Spotlight: What Matters More by Liora Blake

What Matters More
Liora Blake
Publication date: April 9th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A sexy contemporary romance about what happens when a casual one-night stand becomes anything but casual.

JT Maxwell has it all . . . well, almost. He’s a US Marshal, he looks like he belongs in an aftershave commercial, and he has tattoos—lots of tattoos. Unfortunately, he’s also in debt up to his pretty blue eyeballs. Between that and his recent divorce, his personal life is nonexistent these days. But when a free-spirited artist approaches him for a no-strings-attached one-night stand, things suddenly start looking up.

Anya Alves’s life is a mess. She’s lost her job, caught her boyfriend cheating on her, and if it weren’t for the house-sitting gig she just landed, she’d be homeless. On top of all that, her creative muse has up and disappeared. If she doesn’t get it back, her burgeoning career as an artist will be over before it starts. But after indulging in a steamy hook-up with a guy who makes it easy to forget her troubles, she gets her mojo back.

The last thing she expects when starting her house-sitting job, is to see her sexy one-night stand again . . . living right across the street.

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EXCERPT:

Anya managed a nervous smile and thrust her arms forward, with the baking pan perched in her hands like an offering—one she suddenly wasn’t sure would be welcome.

“We made enchiladas for dinner,” she blurted out. “And we saved some for you. Tara said you can send her a thank-you note tomorrow. I kept them warm, and I have salad and some beer, too. Are you hungry?”

JT’s gaze zeroed in on the pan in her hands and he simply stared at it, not saying a word, even when Anya cleared her throat to ease the uncomfortable silence. She felt a blush creeping across her cheeks, and a panicked thought hit her. One that if she hadn’t lost her mind earlier, she would have been able to see coming before she found herself with these damn oven mitts on her hands.

Maybe this was a mistake.

She could see how this must look, this show of domesticity on her part that he certainly hadn’t asked for or even insinuated that he wanted. But here she was, making him dinner and keeping it warm until he arrived home, like she was some proper Kennedy-era housewife—which, on so many levels, she definitely wasn’t. Even the outfit she’d changed into, a lavender floral mini dress, made it look like all she was missing was a cute little vintage apron to complete the look.

Oh, God.

Of course this was a mistake.

Anya considered setting the pan on the ground and walking away without saying another word. But then JT locked his eyes with hers. A hungry, heated look was on his face, and because she was regretting this whole thing now, she wasn’t sure whether that look was for her or the enchiladas. Either way, she needed him to say something soon because she was about to drop this hot pan and swoon, although not necessarily in that order.

“I’m starving,” JT rumbled. Then he made his way toward the door into the house, opened it, and invited Anya in with just the tip of his chin. She scooted past him in the doorway and swore that when she did, he actually grunted quietly as she passed.

Even then, she still wasn’t sure what he wanted to eat first.

Author Bio:

Wife of one. Mom of three plus a Beagle.
Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author living in Colorado.

When she isn't writing, she's likely baking cookies she shouldn't eat, inventing elaborate excuses to avoid going for a run, or asking the nice barista to sell her another quad-shot Americano.

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Spotlight: Gluttony by K Webster

Gluttony

The Elite Seven Series by K Webster Publication Date: April 15, 2019 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Read for FREE in KindleUnlimited: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

My life has been served to me on a gold platter to be devoured by my silver spoon. Money, money, and more money. It’s the backbone of the Goddard name. I’m the only son, so it’s all mine for the taking. But sometimes money isn’t enough. I always want more, yet nothing seems to satisfy me. My father has made sure I become a part of The Elite Seven. Where most candidates are chosen, I was given my place. Everything comes at a price, though. Luckily, I can afford any price—no one has more money than God. The Elite Seven have their initiations. My task is personal and beneath me—steal a car and send a warning. It’ll hurt my best friend in the process, but we both made a pact going into this. There’s no line we won’t cross. My task makes an ugly turn and I nearly take a life. Such a small, unimportant person. Someone no one would even notice if she were gone. She’s a problem my money, and now power, can easily sweep under the rug. It’s what my father wants. It’s what my brothers in The Elite Seven want. Yet when she finally opens those big, innocent brown eyes, I realize I’ve found what I’ve been searching for my entire life. I don’t want my little problem to disappear…I want to keep her. Money is my legacy, but I want something money can’t buy. I am Baxter Samuel Goddard, V. I am Gluttony.

About K. Webster

K Webster is the author of dozens of romance books in many different genres including contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance, and erotic romance. When not spending time with her husband of twelve years and two adorable children, she’s active on social media connecting with her readers. Her other passions besides writing include reading and graphic design. K can always be found in front of her computer chasing her next idea and taking action. She looks forward to the day when she will see one of her titles on the big screen.

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Spotlight: Breaking Without You by Carrie Ann Ryan

From NYT bestselling author Carrie Ann Ryan, comes a brand new series where second chances don’t come often, and overcoming an unexpected loss means breaking everything you knew.

I fell for Cameron Connolly at the wrong time. And when he left, I thought my life was over. But then, after the worst happened, I truly understood what that phrase meant. Now, he’s not ready for a second chance, and I’m not offering one. Though given that our families have been forced together after losing one of our own, I know there’s no turning back. Not this time. Not again. Not when it comes to Cameron.

~~

I never wanted to hurt Violet Knight, but there were reasons I had to leave all those years ago—not that she'd believe me if I told her what they were. I not only left her, I also left my foster brothers. Honestly, I didn’t want to come back to Denver to help run my father’s failing brewery. But when it comes to my brothers, I know I’ll find a way to make it work. Perhaps I’ll even earn Violet’s forgiveness and face the connection we both thought long forgotten in the process. Because I wanted her then, but now I know I need her. I just hope she needs me.

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Excerpt

My head was fuzzy, and it wasn’t just because of the liquor in my system. No, it was because of the man in front of me, the one who currently had his lips pressed to mine. This was such a mistake. This was beyond a mistake. I should have found a way to get into my own ride share and gone home on my own.

But when Beckham asked me on the way back to the pool room if I wanted to get into Cameron’s car or go home alone, I had said that, of course, I wanted to go with Cameron.

Yes, I was drunk, and I was making poor decisions. But, apparently, Beckham thought he was a matchmaker. And he hadn’t wanted me to be forced into a situation I wasn’t comfortable with.

So, yes, while he was a nice man, I was still going to beat him up. Just like I was going to hurt Cameron.

But all thoughts of that fled my mind when Cameron’s hand slid through my hair to cup the back of my head and pull me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my body against his as I kissed him even harder. I had forgotten what his kisses felt like. I had forgotten what he felt like. Yes, he was larger than he had been even seven years ago, more muscular, a little sharper-edged. But he still felt like Cameron.

My Cameron.

Yes, I was drunk, but I wasn’t drunk enough to actually think that he was mine.

Yet I couldn’t stop kissing him.

I just wanted to feel. I just wanted to be. I didn’t want to think about Allison, I didn’t want to think about work, I didn’t want to think about my ex-husband and his new wife, I didn’t want to think about the fact that I still had to worry about the rest of Allison’s stuff.

I didn’t want to think about what life would be like without her.

So, I just kissed Cameron. I knew it was selfish, knew this was all a mistake.

But I didn’t stop.

He was the one that pulled away first. And then he leaned his forehead against mine and let out a ragged breath.

“What are we doing?” he asked, his voice rough.

“I don’t know, but I want to keep doing it.”

He pulled back, his brows lowered as he frowned.

“If we do this, it’s going to change everything. We’re not kids anymore.”

“It meant something when we were kids too, though. And I just want to feel. I know it’s all complicated, and I know that this is wrong and stupid. But I have just enough liquor in me to make me brave enough to say it, though not enough where I’ll be taking advantage of you, or you’ll be taking advantage of me.”

He studied my face. “I would say that that’s just the right amount of liquor, the right amount of drunk. But I can’t take advantage of you.”

I moved closer, impossibly close, so we were pressed against one another and I could feel the hard ridge of him on my thigh. “Personal advantage here. It’s just you and me. And you’re helping me feel. I miss feeling. Can you do that? We can deal with the tomorrows tomorrow. We can deal with everything that’s going to hurt. But I just miss people. I miss being held. I just miss it all.”

I miss you.

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About Carrie Ann Ryan

Carrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Redwood Pack, Talon Pack, and Gallagher Brothers series, which have sold over 2.0 million books worldwide. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over fifty novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not writing about bearded tattooed men or alpha wolves that need to find their mates, she’s reading as much as she can and exploring the world of baking and gourmet cooking.

Website: http://carrieannryan.com/

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Spotlight: Moments That Made America by Geoff Armstrong

From its geological birth during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent millions of years ago, through the nation-shaping key events that led to its political independence from the British superpower, and other crucial, sometimes miraculous events that worked to create the nation, Moments That Made America: From the Ice Age to the Alamo explores those defining moments, both tragic and inspirational that profoundly shaped the nation and its people - crucial turning points that worked inexorably to mold and make America. These pivotal "tipping" events formed America's geographical, sociological, political and historical landscape. Part 1 culminates with the discovery of gold in California and the role it played in fulfilling America’s dream of Manifest Destiny.

Book Excerpt:

Excerpt from Chapter Three: The Road to Revolution

On the 19th of June, with twelve hundred men and officers, the British army began its march. Braddock’s forces moved slowly, building roads as they advanced. By the 8th of July, Braddock had arrived within 12 miles of Fort Duquesne. Typical of British thinking concerning military action in North America, Braddock failed to send out scouts or set up advance guards. In splendid European-style formation, their bright scarlet uniforms glowing in the summer sunshine, Braddock and his men moved against the French Fort. Washington had spent time in the region and knew it well. He understood the style of fighting they would have to face and recognizing the danger, he tried to persuade Braddock to set up proper security, but Braddock, suffering from what turned out to be terminal arrogance, ignored Washington’s experience and advice.

At about noon they crossed the Monongahela River. The road on which they now marched led through a valley and along two concealed ravines covered with trees and deep grass. What Braddock didn’t know, thanks to his haughty refusal to employ scouts, was that the ravines concealed 600 Native American warriors and 250 French soldiers all armed and waiting.

As soon as the British reached the ravines, the woods in front of them erupted with musket fire as the French and their Native American allies unloaded their weapons into the British. Stunned by the unexpected attack, the leading British troops were hurled backward into their advancing rear units, throwing Braddock’s regulars into hopeless confusion. Disorganized and gripped with fear, hammered by volley after volley of musket fire from directly ahead and then from their flanks, the British struggled to fight back as their legendary discipline began to falter.

The first discharge of musket fire had targeted the officers and many had already fallen. Several times the British rallied and at one point succeeded in killing the French commander. That seemed to act as a signal to the Indians. They threw themselves at the British.

Now panic-stricken and disorientated, ignoring the commands of the few remaining officers, the British regulars huddled together in small groups, firing ineffectively into the surrounding trees and bushes. Protected by the ravines and trees, the French and Indians continued to target the officers.

The only troops who retained any hint of common sense were the Virginians. As soon as they realized whom they were fighting, they ignored Braddock and used the colonial fighting tactics they had learned from the Native Americans.

Washington’s conduct during the battle was exemplary. He refused to huddle in terror, as so many of his fellow officers did, vainly hoping to escape the death that flourished all around them. At six-foot-four and on horseback, he was the most conspicuous officer and the most conspicuous target in the entire British expedition. Witnesses describe him as riding from battered group to battered group, rallying his Virginians and attempting to rally the British regulars into following the example of the Virginians. Four musket balls tore through his coat and two horses were shot out from under him. Inexplicably, nothing touched him.

Finally, Braddock was shot through the lung and carried from the field. He later died of his wound.

Washington, though he was relatively far down in the chain of command, displayed the leadership for which, he would someday become famous. He was able to enforce enough discipline to form a rear guard and allow what was left of the British expedition to retreat.

British losses were appalling with more than 900 dead and wounded. According to most records, only one mounted officer survived the engagement that would become known as the “Battle of the Monongahela”, but should have been called the “Monongahela Massacre”. That officer was George Washington.

He should have died that day. Just one more unknown, low ranking colonial officer, one more casualty in a poorly executed British offensive, his name lost in the mists of history. How Washington managed to survive is beyond explanation and it was only the first of such miraculous escapes. Had he lost his life, the America we know would not exist, or if it did somehow come into being, it would certainly be profoundly different. His survival in the face of almost impossible odds also gives substantial evidence to many, that both Washington and the nation that would someday become America, were under the protection and guidance of Divine Providence.

Washington himself recognized that his survival that day was highly improbable. A few days later, in a letter to his brother John, Washington himself wrote about this. "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!”

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About the Author

Geoff Armstrong began his teaching career in 1965 after receiving a teaching diploma from McGill University’s Macdonald College. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montreal’s Concordia University in 1967 where his major field of study was history. Armstrong credits writers such as Bruce Catton, and Thomas B. Costain, as well as the encouragement of his father who had little formal education, but a deep love of reading and of history, as the inspiration for his own life-long interest.

Throughout a 25-year teaching career he taught history at several grade levels and learned quickly that to reach the hearts of his students, history had to be made immediately and deeply relevant and accessible: that some event that took place centuries before those students were born had a direct and profound influence on every aspect their lives. He also learned that talking down or writing down to his students was a recipe for defeat. It is this awareness, shaped by a quarter century of teaching and countless questions by thousands of intelligent young people that has informed and shaped his writing.

Audio Excerpt: The Freedman by Lars D. H. Hedbor and narrator Shamaan Casey

What does liberty mean for a freedman?

Calabar was brought from Africa to North Carolina as a boy and sold on the docks as chattel property to a plantation owner. On the plantation, he learned the intricacies of indigo production, fell in love, and started a family.

Abruptly released from bondage, he must find his way in a society that has no place for him, but which is itself struggling with the threat of British domination. Reeling from personal griefs, and drawn into the chaos of the Revolution, Calabar knows that the wrong moves could cost him his freedom - and that of the nation.

The Freedman is Hedbor’s standalone novel set in North Carolina from his Tales From a Revolution series, in which he examines the American War of Independence as it unfolded in each of the colonies. If you like enthralling stories of familiar events from unfamiliar viewpoints, you’ll love The Freedman.

Grab your copy of The Freedman today, and experience the American Revolution as a personal journey of discovery.

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About the Author: Lars D. H. Hedbor

What made the American Colonists turn their back on their King, and fight for independence? How were they different from us–and how were their hopes and fears familiar to our own hearts?

These are the sorts of questions that Lars D. H. Hedbor thinks are important to ask in examining the American Revolution, and in the pages of his novels, he suggest some possible answers.

His first novel, The Prize, was published in 2011, followed by The Light in 2013, and The Smoke, The Declaration, and The Break in 2014; The Wind was published in 2015, The Darkness in 2016, The Path in 2017, and The Freedman in 2018.  The Declaration, The Light, and The Wind were released in audiobook in 2018, and The Freedman in 2019.

Hedbor's also written extensively about this era for the Journal of the American Revolution, and has appeared as a featured guest on an Emmy-nominated Discovery Network program, The American Revolution, which premiered nationally on the American Heroes Channel in late 2014. He has also appeared as a series expert on America: Fact vs. Fiction for Discovery Networks, and was a panelist at the Historical Novel Society’s 2017 North American Conference.

Hedbor is an amateur historian, linguist, brewer, fiddler, astronomer and baker. Professionally, he is a technologist, marketer, writer and father. His love of history drives his to share the excitement of understanding the events of long ago, and how those events touch us still today.

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About the Narrator: Shamaan Casey

I was born in 1996 and raised in Converse, TX. Growing up, I always watched a lot of animation, which gave me a deep appreciation for voice acting, which only grew as the years went on. While initially starting school for culinary arts, I finally yielded to all of the advice I had received over the years and finally embraced getting into the world of voice-over by making audiobooks. In only 3/4 of the year, I started with nothing and have now released 14 audiobooks, with more on the way. I love to watch theater and read engaging stories, often noting how much the voice of the character (be it spoken or in text) adds to the overall story and engages the audience.

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Spotlight: Her Midnight Sin: A Shadows and Silk Novel by Sofie Darling

Like a vengeful Norse God, Captain John Nylander has come from the sea to steal the only home that Callie has ever known. And that might not be all he's after.

Can a Viking . . .

Orphaned as a child, Nylander has never known a real home. Now he is ready to leave the dangers of his past behind and put down the roots he has always longed for. The only thing standing in his way is a lanky aristocratic lady who is more at home on the farm than in the ballroom. And she has secrets . . .

And a Viscountess . . .

Callie, the Dowager Viscountess St. Alban, has poured all her energy into making Wyldcombe Grange her home. Managing an estate is not what she dreamed of, but her late husband's rejection made it clear that love and a family would never be hers. Now she may lose even that to the sinfully handsome Captain. But Nylander is making her dream again . . .

Turn passion into love?

Nylander inspires a recklessness in Callie that she can't control. Soon she finds herself conspiring with pirates and contemplating midnight trysts with the very Viking who has turned her life upside down. For Nylander, being with Callie embodies everything he's always wanted--home. As midnight strikes, will all their secret, sinful dreams come true?

Excerpt

Captain Nylander.

His voice was deep enough to shake the foundations of this mansion loose. Certainly deep enough to rattle Callie, her breath shallow and her mouth dry. She rose to a stand by slow increments and stood so silent and so still that she imagined she might be forgotten. Then the captain’s gaze met hers over St. Alban’s shoulder, and all hope was lost. His eyes narrowed in question, and she lifted a single, imperious eyebrow in response. The Grange knew that eyebrow well, and she sensed it was her best defense against this man in this moment.

Before her stood the man who would never be her friend. He was her rival . . . her enemy. Soft gaslight caught the golden strands of his unfashionably long, slightly unkempt hair and the glint of clear blue sky in his eye. For all his modern English attire, the man could have been a Viking, a Norse god even, from the tales of yore come to life. All he lacked was a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other.

Callie’s breath had no choice but to catch in her chest. Her enemy was imposing, yes, but did he also have to be so blasted, devastatingly . . . god-like?

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About the Author

Sofie Darling is an award-winning author of historical romance. Her debut novel, THREE LESSONS IN SEDUCTION, won the Writers’ League of Texas’ Manuscript Contest in the Romance Category in 2016.

She spent much of her twenties raising two boys and reading every book she could get her hands on. Once she realized she simply had to write the books she loved, she finished her English degree and embarked on her writing career. Mr. Darling and the boys gave her their wholehearted blessing.

When she’s not writing heroes who make her swoon, she runs a marathon in a different state every year, visits crumbling medieval castles whenever she gets a chance, and enjoys a slightly codependent relationship with her beagle, Bosco.

Connect:

Site: https://sofiedarling.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sofiedarlingauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sofie_darling

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/sofiedarling

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