Spotlight: Kevin & Chelsea by Marie Force

/

A year after his 31-year marriage imploded, Dr. Kevin McCarthy is enjoying life on Gansett Island. He’s opened a small practice, goes fishing with his older brothers any time he wants and has his sons, nieces and nephews close by. Best of all is his all-consuming relationship with sexy bartender, Chelsea Rose. What started as a one-night stand a year ago, has turned into something much more significant for Kevin and for Chelsea. The sixteen-year age difference between them has never mattered, until they realize they may have differing plans for the future. Will they be able to reconcile their divergent paths or will their hearts be broken when they go their separate ways? Find out in Gansett Island Episode 2: Kevin & Chelsea where you’ll also hear about Big Mac’s latest business venture and have a visit with the Gansett Island characters you’ve come to love!

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 contemporary  romances, including the Gansett Island Series, which has sold nearly 3 million books, and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books, which has sold 1.5 million books. In addition, she is the author of the Butler, Vermont Series, the Green Mountain Series and the erotic romance Quantum Series, written under the slightly modified name of M.S. Force. All together, her books have sold more than 5.5 million copies worldwide!

Her goals in life are simple—to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news.

Join Marie's mailing list for news about new books and upcoming appearances in your area. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter @marieforce and on Instagram. Join one of Marie's many reader groups. Contact Marie at marie@marieforce.com.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads 

Read an excerpt from Hangry by Lily Kate

/

han·gry

adjective

informal

1.           bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger.

Ladies & Gents,

I sold my soul for a hamburger.

And I have no regrets. When a girl is trapped indefinitely in an elevator with a smoking hot burger and an empty stomach, even the strongest of women will crumble.

The story goes like this: Bradley Hamilton, the most frustrating human alive, offered me half of his hamburger in exchange for a date. I took him up on the offer—while under duress—and now I’m stuck with the consequences. Specifically, the scorching kiss at the end of our date that has me drooling for more.

However, there’s one whopper of a problem. This man has been a thorn in my side for the last twenty years—ever since he moved next door and became my older brother’s best friend. We’ve gone head to head for years, and now, he’s trying to buy out my restaurant in order to plop one of his big fat gyms there instead.

I refuse to let him ruin my business. Unfortunately, Bradley Hamilton is like an order of french fries: you just can’t have one. It appears our lips are addicted to kissing. He’s alarmingly handsome. Deliciously confident. And worst of all? Underneath that salty exterior he’s starting to show signs of sweet.

Brad Hamilton is my guilty pleasure, my cheat meal, my greatest craving.

Which is why he’ll be one habit that’s hard to kick.

 Excerpt

“What is that smell?” I snarl, my stomach growling as I turn to face him. “It’s giving me a headache.”

He raises the brown paper bag in his hand. “Burger?”

“Eat it already.” A fast food label is stamped on the side, and the clear scent of greasy deliciousness wafts up to me. I must moan aloud without realizing it because he raises an eyebrow, and this makes me snap. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

“Someone a little hungry?”

“You might say that.” I let my hand clap against the cement wall as my body curls itself in half. After hours of drinking wine and having my hands busy with yarn, I’m just now realizing that it’s been hours since I ate anything. Too many hours. So many hours I can’t even remember, and that’s a problem. “I’m starving.”

I run a diner; it’s a passion project. Food is more than my hobby, it’s my life. My deepest desire. My vice. My lover… especially when the rest of my love life has run dry. And when my stomach hits empty, it’s not a pretty sight.

The elevator arrives, but I don’t move. I’m trying to hold my breath so I’m not tempted to steal his bag and run. “Can you please take a different elevator?”

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“No. I have a problem with your food.”

“Just because you’re hangry, doesn’t mean you need to insult my burger.”

“Bradley Hamilton, do not start with me. You’ve seen me hungry, you’ve seen me angry, but you ain’t seen hangry yet.”

“I feel like we’re getting there.” He puts an arm out to hold the door and gestures for me to step through first. “A night of wild sex will give anyone an appetite.”

“Wild sex? Yep, that’ll give anyone a big appetite,” I reply as the doors close, and then I glance down at my attire. Running a hand through my gnarly hair, I try for smooth and seductive, but my fingers get stuck in a knot, and the illusion is ruined. “I’m probably having so much wild sex you wouldn’t even know what to do with it.”

“Oh, Lex.” Bradley Hamilton steps into the elevator, jamming his finger against the door-close button. Once we’re locked inside, he brushes close to me, his delicious scent—probably a mixture of some manly-ass shampoo and a cologne infused with pheromones—washes over me. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

“Yeah, well…” I pause, gasping for air.

He’s so close to me I could loop my arms over his neck, press his lean, beautifully hard body against the elevator walls and kiss him senseless. I know we haven’t talked in three years, but it’s sort of been on my bucket list.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

USA TODAY bestselling author Lily Kate works a pretttttty boring day job and writes books filled with heat, heart, and humor by night. Her debut novel, Delivery Girl, landed instantly on the USA TODAY list, thanks to all of her fabulous readers! :)

When she’s not writing books, you may find her watching Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, eating whipped cream from the can, or hanging out with her family.

Connect with Lily: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Spotlight: Wyoming Winter by Diana Palmer

/

New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer returns to the Cowboy State with a brand-new tale of desire and deception in this must read Fall title releasing October 31st from Harlequin Books!

There's something about those Wyoming men... New York Timesbestselling author Diana Palmer returns to the Cowboy State with a brand-new tale of desire and deception

Cultivating his vast Wyoming ranch is all security expert J. C. Calhoun wants. His land is the only thing the betrayed rancher can trust in after discovering his fiancee was pregnant by another man. But all J.C. holds dear becomes compromised when a lost little girl leads him to Colie Jackson, the woman who destroyed his life.

Colie stops at nothing to protect the people she loves. Years ago she left J.C. for his own good. Now, for the sake of her daughter, she must depend on a hard-hearted man who won't forgive her. As a band of ruthless criminals tracks their every move through the frozen Wyoming winter, Colie and J.C. will be forced to confront the lies that separated them--and the startling truth that will bind them forever...

Excerpt

J.C. looked incredibly handsome in a shepherd’s coat, jeans and boots, with snow dusting his thick, black, uncovered hair.

“You never wear a hat,” Colie mused, trying not to let her hands tremble as she took the coat to hang up for him. He was so tall that she had to stand on her tiptoes to pull it back off his shoulders.

“I hate hats,” he remarked. He glanced at her as she put the coat on the rack in the hall, his pale gray eyes narrow and appraising on her slender, sexy body. She dressed like a lady, but he knew all about women who put on their best behavior around company. She was just out of school; college, he was certain, because she had to be at least twenty-two or twenty-three. Catelow had several thousand people, and J.C. didn’t mix with them. He only knew what Rodney told him about his sister. And that wasn’t much.

“I noticed,” Colie said as she turned, smiling.

His eyes flickered down to her pert breasts and he fought down a raging hunger that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He had women, but this one stirred him in a different way. He couldn’t explain how, exactly. It irritated him and he scowled.

“It wasn’t a complaint,” Colie added quickly, not understanding the scowl.

He shrugged. “No problem. What are we eating?”

“Leftover turkey with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad and apple pie.” She hesitated, insecure. “Is that okay?”

He smiled, his perfect white teeth visible under chiseled, sensuous lips. “It’s great. I love turkey.” He chuckled. “I like chicken, too, although I usually get mine in a bucket.”

Her eyes widened. “You put it in a pail, like you milk cows with?” she asked, shocked.

He glowered at her. “There’s this chicken place. They sell you chicken and biscuits and sides…”

She went red as fire. “Oh, gosh, sorry, wasn’t thinking,” she stammered. “Let’s go in! Daddy’s already at the table.”

Rodney went ahead, but J.C. slid a long finger inside the back of Colie’s sweater and gently stopped her. He moved forward, so that she could feel the heat and power of him at her back in a way that made her heart run wild, her knees shiver. “I was teasing,” he whispered right next to her ear. His lips brushed it.

Her intake of breath was visible. Her whole body felt shaky.

His big hands caught her shoulders and held her there while his lips traveled down the side of her throat in a lazy, whispery caress that caused her to melt inside.

“Do you like movies?” he whispered.

“Well, yes…”

“There’s a new comedy at the theater Saturday. Go with me. We’ll have supper at the fish place on the way.”

She turned, shocked. “You…you want to go out with me?” she asked, her green eyes wide and full of delight.

He smiled slowly. “Yes. I want to go out with you.”

“Saturday?”

He nodded.

“What time?”

“We’ll leave about five.”

“That would be lovely,” she said, drowning in his eyes, on fire with the joy he’d just kindled in her with the unexpected invitation.

“Lovely,” he murmured, but he was looking at her mouth.

Copyright © 2017 Wyoming Winter by Diana Palmer

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About Diana Palmer

Diana Palmer, AKA Susan Spaeth Kyle, was born in 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, the eldest daughter of William and Eloise Spaeth. She and her younger sister, Dannis, were raised in Chamblee, where Susan graduated from Chamblee High School in 1964. The family moved to Cornelia, Georgia, in 1965. Susan married James Kyle in 1972. They have a son, Blayne, who is married to the former Christina Clayton. They are both graduates of Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. They live in Tennessee and have a daughter, Selena Marie Kyle, born in February, 2009.

In 1991, Susan returned to college and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, in 1995. She continues to work on her master’s degree in history as time permits. Her first novel as Diana Palmer was published in 1979. She has over 115 novels in print. She has written historical novels as well as contemporary romance, and has produced science fiction, with her novel THE MORCAI BATTALION appearing in hardcover in 2007. Two sequels to this book have been released as eBooks. THE MORCAI BATTALION: The Recruit and THE MORCAI BATTALION: Invictus are both available from all eBook retailers now. Her latest hardcover novel is INVINCIBLE by HQN, released in August 2014 and mass market paperback novel is WYOMING STRONG by HQN, released November 2014.

Susan’s hobbies are gardening, knitting, crocheting, astronomy, archaeology, and animals. She has dogs, cats, birds and lizards. She enjoys getting mail from her readers, but is slow to answer it.

Connect: Website  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  BookBub

Read an excerpt from Nailed It by Cindi Madsen

/

I'm Ivy Clarke. Bartender, best friend, and disbeliever in love.
And now I'm in over my head, trying to flip a house all by myself.
Thanks, HGTV.
I'm not too proud to admit I need some help. Too bad the only one who can help me is the same man I want to throw out this house's second-story window. 
Jackson Gamble and I can't be in the same room together for more than a minute without devolving into a sparring match.
Except for that one time…
But enough about that. Jackson's looking for forever, and I don't believe in love, remember?
Get in. Renovate. Get out. Keep my heart firmly in tact.
Because it's much easier to fix up a house than a broken heart.

Full of humor and dripping with delicious tension, Nailed It proves that every heart can be ready for a little rehabilitation, if only you're willing to open it up.

Excerpt

Jackson sighed and rubbed a hand along his jaw as he took another glance at the mess that was the kitchen. Then he turned back to me. “There’s no reason for you to use up every penny you have, and you definitely have enough stubbornness to spare, but maybe hold it back for one little minute while I suggest something…”

I opened my mouth, and he arched an eyebrow, like he was challenging me to make it that one little minute. “Fine. You’ve got one minute.”

“I’m actually finishing up a project, and my crew can handle most of it. I don’t have another big one scheduled for a little over a month, and I was wondering what I was going to do with all my spare time. If you’re open to an arrangement, I could…help you out.”

Taking him up on the offer called to me, despite his obvious hesitance, but I was worried about attached-strings and crossed-lines. Then again, I was also worried about failing and messing up badly enough it ended up costing Dixie and me our life savings, which made me circle back around to wanting to say yes. “I’m not looking for a handout.”

“And I’m sure as hell not offering one. I’d expect to be paid for my time and services, but I’ll give you the family discount. I can promise you that I’ll do it for less than any other contractor in the area, just like I can assure you that you need one. Ivy, this is a huge job. This isn’t like those TV shows where they show you the before image, fail to show you how many people it takes to do the work, and then reveal the final shiny project. This house needs a lot of work.”

My cheeks flushed at the mention of the TV shows that’d instilled me with too much false confidence in my abilities. Add that to their sins of lying and brainwashing. I needed the team of people, and Jackson practically counted as a team himself. “I’ll admit it sounds like a good deal…”

“But?”

“But you and me working together? Wouldn’t your family miss you if I killed you?”

“You’re forgetting something…” He took a few long strides toward me, and I nearly backed up like a frightened little rabbit. Probably because there was a gleam in his eye that did seem almost predatory.

Or maybe those fumes were getting to me again. I lifted my chin, working to find the feisty attitude that usually kept me safe. “What’s that?”

He braced a hand on the wall by the side of my head and leaned in, so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body. “Aunt Velma would avenge me.”

A laugh slipped out, and then I mocked fear. I even grabbed hold of his shirt. “Please, Jackson. Please don’t tell her I said that. I’ll do anything! Even…” I made a big show of gulping. “Work with you.”

“Without killing me?”

I acted like it was the hardest decision I’d ever made and let out a huge exhale. “Jeez, that’s asking a whole lot. I’m going to have to think about it.” I bit my lip. “And let’s say I was thinking about it. What kind of terms are we talking?”

Jackson glanced around, his gaze back to assessing. “I need to take a look at the rest of the house, and then we’ll discuss the nitty gritty details over dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah, you know. Food that’s typically eaten around this time of day. Especially if someone worked a long, physically grueling day only to give in to his sister’s beck and call and come see what kind of mess her best friend had gotten herself into. You’re probably already full from all the guys’ souls you’ve been devouring, but I need to eat actual food.”

I rolled my eyes at the succubus slam and slipped out of the cozy little pocket his body had formed. I needed as much air as I could get, especially if I was going to suppress the temptation to strangle him. “Well, I certainly can’t subsist on the kind of vapid girls you go for—I’d starve.”

“Ooh, that was a pretty good insult before you were one of them, but now it’s a little self-deprecating for my taste. Sorta takes the fun out of my job.”

I clenched my jaw so hard I thought I’d crack a molar. Clearly our temporary truce had expired, our war back on. But he could go ahead and bring it, because it’d take a lot more than a few jabs to make me wave the white flag. “Fine. Let’s order dinner. Your treat since you’re applying for the job.”

“You’re shit at saying thank you, Ivy Clarke.”

Oh, I knew. I also knew us working together had disaster written all over it.

Watching him get hot and sweaty as he did all that manual labor? Fighting off sexual frustration as my ovaries did their best not to implode?

Arguments around every corner, ones we’d have while armed with tools like hammers and crowbars…?

Yep, it was going to be a disaster.

But I was smart enough to realize that at this point, it was also my only choice if I wanted to fulfill my promise to Dixie and to actually make a profit for my efforts. In a way, not letting Jackson help would be another way of letting my feelings about a guy get in the way of my dreams.

So disaster or not, here I come.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Cindi Madsen is a USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance and young adult novels. She sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Spotlight: Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Book #1 of Southern Eclectic) by Molly Harper

/

Beloved author Molly Harper launches a brand-new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with this story of a big-city party planner who finds true love in a small Georgia town.

Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business.

Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes tragically, spectacularly wrong. Now she’s blackballed by the gala set and in dire need of a fresh start—and apparently the McCreadys are in need of an event planner with a tarnished reputation.

As Margot finds her footing in a town where everybody knows not only your name, but what you had for dinner last Saturday night and what you’ll wear to church on Sunday morning, she grudgingly has to admit that there are some things Lake Sackett does better than Chicago—including the dating prospects. Elementary school principal Kyle Archer is a fellow fish-out-of-water who volunteers to show Margot the picture-postcard side of Southern living. The two of them hit it off, but not everybody is happy to see an outsider snapping up one of the town's most eligible gentleman. Will Margot reel in her handsome fish, or will she have to release her latest catch?

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Molly Harper is the author of two popular series of paranormal romance, the Half-Moon Hollow series and the Naked Werewolf series. She also writes the Bluegrass ebook series of contemporary romance. A former humor columnist and newspaper reporter, she lives in Kentucky with her family, where she is currently working on the next Southern Eclectic novel. Visit her on the web at MollyHarper.com.

Spotlight: Ty's Heart by Selena Laurence

/

She's come back to steal his heart.

 Ty Jenkins is a good man. For five long years he's devoted his life to his young daughter, Katie, giving everything he's got to make sure she won't miss the one thing she can't have--a mother. When that very woman blows back into town, Ty's world is turned upside down. He'd do anything to care for Katie, but caring for her gets complicated when he still has feelings for the woman who abandoned them both. 
 
Jodi Morgan has made a lot of mistakes in her life, and the biggest one of all was giving up her infant daughter the day she was born. But now she's back in Big Sur, California, determined to be there for her girl however she can. What Jodi didn't count on was the way she feels about Katie's father. Between his devotion to Katie and his work-honed body, Ty is one hell of an attractive package. 
 
As two parents begin a journey to do what's best for their child, they rediscover the feelings they once had for one another. Can Ty trust Jodi not to leave again? Has she come to be part of Katie's future? Or will she steal his heart?

Excerpt

Ty stood and watched her as she gazed out at the ocean beyond the railing of the deck. He remembered the first time he’d laid eyes on her almost six years ago. She’d been standing behind the counter of his aunt’s coffee shop, all that pale blonde hair piled in a mess on top of her head. Her cornflower-blue eyes—eyes he knew as well as his own now—sparkled when she smiled at customers, and he’d felt it immediately. As if a bolt of lightning had struck him, he’d wanted that girl. He’d wanted that sparkle and glow to be for him.

And for a brief time, it was.

But now, as he quietly watched her, none of the sparkle was there anymore. None of the vibrancy that had been so magnetic when they’d known each other earlier. No, Jodi was different. He could see it in the set of her shoulders, the way she held her arms so tight against her body. Then she turned and looked at him, and it was in her eyes. It was breath stealing, the sorrow he saw there, but he steeled himself against it. Closed himself off and let a layer of armor wind around his heart and his body. Because no matter how sad she might be, she was here to upend his life, to try to take the single most important thing he had, and even if it made her sad for the rest of her life, he wasn’t about to give her what she wanted.

Katie wasn’t negotiable.

“You came,” she said, giving him a small smile as she turned more fully, the thin embroidered cotton dress she wore blowing around her thighs in the breeze.

Her hair was still that same shade of platinum it had always been—so rare for an adult to be that blonde naturally, but Jodi looked like the fae out of some Nordic fairy tale, all fair skin, white-blonde hair, and pale blue eyes. She was tall at five ten, he was taller at six two, and she was strong—long legs, wide shoulders, narrow hips—but buxom as well, a Viking warrior princess.

He gave himself a little shake, remembering that if she wasn’t exactly the enemy now, she sure as hell wasn’t his friend.

“Surely you didn’t expect me to find out you were in town and just ignore it?”

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Selena Laurence is an award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author who loves Putting the Heat in Happily Ever After. Her super sexy stories take place everywhere from rock concerts to family ranches, and her books can be found around the world in four languages, at libraries, bookstores, online, and in audio. 

Selena lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she can often be found at a local coffee shop, hiking the trails, or watching soccer. At home Mr L, her kids, "goldendoodle" and "demoncat" keep her busy trying to corral chaos. A veteran Indie author, Selena also coaches writers through her blog and workshops on turning #Passion2Profession. 

If you'd like to get to know her better, join Selena's reader/reviewer group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/180909955632263/

Or subscribe to her newsletter and get FREE books: http://www.subscribepage.com/JoinSelena

You can connect with her online at: Website | Facebook | Twitter | BookBub | Goodreads