one bet she is unwilling to take?



Buy Links:   Amazon    Barnes and Noble    Kobo    All Romance eBooks   iTunes



Montana Mustangs CoverMontana Mustangs

Nymph Series Book 2

A nymph: a woman with the ability to seduce at will, shift to protect, but cursed with the fate to have the man she falls in love with die a tragic death. As one of these ill-fated nymphs, Aura Montgarten has spent her lifetime drifting from one place to another hiding from love. Until she meets Dane.

When a body washes up on the shore of a rural Montana lake, police officer Dane Burke is faced with the task of finding the killer - even if it means he will be forced to put his life and heart at risk by working with a drifter. As the truth of Aura’s Mustang-shifting nymph ways are revealed, Dane learns exactly the amount of danger he and Aura are in, but can’t force himself to leave a case unsolved when the truth is just outside his grasp.

When the killer decides he needs to take another victim - Dane - Aura must choose between their forbidden love and her immortal life. Can there be life without love or is death her only choice?



Buy Links:    Amazon   Barnes and Noble   Kobo   iTunes



9781440562235The Nymph's Labyrinth

Nymph Series Book 1

A world shrouded in mystery and intrigue, the Sisterhood of Epione must not be exposed.

A Shape-shifting nymph, Ariadne, is tasked with keeping the truth of her group’s existence and their ancient mysteries far out of reach of an American archeologist and his troublemaking son. When forgotten and forbidden passions are awakened, Ariadne is forced to make a choice—fall in line and continue to be overrun and pushed down by the sisterhood, or follow her heart and put everyone’s lives in danger.

Can she have the man she loves or will the pressure and secrets of the past keep her from her heart’s desire?

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SORM About the Author




Danica Winters is a bestselling author of over ten books.  She has won multiple awards and is known for writing books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and occasionally a touch of magic. Most recently, Danica was the winner of the 2013 Paranormal Romance Guild’s Book of the Year Award and currently a finalist in the Chanticleer Reviews and Media Paranormal Book of the Year competition for her paranormal romantic suspense novel, Montana Mustangs.
When she’s not working, she can be found in the wilds of Montana testing her patience while she tries to understand the allure of various crafts (quilting, pottery, and painting are not her thing).  She always believes the cup is neither half full nor half empty, but it better be filled with wine.

Author Links:  Website    Blog    Twitter    Facebook   Goodreads 

SORM Giveaway




Danica Winters is giving away 3 signed print copies to 3 lucky winners. 2 copies of Nymph's Labyrinth and one copy of Montana Mustangs.
For a chance to win please fill out the rafflecopter below.