Spotlight: The Girl in the Moss by Loreth Anne White

Q&A with Loreth Anne White 

How do you describe your newest novel THE GIRL IN THE MOSS?

THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is a cold case mystery/thriller that kicks off when a shallow grave in a mossy forest exposes the bones of a decades-old secret that begins to threaten a small community with lethal consequence. Early reviews have described the story as dark, atmospheric, and twisty with a “shocking conclusion”. While it can be read alone, THE GIRL IN THE MOSS is book 3 in the Angie Pallorino series, and the series has a romantic relationship thread playing out over the arc of the 3 books. 

A larger philosophical question around cold case detecting also plays throughout this book. As one Goodreads reviewer wrote: “If history allows those in grief to move forward with their lives, trying to breath new life into a cold case threatens to upend everything for survivors. On the other hand, those who have gotten away with murder are eluding justice. Angie clearly represents Justice in this book, even at times when nearly everyone is against her and when some of the opposition's arguments makes some sense.”

 So yes, Angie is dogged, but hopefully for good reason—she knows how vital it was to her own sense of well-being to get to the bottom of her own cold case. She’d like to help others find similar closure.  And justice is something she can believe in.

The couple is on vacation, yet even on their downtime they stumble onto a corpse. Do they mind that they are dragged into the investigation or are they workaholics?

Both Angie and Maddocks thrive on their detective work. When Angie gets a chance to work the ‘body-in-the-moss’ case she believes it could be her ticket to getting her PI agency up and running. She also uses it—initially—as an excuse to not commit to Maddocks right away. 

It is really hard to read scenes where Angie struggles to not let her past destroy her future with Maddocks. 

As much as Angie loves Maddocks she is having trouble committing to him. Her career as a cop has failed, she’s struggling to build a PI practice, and she’s still dealing with trauma from having learned the truth of her past. Bottom line, she’s afraid. She doesn’t know how to do this. She’s terrified of letting him down.

Here's a scene that sums up what's in Angie's head:

 Maddocks grinned. It put light into his dark-blue eyes and creased his face in a way that warmed her heart. In his wading gear and fishing vest, his jet-black hair ruffled by wind, he looked all mountain man—a far cry from the sharp homicide cop in suit and tie she’d fallen so hard and fast for almost a year ago. But the words he’d spoken in the car on their drive up the island to the remote lodge sneaked back into her mind.

She broke eye contact and returned to watching her fishing pole, a disquiet settling into her chest. Autumn on the Nahamish—it had sounded so romantic when he’d suggested it. And their trip was designed to be just that: a romantic getaway to rekindle their relationship away from cell phones and the stresses of their respective new work commitments.

But his words—that one question—had somehow sent everything off-kilter before they’d even arrived at the river.

Have you ever thought about having kids?

Angie’s line developed slack. She pulled some of it in as she’d been instructed. The water was shallow here. She could see the slime-covered stones along the river bottom. Above the stones a school of salmon carcasses held steady in the soft current. The weight of their skulls pinned the dead fish in place and kept them facing upstream as the current swung their bodies gently to and fro, making it appear as though they were still swimming. Zombie fish, Angie thought, doomed to perpetually fight their ghostly way upriver as shreds of rotting flesh peeled off their bodies. Or until they were plucked from the water by scavenging bald eagles. Or taken by bears, or the wolves that ventured down to the river’s edge at night.

It was a ritual that played out each year as millions of chum, pinks, Chinook, and coho in the Pacific Ocean were triggered by some biological cue to suddenly scent out the fresh water of the one river they were born in and to then swim into that river mouth and fight their way back to their birth home, bashing and beating themselves into shreds upon rocks and in white water. Just to spawn. To fertilize the eggs. And then die. So that the cycle could begin again.

Angie and Maddocks weren’t angling for the aged salmon, though. They were hunting the muscled and silvery trout that swam among them. But Angie was having trouble moving mentally beyond the bloated carcasses hovering beneath their boat, the stench of dead fish washed up on the shores. This whole birth-death cycle made her ponder the futility of it all, the merits of bashing one’s way against the currents of life just to propagate and die. It darkly underscored Maddocks’s question at every turn, and she didn’t have an answer.

Have you ever thought about having kids?

With quick, jerky movements, Angie started reeling her line back in.

Throughout the novel it doesn’t see like anything can go this couple’s way. Angie in particular is a bit lost after she is fired from the police force. A good bout of Muay Thai seems to help her. How else does she cope with her problems?

Angie had some really dysfunctional coping mechanisms to start with—anonymous sex with strangers she would pick up at a  club. Getting to know Maddocks has helped her put herself back on track, and opting for sports like Muay Thai, where she can work through some of her aggression or anger, are a healthier fit.

Maddocks has a fine line he must walk -- as a homicide detective he has the duty to his squad, but he also feels a pull to include Angie in his work. How does he reconcile these two competing forces?

At the end of this book, they find a happy medium. Angie will work her own PI cases, many of them cold cases. And while there will be times the lines of her investigations cross with Maddocks’s police work, it will be more collaborative.

What can readers expect next from you?

THE DARK BONES is the working title of my next project. It’s an atmospheric mystery/suspense/romance set in ranching country in the B.C. interior, and while it is a standalone, it links to A DARK LURE, which was an Amazon #1 bestseller. I’ve had many, many readers write to ask for a linked book, and I hope THE DARK BONES hits all those same notes that A DARK LURE did. If all goes to plan—and things do yet all have to slot into place—the book will see the shelves early next summer. 

Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Montlake Romance

Summary

Disgraced ex-cop Angie Pallorino is determined to make a new start for herself as a private investigator. But first, she and her lover, newly promoted homicide detective James Maddocks, attempt a quiet getaway to rekindle a romance struggling in the shadows of their careers. The peace doesn’t last long when human skeletal remains are found in a nearby mossy grove.

This decades-old mystery is just what Angie needs to establish her new career—even as it thrusts her and Maddocks back into the media spotlight, once again endangering their tenuous relationship.

Then, when Angie’s inquiry into the old crime intersects with a cold case from her own policing past—one that a detective on Maddocks’s new team is working—the investigation takes a startling twist. It puts more than Angie’s last shot at redemption and a future with Maddocks at risk. The mystery of the girl in the moss could kill her.

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About the Book

Loreth Anne White is an award-winning, bestselling author of romantic suspense, thrillers, and mysteries, including The Drowned Girls and The Lullaby Girl, the first two books in the Angie Pallorino series. Winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mainstream Mystery/Suspense, Loreth is also a three-time RITA finalist, plus a recipient of the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Romantic Crown for Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book Overall, and a Booksellers’ Best finalist. A former journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now resides in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her family. When not writing, she skis, bikes, and hikes the trails with her dog, doing her best to avoid the bears (albeit unsuccessfully). Learn more at www.lorethannewhite.com.

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Spotlight: In the Land of Milk and Honey by Nell E.S. Douglas

Publication date: January 17th 2018
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

When Gabrielle “Bree” Valentine awoke in a hospital bed with a newborn baby, she centered herself and rebuilt. Bree didn’t think about her mental breakdown, lost memories, or the features of a stranger emerging daily in the face of the son she is raising alone. Five years later, on a weekend in the Hamptons, a chance encounter with a man unlike any other jars her—bone deep. Daniel Hawthorne Baird II, wealthy, dangerous, British aristocrat, gravitates to Bree like caviar on crostini. In his relentless obsession with Bree, their lives entwine despite Bree’s resistance. With the unconditional support of friends she calls ‘family’, Bree confronts the most difficult questions of her life. Unearthing the painful mysteries behind who fathered her child, who the real Daniel Baird is, and the irrepressible desire driving her towards a man destined to be the end of them both.

Excerpt

August tiptoed in around three a.m. and I finally fell asleep around six. When I awoke, almost six hours later, I found the note he'd left telling me he was in a meeting in one of the conference rooms and would meet me on the patio at lunch. I called Tristan and apologized for not calling first thing, but he sounded happy and distracted. He was playing horseshoes with Ian and Jill and getting ready for a cook-out at her townhouse. I told him I loved him (and Jill promised to take lots of pictures).

I showered and quickly dressed myself in a tailored white blouse, minimal gold jewelry and dark slim jeans. Women here typically wore pearls and boucle skirt suits, but I had my limits. I blew dry my long, straight, dark-chocolate color hair until it glossed, and applied a little make-up before heading out the door.

Just my luck, as I hurried through the halls I bumped (literally) into a little red haired girl who was crying. She told me she lost her big brother so I led her up to the front desk where the girl told us her name was Amy and that she knew her Mom was at the spa. They sent out a page for a lost Amy, and an irate looking woman in a white robe, slippers and a face mask marched up.

“I told you to stay with your brother! Can't I get a facial without having a crisis? It took me days to get this appointment...” she ranted to the little girl as she held her hand, dragging her behind. Maybe she was better off lost.

Outside, on a massive paver deck, they'd set up food stations with chefs serving lunch, a la carte. I was hungry from having missed breakfast and made a beeline for the meat-carving table. Most of the wives and girlfriends had the same idea, and the tables were filled with ladies who lunch.

I grabbed the first vacant seat I found, only one other woman sat at the table. I was bad at introductions, but she didn't raise her eyes from her magazine, so we ate silently. She had a short blonde bob and was very polished in (what else?) a light blue Chanel boucle dress and multi-strand pearls. All she was missing was a wide brimmed hat with a bow. We wouldn’t have anything to talk about anyway, I concluded.

"Daniel!" she called out, waving her hand in the air, flagging someone down. Within seconds, there stood Mr. V-neck himself—Danny—flanked by two other dark haired men. He was dressed more casually than the other men, who wore full suit and tie. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep and I noticed for the first time his hair color was a rich, beer bottle brown.

I smiled warmly in greeting, but his face was stony and he turned away. I guess Danny and I weren't friends when others were around.

"Join me, gentlemen," blonde bob implored. She was English too, and clearly knew how to play her role here. I realized then she was the other half of the V-neck Crew from the lobby— Danny's other half. As she waved her hand, I also noticed the giant sparking canary yellow diamond on her hand.

Danny’s nod was a directive; the two men filled the chairs between us as he sat at the end, the blonde at his side. As the men took to discussing financials, I picked up they were all English. I was not impressed when they placed special orders to the kitchen, apparently too good to plate their own food or eat what the rest of us did.

"Bree!" I heard, and turned the sound of charging footsteps. I spun just in time to see little Amy barrel into my chair, giggling. Everyone had turned towards the disruption, eyeing her disapprovingly. Well, except Danny, whose eyes were closed and his brows were knitted together as if he'd just been poked with a needle. She wedged herself between the snobby suit guy, bumping his elbow, and fired away.

"Did you know my Mom wears a wig sometimes?" she announced, panting heavily from her run. I laughed inappropriately loud before covering my mouth. She took that as encouragement.

"And sometimes, at night, I hear her in her bedroom shaving her legs all by herself. Buzzz, buzzz, buzzz, allllnight. That's what it sounds like. Yep," she mimed while nodding, smiling brightly. I was wide-eyed as I surveyed the table. The blonde was aghast, as was the suit directly opposite her, but the guy to my side was laughing and Danny observed her as though she were a curiosity.

"Little one, I don't know if I'd share that with anyone else today, okay?" I suggested amusedly as a pulled a stray hair from her face.

"She won't care," Amy shrugged.

"Let's keep it our little secret, anyway," I whispered.

"Cool," she whispered back, liking the idea of a secret.

"What's your name little girl?" the Suit next to me asked.

"Amy."

"Amy, I’d like you to give your mother my card. Tell her it's in case she needs any help shaving tonight," he said smugly, flicking out his hand. She snatched the card. I hoped he was kidding when I saw the wedding band on his finger.

"Okay! You two can come play with me now if you want?" she exclaimed to myself and Suit one, bouncing on her heels. I wondered if her mother had fed her bars of chocolate to placate her. Or possibly uppers.

Her eyes bounced back and forth from the suited man and me expectantly, he raised an eyebrow that said how preposterous, and I took a cue; even his eyebrow seemed to have a snooty British accent.

"Amy, I think the nice man has business to do, but maybe I'll come and play later."

"I’ll be on the hill.” She pointed beyond the pool down to the sloping grassy hills beyond and then she bolted for it. I snickered, observing her stumble once, her legs not fast enough for her body.

I checked my watch, wondering where August could be. As I did, the overcast sky parted for just a brief moment, a few beams of sunlight rebelliously breaking through the grey and lavender clouds, the rays falling like tiny radiant spotlights and in the corner of my eye, I caught a glimmer of cognac—just like a spark—and an errant thought raced through my mind, too quickly to catch.

I felt suddenly tense, like I needed some air; air somewhere else. I rose from the stuffy table and smoothed out my shirt, and by the time I looked up Danny had risen from his chair, the other men abruptly followed suit. I was puzzled by the gesture but I snapped out of my daze, my inner tension returning, when the blonde grabbed his forearm and gave him a look like he'd just stood for the maid.

I turned, heading for the hill where Amy played and stood watching from the edge of the patio, trying to clear my head. Several children were chasing each other and I smiled, thinking of my son, but somehow I still felt... troubled.

I turned back searching for August and finally I spotted him. Of all things he was standing beside Danny's chair, smiling and talking vividly—reassuring the troops, I'm sure. But as soon as he walked away he began rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. He spotted me and rushed over.

"Bree," he said hurriedly. "I'm so sorry I missed lunch. I've been doing damage control all morning.”

“Anything I can help with?”

“It’s beyond helping. A total disaster." I was going to ask more, but it seemed out of my depth.

"Don’t worry about me. Go do what you need to," I said firmly, leaning on tiptoes to kiss his cheek in hello and goodbye.

"Are you sure?" He laid his hands on my shoulders.

"Yes. Now go be a superhero," I teased, shooing him off. He smiled, dropping a kiss on my cheek before hurrying off.

My old distress was replaced with worry for August. Amy ran up and asked if I'd be “home base” in their game of hide and go seek. I laughed, agreeing to the distraction. Several rounds in, she ran up to me, sticking out her little leg.

"Will you tie my shoes?" she asked, cutely, so I bent down to lace them.

"You're pretty, Bree," she sang smiling and blinked. I smiled back and patted her head before she ran off screaming to the hiders “you’re in trouble now!”

"You have an admirer." I turned to see Danny standing a few feet behind me.

"Uh, no, just a little friend," I replied, confused by his sudden presence.

"You make friends easily,” he supplied. I laughed at the irony; I would have made more friends sitting at the children's table than at his (because it clearly became His table once he sat).

"I found her in the hallway,” I explained. “She was lost."

It looked like the rest of his group was gone, which explained why he was talking to me again. I was beginning to think the parallel I'd drawn between his face and a sculpture was truer than I'd realized. His face was always perfectly stoic, but he shook his head briefly as if to say Of course.

"I think they've got a sixth sense, you know?" I mused, watching the children play.

"About safe places to run?” I smiled at his odd guess. He obviously wasn't a kid person.

"No. Well, sort of," I paused, wondering how long he'd been watching the game. "I think they can sense other mothers. They seem to automatically trust us," I clarified, watching Amy maul a boy to the ground. She reminded me of Violet. He didn't reply so I checked to see if he was there. He was looking at his loafers.

"You have a child," he intoned solemnly.

"Yes," I replied with pride. "I have a little boy."

Finally he spoke. "I am…happy for you,” he said. I thought he was being sarcastic but when he raised his gaze and his eyes met mine, but there was honesty there.

"I'm pretty happy for me, too," I replied, thinking of my amazing little son.

"Bree! I won! I won! I caught them all!" Amy ran up and flung herself at me. I grabbed her just in time before she knocked us both over, laughing.

"See, doesn't this just make you want to take one home?" I turned, and said to the thin air where Danny had formerly been standing.

Eat your heart out, Houdini.

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About the Author

Nell E. S. Douglas has possessed a deep, abiding love for written words since childhood. The transition from reader, to writer, was a natural one. Her first stories, penned on the lined pages of class notebooks, were inspired by her mother’s poetry and epic tales of travel, and a professorial inquisitiveness inherited from her father. Following college in Florida, Nell exited the world of pure imagination, and entered the one of business, successfully establishing a career in sales, and developing a cup-a-day habit (of coffee). Today, Nell writes everything from story ideas to essays during the spaces in-between domestic goddessing, and contributing as a managing partner to a thriving small business. Nell resides in Florida, with her husband and their children, passing on the traditions of her mother, and sinking her feet in the sand whenever possible.

Her favorite books are Pride and Prejudice, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Her favorite movies are Gladiator, anything by Scorcese, The Time Traveller’s Wife, and Bridesmaids.

Website / Twitter / Instagram

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Spotlight: Her Super-Secret Rebound Boyfriend by Kerri Carpenter

To get over being dumped, Lola McBride crashes a high school reunion looking for a rebound fling. Instead, she finds Luke Erickson who convinces her to pretend to be his girlfriend at his family reunion. Who said reunions had to be zero fun in this sweet romantic comedy releasing June 2018 from Kerri Carpenter and Entangled Publishing!

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 11, 2018
Publisher: Entangled Publishing - Lovestruck

It wasn’t shy librarian Lola McBride's idea to crash someone else’s high school reunion. Her best friend made her do it, insisting that having a little fun with a super-hot rebound would make her forget about her recent breakup. That’s when she meets the hottest guy she’s ever seen.

Architect Luke Erickson had no idea attending his ten-year reunion would turn out to be so fun. He catches the sexy brunette in a lie, and he counters with a proposal—He’ll keep her secret if she helps get his family off his back by pretending to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family reunion.

From one reunion to another, Lola and Luke are suddenly spending a lot of time together. Good thing they're only pretending, or this super-secret relationship could get really complicated.

Excerpt

Copyright© 2018

Maybe he knew her. Maybe they’d gone out in high school? Surely not. He’d remember someone who looked like this.

“Can you believe we’re already having our ten-year reunion?” he asked.

“What? Oh, right. Yeah. I mean, no.” She laughed. “I mean, no, I can’t believe it’s been ten whole years.” She quickly averted her eyes.

She was adorable.

He stuck out a hand. “I’m Luke Erickson.”

She shook his hand. “I’m Lo…” She glanced down at her nametag as if she needed a reminder. “I’m Kelli Martingale. Nice to meet you.”

Her words were cut off when she stepped forward, hit the side of the table, shaking all the contents on it. Luke jumped to save a particularly wobbly red Jell-O dessert, causing most of the Jell-O mold to mold right onto his favorite white shirt.

Kelli gasped. “Ohmigod. I’m so sorry.”

While he wanted to offer a huge fuckkkkk, he could tell that she felt horrible. So, he shrugged as she quickly tried to help him clean up. Together, they got as much of the Jell-O off his shirt as they could. Then she grabbed a mound of napkins and began running them over his chest.

He shivered. Actually fucking shivered. What the hell? This Jell-O must be extra cold. Kelli must have feel it too, because she paused, hands plastered against his chest, as she met his gaze. Her mouth fell open and formed an O.

Suddenly, it wasn’t his shirt he was worried about; his pants began to feel a tad too snug. He wrapped his hands around her wrists and tried to offer a smile. Although, with the new, um, pain he was experiencing in his lower half, it probably came out as more of a grimace.

“I think I have it from here.”

A red blush tinted her cheeks. “Of course. But I really am so sorry.” Then she dug in her purse and pulled out a pair of thick black glasses. “I’m not usually a klutzy person,” she explained as she put the glasses on. “My roommate thought I looked sexier without my glasses, so she forced me to take them off. But I’m blind as a bat without them.”

He took her in, and if he thought his pants were feeling tight before, he was pretty sure that all oxygen was leaving his body now. All he could say about the glasses was…holy fuck.

Her roommate thought she was sexier without them? Hells to the no. Definitely wrong on that one. The bombshell dress plus the thick sex kitten hair plus the gorgeous face plus the most seductive glasses in the history of eyewear equaled a speechless, hard Luke.

See, if Kennedy High taught him one thing, it was how to do math. Another equation was already becoming clear. Kelli plus Luke was going to equal one hell of a reunion.

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About Kerri Carpenter

Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry. Visit Kerri at her website, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter.

Connect with Kerri:  Website  | Facebook  | Twitter  | Goodreads  | Instagram  | Youtube  | Amazon  | BookBub

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Spotlight: Survival of the Richest by Skye Warren

Survival of the Richest
Skye Warren
Publication date: June 12th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A Park Avenue princess…

My story starts with a plunge into the cold water of Manhattan’s harbor. A strong hand hauls me back onto the deck of the luxury yacht. Christopher was supposed to be my enemy, the son of my mother’s latest husband. Instead he protects me with fierce determination when I need him most.

This tale begins with a fall, but it doesn’t end there.Because another man wants me.

Sutton wants to consume me with a passion more feral than kind. In the lush emotional wilderness I’m not sure I want Christopher to save me this time…

Or if there will be anything left if he tries.

SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST is a book about finding your soul’s desire, even if the search leads you places you never expect. A woman torn between two men. An impossible choice. And a war fought on the most dangerous battlefield–the heart.

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—

EXCERPT:

My body heats at the words, at the remembered pleasure of Sutton’s mouth on my sex. Christopher looks down at me, as if he can feel the heat emanating from between my legs. His expression turns stark, as if he’s in pain. That’s only fair, because I’m in pain too.

“You deserve better than that,” Christopher says, but there’s no way to pretend he’s talking about Sutton. He’s talking about himself and we both know it.

“He gives me what I want, which is something you might try next time you like a girl.”

“It wasn’t that,” he says, harsh again.

“No?” I step forward and place a hand on his chest, feeling the way his heart beats strong and fast. He may want to be unaffected by me, but he isn’t. I tilt my face up toward him. “You didn’t imagine me naked in the cabin later?”

He sucks in a breath. “You were too young then.”

My words come out as a whisper. “What about now? Will you do what Sutton said—imagine me in this dress when you go home after this?”

“It’s not fucking decent,” he says, even though the silk covers every part of me. It’s a perfectly respectable dress, when it’s not hitched up around my waist.

“You can thank Sutton for this,” I say, because it’s true. He’s the only reason I lean forward and place my lips against Christopher’s, touching them in some terrible attempt to show him what he gave up, to prove to myself that I don’t care about either of them.

Christopher sucks in a breath. For a second I think he’s going to pull away. He stiffens and grasps my hair with his fist. Easy enough for him to stop the kiss. Instead he dips my head back and deepens it, exploring my mouth with his teeth, his tongue. Opening me wider until I whimper. Pulling me close until I can feel how hard he is beneath his slacks.

His other hand fists in the gauze of my dress, and I realize he’s holding me with both hands clenched—one in my hair and one in my clothes. I don’t know whether he’s doing it so he doesn’t have to touch me or because it’s a way to control me without bruising me. He uses both hands to tug me closer; I’m pressed so tightly I can’t imagine getting away.

Where Sutton had been raw sensuality and playfulness, Christopher is pure determination. He kisses me like he’s a conquering army, like I’m made of gold he has to grasp—or lose forever.

Author Bio:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her new book ESCORT is out now!

“ESCORT is perfection only Skye Warren can deliver—a poetically erotic tale of exquisitely damaged characters, devastating secrets, revenge and redemption.” – Samanthe Beck, USA Today bestselling author

“Hypnotically romantic…this book reads like a sensual dream and I didn’t want to wake up.” – Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author

Don't miss a release! Sign up for the newsletter to get new book alerts: www.skyewarren.com/newsletter

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Spotlight: The Secret Lives of Royals by Shalini Dua

Publication date: June 12th 2018
Genres: Fairy Tales, New Adult, Romance

Olivia can’t take it anymore. She’s had enough of the big city and it’s lack of fulfilling her dreams. Then, just when she’s about to give up and move home, out of the blue, she is offered her dream job. Olivia is suspicious but that could just be the New York in her. She decides not to pull at threads. Despite her best efforts to remain blissfully oblivious, the secret to her life upgrade is soon uncovered when she finds herself invited to be part of a secret society.

Olivia learns that there is a thin curtain separating our world from theirs. Just beneath the surface, an entirely different one exists. One that is controlled by those of Royal lineage. The chosen ones, the Royals, hold the fate of the world in their hands. Will Olivia be able to bear the weight of the crown?

Excerpt

“It’s on Thursday. We’ll meet there at 8PM. A car will come to get you.” He pauses, gives me a once over and says, “The girls in the closet can help you with an outfit.” I’m caught off guard and I just stare at Connor, coolly heading off in the opposite direction as if he hasn’t just casually knocked my fashion sense, my self-confidence and basically who I have been up until this very moment.

…

Thursday morning when I step out of the glass elevator at Le Salon, what can only be described as a glam squad descends upon me. When I ask where they came from, I’m informed that Connor has sent them because as they delicately put it,

“I need help.”

The first blonde eyes me warily as if I’m a 1,000 page report on her desk that she is about to dig into.

“You are not, uh,” she looks at the others apparently searching for tact, “meeting a certain standard, uh, in terms of brand image.”

I feel like a reality TV star, a “before” to be clear. Though, I would die if anyone from Le Salon knew my thoughts were this basic. The crew sees me, moves their heads up and down to examine me in unison as if operated by the same spine, and exchanges a look that says, “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” To be honest, I’m finding them more than a little judge-y. I wouldn’t say I’m a hot mess. Although it’s true I could get my nails done a tad more often, but I live by the rule of two out of three, which is that if you can hit two of these three things every day, you are doing pretty well: hair, make-up and outfit. Admittedly, I don’t always hit two, but I had been doing okay since starting at Le Salon. I had repeatedly accomplished all three and was very proud of myself, so I’m not sure what these critical bitches are rolling their eyes about.

They introduce themselves.

“Hi, I’m Sophia.” She extends a hand, Starbucks cup in the other. Sophia has dark hair and olive skin; she’s dressed in skinny black leather pants, a chic purple blouse, black pumps and aged silver jewelry. Very edgy style, but she actually seems semi-nice when compared with the other two.

“Kaley,” barely glances in my direction as she sips from her Starbucks cup. Dressed in ripped dark blue jeans and a black blazer, she seems more than a tad intimidating and clearly doesn’t have time for me.

“Trista,” with a slight nod of the head, ad for Starbucks pose, black dress and black pumps, appears to be a bit of an airhead though apparently a wiz with a make-up brush.

Sophia hands me a coffee, which I think is quite a nice gesture despite their apparent personalities.

I feel a set of hands on me as they collectively drag me into an entirely too brightly lit room somewhere left of the large closet that houses all of the fashion we use for various shoots. They push me into the tall black chair used for making-up the subjects of said photo sessions. And that is how I find myself in every woman’s nightmare, staring back at my early morning reflection, pre-coffee, in a mirror lit by at least thirty 100-watt light bulbs, which is when I stop protesting. Seriously, maybe models are not overpaid. I cannot imagine doing this for a living. I immediately develop a new respect for the gazelle-like creatures that float through this place on a daily basis and who, until today, I have been envy-judging with Mads after work in an effort to preserve the last shred of my self-esteem, which has been unceremoniously murdered by Sophia, Kaley and Trista early this morning. RIP self-esteem. You will be missed. I sip my coffee and ingest the singular source of warmth in this room.

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About the Author

An international upbringing and a love of stories laid the foundation for wanderlust. Shalini aspires to spend her time country-hopping and consuming pop-culture, comedy and good food but the reality is often frantically downing coffee, meeting deadlines at exactly the last second and working her un-glamorous corporate job to fund all of the other pursuits. The Secret Lives of Royals is Shalini's debut novel. Her other work includes published poetry and scripts only she has read.

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Spotlight: Scotland or Bust by Kira Archer

Meet the Author:

 

Kira Archer resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kiddos, and far too many animals in the house. She tends to laugh at inappropriate moments, break all the rules she gives her kids (but only when they aren't looking), and would rather be reading a book than doing almost anything else. She has odd, eclectic tastes in just about everything and often lets her imagination run away with her. She loves her romances a little playful, a lot sexy, and always with a happily ever after.

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About the Book:

 

After dumping her boyfriend, Nicole Franklin impulsively jumps on a plane and heads to Europe. Sure, money and a job would have been nice to line up first. Even a visa, for that matter. So now she has to play tour guide at an Outlander experience for the most obnoxious man on the planet. Until she stumbles into the wrong bed in the middle of the night and wakes up in Harrison’s arms. Now his family thinks they’re engaged, and the entire village is betting on how long before she’ll be running for the hills.

Harrison Troy has a reputation in the town for burning through assistants. And the bubbly new one he’s just hired is likely no different. But his family quickly has them “engaged.” He should be upset, but she’s the perfect buffer for his interfering family. She says she doesn’t need another man in her life--even if he comes with a castle--and that’s fine with him. So why can’t he stop thinking about the woman who is charming everyone in the town, and maybe even him?

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