Excerpt: Making the Play by TJ Kline

T.J. Kline launches a brand new series with the charming story of an NFL player who finds love when he least expects it…

Grant McQuaid has dedicated his entire life to his football career. Now an injury threatens his place on the team and he’s forced to return home to rehabilitate. But when he meets his “biggest fan,” a precocious, blue-eyed, hearing impaired boy named James—and his beautiful mother, Bethany—Grant begins to question whether football is the future he still wants.

Bethany Mills has been doing just fine since her husband walked out on them… and she definitely doesn’t need another man to disappoint her—or her son. But when James runs into his hero at the park, Bethany admits there is a void in her son’s life that she just can’t fill. Her attraction to the handsome football star is undeniable, but a man in the limelight is the last thing she wants for herself, or James.

Grant doesn’t want to subject Bethany to the chaos of dating a professional athlete. But the more time he spends with her and James, the harder it is to resist making a play for her heart…

Excerpt

Grant waited at his car for Bethany and James to finish up inside the classroom. He’d spent the rest of lunch recess entertaining nearly forty kids who’d come running over when they realized James knew a professional football player. The smile that lit James’ face when he introduced Grant had been well worth the discomfort he’d faced trying to explain why he was at the school to Bethany.

He couldn’t blame her for being standoffish with him when she first saw him there. What kind of weirdo showed up at your job the day after you told him to take a hike? But something had shifted in her today. He’d seen it in her eyes when he tried to explain why he’d come. Enough that he was willing to push his luck and see if she wasn’t up for having ice cream today.

Grant saw her heading toward her older model sedan in the school parking lot, juggling an armload of books, papers and teaching supplies. James wore a small backpack with a cartoon character he didn’t recognize on his little shoulders but Bethany carried an overfilled tote bag that had to weigh more than she did.

“Hey! Here, let me get that for you.” He hurried to her side, sliding the bag from her shoulder. Apprehension colored her hazel eyes and, for a moment, he wondered if she wasn’t going to tell him to leave again. Instead, she unlocked her car.

Grant wasn’t sure if he should ask but knew it would look far more suspicious if he didn’t now. “What are you guys up to? I thought maybe I could convince you to get that ice cream today.”

James’ face brightened and he looked up at his mother. “Can we?”

Bethany bit her lower lip. “We can’t.”

Grant tried not to take the second rejection to heart and nodded in understanding.

“Our downstairs toilet broke this morning and I had to turn it off. Now I’ve got to run to the store for the part and figure out how to fix it,” she explained.

Relief he hadn’t expected coursed through him. Maybe she wasn’t shooting him down after all. He let the corner of his mouth tip up playfully. “Ms. Mills, that sort of sounds like a load of C-R-A-P,” he spelled, laughing at his bad pun.

Her eyes widened but she smiled at his audacity. “Mr. McQuaid,” she scolded.

James giggled beside her and Grant immediately realized his mistake. “Mom, he spelled a bad word.”

“How did he . . . never mind. I should have known this genius could spell that,” Grant said, trying not to laugh. “How about if I help you fix your toilet?”

She popped open the truck, indicating that he should set her bag inside. “You want to fix my toilet?” Bethany crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the side of the car as she closed the trunk. “Really? That’s the line you want to go with?”

Grant shrugged but the smile never left his lips. What was it about this woman and her kid that made him feel so comfortably at ease? He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time. She made it easy for him to forget about his injury, the pressure of his upcoming training camp and his possible job loss.

“What do you say, little man? You think between the two of us men, we can fix the toilet for your mom?”

“Yes!” he yelled cheerfully. James climbed into the back seat of the car and buckled himself into his booster seat.

“I’ll meet you at the hardware store.” Grant turned to walk back to his car.

“I’m not going to get rid of you, am I?”

Grant paused and looked back over his shoulder at her. “Why would you want to?” he asked with a wink and jogged the rest of the way back to his car.

About the Author

T. J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and Rodeo Queen competitions since the age of 14 and has thorough knowledge of the sport as well as the culture involved. She writes contemporary western romance for Avon Romance, including the Rodeo series and the Healing Harts series. She has published a nonfiction health book and two inspirational fiction titles under the name Tina Klinesmith. In her very limited spare time, T.J. can be found laughing hysterically with her husband, children, and their menagerie of pets in Northern California.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook| Twitter | Goodreads

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Excerpt: A Fool For You by Katee Robert

It’s been thirteen years since Hope Moore left Devil’s Falls, land of sexy cowboys and bad memories. Back for the weekend, she has no intention of seeing the man she never got over…or the two of them getting down and dirty. It’s just a belated goodbye, right? No harm, no foul.

Until six weeks later, when her pregnancy test comes back positive…

Daniel Rodriguez hasn’t forgiven himself for how things went down with Hope all those years ago. He knows she’s better off without him, but when she shows up on his doorstep, panicking because she’s pregnant with his baby, he can’t help seeing it as a chance to make up for the past.

Too bad Hope has no intention of going along with his plans.

Excerpt

Hope shook her head. “You’re as much an idiot now as you were then.”

And then she kissed him.

It caught him a little off guard—he hadn’t expected her to be the one to make the first move, especially after the way the scene in the bathroom had gone down—but Daniel wasted no time taking control. He kissed down her neck, sliding his hands beneath her shirt and skating them up to her body to cup her breasts. They filled his palms, familiar and yet not, all at the same time. He cursed. “Gorgeous Darling, the things you do to me.” He nipped her collarbone. “I’m going to taste you, so if you’re going to change your mind, now’s the time to do it.”

Her only response was to shove her yoga pants down to her knees.

He lifted her onto the counter and disentangled her right leg from the pants so he could spread her fully. He stroked her thighs, pausing when his fingers met the scar. It brought up so many conflicting feelings in him. It was his fault that she had the damn thing, but that didn’t mean he thought of her as less, the way she seemed to think. She was as beautiful now as she’d been at eighteen, and more confident despite her injury. Or maybe because of it. He had no idea.

All he knew was that at some point he was going to have to get up close and personal with her healed injury, and he was going to have to tread very, very carefully to avoid burning what was left of the bridge between him and Hope.

“If you apologize, I might actually kick you.”

That snapped him out of it. As much as he wanted Hope, he had an ulterior motive for pushing her now. All getting distracted by her leg was going to do was fuck up his chance of convincing her to stay, in his house and in his bed. He jerked her to the edge of the counter, spreading her thighs wider. “Don’t scream. You’ll upset Ollie.”

And then he did what he’d been fantasizing about ever since he walked out of her life. Daniel dipped his head and gave her center one long lick. She tasted better than he remembered, her body already shaking for him, so he used his thumbs to part her folds and licked her again, reacquainting himself with every inch of her.

“Oh.”

He looked up her body to find her head thrown back and her chest rising and falling with each harsh breath. “Take off your shirt.”

Hope wasted no time obeying, dragging the material over her head and tossing it away. And then there was nothing hiding her body from his gaze. He licked her again, savoring the way she shook. A tattoo curling around the bottom of her ribs caught his eye, but he was too distracted to read it.

He was tired of teasing her. He wanted to feel her orgasm again, to know she was coming apart at the seams because of him. Daniel sucked her clit into his mouth, stroking the sensitive little nub with the flat of his tongue the way she’d always loved. Sure enough, before he had a chance to truly savor her, Hope cried out his name and shuddered, her thighs squeezing his head as she came. He gentled his touches, licks turning to kisses, turning to the slightest brushing of his lips against her. Only when she stopped shaking did he raise his head. “Stay, at least until we figure out what we’re doing.”

About the Author

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. She found romance novels at age twelve and they changed her life. When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

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Connect:   Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Excerpt: Right Billionaire, Wrong Wedding by Victoria Davies

Darian King has never met a challenge he couldn’t handle. Running a billion-dollar corporation? Piece of cake. Hostile takeovers? A walk in the park. But when his little sister begs him to plan her wedding, Darian finds himself less than prepared for the task. Luckily, he knows just who to ask for help.Allison Reed wants nothing more than to leave King Enterprises behind. Being the personal assistant to a man like Darian is a 24/7 job. Asking her to help plan a wedding is simply the icing on the stress-filled cake but to leave she needs a glowing reference and will do anything to get it. Even plan a wedding with the man of her dreams.

Stepping outside the office has unexpected consequences. Darian doesn’t believe in relationships, yet he’s starting to see Allison in a whole new light. But he doesn’t know her secret, and she fears that by the time the vows are exchanged, she won’t just be leaving her job behind but her heart as well.

Excerpt

“Hello,” Darian greeted when she opened the door.

She caught her breath. As always, he was impeccable in his tailored suit. This time, however, he’d chosen to wear all black. The only color on him was the blue of his scarf. While the dark shade might have overpowered a lesser man, Darian appeared even more commanding than usual. She

had no doubt he would turn every female head when they walked into the restaurant.

A thrill raced through her at the knowledge that, for tonight at least, he was hers.

“Hi,” she replied, clutching the door.

His eyes swept over her. “You look amazing.” Reaching beside the door, she grabbed her coat and purse from the waiting hooks.

“All ready?” he asked as she pulled the door shut behind her.

“I think I’ve got everything.” She peered up at him to see him watching her with equal parts amusement and hunger.

“What?” she asked.

“I’ve been careless.”

“How so?”

“That wasn’t a proper greeting at all.” Not giving her a chance to protest, he crowded her up against the door before his lips descended onto hers.

Allison melted into his arms, more than willing to follow his lead. Her hands slid over his shoulders to pull him closer. He kissed her as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages, instead of the few hours it’d been since their last encounter in his office. When he touched her this way she was tempted to forgo the dinner she’d been looking forward to and simply invite him in. Thai takeout in bed sounded like

a worthy substitute, right?

With a last brush of his lips over hers, he pulled back.

“Now that,” he said, “was a hello.”

“You have my whole-hearted agreement. Good thing I invested in some kiss-proof lipstick.”

His eyes dropped to her mouth. “That sounds like a challenge.”

With a laugh, she pushed him away. “Food first. I’m starving.”

“All right, angel. Food first. I made reservations at a little Italian place I love. Come on.” He took her hand, leading her back toward the elevator.

As she followed him she tried not to think too hard about the endearment that had fallen so easily from his lips.

Or how just hearing it sent the butterflies in her stomach into a whirlwind

About the Author

Victoria Davies’s passion for writing started young. Luckily she had a family who encouraged believing in magic and embracing imagination. From stories quickly scribbled in diaries, her love of storytelling developed. Since then her characters may have evolved and her plots may have grown decidedly more steamy but she never lost her love of the written word. Writing is not only a way to silence the wonderful voices in her head, but it also allows her to share her passions with her readers.

Currently she writes from Toronto, Canada. While she has a healthy love for the unknown, this corner of the world will always be her home.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

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Excerpt Reveal: Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author of the Tangled Series & Legal Briefs Series, returns with the first of three sizzling standalone books about a family of racy, irresistible Royals.

Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook, Crowned Prince of Wessco, aka “His Royal Hotness”, is wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant—hard not to be when people are constantly bowing down to you.

Then, one snowy night in Manhattan, the prince meets a dark haired beauty who doesn’t bow down. Instead, she throws a pie in his face.

Nicholas wants to find out if she tastes as good as her pie, and this heir apparent is used to getting what he wants.

***

Dating a prince isn’t what waitress Olivia Hammond ever imagined it would be.

There’s a disapproving queen, a wildly inappropriate spare heir, relentless paparazzi, and brutal public scrutiny. While they’ve traded in horse drawn carriages for Rolls Royces and haven’t chopped anyone’s head off lately—the royals are far from accepting of this commoner.

But to Olivia—Nicholas is worth it.

***

Nicholas grew up with the whole world watching, and now Marriage Watch is in full force. In the end, Nicholas has to decide who he is, but more importantly, who he wants to be: a King... or the man who gets to love Olivia forever.

Excerpt

The next week is blissfully uneventful. I address Palace business during the day, and spend my nights with Olivia—which are so much more than blissful.

While I work, she relaxes like I want her to. She walks the grounds and has found a friend in Franny. They’ve had lunch together a few times, which doesn’t exactly thrill me, but at the very least, I know she’s safe with Simon’s wife.

Franny, and her forked tongue, will protect Olivia from the Lucy-types looking to wound her with their half-truths.

On the rare occasions my brother is sober, he becomes increasingly agitated—like he’s unable to sit still, to stand his own company, or any sound that resembles silence. Finally, he decides to throw a welcome home party for himself.

I’m in my bathroom preparing for his royal yacht party, just showered with a towel around my hips, scraping the last of the shaving cream off my jaw, when Olivia appears in the doorway.

I thought she was lovely from the first moment I saw her. But here, now—her bare, soft skin wrapped in a pink silk robe, her face glowing with well-rested happiness…she’s magnificent.

“So…do you guys have like a gift shop or a convenience store around here?”

I laugh. “A gift shop?”

She holds up a light blue disposable razor. “I’m out of razors. This one’s so dull I could run it over my tongue without drawing blood.”

“Let’s not test that theory. I like your tongue too much.” I wipe my chin with a towel. “I can have the staff bring one to your room.”

The devil on my shoulder—and the angel too—smack me upside the head. And they whisper a much better idea.

“Or…I could help you out.”

Her brows draw together. “Help me out? I can’t use your razor.”

“No, definitely not—you’d cut yourself to ribbons.” I finger the sharp, heavy straight blade. “What I mean is…I could shave for you.”

Her eyes darken, the way they do when she’s right on the edge—right before she comes. And she moves closer to me.

“Do you…want to do that?”

My gaze drags down, down, over every sumptuous inch of her body.

“Oh, yes.”

About the Author

Emma Chase is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the hot and hilarious Tangled series and The Legal Briefs series. Emma lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children and two naughty (but really cute) dogs. She has a long-standing love/hate relationship with caffeine.

Excerpt: The Trouble With Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis

If she has her way…

Willa Davis is wrangling puppies when Keane Winters stalks into her pet shop with frustration in his chocolate-brown eyes and a pink bedazzled cat carrier in his hand. He needs a kitty sitter, stat. But the last thing Willa needs is to rescue a guy who doesn’t even remember her…

…He’ll get nothing but coal in his stocking.

Saddled with his great-aunt’s Feline from Hell, Keane is desperate to leave her in someone else’s capable hands. But in spite of the fact that he’s sure he’s never seen the drop-dead gorgeous pet shop owner before, she seems to be mad at him…

Unless he tempers “naughty” with a special kind of nice…

Willa can’t deny that Keane’s changed since high school: he’s less arrogant, for one thing—but he doesn’t even remember her. How can she trust him not to break her heart again? It’s time to throw a coin in the fountain, make a Christmas wish–and let the mistletoe do its work…

Excerpt

She watched Keane take in the two newest Christmas trees, one in front of O’Riley’s Pub, the other in front of Reclaimed Woods, both decorated in simple red and gold balls. The only sound around them was the soft trickle of the water flowing from the fountain and some lovelorn crickets mourning the dawn’s lack of warmth.

    “Legend states that if you make a wish with a true heart, true love will find you,” she said.

    He met her gaze. “Legend also states that if you put your tooth under your pillow the Tooth Fairy will leave you cash.”

    She slowed, as always the fountain calling to her to make a wish. Keane slowed too, looking at her with a question.

    She searched her pockets for change, but could only come up with a dog treat. “Damn.” It was the swear jar’s fault, all her spare change always ended up in there.

    “What?”

    “I wanted to make a wish,” she said.

    A small smile crossed his face. “You want to make a wish? You’ve lived here for how long and you’ve never made one?”

    “Oh, I have.” She paused. “I like to.”

    This garnered her a raised brow. “How many times have you wished?”

    She bit her lower lip.

    “More than once?”

    Well, crap. How had they gotten on this subject? “Um…”

    “More than…five?”

    “Gee, would you look at the time?” she asked and tried to go but he caught her and brought her back around, his smile now a broad grin.

    “Fine,” she said. “If you must know, I toss a coin in every time I walk by.”

    He lost the battle with his laughter and she stared at him. Seriously, he had the best laugh. “It worked for Pru, I’ll have you know,” she told him. “She wished for true love to find Finn, and then he fell in love with her.”

    And Willa had been wishing ever since, even knowing how ridiculous and silly it was.

    “So…you’ve been wishing for true love for who exactly?” he asked.

    She stared at him in dismay. How had she not thought this through? “Me,” she admitted, slapping her pockets because surely she had even a penny. “But I intend to fix that right now. I’ll just wish for love for someone else.”

    “Who?” he asked warily.

    She narrowed her eyes at his fear. “You. Got any change?”

About Jill Shalvis

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s sexy contemporary and award-winning books wherever romances are sold and click on the blog button above for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter 

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Excerpt: Race the Darkness by Abbie Roads

Cursed with a terrible gift...

Criminal investigator Xander Stone doesn't have to question you-he can hear your thoughts. Scarred by lightning, burdened with a power that gives him no peace, Xander struggles to maintain his sanity against the voice that haunts him day and night-the voice of a woman begging him to save her.

A gift that threatens to engulf them

Isleen Walker has long since given up hope of escape from the nightmare of captivity and torture that is draining her life, her mind, and her soul. Except...there is the man in her feverish dreams, the strangely beautiful man who beckons her to freedom and wholeness. And when he comes, if he comes, it will take all their combined fury and faith to overcome a madman bent on fulfilling a deadly prophecy.

Excerpt

Her gaze locked with his—locked so hard the entire world vanished and all that existed were her and him and his hand feeling the steady beat of her heart. Whatever the fuck she was about to say, he was gonna believe her. She could tell him he was a two-headed, purple squirrel, and he’d go out, find a nut, and climb a tree.

“Xander. I vow to protect you from pain. I vow never to leave you unless you want me to leave. I vow never to hurt you the way Gran hurt your father. Because hurting you would be hurting myself. Your pain is my pain. And my pain is yours. But together we are strong and invincible. Don’t you feel it when we touch? It’s all I can feel. All I want to feel. You and me. Us. Together.”

Her words did more than enter his ears; they melded into him as bone-deep truth. He’d never do anything to hurt her and—damn—he trusted that she wouldn’t hurt him. As sick as it sounded, maybe his faith in her was born from the suffering she’d endured. She understood pain. Understood the depth and damage pain caused in a way few others ever would. That kind of knowledge made her incapable of wounding anyone else.

“Say something. You’re looking at me funny.” Her voice trembled just a bit. He could practically hear her doubting whether she should’ve spoken the words of her heart.

“What you said… Those words…” Christ. He didn’t have experience talking about his feelings. “Everything.”

She cocked her head to the side, questions wrinkling her forehead.

He was screwing this up. “Your words mean everything to me.” He could show her easier than he could tell her. He slid his hands up her neck, framing her face, staring at her, absorbing every detail. “You’re my…” Fearless. He caught himself before he said the word. To base how he felt on a story wasn’t real. She was real. And the emotions warming him were real. “Everything.”

He lowered his mouth to hers. She tasted sweet, of cinnamon and sugar, and for some reason, his heart ached with a fullness of feeling it had never experienced before.

He scooped her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest, his mind flashing back to the day he found her—and to holding her this same way. God, she had weighed so little, had seemed so fragile, but she was strong. Stronger than he’d ever be. Knowing what she’s gone through, what she’d survived—yeah. Strong was too weak a word to describe her.

He carried her up the stairs to his bedroom, his mouth never leaving hers. With a gentleness born of reverence, he settled her on the bed. He broke the kiss to stare at her once more. Her eyes were closed, her face relaxed, her lips deliciously puffy and pink from a good kissing. He fucking loved pink.

About the Author

Seven Things about Abbie Roads:

1.  She loves Snicker Parfaits. Gotta start with what’s most important, right?

2. She writes dark emotional books featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages.

3. By day she’s a mental health counselor known for her blunt, honest style of therapy. At night she burns up the keyboard. Well… Burn might be too strong a word. She at least sits with her hands poised over the keyboard, waiting for inspiration to strike. And when it does—the keyboard might get a little warm.

4.  She can’t stand it when people drive slowly in the passing lane. Just saying. That’s major annoying. Right?

5.  She loves taking pictures of things she thinks are pretty.

6.  She’s represented by Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary.

7.  Her first book will be out October 2016 through Sourcebooks.

You can find Abbie on Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |  Pinterest

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