Category Archives: Excerpt
NEW RELEASE & GUEST POST ~ Semper Fi Cowboy (Lone Star Leathernecks #1) by Heather Long
Semper Fi Cowboy
Lone Star Leathernecks #1
by Heather Long
SYNOPSIS
A Leatherneck by any other name can still kick ass, which is just what retired United States Marine Corps Captain Tanner Wilks plans to do when he returns to his Texas family ranch to care for his ailing father. And nothing will stop him from achieving his mission—not even a lithe, brown-eyed town veterinarian who seems hell-bent on driving him wild.
Captain Tanner Wilks, honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, returns home to find his father struggling after his latest heart attack. Worse yet, Julia Heller—the sexy new girl in town that he once spent a hot night with—is the resident veterinarian who’s made a home for herself at Round Top ranch, and doesn’t seem to be in a rush to repeat their time together.
It falls on Tanner’s shoulders to take on the ranch and keep an eye on his father before he falls victim to another heart attack. But Julia doesn’t appreciate Tanner coming in or pursuing her. Even if he’s hot as hell and can make her quiver with just a look. Ousting her may give Tanner the leverage he needs to corral his father, but first he has to wrestle with his own heart.
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GUEST POST
Mamas Please Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
I remember playing cowboys when I was a kid, I grew up in and around Dallas. Not a block away from my apartment was a riding farm, and I used to escape to where they had the horses and visited them daily. I learned to ride young, and even went to a horse camp as a kid. I fell in love with the idea of cowboys thanks to the Cartwrights (Bonanza) and the Barkleys (Big Valley) when I was a kid. Then there were the John Wayne movies and flash forward to the most recent version of The Magnificent Seven and you can see why my life long affair with cowboys has me rooting for mamas to let their babies grow up to be cowboys.
Why do I love them so much?
- They love long walks or rides through the country, over hills and streams and through the woods. Weather doesn’t bother them, as long as their horses are all right.
- To be a cowboy is to be passionate and devoted to the land and animals. They don’t quit.
- Their word means something. In an age where we can’t always take people at face value, you can with a real cowboy. When they say something, they mean it and when they give you a promise, they keep it.
- They aren’t afraid of hard work whether it involves fixing fences, feeding horses, or spending long hours tending an animal in need.
- They know how to treat those around them with integrity and respect, men and women alike.
Really, what’s not to love?
EXCERPT
Whoever the group was they had talent, and as Tanner studied the newcomers, he focused on a woman who slid over to the bar and drained a glass of water while the musicians found their rhythm. A minute later, she glided back onto the dance floor.
For the next three songs, she traded partners. The woman could move. Tall, long-legged, and beautifully curved, she also had a gorgeous face, from her generous mouth—which pulled into an easy smile—to her sweet, dark eyes. Dark hair clung to her cheeks, and her sleeveless white top gave Tan- ner a good look at her toned arms.
He didn’t know her. She didn’t even ring a familiar bell, but she sure as hell looked fun. When she waved off a fourth man swooping in for a dance and headed to the bar, Tanner enjoyed the light, strutting cadence to her walk. Someone had taken her spot, so she sidled up to the bar next to him.
Fanning her face with one hand, she gave him a cool, quick grin, then waved at Sully. The bartender slid a glass of water over to her. “You ready for a glass of wine yet, darlin’?”
“In a bit.” She took a long drink of the water. The slender column of her throat convulsed with each swallow, and a fresh wave of lust crashed through Tanner. Damn, what he wouldn’t give to trade places with the glass.
“Put her wine on my tab, Sully,” Tanner called. The number of dance partners and lack of a ring gave him hope she was free. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“No, thank you,” the country goddess declined in a smooth, polite tone. “I’ll take care of my own drinks.”
Sully hid a smirk, but he had other customers.
“No need to be testy, ma’am.” He lifted his beer. “Just offering to buy you a drink.”
“Not being testy at all.” She turned sideways and gave him a once-over. “And you didn’t offer—you just decided to do it, sir.” The cool dismissal didn’t possess an ounce of malice or disrespect. “I simply like to pay my own way, and I never accept offers from strangers.”
“Hard to make an acquaintance if you don’t.” Though he couldn’t fault her. Even the women in his unit or those he’d met on assignment at various bases around the world maintained a sense of control over their environment, both in what they would tolerate from others and what they would accept. “My apologies for overstepping. I’m Tanner, by the way.”
Offering his hand, he waited as she took a beat before wiping her palm against her jeans and then accepting the handshake. “My friends call me Jules.”
“Jules.” Was it short for Julianna? Or Julie? Something else entirely? He liked the sound of it. Maybe it was the beer mellowing him out. Maybe it was being home. Or maybe it was simply watching her, but he wanted to spend some time with Miss Jules.
“Is it all right if I call you Jules?”
“I said my friends call me Jules, you can call me ma’am.” She chuckled, then drained her glass of water and started watching the band. They’d switched to a slow song. Shaking her head, she lifted the hair from the back of her neck. From her ushed cheeks to the gleam in her dark eyes, she was stunning.
“I’d be happy to call you ma’am.” The sentence worked, and Jules returned her attention to him and her eyebrows raised.
“Tell me, ma’am, may I have the next dance?”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today best-selling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.
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RELEASE DAY BLITZ ~ Holden by Julia Sykes
Note: An earlier version of this story was released under the title Awakened. It has been extensively re-written as Holden.
He slid two fingers between my legs and traced the seam of my sex through my lacy black panties.
“You’re wet,” he observed with a lustful growl. “I knew you’d be like this.”
“Like what?” I asked, barely able to focus on his words. They seemed to roll off my consciousness like water. Reality was hazy, the world falling away until all I could sense was him: his hard body beneath me, his masculine scent surrounding me, his deep voice rumbling through me. I was captivated by the power that pulsed off him. It caressed my body like a physical touch.
“I knew you’d be naturally submissive,” he replied. “I knew you’d be perfect.”
The praise sank into me to warm my chest.
A different warmth bloomed between my legs when he stroked my clit through my panties. I cried out at the light contact to my sensitive nub. It had grown achy from his ministrations; his gentle fingers contrasted with his stinging discipline. He was harsh and tender by turns, and the dichotomy messed with my thought processes.
“Do you want to come, little sub?” he asked, the question rough with his own desire.
“Yes,” I breathed. “Please, Sir.”
He let out a low groan. “Fuck, you’re sweet when you beg.” He lifted his hips slightly, pressing his cock harder against me. “Do you feel that? Do you feel what you do to me?”
“Please,” I begged again, on the edge of sanity. “Fuck me.” I’d never spoken so crassly, but the deviant words came naturally. I wanted him to claim me, to ravage me.
“You’re going to come first,” he said tightly, restraining himself. “You’re going to come so many times that you’ll be begging me for mercy and sobbing my name by the time I’m finished with you.”
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Damn, this series has me hooked!
BLOG TOUR ~ Storming the Castle by Arianna Hart
About the Book:
Sam Castleton has fame, houses all over the world, and one really big problem—he’s got an album due and he can’t write. All he wants is a quiet place to get his head straight. Dale, Georgia, seems like the perfect quiet spot to try to hear the music again and get some lyrics down on paper.
With her daughter’s paternal grandparents making a sudden appearance and the difficulties of running her own lodge and being a single mom, Faith Adams doesn’t have the time to worry about the mysterious stranger staying in one of her cottages, no matter how sexy he is.
Her newest guest may be surly, but his money is good, so she’s willing to overlook his surly nature. If only she could ignore the way he awakens a searing hunger in her…
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Excerpt
Faith finally gave up trying to sleep at five in the morning. She’d tossed and turned all night, reliving the kiss and imagining what she could have done differently. The pull of attraction had been there through the whole meal, but she’d thought she’d done a good job of ignoring it. Then, wham. He laid one on her, and she melted into a puddle of lust.
She’d be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t imagined kissing him a hundred times over the last two weeks. He was sexy, had a wry sense of humor and smelled fantastic. Any woman with a heartbeat would want to kiss him, and she didn’t even put up a token protest. It would have been only that, a token, but at least she wouldn’t have fallen at his feet like ripe fruit. Where was her pride? God, he must have thought she was easy pickings. She wasn’t stupid. She knew he was a musician of some sort, and he had to be successful if he had a manager and a crap ton of money. He was probably used to women taking one look at him and dropping their panties.
And boy had she considered it. It wasn’t like she didn’t know him, really. Women had sex with guys they met at bars, and she’d known Sam for two weeks.
Two whole weeks. Yeah, sleeping with a guy you’ve known less than a month is so virtuous. I’m sure Momma would be proud. And really, what do you actually know about Sam besides he’s hot, knows how to do laundry, and can kiss the brains right out of your head? That’s not exactly something to build a relationship on.
Whoa, hold on. Who said anything about building a relationship? He was a renter who was going to leave in six weeks. A renter who was probably used to gorgeous women throwing themselves at him. They had nothing in common, and there was no future in even daydreaming about him. So he’d kissed her, big deal. That’s all it had been, a kiss.
But what a kiss.
Instead of crawling into bed with him, she broke out the vacuum cleaner and got to work. The store wouldn’t open for a while yet, but that didn’t mean she had to sit and stew. There was nothing like scrubbing toilets to kill a libido.
By seven, the house was sparkling, and she’d had to take a shower and change her clothes. Lists in hand, she let Sadie inside the house and climbed into her truck. All was quiet in the direction of the blue cottage, and she refused to let her gaze linger on the path to it.
He’d be gone in six weeks, that wasn’t so long to resist this crazy sexual pull.
Sure.
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Author Bio:
Arianna Hart enjoys spending time with her family, reading anything she can get her hands on, and of course writing! She’d love to spend her days on a beach with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, but until she wins the lottery she’ll just have to settle for chasing her girls around the pool.
Connect:
Site: http://sizzlingscribes.com/ss_arianna.htm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arianna.hart.37
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RELEASE DAY BLITZ ~ Alpha Male (A Real Man #14) by Jenika Snow
Layla
For the last two years Lachlan has been my personal bodyguard. Although I don’t feel in danger and don’t need someone constantly watching me, because it’s Lachlan, I can’t help but feel safe.
I love him.
He is big and strong, with training that makes him deadly. Anyone who is stupid enough to cross him learns that swiftly.
But I’m too afraid to tell him how much I want him. I’m too afraid to tell him that I crave him.
Lachlan
I was hired to be her bodyguard, to make sure she was safe because her father is a senator. But even if her father hadn’t hired me, I wouldn’t have been able to leave her alone.
I love her, want her as mine, and I need to show Layla that she was meant for me.
I need to show her that if anyone looks at her, speaks to her, or thinks they have a right to touch her, I’ll lay them out and not think twice.
She is my world, and no one but me will have her.
I’m done waiting. It’s time I make Layla mine.
Warning: Have a neck brace on hand because this story will give you whiplash. It’s short and to the point, but that’s how we like them. It’s not lacking in the heat department, has an over-the-top alpha hero, and a sweet virgin heroine. No worries, though; you get a safe read with a Happily Ever After and some baby making in the process.
I watched Layla. Always. But it wasn’t just because that was my job. It was because I wanted her, fucking badly. I wanted her to be mine, to never know the touch of another man, to look into my eyes and know I’d take care of her.
“Lachlan, location check-in.” Rocco’s voice came through in my earpiece.
“South building of Pearson Hall. Layla should be heading back to the estate within the next ten minutes. I’ll check in once en route.”
“Copy that.”
I leaned against a tree and watched as Layla spoke to some little asshole that I knew was in her economics class. The possessive side of me wanted to come out and stake its claim right then and there. Hell, I didn’t want anyone looking at her, let alone speaking with her.
I clenched my jaw as I watched him reach out and brush a strand of her hair from her shoulder. I wanted to go over there and beat the little fucker to the ground, but I had self-control, was trained to only make a move if absolutely necessary.
Me going over there and being a caveman, throwing her over my shoulder and stalking away to make my claim, was a bad fucking idea.
But even that small touch the asshole gives her pissed me the fuck off.
She was my job, or at least that’s what I tried to tell myself to make it easier to be around her. But being her bodyguard for the last two years made that an impossible task.
Her father, Jonathan Lancaster, was a senator. Even before that, his connections and social standings had made the wealthy tycoon take extra precautions to protect his family, which resulted in him hiring bodyguards twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
I’d been Layla Lancaster’s—Jonathan’s daughter—personal bodyguard for the last two years, before her father took office. I’d already deemed her as mine, even if I hadn’t been a man and told her.
From the moment I saw her, I knew she would be mine.
And I’d made sure during that whole time that she was always my priority, my permanent station. The very thought of somebody else protecting her, didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to be the one that looked after her.
She ended up walking away from the douche and heading to her car. Layla was stubborn, but I fucking loved that about her. She was independent, which drove her father insane. That included her refusing to have a driver, which was what Jonathan Lancaster wanted. Instead she drove herself wherever she felt like going.
She could be a force to be reckoned with, and it made me want her more.
But the one thing her father would not budge on was her having a bodyguard.
And I was always here, because fuck all to hell if anything happened to her on my watch.
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