Spotlight: Your Destination Is on the Left by Lauren Spieller

Seventeen-year-old Dessa Rhodes is torn between leaving her modern nomadic life and pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist in this fun, contemporary debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson.

Dessa Rhodes is a modern day nomad. Her family travels in an RV, their lives defined by state lines, exit signs, and the small communal caravan they call home. Among them is Cyrus, her best friend and long-time crush, whom she knows she can never be with. When your families are perpetually linked, it’s too dangerous to take a risk on romance. 

Instead, Dessa looks to the future. She wants to be a real artist and going to art school is her ticket to success and a new life. There’s just one problem: she hasn’t been accepted…anywhere. Suddenly her future is wide open, and it looks like she’s going to be stuck traveling forever.

Then an unexpected opportunity presents itself: an internship working with a local artist in Santa Fe. Dessa struggles to prove to her boss—and herself—that she belongs there, but just as she finally hits her stride, her family suffers an unexpected blow. Faced with losing everything that she has worked for, Dessa has a difficult decision to make. Will she say goodbye to her nomadic lifestyle and the boy she loves? Or will she choose to never stop moving?

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About the Author

Lauren Spieller is an author and literary agent who lives in New York City with her husband. When she isn’t writing, she can be found drinking lattes, pining for every dog she sees, or visiting her native California. Your Destination Is on the Left is her debut novel. Visit her at LaurenSpieller.com and follow her on Twitter @LaurenSpieller.

Spotlight: The Impossible Vastness of Us by Samantha Young

From New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young comes a story of friendship, identity, and acceptance that will break your heart—and make it whole again. Grab your copy of THE IMPOSSIBLE VASTNESS OF US, now available in paperback, today!

About the Book

“I know how to watch my back. I’m the only one that ever has.”

India Maxwell hasn’t just moved across the country—she’s plummeted to the bottom rung of the social ladder. It’s taken years to cover the mess of her home life with a veneer of popularity. Now she’s living in one of Boston’s wealthiest neighborhoods with her mom’s fiancé and his daughter, Eloise. Thanks to her soon-to-be stepsister’s clique of friends, including Eloise’s gorgeous, arrogant boyfriend Finn, India feels like the one thing she hoped never to be seen as again: trash.

But India’s not alone in struggling to control the secrets of her past. Eloise and Finn, the school’s golden couple, aren’t all they seem to be. In fact, everyone’s life is infinitely more complex than it first appears. And as India grows closer to Finn and befriends Eloise, threatening the facades that hold them together, what’s left are truths that are brutal, beautiful, and big enough to change them forever…

Excerpt

“India, I’m not using her. I mean, I am, but it’s not like that. Eloise is getting what she wants out of this relationship, as well.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You are using her.”

“I’m not.” His chair screeched as he pulled it closer so our knees touched. His dark eyes moved over my face and I sucked in my breath at the open appreciation I saw there. “I’m not using her…but we are in a relationship together. I guess it just never occurred to me that I might actually meet someone in high school. Someone I…”

That feeling in my chest, that thick, hot feeling, threatened to overwhelm me at all the things he wasn’t saying. “Finn, Eloise is going to be my family.”

He looked so forlorn it took everything within me not to reach for him.

“What is it you’re hiding?”

“I can’t tell you. Please, just trust me.”

Hurt and frustration swept through me in equal measure but I tamped it down. It wasn’t my place to demand his secrets.

My frustration was suddenly mirrored in his eyes as he looked up at me. “I wish things were different.”

But they weren’t different. And yet they were the same, history repeating itself. I cared about someone and they didn’t care enough about me back to be honest about what was really going on.

I didn’t know if I was angry at Finn or just angry that nothing ever seemed to be easy for me. Everything was always a fight.

It felt like I lived in a constant clusterfuck.

I gave a huff of laughter. “Story of my life.” I shook my head, grabbed up my bag and, unable to look at him, said, “Thank you for your help tonight.”

“You’re not leaving without me.”

His protectiveness confused and pissed me off even more. “I’m not? Funny, it looks like that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

His familiar scowl was back in place at my sarcasm. “You’re also not going home alone after what happened here. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Finn.” I slumped, suddenly feeling exhausted. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Sadness flittered through his eyes before he managed a carefully blank expression. “I think I can handle driving you home.”

Still a trembling mess after everything that had happened, I gave in and followed Finn out to his car.

The tension that we’d shared before was nothing compared to how it was now. Now that Finn had in a roundabout way admitted he liked me and I’d realized that what I was feeling for him was attraction, the tension could not be mistaken for anything else but sexual.

I’d never felt anything like it before—it was the most frustrating, scary and exhilarating feeling in the world.

When we eventually pulled up outside the house, the guilt washed over me. I shouldn’t be feeling this way about Eloise’s boyfriend and he certainly shouldn’t be feeling this way about me.

I felt like we were to blame for the whole thing but I didn’t know why.

I hadn’t asked the universe to make Finn like me.

And I had definitely not intended to like him in return.

“India,” he said just as I moved to get out of his car. “I’ve never really cared what anybody thought of me before…but I really don’t want you to think I’m a bad person.”

I stared into his beautiful eyes. “I can’t imagine ever thinking you’re a bad person. I meant it earlier…thank you for coming for me tonight. I’ll never forget it.”

“This feels weirdly like a goodbye,” he said with a bitter twist to his gorgeous lips.

“Maybe it is. I guess we’re both just a complication the other doesn’t need.”

Slowly, so slowly my heart had time to increase in hard, steady thumps, Finn slid his hand over the center console between us and stroked his thumb along the side of my hand. I felt that simple touch in every nerve, my body reacting to it in a way it never had to the touches and deep kisses that had come before it.

I stared at our hands for a moment, wondering how different my life could be if Finn wasn’t Eloise’s boyfriend, if we’d just met as strangers at school, felt the inexplicable bond between us and were free to do something about it.

Suddenly very aware of how long I’d been sitting outside the house in his car, I fumbled for the door handle. “See you around, Finn.” 

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About Samantha Young

Samantha Young is the New York Times,  USA Today  and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows.  Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook& hardback June 2017

Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.

Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Teaser Reveal: A Lot Like Perfect by Kat Cantrell

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release: July 16

From USA Today Bestseller Kat Cantrell comes a sweet small town romance series with a touch of magic.

What kind of man falls for the woman meant for his buddy?

Navy SEAL Isaiah West has trouble calling himself “former” military, but after an involuntary discharge, redefining himself is the only option. The small town of Superstition Springs seems as good a place as any to regroup while he figures out where he’s supposed to go next—and deal with how that last operation in Syria messed up his place on the team.

Aria Nixon has long accepted her role as the “plain” sister and really, she has no use for a man who only sees her looks anyway. So when her Aunt Serenity’s love prediction mentions the word “makeover,” it’s game on to prove she can get noticed without one. Who better to help her get the inside track on how a man thinks than…a man? Isaiah specifically, who has his own prediction to sidestep.

But in a mystical place like Superstition Springs, nothing ever goes as expected. It turns out Isaiah and Aria have a lot in common, and what’s with the attraction between them? Not supposed to happen. She can’t fall for Isaiah. He’s too perfect, too much what she wasn’t looking for and too likely to break her heart when he leaves. And Isaiah isn’t about to admit he’s got feelings for the woman he’s supposed to be helping attract an entirely different guy—his teammate. They should stay friends. Right?

Welcome to Superstition Springs, town in progress…SEALs of Superstition Springs is a clean and wholesome series starring heroes you can share!

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About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Kat Cantrell read her first Harlequin novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. What else would she write but romance? When she’s not writing about characters on the journey to happily ever after, she can be found at a taekwondo tournament, watching Big Bang Theory or dancing with her kids to Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kat, her husband and their two boys live in North Texas. She was a former Harlequin So You Think You Can Write winner and a former RWA® Golden Heart® finalist for best unpublished series contemporary manuscript.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | BookBub

Hello, World!

Cover Reveal: Reckless Attraction by J.J. Knight

Reckless Attraction
J.J. Knight
Publication date: July 9th 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

I wish this were the usual love story.
Boy meets girl.
Boy falls in love.
They live happily ever after.

But it’s not.

In this one, I find the most awesome girl. Chloe. Smart. Funny. Sexy as sin. With convictions. She takes risks for what she believes in.

We connect. Completely. Awesomely. It’s literally the best feeling.

But then she screws me over in the worst possible way.
__

Hudson, shut up.
You’re the one who calls yourself “Reckless.”

You’re the one who pummels people’s faces just to get your rocks off.

It’s not my fault that your ambition in MMA runs up against my need for action. I protect the innocent. You fight them.

And I can’t help that we had this instant chemistry, a powerful explosive connection I didn’t even know could exist.

But you are who you are.
And I am who I am.

I just wish you weren’t the perfect man for me.

____

Fans of Uncaged Love and Fight for Her will see their favorite characters Colt & Jo and Parker & Maddie as they try to help this MMA fighter and his new love untangle their destiny.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play


Author Bio:

JJ Knight is the author of multiple bestselling series and serials.

Reading order:

Single Dad on Top (standalone, but fans asked for a sequel!)
Single Dad Plus One

Morris Music with rock star Dylan and music label intern Jessie
Revenge #1
Revenge #2
Revenge #3
Revenge #4
Revenge #5
Blue Shoes #1
Blue Shoes #2
Blue Shoes #3

Uncaged Love with the MMA fighters Colt "Gunner" Mcclure & Jo "Hurricane" Jones
Uncaged Love #1
Uncaged Love #2
Uncaged Love #3
Uncaged Love #4
Uncaged Love #5
Uncaged Love #6

Fight for Her with MMA fighter Parker "Power Play" & Maddie (and wee Lily)
Fight for Her #1
Fight for Her #2
Fight for Her #3
Fight for Her #4

New reader? You can start with any book labeled #1!

Come chat with JJ and other fans on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jjknightauthor
Sign up for emails from JJ: www.jjknight.com
Get a text when JJ has a new book: text the word "knight" to 77948

Website / Goodreads / Facebook


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Spotlight: Sword of Fire: Through the Ashes by J.A. Culican


Sword of Fire
Through the Ashes Book 1
by J.A. Culican
Genre: YA Fantasy

An unforgettable tale brimming with suspense, action and dragons."Through the Ashes will thrill fans of The Gender Game, Divergent & The Hunger Games.
   
Defenseless. Alone. Betrayed.

Bells is a poor fae who works on a farm outside the protections of the dragon city. When her family is attacked by trolls, she goes to the one person she knows can help her. But will he?

Peace. Death. Enough.

    
The dragons brought peace to the city and the surrounding area when they rose. Jaekob believes there is no reason for further dragon involvement. They've' lost enough lives to this cause. They've done their fair share and owe the world nothing more.

But when the dark elves infect his city with a virus unlike anything he's ever seen, he knows they need a solution. Now.

The sword of peace. Myth? Reality?

They're about to find out.





J.A. Culican is a USA Today Bestselling author of the middle grade fantasy series Keeper of Dragons. Her first novel in the fictional series catapulted a trajectory of titles and awards, including top selling author on the USA Today bestsellers list and Amazon, and a rightfully earned spot as an international best seller. Additional accolades include Best Fantasy Book of 2016, Runner-up in Reality Bites Book Awards, and 1st place for Best Coming of Age Book from the Indie book Awards. 

J.A. Culican holds a Master’s degree in Special Education from Niagara University, in which she has been teaching special education for over 11 years. She is also the president of the autism awareness non-profit Puzzle Peace United. J.A. Culican resides in Southern New Jersey with her husband and four young children.




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Read an excerpt from Cold Blooded by Toni Anderson

Searching for the truth… 

Disgraced investigative journalist Pip West is devastated when she discovers her best friend’s body face-down in a tranquil lake. When cops and federal agents determine that her friend overdosed then drowned, Pip knows they’re mistaken and intends to prove it. 

Special Agent Hunt Kincaid doesn’t trust journalists and has no patience for Pip’s delusions, especially since her meddling could reveal why the FBI is interested in her friend’s last days. The dead scientist worked at the cutting edge of vaccine research and might have a connection to a new, weaponized, vaccine-resistant anthrax strain that just hit the black market.

…just turned deadly.

Pip is thrown off her game by grief and her unexpected attraction to the handsome federal agent. Hunt battles the same unwelcome pull, determined to resist the heat that threatens to consume them both. But the more Pip digs, the closer she gets to both the sexy FBI agent, and to a bioweapons terrorist who’s more than capable of cold-bloodedly sacrificing anyone who gets in his way.

Excerpt

Hunt backed the SUV out of its spot and pulled up beside his truck, where Pip stood waiting, composing herself.

He jumped out and helped her into the high seat, trying to keep his eyes off the molded jeans and skintight t-shirt.

Then his stomach growled loudly and Pip laughed. “Hungry?”

She had no idea.

Her eyes danced and those damned freckles made her look sweet and innocent and so goddamned cute.

He reached up and cupped the back of her head, pulling her toward him so he could kiss her. Electricity and heat flared between them.

He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened tentatively.

He wanted to take the kiss deeper but waited. Waited for her to hesitantly taste him and explore him. Let her lead.

They’d both almost died today and that basic need to prove that he was very much alive surged through him.

It was a natural reaction. He knew that.

She gripped his jacket and pulled him closer, mouth angling with a hunger that seemed to match his. She tasted rich and sinful, and sweet as sugar.

His hands slid up her sides and he was immediately hard as stone.

Dammit. What the hell was he thinking?

He gave a shuddering breath and pulled back. She blinked in surprise. Lips red and slick.

He shouldn’t have kissed her.

She was upset. Emotional. His boss and his friends had all told him to steer clear. Even so, he wanted to kiss her again and never stop.

“Wow.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Wow.”

She swallowed. “You’re a good kisser, Agent Kincaid.”

He laughed again and moved a half step closer. “Pretty sure you should call me Hunt after that.” He reached up and wiped a smudge of lipstick from the side of her mouth.

That mouth of hers gave him all sorts of ideas. X-rated ideas. Ideas that would get his ass kicked at work.

But, God, she was sexy. From virtually the day he’d met her he’d wanted her. Which made him an asshole.

“You ruined my makeup. And there I was looking so good.” She rolled her eyes.

Regardless of tears and smudged makeup, she was the prettiest girl he’d ever met.

She flipped down the sun visor to check the mirror and something small and plastic fell into her lap.

He reached out and picked it up using the edge of his t-shirt. Pete Dexter’s goddamn plastic entry keycard for Blake University. “Mind if I take that?”

“What is it?” Pip looked confused then seemed to register it was an ID card. “Okay.”

He couldn’t explain, which made him feel doubly guilty for kissing her, especially as he’d used a ruse to search her friend’s houses. An honest ruse, but a ruse all the same.

“I’ll follow you back into the city.” His stomach growled again. He wasn’t sure when exactly he'd last eaten. “Wanna grab some dinner in Atlanta?”

Pip huffed out a mix between a groan and a laugh. “I probably shouldn’t.”

“It’s only dinner, Pip.”

Her gaze locked on his and her smile dropped. “We both know that’s not true, Hunt Kincaid.” Her voice suggested hot naked sex rather than food and Hunt fought the reaction his body had to the idea.

She’d called him on the bullshit he’d even been selling himself.

He nodded. “We should get going.”

Dusk was falling. He didn’t want to be on the road around here at night if he could avoid it. Too many chances for misadventure. He shut her door, and stepped away.

Maybe she was right. Maybe they’d already crossed a line but they could still step back from taking it any further. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to go there. He did. Although it was probably best for his career if he pretended she was just part of a case. Not someone whose scent aroused him beyond rational thought.

He got in his truck and slipped Pete Dexter’s keycard into an evidence bag. Shit. He’d been sure he was onto something, but it looked like the guy had been telling the truth about giving Cindy the card after all.

Hunt turned his truck and followed Pip back along the track. Keeping his distance was probably a smart idea.

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About Toni Anderson

New York Times and USA Today international bestselling author, Toni Anderson, writes dark, gritty Romantic Suspense novels that have hit #1 in Barnes & Noble's Nook store, the Top 10 in Amazon and Kobo stores, and the Top 50 in iBooks. Her novels have won many awards. A former Marine Biologist from Britain, she inexplicably ended up in the geographical center of North America, about as far from the ocean as it is possible to get. She now lives in the Canadian prairies with her Irish husband and two children and spends most of her time complaining about the weather.

Toni has no explanation for her oft-times dark imagination, and only hopes the romance makes up for it. She's addicted to reading, dogs, tea, and chocolate.

If you want to know when Toni's next book will be out, visit her website (http://www.toniandersonauthor.com) and sign up for her newsletter. If you want to read other fascinating stories about life in a city that, during winter, is sometimes colder than Mars, friend her on Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/toniannanderson).