Spotlight: The Drifter by Christine Lennon

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About the Book

Megan Abbott meets M.O. Walsh in Christine Lennon's compelling debut novel about a group of friends on the cusp of graduating from college when their lives are irrevocably changed by a brutal act of violence.

Present Day…

For two decades, Elizabeth has tried to escape the ghosts of her past…tried to erase the painful memories…tried to keep out the terrifying nightmares. But twenty years after graduating from the University of Florida, her carefully curated life begins to unravel, forcing her to confront the past she’s tried so hard to forget.

1990s, Gainesville, Florida…

Elizabeth and her two closest friends, Caroline and Ginny, are having the time of their lives in college—binge watching Oprah, flirting for freebies from Taco Bell, and breaking hearts along the way. But without warning, their world is suddenly shattered when a series of horrific acts of violence ravage the campus, changing their lives forever.

Sweeping readers from the exclusive corners of sorority life in the South to the frontlines of the drug-fueled, slacker culture in Manhattan in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, when Elizabeth is forced to acknowledge her role in the death of a friend in order to mend a broken friendship and save her own life, The Drifter is an unforgettable story about the complexities of friendships and the secrets that can ultimately destroy us.

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About the Author

Christine Lennon is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. Before she moved to the West Coast to start her freelance career, she was an editor at W, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Since then, she has written for publications including T The New York Times style magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, W, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Martha Stewart Living, Sunset, C California Style, Marie Claire, Self, Net-a-Porter’s Porter and The Edit online magazine— among others.

Her first novel, THE DRIFTER (formerly GAINESVILLE), will be published February 21, 2017: “Journalist Christine Lennon’s GAINESVILLE, alternating between 1990s Florida and present-day New York, about a group of friends on the cusp of graduating from college, whose innocence is shattered by a brutal act of violence that changes the course of their lives, to Emily Krump at William Morrow, by Brettne Bloom at The Book Group (World). [Publisher’s Weekly]”.

Christine lives in Hancock Park with her husband, Andrew Reich, and their two children.

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Giveaway

Terms & Conditions:

  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.

  • Ten winnesr will be chosen via Rafflecopter.

  • This giveaway ends midnight March 10.

  • Winners will be contacted via email on March 11.

  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

Cover Reveal: You Can't Hurry Love by Lee Kilraine

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About the Book

In Climax, North Carolina, climbing the professional ladder means making the right connections. And Paxton Cates is about to form a partnership he never expected . . .

While his brothers have found their true loves, Paxton remains stubbornly single, and it’s not helping his career. Sure, he’s a successful lawyer, but to become a judge you’ve got to mingle with the right crowds—and without a partner at his side, he’s not getting enough invitations. He needs someone, and soon. Someone like Jolene Joyner . . .

Jolene, a local high school English teacher, has a history of driving Paxton crazy. She’s just too perfect—and she’s never let him forget it. But now Ms. Goody Two-Shoes is in trouble for the first time in her life, and she needs a lawyer. He’ll take her case—if she’ll play by his rules. Six months of socializing should do the trick—if they can convince everyone they’ve put aside their animosity and fallen madly in love. Then they can go their separate ways.

The only problem is that Jolene seems to have developed a taste for bad behavior . . . especially where Paxton is concerned. And instead of just a pretty partner in deception, he’s got himself a new client who’s anything but innocent . . .

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About the Author

Lee Kilraine lives with her husband and children in the pine woods of North Carolina. When she isn't typing away on her computer with her golden retriever, Harley, at her feet, you might find her on her front porch swing plotting her next book while guarding her hydrangea bushes from the local gang of deer. Lee is a 2014 Golden Heart Finalist. She loves writing and reading stories with a Happily Ever After and if they make her laugh...well, that's perfect.

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Spotlight: Blue Waters by India R Adams

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About the Book

"The blue water I sank through was angelic, quiet, peaceful…"

Whitney is a vivacious, highly spirited 17-year-old girl. Her motto, "Live life to the fullest" is derailed when the young man, who's captured her attention, turns out to be the son of a drug tycoon- the same that provided the drugs that killed her brother. Whitney believes she simply need to heal from her first heartache, not knowing she is a part of a devious trade, one against human rights, and she has been… since the day age was born.

Blue Waters is the first Novella in a Tainted Waters, and begins a story of deception, corruption, self-discovery, and love with all that it demands you sacrifice…

"There was a beauty in dying that day…

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About the Author

India R Adams is an author/singer/songwriter who has written YA and NA novels, and the music for the Forever series.

India was born and raised in Florida but has also been so lucky as to live in Idaho (where she froze but fell in love with the small town life), Austin Texas (where she started her first book, Serenity, and met wonderful artist), and now Murphy, North Carolina (where the mountains have stolen a piece of her heart).

Being a survivor of abuse, has inspired India to let others know they have nothing to be ashamed of. She put her many years of professional theater background to the test and has written fictional stories with a shadow of her personal experiences. She says, “I’m simply finding ways to empower perfect imperfections.”

Another cause India feels needs change, is Sexual Slavery. She has joined forces with jewelers to design beautiful ways to raise money for non-profit organizations. Even though India writes about serious subjects such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, and Human Trafficking, she has a magnificent sense of humor, as do the characters she creates. Perfectly balanced between laughter and tears, her readers see how to empower their own perfect imperfections.

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Excerpt: Sauvignon Blanc to Sigh For by Pamela Gibson

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About the Book

Sarah James has always wanted to be part of a family. Her divorced parents are estranged and she has no siblings. But she does have friends, especially Sam, who’s always underfoot…eating her food, fixing stuff in her house, and seeking advice about his love life.

Aspiring winemaker Sam Reynoso has taken care of Sarah since the sixth grade. She’s smart, comfortable, and indulgent. They’re best friends until a wine and food pairing competition throws them together in an intimate, tension-filled setting. 

As feelings neither of them expected start to emerge, each will have to decide if their relationship will evolve, or if their newfound love will be nipped in the bud by a crushing secret.

Excerpt

Sarah hopped off the couch, fists clenched. “Are you out of your freakin’ mind? I’m not doing this. I’m going to Sea Ranch or Morro Bay or Santa Barbara…somewhere with a beach.”

“But this is a great opportunity, Sarah. The judges are enologists and wine and food raters from the big magazines. Even if we don’t win, we can get our talents in front of people who can make things happen for us.”

“We? I don’t want to be a chef. I’m a planner. A damn good one.”

He swiped his fingers over his hair. “You hate the politics. You know you’re a gourmet cook. This is a great chance for you as well as me.”

She planted her hands on her hips and glared. “No. No. No.”

“Why are you being like this?”

She raised her voice. “We’re not a couple. You said this is for couples. To me that means married or engaged. Now eat your cobbler, and I’ll go in the kitchen and make coffee.”

“How can you say that? We’ve been a couple since we were kids. Our friendship is probably stronger than most marriages.”

“But this implies a committed relationship. It would be dishonest.” She stood her ground, but he had a point. If it didn’t specifically say engaged or married, they’d technically qualify.

He hung his head and looked up at her through those lashes most women would kill for. “Uh, Sarah? I already signed us up.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Sam, I can’t believe you did this. I could just…just…this is exactly what you do, every time. Take over and do what you want, and don’t even bother to think about the person you‘re going to rope into your latest scheme. No.”

“It’s only a week. You can have the second week all to yourself.” He got up and stood in front of her, so close she had to look up at him. “Can’t you pretend that we’re more than friends for a week? I know you love me.”

“Yes…like a brother…a big, overgrown, aggravating, controlling, nuisance of a brother.”

“But you’ll do it.”

“No.” She looked up at him and knew instantly why women fell at his feet. His shoulders were immense, and the light stubble on his face made him look dangerous. But the heat in his eyes could melt rocks in an iceberg.

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her toward him. It was a brotherly hug, one they’d shared often. “Think about it. I’ve paid the fee, but I can stand to lose it.”

“How much was it?” She murmured against his chest.

“Two grand.”

Two thousand dollars? She pushed him away and faced the kitchen.

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About the Author

Pamela Gibson grew up loving books, history, and small towns. Her first career was a newspaper reporter, but when she returned to college to get a master’s degree, it was in public administration which eventually led to jobs running cities…not as an elected official, but as a city manager, the chief appointed one.

Writing was still her passion and in her spare time—between meetings and raising two active kids—she was contracted to write several books on local history. Taking an early retirement at the urging of her very supportive husband, she turned to fiction and began writing the happy ending novels she loves to read.

She now spends half her time on land and the other half cruising coastal or inland waters in her 32-foot boat. She speed-eats chocolates when she’s nervous, squeals when she sees a spider, and loves to relax with a good read with a mellow glass of wine. Her books all have wine in the title, A Kiss of Cabernet (enemies to lovers), A Touch of Chardonnay (secret baby), You Were Mine at Merlot (second chance). Her new one, Sauvignon Blanc to Sigh For, is a friends to lovers story. While part of a series, they all stand alone.

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Spotlight: Royal Affair by Parker Swift

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About the Book

One seriously sexy son-of-a-duke . . .
 
Behind the posh British accent, Dylan Hale possesses a down-and-dirty sexiness. Off-the-charts gorgeous, a ruthless architect . . . and did I mention he's a future duke? Every time we touch, it's wildfire. All need and lust and heat. But Dylan has rules: just sex, no one can know, and in the bedroom he gets complete control. All I have to do is follow the rules, because falling in love with Dylan Hale is all it would take to screw everything up . . . royally.

Excerpt

We weren’t a foot inside when he closed the door behind him and said, “Turn around, damsel,” indicating I should face away from him. I complied, and he slowly came up behind me, running his hands along my bare upper back and down my arms. He unzipped the dress and pulled it off my shoulders so it pooled at my feet. I was naked except for my insanely high heels. Grabbing my hips, he pulled my naked ass into his front, and I could feel his hardness pushing against the seam of his trousers. “Can you feel how much I want you? How much I want this?” he said firmly, increasing his grip on my hips, pulling me even closer.

I tilted my head back and to the side to try to steal a glimpse of him, and he rested his chin on my shoulder. His hands wrapped around and palmed my breasts. He pushed them in and up, molding them in his palms, and he began to tug at my nipples, rolling them between his thumb and finger, teasing them to the point where pain met pleasure.

“I’m breaking all sorts of rules for you, aren’t I?” He was kissing my neck, sucking my skin, nipping it gently between his teeth, devouring me in motions that mimicked what he was doing to my breasts.

“What rules have you broken for me?” I asked, practically whispering, searching for steadiness in my breath.

He spun me around and lifted me by my ass in one swift move. I locked my ankles behind his back. “For starters I rarely sleep with the same woman twice, at least not in the same week. I don’t spend the night. Ever. And neither do the women I see. And I don’t invite women into my office. Ever. But I couldn’t resist with you. I’d been dreaming about having my mouth on that pretty pussy on that table for weeks. Picturing you just as you were.”

“Did it live up to the dream?” I nuzzled into his cheek, desperate to get to a place where he was naked, where I could feel his skin on my skin.

“The dream didn’t stand a chance.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you breaking any of your rules, would I? I mean, maybe we better stop now, and you could sleep on my sofa. Or you can get back on your horse—”

“Not on your life, smartass.”

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About the Author

Parker Swift grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and then grew up again in New York, London, and Minneapolis and currently lives in Connecticut. She has spent most of her adult life examining romantic relationships in an academic lab as a professor of social psychology. Now, she's exploring the romantic lives of her fictional characters in the pages of her books. When she's not writing, she spends her time with her bearded nautical husband and being told not to sing along to pop music in the car by her two sons.
 
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Giveaway

Enter to win 1 of 15 free ebook downloads of Royal Affair!

Spotlight: Love Story by Lauren Layne

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About the Book

Over the course of one wild road trip, feuding childhood sweethearts get a second chance at love in this charming rom-com—a standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Blurred Lines and Good Girl.
 
When Lucy Hawkins receives a job offer in San Francisco, she can’t wait to spread her wings and leave her small Virginia hometown behind. Her close-knit family supports her as best they can, by handing over the keys to a station wagon that’s seen better days. The catch? The cross-country trip comes with a traveling companion: her older brother’s best friend, aka the guy who took Lucy’s virginity hours before breaking her heart.
 
After spending the past four years and every last dime caring for his sick father, Reece Sullivan will do just about anything to break free of the painful memories—even if it means a two-week road trip with the one girl who’s ever made it past his carefully guarded exterior. But after long days of bickering in the car turn into steamy nights in secluded motel rooms, Reece learns that, when it comes to Lucy, their story is far from over. And this time, they just might have a shot at a happy ending.

Exclusive Excerpt

“Spock, we’re giving you Horny!” my mom blurts out, apparently fed up with my denseness.

Her utterance is too much for my siblings to handle and they both burst out laughing, retreating into the kitchen to rejoin the party where there’s wine.

Oh what I wouldn’t give for wine right now.

“I, um . . . you’re giving me the car?” I ask.

“Because yours broke down,” my dad explains, walking forward to thump Horny’s dented hood.

“And this one’s . . . not broken down?” I ask skeptically.

Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful. My parents are trying to give me a car, I appreciate the sweetness of the gesture, it’s just . . .

Here’s the thing about Horny: he barely got us three kids through high school. I mean, Horny is the car that sputtered and shook making it the 3.2 miles to Jefferson High, no matter who was behind the wheel.

I’m even going to come all the way clean here and say that early on in my freshmen year, I was embarrassed showing up in Horny. Then I realized I was lucky to have a car at all, and well . . . I dunno, I guess Horny became a part of us Hawkins kids’ charm, because the station wagon was practically an institution from Craig’s high school reign all the way through Brandi’s.

But poor Horny quit working years ago. Much to Brandi’s chagrin, he gave up the ghost a mere two months before her high school graduation, and I spent the last bit of her senior year being picked up by my parents.

“He’s going to take you to California,” Dad says, giving the car another thump.

“Really?” I step forward and run a tentative finger along the familiar panel. He’s had a bath, so at least that’s something. “Because last I knew, he wouldn’t even make it out of the garage.”

“Yeah, well, we neglected him for a while, but he’s right as rain now,” Dad says, puffing out his chest as though Horny’s a fourth child.

“Like, as in he actually starts?”

“Purrs like a kitten,” my mom says with an emphatic nod, even though I know she doesn’t even like cats. “We didn’t believe it, but we took him to church on Sunday and there were no issues.”

I literally bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that this is hardly a feat. Sacred Presbyterian is 0.8 miles away from the house.

“You took Horny into a shop?” I ask, starting to warm to the idea of having a car again. I’m a little touched, actually. Money is tight for my parents. Dad’s a PE teacher, and Mom gives a mean winery tour, but the gig’s never paid much.

“Not exactly, it was more of a bartering situation,” Mom says.

“Yeah?” I say, going around to the driver’s seat, already giddy with the prospect of telling Oscar I’ll be able to come see him in Miami after all, even if I won’t exactly be riding in style.

“Reece agreed to fix him up.”

I’m lowering myself into the car as my dad says this, but I reverse so quickly I hit my head. My skull doesn’t even register the pain, because I’m too busy registering the hurt in my heart at the familiar name. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Reece,” my mom says, giving me a bemused look. “He’s always been handy with cars.”

“He fixed up the car in exchange for what?”

And then I feel—I actually feel—the air change around me as the side door to the garage opens, and a new presence sucks all the air out of the space.

I don’t turn around. I don’t move. But I feel his eyes on me. Over me.

“Reece is headed out to California too,” my oblivious mother chatters on. “It worked out perfectly actually. Now you two can ride together, and your dad and I don’t have to worry about you alone in the middle of nowhere with a twenty-something-year-old car.

They think the car is going to be the problem here? It’s not the car that’s toxic to me. It’s him.

Reece Sullivan. My brother’s best friend. My parents’ “other son.”

Slowly I force myself to turn, and even though I’m prepped, the force of that ice-blue gaze still does something dangerous to me.

He winks, quick and cocky, and I suck in a breath, and I have to wonder . . .

I wonder if my parents would feel differently about their little plan if they knew that their makeshift mechanic is the same guy that popped my cherry six years earlier under their very roof.

And then broke my heart twenty-four hours later.

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About the Author

Lauren Layne is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen romantic comedies.

A former e-commerce and web marketing manager from Seattle, Lauren relocated to New York City in 2011 to pursue a full-time writing career.

She lives in midtown Manhattan with her high-school sweetheart, where she writes smart romantic comedies with just enough sexy-times to make your mother blush. In LL's ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books. 

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