Spotlight: Callan by Sybil Bartel

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Callan
Sybil Bartel
(Uncompromising #5)
Publication date: March 20th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Callan

I was trained to be a hunter. Growing up in the nation’s most infamous, violent cult, my job was simple. Track. Kill. Survive.

And that’s what I did… until our leader threatened to kill his own daughter.

Refusing to watch another senseless murder, I did what I was trained to do. I took his life, claimed his land, and set every member free, including her. I only had one goal left. Find the sister I was told was dead.

But being a hunter in the woods is a far cry from tracking a woman in Miami Beach.

I didn’t find my sister.

I found someone else.

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Author Bio:

Sybil Bartel grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. She loves the New Adult genre, but any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.

Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she isn’t writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…

But Seriously?

Here are ten things you probably really want to know about Sybil.

She grew up a faculty brat. She can swear like a sailor. She loves men in uniform. She hates being told what to do. She can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks her out. Her favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—she can’t decide. She has a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on her for driving directions, ever. And she has a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell her husband.

To find out more about Sybil Bartel, be sure to follow her on Twitter (she loves to hear about your favorite book boyfriend!), visit her website, like her on Facebook or join her Facebook group Book Boyfriend Heroes for exclusive excerpts and giveaways.

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Spotlight: Mr So Wrong by RC Stephens

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Albert Walsh the Third has spent over a decade running away from his past. With no job and nothing to lose, he goes on a spontaneous drive to visit his sister in the mountains of Colorado. The simple trip proves to be more than he bargained for.

Samantha Belmont is floating through life. She’s cast her dreams aside and now works on her papa’s ranch. One night, Sam is driving home in a snow storm after a hookup when she spots a car in a ditch and saves a man’s life. She doesn’t expect to develop feelings for the hot as hell stranger. Everything about him is wrong from his pointy shoes and fancy car to his age. Pushing him away would be the smart move.

Only Al can’t be pushed around anymore. Maybe it’s because she saved his life or maybe it’s because this cowgirl is completely different from every other woman he’s been with. 

Problem is Sam has secrets of her own. Secrets she doesn’t want Al to find out because if he did he’d run in the other direction. She pushes him away even though he melts her panties right off—literally. There is more than just her heart that needs protection. Al won’t give up fighting for the feisty cowgirl’s attention.

Tempers will flare and hearts will be broken. 

And Sam’s plans to never settle down will be torched like the inferno of passion raging between them.

Excerpt

I’m getting my ingredients ready to fry up some eggs when there’s a loud rasp at the door. One of my best friends, Kelly, has her nose pressed to the glass window. Her nose looks bright red kind of like Rudolph. Snow blows in circles all around her. I rush to open the door. “Kell, what on earth are you doing out of your house in this weather?” I chide. Kelly married her high school sweetheart, Gage, straight out of high school and works at the local supermarket. They have an eighteen month old son, Theo. Kelly is my age. It seems everyone in this town marries young and has kids young. I’m the exception.

“I heard you found a strange man out on the highway last night and brought him home,” she says holding a pan of something in her hands. She places it on the kitchen table and rubs her hands together. “Heard he drives a nice car too.” She looks to me expectantly. It takes a lot of self-control not to roll my eyes at her and half the girls in this town, even though I love them all. Everyone is always looking for a way out of Holston; the population is minute, which means the economy sucks. If you’re not exporting out of state, you’re not surviving so well. Our ranch has always fared well, but with the lack of rain these last number of years, we’re struggling too. It’s hard enough to feed ourselves let alone a bunch of cows.

“He was passed out in his car, Kell.” I huff. “I couldn’t very well leave him out there to die.”

“Is he hot?” She looks at me wide eyed and a little too excited. My head moves from side to side as I ask myself if Al is hot. Hot would be an understatement. His body is rock solid and gorgeous, and he has the face of a model. Not a skinny fashion model either, but that rugged kind of model that cologne commercials like to use. Al was all man that was for sure.

“Fucking gorgeous.” My cheeks turn hot at the thought of him.

 Kell claps her hands together, all excited. “I brought warm apple pie. I hope he likes apple pie,” she says as if apple pie is the solution to me having a hotter than hell man passed out in my bed.  

“Let me remind you that you are a married woman.” I smirk, just playing with her. She and Gage are tight. She’s been trying to play matchmaker for me since at twenty-three I’m the equivalent to old maid around here. I return to beating my eggs in the bowl before plopping them into a fry pan.

“You don’t need to remind me. You know I got you in mind. What does he look like?” she waits expectantly.

“Keep it down,” I hush her.

“He looks like a movie star, thick muscles, gorgeous face, eyes that burn your skin when he looks at you,” I say, frying my eggs. When I turn to Kell, she looks flushed.

“Holy shit.” She waves a hand in front of her face.

“You hungry?” I ask her.

“Hungry?” she repeats in a daze.

“Kell?” I call to snap her out of her daze.

“Huh? Tell me more,” she insists, not answering my question.

“I think he has a massive cock,” I add, and she melts into the chair at the kitchen table.

“Why can’t that shit happen to me?” she says, waving a hand in her face like she’s fanning herself.

“Kell,” I chide.

“How do you know he has a large cock?”

I walk toward her and whisper that I caught a glance at his morning erection when I was standing in the corner of the room.

“And you weren’t scared of him?” she asks.

I nod my head. “Trust me, if you see him, your first reaction won’t be fear.”

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About the Author

R.C. Stephens was born in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from York University with a Master’s Degree in Political Science.

R.C. is an avid reader, so when she isn’t cooking for her clan or on her laptop writing, she’s snuggled tight with her Kindle devouring any romance novel she can. Okay, with the exception of Thursday nights. She makes time for Scandal and Vampire Diaries. She’s a fan of drama and suspense but she’s also a sucker for a happy ending.

Her husband was her first teenage love. They live together with their three children in Toronto. Loving Canadian winters she could never think of living anywhere else.

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Spotlight: Slater’s Revenge by Claudia Shelton

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Former vice cop Mackenzie Baudin is at the top of criminal organization Coercion Ten’s hit list. If they get hold of her, she’ll be leveraged against her uncle, director of OPAQUE’s special ops force. She’s now saddled with agent-protector Josh Slater. He might be hotter than ever, but she’ll never forgive him for walking out on her ten years ago. Unfortunately her penthouse, which is now his domain, is way too small for the both of them.

No one else knows better than OPAQUE agent Josh Slater how to thwart Coercion Ten. After all these years, he's closing in on the crime boss who bought his father for a bank account, but, that entails returning to his hometown to protect his boss's niece. The only woman he ever loved. Sexy, gorgeous Macki, who he was forced to leave behind. And he can never tell her why.

Excerpt

***** Another lull in the conversation. Silence that played in sharp contrast to the sharp beat on the street. (His boss) Drake was usually on and off the phone in a flash. Why was he dragging out the call? Macki…that's why. Drake had been responsible for her welfare for so long, he didn't know how to stop.

"Anything else?" Josh asked.

"No, just… Keep your eyes out for her."

"Don't worry, I got this. No sign of her yet."

Drake sighed heavily. "Stay sharp. You may not recognize her in that lady-of-the-evening outfit and spikey white wig." The call ended.

Josh stopped cold in his steps. Stared at the crowd gathered at the far side of the intersection. The crowd parted just enough that he glimpsed what looked like yellow crime scene tape. EMTs. Cops. Detectives. Pink? Pink? He searched for any signs of pink, but the gawkers were packed so close together, he couldn't see past the perimeter.

Cold fear flashed through his body as the scene shot to his brain. Accident? Crime? Macki? Damn-it-to-hell, please don't let it be Macki. Not my Macki.

His insides pulsed with adrenalin as he slammed the phone in his pocket and headed toward the crowd. He wanted to run, to yell her name, but he had to keep his cover. His only sure ally in Riverfalls was his cover.

She'd promised to stay in the car. To wait for him. He'd trusted her word. Should have known she wouldn't follow his instructions.

"Get out of my way." Pushing through the congregating people, he struggled to get to the front of the line. People stepped aside and when they didn't, he elbowed them out of his path. All he cared about was getting to the edge of the crime scene tape.

A whisper of jasmine and vanilla triggered his senses, pulling him to another time and place.

Macki? He stopped. Turned to his left, scanning the people close by. She wasn't there.  Had he only imagined the fragrance from years ago? Completely lost his mind before he even laid eyes on her? Not likely. He was a stronger man than that. Inhaling through his nose, he homed in on the scent's origin.

Close…she was close…closer than—

"Excuse me." A woman in pink, with spiky blond hair, seemed to deliberately shoulder bump his arm as she brushed past and kept on walking.

His gaze gave her a quick up and down as recognition shot to his gut and grabbed hold like a vise, twisting and turning 'til his brain caught up with his body. His head zeroed in on the tight little skirt being worked with a boatload of finesse.

He'd found Macki. And, from the view of her backside as she pushed through the crowd, his Macki had grown up, and then some. He silently groaned. All signs pointed to the fact, his assignment had just got harder. Harder than hell.

Bracing against the side of the tub, he eased his gun from the back of his jeans and laid it on the floor beside him as he sat down. Something about the ease with which he did it seemed as natural to him as breathing.

He leaned back against the towel cabinet and closed his eyes, sighing long and easy as if he were a man home from a long day at work. "This is nice."

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About Claudia Shelton

Award-winning romance author Claudia Shelton could write her name before she started grade school. Now, she writes about alpha heroes and the women strong enough to love them. And, most times, there's a splash of suspense, intrigue or adventure, woven in to the story.

From watching movies and reading books through the years, the idea of sexy heroes, sassy women, and happily-ever-after became the forefront of her writing. Plus, in her world, the "good" guys always win.

On a personal note, Claudia's main priority is spending time with family, friends and her two sweet, conniving rescue dogs. She loves music and art, wind and water, hot chocolate and bracelets. And, don't even get her started on shoes or earrings.

Want to know more about Claudia, just sign up for her newsletter, http://www.claudiasheltonwriter.com/

Spotlight: Murder in Thistlecross by Amy M. Reade

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MURDER IN THISTLECROSS
by Amy M. Reade
Genre: Mystery/Thriller


The emerald hills and violet valleys of Wales seem the ideal place to start over after murder—and divorce—shattered Eilidh’s life in the Scottish Highlands. But within the stone walls of an ancient castle, a family’s dark, violent past threatens much more than her newfound tranquility . . .
For the past two years, Eilidh has called the quaint Welsh village of Thistlecross home, embracing her new life as estate manager of a restored fifteenth-century castle. But the long-anticipated arrival of her employer’s three estranged sons and their wives transforms Gylfinog Castell from a welcoming haven to a place seething with dangerous secrets. When the escalating tensions culminate in murder, Eilidh must sift through a castle full of suspects both upstairs and downstairs. She can trust no one as she follows a twisting maze of greed and malice to ferret out a killer who’s breaching every defense, preparing to make Eilidh the next to die.



USA Today bestselling author Amy M. Reade is also the author of Secrets of Hallstead House and The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor. She grew up in northern New York, just south of the Canadian border, and spent her weekends and summers on the St. Lawrence River. She graduated from Cornell University and then went on to law school at Indiana University in Bloomington. She practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where, in addition to writing, she is a wife, a full-time mom and a volunteer in school, church and community groups. She lives just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean with her husband and three children as well as a dog and two cats. She loves cooking and all things Hawaii and is currently at work on her next novel.




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Spotlight: The Determined Duchess by Erica Monroe

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Death is just the beginning in this dark, emotional Gothic Regency Romance...

After the death of her beloved guardian, Miss Felicity Fields is left adrift, her future uncertain. Grief-stricken, she launches a plan to use the ancient art of alchemy to bring back to life the woman who was like a mother to her. The last thing this blunt bluestocking needs is the return of Nicholas Harding, the Duke of Wycliffe and rightful owner of her home on the wild coast of Cornwall. He stirs an unexpected passion within her, and Felicity has had enough change in her life.

When they were children, Nicholas never understood his aunt's brilliant but unemotional ward, or her many strange scientific studies. He ought to take her back to London, so she can make a proper society match--except he can't stop thinking about her. But with the line between life and death blurred by Felicity's experiments, can he convince her that she's no longer alone, and her proper place is by his side?

Excerpt

“You can’t be in here.” Felicity pushed past him, taking up a stance directly in front of the table. 

He breathed a little easier, because she’d positioned herself in front of the strange jars. “I can go anywhere I want. My estate, remember?”

She scowled at him. “Not here. This doesn’t belong to you. It’s mine, and only mine.”

The fierceness in her voice took him aback. Once again, he got the sensation that he was in over his head. “What is all of this?”

“My work.” She turned, still blocking the jars, to place a pear-shaped glass container onto the burner. “And I have much of it to do, so you need to leave.”

He almost agreed, so eager was he to get the hell out of this room.  But if he was going to truly do what was right for Felicity, he had to endeavor to understand her.

He was not at all influenced by the fact that her round backside was framed lusciously by her black gown, or that her red hair had fallen from its coiffure to trail down her back, those silky strands calling out for him to touch them. 

Damnation.

Whatever she was lighting in that burner had clearly affected his senses.

She turned back around, her frown deepening further when she saw him. “I don’t have time for this, Nicholas.” Her hands fell to her hips again, and he followed the movement, a certain part of his anatomy stirring eagerly at the thought of gripping her hips with his own hands.

He let out a long breath of air, trying to steady his racing mind. None of this was helpful.

“Tell me what you’re doing,” he said, in his most encouraging tone. She used to love talking about her experiments.

“Right now, I’m brewing tea.” She moved over slightly, and indeed, there was a teacup off to her left side. “And wishing you’d find someone else to pester.”

He ignored her last comment. After all the work it had taken him to get up here, he wasn’t leaving. Not until she agreed to consider going to London with him and Georgiana. “This is the same laboratory you had when we were children, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “You wouldn’t leave then, either.”

“I should think you’d like that,” he said, arching a brow at her. “I’m consistent, and you do so hate change.”

“I do.” For a second, pain flitted across her face—then it was gone, and her expression was back to its usual blandness. “Perhaps I dislike you more than change.”

He didn’t know why that stung him so, when she’d said far worse to him over the years, and vice versa. “I see.”

His face must have shown his hurt, because after taking the bottle off the burner, Felicity gathered another empty cup. She poured tea for both of them.  He hesitated—the cup had been awfully close to those jars—until she rolled her eyes at him.

“It is clean. I know what is in every single one of these beakers, and I assure you, that’s only ever been used for tea.” As if to prove her point, her hand snaked out to snatch the cup from his hand.

Except instead of stealing the cup from him, their hands brushed. It was the slightest of touches, skin upon skin for only a moment, yet it was enough to send a spark through him. 

And apparently through her as well, for she jerked her hand back. The tea almost sloshed onto the table, but he righted the cup in time.

Her brows furrowed. She stared at his hand, then at his face, and then back at his hand. “That is curious.”

“Perhaps I do not hate you more than change, after all.”

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About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Erica Monroe writes dark, suspenseful historical romance. Her current series include Gothic Brides (Gothic Regency romances), The Rookery Rogues (pre-Victorian gritty working class romance), and Covert Heiresses (Regency spies who are the children of a duke). She was a finalist in the published historical category for the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Romantic Suspense, and her books have been recommended reads at Fresh Fiction, Smexy Books, Smart Bitches Trashy Books, and All About Romance. Her favorite things include coffee, profanity, comic books, and television. She lives in the suburbs of North Carolina with her husband, two dogs, two cats.

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Spotlight: Crossing the Line by Ellen Wolfson Valladares

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Laura, who died thirty years ago, enlists the help of a tenacious high school reporter named Rebecca, who is very much alive. Rebecca, although skeptical and conflicted by her supposed encounters with a spirit, determines to learn the truth about Laura’s tragic death. As the clues unravel and their worlds collide, Rebecca finds herself at a dangerous crossroads.

Laura, now pulled back into everything she left behind when she died – her old high school and memories of her life and death—has been in training for this exact moment. And nothing means more to her than succeeding at her assignment.

It is her one chance to make sure that what happened her does not happen to anyone else, and especially not to her new friend, Rebecca.

Excerpt

Chapter 2—Laura

I bolted out of my chair, ran out of the library, across the lawn, and up the twenty-some steps of Academy Hall. I couldn’t wait to tell Danny and everyone my good news. I looked up at the red brick bell tower and realized the bells hadn’t chimed. What was I hurrying for? Class wasn’t starting yet.

I sat down at the top of the steps. It was a gorgeous, sunny, breezy day, as always. Students were sitting by the lake, walking on the paths, and hanging out on the lawn. I’m finally getting used to this place, I thought.

I looked over at the wide, green lawn area, remembering my first day here.

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“You’ve been selected to attend The Academy,” a voice had said to me. Then suddenly, I was sitting on a big field of damp grass with a bunch of other kids my age. I was sure I had finally woken up.

“I guess it was a dream,” I said.

“What?” A boy sitting next to me had overheard me.

“Where are we?” I asked him. “The Academy. They didn’t tell you?”

I ran my fingers through the soft blades of grass. It felt so real. “Yeah,” I said. “But where exactly are we? This might be a strange question, but we’re alive, right?”

Then this boy, who was wearing a Members Only jacket, broke out into annoyingly loud laughter. He stopped abruptly when he saw that I wasn’t finding it funny. “Oh, no,” he said, catching his breath. “You’re still dead. I promise.”

“Oh.” If it was true, assuming this kid knew what he was talking about, it was just so different from anything I’d experienced so far. “Are you sure?” I questioned him. “Because this all looks so real. You look real. I think I can even smell the air.” I inhaled. “Yeah. That’s nice.”

He nodded and smiled. “I know. It’s amazing, isn’t it? I can’t get over it either. They want us to feel like we’re really in school. It’s like this agreed-upon visualization stuff they do in the Spirit world, I forget what they call it. Like the hospital I was in before here. Man, it felt real, ’cept no drugs or nothing.”

The boy reached out his hand. “I’m Gary.” “Hi. Laura.” When I shook his hand, I knew he was right. What I felt wasn’t the touch of another person’s skin. It was more like the subtle energy bumps I’d gotten used to in the Spirit world. Where I’d been was nothing like this place, though. After my death, some beautiful angels and my Aunt Rita, who’d passed away from cancer, had led me to this place called the Transition Zone. They told me I would rest and rejuvenate there. It was this vast oasis of light and all of us there were formless bodies of light within it. Strangely enough, while there were no physical bodies to distinguish us, we still had some individual energy that helped us recognize others. I was told by this important being of light to think about what I desired next. The options were endless, including going back to a new life in the physical world. All I knew was I wanted to help others and then I ended up here. Now I had a body again, and from what I could tell, I looked and felt pretty much the same. There were other people around me, and grass I could feel, and buildings in the distance, so much like the physical world. What the heck was going on?

Gary got up and put out his hand. “C’mon. Ceremony’s about to start.”

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About the Author

Ellen Wolfson Valladares is an award-winning writer/author, workshop facilitator, community volunteer, and mother. Her first book, a children’s novel entitled Jonathan's Journey to Mount Miapu, received a Mom’s Choice Gold Award and the 2009 Coalition of Visionary Resources Visionary Awards Book of the Year award. A native Floridian, she lives in Weston, Fla., with her husband, two children, two dogs, and a cat.

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