Spotlight: Journey to Hope by June Converse

Women’s Fiction

Date Published: August 22, 2020

Publisher: Heart Ally Books

When you lose everyone and everything you love, can you ever live again? Or love again?

An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together?

When Matt Nelson found Kathleen on the beach, she’d been hiding behind a scarf and sunglasses for three years. She couldn’t hide her loneliness, and he couldn’t turn away. But when her flashbacks start, they’re both unprepared for the repercussions and the depth of her emotional suffering.

Kathleen agrees to return to intensive trauma recovery at The Charlotte Center, where the sounds and the smells and the images from that terrible night await her, demanding she confront her demons.

The world of PTSD recovery is fraught with terror and pain for both Kathleen and Matt. Will their love prove strong enough to survive the agonizing and arduous journey? Can Kathleen move beyond her anger and learn to live again?

Excerpt

Matt stroked her jaw. “You are many things. Strong, Courageous. Beautiful. But you’ve had one thousand four hundred thirty-one days without peace.”

She shifted out of his embrace. Turning to one of the larger plants, she jerked the plant out by its roots, scattering dirt across the table. “I’m scared.”

“Me, too. But it’s not a question of wanting to do this. No one would want to do this. The question is, are we willing to do this? Are we willing to see this through?”

She turned to glare at him. “You act like we walk down a path and come out on the other side. I will never be through this. Do you expect me to stop missing them? Do you expect me to be normal? That’s not even the goal. If that’s what you expect, I’ll head back to the beach right now.”

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About the Author

June happily resides in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Sodapop. They have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic exerciser and an accomplished cook. She and her husband enjoy hiking with Sodapop, traveling, scuba diving, trying new restaurants, concerts, and whatever other adventures they can find. Reading and a constant desire to learn keeps her busy too.

A trauma survivor who struggles with mental illness, June is continuously reaching for hope like the characters in her books. She openly discusses her personal struggles on her blog, JuneConverse.com

Decide to Hope is her first novel and relies a great deal on her own experience with trauma, choices, recovery and hope. If you'd like to discuss trauma, coping and recovery, contact her at JuneConverse.com or DecideToHope.com

Connect:

Website: http://juneconverse.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/juneaconverse

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/june-converse-060ba482/

Spotlight: Audrey’s Inn by Elle Aycart

Audrey Fleming never had much of a family or place to call home, so when she gets the chance to buy an inn that once belonged to her late namesake, she doesn’t think twice. Never mind her lack of funds, connections, and experience. Besides, she’s out of options and Alden seems like the ideal place to lie low for a good long while.

Connor Stonewell, beloved grandson of Greta, OG extraordinaire, was once one of Alden’s Golden Boys. Now he’s a hot mess. He’d never envisioned a future where he wasn’t in the military, so getting discharged after a mission gone horribly wrong has left him adrift in the civilian world.

He’s too dangerous to be around his fellow soldiers—never mind a certain sweet, sexy innkeeper he can’t seem to stay away from. He should stop playing with fire. Pack his shit and disappear for good. Too bad he can’t do it. Walking away from Audrey is something every fiber of his being refuses to do. 

Their secrets will sooner or later catch up with them. Audrey and Connor both know it. But whether they’ll survive or crash and burn under the weight of revelation is anybody’s guess.

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About Elle

After a colorful array of jobs all over Europe ranging from translator to chocolatier to travel agent to sushi chef to flight dispatcher, Elle Aycart is certain of one thing and one thing only: aside from writing romances, she has abso-frigging-lutely no clue what she wants to do when she grows up. Not that it stops her from trying all sorts of crazy stuff. While she is probably now thinking of a new profession, her head never stops churning new plots for her romances. She lives currently in Barcelona, Spain, with her husband and two daughters, although who knows, in no time she could be living at the Arctic Circle in Finland, breeding reindeer.

Connect with Elle: Goodreads | Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Facebook Group 

Spotlight: My Sweet Enemy by Jenny Hartwell

Publication Date: February 8, 2021

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Opposites Attract

Genres: Entangled: Embrace, New Adult, Contemporary, Romantic Comedy

The only thing tempering their insta-hate is delicious attraction.

Sunny chocolatier Charlotte Beecher is unemployed, in student debt, and on the verge of hawking her beloved copper pots just to make ends meet. So when a gourmet chocolate factory chooses her as one of five candidates to help re-launch the company in their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired competition, Charlotte begins to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Fellow contestant Luke Wells complicates her plans to win by a landslide with his flow charts and marketing projections. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Haughty is all about the bottom line and is as bitter as she is sweet. And when he snubs Charlotte in the first challenge, misunderstanding or not, she transforms from cream puff to jawbreaker. Bring. It. On.

But when these two rivals find themselves distracted by delicious attraction, will they let their passion get in the way of winning the competition?

Excerpt

She opened the door and stepped inside.

“Oh!” She started at the sight of another person inside the fridge, and her foot rammed into something on the floor. “What are you—” she began to ask.

The other person turned. “The door!” Luke shouted. Charlotte gasped and pivoted, pushing out with her empty hand to stop the door from closing, but she was too late. It closed with a heavy clank.

She glanced down, and in the dim light inside the cooler, she saw a brick near the door. It must have been propping it open while he was in here, and she’d accidentally kicked it out of the way.

She set her chocolate molds on a shelf and pushed on the door handle. It didn’t budge.

“Damn it,” Luke growled, striding across the small space. He rattled the handle, but the door didn’t open for him either.

Crap. “We’re locked in,” she said.

He nodded.

“Inside an industrial refrigerator.”

He nodded again.

“The two of us.”

Luke slowly pivoted to face her. “Did you do this on purpose?” he asked, his voice hard.

“What?” Charlotte stared at him. “Are you freaking kidding me?” She shivered. It was damn cold in here, and about to get colder.

“No, are you freaking kidding me?” he retorted, leaning toward her. In the dim light, his eyes glittered with barely suppressed fury.

Charlotte shivered again. “Of course I didn’t do it on purpose,” she shouted. “If I wanted to trap you in an icebox of death, don’t you think I’d make sure I was on the other side of the door?”

She glared, and their eyes dueled for what seemed like an eternity. Charlotte’s neck began to protest her sustained glare with someone a foot taller, so she dropped her eyes and stepped back. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself. She’d left her light jacket in the interns’ office and didn’t even have the extra protection of her apron, since that was sitting at her workstation in the main part of the kitchen.

Damn, it was wickedly cold in there.

Luke banged on the door with his fist and hollered. They both waited in silence to see if anyone would come. Aside from the whir of the fridge’s motor, there was no sound.

“They’re all downstairs, eating lunch,” Charlotte murmured. It was unlikely anyone would be back in the kitchen for an hour since Simone had told them to take their time after working so hard during the morning session.

“Damn,” Luke said, still facing the door. His breath puffed out in a cloud. It had grown even colder once the temperature stabilized with the door shut.

Charlotte’s teeth began to chatter. “I’m s-sorry.”

He turned around.

“I d-didn’t realize about the b-brick,” she added. Damn, it was painfully cold. Her fingertips were growing numb.

His eyes scanned her body. “We could freeze to death.” He sounded almost clinical, but she shivered in response to the heated look in his eyes anyway. A shiver on top of a shiver. God, she was pathetic.

“W-what do we do?” she asked. “Jog in p-place?”

They both trotted where they stood. Luke rubbed his hands together. Charlotte tucked hers under her arms. Their breaths came out in white puffs.

“It’s not enough,” he said grimly after a moment. “I think there’s only one option.”

“You’ll s-sacrifice yourself so I c-can pull a Luke Skywalker and climb inside your steaming abdominal cavity?”

He narrowed his eyes.

She shrugged with a whatcha-gonna-do expression. If you couldn’t make Star Wars jokes as you were literally freezing to death, when could you?

He took a step closer, his arms opening.

Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. “W-what are you d-doing?”

“We h-have to share body heat.” Now Luke’s teeth were chattering too.

Charlotte swallowed. Could she do it? Could she wrap herself in the embrace of her sworn nemesis, the evilest man on the planet? Well, there were convicted murderers locked away for life, so the evilest man in the building perhaps?

She shuddered with cold. A sharp ache worked its way through her skin and muscle into her sinew, her veins, her very bones.

Even her brain began to feel frozen.

It seemed her options were to either allow this sexy man to wrap her up in his strong arms or to perish from turning into a human icicle. So…she supposed she would take the sexy, evil man.

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About the Author

Jenny Hartwell has a confession—she loves People magazine as much as Pride and Prejudice. Her pop culture humor shines in her contemporary rom-com novels set in a gourmet chocolate factory. Her writing has won or finaled in numerous contests including the Golden Heart, The Emily, Four Seasons, Fool for Love, and The Catherine. Jenny lives with her family in the verdant Pacific Northwest. She loves movies, travel, and staying up way too late with a good book. And, of course, chocolate. Jenny is represented by Lesley Sabga of The Seymour Agency.

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Entangled Publishing: www.entangledpublishing.com/my-sweet-enemy

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Excerpt: Beneath the Stars by A.L. Jackson

A Friends-to-Lovers Rockstar Romance from A.L. Jackson

Coming February 22nd

From NYT and USA Today bestselling author A.L. Jackson comes a friends-to-lovers romance about an unattainable rockstar and his best friend’s younger sister…

Maggie Fitzgerald is the last girl I should think about taking to my bed.

On the cusp of turning 21, she has her whole life waiting out ahead of her. Sexy AF while still radiating an innocence that I know better than to taint. 

And here I am, itching to reach out and touch a girl who is so forbidden that just thinking about her feels like committing a mortal sin.

Thing is, I love playing with fire.

Rhys Manning is everything I shouldn’t want.

Country-rock’s newest superstar.

Fun. Wild. Ready to show the world a good time.

He’s so off-limits it isn’t even funny.

So out of reach he might as well be a poster tacked on my wall.

Too bad every time he looks at me, my heart races out of control.

Now, I’m stuck living with him for the entire summer…

We’re only supposed to be friends. Still, I should have known it was a terrible idea when I started sneaking into his room.

Especially when it’s clear he’s keeping secrets. 

Secrets that might destroy us both. 

One touch, and I want more. 

One kiss, and I’m spiraling out of control.

I know it’s reckless to start dancing in the flames.

But in exchange for getting to spend one night with this brooding bad boy? I might be willing to get burned…

Excerpt

“Just how strong are ya, Mag Pie? Think you can sling me on that back and carry me inside?” He managed to only half slur the words.

Droplets of giddiness dripped into my chest. A well gathering fast. “You’re asking me if I can lift a Mack truck?” 

“Hell, no. Just if you can tackle a stallion.”

He waggled his brows, though it was sloppy and goofy and kind of adorable, and god, how easily I could fall for this man.

Like slipping into quicksand. 

“What would you say if I wanted to try?” I whispered, throat so tight it was difficult to speak. 

He grunted. “I’d say that sounds like a mistake.” 

“I thought you said I needed to make a few mistakes along the way?” I lifted my chin, my eyes searching his face in the darkness.

He forced a grin that felt wholly faked. “Ahhh…a few mistakes are called for. But believe me, baby, you don’t want this kind of tragedy.” 

“Rhys—” 

He shook his head to cut me off. “Don’t.” 

I glanced back at the house. “I really should get Royce. He can help me get you inside.” 

Rhys huffed out a laugh, shoving off the darkness that had gathered around him like a violent storm. He cocked a playful grin. “Think I’ve received my full allotment of death threats from your brother today, thank you very much. I can make it just fine.” 

“Death threats?” 

“Let’s just say he made our boundaries very clear.” He gestured at the bare space between us. “Just so you know, we’re already crossin’ them.” 

I scowled. “When?” 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

I huffed a sigh. 

Freaking Royce. 

“Richard?” I offered instead. 

“Nope. Good as new. Can’t keep a good man down.” His words were all slurry and mushed together.

He hopped up like he was going to prove the point. 

Only he stumbled three feet to the side. 

A goliath who swayed. 

I jumped up and rushed to his side. “Whoa there, cowboy. You keep it up, and you’re definitely going down.”

He leaned against me, slinging his arm over my shoulders. 

The man heavy and hard and pure masculinity. 

He staggered a bit, and I struggled to keep him upright, because holy crap, he was made of brick. 

Suddenly, his nose was in my hair. “Why you gotta smell so good, Mags? And this dress.” 

My brain was short-circuiting with him this close. 

With the words that slipped from his mouth so errantly. 

With the way his fingertips grazed over the silky fabric in the barest brush.

Wildfire. 

It consumed my flesh.

But it was my heart that was at risk. 

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About the Author

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.

Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, and FALLING STARS novels. Watch out for her upcoming stand-alone, BENEATH THE STARS, releasing February 22nd.

If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.

Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson - Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

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Spotlight: Secret Valentine by Cherry Christensen

Secret Series Book #2

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: January 27, 2020

 Professor Hannah Wagganer spends her days teaching history, and her nights dating Glen Arbor’s new mail carrier, Jasper Morgan. Not only does he spark Hannah’s heart, but he has become best friends with her cat, Jingles.

As Hannah happily prepares for the church Valentine’s Day potluck and makes cards for local veterans, a snowstorm sends her plans, and her relationship with Jasper, on an unexpected detour. She seeks refuge from the storm at Jasper’s cottage, and finds him to be a warm and gracious host. But, at the same time, the spark is gone—when it comes to romance, he's turned as cold as the February wind. Doubt creeps in, leaving Hannah worried that she’ll end up spending another holiday alone.

Then, once again, unexpected blessings abound in town, when an anonymous donor pays to have the church pipes repaired, and other locals suddenly find solutions to their problems. Is it coincidental, or the work of a secret valentine?

Excerpt

“Sorry I snapped at you. I don’t want people getting the wrong idea about Jasper and me.”

“What’s the right idea?”               

Hannah’s lips twisted to the side. “I don’t know. I’m crazy about him, and the way he loves Jingles, but…”

“But what?”

“What if he grows tired of small-town living? I’m not sure I could handle him leaving. I guess I want him to be my valentine forever, not just one predetermined day out of the year.”

Bree exhaled and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I’ve never seen you this serious about a guy before, especially one you’ve only known for a short time.” She lifted her gaze. “Are you positive he’s the one?”

“My heart thinks so.”

Bree squealed and hugged her friend. “I call dibs on being maid of honor.”

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About the Author

Cherry resides in the Mitten State with her husband of 19 years and a tabby cat named Caden. A true Michigander, she points at the palm of her right hand when telling people where she lives, drinks Vernors ginger ale when she’s under the weather, wears shorts and a sweatshirt at the same time, and measures distance in minutes, not miles. She also cheers for her favorite football team, the Michigan Wolverines. Go Blue!

A confirmed night owl, Cherry wholeheartedly agrees with whoever said, “I could be a morning person, if morning happened around noon.” It’s no surprise then she prefers to write in the evening. She’s a bit of a pantser writer, meaning she dreams up stories without using an outline, so every day is an exciting adventure as she waits to see where the characters lead her next!

A lifelong avid reader, Cherry turned to writing as a creative outlet. Drawing partly from her own experiences, and partly from her wild imagination, she weaves romantic tales with a smidgen of religion and a hint of mystery. Cherry’s first novel, The Fearful Heart, debuted in 2014, and she has never looked back. She continues to grow as an author, learning more about the writing craft with each book.

Connect

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cherry-Christensen-Author-1427146804175227

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9872402.Cherry_Christensen

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cherry-christensen

Spotlight: The Best Man by Alex Kelly

(From Connemara With Love #1)
Publication date: November 12th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

I always turn up at just the wrong moment. I never know how to make the most of a situation; I don’t know the right thing to say, or when I should come or go.
Let’s just say I have really shit timing.
I’m not a smart guy. I don’t have great ideas.
I’m practical, a hard worker; someone who lives for his family, and for the air that she breathes.
It’s just a shame that the “she” in question never knew this. It’s a shame that I waited all these years to make my move. It’s useless to tell you, readers, that it was already too late; that I’d screwed everything up, once again. And, this time, my mistakes forced her to come home.
Except she didn’t want to stay.
And now she hates me – or maybe she doesn’t. I still haven’t worked out what’s going on between us, but like I said, I’m not the sharpest tool in the box. And even though this could be my last chance, I’m not going to be the one to ask her to stay. Not even if she turns out to be the one I’ve always waited for.
Because she doesn’t belong in this place.
And she doesn’t belong in my life.
My name is Alex Brennan, and this is my story: of how I realized I’d lost the most important person in my life, before I even had her.

Excerpt

I walk behind her wordlessly, until we get to the door of her building. I’m a gentleman, and she knows it. I’ve always walked her to her door – something her brothers have always taken the piss out of me for – because I want to be sure that she gets home okay, and that nothing happens to her. I don’t do it now because of everything that’s just happened; I’ve always done it, and I always will. I’m not ashamed of that. If there’s one thing my mother taught me, it’s that I should never be ashamed of who I am and what I feel, and I’m not going to start feeling shameful tonight. So I walk up to the top floor with her without being asked why. Once we get to her front door, Ellie sticks her key into the lock and opens it, then stands, unmoving, with her forehead against the wood, trying to work out what should happen next.

“Don’t ask me,” I say, helping her.

Ellie turns slowly to face me.

“Now’s not the right moment,” I say, because it’s true. Even though the only thing I want right now is to push her inside, lock us into her apartment, and make love to her until we can’t walk anymore.

She smiles and nods; she knows this is for the best, too. I step closer to her and stroke her face, before gently pressing my lips to hers. Then I say it, because I can feel her fear pulsing into my chest.

“I’ll never ask you, Ellie.”

I’m an idiot, but I carry on anyway, because I love her more than I love the idea of the two of us together.

“I’ll never ask you to come back.”

I let go of her face and take a few steps back.

“Why not?”

“You know why,” I say; and from the way her eyes grow wide, I realize that she already knew my answer all along.

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About the Author

Alex Kelly writes uplifting, emotional and heartwarming Romantic Fiction and Family Sagas.

She's a bibliophile, a Yogi, a lover of English literature and a baking enthusiast.

She was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children and a cat named Oscar.

Also writes as A. S. Kelly.

More at: www.authoralexkelly.com

Connect:

https://www.instagram.com/askellywrites/

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