Spotlight: Within and Without by Deborah Maroulis

Some people go to great lengths to fit in. But how far is too far?

After her parent’s divorce, sixteen-year-old Wren Newmann is forced to move from a small California town to her grandmother’s vineyard, where she’s convinced she’ll die a shriveled, wine-country virgin. Her dad’s gone AWOL, her mom’s hooking up with anything in pants, and her best friend has found the love of her life. Apart from the annoying but cute Greek farmhand Panayis, who doesn’t appear to notice her awkwardness or thunder thighs, Wren’s life has hit an all-time low.

That is until her own dating life improves unexpectedly when Jay, Wren’s long-time country crush, notices her. Yet it’s as if people don’t want her to be happy, with their warnings and advice that perhaps Jay isn’t the right guy for her. But they don’t know, and Wren’s done being Beached Whale Girl. She’s determined to become social, skinny, and sexy, because Jay wants her—every part of her.

Though her anxiety and secret purging sessions sing another warning that she finds hard to ignore. And when a series of personal tragedies strikes, Wren’s life is flipped upside down and she’s left to pick up the pieces of her broken relationships. Now, she must find the inner strength to decide if the illusion of being loved is worth sacrificing her health, and maybe even her life.

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About the Author

Born and raised in a small town in Northern California, Deborah Maroulis is lucky enough to surround herself with the things and people she loves. She teaches English and mythology at her local community college, studies myth and depth psychology in her Ph.D. program, and writes contemporary Young Adult novels. She lives in a slightly bigger town than the one she grew up in with her husband, newly-adult children, and her daughter’s very spoiled, semi-retired service dog.You can find her on Twitter as @yaddathree or through her website, deborahmaroulis.com.

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Spotlight: Broken Pieces by Tori Fox

Broken Pieces
Tori Fox
Publication date: June 20th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

I’ve been broken. Time and again.

My body.

My heart.

My soul.

I’m tired of pretending I’m happy. Even when he makes it seem easy. But my heart is incapable of loving again.

________________________

She thinks she can’t love.

That there is nothing left in her to give to anyone.

Especially me.

But I would give anything to love her. If only my demons can stay in the past.

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EXCERPT:

I roll over on to my stomach with my feet in the air and look out the window. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? I am supposed to help with the bed and breakfast and bake treats for the guests.”

“When did you start baking again?”

“I was helping Ivy out at the diner.”

“I’m so happy for you Rae! You loved baking when you were younger and now…”

I start to tune her out as I stare off into the distance outside. I see a very half-naked man a few hundred feet away hosing himself off. The sun glistens off the water on his chest as it drips down from his hair. He starts to take his boots off which are covered in mud and then realize his pants are also muddied up. His hands go for the button of his jeans and there is no way he is just stripping down outside where anyone could see him?

Sure enough, he turns around and strips his jeans off. And oh god he is completely naked now. I thought he was attractive before with those abs, but those legs and that ass, I almost want to go outside and grab it. Who cares about Easton’s no boys rule, right? What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

“Earth to Raelynn!” I snap out of my daze when I hear Tacoma scream into the phone.

“Oh, ugh, sorry. I got distracted.”

“By what?”

“Ughh, nothing. Yeah, just a bird outside.”

“Really? A bird? I said your name five times before you answered,” she says.

“Well, it was a really big bird, oh my god!” I squeal as I see Brooks turn around and I get a full frontal. Definitely big but not a bird.

“What the hell, Rae?”

“Holy shit!” I still am at a loss for words as I stare at the perfectly sculpted specimen of a man showering off outside. He suddenly looks up toward my window and smirks at me as he lets his hand travel down his body.

I squeal again and fall off the bed with a thunk onto the floor.

“Rae, what is wrong with you?” Tacoma shouts into the phone.

I am at a loss for words but manage to get out big and naked.

“A big, naked bird? Well, that’s a first. Maybe you should take a picture.”

“Oh my god, Tacoma he saw me staring,” I mutter into the phone embarrassed.

“Oh, so this big naked bird was really a man, huh? He get your feathers in a twist?”

“Shut up! He saw me watching him. He was hosing himself off. Outside. Naked!”

“Well, that is infinitely better than hosing off with clothes on.”

“But he saw me and then he started touching himself.”

“Please don’t tell me it was an old man. That is just wrong.”

I crawl toward the window trying to see if he is still there. “No. Not old.”

“Well, who was it then? I am dying over here, Rae. I am literally looking out the window at a brick wall and you are seeing young, attractive men getting dirty with a watering hose.”

“It’s one guy Tacoma. Not a whole slew of them.”

“Well it should be. I’m gonna pretend that it is. Now fess up, who is it?”

“Brooks Anderson.”


Author Bio:

Tori Fox loves books. So much so she decided to write one. It didn't go well. But after genre changes, many rewrites, and lots of editing she finally finished. And now that she is done, she doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. Besides writing you can find her curled up on the couch with her dog reading a book or lost in a makeup store purchasing more makeup than is necessary for a human. She is also a fan of hockey and whiskey, especially together. Tori lives with her fiancé in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

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Spotlight: Of Knights and Dogfights by Ellie Midwood

Austria, 1938

On the verge of the most devastating war of all times, four young men found themselves sharing a room in a flying school dormitory. A bohemian Berliner, a Flieger-Hitlerjugend member, a prodigy pilot, and a butcher’s son, with nothing in common but their love for the Luftwaffe and the freedom the sky has to offer. The bond they develop is put to the test by what might be a stronger adversary – war itself. Over the English Channel, in the dusty skies of Africa, on the brutal Eastern front, they will discover where their loyalty lies, and what true bravery means.

“It’s Großdeutsches Reich, soldier. When one has a family at home, it doesn’t leave him many chances for the revolt.”

As the war progresses, Willi and Johann grow more and more disillusioned with the regime they’re protecting with their lives. An SS unit appearing on their base to claim one of their own; bits of conversation revealing the truth about the extermination program accidentally overheard during the official reception – the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together, but it’s too late to do anything but fight to the bitter end, whatever it may bring.

Set during one of the bloodiest wars in history, “Of Knights and Dogfights” is the story of the shattered illusions of youth, tyranny and freedom, friendship and love guiding one out of the darkest hell of Soviet captivity.

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About the Author

Ellie Midwood is a best-selling, award-winning historical fiction writer. She’s a health-obsessed yoga enthusiast, a neat freak, an adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew and a doggie mama.

Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.

Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical Fiction category (2016) – “The Girl from Berlin: Standartenfuhrer’s Wife”

Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical Fiction category (2016) – “The Austrian” (honorable mention)

New Apple – 2016 Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing – “The Austrian” (official selection)

For more information on Ellie and her novels, please visit her website. You can also find her on FacebookAmazon, and Goodreads.

Cover Reveal: The Nanny Rules by Melynda Price

The Nanny Rules
Melynda Price
Published by: Entangled: Brazen
Publication date: August 12th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Sports

Don’t touch the nanny. It’s one rule I’m most certainly going to break.

Since becoming a single father, I have two things that keep me sane—my daughter Lily and playing football for the NFL. But when my meddling sister hires a nanny without my knowledge, I’m not thrilled to come home and find the woman has taken over my house. Our instant attraction is one more complication I don’t need in my life.

But my daughter loves Amelia, and I will do anything for that tiny munchkin. Even if it means walking around with blue balls most of the time. Why does the nanny have to be so sweet—and drop dead gorgeous? She’s driving me crazy. Never in my life have I wanted a woman more.

I just need to make it through this season. I can do that. Hands free, of course. But then there’s that moment, and I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking and, well, yeah. Screw the rules…

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Author Bio:

Melynda Price is a bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romance. Her novels have finaled in and or won many awards such as the RONE, USA Today BBA, Golden Quill, National Readers’ Choice, Write Touch, and New England Readers’ Choice.

What Price enjoys most about writing is the chance to make her readers fall in love, over and over again. She cites the greatest challenge of writing is making the unbelievable believable, while taking her characters to the limit with stories full of passion and unique twists and turns. Salting stories with undertones of history whenever possible, Price adds immeasurable depth to her well-crafted books. She currently lives in Northern Minnesota with her husband and two children where she has plenty of snow-filled days to curl up in front of the fireplace with her Chihuahua and a hot cup of coffee to write.

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Spotlight: A Woman Like Her by Hannalore Jones

A Woman Like Her
Hannalore Jones
Publication date: June 19th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

They thought they could control a woman like her.

Seri’s world shattered when they labeled her father a traitor. Three years later, the government that disavowed him makes her an offer she can’t refuse, sending her on a dangerous mission to seduce a man who’s planning a catastrophic attack. How far will she go to clear her father’s name—especially because she can’t seem to resist the Boy Scout who’s been assigned to protect her?

Sam has never lost his cool on an op—except that one time, and it nearly cost him his career. And he thought he knew everything there was to know about his new asset after reading Seri’s file. But he never expected to fall so hard for a woman like her. Now as they race across the world to save millions of lives, he’s willing to risk everything to keep her safe.

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EXCERPT:

He had to run to catch up with her in the hallway. “Seri, hold up,” he shouted, as she rushed to the elevator and jammed the button. “We have to look like a couple, if anyone’s watching.”

“Fine, we’re a couple having an argument,” she said, pushing past him into the elevator and crossing her arms.

He laughed. “Seriously, we have to find a way to get along,” he said. “And to that end, I should apologize. Earlier, I acted—”

“Like an asshole?”

He smiled. “Exactly. And I’m sorry. It was unprofessional and inappropriate.”

“. . . and you’re worried that I’m gonna file a report with your supervisor?”

“No, I’m worried that I fucked up our working relationship.”

“I didn’t realize we had a working relationship.”

“Well, we do now. I hope we can at least be civil.”

“I’ll be civil on Saturday night,” she said as they arrived in the lobby.

He chased after her, waving to Pete before he cut her off to push open the door for her. She brushed past him and started down the block at a brisk pace. He trotted alongside her and finally managed to grab her hand.

She stopped to look at him. “Why are you doing this?”

“I told you,” he whispered, squeezing her hand too tightly when she tried to pull away. Her petulant attitude was risking his life as much as hers. “We have to look like a couple. For your safety, if nothing else.”

She nodded and stopped struggling against his hand. “Fine. But do we have to talk?”

“No,” he relented.

They walked along in silence for a couple of blocks. He could feel the tension buzzing off of her, like static electricity.

Just a few hours ago, she’d been ready to fuck him.

Now she despised him. It wasn’t exactly a feeling he was comfortable with.

And that in itself annoyed him. He was doing his job. There was no reason to feel guilty.

“You need to be able to trust me,” he finally said, to which she snorted. “Okay, I get it—I have no right to expect that,” he sighed. “But whatever you think of me, I’m good at my job. I really am a nice guy, you’ll see. I swear I’ll never let anything, you know, happen to you. You have my word, not that it means much to you.”

She looked at him closely as they stopped in front of her building. “Trust is not my strong suit. Don’t ever lie to me again, Boy Scout.”

“I won’t. Promise. And I quit after Cub Scouts.”

That worked. He could tell she was trying not to laugh when he leaned in, putting his lips against her ear. “Now let’s pretend we made up, shall we, sweetheart?”

He put his hand on her jawline, annoyed when it trembled slightly, beyond his control. He touched his lips to hers, gently, teasing. She sighed, almost like she was annoyed, but opened her mouth and leaned into the kiss. She even gripped his T-shirt. He smiled against her as his tongue met hers.

One hand slid down to her ass and she arched into him for a second, pressing her whole body against his . . . and bit down hard on his bottom lip. He winced, tightening his hand on her hair until she stifled a grimace of pain.

He let go and stepped back, smiling. She smiled back.

“You’re not forgiven,” she whispered, then turned and trotted up the steps, disappearing into the door without looking back. He braced his hand against the stoop railing, trying to catch his breath.

He was in trouble.


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Spotlight: Waisted by Randy Susan Meyers

In this provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling novel, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers.

Alice and Daphne, both successful and accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work—and everything else of importance in their lives. Scales terrify them.

Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, learned only slimness earns admiration at her mother’s knee. Alice, break-up skinny when she met her husband, risks losing her marriage if she keeps gaining weight.

The two women meet at Waisted. Located in a remote Vermont mansion, the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss, and Alice, Daphne, and five other women are desperate enough to leave behind their families for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The catch? They must agree to always be on camera; afterward, the world will see Waisted: The Documentary.

The women soon discover that the filmmakers have trapped them in a cruel experiment. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability...until they decide to take matters into their own hands.

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About the Author

Randy Susan Meyers is the bestselling author of WaistedAccidents of Marriage, The Comfort of Lies, The Murderer’s Daughters, and The Widow of Wall Street. Her books have twice been finalists for the Mass Book Award and named “Must Read Books” by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. She lives with her husband in Boston, where she teaches writing at the Grub Street Writers’ Center.