Category Archives: Excerpt
The 27 Club by Kim Karr Excerpt Reveal
THE 27 CLUB
Kim Karr
New American Library
Coffee Beans Part I
The wind howls and the palm trees whip against the windows as the storm seems to make its way closer to landfall. Thunder booms and lightning lights up the room, startling me. No, not lightning—a lamp.
“Hello, Zoey.” The voice is deep and husky.
As the sound registers, I scream. I quickly sit up and scan my unfamiliar surroundings. My eyes immediately land on the silhouette of a man standing beside me, and I scream again, this time scrambling off the bed in terror.
In this moment, my heart stops beating, my lungs stop breathing, and my brain stops thinking. I’m petrified.
The man raises his palms up in surrender. “Zoey, I’m Nate, Z’s friend. You don’t have to be scared. I’m not going to hurt you.”
My fear must be evident. I stare at him for a few long moments, both alarmed and trembling. Only once realization sets in, that yes, this is Nate, my brother’s best friend, do I attempt to calm my ragged breaths.
He takes a cautious step back. “Just cover up with something so we can talk.”
Oh my God, my clothes.
Tangled sheets catch on my limbs as I climb back onto the bed and unsuccessfully try to pull the covers over my practically naked body. Before humiliation grabs complete hold of me, I give up and dive for my soaking wet shirt lying on the floor.
Sliding the cold fabric over my head, I pull it down to cover my panties and stand up, quickly crossing my arms over my chest to shield any signs of the chill I’m feeling.
Not great, but better. At least I can look at him with a little dignity.
Finally, I glance up and my gaze catches his. As soon as it does, he drops his eyes.
The photos I’ve seen of him over the years, when my brother would text me a funny shot—a selfie of him and Nate at some top chef restaurant, at the beach, or at a coffee house—didn’t nearly do him justice. Those shots were goofy poses with baseball caps turned backwards and funny faces. Not that I didn’t think he was good looking in them, because I did, but there’s just something different about him.
I blink and focus on the matter at hand. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?”
Staring at the ground, he leans against the door jam. “You beat me to the punch. I was just about to ask you the same question.”
“Why would you ask me that?”
He raises a brow. “I guess I’m just curious.”
I sigh, feeling confused.
His gaze lifts, and those eyes, those bewitching emerald green eyes, stare back at me. “Not that I mind that you’re here. It’s just—a little warning would have been nice. That’s all.”
His tone is more bemused than apologetic.
I’m not sure what to think.
With a straight and confident stance, I clear my throat. “I e-mailed you earlier today to let you know that I was coming for the weekend. I’m really sorry about the late notice, but I decided at the last minute.”
He reaches into the pocket of his low-slung jeans and pulls out his phone. After a few taps and scrolls he looks up at me. “I guess you did. Here it is. I’m usually on top of my e-mails but today my . . . schedule was full. Had I seen your message, I would have tried to rearrange my plans.”
“That’s fine really. I managed. It’s not a big deal.”
I steal a glance at my reliable Timex—just after midnight. What is he doing in my brother’s house in the middle of the night? Just as I’m about to ask him, my eyes catch sight of the way he predatorily walks around the room and I’m momentarily distracted. He moves like a panther— slowly circling his prey, keeping his distance, not too close, but close enough to pounce if he feels the urge. He settles back against the wall, just a little closer now. “Zoey, did you hear me?”
I swallow. “Sorry, what?”
His tone grows more insistent. “I said I would have at least sent a car for you. You shouldn’t be out in this weather on your own.”
My brow furrows. Why is he still talking about the airport?
When I don’t respond, he crosses his arms over his chest like he owns the place.
It’s then that reality sinks in. And as cliché as this sounds, I am not going to let Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome intimidate me. It’s time to take charge. “There was no need. I managed just fine. But if you didn’t know I was coming, can I ask what you’re doing here?”
Confusion seems to have taken over his thoughts as he steps even closer—moving with a lethal grace that makes my body start to hum. I can’t help but study him as his features come into clear focus. His body is long and lean. His hair is dark, the most unusual shade of brown, maybe like the color of expensive chocolate, but not exactly. His eyes are languid, watchful, and the most beautiful shade I’ve ever seen—darker than emeralds or the deepest of forest greens. His
lips look full and soft. He is handsome in a way that is unlike anyone I’ve ever seen.
My mind is going haywire.
A look of realization seems to cross his face as he stares at me.
“Nate, why are you at my brother’s house in the middle of the night?” I ask him again.
With a smirk, he ignores my question. Instead of answering me, he opens the door beside him. It’s a closet, Zach’s closet to be exact, and he steps right in, again like he owns the place.
“What are you doing?” I ask impatiently.
He comes back into the bedroom with a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt in his hand. “You’re trembling. How about you get changed and we sit down to talk?”
The audacity of this man is beyond comprehension. From his e-mails he seemed nice, but then again, you never can tell what lurks behind the words on a computer screen.
He stares and his small smirk really irritates me. “Take these, they’re mine. I’ll wait downstairs while you get changed.”
If I weren’t standing here, chilled and in my underwear, I might just tell him to go to hell. But instead I reach for the clothes, and as I do, I start to wonder if he’s been squatting in my brother’s house. Once the clothes are in my hands, his mouth spreads into a slow, easy grin.
Annoyance grabs hold of me as I pivot on my bare feet and head toward the bathroom, making sure not to glance over my shoulder. When I hear heavy footsteps, I let my body fall back and shut everything out of my mind for a few short seconds.
What is going on?
When I’ve gathered my composure, I quickly strip out of my wet clothes and redress. Then I make the mistake of looking in the mirror. A wet dog would look better than I do right now. In an effort to improve the image, I grab a towel and wipe the black mascara from under my eyes. Then I use my fingers to comb through my mass of curls and try to calm them, but that’s nearly impossible.
Okay, better—but not great.
Who cares anyway?
It’s not like I’m trying to impress him. In fact, I’ve never tried to impress a man.
Ever.
Pre-order The 27 Club
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RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2015
You don’t know when…
You don’t get to choose if…
When it’s time to join…you’ll know.
You might think you want to be a member—but trust me this is one club you don’t want to join. It’s not a place where people go to live out their deepest, darkest sexual desires—there are no handcuffs or blindfolds.
The 27 Club only admits those who die young and tragically. My brother was recently bestowed membership and joined many of our ancestors before him. I know I’m next. This is my destiny, and I was ready to yield.
But then I met Nate. He awakened a sensuality in me that had never been explored, never satisfied. I knew then I could no longer accept my destiny. Nate’s presence controls me. I’m overwhelmed by his touch, his words; my every thought is consumed by desire. I believe he was brought into my life for a reason.
Nate doesn’t believe in destiny.
But I do.
And if there’s a way to cheat it—I must.
View a book trailer here: https://vimeo.com/109601829
About the Author:
I live in Florida with my husband and four kids. I’ve always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, I wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. I went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise my family. I currently work part-time with my husband and full-time embracing one of my biggest passions—writing.
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RELEASE BLITZ ~ Over the Line by KC Stewart
Adirondack Pack 0.5
by K.C. Stewart
Synopsis
The truth is in the evidence. Follow your nose, keep an ear to the ground and don’t believe everything you hear. Tyson Cartwright has always known who he was and becoming the Adirondack Pack’s Enforcer was the goal from the very start. He loves his job, but not today. Someone in the pack isn’t who they say they are. It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last that Tyson has to rid the pack of a spy. These are the people he calls his friends and family and one of them is lying to him. His gut has an idea but is it just because he doesn’t like the man his sister has taken up with or is there something more to Jack Naughton? For Jenny’s sake he better know for sure it’s Jack before dispensing justice because once a wolf goes over the line, there is no coming back.
Purchase Links
Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Excerpt
Meet the Author
K.C. Stewart lives in central Pennsylvania with her three cats. She is currently attending college online for Library Science while working full time as a photographer.
In her spare time, which isn’t easy to find, she reads an obnoxious amount and writes in between everything else.
K.C. has a very real addiction to gummy bears and talking to her cats when no one is around.
Giveaway
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PRE-RELEASE BLITZ ~ Saving Erica by J. A. Melville
J.A. Melville
to Goodreads
DARK EROTICA AND I DO BELIEVE IN HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Erica let herself into her parents’ home, the home she’d lived in from birth and listened for a moment to the laughter and voices coming from the dining room. It was Christmas Eve and she was late for the family dinner. Not that her family knew that since she hadn’t been able to guarantee she’d make it home for Christmas anyway.
It was just lucky that filming had finished early and she’d been able to get a seat on the first flight out of London. Someone had cancelled making a seat available and although she’d been stuck with an economy seat and jammed in between a quite large woman and a man who had spent most of the flight trying to chat her up, it had been worth it to get home that little bit quicker. She knew she could have called Daddy and he would have sent the company jet but she wanted to surprise her family when they really weren’t expecting her.
She stopped for a moment to check her appearance in the mirror over the hall stand and noticed the dark circles under her blue eyes, a blue that vivid they appeared almost purple under some lighting. Her auburn hair hung down one shoulder in a plait that finished just below her full breasts and she ran her hands down over her dress trying to smooth out the creases after being crammed in a plane for so many hours.
Slowly she moved towards the dining room, smiling as the voices grew louder the closer she got. Nathan was telling them something about his and his girlfriend Taylah’s last holiday together. Apparently she had managed to lock herself out of their room while only wearing a towel and Erica grinned to herself when everyone burst out laughing.
She made it to the dining room doorway and got her first look at her family in three months. Alice was there as were Beverly, Tom and Maggie but her eyes shifted past them to the tall figure of her Father standing by the window.
Even in his early 50’s he was still a very attractive man and to her he was her hero. She loved her Father, she always had. He had been her protector, her savior and the person who could never say no to her.
Nathan was seated at the table, the light shining on his strawberry blonde hair with Taylah by his side; her dark almost exotic looks a complete contrast to him.
Brooklyn and Charlotte occupied another couple of chairs at the table and Erica noticed Brooklyn had somehow talked her parents in to letting her get a nose piercing if the diamond glinting in it was any indication. At 15 they were looking so much more mature than she remembered but the phones in their hands as they texted or were on Facebook proved that they still had some maturing to do yet.
Her Mother was seated up the other end of the table, looking her usual unruffled self, her auburn hair the exact same color as Erica’s twisted into some elaborate knot at her nape.
Erica smiled at the sight of them all together, all the people she loved most in her life. Suddenly her Mother looked up and saw her standing there and a wide smile transformed her face at the sight of her eldest daughter.
“Erica, darling, you made it.” She stood up with her usual grace. Her Mother’s mention of her name was enough to draw the attention of everyone else and the chatter stopped briefly before everyone started getting to their feet to
come and greet her.
Before anyone reached her, she saw her father coming towards her with that long stride of his and he caught her up, swinging her around and around in his arms despite her protests and squeals at him.
He lowered her feet to the floor and pulled her into his arms for a hug, holding her tight and Erica realized at that moment how much her father had missed her. They’d been inseparable until her career had started to take off and now she was often gone for weeks or even several months at a time. Lately it was months and months in between visits back home.
“Daddy.” She said and that was all she could say as the tears started to fall and when she finally pulled back enough to see her father’s face, he had tears rolling down his cheeks too.
“I missed you so much Daddy.”
“Not as much as I’ve missed you sweet pea.” He told her huskily before hugging her tightly to him again.
Erica knew her father hated her job. She’d heard often enough about how he used to only date models years ago before Mum’s time. He’d found them shallow and self-centered so he had found it hard to accept that his own daughter had gone on to become a highly successful model.
He’d never once tried to stop her and had always been supportive and going by the collection of her professional photos hanging around the house, he was proud of her despite her career choice. Technically she hadn’t intended to get into modelling but it had been the fairy tale beginning for her. After being spotted at sixteen and talked into having some studio shots taken the rest as they say was history.
She had become an extremely wealthy woman from modelling but all that money didn’t mean much when her personal life was one huge mess. She had come home not just to see her family but to lick her wounds and recover from the physical and emotional damage done to her by her ex-boyfriend. She didn’t dare tell her father about what Liam had done to her. She just wanted to spend time with her family and try to push the whole horrible nightmare to the back of her mind.
With a huge grin on her face she pulled out of her father’s arms and turned to greet the rest of her family, her arms spread wide. “Well come on then, is Daddy the only one pleased to see me? Where’s my hugs?”
Her Mother stepped forward, a wide smile on her face, her arms outstretched and Erica walked into her embrace, dropping her head on her shoulder as she breathed in her Mother’s familiar vanilla scent. Before she could get too
comfortable though, she was pulled into Nathan’s arms and given a hug that tight, she winced. She fought to keep the pain from her expression because her pain was from more than his big bear hug embrace, it was pain from bones that were still healing. She didn’t want anyone to see that though so she struggled to mask her reaction from her family. She didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. She just needed time to get over this with the people she loved most around her. She needed time to forget what Liam had done to her. God, just thinking about him sent a shiver through her and Erica pulled away from her brother and with a false smile on her face she said. “I’m starving. Can your poor old daughter and sister get something to eat before I collapse?”
With bursts of laughter and Nathan teasing her about her not being entitled to anything more than a lettuce leaf given she was some big shot model, her family cleared a spot for her at the table.
Brooklyn and Charlotte dropped kisses on her cheeks when she sat down. Erica took the plate of food from her mother’s hands that seemed to have miraculously filled itself and began to eat. The constant noise and laughter from her family was both comforting and familiar to her. She realized just how much she’d missed it, how much she’d missed them. Being back with them like this would help for a short time at least. She could forget about the past, forget about the pain and try and push the hell Liam had put her through from her mind.
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