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Excerpt
“Are you happy now?”
It’s not the kind of question that should make me smile, but I’m lost in my head, and not only do I smile, but I almost laugh. I hold it in, but barely. “I think I might have gotten lost on the way to happy.”
He blinks several times. “Well, I hope you get there.”
“I hope we both do.”
When I return home to my empty apartment, I flip open the lid to my laptop. I read through the offer letter I received earlier today. Then I draft my acceptance email. I could wait and call in the morning, but I don’t want to wait.
Lost on the Way
Isabel Jolie
Publication date: September 21st 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
They were friends—just friends. Now they’re something else entirely…
Jason
Maggie was my best friend’s girl. When he died… I don’t have the words. Indescribable pain.
But we healed. Together. She got me through my illness and became my friend, my confidant, my family. She’s everything to me.
And I ruined it all last night.
One drunken night. That’s all it took. Now I’m lost.
I want her with everything I am, everything I have, but she can’t be mine. She deserves someone with better odds than the doctors gave me.
Now, if I can’t figure out how to go back to the way things were, I’ll lose the most important relationship I have. The only one that truly matters.Maggie
Last night was the best—and worst—night of my life.
He’s made it clear, more than once, that he only wants a friendship.
Then last night happened.
And now he knows how I feel.
He’s my best friend. I love him —mind, body, and soul. We have a visceral connection others can’t understand.
The problem? He’ll always see me as his best friend’s girlfriend, no matter how many years pass.
I can’t lose him. If he wants to stay in the friend zone, I’ll need to somehow accept that and move on. I know it’s true.
But convincing my heart…well, that’s another story entirely.One night of excess tequila changes everything for two codependent best friends. Will they lose all they had, or can they find their way to something even better?
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Author Bio:
Isabel Jolie, or Izzy to her friends, is an Amazon bestselling indie author with an unquenchable thirst for a good, sexy love story. Izzy’s heart pumps faster for stories with strong heroines, down-to-earth realism, and an unexpected twist.
When she’s not writing or reading, she can often be found with a glass of wine in hand relaxing with her husband, daughters, and good friends lakeside.
Izzy fills her Instagram feed with funnies, inspirational “brain candy”, and anything that meshes with her mood of the day. #mood.
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The Six Month Lease
Melanie Munton
Publication date: August 18th 2020
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Never have I ever…moved in with a guy after dating him for only three weeks.
Just kidding. That’s exactly what I did.
And like most of you are probably thinking, it inevitably blew up in my face when we broke up two days after signing our lease.
Now, I’m stuck living with my ex. The same man who turned my life completely upside down in record time.
For. Six. Whole. Months.
It doesn’t matter how many times he flashes those abs at me after a shower, or how close his bedroom is to mine. I will resist him because he’s simply not the right guy for me.
But if I thought he’d done a number on me before, that’s nothing compared to what happens after I finally learn the secret he’s been keeping from me this entire time.
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—
EXCERPT:
We touch down on the helipad near Patriot’s Point where we left from. The slab of concrete is on the edge of the now mostly empty parking lot, the park having closed over an hour ago. The sun has lowered in the sky, painting it a pink hue with notes of orange and gold.
West does some more talking into his radio headset while going through the process of shutting the aircraft down, flipping switches and pushing buttons. After I’ve had time to take stock of everything, I realize that I’m coming down from a small adrenaline rush. My chest is heaving, my heart still racing.
Now I really get West’s love for flying. It gives you a high like no other.
Helicopter heroin.
The blades slowly stop rotating until the whooping sound of their spinning eventually ceases. West removes his headphones and unstraps himself. Then he leans over and repeats the same process with me.
But once he has my straps unbuckled, he falls back into his own seat.
Slowly removes his aviators—
And spreads his legs.
It’s only then that I notice the tent between his legs.
“Does that happen every time you fly?” I ask, my gaze lasered in on his lap. “Or is that special for me?”
“It’s always for you,” he answers roughly. “That’s the fucking problem. Nothing does it for me anymore but you. The other night when you went out for drinks with the girls, my hand could barely get the job done, even though it was your naked body I pictured in my head the entire time. It’s like nothing will satisfy except the real you.”
I tsk my tongue. “Poor baby. What do you recommend for the pain?”
He unbuckles his belt, lowers his zipper. “I just gave you a ride.” He reaches inside his briefs, palming his erection. “Now, it’s your turn to give me a nice…long…ride.”
I lick my lips unconsciously, feeling my nipples pucker underneath my breezy, linen dress. “These windows aren’t exactly tinted.”
“No one’s around,” he growls, his face reddening with burning lust. “Plus, the cockpit is facing those trees. No one can see us at this angle.”
My pulse jumps at the word cock.
Wriggling his hips, he shoves his shorts and briefs down past his manhood, freeing his rod until it’s rising straight up in the air. When he wraps his fist around the base, I flashback to how he looked handling the control stick. Gripping it so tight, his fingers absently stroking it when he was letting the aircraft coast.
My God, I never thought helicopters could be so sexual.
I’ll never be able to look at any kind of control stick the same way again.
His eyes lower to my chest. “Come sit on your throne, princess.”
Author Bio:
Traveler. Reader. Beach-goer. St. Louis Cardinals fan. Pasta-obsessed. North Carolina resident. Sarcastic. Bit of a nerd.
Author of the Cruz Brothers, Possession and Politics, and Timid Souls series, Melanie loves all things romance, comedies and suspense in particular because it’s boring to only stick to one sub-genre! From light-hearted comedies to sexy thrillers, she likes to mix it up, but loves her some strong alpha males and sassy heroines.
Go visit Melanie’s website and sign up for her newsletter to stay updated on release dates, teasers, and other details for all of her projects!Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub
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Snowed In
Lindy Miller
Published by: Rosewind Books
Publication date: December 8th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
CHRISTMAS ISN’T ROXANNE HUDSON’S STYLE…UNTIL SHE FINDS HERSELF SNOWED IN WITH HIM.
Roxanne Hudson does not like Christmas. It comes with too many family obligations that take her away from work as a rising fashion editor in New York City. But this year might be Grandma Myrtle’s last Christmas, and Roxanne’s parents want her to spend the holiday at the family cabin in the Green Mountains. With her boyfriend Hunter away at a photo shoot, Roxanne decides to brave the long commute—and the wilderness—to spend Christmas in Vermont.
But when an uncomfortable phone call from Hunter starts her trip off badly, Roxanne is blindsided by a blizzard on the snowy mountain road. When she’s rescued by a handsome park ranger who’s the exact opposite of everything she always thought she wanted, Roxanne might discover she has time for a little Christmas magic after all.
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Author Bio:
Lindy Miller is an author of feel-good love stories that are full of sweet moments and happy endings. She believes the best time to fall in love is during the holidays, preferably over a cup of warm tea or a delicious vegan pastry – two things she can’t get enough of.
A free spirit, Lindy loves to travel and has a soft spot for Bar Harbor, Maine though she grew up at home in the South. She is married to her childhood sweetheart and bakes as often as she can for her husband, son, and pets – especially her golden retriever, Finn, who has a tendency to show up in her stories (and her Instagram!)
Lindy is represented by Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management and supported by Smith Publicity.
Member Romantic Novelist Association (RNA).
Just One Song is finally LIVE!
I’m so excited to finally share Cami and Dylan’s story. These two were so much fun to write and discover. It’s a blast to go back to Mountain View Theatre. I loved Carly and Gracin, but I felt like there was unfinished business. I hope you love these characters as much as I do.
Blurb:
One summer. One plan. One chance to shine.
Cami Harris is ready to leave Branson behind for the bright lights of Nashville… or New York… or L.A. She’s not sure which. She knows any of those cities could help her with her lifelong dream of becoming the next musical superstar.
Before she graduates, a once in a lifetime opportunity appears on her doorstep. Southern rock legend Hank Walker is coming to Mountain View Theater for the summer, and she’s hired as one of his backup singers. Cami’s excited to have the chance to learn from a certified rock god, even if he’s a certified jerk.
Hank’s son Dylan offers to take Cami under his wing and teach her everything he knows about the music industry. Dylan and Cami grow closer, but he’s holding something back. Something that could destroy their relationships before it even starts.
As Cami navigates the world of rock-n-roll, love, and family, she has to decide if leaving Branson is really what she wants or if home is where she needs to be.
Just One Song is FREE if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber!
There’s more to come from Mountain View Theatre. Miranda’s story is coming soon, and it will see the return of Carly and Gracin. Just One Chance will be hitting your ereader this spring.
Until then, Happy Reading!
The Six Month Lease
Melanie Munton
Publication date: August 18th 2020
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Never have I ever…moved in with a guy after dating him for only three weeks.
Just kidding. That’s exactly what I did.
And like most of you are probably thinking, it inevitably blew up in my face when we broke up two days after signing our lease.
Now, I’m stuck living with my ex. The same man who turned my life completely upside down in record time.
For. Six. Whole. Months.
It doesn’t matter how many times he flashes those abs at me after a shower, or how close his bedroom is to mine. I will resist him because he’s simply not the right guy for me.
But if I thought he’d done a number on me before, that’s nothing compared to what happens after I finally learn the secret he’s been keeping from me this entire time.
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—
EXCERPT:
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end for about the seventeenth time in the past twenty minutes. So, I know that West is watching me from his position on the opposite end of the patio, where I know he’s been talking to a cute little redhead for the past four or so minutes.
Not like I’m keeping track or anything.
Not like he’s keeping track of me either.
His predatory eyes have not been stalking me through the crowd, his powerful, agile body moving like a lithe jaguar. Or a sleek panther. He’s not gnashing his teeth at every male who comes within five feet of me. And he’s certainly not resisting the urge to bound over here and piss a territorial circle around me.
He’s like a damn jungle cat.
Every man at this party might as well be his prey. His body language has signaled that he sees every walking penis as a threat. He might as well roar out his possessiveness and declare his rank in the food chain to the rest of the jungle.
When our gazes collide, something distinctly male and dominant gleams from his features. In that moment, I feel like I’ve been marked. Sirens start blaring in my head.
Danger! Danger! Danger!
“Would you please excuse me, Darren? I’m in need of a refill.”
He politely dips his head, just like the southern gentleman I’m sure his momma raised him to be. “Of course.”
Damn, he’s too nice. Why can’t I be into nice? I used to be. What the hell happened?
West.
That prick.
I find a quiet bubble where I can gather my thoughts at the far corner of the house. There’s enough seclusion that no one will accidentally stumble upon me, yet I can still hear the low hum of the party behind me. I’m staring down at my shadow in the grass when someone steps into the path of the patio lights, shrouding my secluded bubble in darkness.
Of course, he would follow me.
Because he’s become an expert at doing the exact opposite of what I want—like leaving me the hell alone. And the way his hulking shadow looms over mine is reflective of how little control I have over the situation.
West is like my own shadow.
Permanent. Trails in my wake. Undetachable.
When I twist around, I take a deliberate step back, needing that distance.
“Looks like I’ve caught myself a little social butterfly,” he grates in a low voice.
His eyes are narrowed. “Let’s talk, Harper.”
I push my hands into the pockets of my shorts, striving for confidence. “So talk.”
He snorts. “While I’ve loved your flare for exhibitionism in the past, let’s keep it private this time, shall we?”
He snags my arm and starts pulling me away from the patio before I can release the mile-long tirade poised on my tongue.
I am not an exhibitionist. We made out in an alley once. And he took some naked pictures of me on his phone once. Pictures he better have fucking deleted, or there’s going to be a nasty castration in his future.
Before we broke up, Sloane and Carter invited us over here for dinner a couple of times, so West knows his way around the property. Which is why he knows exactly where the lush gardens are and how to navigate their maze of foliage. Maintaining his hold on my arm, he drags us down the gravel path until the patio and party are no longer visible through the mass of palm fronds, hedges, and azalea bushes.
The only reason I’ve let him manhandle me up to this point is because I don’t want to make a scene at my friend’s party. I don’t want to be that couple. Not that we are a couple. Not even a little.
But no one can see us now.
And enough is enough.
I rip my arm out of his grip, my feet planting roots in the ground. “Knock it off, West. Isn’t this pissing contest routine of yours getting a little old?”
With his back facing me, he sucks in a deep breath and blows it out. The sight of his broad shoulders rising and falling with the movement mesmerizes me. I remember how sturdy those shoulders were whenever I used them as leverage to grind over his lap. It doesn’t help that the mint green button-down he’s wearing happens to be my favorite shirt of his.
A fact I know he remembers.
When his body whirls around to face me, his eyes are fierce and alert. “When have I ever given you the impression that I need to whip out a measuring stick just to get my dick wet? That pounding my chest and backing down every other man in the room somehow gets me off? Huh? When?”
“Are you serious? Uh, the night at the house in front of Emerson, for one. Tonight, for two.”
“The night with Emerson was about me not wanting to witness, in my own home, how badly other men want to fuck you,” he snaps. “My own friends.”
I swallow.
The edges in his voice are sharp. Sharp enough to cut me if I don’t maintain my distance. Which proves difficult when he starts advancing on me, forcing me to retreat.
“And tonight is about me losing control because I’m being forced to finally accept that other men do want to fuck you.” My back hits a tree. “And will fuck you. At some point in the future, it’s going to happen.” He slaps his hands against the bark, his arms caging me in. “Because I’m no longer the one who is fucking you.”
Author Bio:
Traveler. Reader. Beach-goer. St. Louis Cardinals fan. Pasta-obsessed. North Carolina resident. Sarcastic. Bit of a nerd.
Author of the Cruz Brothers, Possession and Politics, and Timid Souls series, Melanie loves all things romance, comedies and suspense in particular because it’s boring to only stick to one sub-genre! From light-hearted comedies to sexy thrillers, she likes to mix it up, but loves her some strong alpha males and sassy heroines.
Go visit Melanie’s website and sign up for her newsletter to stay updated on release dates, teasers, and other details for all of her projects!Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub
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Man Down
Kate Meader
(Rookie Rebels #3)
Publication date: July 28th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Gunnar Bond is broken.
Three years ago, he lived through the car crash that took his wife and twins away from him—though “lived” barely describes his current state. Giving up professional hockey, going off grid, and drinking himself into oblivion are his coping mechanisms. Another is texting his dead wife about his days without her. Therapeutic? Doubtful. Crazy?
Definitely. But those messages into the ether are virtually the only thing stopping him from spiraling to even darker places.Until someone texts back . . .
Sadie Yates is losing it.
Suddenly guardian to a little sister she doesn’t know and a misbehaving hound she’d rather not know at all, she’s had to upend her (sort of) glamorous life in LA and move back to Chicago. The nanny has quit, the money’s running out, and her job is on the line. The last thing she needs is her sister’s hockey camp counselor, a judgmental Viking type, telling her she sucks at this parenting lark. Thank the goddess for her sweet, sensitive, and—fingers crossed—sexy text buddy who always knows the right thing to say. In the same city at last, they can finally see if their online chemistry is mirrored in real life. She just needs to set up a meeting …
A ruined man who claims to have used up all his love is surely a bad bet, but Sadie’s never been afraid of a challenge … even one that might shatter her heart into a million pieces.
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—
EXCERPT:
She smoothed the skirt of her dress, a cute shift style she’d cut from an old Vogue pattern and paired with a fun, sparkly belt. Placing her hand on the door handle, she grabbed her Kate Spade, gift from her friend Peyton, only to stall at hearing her phone buzz.
“Hold your horses, woman,” she muttered, expecting to see an all-caps text from Allegra. Instead it was from someone rather unexpected.
LonelyHeart: It’s cold and miserable, like me. How about you?
More than twenty-four hours later, he’d texted back! About the weather, but she’d take it.
Sadie: Sunny with a chance of more sun. Like me!
She cringed at her ridiculousness. Sadie: Sorry, just being a goof. What’s going on? Forehead slap. He’s mourning his wife, that’s what.
LonelyHeart: I’ve been thinking about the 9 million numbers and how it is you have this one number. Of all the numbers. This one that means something to me.
She had no idea what to say to that. Maybe it’s fate? The goddess? Maybelline?
The dots started up again and she let him finish his thought.
LonelyHeart: Maybe it means we’re supposed to be talking.
Sadie: I think so. It has to be a sign.
LonelyHeart: So you don’t think it’s weird?
What? Talking to a man who wished he was chatting with the deceased love of his life. Nah!
Sadie: No, not at all. You don’t have to say anything, but I wanted you to know I’m here if you need to talk.
LonelyHeart: Not much of a talker.
Sadie smiled. This man—and she was sure it was a man—was much more of a “talker” than he claimed.
Sadie: Yet you can’t shut up in those texts J
LonelyHeart: Kind of chatty when there’s only four wooden walls.
Sadie: You have me now.
She sent it before she had time to think about how it would sound. Presumptuous. Needy. A bridge too far.
Allegra: SADIE, WHERE ARE YOU??!!!
Damn. She waited for LonelyHeart to respond, worried she’d scared him off. Her phone rang with Allegra’s high-energy smile on the screen (Allegra had energy degrees for her smiles. This one was an eight.) Sadie let it go to voice mail. It seemed incredibly important that she wait for his response. Just a second, just one more second …
LonelyHeart: I should let you go. I’ll check in later if that’s okay.
Sadie’s heart thundered. Definitely. I’m dying to hear about the wooden walls. Are you Amish? But a user of phones? An Amish tech-lover?
LonelyHeart: No. I live in a cabin. In a forest.
Sadie: Like the Unabomber? I’m not really into revolutionary anarchy but I can tell a million jokes about it.
LonelyHeart: Jokes would be welcome during the revolution.
Sadie: Awesome! I’ll get my arsenal of bad puns ready. (Arsenal? Revolution? Get it?) Prepare to be entertained.
LonelyHeart: Is that your way of discouraging me from checking in? Because I’m not easily frightened.
Sadie: Wait until you hear my A material.
Author Bio:
Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron, a fire hose, or a hockey stick, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.
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The Deception Incident
Marla Holt
(The Incident Series, #2)
Publication date: July 21st 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Her life is stabilizing and his is spiraling while they both keep secrets.
Minnie Halvarson moved to Kansas to start over. She wanted to be anonymous, live a simple life, and heal from her past. When Bryant Wilder walks into her bookstore, she thinks she’s hit the boyfriend jackpot. What more could she want than a tall, bookish man who worships her?
Until Minnie finds out he’s dating mega pop star, Van Birch and cuts all ties with him.
Bryant Wilder is a humble Kansas contractor by day and Van Birch’s fake boyfriend whenever she needs him to bel. At first Bryant is happy to do it, but after five years, he is tired of dodging paparazzi and keeping his hookups on the down low.
Bryant wants more.
Who he wants is Minnie. But she won’t even look at him.
Now Van is back in Wellville, and has adopted Minnie into their friend group, Bryant is just as smitten with her as ever. Maybe if she hadn’t just had a baby, he’d actually have a chance.
The Deception Incident is the second book in the Incident Series. Dig into this steamy, instalove, secret baby romance with a guaranteed happily ever after by Marla Holt.
—
EXCERPT:
Bryant thought he might have died. On some level, he knew he lay in bed next to the voluptuous woman he’d been lusting after for weeks. That was the only way to account for the otherworldly satiety that had him feeling as though he’d left his body behind altogether and reached some other level of consciousness.
His mind was not functioning. Bryant couldn’t form thoughts, couldn’t speak words. This tiny woman, whom he’d thought so shy when he’d first met her, had rocked his world. It was as if her touch had electrocuted him onto a new plane of existence, because he was certain that he was no longer the same Bryant Wilder he had always been an hour ago.
Was that even possible?
The only thing he was sure of was that as soon as his body rematerialized and his thoughts could coalesce into coherence, he was going to have a new obsession. This woman. She was going to be the undoing of him.
The first conscious thought he had that didn’t have to do with the freewheeling pleasure centers in his brain was that he had to tell Van.
Telling Van what was harder to grasp. That he’d just had the most amazing sex of his life? Sure, he’d guess that might be something they’d discuss, but it wasn’t what he wanted to talk to her about. He couldn’t articulate why. He and Van talked about everything.
Then Minnie stirred in his arms, and Bryant fell back into his body. His limbs were heavy, his muscles relaxed, and he thought maybe he had been asleep for a little while. He didn’t remember getting rid of the condom, but he must have at some point. All there was in his memory was his skin on Minnie’s in a chilly room. He pulled her closer, not sure if they’d knocked all the covers to the floor or if the bed was still made.
Minnie rolled in his arms so her breath tickled his ear, then she skimmed her finger tips up his arm and over his collarbone. She scratched in the three day’s worth of stubble on his chin, then trailed up to tap on the hinge of his glasses.
“You still have your glasses on,” she said, a giggle in the back of her throat.
“Of course,” Bryant said. His voice came out in a decidedly unsexy croak. “I needed to be able to see every expression you made, every sensuous writhe, every shudder of delight, and I’m blind without my glasses.”
Author Bio:
Marla Holt believes in second chances, romance, and the radical notion that everyone deserves a happily every after. She’s living her own fairy tale, writing contemporary romance novels in her Kansas farmhouse with her husband, three boys, three cats, and flock of imaginary sheep. Follow her at marlaholt.com or on Instagram as @marlaholtauthor
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The Game Maker
Kitty Thomas
Publication date: July 15th 2020
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Romance
I was too isolated. I was about to be evicted. I made a final desperate call to the man who ruined my life, but he didn’t come for me.
Someone else did.
And then there was Seven. When I first woke in the cell, I thought he was my captor, but he is a pawn, like me.
Seven is beautiful and kind. I want him so much I can barely breathe. He wants to protect me from our captor, but he can’t.
We are both locked inside a game neither of us can ever hope to win, and even though it’s wrong, I’m starting to want both men, not just the good one… the monster as well.
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—
EXCERPT:
My head is pounding when I regain consciousness. I can’t bring myself to open my eyes. I’m lying on a hard surface, which seems weird to me. At first I think I’m lying on the ground outside where I passed out, but there are no city noises. Instead, I hear classical music being piped in from a speaker above me.
And I smell… roses. One of those highly fragrant varieties. I must be at Andrew’s place. But why the fuck did he leave me on the ground? It’s at this point that I realize I’m naked. Also, Andrew doesn’t listen to classical music.
Instinctively, I want to bolt upright and cover myself, but I don’t have that kind of reaction time. And it’s a real struggle to open my eyes. When I do, I’m momentarily grateful to be in a dimly lit room.
“A-Andrew?” I croak out. I want to scream at him for dumping me on the ground in his apartment, but I can barely choke his name out. I wait for my eyes to adjust. Everything around me is dark gray, and there’s no furniture in this room.
Cell, my mind hisses at me. I am in a cell.
I push myself off the ground into a sitting position and wait for my vision to go back to normal so I can get a sense of where I am. Did Andrew put me in here? He’s a bigger bastard than I thought. This is when I finally realize I’m not alone.
There’s a large, dark figure sitting on the ground against the far wall.
“Andrew, you piece of shit. What are you doing?”
I probably shouldn’t speak to the person who rescued me from homelessness this way, but I don’t care. He needs to grow the fuck up. I expect him to yell at me or threaten to kick me out, but what I hear instead chills me.
“Who’s Andrew?”
This is definitely not Andrew’s voice. No accent. Plus it’s deeper and more frightening. Suddenly the adrenaline hits me, and I have a sudden burst of speed. I back as far from him as I can until I meet the opposite wall. I shield my breasts from his gaze and shift to a sitting position where he can’t see other private parts—even though I know he’s already seen everything. And possibly done more. I was unconscious after all.
As my vision clears further, it seems that the light in the room gets a little brighter. He’s wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, no shoes. His dark hair looks a bit disheveled. He’s very attractive. Heart-stoppingly beautiful, actually. It’s the kind of unearthly beauty that makes me feel relieved for a moment because I know I’m still passed out. This is a weird dream. I just know it is.
It’s not a dream, whispers the same evil internal voice that decided to tell me I was in a cell.
It takes several minutes before my mind is willing to accept what has happened. I don’t know if someone put something in my drink or if I was just that drunk. I don’t know how long this man stalked me before he took me, but I know I’m looking at the man who kidnapped me.
And now the tears come. It takes every ounce of willpower not to break down into hysterical sobs. This reaction is making a lie out of everything I thought I knew about myself. The strength and control I thought I had in my life. Even up to very recently, I thought I was handling things.
But this is the last straw. It’s the last tiny push I needed to find myself in a free fall.
Another dark thought pushes its way into my mind. No one is going to be looking for me. Does the man who took me know that? Andrew sure as shit won’t look or file a police report.
My landlady might not realize why I didn’t pack my things up first, but as nice as Carolyn is, she’ll just be glad she doesn’t have to have me forcibly removed. She isn’t going to report my disappearance to the police. What disappearance? I’ve been evicted. I’m not supposed to be there.
There is no reality now but me and my captor. I’m trying desperately not to think about the reasons this man took me. To rape me? To kill me? To torture me? He sure as shit isn’t going to let me go when he’s done with whatever’s on his nefarious agenda. I know you can’t appeal to a sociopath, and nobody normal does something like this.
Still, I can’t help begging. “P-please don’t hurt me.”
“I won’t,” he says.
Huh?
“You can let me go,” I say. “I won’t say anything.”
“I can’t let you go. I didn’t put you in here.”
“What?” For a moment, my confusion overtakes my fear. What does he mean he didn’t put me in here? Of course he did. Who the fuck can he blame? The invisible demon perched on his shoulder?
He shakes his head slowly. “I’m in the same boat as you, sweetheart.”
I glance back and forth between us. He has clothes on, and they don’t look like he’s worn them for days. Meanwhile, I’m naked. We are not in the same boat.
“I don’t believe you,” I say. “You’re playing with me somehow.”
Author Bio:
KITTY THOMAS writes dark stories that play with power and have unconventional HEAs. She began publishing in early 2010 with her bestselling COMFORT FOOD and is considered one of the original authors of the dark romance subgenre.
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The Proposal
Maya Hughes
(Cupcakes & Cocktails #1)
Publication date: July 16th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
When I envisioned Zara Logan dropping to her knees in front of me, this wasn’t what I had in mind…
I was expecting a lot less glaring and a lot more moaning.
Instead, she’s proposing an enticing deal that I can’t bear to walk away from.
To land one of the city’s biggest clients, she wants us to put our differences aside and play fake fiancés for the next thirty days.
So, I slip the diamond ring onto her finger and agree to play the perfect fiancé. How hard can this be?
A hell of a lot harder than I thought…
She’s infuriatingly stubborn and she thinks I’m a cocky jerk with an enormous ego. (She’s right, but I can definitely back it up…)
As our long days stretch into even later nights, it’s getting harder to remember we’re only playing pretend, which means one thing.
She won’t be faking it for long…
—
EXCERPT:
“You want me to propose to you?” With muscles tense and tight, she stared at me before crossing the room to me in two strides.
“It’ll make a wonderful story to tell if anyone asks. Or we can call the whole thing off and confess, but you’re the one who led us down this path with the relationship talk. Kathleen would probably kick us off the project. Or maybe just you.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Just when I think you’re not a complete asshole. Fine.” The word shot out like a nail gun. Covering her mouth, she mumbled into her hand. “Will you pretend to be my fake fiancé for the next thirty days?”
I cupped my hand around my ear. “That wasn’t exactly romantic and you’re not even on bended knee. Boyz II Men would be disappointed.” I dangled the ring in front of her.
She squeezed her forehead and snatched it out of my hand.
I braced myself for her to fling it straight into my face, but she didn’t. Hiking up the skirt of her suit an inch, she lowered herself to the floor with her gaze trained on mine. The intensity of her emerald gaze sent my blood thrumming through my veins. Her thick eyelashes framed her eyes and the ill wishes she was trying to sear into my brain.
But damn if her sinking to her knees in front of me didn’t flash me into a whole different set of circumstances with her where she wasn’t wishing me dead and I wasn’t trying to steal this project out from under her.
“Leo Charles Wilder, will you please agree to be my fake fiancé for the next thirty days and make me the most miserable woman on earth?” She held out the ring in her palm.
I tapped my finger against my lips and stared up at the ceiling. “When you put it like that…”
Author Bio:
Maya Hughes, that’s me!, can often be found sneaking in another chapter while hiding in the bathroom from her kids! 🙂 I’m a romance writer who loves taking inspiration from everyday life, namely my husband and biggest fan. Inspiration also strikes when I hear a song, meet someone new or daydream while at soccer practice.
I’m the mom of three little ones, the wife to an amazing husband and also work full time. Some of my favorite things are cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, white wine, laughing until I can’t breathe, traveling with my family and Jeff Goldblum.
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