Spotlight: The Truth Keeps Silent by A.V. Asher

(Truth and Lies Duet, #1)
Publication date: May 8th 2021
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

Where do you run when everything has been stripped away?

Starting over hasn’t gone well for Mercedes Elliott. After making the biggest mistake of her life, moving halfway across the world felt right at the time. But six months later, she’s isolated, dependent on a dangerous relationship with her boyfriend, Jason Marsh, and no closer to rebuilding her once promising legal career. Running low on hope, Mercedes secretly reaches out to the one man she never thought she’d see again.

Former British Intelligence officer Alec McKinley always regretted letting Mercedes slip through his fingers. So when she invites him for coffee, he jumps at the chance to see her. Warm, funny, and still stunningly beautiful, Mercedes draws Alec in as much as ever. But despite her cheerful smile, he can’t ignore the pain hiding in her eyes.

After Jason’s obsession with Mercedes comes to a violent head, she finds herself unable to escape his suffocating grasp. That is, until Alec makes an unexpected offer that could be Mercedes’s saving grace.

But accepting that offer comes at a cost. Being near Alec ignites a flame she thought had burned out long ago. And when they realize Jason is not the man they thought he was, she and Alec uncover a stunning truth about the past that will change everything between them.

Excerpt

Alec opened one of the rear doors. Mercedes climbed in and sighed, laying her head against the seat. After the last few instructions, the team was off, and he joined her in the back seat. She’d already belted herself in and was leaning back with her eyes closed.

When he touched her hand, she opened them and smiled at him. “Alec,” she murmured. Warmth spread through him. How was it just hearing her say his name made him crazy for her?

“You sure you’re alright?” She looked so damn fragile.

Mercedes yawned. “I will be. I just need some sleep.”

“Would you like this?” he asked, reaching behind the seat to take out a heavy faux-fur blanket. “We have a bit of a drive, so I grabbed it for you.” 

“Oh, that looks amazing.” 

Alec grinned at her and unfurled it over her. He could feel her eyes on him.

Declan got in behind the wheel and maneuvered the car out of its space. Alec moved to the other side and made to buckle in, but her voice stopped him.

“Do you think . . . maybe I can lean on you? Leaning against the window won’t be as comfortable.” 

Another thrill of energy shot through him, making his heart jump. Did she realize what she was doing to him?

Alec shifted back to the middle seat and put his arm around her, drawing her in. Mercedes nestled her head against his chest, still vibrating with tremors. 

She sighed. “Better be keeping a tally.” 

“A tally?”

“Mm-hmm.” She yawned. “A tally of all the favors I owe you. I can’t keep up.” 

He chuckled. Even in her exhaustion, she kept her sense of humor. Mercedes burrowed under the blanket, closed her eyes, and was asleep before they reached the motorway.

Alec kept turning his head to check the cars behind them, doing his best not to jostle Mercedes as she slept. 

“I could keep a better lookout for tails if your fat head weren’t in the way,” Declan said, amused. 

“That’s probably true. Can’t blame me though, aye?”

“Oh, aye. I noticed you didn’t tell her there’s a pillow in the back.” 

Alec caught his cousin’s eye in the mirror and smiled sheepishly at him, saying nothing more. 

“You doing all right? With, you know, everything?” 

Alec shrugged. “I want to kill the son of a bitch. But my priority is getting her whatever she needs.” 

“What about when this is over? It’s clear you still have a thing for her.” 

Alec looked at Mercedes, breathing softly against him, her face upturned in a way that allowed him to study her features in the fading evening light. She was as close to perfection as he’d ever met. Smart and kind, funny and talented. And so damn beautiful. She could leave him breathless with a look.

Yeah, he still had a thing for her. It didn’t seem to be something he could control. No one but Declan knew how much it had hurt to let her go all those years ago. Long-distance relationships were always challenging, and theirs had been no exception. Add that he hadn’t asked her to make it exclusive, and it all fell apart. 

Months later, when Luke let it slip, Mercedes had introduced them to a new man. It had stung. He’d hoped she had found happiness in the person she had chosen. It was hard to swallow that Jason Marsh had been her choice.

Seeing her so shattered now ripped his heart into shreds. How could anyone do so much damage to someone they claimed to love? It wasn’t just the physical abuse, but the way he’d torn her down, stripping away everything she loved, everything she was . . . 

Mercedes shifted. Her hand slid up his chest, coming to rest over his heart. She sighed and settled back to sleep. 

Alec was getting hard again, and guilt washed over him. She was in crisis, for Christ’s sake. He had to stop thinking of her that way. His cock disagreed. 

He needed to get his shit together. 

If they were to cross that line, it would mean cutting open his soul and leaving it bare for her to ravage. Alec didn’t think he could go through losing her again. 

He swallowed hard. “I don’t know, Dec. I think the chance for anything between us is over.”

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About the Author

American writer AV Asher (Avie) was one of those kids always who got in trouble for reading in class. She has been creating stories since childhood, but only recently began writing them down. The Truth Keeps Silent is Avie's debut novel. The second book in the duet, The Lies That Shatter, is expected to be released in the Autumn of 2021. Avie lives in Northern Nevada with her husband and three children.

Connect:

https://avasher.com/

https://www.instagram.com/AV.ASHER.AUTHOR/

https://twitter.com/av_asher_author

https://www.facebook.com/av.asher.author/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21146585.A_V_Asher

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Spotlight: Awakened by the CEO's Kiss by Therese Beharrie

Awakened by the CEO's Kiss by Therese Beharrie is available on July 27.

Book Description

Friendship is all she can offer…

…but he makes her want so much more!

The incredibly attractive man on Brooke Jansen’s doorstep is definitely not the new housekeeper she’s expecting. CEO Tyler Murphy is filling in temporarily, yet within days he’s turned Brooke’s carefully curated life upside down! Suddenly she’s living—and feeling—again. But her connection with Tyler is dangerous, exciting and strangely familiar… After losing everything once already, can Brooke risk her damaged heart again?

Excerpt

For the second time in his life Tyler Murphy was staring at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

The first time had been five years ago, at a coffee shop around the corner from the hospital. He had been visiting his sister, who’d just given birth to his nephew, and he had been dealing with some…stuff. Mainly the fact that his mother, who had passed away months before that, wouldn’t get to meet her first grandchild. The woman who had prized family so much wouldn’t get to see hers expand.

He’d needed some space from the hospital. And there had been Brooke. Standing at the counter, staring at the menu with a dazed look on her face.

He thought about that day a lot. The days after, too—that week they’d spent together. The sadness that had lurked in her eyes even when she was smiling. How often she would trail off when she spoke, as if she had forgotten what she was saying. She would always beam at him after, especially if he prompted her, and he’d put it down as one of her quirks.

Those memories were all he had of her. Her first name—only her first name—and his memories. It hadn’t mattered then. He had known she was the type of person who picked up litter when she saw it on the street. Who allowed elderly people ahead of her in a queue. She hoped for a world where people were kinder, less self-centred. She didn’t like intolerance, and she had told him about the times she’d stepped in when she’d witnessed it.

But her name and his memories hadn’t been enough for him to find her. He’d discovered that at the end of the week when she’d disappeared. They hadn’t shared any information about where they lived, who their families were. They hadn’t even exchanged contact details. It was as if they’d purposely avoided it. As if she had purposely avoided it.

He might have thought it dramatic if he hadn’t been staring at her now, waiting for her to recognise him.

He got nothing.

‘You’re not Tia Murphy,’ she said, her voice a frustratingly adorable lilt of confusion.

‘No, I’m Tyler Murphy.’ Which you already know. But I guess if we’re playing this game… ‘I’ll be helping you out for the next—'

He didn’t get the chance to continue. Brooke let out a cry as her body bumped against the door. Seconds later, the door opened wider. He didn’t catch what flew past them, but he knew it was some kind of animal.

‘No!’ she shouted. ‘Mochi, you come back here right now!’

She ran down the three steps that led to the front lawn, before bolting towards what Tyler could now see was a dog. He didn’t think she’d expected to chase after a dog. Or maybe she had; he wasn’t proficient in what kind of clothes people who required housekeepers wore.

Sure, technically, he could be one of those people, but his mother would have killed him. If he’d got a housekeeper now, she’d probably become undead for the sole purpose of killing him.

And, since he wasn’t ‘one of those people,’ for all he knew Brooke’s silky nightgown and flip-flops were standard attire.

Watching her running after a dog in that outfit lightened some of the tension he felt, but it couldn’t eradicate it completely. In fact, it complicated things. In the days they’d spent together, he hadn’t once seen this much of her. Now he could add the strength of her arms, the width of her thighs, to what he’d been missing.

Get it together, Murphy.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Mass Paperback

About the Author

Being an author has always been Therese's dream. It was only when the corporate world loomed during her final year at university that she realised how soon she wanted that dream to become a reality. She got serious about her writing, and now writes books she wants to see in the world featuring people who look like her. When she's not writing, she's spending time with her husband and dogs in Cape Town, South Africa. She admits this is a perfect life, and is grateful for it.

Connect with the Author

Website: http://theresebeharrie.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThereseBeharrie/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theresebeharrie/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15524274.Therese_Beharrie

Cover Reveal: The Do-Over by Melissa MacKinnon

Published by: Entangled Bliss

Publication date: July 12th 2021

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

After years in the grueling California dating scene, Maggie Kelley has finally agreed to marry her Mr. Right Now. But there’s just one teensy problem…the county clerk lets her know that she’s technically still married to her Vegas fling: the best three days she ever had…and can’t actually remember. The moment she sees her very hot husband after eight years, with his works-well-with-his-hands attitude, she’s sure their wedding night must have been explosive.

The absolute last person Finnegan Garrity expected at his door is Maggie—his ultimate “one who got away.” Yet here she is in his small-town boat shop, looking just as adorable as ever…and wanting a divorce. Yeah, he has no intention of letting that happen. Now he’s got one week to convince Maggie that they’re still perfect for each other.

But he’s going to need more than just a do-over: he’s going to need a miracle.

About the Author

Melissa spent her childhood exploring the coast of down east Maine without parental supervision and immersing herself in any book she could get her scrappy little hands on. Although she pursued a career in theater, the written word is her true calling. She leads a full life with her husband and six children traveling the country to wherever the Army sends them in her very large twelve passenger van, in what she lovingly deems "organized chaos". She finds time to write in her "spare time", somewhere in between soccer practices and nap time with coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. She loves creating unforgettable romance, and enjoys writing and reading everything from sexy, sword-toting heroes to spit-out-your-coffee funny romantic comedies... as long as she doesn't get the book wet. She leaves that up to the characters.

Connect:

https://twitter.com/M_MacKinnon

https://melissamackinnon.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Melissa.MacKinnon.Author/

Spotlight: The Oath by A.M. Linden

Publication Date: June 15, 2021
She Writes Press
Paperback & eBook; 336 pages

Series: The Druid Chronicles, #1

When the last of members of a secretive Druid cult are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, they send the youngest of their remaining priests in search of Annwr, their chief priestess’s sister, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years ago. With only a rudimentary grasp of English and the ambiguous guidance of an oracle’s prophecy, Caelym manages to find Annwr living in a hut on the grounds of a Christian convent.

Annwr has spent her years of captivity caring for the timid Aleswina, an orphaned Saxon princess who was consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. Just as Caelym and Annwr are about leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper, means to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids–beginning a heart-pounding adventure that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated.

Excerpt

In this except from Chapter 3, “The Novice,” Aleswina, one of the story’s three main characters, is looking out of window of her convent unaware that another of the protagonists, a Druid priest on a secret mission, is lurking outside the abbey’s walls.

The Abbey of Saint Edeth the Enduring was a cloistered convent in the northeastern corner of the Kingdom of Derthwald. A dense forest surrounded the abbey, and a narrow clearing around its outer wall was all that separated the nuns and novices inside from the wilderness so there was a strict rule that all of the doors and all of the windows had to be kept closed and latched at night.

Shy, high-strung, and fearful, Sister Aleswina was an unlikely delinquent, but she’d eased herself out from under her blankets, tip-toed over to the window, and opened the shutters. While Caelym had been looking up at her window, Aleswina was looking at the horizon, as if by staring hard enough she could make the dawn come faster. A breeze wafted in carrying the enticing scent of spring and she gripped the window’s ledge, almost overcome with longing to have her trowel in her hand. If she had dared, she would have gone out in the dark to start digging her beds and planting her seeds. 

***

Although there was not much in her dress or in her features to distinguish her from any of a dozen pale, blond Saxon nuns, Aleswina was different from the other women at the convent in three ways—her passion for growing plants, her deep love for the servant who had once been her nursemaid, and in being the cousin of the king of Derthwald. An unspoken deference to her royal status did more than save her from open reproach over the length of time it was taking her commit to her final vows, it gave her two unusual privileges within the abbey. She was allowed to work by herself in the convent’s garden, and she was allowed to keep her servant, Anna, in a cottage on the edge of the convent’s grounds. 

When they were packing to leave the royal palace for the convent, Aleswina had entrusted Anna with a substantial cache of coins and jewels and as soon as it was safe, Anna bribed a traveling tinker to cut a secret door into the back wall of the convent garden, so that Aleswina did not really work in the garden by herself. It was against the rules and, cousin to the king or not, Aleswina would have faced untold days of penance if the abbess ever found out, but every day weather allowed, Anna slipped in through their secret entrance to work along with her. It promised to be exceptionally warm and balmy for so early in the year, and Aleswina was as anxious to see Anna as she was to start spreading seeds.

“Not our wishes, but the Lord’s!” was what the abbess would say if Aleswina told her how much she wanted to tend her plants instead of singing or praying. She’d tried that once and been confined in her room to pray and reflect for the rest of the day.

It was a lesson she’d taken to heart. She’d spent those long, lonely hours terrified the abbess would send someone to the garden in her place, Anna would be caught and their secret door discovered. Whether it was the Lord Jesus or the Mother Goddess who heard her frantic prayers, Aleswina never said another word to the abbess about anything that really mattered to her ever again.

Now she leaned as far out of the window as she dared, savoring the smell of fresh night air until the bells rang for the sunrise service. Closing shutters—careful not to let them clatter—she realized she waited too to change into her daytime habit. Snatching her wimple off its hook, she pulled it on as she felt under her bed for her sandals and was just on time to open her door and take her place in between Sister Erdorfa and Sister Idwolda as they filed past her door.

***

While the passageway between the dormitory and the chapel was a space where the Abbey’s rule of silence was waived and the nuns and novices could speak to each other with words instead of hand signals, they usually went to the first office of the day in sleepy silence. That morning the women around Aleswina were wide awake, whispering, “Did you hear?” “Killing babies and drinking their blood!” “Raping virgins!” “Coming for us!” Before she could ask who was killing babies and raping virgins, they reached the chapel, and the whispering changed to shushes as they filed into their places. 

After they sang the opening hymn and recited the designated psalms, the abbess stepped up to the altar, but instead of reading from the gospels, she announced that the rumors were true. 

“A Druid sorcerer has been sighted near Strothford, just across the River Bense.”

Buy on Amazon | Paperback

About the Author

Ann Margaret Linden was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up on the East Coast before returning to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. She has undergraduate degrees in anthropology and in nursing and a master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. After working in a variety of acute care and community health settings, she took a position in a program for children with special health care needs where her responsibilities included writing clinical reports, parent educational materials, provider newsletters, grant submissions and other program related materials. The Oath is the first installment of The Druid Chronicles, a five-volume series that began as a somewhat whimsical decision to write something for fun and ended up becoming a lengthy journey that involved Linden taking adult education creative writing courses, researching early British history, and traveling to England, Scotland, and Wales. Retired from nursing, she lives with her husband, dogs, and cat.

The Oath

Spotlight: How to Win the Surgeon's Heart by Tina Beckett

How to Win the Surgeon's Heart by Tina Beckett is available on June 29.

Book Description

Things are heating up…

…in their Caribbean paradise!

For Dr. Nate, work is everything. Without him, his renowned hospital wouldn’t exist! Now he’s ready to step up to the plate—again!—as nearby St. Victoria Hospital faces a staff shortage. Surgeon Sasha is beyond grateful for the help, but she’s not so sure about Nate… Her heart’s been broken by wealthy and far-too-attractive men before! Can Nate prove to Sasha he’s different?

Excerpt

Nate Edwards stood on the tarmac, a tiny cloth doll clutched in his hand, awaiting the Medicine Around the World plane that would whisk him away from Saint Victoria and the aftermath of the hurricane that had wreaked havoc on the small Caribbean island. His thumb rubbed across the doll’s rough cloth, trying not to picture the tearstained eyes of her parents as they presented the gift to him. But their faces were forever burned into his memory. As was the dark-haired child who had been so very sick. And yet she’d managed the tiniest of smiles for him. With the island’s hospital obliterated by the fury of the storm, there had been little hope of saving her.

But God, how he’d wanted to. How he’d fought for her.

The phone in his pocket pinged.

Hell. His team had had only the most rudimentary supplies to work with during their stay. How, then, could cell phone signals still get through?

He pulled the phone out of his pocket, glad he’d charged it before packing for the trip home.

His mom’s name appeared at the top of the screen.

Glad you’re coming home today. We have a big surprise waiting for you! Your father and I can’t wait for you to see it.

A sense of dread filled his gut. He’d hoped by coming to the island he could circumvent their plans and buy himself a little more time to explain things to them. And then there was Tara, who had been hinting about settling down once he finished specializing. Except so much had changed. He tucked the doll under his arm as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. He typed back.

Please don’t do anything until I get there.

He had no idea how he was going to tell them that he had no intention of joining their practice. After his trip to Saint Victoria—which they hadn’t approved of—the last thing he wanted to do was practice plastic surgery on the rich and famous.

One of his colleagues came up beside him. “Nate, we just got the results back on your patient’s mystery illness.”

Too late. Marie had already passed away. Still he forced himself to ask. “What was it?”

“Schistosomiasis. It must have damaged her liver and intestines beyond repair. That’s why she was so jaundiced. She had to have had it for a while.”

A parasite found in water had killed her? He closed his eyes. That possibility had never even crossed his mind. They’d had to send samples via water courier to a neighboring island, but he’d known in his heart it was too late. It should make him feel better to know there was nothing he could have done. Instead he just felt…empty. And now he had to go home and face his parents and Tara.

He forced himself to meet the eyes of his colleague. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome.” Peter clapped him on the back. “Not your fault.”

“Thanks.”

What else could he say?

Just then his phone pinged again, the screen lighting up and drawing his attention to the words that were printed there.

Too late. It’s already done.

Three smiley faces appeared at the end of the phrase.

She was right. It was already done. All of it.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Mass Paperback

About the Author

A three-time Golden Heart® finalist, Tina Beckett is the product of a navy upbringing. Always on the move, her travels eventually took her outside of the United States, where English reading material was scarce. Her supply of books eventually ran out, and she started writing her own stories, fashioned after the romance novels she'd loved through the years. She finished that first book and moved on to the next. After the fourth manuscript, she realized there was no going back…she was officially a writer.

When not in the middle of her latest book, Tina enjoys crafting stained glass panels, riding horses and hiking with her family. Fluent in Portuguese, she divides her time between Brazil and the United States and loves to use exotic locales as the backdrop for many of her stories.

Connect with the Author

Website: https://www.tinabeckett.com/

Spotlight: Strict Confidence by Skye Warren

(Rochester Trilogy #2)

Publication date: June 15th 2021

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Forbidden. Commanding. Mysterious. Beau Rochester has an entire house full of secrets. And those secrets are putting Jane Mendoza in danger.

She fell in love with the one man she can’t have. She should leave Maine to protect her heart, but the thread refuses to be severed. The brooding Mr. Rochester and his grieving niece are more than her job. They’re her new family.

She races against time to find answers and protect the people she loves. The cliffside grows dark with the misdeeds of the past. Her heart and her sanity fight a battle, but they are both at risk.

Will Mr. Rochester learn to trust Jane? And will that trust destroy her?

Buy on Amazon

About the Author

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

Connect:
http://www.skyewarren.com/
https://www.facebook.com/skyewarren
https://www.instagram.com/skyewarrenbooks/
https://twitter.com/skye_warren
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5339130.Skye_Warren
http://www.skyewarren.com/newsletter/