Spotlight: Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Mara Wells

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Genre: Contemporary

Series: Fur Haven Dog Park #1

A poodle, a black lab and a Chihuahua walk into a dog park…

All Caleb Donovan has to do to redeem his family name is take a rundown Miami Beach apartment building and turn it into luxury condos. Easy, right?\

Unfortunately, that would also turn the local dog park into a parking lot and the neighbors aren't having it. Caleb is faced with outright revolt, led by smart, beautiful building manager Riley Carson and her poodle, LouLou.

For Caleb, this project should have been a slam dunk. But even more challenging than the neighborhood resistance is the mutual attraction between him and Riley. It would be so much easier just to stay enemies.

Can Riley and her canine sidekick convince Caleb that what's best for business isn't always best for the heart?

Excerpt

“LouLou!” a hoarse voice called. “LouLou!” 

“Over here!” Caleb yelled, not sure where the voice was coming from, but hearing the pain in it and wanting to do anything in his power to make that pain stop. What could he say? Rescuing furry damsels in distress brought out his mushy side. 

Through the sheets of rain, he spotted Riley limping along the sidewalk across the street from dog park. She didn’t look much better than LouLou had, hair flattened and plastered to her head, clothes sticking to her as though she’d taken a dunk in the ocean. And was she barefoot? All those shoes outside her front door, and she’d run out in the storm without so much as a flip-flop to protect her? 

“You’re a pair, aren’t you?” He whispered to LouLou, waving frantically to get Riley’s attention. “Over here! Riley, I’ve got LouLou!” 

Riley looked across the road, and he knew the moment she saw them. She collapsed to her knees, hands over her face, and a giant sob racked her body. So they’d be staying out in the rain a little longer. He crossed over and knelt beside her, the soaked poodle between them.

     “It’s okay. She’s okay. You’re okay.” He sounded like an idiot. He knew it, but he kept saying stupid things anyway. “I’ve got her. She’s right here.”

      Riley sucked in a big breath and looked up at him with her tilted eyes. “Thank you.” She held out her arms for LouLou. He shifted the dog’s weight to Riley’s hold, but LouLou curled her paw around his wrist, tight. 

      Riley’s chin sank. “I deserve that.”

      “No, it happens.” Caleb didn’t know what he was talking about. What happened? Rain? Dogs running loose in the streets? “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He knew that part at least was right. 

      “I couldn’t find her.” She scrubbed at her face with the heels of her hands, eyes red and lids swollen from crying. “And now she’s hurt. What happened to her paw?”

      “She’s fine, just a small piece of glass.” He pried LouLou’s paw off his wrist and handed the dog over, surprised at how giving her back felt like a loss. If he felt this attached after such a brief time with the dog, how bad must Riley have felt when she realized LouLou was missing? The impulse to make Riley feel better kept his assurances flowing. “Eliza patched her up, and she’ll be good as new in no time.”

     “Thank you.” She buried her face in LouLou’s fur and stood, but as soon as she did, she lost her balance and keeled over with a squeak. 

     Caleb reached out to steady her. “What’s wrong?” 

Riley closed her eyes and leaned heavily on him. “Think I stepped on something.”

“Let me see.”

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he crouched to inspect the bottom of her foot, dark with dirt and specks of gravel stuck to it. “Looks like a bad bruise. Maybe from a rock.” 

Riley bit her lower lip. “Sounds right.” 

“Can you walk?” He levered her back to standing on her own. 

“Of course.” One careful step forward. Then another. “Thanks for taking care of LouLou, but you don’t have to hang around.” She winced and took another step, face as white as the knuckles clutching her dog. “I’ve got it from here. No problem.” 

It was painful to watch. Still, she’d said to back off, so he did. Until she stumbled, almost dropping the poodle, and a car horn blared at her for hogging up the road. 

“This is ridiculous.” He scooped her up, exactly like he’d done with her dog. Unlike LouLou, she wasn’t grateful. 

“Hey! What’re you doing?” Riley couldn’t bat at his chest because she was holding onto her dog, but she glared. “You can’t swoop in and take over everything.” 

“Hang on tight. I’m taking you home.” Caleb clutched Riley and LouLou against his chest, her legs over his arm like in some damn rom-com movie, and strode back toward her condo. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could hear Eliza’s cackle following them, but he didn’t care. It felt good to save LouLou, and it felt even better to have Riley in his arms.

***

Excerpted from Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Mara Wells. © 2020 by Mara Wells. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

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About the Author

Mara Wells loves stories, but especially stories with kissing. She lives in Hollywood, Florida with her family and two rescue dogs—a poodle-mix named Houdini Beauregarde, and Sheba Reba Rita Peanut, a chihuahua-mix. To find out more, you can sign up for her newsletter at marawellsauthor.com.

Author Website:  www.marawellsauthor.com 

Spotlight: Taken With You by Carrie Ann Ryan

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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carrie Ann Ryan comes a new story in her Fractured Connections series…

It all started at a wedding. Beckham didn’t mean to dance with Meadow. And he really didn’t mean to kiss her. But now, she’s the only thing on his mind. And when it all comes down to it, she’s the only person he can't have.

He'll just have to stay away from her, no matter how hard they’re pulled together.

Running away from her friend's wedding isn't the best way to keep the gossip at bay. But falling for the mysterious and gorgeous bartender at her friends’ bar will only make it worse. Beckham has his secrets, and she refuses to pry.

Once burned, twice kicked down, and never allowed to get up again. Yet taking a chance with him might be the only choice she has. And the only one she wants.

**For fans of Carrie Ann’s Fractured Connections series, Taken With You is book four in that series.**

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

➣ Follow Carrie Ann Ryan on Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carrie-ann-ryan

Excerpt

“Anyway, where have you been?” Violet asked.

I frowned. “Here? Where I am always.”

“You say that, yet you haven’t texted. No call. No note,” Sienna said, perfecting her perfect British accent as she pretended that she was Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series.

“I’m fine. Really. Just busy working. And after the wedding, I figured everyone would be busy with cleanup and honeymooning and everything that brides are supposed to do on their wedding night.” I looked at Harmony, and she blushed even harder.

Apparently, she’d had a very nice wedding night.

“Well, considering you ran out of the reception, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I looked at Violet, noting the concern in her eyes.

“I didn’t run. I said goodbye.”

“And then you ran like there was a demon on your tail,” Sienna said. “We saw. Are you okay?”

“I didn’t see,” Harmony said quickly. “I was a little preoccupied. And I’m sorry about that. But what happened? Are you okay?”

We settled on the couches, and I set my hands in my lap.

I thought I’d hid things well. But from the way they looked at me now, I knew I hadn’t been entirely successful.

I’d never been very good at hiding.

The bruises on my soul were evidence of that.

“It’s fine.”

“What’s fine?” Violet asked, her voice stern.

“Beckham kissed me.” I hadn’t actually meant to say that. And as their eyes widened, and they leaned forward, I knew I was in for it.

Well…crap.

That secret was supposed to go with me to the grave. The kiss hadn’t meant anything. It couldn’t.

“He did? Did you not want it?” Sienna asked, frowning. “Because I’ll kick his ass for you, or I’ll have Aiden do it if that’s the case. He may be big and bearded and a little broody—although he’s not really bearded right now since he shaved for the wedding—but anyway, I will totally kick his ass if I need to. Or have it kicked.”

I shook my head quickly as Sienna continued to ramble.

“I’m fine. Really. He didn’t hurt me. Didn’t do anything wrong. But it can never happen again. It can’t. Totally not going there again.”

I slammed my mouth shut as the girls looked at me expectantly.

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About the Author

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.

Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.

Website: http://carrieannryan.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarrieAnnRyanAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarrieAnnRyan

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Spotlight: The Kissing Game by Marie Harte

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Publication Date: 2/4/2020

She's one kiss away from finding Mr. Right!

Rena Jackson is ready. She's worked her tail off to open up her own hair salon, and she's almost ready to quit her job at the dive bar. Rena's also a diehard romantic, and she's had her eye on Axel Heller for a while. He's got that tall-brooding-and-handsome thing going big-time. Problem is, he's got that buttoned-up Germanic ice man thing going as well. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Rena's about ready to give up on Axel and find some other Mr. Right.At six foot six, Axel knows he intimidates most people. He's been crushing on the gorgeous waitress for months. But the muscled mechanic is no romantic, and his heart is buried so deep, he has no idea how to show Rena what he feels. He knows he's way out of his depth and she's slipping away. So, he makes one crazy, desperate play…"I bet you a kiss you can't resist me."Game on.

Excerpt

Rena watched her go, so happy for her cousin.

And so envious.

She looked around at the many smiling faces of those she’d come to care for, seeing the love that gathered them all together.

So much love brought tears to her eyes. Most were from happiness, but a few came from the knowledge she’d arrived solo. Again. Never with a plus one. For the past year, she’d been too busy getting her new business together to have time for a man. And she wanted one. No question.

Too bad the one she wanted moved at the speed of a glacier.

Axel Heller had no trouble making time for those fists of fury, but God forbid he ask her out or anything. She might have asked him, but the rare moments they had any time together at Ray’s lately, Axel turned mute, disappeared behind a menu, or got sucked into conversation with J.T. and friends, the guys who worked at Del’s garage.

So not romantic.

She sighed again, wondering how she’d be described as a character in one of her much-loved romance books. Desperate? Pathetic? Cute but lonely? A future CLA—Cat Lady of America? Hmm. Maybe I should get a cat.

J.T. saw her and smiled. He left his fiancée to join Rena by the food and glanced down at the plate she was holding. “That’s a lot of corn dogs.”

She forced herself to stop moping and laughed. “They’re Del’s. I’m just holding them while she hits the bathroom again.” Past the birthday parents, Rena spotted her uncle arriving with his own fiancée in tow. Geez. Was anyone left who hadn’t coupled up…besides Rena and the one-year-old?

For a woman who lived with a romance book under her pillow, another on her nightstand, and hundreds more filling several bookcases, to say Rena was a romantic was like saying Picasso had toyed with painting. Rena read romances. She watched them on TV. She saw them play out with friends and family and always offered helpful advice. She ate, drank, and slept with the idea of happily ever after in her blood.

“J.T., why am I still single?”

His expression softened, and he wrapped a huge arm around her shoulders. The big lug stood a good head taller and took after his father in size if not looks. Unlike Uncle Liam, J.T. had the same medium-brown skin Rena did. His sister, Del, on the other hand, had ash-blond hair in funky braids, sleeves of tattoos covering white-girl-with-a-tan arms (J.T.’s description, not hers), and gray eyes. They didn’t look much like family, but the Websters were thick as thieves. That Rena was included in their dynamic somewhat soothed the part of her always wishing for a forever love of her own.

“Well, it’s not for lack of looks.” J.T. smiled. “You look prettier than Aunt Caroline every day. But don’t tell her I said that.”

Rena’s and J.T.’s mothers had been sisters, both always trying to one-up the other. J.T. thought it amusing to continue the tradition of teasing Rena’s mom. Rena chuckled. “I won’t let you get her started. You know Mom’s vain.”

“But still beautiful. Looks just like Bridget.” His own mother. J.T. looked over at his father. “He’s been talking more about her. It’s been nice.”

“Good.” Rena knew her uncle had loved deeply, and when Aunt Bridget had passed away, he’d grieved for her for years. Until he’d met a special McCauley. Like daughter, like father. “So he and Sophie are seriously getting married on Valentine’s Day?”

Uncle Liam would be getting married on Rena’s favorite holiday, enjoying his honeymoon on the most romantic day of the year. Rena would be nursing a hot cup of tea, eating chocolates she’d buy for herself, and binging on Hallmark movies while she wallowed in self-pity.

“Yep. I can’t believe it.” J.T.’s large grin showed his pleasure at the thought. “You going to bring a date to the wedding?” He paused, still looking at his dad. “Heller’s back in town to stay.”

“Don’t talk to me about that man,” she fumed. “Heck. The reason I’m single is probably because he’s been keeping everyone away from me.” He wouldn’t ask her out, but he didn’t like anyone else paying attention to her. The big, sexy Viking. No, the big, unsexy jerk.

J.T. turned to regard her with concern. “Now, Rena, Heller’s not like that.”

Blaming her loneliness on Axel felt better than thinking her inability to attract a man might be her own fault. Heck, she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had flirted with her. “Oh? He comes into the bar and smiles at me, then glares at everyone else.”

J.T. grunted. “Good. I don’t want you dating the guys who hang out at Ray’s anyway.”

“You hang out there.”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

She shook her head. “You make no sense.”

***

Excerpted from The Kissing Game by Marie Harte. © 2020 by Marie Harte. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

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About the Author

Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestseller Marie Harte is a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether biking around town, hiking, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit marieharte.com and fall in love.

Spotlight: Prue by AnneMarie Brear

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When her feisty grandmama informs Prue of her intentions to take her travelling, she is excited and ready to explore outside of England.

Restless, unsure of what she needs and wants, Prue arrives in India intent on adventure. However, Prue soon learns that some escapades come with a price. India is exotic and tantalising, yet also rife with unrest, and closer to home, family secrets unravel destroying lives.

Leaving India and heartbreak behind her, a wiser Prue travels to Italy. Experiencing that life is short, Prue is determined to make the most of her holiday and have some fun, only she wasn’t prepared to meet a man who would make her question herself.

Surviving the war was easier than enduring the quiet peace at home. In need of distraction, Brandon Forster and his friend, Vince, spend their time climbing mountains in Europe. The last thing Brandon expected was to meet an attractive English rose with the same edgy spirit as himself.

When Prue reveals her past mistakes to Brandon, he must decide if she is the woman for him, but a tragic accident makes them both confront deeper feelings.

Can they find in each other the missing element they need to make them whole or will previous anguish taint their future?

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About the Author

Amazon UK bestseller and award-winning Australian author, AnneMarie Brear has been a life-long reader and started writing in 1997 when her children were small. She has a love of history, of grand old English houses and a fascination of what might have happened beyond their walls. Her interests include reading, historical research for her novels, watching movies, spending time with family and eating chocolate – not always in that order!

For more information please visit AnneMarie Brear’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads.

Spotlight: Dangerous Desires by Dawn Altieri

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Three years after Emma Sloane’s wealthy fiance’s mysterious death, she’s finally ready to move on and pursue her own dreams. But her plans are derailed when she’s attacked outside her New York City apartment in what she thinks is a random violent incident. Then other women who look just like her start turning up dead… Homicide Detective Jake Quinn is haunted by the one case he couldn’t solve. When he’s put in charge of a new high-profile murder case, he interviews a victim who escaped a similar attack—and to his shock it’s Emma, the former fiancée of his unsolved murder victim. Neither expects the sparks of attraction between them. But the killer escalates, clearly targeting Emma, and Jake’s job is on the line. Can he solve this case before it’s too late for both of them?

Excerpt

She’d been questioned. Anyone who’d want to hurt you? Anyone you’ve argued with recently? Anyone who might be holding a grudge? No, no, and no.  

He slid his fingers to the handgun at his waist. If he hadn’t been searching her apartment for a killer, it would’ve been an incredibly sexy move.  

The way he raked his gaze down her body… She was the victim of a crime he was investigating. She should be offended. Furious, even. But she wasn’t. 

It may have been a while since Jake had had sex, but he’d never had sex like that.   

He’d waited so long for something like this. There was no way he was letting her go now.  

The feelings were so unfamiliar, it had to be love. Had to be everything he never thought he’d find and had been certain he didn’t deserve.  

“That sounds like an abuse of power, Detective,” she said.

“You want to see an abuse of power? I’ll bring my cuffs home tonight.” 

“You’re not the first person to make bad decisions because you thought you were in love.” Not that he knew anything about being in love. Bad decisions? Yes. Love? He still had a thing or two to learn about that. “

He had to figure out a way to keep her in his life. He’d been terrified of someday losing her, but the thought of not having her at all…now it seemed so much worse.

This wasn’t just some fling he was going to be able to shake off once she was out of danger and free to live on her own again.

As deliciously handsome as he looked in that suit, it served no greater purpose than to make her want to get him out of it.  

He’d warned her over and over they shouldn’t get involved, but like a fool, she’d promised him she could handle something casual. This was about as far from casual as it could get. 

He’d told her he couldn’t make her happy. So why had she been so damned happy with him? Why had she felt like she had everything she wanted when she’d believed she could have him? 

He’d put solving the case above Emma’s safety, and he’d sworn he’d never make that mistake again. He deserved every ounce of her anger. 

You’re everything I never thought I’d find, everything I was convinced I didn’t deserve. You’re home. 

She was his, damn it. Whether she was ready to accept it or not, she belonged with him. No goddamned serial killer would ever get near her. He’d make damned sure of it. 

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About the Author

A lifelong resident of northern New Jersey, Dawn Altieri has been scribbling stories practically since birth. After reaching a milestone birthday (she won’t say which one), she figured it was about time she took a shot at writing professionally.

With an overactive imagination and a slightly twisted mind, she enjoys reading dark and dangerous tales almost as much as writing them. When she’s not curled up on the sofa with her laptop, her latest story, a box of chocolates and a cup of tea (or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day), she can be found volunteering in the world of animal rescue. To keep a roof over her head, she works in the printing industry as a graphic production artist. She shares her home with her husband and daughter, and a menagerie of rescued fur-babies.

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Spotlight: The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot

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Twenty years ago, Emily Mills’ father was murdered, and she found his body hanging in the backyard. Her younger sister, Madison, claims she was asleep in her room. Her older sister, Tara, claims she was out with friends. The tragedy drove their mother to suicide and Tara to leave town forever. The killer was caught. The case closed.

Ever since, Emily and Madison have tried to forget what happened that night – until an eerily similar murder brings it all back. It also brings FBI special agent Zander Wells to the Oregon logging town. As eager as he is to solve the brutal double slaying, he is just as intrigued with the mystery of Emily’s and her sisters’ past.

When more blood is shed, Zander suspects there’s a secret buried in this town that no one wants unearthed. Is it something Emily and Madison don’t know? Or aren’t telling? And Tara? Maybe Emily can’t bear to find her. Because when Tara disappeared, she took a secret of her own with her.

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About Kendra:

Kendra Elliot has landed on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list multiple times and is the award-winning author of the Bone Secrets and Callahan & McLane series, as well as the Mercy Kilpatrick novels. Kendra is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award, an International Thriller Writers Award finalist, and an RT Award finalist. She has always been a voracious reader, cutting her teeth on classic female heroines such as Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Laura Ingalls. She was born, raised, and still lives in the rainy Pacific Northwest with her family, but she looks forward to the day she can live in flip-flops. Visit her at www.kendraelliot.com.