Spotlight: The Reformation of Marli Meade by Tracy H. Meyer

Genre: YA Thriller
Release Date: December 1st 2016
H2O

About the Book

Born and raised on an isolated Appalachian mountain, sixteen-year-old Marli Meade yearns to break free from her father’s puritanical church, but fears its cult-like clutches are so deep she may never escape.

When she meets local boy Nate Porter, though, she realizes the life she craves—to be a normal teenager—is worth fighting for, even with the grave and deadly risk that fight would entail.

As her two worlds collide, exposing buried church secrets more sinister than she imagined, and unknown facts about her mother’s death, Marli must decide if she has the courage to fight for her future or if time has run out on her chance to live. 

Excerpt

With the first touch of Nate’s lips, pressing against mine as his arms wove around my back, one hand pushing into my hair, something in me blossomed like a moonflower. Alive.

He pulled my braid down in one swift move and I stopped thinking. For once, I started feeling and only feeling. Desperate, urgent, irrational feeling. I pushed my arms around his neck and pulled him close.

Make me forget. Make me forget who I am.

His kiss deepened as if he’d heard my silent plea. For the first time, his tongue pushed between my closed lips.

For one second I was shocked, unmoving. Then my instincts took over, matching his actions motion by motion.

I was nothing but sensation and feeling and energy and…life.

Finally, life.

Everywhere his hands touched burst with an energy I never knew a body could have. I pushed against him and he pushed back. As close as we were wasn’t close enough. Would never be close enough.

Electricity shot through me, waves and waves of energy, raw and powerful. He took the kiss deeper and I responded.

His hands worked a magic trail up and down my arms and over my shoulders. I hoped mine did the same for him as I let them roam over the muscles of his upper arms.

We slid to the floor and I didn’t even notice the cold, hard tile. The only thing I was aware of was his warm, solid body.

No, this wasn’t life. This was Heaven.

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About the Author

I have always been an avid reader, spending many sleepless nights either buried in a paperback, or devouring yet another novel on my Kindle. When I decided to give writing a try, I discovered another way to get lost, only this time it was in my own imagination. Now a'days I can be found with fingers flying over my keyboard or still buried in a book, and have become a fan of listening to audio books in my car because even while driving I need to be immersed in a story.

In addition to writing, I have a license in social work and currently work as an addictions counselor.

I was born and raised in West Virginia, and this beautiful part of the country is often represented in my novels. I now live in Virginia with my family and an ancient goldendoodle named Baileypup. I am a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Romance Writers of America, YARWA and Washington Romance Writers.

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Spotlight: In Mistletoe by by Tammy L. Bailey

About the Book

At twenty-five, Grace Evans is steadily picking up the pieces of everyone else’s life. So, when her younger sister decides to turn into a runaway bride just four weeks before the wedding, Grace, drops everything to chase after her and bring her back home. Only, when the trail leads to Mistletoe, Washington, she finds herself at the mercy of the town’s most handsome and emotionally unavailable bachelor.

Ex-Army officer, Ayden McCabe, has three creeds in life: never make the first move, never fall in love, and never take anyone to Mistletoe’s Christmas Dance. Wanting nothing more than to keep his matchmaking sister from meddling in his personal life, he agrees to help Grace if she agrees to play his girlfriend. Too brunette and meek for his taste, Ayden believes Grace can’t tempt him enough to break any of his creeds. He could not be more wrong.

Excerpt

“Do you like rum cake?” he asked to keep himself from having to reevaluate all the reasons again. He admitted Wilhelmina Hawthorne’s dessert was more alcohol than flour, but anything to keep Grace from leaving him to go check her text messages in case the damn wish somehow made it through…not that he believed in the folklore in the first place.

“Sure, but I’m not very good with liquor.” She tucked a piece of dark hair behind her ear.

He chuckled, imagining her getting wild and disrobing on top of his antique coffee table. 

“So, what happens with you and alcohol?”

She smiled. “I don’t take off my clothes, if that what you’re asking.”

“Damn.”

She laughed but lifted a dainty finger as if to give him a warning. “I fall asleep, so I can have some cake, but keep in mind there’s a very good chance my face will fall flat into the plate after my third bite.”

“I’ll take that chance.”

“It’s your call.” She shrugged. He left her to retrieve Wilhelmina’s prized rum cake, deciding to

bring the entire Bundt-shaped dessert with two forks resting on each side. When he entered the room, he found Grace sitting in quiet contemplation, her attention focused on the dormant redbrick fireplace. Since he’d installed the gas furnace several years before, he’d not

had any desire to light the fireplace up again, even when his dates hinted several times of how romantic it would be to cuddle before a crackling fire.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

She peered up, startled. “No, I’m fine.” She tried to stifle a shiver, and he sat the plate down and ambled away to retrieve some logs from his deck. Despite not using the fireplace, he understood the importance of keeping it ready for emergencies. It took several minutes, but he managed to build a popping fire, the sweet aroma of sizzling sap filling the space with a comforting fragrance. She moved to sit beside him, bringing the blanket his mother made with

her.

“This feels wonderful.” Grace closed her eyes and let the flickering light kiss her cheeks.

“Yes.” He sat captivated by her entranced features, realizing how he’d reminisced about kissing her, every glorious inch of her. “Are you ready for some football…and cake?” He projected his voice above the tone of his own thoughts. Her lids flew open, and he wondered where she’d been these last few moments, and with whom. The thought unsettled him.

“Are you ready to carry me up a flight of stairs?”

He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “Only if you’re fully naked.” 

“How did I know you were going to say that?” She sighed and maneuvered around so the cake sat between them on the short coffee table. As he flipped the game on and muted the volume, she lifted a small bite to her lips when he reached out to stop her.

She gave him a quizzical look. “What’s the matter?”

“How about we make this interesting?”

She drew back, and he knew she didn’t trust his motives. “How…interesting?”

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About the Author

Tammy L. Bailey grew up in historical Appomattox, Virginia and moved to Ohio the day after she graduated high school. A third generation veteran, she joined the Army National Guard in 1988, served five years in the active duty Army, and retired as a Master Sergeant from the Ohio Air National Guard in 2011. She is a wife and a mother of two boys. She is a huge Jane Austen fan and loves watching Jane Austen movie adaptations. 

When she's not writing contemporary or historical romance, she enjoys Star Wars movie night with her 10-year-old son and going to drumming practice with her 13-year-old son. Fall is her favorite season, the B-17 is her favorite plane, and Hawkeye is her favorite Avenger. 

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Spotlight: Love At Last by Sharon C. Cooper

About the Book

Carolyn Jenkins has never had a problem getting a man, but keeping one is another story. After two failed marriages and numerous short-term relationships, she’s ready to wave the white flag and give up on love. Yet, with Christmas quickly approaching, she dreads spending the holiday alone. Will a chance encounter with a handsome stranger make all of her Christmas wishes come true?

After thirty years of a nearly perfect marriage, widower Lincoln Richwood struggles to move on with his life. The idea of dating at his age seems daunting … until he meets the vivacious Carolyn Jenkins. Normally a straitlaced kind of guy, there’s just something about the woman that tempts him to walk on the wild side.

Opposites attract, but will their differences derail their relationship and keep them from embracing the love they both desire?

Find it online: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Award-winning and bestselling author, Sharon C. Cooper, is a romance-a-holic – loving anything that involves romance with a happily-ever-after, whether in books, movies, or real life. Sharon writes contemporary romance, as well as romantic suspense and enjoys rainy days, carpet picnics, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She’s been nominated for numerous awards and is the recipient of an Emma Award for Romantic Suspense of the Year 2015 (Truth or Consequences), Emma Award – Interracial Romance of the Year 2015 (All You’ll Ever Need), and BRAB (book club) Award -Breakout Author of the Year 2014. When Sharon is not writing or working, she’s hanging out with her amazing husband, doing volunteer work or reading a good book (a romance of course). 

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Excerpt: Fire In You by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summary

From the # 1 New York Times and International bestselling author comes a richly moving story about heartbreak and guilt, second chances and hope. Full of familiar, fan-favorite characters and no two people more deserving of a happy ending, Fire In You will burn bright beyond the last page…

Jillian Lima’s whole world was destroyed in a span of a few hours. The same night her childhood love, Brock ‘the Beast’ Mitchell, broke her heart, her life was irrevocably altered by the hand of a stranger with a gun.  It takes six years to slowly glue together the shattered pieces of her life, but Jillian is finally ready to stop existing in a past full of pain and regret. She takes a job at her father’s martial arts Academy and she’s going out on her first date since a failed relationship that was more yuck than yum. Jillian is determined to start living.

She just never expected Brock to be a part of her life again. But he’s firmly back in her life before she knows it, and not only is he older, he’s impossibly more handsome, more teasing and more everything. And when he sees Jillian, he’s no longer capable of thinking of her as the little girl who was his shadow growing up or the daughter of the man who gave him a second chance at life. He sees the woman who’d always been there for him, the one person who believed in him no matter what.

Brock knows she’s the one he should’ve made his, and what begins as a tentative friendship quickly turns to red-hot chemistry that sparks a flame that burns brighter than lust. Falling for Brock again risks more than her heart, because when the sorrow-filled and guilt-ridden past resurfaces, and a web of lies threatens to rip them apart, the fallout could lay waste to everything they’ve fought to build together, and destroy the dreams of those they care most about.

Excerpt

“Okay. This conversation has gone way off track,” I said.

“Those are the best kind of conversations.” He reached behind him and curled his large hand around the mug.

I ignored the comment and refocused. “The reason why I’m in your office is because I wanted to see you—”

“It’s about time you admit that,” he replied smoothly, and those eyes of his, dark and endless, took on a lazy quality that had my pulse once again pounding all over the place. “Have I told you lately how much I like it when you wear your hair down?”

“No,” I whispered.

“I do. You have beautiful hair.” His jaw tightened. “Never noticed that before. You always had it pulled up, didn’t you?”

“Um.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Always pulled up.” With one hand still wrapped around the coffee cup, he picked up a piece of my hair, running his fingers along the strand. His voice deepened when he said, “You’ve always been a pretty girl. I know I’ve said that to you before, but you’ve become such a beautiful woman.”

I wanted to laugh, to ask him if he’d been drinking this morning, but my heart was beating too fast. I had no idea how to process what he was doing and saying. Brock had told me I was beautiful before, but he’d always said it back then in a way that it was just a passing compliment, one tossed out and not really meaning anything. Hearing it come from his mouth now was nothing like before.

Lifting my gaze once more to his, I found that I was unable to look away. Brock was one hundred percent a grown man now and he never, ever had looked at me like he did in this moment, like he was…he was starving, and I didn’t understand how he could be staring at me like that. It didn’t make sense, not in the world we lived in.

Brock let go of my hair and his fingers brushed over the curve of my cheek. My skin tingled from where his fingers had touched, like an electrical jolt to my system. His gaze slipped from mine, coasting and lingering over my mouth before going even lower, and a sweet, heady flush of heat spread. Under the sweater, I could feel my nipples hardening.

Slowly, torturously, he dragged his gaze back up to mine. A shadow passed over his striking face and he swallowed once more, then lowered his chin. “Jillian, I—”

“Am I interrupting?”

I jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar female voice. A flicker of surprise skated over Brock’s face and then his jaw hardened. I glanced over my shoulder, and nearly fell out of my chair as I whipped back around, my eyes wide.

It was the fiancée.

Kristen Morgan.

Oh my God.

About Jennifer Armentrout

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.

She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Connect with Jennifer: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Spotlight: Last Chance Cowboys: The Lawman by Anna by Anna Schmidt

From acclaimed author Anna Schmidt comes a sweeping historical Western romance about the unbreakable bonds of family, second chances, and a whole lot of heart in the Wild West.

"This is me, Addie," Jess murmured. "You and me, the way we always were."

But it wasn't, no matter how much she wished it were true. They were different now. She would always love him...

But can she trust him not to break her heart?

Jess Porterfield fled to the big city after his father's sudden death, leaving behind his family ranch-and his childhood sweetheart. Now Jess has returned as the local lawman, determined to prove his worth...and win back the one woman he could never live without.

Young frontier doctor Addie Wilcox was devastated when Jess left her behind. Now he's back and it's difficult to remember why she should keep her distance. But with the town's richest man set to see her hang for a crime she didn't commit, Addie must put her faith in the lawman who broke her heart-and trust that together they'll find their second chance at love.

Excerpt

“You gonna hold up that wall all day, Porterfield?”

[Jess] looked up to see Doc Wilcox standing outside the side door that led to the room he used as his office and examining room.

“No, sir. I reckon we’ve got some business to discuss if this is a good time.”

“Good as any,” Doc replied, and waited for Jess to cross the rutted and dirt-packed street and follow him inside.

The office was smaller than he remembered. The couple of times he’d been there as a boy—once for a broken arm and again after getting into a fight with both Tiptons—the room had seemed much larger. He noticed the screen that separated the examining table from Doc’s desk, the one wall with bookcases that ran from floor to ceiling and were still not enough to hold all the books, the model skeleton that dangled on its perch in one corner, and the tray of shiny metal instruments ready for use that sat atop a metal cabinet next to the privacy screen.

“Sit,” Doc invited, indicating one of two wooden armchairs on the visitor’s side of his desk. He took the swivel chair across from Jess, set his pipe on a large ashtray and rested his elbows on the cluttered desk. “So, you gonna be our marshal?”

That took Jess by surprise. It sounded like Doc had already decided to offer him the job.

“I’d like to talk about it, sir.” He could hear someone moving around in the kitchen. Addie? Her mother?

“All right. What do you want to know?” Doc leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach. He was wearing a white shirt and a brocade vest that covered his suspenders. His suit coat hung on a coatrack behind him, along with his hat. His black bag sat on the floor next to the rack, as if at any moment he might be called into action.

“Ma thinks…” Jess began.

“I know what your ma thinks, Jess. What I need to know is what you think.”

“Not sure I get your meaning.”

“Well, for example, are you hoping taking the position will give you free rein to go after the Tiptons?”

Maybe. “Why would I do that?”

Doc arched an eyebrow. “Don’t play me, son. We both know why.”

“You mean because of them trying to get their hands on the ranch?”

Doc reared back in his chair and studied Jess for a long moment. “Well, there’s that and the fact that you think they killed your pa.”

Jess felt bile rise in his throat. “So do you and just about everybody else in these parts. But nobody seems to be interested in proving they were calling the shots.”

Doc leaned forward and removed his glasses. “Here’s the situation, Jess. The town needs a lawman to keep things under control—in town. Duties will include breaking up fights over at the Dandy Doodle Saloon, locking up Lucas Jennings, Gus Abersole and others so they can sleep it off, and maybe even organizing a posse to hunt down some gang that decides to rob the bank. What it does not include is anything that might happen—or have happened in the past—outside the town limits.”

“But…”

“No buts, son. If you take this job, you do it the way it is—the things I laid out, plus a lot of paperwork and collecting taxes and back payments and such. It does not now nor will it ever involve going after the Tipton brothers for your pa’s death. You try and take on Jasper Tipton and his brother, you’re gonna end up dead. If you want this job, those are the terms.”

He hesitated.

“I mean what I say, Jess. Make one move outside your jurisdiction as town marshal and I’ll fire you on the spot.”

Jess wrestled with the choice…that really wasn’t a choice at all. “I understand. I want the job.” He sure hated lying to Addie’s father.

About the Author

Award-winning author Anna Schmidt delights in creating stories where her characters must wrestle with the challenges of their times. Critics have consistently praised Schmidt for her ability to seamlessly integrate actual events with her fictional characters to produce strong tales of hope and love in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. She resides in Wisconsin.

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Spotlight: Girl in the Water by Dana Marton

About the Book

From the author of the 2016 RITA Award winner novel FLASH FIRE.

He doesn’t mind breaking rules, just never his own. Rule #1: You don’t seduce the woman you protect.

“Freaking amazing!” “…a brilliant story of courage, hope, and love…” “…fun, fast-paced, and emotionally satisfying…”

After the death of his wife and twin sons, Army vet Ian Slaney is a shadow of his former self. On the path of self-destruction, only his best friend’s disappearance in South America pulls Ian back from the ledge. He rushes to Brazil, only to discover that his friend was murdered. The single lead in the case is also the single biggest obstacle–Daniela, a mysterious beauty very much in need of protection, with a host of secrets hidden in a dark past. As the two of them track down clues and try to untangle an impossible case, they draw the attention of all the wrong people, and danger follows them back to the US.

Ian wants the murderers. Daniela wants Ian to acknowledge the hot sparks of passion between them. But convincing Ian to set aside his protective instincts proves more difficult than teaching a water buffalo to tap dance.

TAKE YOURSELF ON AN EPIC ROMANTIC ADVENTURE to another world, with a spellbinding story about love and hate, honor and evil, hope and justice set against the exotic backdrop of the teeming Amazon rain forest.

Excerpt

A couple of boats had been dragged up on the flat of the riverbank. Nobody around. Ian sat in the shade of the largest boat and pretended to be watching the barges and tugboats going past him.

He stole a glance at the house, hoping to spot Finch. Nothing there, but something rising out of the water maybe thirty feet from him caught his attention.

At first, he thought it might be a caiman—South America’s version of an alligator. Caimans were native to the area, although, he had no idea if they lived in this part of this particular river.

But instead, out of the river, rose a young woman.

She seemed to be struggling with…an anaconda?

When the shiny black, long body wrapped around hers, Ian moved, ready to dive into the water to help her, but she had the upper hand and dragged the wriggling beast toward shore with a triumphant smile, and he could see that she had a giant eel.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the thing. The eel stretched as long as the woman was tall, over five feet. They wrestled in the mud, the scene stunningly primal and elemental.

She had a piece of rag tied around her small breasts, and another around her slim waist, covering only the private parts of her body. She was the most stunning sight he’d ever seen, long dark hair streaming down in wet rivulets. A goddess risen.

A goddess in mortal struggle.

His western sensibilities pushed him to run and help, but the woman and the eel and their battle seemed somehow the spirit of the Amazon itself, and he felt like an interloper. He felt that he couldn’t take the woman’s triumph away from her.

And she did win, dragging the eel to shore, grabbing a rock the next second and smashing the eel’s head. The eel was still squirming when, with the same, sharp-edged rock, she gutted the thing, dumping the insides back into the river. She was not a peaceful goddess.

She washed the eel efficiently, then picked up the carcass and carried it, staggering under the weight, up the tall, steep bank, and in through the back door of the house Ian had been watching.

Ian’s chin might have dropped a little. Or a lot. In fact, he felt as if his chin just hit his lap.

Who on earth was she?

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Dana Marton has thrilled and entertained millions of readers around the globe with her fast-paced stories about strong women and honorable men who fight side by side for justice and survival.

Kirkus Reviews calls her writing “compelling and honest.” RT Book Review Magazine said, “Marton knows what makes a hero…her characters are sure to become reader favorites.” Her writing has been acclaimed by critics, called, “gripping,” “intense and chilling,” “full of action,” “a thrilling adventure,” and wholeheartedly recommended to readers. Dana is the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, the Readers’ Choice Award, and Best Intrigue, among other awards. Her book, TALL, DARK, AND LETHAL was nominated for the prestigious Rita Award. DEATHSCAPE reached the #1 spot on Amazon’s Romantic Suspense Bestseller list.

Dana has a Master’s degree in Writing Popular Fiction, and is continuously studying the art and craft of writing, attending several workshops, seminars and conferences each year. Her number one goal is to bring the best books she possibly can to her readers.

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