Spotlight: Rescue Me by Kelly Collins

(A Frazier Falls Small Town Novel, #1)
Publication date: December 5th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Her company is failing. His plan could save it. Will their partnership move from business to pleasure?

Carla “Carl” Stevenson takes a special joy in running the local timber mill. But when the economy takes a downturn, selling the family business may be her only heartbreaking option. After a prospective buyer takes an interest, she’s horrified by his plans to raze the Frazier forest to make room for cheap cattle farming. To protect her home, she reluctantly turns to the town’s most notorious player…

Owen Cooper can’t believe Carl’s mill is for sale. But the construction company owner is even more shocked that “Carl” is actually a beautiful woman. Moved by feelings he never saw coming, Owen drafts an ambitious plan to save the mill owner’s livelihood… and maybe even win her heart.

Rallying their community around the audacious idea, Owen and Carl find their fates delightfully intertwined. But both their chemistry and the project hang in the balance when he suddenly walks away…

With the whole town at stake, will Carl and Owen save the mill and find their way to true love?

Rescue Me is the heartwarming first novel in the Frazier Falls romance series. If you like strong women, honorable men, and small-town love, then you’ll adore Kelly Collins’ charming tale. Buy Rescue Me to build a foundation of passion today!

Excerpt

When I reached the mill, my heart sank. Only one car remained in the parking lot.

      What were the odds the car belonged to one of the two people that could help me out? I had to try. Parking alongside the red Subaru, I swung myself out of my truck and made my way inside the building.

      It was quiet. All production had ceased for the weekend. The silence gave the large, cold space an unsettling, almost eerie feel, like the set of a horror movie where the saws would buzz to life, and the clueless guest would disappear forever.

      I didn’t know where I was going, but eventually I found a door marked ‘R&C Stevenson.’ I took that as a good omen that I’d found the offices of Rich and Carl.

      After several calming breaths, I raised my hand. Once, twice, I knocked, and on the third try, the door flung open and revealed the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. All thoughts left me as I stared at her.

      Her long chestnut hair was gathered high on her head. The flyaway strands framed her beautiful, heart-shaped face. Her eyes were hazel, and in the early evening light, the gold flecks in her irises appeared on fire. Though she was wearing a dirty pair of gray overalls, I imagined she had a killer figure with the way the material flowed over rounded hips.

      I realized far too late that I’d been gawking at her. The flush of embarrassment heated my cheeks.

      “Um, sorry, I … I was hoping to, um,” I coughed and sputtered.

      She ran her eyes from my work boots to the cowlick on the top of my head. Her perusal was thorough and somewhat unsettling in a good way.

      “What were you hoping for, Mr. Cooper?”

      “I’m looking for … Wait, how do you know who I am?” Surely, I couldn’t have met her before. I would have remembered those eyes. They were half meadow and half sky with a sprinkling of sunshine throughout.

      Her mouth quirked up in amusement. “I try to know what all of my clients look like, even if we haven’t met face to face.”

      “I’m sorry. Who are you? I need to speak to Rich or Carl Stevenson.”

      She laughed, and it was a ridiculously beautiful sound. “That would be me.” She pointed to herself. “Carl, not Rich. Well, Carla.” She offered her hand for a shake. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Owen.

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About the Author

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International bestselling author of more than thirty novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

Kelly has sold more than a quarter of a million books worldwide, and in 2021 she was awarded a Readers' Favorite Award Gold Medal in the Contemporary Romance category for A Tablespoon of Temptation.

You can learn more about Kelly at www.authorkellycollins.com.

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7488895.Kelly_Collins

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Excerpt Reveal: Control by Melissa Cassera

Control by Melissa Cassera is a YA paranormal romance coming March 28th. Check it out and be sure to pre-order your copy today! 

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Release Date: March 28th 

About Control: 

For Natalie Covington and Henry Thorne, only one thing is certain: things are about to get out of control.

18-year-old Natalie has big ambitions but very little control over her situation. She’s trapped at an elite boarding school on a private island, where cell phones are forbidden, militant guards line the iron gates, and her practically prearranged boyfriend has eyes for another girl. 

Everything changes when a mysterious new student arrives named Henry Thorne. Henry is a “precog”—a hidden society of people who can see the future, and who are forbidden to reveal their powers. When Henry has a grisly vision of Natalie being murdered, he ultimately decides to save her and face the consequences. But the consequences of changing the future are more dangerous than Henry imagined, unlocking a wide conspiracy among his kind that’s linked to Natalie’s past, and a desire that threatens to consume them. 

CONTROL is the first installment in The Lockwood Trilogy. This fast-paced Upper YA/New Adult Paranormal Romance is filled with thrilling turns, self-discovery, spicy language, light steam, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave you obsessing for more. 

Reader Discretion: this book contains graphic language, violence, and some heat. Best suited for 16+.  

Exclusive Excerpt: 

My shoes smack to the ground below and I bolt ahead, shoving  my way through Lockwood’s elite, and get to the student just as he  crashes to the floor. 

I lean over him and grab onto his arms. His eyes are squeezed  shut, like he never wants to open them again. 

“Hey,” I whisper. 

He stirs. His eyes flutter open and clash with mine. They’re deep  green with flecks of gold. Intense. Like he’s staring into my soul. “Are you okay?” I say. 

His breathing accelerates, then his fingers snap around my  wrists, his nails digging into my flesh as his gaze darkens. His jaw  clenches, nostrils flared—the savage pounding of his pulse strums  against my skin. 

Every alarm sounds in my body—get out of here!—but all  reason has just left the building. 

I can’t move. I can’t think. There’s something about this stranger  that I just have to know.

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About the Author: 

Melissa Cassera is a Professional Screenwriter, Author, and award-winning Publicity Expert based in Washington State. 

Melissa and her work have been featured in Variety, LA Times, Success Magazine, and Fast Company. She was named one of the nation’s Top Personal Branding Experts by The Huffington Post. 

On-screen, Melissa is the writer of THE OBSESSION THRILLOGY (Lifetime Network’s first trilogy of movies.) She is also the writer of the films SECRET LIVES OF COLLEGE ESCORTS, NIGHTMARE NEIGHBORHOOD MOMS, MOMMY’S LITTLE STAR, DADDY’S PERFECT LITTLE GIRL, HER STOLEN PAST, and GIRL FOLLOWED. Melissa also sold an eight-episode dark comedy series, ADDICTED, to Fullscreen. She has two additional feature films, WHO KILLED OUR FATHER and NIGHTMARE PAGEANT MOMS, coming to Lifetime Network in 2023, and six additional film projects in active development.

When Melissa is not whipping together obsession-worthy words, she can be found drinking too much coffee, playing at the lake with her dogs, or getting lost in the romance section of a bookstore.

Follow Melissa at her website: https://melissacassera.com/ or on Instagram: @Melissa.cassera

Connect with the Author:  Website | Instagram | Newsletter

Spotlight: Hello Spain, Goodbye Heart by LoLo Paige

(The Wandering Hearts Series, #1)
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication date: January 23rd 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Travel writer Dayna Benning tours Europe to write a feature story for a travel magazine. Along the way, she helps her bestie scatter her husband’s ashes. When Dayna accidentally sprinkles Alex Mendes with dried rose petals intended for the deceased, she senses a chemistry with the silver fox airline pilot. Just one catch—he wears a wedding band. Embittered by her divorce, Dayna refuses to be a homewrecker, like the woman who ruined her marriage. Alex and Dayna go their separate ways, but she’s mystified when serendipitous signs point her toward him at every turn. Determined to find out why, she learns Alex is a widower. Dayna hopes for a second chance at love…but her resentful heart stops her. Can she forgive those that broke her heart the first time? And for that matter, can she forgive herself for her failed marriage? Unless she finds a way to piece together her fragmented heart, Alex will forever remain a fantasy.

Excerpt

Alex pulled out bills for a tip. “Where are you going next?”

“Lisbon, then Barcelona, to begin our group tour with Wanderlust Travel. Mariko talked me into going on this tour, and my magazine editor thought it would make a great travel article. Northern Spain, southern France, then back to Portugal.”

“Sounds fantastic. I hope you ladies enjoy yourselves.” Alex finished his wine and stared off.

Dayna detected a hint of sadness in his eyes. He was too exquisite to be sad. “What about you?”

“I plan to walk part of the Camino de Santiago trail, the Way of St. James, in Spain. Are you familiar?” 

 Her mind raced, ticking off the sights in her travel brochure. She remembered scribbling an asterisk next to it. “Yes, it’s on our group itinerary. When I read about why people walk it, I considered making it a sidebar for my travel piece.” She thought for a moment. “I had a friend who walked it a few years ago to find herself. Is that why you’re going? To find yourself?” 

“Something along those lines. I’m walking from Burgos to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, about two-hundred-fifty miles. They say it takes about three weeks. I hope to average ten to twelve miles a day.”

Her eyes roved him in a two-second evaluation. “You seem like you can manage it. I couldn’t, possibly. Twenty years ago, maybe.” 

His eyes roved her right back, along with a million-dollar smile. “Sure, you could.” 

She couldn’t remember how long it had been since a guy smiled at her that way. Goose bumps sprung up on her arms like daisies. “Are you walking alone?”

“Yes.”

What about his French wife? Dayna wished she could walk the El Camino with him. What a wild and crazy thought. 

“I’d better go. Sorry you got rose petals in your face—but not sorry I met you.” She feigned a lighthearted tone.

“A unique experience, for sure.” He stood and pushed in his chair, gesturing her to walk ahead of him. “Where’s your bags?”

“On the bus.” She drew a deep breath, hating the gold band on his finger—hating how the good ones were always taken. She wondered if anyone had ever thought the same about her, back when she wore her own wedding band.

They wandered out to the boardwalk as the bus pulled up. Mariko stood next to it, waving her to hurry.

“Dayna.” Alex spoke her name in such a way, her gaze drifted to his. He slanted a grin at her. “Maybe our paths will cross someplace in Spain. You never know.”

She knew darn well she’d never see him again. “Wouldn’t that be something?” She extended her hand. “Nice meeting you, Alex. I hope you find answers on your trail walk.” 

He squeezed her hand. “Thanks. It was fun meeting you. Tell Mariko thanks for the delightful meal. And what a humbling experience it was to witness her scattering her husband’s ashes.” A sad expression crossed his face, but only for a moment. Alex fixed his eyes on Dayna’s as if he could see into her soul. She wanted to bare it for him—along with a heck of a lot more. She couldn’t look away. 

Apparently, he couldn’t either. Time suspended, like every air molecule had stilled. Did he feel it too? If he weren’t married, she would have asked for his email address. If her schedule wasn’t so rushed, she would have hung out with him...which made little sense for someone she could never have. Life sucked sometimes.

“Dayna, get the lead out!” Mariko called to her.

Dayna glanced at Mariko, then back at Alex. “Good luck to you. Have a safe trip.” She donned her sunglasses and turned away. 

Everything slid to slow-motion as she felt an impossible tide roll toward her as she stepped to the bus. She couldn’t dispel the feeling of walking away from someone wonderful. Her chest clenched and a familiar heaviness anchored her heart. 

Why did she feel like Meryl Streep in the truck behind Clint Eastwood at the end of Bridges of Madison County? Meryl was torn between staying in the truck with her husband or jumping out to run after Clint, knowing if she didn’t, she’dlose him forever.

She’d only known this guy for a couple of hours and didn’t even know his last name. Her heart mashed up in a roiling mix of confusion. The romantic notion of being on a European vacation had clouded her mind with impossible fantasies.

A hole opened in her heart. Choices, choices. But which were the right ones? She reminded herself of the wonderful people she had yet to meet on this trip. Alex was only the first of many. As the bus pulled away, he stood on the boardwalk, smiling and waving, as if he’d known her all her life.

She pressed her palm to the window, watching him grow smaller. 

The bottom fell out of her.

 If only.

Buy on Amazon | Bookshop.org

About the Author

LoLo Paige is an award-winning author who has a passion for writing romantic comedies after decades of theatre experience acting in stage comedies. While comedy is her first love, she also writes the pitfalls of falling in love in the action-packed, perilous world of wildfire. As a former wildland firefighter who married her hot firefighter husband, she lives her HEA, spending glorious Alaskan summers at her oceanfront cabin on Kachemak Bay, with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Connect:

https://www.lolopaige.com/

https://amzn.to/3R1VeRJ

https://www.instagram.com/lolopaige/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20305632.LoLo_Paige

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lolo-paige

https://twitter.com/Nemesisto642

https://www.facebook.com/LoLoPaigewildlandfire

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Cover Reveal: Stars Like Gasoline by Jessika Grewe Glover

Publication date: April 24th 2023
Genres: Adult, Thriller

Synopsis:

When Celia, a Florida art curator, purchases the haunted house of her brother’s deceased fiancé, the spirits threaten her life and her career. To rid the home of the malevolent ghosts, she enlists the help of her brother, Oscar, and Adrian, the best friend of Oscar’s late fiancé, who’d been killed as an Afghanistan veteran. The three are about to be thrown into a chasm of events involving a dead French artist, a Dutch aerospace heiress, and a missing Japanese painter who is presumed to be dead. Not to mention a stalker that begins to threaten Celia and Oscar.

The link between these events appears to be a hidden journal from the 1980s Celia discovers in the home, belonging to a dead, but revered French artist. As Adrian helps decipher the clues, an attraction burns between him and Celia, raising the stakes of the game someone is playing. A game that no one might make it out of alive.

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About the Author

Jessika Grewe Glover is the author of Another Beast’s Skin, the first book in a contemporary fantasy trilogy. She grew up in Miami dreaming of magic and other realms in which to escape the heat. She currently resides in the Los Angeles area with her British expat husband, two kids, and the world’s fastest bulldog.

Connect:

https://www.jessikagreweglover.com/

https://twitter.com/jessikamittens

https://www.tiktok.com/@jessikagreweglov

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21072121.Jessika_Grewe_Glover

Spotlight: Promise Me Always by A.L. Jackson

NYT Bestselling Author A.L. Jackson has a sneak peek of her upcoming single dad, fake fiancée romance, Promise Me Always. Coming January 30th! 

“Go, go, go!” Tessa jumped up and down, rooting on Remy who’d thrown the Frisbee and was currently rounding the bases.

I scooped Scout into my arms, and he and I raced toward the Frisbee that’d rolled out the right side of the baseball field.

Scout was bouncing all over, his laughter filling the air, my little guy kicking my sides like I was a horse. “Hurry, Dad, hurry, Remy is so really fast, and we gotta catch her before she gets all the way to home base.”

I dipped down to snag the Frisbee, holding tight to Scout as I tipped him upside down, making him holler and laugh uncontrollably while Tessa was shouting, “You’re almost there, Remy! Whoop, whoop! Team Remy-T Wreckers coming in for the win. Yeah, baby!”

Scout’s eyes went wide. “Go, Dad! We gotta catch her. Rocket speed!”

I shifted him, tucking his side to mine so he could stretch out his arms like he was flying, and I was supplying the rocket propulsion as we bounded back the opposite direction, a bunch of sounds bubbling out of my mouth as I found a lightness I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Remy rounded third base.

Tessa jumped up and down on the pitcher’s mound, waving her hands in the air and cheering on my kid. “Go, Remy, go!”

Both their faces were red.

Joy radiated all around.

Guessed it was my joy, too.

This feeling in the air that might have been the best thing I’d ever felt.

Scout kept himself rigid, still zooming through the air. “After burners, Dad!”

I increased my speed a fraction.

Remy screamed and laughed as she ran for home, my daughter soaring free when her steps were often laden with reservation.

Her load too heavy.

I made sure that we just missed her as she stomped onto the base.

“Ahh, dang, you’re too fast.” I feigned the grumbled complaint while my little girl squealed in victory and shouted, “I did it! I did it!”

Tessa ran her way, her arms in the air. “You did it! You are a rockstar, Remington Hendricks!”

They jumped, high-fiving each other with both hands.

“Oh, man,” Scout whined. “We got a tie. How do we even know who’s the best?”

I pressed my lips to the top of his head. “Means we’re all the best, little man.”

“That’s Rocketman to you,” he told me.

A chuckle got free, and Tessa was giggling nonstop, her smile so bright, happiness this glow of warmth that surrounded her.

She poked Scout’s belly where I’d shifted him upright. “Pure awesomesauce, I tell you.”

He jumped out of my arms and into hers.

She caught him like she was completely accustomed to pint-sized shenanigans. “There’s my Rocketman! You’re off to Mars!” she sang as she swung him around.

Peals of his laughter rang in the air, and Remy moved to hold my hand, grinning in a way I hadn’t seen her do in so long that I’d almost forgotten what it looked like.

God, I wasn’t even sure how to navigate through it when I kept getting struck with an urge to capture it.

Hold it and protect it forever.

“Okay, I think that’s my favorite game.” Remy was almost shy to say it, though it was adrenaline and glee rushing all over her face.

“So fun!” Tessa agreed.

Everyone was panting with the exertion, sweat slicking our skin, and we moved back to where we had the blanket set up in the shade.

Tessa flopped down onto her back on it, Scout still held in her arms. Remy flopped right down beside her.

Tessa rolled her head in Remy’s direction so they were staring at each other where they lie on their backs. “Thank you for being on my team.”

“Best team ever.” Timidity might have filled Remy’s voice, but joy shined in her eyes.

They just sat there for a second, smiling at each other, something special moving between them.

Scout climbed off Tessa, and he crawled to the cooler and tossed open the lid. “I spy with my little eye a blue Popsicle.”

Like he hadn’t spotted it earlier when we were passing out sandwiches and fresh-cut fruit.

He reached for one.

“You’re supposed to ask first, little man,” I told him.

“Is it okay, Tessa?” He beamed at her. I was pretty sure those full lips would be enough to swindle the last dollar out of a starving man’s hand.

I blinked at him. “Excuse me? What am I, chopped liver?”

Scout shrugged. “Tessa’s got my back.”

Tessa sat up, pressing her fingertips to her mouth like she was trying to keep back her laughter.

“What are you giggling about?” I asked, voice low as I climbed down onto my knees at the edge of the oversized blanket.

“I think I found myself a couple of new besties.” Her smile softened, pure affection as she glanced between the two of them.

Remy smiled, too, and fuck, my chest tightened.

I loved to see my little girl happy.

“I’ll be your best friend because you brought me a Popsicle,” Scout supplied as he grabbed a handful of them and started to pass them out.

“One for Daddy-Doo, one for Remy-Roo, one for Tessa-Too.”

My kid, he was a poet.

“Dad, you better kiss her if you’re gonna marry her,” Scout said so nonchalant as he peeled the wrapper and stuck the blue bullet into his mouth. “Because in a minute, she’s gonna have blue lips, and that’s gross.”

I knew we were going to have to get these displays of affection right, but my nerves decided it was a fine time to short-circuit.

To go zapping and zinging in all those places she kept bringing to life.

Shaking me down and tightening my guts in a flurry of want as I looked at the woman who watched me with such a tenderness that my spirit groaned.

“You’ve got love, Dad,” Remy whispered.

Soft encouragement that cut me to the quick.

My child’s belief filling me full after I’d lost it.

Warily, I crawled forward on my knees, already towering over Tessa where she sat on the blanket.

My friend.

My friend.

Curling my hand around the back of her neck, I drew her closer.

Fire flashed.

That feeling rising that I had to keep at bay.

But those blue eyes, they were so intense and deep and filled with this trust that spread like fingers through my senses.

The girl a lure.

Her lips barely parted as we sat there with an inch of space separating us.

Hovering.

Hesitating.

Unsure.

My heart thundered too loud, and I finally drew her the rest of the way in and pressed my lips to hers.

Somewhere between firm and soft.

A second.

Then two.

Breathing her in.

Torment and bliss.

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Want a Signed Paperback or Promise Me Always Release Box? PRE-ORDER HERE

Can't wait for the release? Be sure to vote for PROMISE ME ALWAYS as one of your most anticipated January reads on Goodreads!

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Connect with A.L.

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, FALLING STARS, and REDEMPTION HILLS novels. Watch out for her upcoming stand-alone, PROMISE ME ALWAYS, releasing January 30th!

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 https://geni.us/ALJacksonBookClubB or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

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Spotlight: Necessary Evil (Kingdom of Monsters #2) by Harper A. Brooks

Genre: Monster Romance

Cover Designer: Claire Holt at luminescence covers

Publication Date: January 26th, 2023

A great evil waits for me…

And it won’t stop until it swallows me whole.

I’ve been ripped from Dark Castle, thrown back into the mortal world where I don’t belong.

Here, they think I’m crazy. They’ve locked me up and forced pills down my throat, telling me I’ve lost my mind.

And maybe I have…

I’ve fallen for three monsters after all.

Prince Airic, Knight Reis, and shapeshifter Wels—they are the sinister men of my nightmares and my deepest fantasies. I can still feel their touches, hear their voices in my head, but they’re in danger.

I have to get back to them because if the shadows close in, I can lose everything.

The kingdom.

My monsters.

And ultimately, myself.

Necessary Evil is book 2 in the Kingdom of Monsters series. It's a full length fantasy monster romance with some darker themes, lots of steam, and is a story where the heroine will end up with more than one love interest.

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About the Author

Harper A. Brooks lives in a small town on the New Jersey shore. Even though classic authors have always filled her bookshelves, she finds her writing muse drawn to the dark, magical, and romantic. But when she isn't creating entire worlds with sexy shifters or legendary love stories, you can find her either with a good cup of coffee in hand or at home snuggling with her furry, four-legged son, Sammy.

She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

RONE Award Winner

USA TODAY Bestselling Author

International Bestselling Author

Connect:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cYxD2x

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