BLURB:

Leanna Matthews enjoys flying below the radar. She does well in school, has a few close friends and hides the fact she’s an astral-traveling telekinetic. But there’s no escaping her creepy dreams or Simora, the bizarre little spirit lady, that suddenly pops out of nowhere to warn her against keeping secrets and predicts an encounter with a sinister evil. For the first time in forever someone…or something…is on to her.

But life turns around when Leanna meets Piper one sunny afternoon. She’s inexplicably drawn to him, almost as if she’s been waiting for him to come. Forbidden to have a boyfriend Leanna throws caution to the wind, lying to her family and friends to be with him, while ignoring Simora’s ominous message.

Yet Piper has a secret of his own. He is on a mission and Leanna, unwittingly, is the key.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT 
Leanna Matthews craved for ordinary in the least extraordinary way.  She enjoyed a few close friends, shopping at the mall and perhaps a nice romance novel every now and again.  Routine was good, early mornings were better…and life was extremely complicated.

She squirmed restlessly in Biology – the final, insufferable class of the day – listening to Ms. Alvarado drone on-and-on about non-polar bonds in her last, torturous act of the term.  Somewhere between ‘atom’ and ‘electronegativity,’ Leanna nodded off, nearly conking her head on the desk while daydreaming of summer vacation:  shopping, beach, friends, shopping, vacation, shopping, sun, shopping, but not necessarily in that order. 

Someone snickered from behind, no doubt amused by her wobbly head, as her eyelids grew heavier.  Shut-up Ms. Alvarado, she thought bitterly.  Thank God that in less than 20 minutes ninth grade would be officially over!  School, and all its stupid inhabitants (present company included), would be history for a good two months; or rather two months too short - but it didn’t matter.  Somewhere a beach chair sat waiting on white, fluffy sand and a plane ticket had her name stamped all over it.  The fun was just about to begin!

Or so she thought.

That next morning, instead of awakening to the sweet taste of freedom, Leanna lay whimpering, shivering feverishly in her sleep.  She curled tightly into a knot as a tiny beam of light crept through the shutters while she slept, casting eerie shadows on the wall - one of which grew abnormally in size until completely encircling the white canopy bed.  

Interview with Author Kiera Des Anges

1. What have you got coming soon for us to look out for?

Leanna isn’t finished with her story!  There are lots of adventures yet to come.  I’m hoping to be finished in the next couple of months.

2.  Which Star Trek or Star Wars character are you most like?

I think I am a lot like Spock.  I’m not as smart, but I tend to all on the logical side.  Things just have to make sense.

3.  Who would you most like to be stranding on a desert island with?  Least?  Why?

If I was stranded on a desert island I want to be with my husband.  He is smart, resourceful and always has my back. 

4.  First book you remember making an indelible impression on you. 

Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret.  It’s still an idyllic coming of age story.  Judy Blume is a wonderful storyteller.

5.  If you could only eat one food the rest of your life, what would it be?

Chocolate Cookies from Toll House.  They’re definitely my weakness!

6.  If you were a shifter, what animal would you like to be?

The Bald Eagle.  They are powerful fliers and fearless and strong.  That sounds cool.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:

By day, Keira des Anges has the distinct pleasure of assisting teenagers with disabilities find employment, empowering one life at a time. By night, she is a chew toy for her dog and cat and avid reader of anything spooky, magical and totally out of this world.  She lives in sunny Florida with her husband and two kids.

Twitter:  @KeiradesAnges

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/KeiraDesAnges

Website:  www.keiradesanges.com

Amazon:   http://www.amazon.com/Flick-ebook/dp/B00D8MW7EE/ref=la_B00DCFJYB6_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379722174&sr=1-1

The authors will award a digital copy of the book to five randomly drawn commenters and one grand prize of a $50 Amazon GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter from this tour and the review tour.

Click on book cover to follow tour and improve odds.

BLURB:
Once and Forever -  An anthology

By Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Emelle Gamble, Lavinia Kent and introducing Evie Owens

From five compelling authors, five original novellas which will make you laugh and cry, and believe in a love that once found will last forever. Meet a duke, a psychic, a bodyguard and a professor…and one "guardian fairy" in absorbing stories ranging from regency and contemporary romance to paranormal and women's fiction.

Playing for Keeps by Mary Blayney

Actress Kendall Marshall is determined to get an autograph for her sick sister from famous TV personality Mike O’Hara, the Oprah Winfrey of sports. In the process she meets his brother, security consultant Steve Marshall, lands a job on O’Hara’s show and gets in the way of a man set on causing big trouble. As the stalkers attacks escalate, Steve and Kendall are thrown together and find it impossible to ignore the chemistry between them.

The Princess & the Pinot by Elaine Fox

When a beautiful woman shows up at the Vineyard Inn, wine manager Kim is certain she’s been sent by fate for the inn’s owner, Cooper. Self-effacing to a fault, Kim knows she can’t hold a candle to Principessa Bella, who also seems to know even more about wine than Kim herself, but her heart has belonged to Cooper since they shared one kiss as teenagers.

While Prin sweeps easily into the job of sommelier at the renowned inn, Kim is afraid Prin will sweep just as surely into Cooper’s arms if she doesn’t do something about it. Can she tell Cooper how she feels without losing even his friendship?

Kim is willing to try except for one problem: she’s almost certainly losing her mind. Or is that belching, swearing, smoking, farting fairy – who claims to be trying to help her – real?

Duets by Emelle Gamble

Duets offers alternating looks into the lives of two women who would seem to have little or nothing in common.

Screen star Molly Harper is on the verge of marrying a man who has swept her off her feet, thought perhaps hasn’t swept all her feelings for her first love away. Anne Sullivan, happily married for twenty-five years, is fighting to hold onto the man she loves, and hold off a confrontation that could shatter her family’s image of what they are.

Duets confronts a past secret that ties these two women’s lives together, just as chance events turn Molly and Anne’s worlds upside down. 

Never and Forever by Lavinia Kent           

Never and Forever is the beginning of the love story of two people who shouldn’t belong together.  Molly, Miss Wilkes, runs an employment agency helping women of quality find positions perfected suited to their characters.  Although her father held the title of Earl for just over a week before his death, Molly has never wanted to be a lady.  She knows her place in this world – and it is not at the center of society.

The Duke of Radford also knows his place in this world – and it’s above everybody else’s.  He cannot imagine a world without all the privilege and power that comes from being Radford.  He’s had foreign princesses and heiresses dangled before him for years.  Why would he ever have interest in a simple woman who doesn’t even understand that she should want to be a duchess?

Can these two overcome the obstacles of their own beliefs and realize that love can make all things possible?

Never and forever are both a very long time.  Where will their love fit?

The Psychic Detective by Evie Owens

Psychic Martin Sterling doesn't trust cops--and the feeling is mutual. Detective Erin Healy needs more than a ghost story to save her job and reputation. Her partner is dead, a million dollars in drugs and money is missing, and all the evidence points to her.

Can a sexy psychic and a by the book cop, trapped between the living and the dead, unearth the truth? Or will a cold-blooded killer get away with it all...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt One:

“All we want is an autograph for Cassie. Who would turn down the wish of a girl waiting for a heart transplant? It can’t hurt to ask.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and Kendall knew her sister was almost convinced.

“Kendall, he’s a mega talk show host and will have a boatload of security.” Jessica nodded toward the edge of the set. “For example, who’s that guy over there watching us?”

Kendall looked over and stopped short. He was leaning against one of the old trees that lined the street, wearing a black lightweight jacket and apparently enjoying the scenery. No way was he part of a security team.

He smiled at her. It was a combo of friendly and come-on and Kendall only nodded back. But her whole body registered his whole body in a way that made her wish he was something other than a guy who had nothing better to do than pretend he was a part of a tree.

Apparently her glance was all he needed. Kendall swore very quietly when he straightened and came toward them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ONE MORE KISS:
“Mary Blayney’s newest Regency romance is a genuine pleasure to read”(NY Journal of Books)
“One More Kiss is a delightful combination of social comedy, slight mystery, and sweet romance. It’s a thoroughly charming novel, well worth a read.” . . .(NY Journal of Books)
MIRROR MIRROR anthology, “If Wishes Were Horses”
Debut at #3 New York Times Mass Market List October 2013
“Blayney's wish-granting coin entwines a pair of lonely adventure seekers in romance beyond their lives as a servant and a sergeant in her charming 1816 fantasy, If Wishes Were Horses. . . .” (Publishers Weekley, October 2013)

12-20-13 Writer Wonderland blog tour for Once and Forever

Interview with Mary Blayney

Tell us about yourself:

What was your first book? Is that my first book that sold? Cause there were a few that didn’t before I finally sold TRUE COLORS to then Silhouette Desire a long, long time ago.  Set in a small town in Wisconsin it’s the story of a very famous TV actor who meets the one woman whose never heard of him.

The attraction is there from the first confrontation but what surprises them both is the values that they share.

Describe your first break. Moving from Juneau Alaska, where I had three great part time jobs. A place I wanted to stay forever. Then my husband got transferred and I really did love him more than Juneau. So I decided to try my hand at writing, something I had always wanted to do. It was a consolation prize for leaving Alaska. In time I saw that move as my first big break!

What is your favorite genre to read? 

 I want to read stories that make me feel better about the universe in whatever genre. When it comes to writing I love the regency world I have created but also have found renewed pleasure in a return to the sweet contemporary romances that were my first success.

What makes a protagonist interesting?

 Great question which means I’m not really sure. Here are two thoughts off the top of my head (though I would prefer to discuss this with a group before answering) I would say honor at the core of their being especially when it is well hidden. I love characters who find life an adventure in the best possible way and share it with others.


What is the best thing about being a writer?

 Living in that alternate universe where the world is mind to command (barring a few really annoying characters like Marguerite in HIS LAST LOVER and William Bendasbrook in several of the Pennistan books)

What is the worst thing?
 Rejection

Pantser or plotter?
 Panster

What do you see the direction of your future writing taking? What can we expect next? 
Give us a little taste. 
Ooooh there are so many stories I have to tell! But what is happening next for sure is the release of FATHER CHRISTMAS which is the back story of Kendall Marshall the heroine  in my ONCE AND FOREVER novella “Playing for Keeps” That will be followed this winter by her sister, Jessica’s story. Here is the opening few lines from that “The rest of my life began with a kiss. My sister Kendall does not agree. ‘Jessica, the rest of both our lives began when we met Steve and Mike O’Hara.’ And for her that’s true. But not for me. It took a lot longer for me to see Mike O’Hara for the wonder he is.”

Just for fun

Cat or dog person?
 Dog

Favorite food? 
Hot fudge sundae at Serenditpity

Favorite book? 
CORDELIA’S HONOR by Lois McMaster Bujold                                    

Favorite movie? 
Impossible to chose just one. My most recent favorite was The Avengers

Favorite vacation destination  (you just have to want to go there)  
Barryar (see Lois Mc Master Bujold science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga)

Blurb for Once and Forever:

Once and Forever   An anthology

By Mary Blayney, Elaine Fox, Emelle Gamble, Lavinia Kent and introducing Evie Owens

From five compelling authors, five original novellas which will make you laugh and cry, and believe in a love that once found will last forever. Meet a duke, a psychic, a bodyguard and a professor…and one "guardian fairy" in absorbing stories ranging from regency and contemporary romance to paranormal and women's fiction.

Blurb for Playing for Keeps by Mary Blayney

Actress Kendall Marshall is determined to get an autograph for her sick sister from famous TV personality Mike O’Hara, the Oprah Winfrey of sports. In the process she meets his brother, security consultant Steve O’Hara, lands a job on O’Hara’s show and gets in the way of a man set on causing big trouble. As the stalkers attacks escalate, Steve and Kendall are thrown together and find it impossible to ignore the chemistry between them.

Excerpt from Playing for Keeps by Mary Blayney

“All we want is an autograph for Cassie. Who would turn down the wish of a girl waiting for a heart transplant? It can’t hurt to ask.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and Kendall knew her sister was almost convinced.

“Kendall, he’s a mega talk show host and will have a boatload of security.” Jessica nodded toward the edge of the set. “For example, who’s that guy over there watching us?”

Kendall looked over and stopped short. He was leaning against one of the old trees that lined the street, wearing a black lightweight jacket and apparently enjoying the scenery. No way was he part of a security team.

He smiled at her. It was a combo of friendly and come-on and Kendall only nodded back. But her whole body registered his whole body in a way that made her wish he was something other than a guy who had nothing better to do than pretend he was a part of a tree.

Apparently her glance was all he needed. Kendall swore very quietly when he straightened and came toward them.

 

Bio for Mary Blayney

NY Times Best Selling author Mary Blayney’s first two romances were contemporaries published by Silhouette Books. Since 2000 she has been writing regency set historical novels and novellas for Kensington, Bantam and Berkley. Returning to the contemporary market with her novella in ONCE AND FOREVER, Mary hopes to continue to tell stories set in both the regency and the 21st century.

     Married to a retired Coast Guard officer, Mary has lived all over the US from Alaska to Puerto Rico, but is now settled near Annapolis, Maryland within sight of the Chesapeake Bay. Her life close to the Coast Guard and its mission to search and rescue, has convinced her that life is best lived with joy, love and a generous heart. Those convictions are what she most wantS to share with her readers. Family will always play a strong part in her books since she believes that family relationships are as fundamental as the love between a man and a woman.

Links for Mary Blayney

http://maryblayney.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMaryBlayney

Available on Kindle

BLURB:  
Strong personalities—volatile marriages—stressful careers—conflicting goals—difficult children.

Contemporary challenges facing close-knit families form the crucible that forges a new generation.

Brandis, Gabriel, Blair and Lillian emerge from the entanglement of their parents’ longstanding emotional connections, but one’s star will burn brighter – and hotter – than the others.

With a personality that consumes everyone and everything in its path, Brandis Gordon struggles to maintain control as he ricochets between wild success and miserable failure. His life proves how even the strongest relationships can be strangled by the ties that bind.

Brandis and Gabe Frietag are as close as any brothers, bound by both loyalty and fierce rivalry. The strength of their ultimate alliance is tested time and again by Brandis’ choices.

Companions from birth, Blair Frietag and Lillian Robinson share loner tendencies, but come to rely on each other through adolescence. As they mature, both are forced to confront their feelings for the men they knew as boys.

Somewhere between the tangle of good memories and bad, independence and addiction, optimism and despair, the intertwined destinies of the new generation finally collide, leaving some stronger, others broken, but none unscathed.

As a chronicle of three families navigating the minefields of teen years into the turbulence of young adulthood, Good Faith holds up a literary mirror to contemporary life with joys and temptations unflinchingly reflected. Its fresh, real-life voice portrays the sheer volatility of human nature, complete with the hopes, dreams, and unexpected setbacks of marriage, parenthood and “coming of age.”



Excerpt 

That morning his father had roused him from a sound sleep. He’d blinked, confused, by the angle of the sunlight. He rarely slept much past eight since he usually had some sort of training or the other.

“Let’s go son. Time for lunch.”

Brandis had dragged himself up, his limbs feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds each. His brain buzzed with a strange sort of energy, his typical state, and not at all welcome considering it normally didn’t hit him until later in the day. The conversation his father began as soon as they were seated at their usual diner did not help.

“So, listen, Brandis. These girls…Katie’s friends from college….”

Brandis sipped his ice water, waiting for his father to finish the thought. His heart pounded, and his face flushed hot with embarrassment.

Jack sighed, as if exasperated that Brandis didn’t pick up the thread on his own, leaving him to carry on with the awkwardness about to ensue. Then he leveled his gaze, his face open, not angry or judgmental. “I think that you may be in for some…I mean, they’re…shit.”

“If you are gonna tell me where babies come from again,” Brandis said, after deciding to ease his father’s obvious distress. He cocked an eyebrow and half a smile. Jack seemed to relax somewhat as Brandis continued. “Don’t bother. I already know.”

He flashed his brightest smile up at the middle-aged woman who stood at their table, coffee pot in hand. She blinked rapidly at him, and at that precise moment, Brandis got his first flash of…something…about his power. Up until now he’d merely been “Brandis the trouble maker, the causer of strife.” Suddenly, he felt strong, amazingly so, stronger than even the man sitting across from him, a taller, older version of himself. His body tingled all over, as he tested the smile out again on the woman, making her slop some coffee out onto the table. His father frowned, but then chuckled as the woman walked away after they gave their orders.

“Son,” he said, leaning back and cradling the coffee mug to his chest. “Your adventure has only just begun.”

“Huh?” Brandis picked up his cup but didn’t drink any. He hated coffee, but had ordered it in a burst of need to be more like Jack. As he sipped the bitter stuff, he was transported back years before when he and his dad would spend every single Saturday morning together, eating breakfast at this very diner. He had adored the man, he remembered distinctly. His chest hurt at the simplicity of their relationship then. He looked away from Jack’s deep blue, knowing gaze.

The subject changed of its own accord, and Brandis let it. Although part of him wanted to ask for advice, a much bigger part would not allow the words past his lips.

They ate, discussing the upcoming football season and Brandis’ part in it. The recruiting company Jack had contracted last year to video his every move would start up with the first game. He’d made varsity again, technically as backup quarterback to a senior boy. Brandis didn’t see this as a setback and had every intention of starting under center by the second or third game.

Finally, when they pushed their empty plates back and sat looking at each other, Brandis felt more comfortable in his father’s presence than he had been in a long time. Jack said, “I am pretty sure at least one of those girls sleeping in the basement is determined to change the status of your virginity for you probably as soon as tonight.”

Brandis choked on the last sip of lukewarm coffee. His face burned, and his body tingled again. “I’m…it’s…uh….” He clutched the napkin in his lap unable to meet his father’s eyes.

“No need to say anything. Let’s just say your mother is an astute reader of female intent. While I was busy admiring your sister’s friend’s ass, she apparently read the girl’s mind or something.” Brandis’ face flushed even hotter.

He resisted the urge to protest, to proclaim his innocence of such things. Because he wanted it back—those mornings between them, father and son, man and boy, not this awkward, man and almost-man bullshit. Because while the thought of one of his sister’s college friends popping his cherry remained a pleasant fantasy, it also made him feel older than he wanted to be right then.

“So, I bought a box of condoms this morning,” Jack went on. “Put some downstairs in the side table drawer and the rest in your room. Use them please.” He sipped the last of his coffee, looked as if he were about to get up, then leaned forward, touching Brandis’ wrist. “Have fun. Don’t be an asshole to women. Let every experience teach you…something. Because you are nothing as a man if you don’t learn from every woman you…love.” Jack looked out the window onto the nearly empty parking lot. Then he turned back, tightened his grip on his son’s arm. “God, you are so…young.” His face fell a moment, then he perked up again, his eyes twinkling. “Okay, so, your mother told me to tell you not to let them corrupt you. But all I’m gonna say is this: always wear protection, no matter what, no matter how much you don’t want to. And don’t let your mom catch you in the act. I’ll handle her otherwise.”

Then he let go, stood and smiled, draping a friendly arm around Brandis’ shoulders as they exited the restaurant.

“You really didn’t tell me you were admiring Katie’s friend’s ass, did you, Dad?”

“No, son. I most certainly did not. You obviously misheard me.” Jack winked as he stood by the passenger’s side of his classic Corvette convertible and tossed the keys to Brandis. “Remember what I told you. Don’t ride my clutch.”

AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Amazon best-selling author, beer blogger and beer marketing expert, mom of three, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town.  She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse. While working as a successful Realtor, Liz made the leap into writing novels about the same time she agreed to take on marketing and sales for the Wolverine State Brewing Company.   

Most days find her sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, unless she’s writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications. 

Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”).  More recently she is garnering even more fans across genres with her latest novels, which are more character-driven fiction, while remaining very much “real life.”

With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and many times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate, and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.

If you are in the Ann Arbor area, be sure and stop into the Wolverine State Brewing Co. Tap Room—but don’t ask her for anything “like” a Bud Light, or risk serious injury.

www.lizcrowe.com

www.brewingpasssion.com

www.a2beerwench.com

www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor

www.twitter.com/beerwencha2

www.facebook.com/groups/lizcrowefans

 

 

UNLIKELY ANGEL

by Genie Gabriel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

A child psychiatrist running from violence and a former bodyguard grieving the wife he couldn't save form an unlikely alliance to rescue her kidnapped children. In a crumbling mine tunnel on Christmas Eve, their lives depend on a mutt rescued from the streets, a determined mother and an Unlikely Angel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~




 

EXCERPT #1 from UNLIKELY ANGEL by Genie Gabriel

Two weeks before Christmas, Mitch decided he had waited long enough.

“Come on, mutt.” Mitch grabbed his coat and a pair of work gloves. “Let’s go find the twins.”

Gabe bounded to his feet and bumped the doorknob with his nose. He sniffed and marked around the yard while Mitch pulled the Ferrari out of the garage. As soon as the dog jumped into the car, Mitch drove to a lot selling Christmas trees. He selected one that would fit nicely in Julia’s small apartment and strapped it to the top of the car.

The mutt hung his head out the window, riding in silent watchfulness until the apartment building was in sight. “Woof!”

“You have to be quiet or we’ll get caught smuggling you in.” Under cover of the falling twilight and a bushy evergreen tree, Mitch and the dog walked quickly toward Julia’s apartment.

As soon as Julia opened the door, the dog pushed inside and sniffed out the twins, quickly falling back into their game of hide and seek. Within seconds, the twins’ giggles let Julia know the dog had found the children.

“I brought a tree.” Mitch stood the evergreen upright.

“I see that.” Julia bit her lip as she walked around the tree. “Nice choice. Bushy all around.”

“I had three picky sisters who trained me in the fine art of Christmas tree selection.”

Julia smiled. “They trained you well.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I'm an optimist whose rose-colored glasses have bent frames and cracked lenses. When life kicks me in the teeth, I find miracles and lessons I refused to learn an easier way. In fact, I live with a small herd of miracles in the furry forms of dogs, who are constantly trying to teach me to forgive, to play more, and to love without limits. I write about people who find courage and integrity in the darkest times of their lives, who rescue stray dogs and kittens, who find a person they would willingly give their lives for, and who make their little corners of the world a better place. People have remarked my stories "aren't what they expected." With rose-colored glasses firmly in place, I take that as a compliment. I invite you to share a piece of my world in the pages of a book, and hope you find some surprises, some tears, some laughter, and always a happy ending.



My Web site: http://www.GenieGabriel.com

My blog: http://oshealegacyseries.blogspot.com/

 

Love for the Holidays

by Noelle Adams, Samantha Chase, Rachel Curtis and Zoe York

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

From fake relationships to secret affairs to best friends falling in love, everything changes at Christmas.

This holiday bundle includes five stories, from steamy to sweet, including two new, exclusive stories from New York Times bestselling authors.

HOLIDAY HEAT by Noelle Adams - After being hit with heartbreaking tragedy, Carrie has thrown herself into a hot, secret relationship with Matt. With Christmas approaching, she realizes she might want even more from her sexy, damaged artist, but the boundaries around their relationship make anything deeper than sex impossible. A new, steamy romance.

MISTLETOE BETWEEN FRIENDS by Samantha Chase - Lily and Cam have been friends all their lives, and their relationship has never been romantic. But when they pretend to be dating so they can spend the holiday with their families in peace, they realize their fake romance might actually be real. A new, sweet romance.

THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE by Samantha Chase - Spending the night trapped by a blizzard in a romantic Christmas cottage with the man she's loved for years has Lacey wondering if fairy tales really do come true. A sweet romance.

EIGHT CHRISTMAS EVES by Rachel Curtis - One Christmas Eve, Cyrus Owen, the over-indulged teenage son of a wealthy businessman, finds ten-year-old Helen on the side of the road. Eleven years later, he is desperately in love with her. This is how it happens... A mostly sweet romance.

WHAT ONCE WAS PERFECT by Zoe York - For Laney, the worst part of returning to her hometown for Christmas is confronting Kyle, the man who broke her heart twelve years ago. When they rediscover their perfect chemistry, Kyle has to convince Laney to let him back into her heart. A steamy romance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt One:

From Holiday Heat by Noelle Adams

“Why is it so hot in December?” she wailed, forcing herself past a faintly tender pull at the sight of his sated eyes and relaxed body.

“Heat wave. Some sort of tropical front. It’s moving up the east coast, from—”

“Oh, shut up.”

Matt’s lips quirked at her grumpy tone, but he didn’t continue his discourse on the unseasonable December weather.

She shouldn’t enjoy his company so much. She shouldn’t like him. She certainly shouldn’t trust him with her body—or anything else.

There was no future with him. He’d told her the first night they met that a real relationship was impossible for him, and nothing about that had changed.

Being with him wasn’t anything like being with Henry. It didn’t feel safe and familiar, even after three months. She had no delusions about a future with Matt. She never would have had sex with him at all if there had been any possibility of a future.

“Next time, I’ll pick the hotel,” he said, his eyes resting on her with a gaze that was almost soft.

“No, I told you before. When you’re involved in a sleazy affair, then you pick a motel that’s appropriate for the occasion.”

He cocked an eyebrow, obviously amused. “Is that what we’re doing? Having a sleazy affair?”

“Of course.”

“Neither one of us is married. I’m not sure ‘affair’ is the correct term.”

“Of course it is. You don’t have to be married to have an affair. It just needs to be secret.” No one knew that Carrie was regularly screwing Matthew Lynch, and she intended to keep it that way.

“I see.” He looked eminently unconvinced. And still amused. And definitely superior.

“Don’t be an ass.” When he opened his mouth to respond, she spoke over him. “You know exactly what ass-like behavior I’m referring to.”

Since that first night, they’d gotten together at least once a week for sex, although recently they’d been getting together more often.

Matt was her hot secret. Her shameless indulgence. Everyone thought she was quiet and withdrawn—keeping to herself, working in her coffee shop, never taking risks. No one would dream she’d have a casual affair with a gorgeous, notorious, wounded artist. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Noelle Adams, Samantha Chase, Rachel Curtis, and Zoe York are four bestselling authors of fun, smart, and contemporary romance, from sweet to sexy, who are collaborating on this holiday anthology.

Beginning on December 11, Love for the Holidays will be on sale for just $.99!

Author websites:

http://noelle-adams.com/

http://www.chasing-romance.com/

http://rachelcurtisauthor.com

http://zoeyork.com/

Buy links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Holidays-Christmas-bundle-ebook/dp/B00GH2TTR0/

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-for-the-holidays-noelle-adams/1117334641

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-lovefortheholidaysfivebookchristmasbundle-1338079-166.html

The Girl from Long Guyland

by Lara Reznik
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: THE GIRL FROM LONG GUYLAND WILL BE ON SALE AT AMAZON FOR 99 CENTS ON DECEMBER 7.

BLURB:
Laila Levin enjoys a successful marriage and a thriving career as an I.T. executive in Austin, Texas, but she can't quite shake her lifelong sense of not truly belonging anywhere.

When her company announces a major layoff, Laila finds herself caught between an unscrupulous CEO and her promiscuous boss. Then news of her college roommate's suicide stirs up a dark secret involving three devious friends from her past. One has betrayed a vow, another wants to rekindle their romance, and the third is out for revenge.

Suddenly for Laila, it's 1969 again. She's only seventeen, and she's left her sheltered home in Long Island for college in Connecticut. Amid protests of the Vietnam War, she's tempted by the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll that rule her generation. Laila gets swept up in a deceptive love triangle with two older locals and initiated into their unethical hippie family. Too late she realizes her search to belong has led to tragedy.

Laila must now juggle the demands of her perplexed husband and her baby boomer past forcing her to make choices that endanger her survival and challenge her conscience.

She learns that the lines between right and wrong are often blurred, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.

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Excerpt One:

CHAPTER ONE

Lost in Texas

Austin, Texas, 2012

A couple dozen stars and the eye of a yellow moon pierce light through a sky filled with smoke. I look out the broken window to the ground below. Crumpled in the weeds is a lifeless body with red-flecked eyes, a bushy mustache, and sweet smile.
       
Vapor seeps into the room. I can barely breathe. Ben wraps his arms around me as I weep. Denise lies in a catatonic state perched on the bed. Why is she only wearing her bra and panties?
         
Chris stumbles inside the room. His eyes glow like diamonds. He cranes his head out the window. “We gotta do something, man.”

“I’ll call for an ambulance,” I say.

Ben gulps, “That’s not a good idea.”

“We have to,” I insist. “For Godsakes.”

He’s dead, Laila,” Chris says.

Tears sting my eyes.

WITH A JOLT, I awake whimpering. The nightmare has infested my dreams for years. It may be time to see a shrink.

The anxiety subsides when my husband Eduardo arrives with a cappuccino and the morning paper. “Are you okay? It sounded like you were crying.”

I clear my throat. “No, no, I’m fine. Just a dream, I guess.” I’ve never discussed these recurring nightmares with him. Eduardo’s got his own problems. He was recently laid off in a corporate downsize and refuses to talk about it. There’s lots of tension in our home right now. Maybe we should both see a shrink.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lara Reznik grew up on Long Island but escaped to New Mexico in 1970 in a Karmann Ghia that she and her boyfriend jump-started cross-country. As an English major at the University of New Mexico, Lara studied under esteemed authors Rudolfo Anaya and the late Tony Hillerman. She also attended a summer program at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop.
  
Ambidextrous from birth, Lara preferred her right-brained creative side, but discovered she could make a better living with her left-brain skills, so entered the I.T. field in 1985.
           
Lara published her first novel, The Girl From Long Guyland in November 2012. The novel ranked #1 during its recent Amazon Kindle promotion and has over 115,000 Kindle downloads. In addition to her novels, Lara has written and optioned three screenplays that have garnered semifinalist and finalist wins in the Austin Heart of Film, Southwest Writers, TV Writer, Chesterfield and Writer's Digest contests. Currently, Lara is working on a new novel based on her screenplay, The M&M Boys.

LINKS

AMAZON LINK:

FACEBOOK

WEBSITE

I am very excited about this book. Thanks Cheryl for bringing it to us,


BLURB:
Determined to lose weight, Nevada Pearson participates in a twelve-week clinical trial for a new diet pill. Nevada thinks if she’s slim, her life will be so much better. She won’t have to wear dark clothes to hide her big belly and can kiss the plus sizes good-bye. Her husband will stop ogling every skinny woman in sight, and she’ll stop accusing him of cheating. She won’t have to worry that he’ll leave her the way her dad left her mom. She can stop ranting on her YouTube channel about being fat. She’ll get promoted at work. Her fifteen-year-old daughter will want to lose weight, too, instead of staying holed up in her bedroom eating junk food and surfing the Internet for a cure to her social anxiety. But Nevada isn’t prepared for what happens next and how quickly her life changes—and it has nothing to do with her amazing weight loss.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Excerpt 
 Nicole

I’d been a basketball fan ever since I was in Pull-Ups.  My cousin Tattoo got me into it. I just remember cheering for this real tall, skinny guy they called the Big Ticket whose real name was Kevin Garnett, KG for short. KG was Tattoo’s favorite player, and we followed him from the Timberwolves over to the Celtics, and that was when I first saw Rajon Rondo in action, and it was love at first assist. I loved Rondo, and I loved basketball—watching, not playing. But I hated high school. I tried to trick my mind into thinking high school was a lot like basketball—a game of four quarters.  That was what I told myself to stay focused in class.  If I fell behind in one quarter, it could cost me the game. Well, I was almost halfway through ninth grade and getting blown out. It had nothing to do with my grades. I knew how to study. What I didn’t know how to do was socialize. And in high school, socializing was just as important as studying because if you didn’t fit in and if no one liked you, school could be a living hell.

As crazy as it may seem, the Celtics and Connect Four keep me alive. Otherwise, I felt:

A.         Hopeless

B.         Empty

C.        Lost

D.        Confused

E.         Angry

F.         All of the above. 

Right now I felt I was “F,” as in failing.

Not school.

Life. 

I was almost fifteen, and I was already failing at life, but at least, I was ahead in something.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Cheryl Robinson is a native Detroiter currently residing in Central Florida. She started her literary career as an independent author, publishing two books before eventually landed a publishing deal with Penguin/NAL Trade. She published six novels with NAL Trade and two more novels as an independent author. She is currently working on her next novel. Visit her Website at cherylrobinson.com, where you can read her blog and enter her monthly blog contest.

Amazon purchase link:

http://www.amazon.com/Like-Mom-ebook/dp/B00FW6PYD0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381848472&sr=1-1&keywords=Like+Mom

My Website link

http://cherylrobinson.com/books/like-mom/