Category Archives: Excerpt
EXCERPT REVEAL ~ Dirty Headlines by L.J. Shen
Dirty Headlines, an all-new sexy, enemies-to-lovers romance from USA Today bestselling
author L.J. Shen is coming September 7th and we have the first sneak peek!
Célian Laurent.
Manhattan royalty.
Notorious playboy.
Heir to a media empire.
…And my new boss.
I could have impressed him, if not for last month’s unforgettable one-night stand.
I left it with more than orgasms and a pleasant memory—namely, his wallet.
Now he’s staring me down like I’m the dirt under his Italian loafers, and I’m supposed to take it.
But the thing about being Judith “Jude” Humphry is I have nothing to lose.
Brooklyn girl.
Infamously quirky.
Heir to a stack of medical bills and a tattered couch.
When he looks at me from across the room, I see the glint in his eyes, and that makes us rivals.
He knows it.
So do I.
Every day in the newsroom is a battle.
Every night in his bed, war.
But it’s my heart at stake, and I fear I’ll be raising the white flag.
Excerpt:
He had an American accent. Not French. American. Smooth. Familiar. Ordinary. He fired out sentences at the speed of light. I heard him, but I couldn’t listen. Shock gripped my body as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. My dirty one-night stand was my boss. My lying, American boss. And now I had to deal with that—hopefully for a very long time, because I desperately needed this job.
Someone snapped their fingers, and my gaze shot from Célian’s face to Grayson.
His forehead had crumpled into a frown. “You look like you’re trying hard not to cry or having a really intense orgasm. I’m hoping for you that it’s the latter and some kind of a weird-slash-awesome condition. You okay?”
I nodded, scraping up a smile. “Sorry. Zero orgasms happening under this dress. I just zoned out for a second.”Lies. I was about to orgasm just remembering how good Célian had felt parting my thighs with his big, callused hands and dipping his tongue into my slit.
Then words stopped streaming down on everyone’s heads like a scalding shower, and I realized that indeed there was something worse than hearing Célian speak in his perfect American English. And that was not hearing him speak at all. Because now the icicles were pointed at me like a cocked gun.
I glanced up to meet his gaze. He stared at me for exactly one second before his focus snapped to Grayson. “Am I understood, Gregory?” he asked.
Gregory?
“Crystal clear, sir,” Grayson bowed, his voice trembling at the edges.
Célian jerked his chin toward me. “Your cover girl material is going downhill.”
God. Damn. Bastard.
He recognized me, and I knew it. His eyes had kindled, melting the ice and growing darker the minute our gazes mingled. He remembered, and maybe it killed him that I was here in the same way it buried me.
I want my iPod back, my gaze told him. I had over three thousand songs on that thing, and they were all too good to be wasted on that jerk.
“Jude Humphry. Junior reporter. It’s her first day,” Grayson highlighted, almost pleadingly. He shifted in my direction, as if he might need to physically protect me from the sharp-tongued, suited monster.
I suppressed a smile when I realized I’d told Célianmy last name was Spears. Well, he certainly wasn’t a Timberlake. He was a Laurent. An American monarch through and through. A billionaire, a powerful force, and judging by our one and only encounter—a raging playboy.
This man was inside you, I internally shrieked. And not just once. His cock was buried so deep in you, you screamed. You can still taste the salty, earthy flavor of his cum. You know he has a freckle on his lower back. You know what sound he makes when he empties inside a woman.
I internally thanked my mind for ruining my panties in public, and nodded. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.” I offered him my hand, my face flushing with embarrassment at my choice of words.
Everyone was looking at us, and there were at least fifty people in the room. Célian—if that was even his name—ignored my outreached hand. Instead, he turned his face to the man beside him. “Mathias, any other words of wisdom?”
Mathias? Wasn’t that his father? Just how cold was the man with the icy blue eyes?
“I think you touched everything,” said the big boss—and he did have a heavy French accent, so at least the lie had a seed. Mathias stared at me placidly, like he could read the secret his son and I shared on my face.
Célian spun toward me, uncuffing his cufflinks and rolling his sleeves up his veiny forearms. “Accounting can go back to their unfortunate line of work. Couture is excused from this meeting—though not forgiven for their horrid blog. Miss Humphry?” He snapped his fingers impatiently.
He was already waltzing down the narrow hallway, knowing I’d chase him like a puppy, and no doubt taking pleasure in that fact.
“I have a bone to pick with you.”
Bone, boner—same difference, right?
I shot Grayson a please-save-my-butt look. His eyes said, I would but I still have a life to live.
I followed Célian down the hall, my Chucks slapping the floor in a hurry. He sliced through the throng of accountants, then stopped at a corner office, opened the door, barked “Out!” to the man inside, and tilted his head for me to go in. I did. He closed the door, and it was just the two of us.
Two feet of empty space between us.
About LJ Shen:
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets people’s’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
Connect with L.J. Shen:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorljshen/
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Website: http://www.authorljshen.com/
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BLOG TOUR ~ Ghost of a Chance (Redclaw Security Book 2) by McKenna Dean
Ghost of a Chance
Madison has put together some really awesome Prizes giveaway during the tour.
Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember you may enter every day for your chance to win one of the prize packages.
You may find the tour locations here.
GIVEAWAY
About Ghost of a Chance by McKenna Dean:
At sixteen, Sarah Atwell walked away from her love of horses and a promising career as a competitive rider after discovering she’d inherited the family curse. Years later, her grandmother stunned everyone by leaving Sarah her horse farm—worth millions—but with conditions Sarah might not be able to meet.
A former Redclaw agent, Casey Barnes retired when a security assignment went bad, killing his partner and leaving him as a partial amputee. His inner wolf is in hiding. He’s been living quietly as a horse trainer, but June Atwell’s death now pits him against her granddaughter for rights to the stable.
With both of them snowed in at the farm, a series of increasingly serious accidents draws Sarah and Casey closer together, but they both harbor secrets that might tear them apart.
Ghost of a Chance is a paranormal romance story.
Amazon Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2nbVC33
Excerpt:
For some reason, he glanced back at Sarah where she waited by the door. The backlight of falling snow through the glass in the shadowed hallway created the suggestion of a black-and-white photograph. The only spot of color was the bright red scarf at the collar of her coat and the wine-dark lipstick she wore. She leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. Something inside him clicked, as though recognizing a scene from a movie. His heart stopped a beat, flipped over, and thudded again with increased intensity.
No. It couldn’t be. Not her.
He hurried away, head still reeling at his reaction.
When he returned with an armload of clothing, she was nowhere to be seen. Her laptop sat by her shoes, one pretty little pump turned over on its side. As expected, he discovered her in the living room, staring at the pictures on the wall. “There you are.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He adjusted the heap of clothing piled over one arm and held out a pair of snow boots.
“She had so many photographs of me.” Sarah took the boots almost automatically, and indicated the walls covered with pictures, ones Casey had seen many times.
That had to be it. Why she felt so familiar. Why she seemed to be the one. Relief washed over him. Obviously he’d spent too much time alone if he thought Sarah Atwell was his destined mate.
MORE IN THE SERIES
The Panther’s Lost Princess
Redclaw Security Book 1
Amazon Buy Link:
About the Author:
McKenna Dean has been an actress, a vet tech, a singer, a teacher, a biologist, and a dog trainer. She’s worked in a genetics lab, at the stockyard, behind the scenes as a props manager, and at a pizza parlor slinging dough. Finally she realized all these jobs were just a preparation for what she really wanted to be: a writer.
She lives on a small farm in North Carolina with her family, as well as the assorted dogs, cats, and various livestock.
She likes putting her characters in hot water to see how strong they are. Like tea bags, only sexier.
McKenna Dean’s Social Media Links:
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c8GDYX
Website: http://mckennadeanromance.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B075CRHQ7B/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/McKenna-Dean-Author-262328784224302/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/McKennaDeanFic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckennadeanromance/?hl=en
Tumblr: https://mckennadeanromance.tumblr.com/
Email: mckennadeanromance@gmail.com
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RELEASE DAY BLITZ ~ His Wrath (The Underground) by Jenika Snow
When he saw Brea, she calls out to every protective possessive instinct in him.
But their happiness can only last so long.
With two traumatic pasts and an uncertain future, there was bound to be something that drives them apart. But Adrian was determined to have Brea at all costs, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that, even if that meant raw knuckles and bodies at his feet.
Warning: Previously published under the title Adrian’s Wrath,
this story has been revised, re-edited, and new content has been added.
“Look at me. I want you to see how much I want you.” Their gazes stayed locked, and her breath caught at the intensity in his expression. “You’re beautiful, Brea. Inside and out.” He dipped his head to kiss her lightly. To her disappointment he didn’t deepen it, and instead ended it far too soon. “Whatever happened to you doesn’t shape who you are as a person. It might control you temporarily, but inside, under all that hurt and pain, is the real you just waiting to be awakened.”
The way he talked, so passionately, led Brea to believe that maybe he was referring to himself instead of her. She would like to believe what he’d said, but there was a part of her that knew she might be broken, that maybe she’d never be able to be whole again.
Not thinking, just needing to feel him, Brea closed the distance that separated them and kissed him with as much passion as she felt for him. His grunt of surprise spurred her on. Her clit throbbed, and her pussy ached to be filled.
She slid her hand back, along his muscular thigh, and when she reached the hard, thick length of his erection straining against the material, an involuntary moan left her. As if that sound broke him, Adrian gripped her shoulders and pulled her impossibly close.
Her hand curled around the iron-hard ridge, and a shudder went through his body. “I want you so fucking bad, Brea.” His hips jacked up as he ground his cock against her. One of his hands slid off her shoulder and made a slow trek down her side, resting on top of her thigh. The heat from his touch went straight through the thin material.
Surprisingly she didn’t feel anxiety over this. All she felt was intense pleasure and the need to go further.
Maybe I’m not broken after all.
“Is this okay?” he murmured against her mouth.
She found herself nodding, not able to actually form words as she started kissing him again.
In the next instant he gripped her waist and pulled her on top of him. She straddled his waist, their kiss never breaking, gasps of surprise leaving her. Pleasure, arousal, need … all that and more claimed her.
Both of his hands were now gripping her waist, and he pressed her down on him at the same time that he lifted his hips.
“Oh.” Her dress had ridden up, her thighs now fully exposed. She closed her eyes as her pussy, covered only in thin cotton, pressed aggressively against his jean-clad cock. The need to feel more of him, all of him, was so strong she had to break the kiss and gasp for air.
“I want so much more of you.” Adrian started kissing her neck, and Brea tilted her head to the side, relishing the feel of his lips and tongue sliding along the übersensitive spot right below her ear. She’d never felt anything so powerful before, never desired so strongly.
“Do you like that, baby?” He ran his tongue over the spot again, and she shivered.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I want inside of you so bad, Brea.”
A gasp left her at his blunt statement, and a warm wave washed through her. Brea started grinding herself on him. Brain fuzzy from desire, she was vaguely aware of Adrian’s palms sliding over her ass and cupping the mounds.
God, she didn’t want this to end.
Jenika Snow, a USA Today bestselling author, lives in the northeast with her husband and their children.
She prefers gloomy days, eats the topping off of her pizza first, and prefers to wear socks year round.
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BOOK TOUR ~ Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates #2) by Felicity Heaton
New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton is here today for the book tour of her new shifter romance release, Captured by her Cougar, the second book in her brand new Cougar Creek Mates Series.
Set in her popular Eternal Mates world, Cougar Creek Mates takes you into the deep Canadian wilderness to a secret place that’s home to a cougar shifter pride led by four sexy brothers, each guaranteed to steal your heart and set it racing!
With all four books in the series releasing just weeks apart, this is going to be one hot summer.
Check out the book, download it with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one, and be sure to enter the awesome grand giveaway happening at her website!
Captured by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 2)
Felicity Heaton
In the wake of an Archangel attack on Cougar Creek, Storm is seething with a need for revenge against the hunter organisation and the key to it might be the petite blonde mortal he’s locked in his cabin, one he’s determined to make sing for him. Only the beauty has a fiery temperament to match his own, and the more time he spends with her, the more she stokes a fire inside him. One that fills him with a startling and undeniable need to make her sing in another way—in his arms.
Gabriella isn’t going to take her captivity lying down. She’s going to give the pig-headed brute holding her against her will hell until he finally believes she’s innocent. He might be a cougar shifter, but she isn’t afraid of him. Or at least she isn’t afraid of what he is. The way he affects her, the flames that lick through her whenever they’re close, terrifies her though, because the longer she’s around the towering sexy-as-sin shifter, the hotter that fire blazes, and it’s only a matter of time before it burns away all her restraint.
With the mating heat and the attack bringing cougars back to the creek, Gabriella is a complication Storm doesn’t need, but she’s one that he wants… because she might just be his one true mate.
Read it with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription or buy now from…
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.au
Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win one of a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card at the Captured by her Cougar book page.
This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on September 2nd.
Enter now:
Storm wasn’t convinced that his Little Bird didn’t know the tune he wanted her to sing, not one bit. She hadn’t been surprised to hear him mention Archangel, which meant she knew about them, and he had no doubt she was in league with them.
Like brother, like sister.
Ivy kept vouching for her, but even Rath wasn’t buying what his mate was selling—that Gabriella was an innocent caught up in all of this.
If she was innocent, she would tell him everything she knew. She wouldn’t have a reason to keep denying him and refusing to speak.
“You know the tune, Little Bird.” He turned away from the door, strode to the couch and slumped onto it. “You just don’t want to sing it. I’m a patient man… I can wait until you break.”
He wasn’t a patient male. Not by a longshot. He was itching to open that door and scare her into speaking, but gods, some part of him couldn’t do it. He could still taste the terror that had gone through her when he had grabbed her and pulled her towards the bedroom, her fear that he had been about to violate her, and it was bitter on his tongue, had him cursing himself for causing it. He had only meant to scare her into speaking by locking her in a dark room.
Of course, Little Bird had got revenge by using the last shred of his electricity.
It was going to be a long dark night in there for her.
Storm kicked his feet up onto the coffee table between the couch and the log burner and slumped further, so he was almost horizontal as he stared at the fire. Tomorrow, he would wheel the solar panels out into the clearing and jack them in. Not for her sake though. His desire to get some juice in the batteries had nothing to do with the petite blonde ball of fury ranting in his right ear about being a prisoner.
He tried to tune her out, but fuck, she was persistent.
“I demand to know how Ivy is.” Her tone, so damned regal and oh-so-British, grated on his nerves.
No one ordered him around.
So he ignored her, let her rant until she wore herself out and went quiet. He switched the focus of his senses to her, tilted his head to his right as he felt her stillness, and listened. Her breathing was soft, even.
Little Bird had worn herself out and right to sleep.
Storm kicked his feet down, tempted to check on her. Two reasons not to sprang to mind. One, she might be trying to trick him into opening the door so she could attempt another escape. Two, he didn’t give a damn whether she was comfortable or not.
He really didn’t.
Not only was she human, but she was born of the same woman that the fuck-head Alexander had come from—a woman he was sure was involved in Archangel as much as her husband had been, and therefore had been involved in what had happened to his family and his kin.
Thirty-six years ago.
He slid his grey gaze towards the bedroom door.
Gabriella looked no older than thirty, hadn’t even been born when his parents had been brutally taken from him during the attack by the hunter organisation, but gods, he couldn’t stop himself from laying blame on her shoulders, because he needed someone to aim his anger at, the rage that had been festering inside him for close to four decades now.
Rage that wouldn’t be satisfied until he hunted down every last human who had been involved in the raid and painted his claws with their blood.
He tipped his head back into the couch, the leather creaking as it depressed, and sighed as he closed his eyes and tried to relax. His cougar side shifted restlessly beneath his skin, the pain of his memories of that night winding him tight inside, until he felt sure he would snap.
He shoved to his feet and paced, his strides clipped as he fought to work off some of the energy flooding him, aggression and pain that needed an outlet or it would drive him to shift and hunt.
He needed a run.
He hated mountains and forests, and everything that reminded him of his early years, before Archangel. Preferred big cities and fast cars, and even faster women. All the modern conveniences and concrete and glass that made this world feel like a million miles away.
But the mountains and the forests gave him one thing he loved.
Space to run.
He stripped off his t-shirt and lowered his gaze and his hands at the same time, reaching for the button on his jeans. He froze as his eyes landed on the thick scars that ran over his right hip and disappeared into the waist of his jeans, could almost feel them where they trailed down his thigh to the inside of his knee.
His heart started to pound, a heavy rhythm that rattled his ribs as fear rose to choke him and he saw blood on his bare skin, saw muscle carved open in the line of the scar and bone peeking through in places. His throat closed as he heard Cobalt’s words swimming in his ears, telling him to hold on, and saw his older brother viciously battling to protect him from the humans trying to get to him while he was weak and wounded.
Pull it together.
Storm shook off the fear and squeezed his eyes shut, clenched his teeth as he breathed through the pain, fighting to suppress it and break the hold his memories had on him. He wasn’t there now, pissing his pants and fearing for his life like a fucking cub while Cobalt went to war, his older brother’s strength more than a match for the humans while Storm’s had been inadequate because he had been seven years off sexual maturity.
Movement on his senses had him snapping back to his cabin, on high alert as alarm rang through him, the thought of coming under attack while caught up in his past and vulnerable driving him to react.
But no one was near him.
He stared at the wooden door that separated him from the human.
She shifted on his sharp senses, rolled over and moaned as she settled again.
He had been a fucking idiot for picking his cabin as her cage, but what choice had he had? The other cabins belonged to males, and some to females, and he didn’t know who was due to return for the gathering that would happen this year, one where eligible males were coming to service the needs of the females of the pride who were in heat.
Gods, he wouldn’t say no to a slice of that. He needed a good fuck. No strings attached. Just the way he loved it.
He pushed out thoughts of screwing, because it was just his hormones messing with him, the season rousing the need in him even when he couldn’t participate. His family were responsible for maintaining order during the gathering, and as much as he hated that, wanting to fuck like the next male, he relished it in a way.
Because he got to do the other thing he loved.
Fighting.
Plenty of males lost their heads during the gathering, jacked up on hormones and pushed to the edge by them. Storm was allowed to beat the crap out of them if they kicked off a fight that wasn’t over the right to mate with a female, which meant he got to fight at least once a day. Not gentle warm-up type fights either. He got to really let loose.
Just as he had when Alexander had landed that damned chopper on their land and tried to fuck with his family.
Storm slid his gaze back towards the door.
Towards Gabriella.
She groaned and moved again, and this time, it sounded more like a whimper. He focused. Her heartrate was off the scale too. Having a nightmare?
He didn’t give a damn if she was.
Really didn’t.
Storm scrubbed a hand over his mouth. Fuck, it had been a mistake to set up his cabin as her cage. Sure, it had been the right thing, because it would keep her safe from the other males coming to the area and it was easier for him to keep an eye on her in his own home.
But the whole place smelled of her already.
Her scent was embedded in everything, felt as if it was seared right into his soul.
Sunshine, sand and surf, with a hint of something tropical.
He snagged the red comforter from the couch, brought it to his nose and inhaled, and muttered a ripe curse as it smelled of her.
And damn, she smelled good.
Had his instincts as a male firing on all cylinders.
Read it with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription or buy now from…
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com.au
Book 1: Claimed by her Cougar – Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Book 2: Captured by her Cougar – Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Book 3: Courted by her Cougar (coming 8th September 2018)
Book 4: Craved by her Cougar (coming 29th September 2018)
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM
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