Thursday, November 28, 2013

A Home for Christmas by Ann Vaughn




A Home for Christmas

Ann Vaughn



Publication: November 28, 2013

Synopsis

Single mom, Jenna Blackwell wasn’t having a very good start to the Christmas season; her purse got stolen on Black Friday. She’s cursing her luck and herself for even being out in the Black Friday madness when the store manager brings in Riley Stanton, a former Navy SEAL who chased down the thieves and recovered her purse. Jenna is blown away by Riley: his looks, his smile, the fact that he ran down the purse snatchers, everything.

Riley Stanton had no idea when he chased down the kids who stole a few purses that he would walk into a room and have his life changed forever. He looked into the eyes of Jenna and saw a strength in her that he found intriguing.

Riley soon learns that Jenna is everything he ever wanted in a woman. He falls for her and for her son harder than he expected to. Jenna is cautious but welcoming and hopes that she and her son can give Riley the one thing he hasn’t had in years, A Home for Christmas.






Excerpt:

Riley came over every evening after work. He helped Cam with his homework. he got there before she did on Wednesday and he and Cam had dinner ready by the time she got home. Jenna had to fight tears as she sat at the table. It had been so long since someone had cooked for her. To be honest, other than her mother, she didn't think anyone ever had. Wade, her ex, certainly never did. Watching Cam work so closely with Riley, having Riley there filling the role that Wade had abandoned, even sitting at a table with candlelight and roses and food she hadn't had to prepare...it was a lot for her to handle. She was barely hanging on by a thread and when Riley had initiated the blessing, she lost it. "Mom?" Cam asked, uncertain of what was happening. Jenna covered her face with her hands, silently crying. She heard the scrape of a chair and then suddenly Riley was there, his arms around her, lifting her from the chair. She heard him say something to Cam and then he carried her from the room.

He sat on the sofa and cradled her in his lap and just held her while she cried. After several minutes, when her tears had subsided somewhat, Riley reached down to cup her chin in his hand and lift her head so he could look into her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Nothing to be sorry about," he said, smoothing his hands over her cheeks to wipe her tears away.

"Mom?" Cam asked again, drawing her attention. "You OK?" "I'm good, bud, I'm sorry." Riley looked up at Cam and made eye contact with him. Jenna wasn't sure what passed between them, but Cam got up and left, leaving her there with Riley. "Look at me," he said, softly. When she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. "What's going on?" She took a deep breath. "It's just...no one's ever done something like this for me before." "Like what? Take care of you?" She nodded. "Better get used to it, babe. I'm not going anywhere." She squeezed his hand, tears falling down her cheeks again. This time, Riley leaned forward and kissed them away before touching his lips to hers. For the first time, Jenna didn't hold herself back.

Maybe it was because Cam was just down the hall and she knew it couldn't get out-of-control. Whatever the case, she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. "Thank you, Riley," she whispered when they pulled apart, pressing her forehead to his, and placing her fingertips against his lower lip. He nipped her fingertip lightly, then ran his tongue around her finger. "Anytime," he replied, "and I mean that. You don't have to do it all alone any more." "Riley," she whispered, kissing him, "please don't make promises you can't keep. My heart is fragile enough, but Cam..." He kissed her back. "Quit while you're ahead. Don't piss me off." She smiled and combed her fingers through the hair at his nape. "I'll try." "Good. Let me take care of you, Jenna.

You and Cam." She took a deep breath. "Tell you what. You're still here by Christmas? We'll talk," she said, giving him a final kiss then sliding off his lap. He watched her walk down the hall to Cam's room. Closing his eyes and letting his head fall back on the couch, he reached down to adjust himself in his jeans. For the first time since leaving the Navy, Riley felt like he wasn't just spinning his wheels.





Dreamcast: 





 






Check out Ann's previous novels:




Publication Date: August 7, 2013
Shane McCanton and Tessa Kelly were childhood enemies. Everything was a contest to them and Tessa always seemed to show Shane that nice guys finished last. Things change, however, when hormones take over and Shane begins to see the perpetual thorn-in-his-side as more than just his childhood nemesis...

Tessa had never meant to set into motion events that led to their childhood rivalry, but once it started, she embraced it with gusto...until her world started to fall apart and she realized that Shane was the one constant in her life, her rock who would never leave her and help her find her Long Way Home...


Book Trailer:





Publication Date: November 4, 2013
Colt Harris wasn't on the hunt for love when he looked up from his lunch and spotted Sarah. As cliched as it was, time stood still - all he could see was her. Hearing her laugh sealed his fate; he knew his life was about to change.

Sarah Sauter was used to being alone. She lost her parents when she was eighteen and after a really bad love affair, had given up on ever finding love. Since then, her life had been all about simply surviving. Little did she know that when she went to lunch with her co-workers, she would have a chance encounter with a man who would literally turn her world upside down.

When Colt steps into Sarah's life, he finds that things with her aren't exactly as they appear to be. Secrets hidden deep in her past begin to surface, dropping Colt and Sarah in the middle of a nearly twenty-seven year old mystery. It will take all of Colt's strength, patience and resolve Finding Home for Sarah.

About  the Author

Ann Vaughn is a Native Texan now living in Oklahoma. She's been writing since the seventh grade (many MANY moons ago) when she and her friends were obsessed with the Sweet Valley High series. Back then, access to books wasn't as easy as it is now, so to tide her over between SVH releases, she began writing her own, Texas versions of SVH, full of lots of Texas Friday Night Lights and pitfalls and perils of teenage life in the 80s. Writing has always been a comfort and a release for her, though she never expected to be published. It wasn't until a conversation with her husband about the rise of eBooks that she decided to try her hand at self-publishing. It was scary and exciting and ever since the release of her first book, Long Way Home on August 7, 2013 she has been on a wild roller coaster ride that she wouldn't trade for the world. 

Contact Ann:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1731657.Ann_Vaughn

Monday, November 25, 2013

Review: Finding Home by Ann Vaughn


Synopsis
Colt Harris wasn't on the hunt for love when he looked up from his lunch and spotted Sarah. As cliched as it was, time stood still - all he could see was her. Hearing her laugh sealed his fate; he knew his life was about to change.

Sarah Sauter was used to being alone. She lost her parents when she was eighteen and after a really bad love affair, had given up on ever finding love. Since then, her life had been all about simply surviving. Little did she know that when she went to lunch with her co-workers, she would have a chance encounter with a man who would literally turn her world upside down.

When Colt steps into Sarah's life, he finds that things with her aren't exactly as they appear to be. Secrets hidden deep in her past begin to surface, dropping Colt and Sarah in the middle of a nearly twenty-seven year old mystery. It will take all of Colt's strength, patience and resolve Finding Home for Sarah.




Review


Finding Home by Ann Vaughn is exactly what a well written romance should be.This story is complex. It has mystery, love and some steamy scenes you don't want to miss.

At first I did not like the main character Sarah. She is stubborn and very closed. At times throughout the book I was yelling at her. I learned to love her and found myself identifying with her on some level by the end of the book.

Colt on the other hand was love at first read. He is charming, sexy and all the Alpha male you want in a great steamy romance novel. He also has all the compassion and sweetness you would want from a book boyfriend. Colt is in one word perfect.

Ann Vaughn writes with such magic that you are consumed by the story and you just crave more the further you read. You experience emotions for and with all the characters. The mystery keeps you on the edge of your seat and the roller-coaster of emotions touch your soul.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ann Vaughn is an author to watch out for. If you haven't read Ann's first novel Long Way home, make sure to pick it up, you won't be disappointed.
A very deserving five stars.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Beautifully Awake by Riley Mackenzie




                                                              Title: Beautifully Awake
Author: Riley Mackenzie
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 2, 2013
Hosted By: Love Between the Sheets


Buy the Book



Kobo 




Synopsis
Diagnosis: Sleep-running
Treatment: Truth
Prognosis: Beautifully Awake

Lili Porter hates the rain. Bad things happen in the rain. As a small town social worker dedicated to protecting children, she is forced to start over to escape her rural disaster. Determined to follow her father’s advice—head up and chin high—Lili finds herself in a new city, taking on a new system, this time healthcare. In doing so, she gets something she never expected, an intimate behind-the-scenes look at life in the hospital.

Lili learns that a surgeon’s hands have the power to heal more than physical wounds. And a prescription for truth can cure three years of sleep running and leave you beautifully awake.




Excerpt

He was already dressed for the OR in his scrubs, looking ... amazing. The beat beneath my chest started again and my mouth watered, as I not so subtly roamed his body with my hungry eyes. All I wanted was to feel his body against mine, get lost in where I ended and he began. It was all I’d ever want. Forever. I finally got what he meant every time he said mine. He was mine.
“See something you like?” He smirked.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Baby, if you don’t stop looking at me like that I’m never gonna get out of here.”
“Truth. Sounds perfect to me.” Now I smirked.
“Ahh fuck, you’re killing me. You know scrubs don’t hide a hard-on very well.”
I laughed. He had a point there.
Leaning down, he kissed my nose. “Text you in a bit, see how your day is going...” 
“K.”
So was this my life? I sunk back into the fluffy pillows and sighed. I wanted this to be my morning every morning. 



About the Authors
Yep. That's an “s.” There are two of us!

We’re East coast girls separated by Long Island Sound who met in Physician Assistant School and have been besties ever since. We can safely say that thirteen miles of water does not get in the way because we talk or text, no exaggeration, at least 150 times a day. No, really, we do—about everything and nothing. Shockingly, we never (we mean never) run out of things to say. Umm, ever. We definitely laugh A LOT and we’re a tad sarcastic. And if we’re being totally honest, one or two people might have, on occasion, used our names and ‘dramatic’ in the same sentence. But it’s hard to trust the sources since they married us.
It only took twelve years, two husbands, five kids, two dogs, and a two-week vacation in Cape Cod later to decide the romance world needed a splash of medicine. Write what you know.

So you can easily find us at 4 o'clock on Bank Street beach with a glass of cold Prosecco brainstorming. And guaranteed if we bump into you, literally, it’s only because our iPhones are glued to our hands (totally out of our control) either writing or editing our next novel (and yes, it is possible to do from your iPhone, we mastered it … damn those straight quotations).

When we are not working on our book or reading the latest angsty romance on our kindles, you basically name it and we have it going on. Soccer, lacrosse, golf, swimming, dance, gymnastics, football, chess, baseball, basketball, skiing, ice skating, school, homework, and more school. 

Oh yeah, did we forget to mention our careers in medicine?
Needless to say, we realized fast that something had to go, so we opted for sleep. It’s completely overrated (yet so AMAZING) and delirium makes everything funnier. Good thing we share a brain and can pretty much complete each other’s sentences (definitely weird, we know), otherwise it might have taken us two years to write Beautifully Awake rather than one.

So that’s our story, who we are … just add AUTHORS to the list!

Connect with the Authors
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Riley-Mackenzie-Authors/444308589010453
Website: http://www.rileymackenzie.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorsrileymac
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7256754.Riley_Mackenzie


Giveaway
Grand Prize: Kindle Paperwhite
(5) Signed Paperbacks of Beautifully Awake (US Only)
(5) $5 Starbuck's Gift Cards 



a Rafflecopter giveaway Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ODFkZjdmMTg2Y2VmMWY2ZTA5MTc3MzljYTQxMzFjOjIxNA==/

Cover Reveal: Forever and Almost Always by Amanda Bennett

Forever and Almost Always Cover add-to-goodreads-button31  
Synopsis
What do you do when the one person you have always wanted, you can almost never have?
We found each other by chance and it was perfect, easy and everything I could have asked for. Our love was one for the books. When he moved next door, my entire world flipped upside down and inside out, but it was the best feeling I had ever experienced. Until the time came to choose between him and my family. I was young and in love, but in the end, I chose my family. I’ve regretted that decision since the day I made it. Now fate has given me a second chance with the one person I knew I was always supposed to be with. But this time so much more was standing in our way. 
Can I choose him over the life I’ve come to know? 
Will he be able to forgive me and give us a second chance? I
s true love really enough to conquer everything standing in our way?
Sometimes the hardest decisions in life, are the most liberating, I just hope that this time I made the right one.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Excerpt
My lust for her had turned to desire within seconds, and I couldn’t stand the thought of not feeling her soft skin underneath my hands. I pulled her through the living room and down the hallway by her wrist and didn’t loosen my grip until we were standing in front of my bedroom door. I pressed my hard body against hers, forcing her body to stay unmoving between me and the hard wood door. My hand slowly moved from the soft skin on her exposed thigh, to the warmth of her lower back. Her skin felt like a live wire of electricity flowing beneath my touch. I needed her. I wanted her in way that I had never thought possible. Her lips parted and I could feel her warm breath glide across my face. I dipped my head and lightly pressed my lips to her neck. The small moan that escaped her mouth was my undoing, and there was no more holding back. I was going to make her mine.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Meet Amanda
photo (1)
Amanda currently lives in Utah with her many men (her husband, two little boys, and two dogs). She is an avid San Francisco 49ers and Dexter fan. In high school she developed a love for writing and storytelling, and in the past couple years has made it her passion as she just released her ninth book.

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Forever and Almost Always Jacket

Holiday Blog Tour Announcement



Holiday Party Blog Tour & Giveaway!

On November 20th, the Holiday Party Blog Tour will be celebrating 
Holidays with the Walker Brothers by Nicole Edwards
on the following blogs, be sure to check out each stop and enter to win 1 of 30 copies!



This Holiday Party Blog tour is being run in conjunction with the 
Check out the entire schedule of the 18 Holiday Party Blog Tour stops HERE.

Join the party and win from a prize pool of over 1,500 books and prizes by these generous authors!

Holiday Party Blog Tour is being coordinated by I ♥ Bookie Nookie on 

Holidays with the Walker Brothers by Nicole Edwards





Holidays with the Walker Brothers 
by Nicole Edwards

Description:

You are personally invited to spend the holidays with the Walker brothers and their families. As with any other time of the year, the seven brothers know how to heat things up while stirring up trouble, and between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, they don’t hold back.

See how Kaleb, Zane, Travis, Sawyer, Brendon, Ethan, and Braydon spend their days and nights through the holiday season. But just a warning… it doesn’t snow much in Coyote Ridge, Texas and they may just be the reason for that.





Enter to Win! 

• 30 copies of Holidays with the Walker Brothers Kindle or Nook formats


About the Author:
Nicole lives in Texas with her husband, Colt, three kids and four dogs. It's quite the household and most of the time you'll find her locked away in her office... writing. When she's not, you'll likely find her reading, swimming, or hanging out in the yard with the dogs, doing her best to keep them in line. (And no, it doesn't usually work)

Social Links:

Goodreads ● Twitter ● Facebook ● Website 
● Google+ ● Amazon 

Buy Links:

Amazon ● Amazon UK ● Amazon CA 

Tour Coordinator:

I ♥ Bookie Nookie Reviews

Please check out the other stops on this tour today:

Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews  Reviews 


This Holiday Party Blog tour is being run in conjunction with the 
Check out the entire schedule of the 18 Holiday Party Blog Tour stops & participating bloggers HERE.


Join the party and win from a prize pool of over 1,500 books and prizes by these generous authors!

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