Series: Temptation #3
Cover Design: Sly Fox Cover Design
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Title: Taste Me
Series: Temptation #3
Author: Kally Ash
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Sly Fox Cover Design
Release Date: March 9, 2020
Blurb
Natasha Fraser is a pitbull both in and out of the courtroom. Her high pressure job has her working hard, and partying even harder. She runs through men faster than her first martini of the night, leaving them with nothing but a lipstick stain in the morning. Her career is reaching its peak and after putting in the hard yards for the last twelve months, sheâs ready to reap the rewards. Itâs too bad she never saw John Baxter coming.
John has never met a woman like Natasha before. With fire-red hair and a body that deserves to be worshiped, itâs lust at first sight. Getting hooked was never part of the plan, but life has a funny way of giving you exactly what you crave.
Can either of them resist another taste?
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Author Bio
Kally Ash is a contemporary romance author whose passions include curling up with a good book, devouring chocolate and getting kitty cuddles. Tempt Me is her debut novel, and the first book in a three book series. Some of her unicorn authors include Sawyer Bennett, Elizabeth Hayley and Haley Jenner.
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Title: Breach of Contract
Series: Kavanagh Family Romance #1
Author: Elizabeth Miller
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Blurb
Bonafide bombshell Maisie Walker loves sex. The problem is sheâs never had itânot with a real live person anyway. Her vibrator, Vinnie, and pornbud.com keep Maisieâs nights busy, but sheâs itching to lose her V-cardâwith her boss, Jayce Kavanagh.
As managing partner of the hottest legal firm in New York City, Jayce Kavanagh likes to winâin court and in the bedroom. With his mind set on legal perfection, he doesnât have time for the killer sway of his assistantâs assets or her sinful mouth.
One late night in the office changes everything.
Spanking your associate after-hours is not ideal, but with proper boundaries, Jayce makes it happen. Enter in Exhibit Aâthe contract. General terms and conditions are set in place, satisfaction is guaranteed, and oral persuasion commences.
As they test their limits in and out of the office, feelings surface and amendments are made. But just when an extension is proposed, Jayce strays outside of the contracted lines and Maisie must decide if their flourishing relationship can survive a breach of contract.
Every three-point-five seconds my thoughts drift to Maisie and the contract I delivered two days ago. I havenât heard a response, and why should I? We never exchanged numbers. Sheâs had no way to reach me while I was out. Weâre nothing but colleagues with a history. But that doesnât stop me from missing her, wanting her. It all pisses me off. I have work to do and life to deal with. I knew I didnât have time for a complication, but I canât stop thinking about her sweet face and gorgeous ass.
I force myself to focus on the Spears case and the latest injunction Marjorie Blume has filed. Sheâs muddying up the waters by leaking reports of MoMoâs lengthy conviction record. What he thought was past tense is front and center. Itâs my job to retrain the focus on Blume versus freedom of speech, and not his penchant for cars that donât belong to him.
I drill into the details. Each hour spent living through Blumeâs history has my temper rise by ten degrees. At the end of the day, Iâm hot. Sheâs not a saint, and it sticks in my craw sheâs made a living making people believe she is.
Focusing on Wentworth for days and Blume for what feels like ages has my blood pressure off the charts. Life is full of complications and Iâm in a punishing mood because of them.
âMr. Kavanagh,â Lisa says from the door. âItâs seven and Iâm heading out. Do you need anything before I go?â
âI doââ Ms. Walker arrives behind her with the devil in her eye and a fairly well-hidden smirk. She peeks around my secretary to stare me down with a secret only the two of us share. âI do not,â I amend.
âI brought the research you requested, sir.â Maisie holds out an envelopeâa familiar one, stamped confidential.
My gaze jerks from the document to her mouth: plump lips brightened with peach gloss. Christ. My chest aches. Goddamn heart. I smooth it under the pretense my tie is out of line.
âEnjoy your weekend, Lisa. Iâll finish with Ms. Walker and close up,â I say while my gaze remains trained on Maisie.
I wave her in as Lisa escapes before eight on a Friday night. As the automatic lock latches on the door, we stand and stare with silence swirling around us like the promise of whatâs to come. Evening sun warms my office, but Maisieâs nipples pebble into distinct points. They draw my attention to the ripe lushness of her breasts pressed together in a skintight button-up and I canât think of anything but her naked flesh. Because Iâve seen it. Iâve watched her writhe in ecstasy, squeezing the life from my dick.
In an instant, my mind retreats from the memory and drills into sharp focus. Thereâs no reason why sheâs over there and Iâm here and we arenât touching. âDid you read it?â I ask.
Maisie nods. âI did. And I signed it too.â
After this shit with Wentworth, itâs important that weâre on the same page, that sheâs honest with me about her feelings. She must give permission. Say it out loud and reassure me Iâm not the only one suffering. âTell me, Ms. Walker. What do you want from me?â My voice is low and jagged from need. Something my body knows all too well as it stiffens at the mere sight of her.
âI want you to f*ck me like your dirty little secret, Mr. Kavanagh.â She breathes out my name as if itâs a wish, a fucking plea for my cock to meet the back of her throat.
Lord, have mercy. Who am I to deny her? If she wishes to know the type of justice I deliver, then so be it. âCome forward for your sentence, peach.â
Author Bio
She wears many hats. Some include wife, mother of two boys, writer, reader, lover of gummy bears and Henry Cavill. Sheâs a proud Indie author who adores a broken hero, a feisty heroine, and lots and lots of sexy times.
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Title: Fake You
Series: Boys of Trinity Hall #2
Author: MV Ellis
Genre: Bully Romance
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Blurb
Drew
I hate the lies you tell.
For as long as I can remember, everything in my world has been fake. The happy nuclear family. The loving parents. The close father-son relationship. The respectable family business. All lies. Iâve had it with the pretense and the show, but Iâm been trapped on a dizzying merry-go-round of deception, and I canât get off.
So when sheâs thrown unexpectedly into my path, and I discover sheâs just another fake, I need to make her pay. Little do I know, the deceit runs deeper than I imagined, and nothing is as it seems.
Kik
I tell the lies I hate.
I hate the lies and the pretense, but if I âm going to achieve what I want in life, theyâre a necessary evil. Truth is, Iâve mostly made peace with the idea. What Iâm doing is a means to an end, and the end definitely justifies the means. Besides, itâs not foreverânothing ever is.
Everybody has to do what they have to do, right? I can live with that. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe. At least I can until he comes bursting into my life, and is determined to tear down everything Iâve worked so hard to build.
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Excerpt
When Drew emerged from the shower my breath hitched at the sight of him. Even beaten, battered and bruised, he was beautiful. His hair was still wet, slicked back away from his face, revealing the deep gash above his eyebrow in all its glory. He was going to have a scar there whether he had stitches or not, but I figured it would be worse if he let it heal without getting it seen to. Stupidly, I couldnât help but think that the scar would probably suit him.
The fact was, the whole beat-up vibe was really doing it for me. Not only that, but it totally suited what I knew of his personality. For someone with a mean, controlling streak as wide as his, the beefcake, preppy look he normally rocked was kind of false advertising. The world should probably be forewarned that below the cool, calm and buttoned-down exterior, a wild animal lurked just below the surface.
Case in point, if the sorry state of his knucklesâbloodied and bloatedâwas anything to go by, however badly off he was, the other person went away looking at least as bad, if not worse. They definitely werenât defensive wounds.
I tried not look below the waistband of his gray sweats as he headed toward me, but it was like trying not to lick my lips while eating a sugar donutâthe more I told myself not to, the more I was compelled to do exactly that. Not wanting to overtly leer at him, I quickly skirted past the obvious, and brought my eyeline down to his bare feet as he crossed the room. Big mistake. Big. Huge.
There was something so intimate about him padding about like that, it had me freaked me out. What the fuck was I doing cozying up and playing nursemaid to a guy I hated for twenty-three and a half hours a day, but who knew exactly how to make me love him for the other thirty minutes?
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Author Bio
MV ELLIS knows what itâs like to fall head over heels in love with a badass musician. She followed her heart halfway around the world to be with one. She moved from London to Sydney after a steamy holiday romance with a sexy bass player in sultry Brazil.
Twelve years, two children and a dog later, and sheâs still smitten. All this with a guy she sat next to on a bus for 36 hours! She has toured internationally as a âWAG,â and her experiences inspire her writing.
Ellisâs love of romance began when she was 11 years old, after a summer spent secretly reading her auntieâs books. Sheâs been a sucker for an alpha hero and strong heroine ever since.
An avid reader, Ellis always knew sheâd write a book of her own one day. She was right about that. Following a career spanning advertising, marketing, and social media, she finally wrote her debut novel, Catching London in 2017.
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Title: Love at The Bluebird
Authors: Aurora Rose Reynolds & Jessica Marin
Publisher: Boom Factory Publishing LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: January 31, 2020
Blurb
With a hit song sitting at number one on the country music charts, Gavin McNeer thought he finally had everything he ever wanted.
All it takes is one look from the mesmerizing woman sitting in the front row at one of his shows and a brief encounter to make him realize just what heâs been missing. Even though heâs been burnt in the past, Gavin puts his inhibitions aside and his heart on the line to earn the trust of the woman who could be his everything.
Working in an industry where relationships start and end in the blink of an eye, Alyson Dawson has made it her mission not to get mixed up with musicians, no matter how good-looking they are. Keeping her focus on her blossoming career and clients, Aly doesnât even have time to date much less fall in love. That is until she meets Gavin, a man who changes everything with one smoldering look.
Just when these two begin to settle into their new relationship, Aly is asked to do something that may require her to choose between the career sheâs building and the man sheâs falling in love with. To make things worse, Gavinâs ex decides to add a touch of drama to an already delicate situation.
Will their love survive, or become just another sad love song?
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose wildly popular series include Until, Until Him, Until Her, Underground Kings and Shooting Stars.
Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world. Jessica Marin
Jessica Marin began her love affair with books at a young age from the encouragement of her Grandma Shirley. She has always dreamed of being an author and finally made her dreams of writing happily ever after stories a reality. She currently resides in Tennessee with her husband, children and fur babies. When sheâs not hanging out with her family, she loves watching a good movie, going dancing with the ladies, sniffing essential oils, daydreaming of warm beaches, and world peace.
NEWSLETTER ALLAUTHOR AMAZON GOODREADS Publisher
Aurora Rose Reynolds and her husband, Sedaka Reynolds, created Boom Factory Publishing to use their experiences to expand and promote upcoming and existing indie authors.
With over five years in the industry, and millions of books sold worldwide, we know what it takes to become a successful author and we will use this knowledge to take our authors to the next level. âAs a successful hybrid author in this ever evolving industry, I know that youâre only as successful as the team that is promoting you!â â Aurora Rose Reynolds
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Title: Burned
Series: Alex Drake #3
Author: Lexxi James
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Suspense
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Blurb
Nothing burns like an old flame.
Book #3 in the Alex Drake Series
Marrying man Alex Drake has topped his multi-billion-dollar empire by securing the love of his life. But when an old flame re-enters the picture with information on Jack Taylorâs death, can a tough and tenacious Madison discover the truth behind her brotherâs death without getting singed in the seductive crossfire?
Meet the woman who turned A.J. into Alex and find out why the name Jordan Stone is on everyoneâs lips.
Warning: Full Steam Ahead.
Lexxi James Books are seductive, suspenseful romances filled with fun, sensual, and explicit love scenes.
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Author Bio
Lexxi James | Author of Romantic Suspense
Lexxi James is a best-selling author of mystery & suspense seductively wrapped in a love story. When not strapped to her laptop, she on a perpetual quest for the best cup of cappuccino. Her addictions include her HEA man, bourbon, and smoking hot romance novels.
She loves to connect!
Check out her newsletter & stalk her on social media.
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Title: Feisty
Author: Julia Kent
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Contemporary Romance
Audiobook Narrator: Erin Mallon
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Blurb
AN ALL-NEW STANDALONE FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIA KENT
Iâm not too proud to admit that finding Mr. Right involves swiping right. Right? Welcome to dating in avocado toastland.
Here I am, on my first blind date, ever, courtesy of a smartphone app and my two annoying best friends.
So what is Chris âFletchâ Fletcher doing, walking across the room, looking at his phone like heâs pattern matching a picture to find a real person heâs never met before?
Oh.
Oh, no.
The guy I drop-kicked in seventh grade cannot be my blind date. The guy who earned me this infernal nickname.
Thatâs right.
Feisty.
â
More from New York Times bestselling author Julia Kent as Fiona âFeistyâ Gaskill gets her chance at love - drop-kick included.
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AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS GOOGLE PLAY / AUDIBLE PAPERBACK Excerpt
âFletch,â I start, walking into my office, waving him on. As we pass by the children, they snicker and whisper, the girls more stirred up than the boys. We reach the office, I close the door, and ask, âWhy are you here?â
âI came to see you because I knew this was your lunch break and you've been ignoring my texts and calls.â
âMaybe I need some space.â
âI respect that.â
âClearly, you don't.â
âLook, Fiona, I'm not here to argue with you. Or to crowd you or upset you. The opposite, actually. I realized our wires have been crossed and it was better to just come to you, face to face, and say what needs to be said.â
âYou couldn't wait until I wasn't working?â
âIf you'd answer my texts and calls, I could.â
âFair enough. What do you want to say? What needs to be said?â
âI would like to ask you out on a date.â
Title: King of Shadows
Author: Amelia Wilde
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 27, 2020
Blurb
Luther Hades has always been my familyâs sworn enemy. Heâs the opposite of everything we stand forâruthless to the core.
Iâm not afraid of him. Itâs my mother who cowers and hides. All my life, sheâs hidden me from him. Hidden me from the world. Not anymore.
Iâve planned my escape down to the last detail. But two steps outside the safety of my motherâs house, the devil comes calling. And nobody hears me scream.
*****
Little Sepphie Anthela doesnât know sheâs in danger. That her fool of a lover has betrayed her. That her adorable plan is a death sentence.
She doesnât know how men look at her.
And she doesnât know the lengths Iâm willing to go to protect her. Sheâll be safe in my underground kingdomâeven if it kills me.
KING OF SHADOWS is a dirty and dark contemporary retelling of Hades & Persephone. Itâs the underworld, after all.
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âAre you going to kill me now?â
My men step up behind her, but she doesnât dare turn her head. Two of them hook their arms under Deckerâs and drag him past us, giving us a wide berth. Her eyes follow his slumped body. The man wonât shut up. All the groaning, the whiningâfucking pathetic.
âYou said you would do anything to save him. That was your bargain. Are you telling me youâd rather be dead?â
A flicker of fear is chased off her face by a nameless expression, a light flaring in her eyes. She glances down at Conor, the whites of her eyes glowing in the moonlight. âNo,â she whispers. âI want to live.â
I lean in close, bending down so my lips are level with my ear. Her heart beats hard under my fingertips. She smells sweet, like roses and sunshine and something unique to her. It must be the fresh softness of her. Fuck, the things Iâm going to do to her, dangling her not-boyfriend on a string as if sheâll ever be anything but mine. The urge to throw her down into the dirt is so strong it almost overtakes me, but now that all this has transpired, itâs best for the train to move on. Iâm no longer interested in dealing with Demeter tonightânot now that I have her daughter for my very own.
The poor thing.
âWeâll see how long that lasts.â
Coming Soon Releasing August 31 AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU B&N / APPLE BOOKS
Author Bio
Amelia Wilde wrote her first story when she was six years old, a narrative strongly inspired by The Polar Express. When she was nine she wrote her first novel-length work, all in one paragraph. Now, Amelia is all about that love. Her romances feature unique, independent heroines and alpha heroes who are strong of heart and body. Readers have described her work as âemotional,â âintense,â âphenomenal,â and âlike a child scribbled with a crayon,â which she takes as the highest praise.
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We Are One
What can I do?
Haven't we all asked that question?
What can I do to help these people in need as fire destroys our beautiful country?
With big celebs donating money we could never match, which we are SO incredibly grateful for, we wonder how our little donations can make a difference? But they can. Every SINGLE cent makes a difference. Every person makes a difference. Everyone coming together MAKES a difference.
So, I decided to make a difference. I wanted to give back. I wanted to help.
What I never expected was the incredible support my fellow Australian authors would give me. These utterly BEAUTIFUL women all came forward and happily threw themselves into my cause. They wanted to help. They had lived the pain. Cried the tears. Seen the destruction. They, my friends, are angels.
So, there you have it. This is how we're helping our country.
Today, Australia Day, we are so proud to be releasing not one but TWO incredible anthologies into the public. Volume One is available on ALL platforms (Nook, Apple Books, Amazon, Kobo etc) and Volume Two is exclusive to Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited. We wanted to open it up to EVERYONE.
Two incredible editions, full of amazing books, for the price of $3.99. That money you spend will go directly into helping two incredible charities that need our money the most right now. Your purchase will go towards saving things that are so utterly broken right now. We need to heal our country. We need to heal what's broken.
VOLUME ONE will go in full to HIVE AID. Bees are everything, you guys, and they're being destroyed. Without them, there is no us, they need our help - https://www.ruralaid.org.au/donate
VOLUME TWO will go in full to WIRES â Australian Wildlife Rescue Organization - https://www.wires.org.au
Our native flora and fauna need us, and we've decided to give to them.
The most important part, is me giving a shout out to the incredible people who have graciously helped us without question. Who have given their time to us without hesitation.
For this ABSOLUTELY amazing cover, I give full thanks to Ben Ellis from Tall Story Designs. He has worked with us to give us the most beautiful cover I could ever imagine. Ben, thank you, no words can express how grateful we are. Please, go and give him your support - https://www.facebook.com/tallstorydesigns
To Give Me Books for creating a release blitz for us, to spread the word and help us get as much as we possibly can for these incredible charities, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have stepped forward and jumped in without question. You're a true part of this book community. Please, go and give them your support - https://www.facebook.com/GiveMeBooksPR
And, to my UTTERLY gorgeous AUTHORS that came forward and gave their work to this, who jumped in without thought or question, I am forever thankful for your help!! You know how much this means to our country, and you're all true angels. I wish we could have gotten every Aussie author in this anthology but unfortunately that just wasn't possible, but I know, I KNOW, they are all supporting this country with their whole hearts <3
Ella Fields, Lili Saint Germain, TJ Hamilton, Max Henry, Nina Levine, Lauren McKellar, Lila Rose, TL Smith, Len Webster, Rachel Brookes, KM Golland, Carmen Jenner, Lesley Jones, Kate McCarthy, Kate Sterritt, Eden Summers, Pepper Winters & Kasey Millstead!
Thank you,
Bella Jewel x
Title: We Are One: Volume One
Authors: Ella Fields, Lili St. Germain, TJ Hamilton, Max Henry, Nina Levine, Lauren K. McKellar, Lila Rose, T.L. Smith, & Len Webster
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 26, 2020
Volume One
Nine amazing authors come together in this incredible anthology. All proceeds will go towards those in need during the Australian Bushfire Crisis currently affecting Australia.
In this limited edition you'll receive 9 full length novels from the following incredible authors: Ella Fields - Suddenly Forbidden TJ Hamilton - Defending Pacer Max Henry - Echoes in the Storm Nina Levine - Steal my Breath Lauren K. McKellar - The Twenty One Lila Rose - Fumbled Love T.L. Smith - Kandiland Len Webster - The First Touch Of Sunlight All content is recommended for adults over the age of 18+
Custom flatlays provided by She Who Breathes, Reads
Purchase Links AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS Title: We Are One: Volume Two Authors: Rachel Brookes, K.M. Golland, Carmen Jenner, Bella Jewel, Lesley Jones, Kate McCarthy, Kasey Millstead, Kate Sterritt, Eden Summers, & Pepper Winters Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: January 26, 2020 Volume Two
Ten incredible authors come together in this amazing anthology. All proceeds will go towards those in need during the Australian Bushfire Crisis currently affecting Australia.
In this limited edition you'll receive 10 full length novels from the following incredible authors:
Bella Jewel - Fleeting Moments
Rachel Brookes - Be My Temptation
K.M. Golland - Plight
Carmen Jenner - Towards The Sound Of Chaos
Lesley Jones - Spiralling Skywards
Kate McCarthy - The Biker & The Thief
Kasey Millstead - Cowboy Town
Kate Sterritt - Love My Way
Eden Summers - Hunter
Pepper Winters - Can't Touch This
All content is recommended for adults over the age of 18+
ADD TO GOODREADS Custom flatlays provided by She Who Breathes, Reads Purchase Links AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU Free in Kindle Unlimited Custom flatlays provided by She Who Breathes, Reads
Title: Finding My Safe
Series: Finding #3
Author: Halo Roberts
Genre: Steamy Romantic Comedy
Release Date: February 3, 2020
Blurb
The songs say love is in the water...and strange...hereâs hoping love is also at Joeâs bar...and not actually strange.
I met the love of my life in a little town called Gravity once...too bad she was with another guy that night. When fate throws me a second chance, it adds a twist I didnât see coming...literally. ~Kane
Taking him home, thatâs a good plan, right? Iâm just being neighborly. Just being neighborly...geez I donât even believe that myself. Iâm bringing 6â5â of muscle bound, ink-covered, bearded goodness home with me, because heâs hurt, he has no one else...and I think I might love him a little. ~Wren
When Wren and Kane meet again, far away from sleepy little Gravity, Georgia, things have changed. Wren is graduating med school, ready to start her residency soon. Sheâs got a cat who likes to steal t-shirts with amazingly perfect timing, a not-even-a-boyfriend that wonât take a hint, and an inability to say no when a bachelorette party for an acquaintance takes them to a seedy bar on the outskirts of town.
Kane is under pressure to pay for the sins of his father, and the life he thought was buried just won't stay dead. An ambush in an alley makes him depend on Wren far more than he expected. The real question is, can they find love in the midst of five-dollar tequila shots, surprise proposals and the bright lights of Las Vegas?
Amazon readers are loving The Finding Series!
âOnce again Halo Roberts hits us with a fast paced love story that left me swooning.â
âSmartly written and incredibly enjoyable!â
âI give it 5 Stars! It is worth reading and reading again and again! Time well spent!â
âWhat a ride! You may need to fan yourself while reading this one!â
âThis book has it all, humor, hotness, intense and swoon worthy moments.â
âIâll let you in on one other secret without giving too much away . . . two wordsâ shower scene. Halo Roberts, your readers thank you.â
âAs always - I could not stop laughing, her character's inner voice is the single most realistic and hilarious thing I have ever read.â
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Excerpt
Chapter 1
Wren
Bachelorette parties suck. Elbowing my way through the crowded bar, I curse Gran for teaching me manners as a child. If it werenât for her, I would have given this whole night a hard pass. Instead, here I am, getting another round of shots for Jenna and her friends who can, at best, be called acquaintances from med school. Squeezing between a rock and a hard place; in the form of a man so firmly wedged onto his stool that I question if he died a few days ago and a trucker with a sun-dried tomato for a face who sighs and moves every so slightly, I wave at the bartender and glance around.
You know that no-manâs land where the country meets the city? Youâre driving through street lights and neighborhoods and BAM, nothing for about a mile before the fields and barns start? Thatâs where Joeâs Bar sits, right smack in the middle of that city-country deadzone. Itâs a pretty average crappy bar, full of hard-drinking regulars, the occasional hipsters who roll in looking for an experience, bar flies who reek of cheap perfume and desperation, and a party of silly girls hogging up the tiny dance floor. Thatâs me. Iâm with the silly girls.
Waving at the bartender again, I walk myself back through the conversation that brought me to this point. Jenna approached me earlier today with the friendliest smile Iâd ever seen on her face. Thereâs the mistake...I fell for that crocodile smile. She fed me some kind of sob story about Monica not having many local friends who would throw her a hen party, boo-freakin-hoo, I fell for that too. Yep, and now here I am, buying a round, for these silly drunks I barely know. I should bail.
âHurry up Wren!! Weâre sooooo thirsty!â Monica trills, dancing in a circle with her stupid plastic champagne glass held high. Sheâs gaining the attention of the pool players nearby. Pausing their game to look at her, the nearest one grins at his friends and loops an arm around her waist as she dances by, pulling her in tight. Oh great, this could get bad fast. Iâm too far away to hear what heâs saying, but her smile quickly fades and she starts squirming free, so itâs not hard to guess at his intentions.
Jenna stomps over, finger raised in a very official angry point to give him a piece of her mind, but one of his buddies twirls her into his arms, laughing rudely as she squeals indignantly. I glance at the bartender who gives a decidedly overworked sigh. Picking up his phone from under the bar, he appears to check the time before tossing the phone on the counter and continuing to pour drinks.
âThanks bud, youâre a big help,â I grumble as I shove away from the bar and make my way back through the crowd. I can see angry tears brimming in Monicaâs eyes as she swats away the offending hands of the dipshit who wonât leave her alone. See now, thatâs not fair...and this is her hen party damnit... Pasting a smile on my face I put a little bounce in my step, all the better to get close to you losers. The two men who are bothering the girls see me coming and glance at each other before smiling at me.
âWell good evening Sugar,â the one bothering Monica lets go of her waist, tipping an invisible hat at me, his voice oily as his eyes scan me top to tail. It doesnât take him long, Iâm five foot nothing, and I walk right up close while he gets an eye-full. Not wasting a beat, I get in his space, grab his nuts, and squeeze. Hard. As his smile quickly turns to an open-mouthed bellow of pain, he curls in on himself trying to get away from me. I help the momentum along, pushing his head straight down on the edge of the pool table with a satisfying thunk and he falls to the floor, dazed, holding his squished nuts. Just like you taught me Gran.
âWhat the hell?!â His buddy lets Jenna loose and looks back and forth from his fallen friend to me several times in rapid succession. Now to get us out of this mess.
âYou stupid jackasses,â I fill my normally sweet Southern voice with as much disdain as I can drum up. âDo you know who these girlsâ Daddies are?â I point at Jenna, Monica and Courtney, âCEO, Senator, Sheriff, and you think you can just paw their baby girls?â Idiot number one is still on the floor, but his buddies are backing away looking seriously uncomfortable.
I shake my head in disgust. âApologize and get back to your game, you hear?â They mumble âsorryâ and turn back to the pool table shame-faced, but the idiot on the floor isnât quite ready to give up.
âWhatever bitch,â he groans, climbing painfully to his feet, eyes narrowed. Damnit.
Turning to the girls, I decide to herd them to the door and find a bouncer to walk us to our car. A hard poke in the shoulder turns me back to the angry idiot with sore nuts.
âWe ainât done yet sweetie,â he leers, confidence returning, as he reaches out a finger to twirl a strand of my blonde hair. I swat him away, angry. As Iâm deciding whether to dust off a few more tricks Gran taught me or just insist that the bartender get off his ass and call the cops or something, Sore Nuts jerks his hand away like he touched a hot stove.
âMy apologies, we thought you girls wanted to dance. Weâre just going to play pool now and leave you be.â His words tumble out in a rush, fear in his eyes as he stares over my head. The hell?
âHey Kane, didnât know you were working tonight,â Sore Nuts continues, trying to sound calm. Kane? Ohmygod. I whirl around and almost bash my nose into a very hard chest covered in a flannel work shirt. Taking a tiny step back I look up and see a grim face Iâd recognize anywhere. He doesnât glance at me as he gives Sore Nuts a hard look.
âRoy, Charlie,â he rumbles, looking at each of them in turn. âLooks like your game is over.â He sets his jaw, I can see the muscles working under his beard. Itâs shorter than I remember it, he used to keep it long, now itâs just barely long enough to grab. Thatâs not a weird measurement at all, where did that come from, wow. Darker red, almost brown, as if heâs not in the sun as much as he used to be when he worked on the farm. His hair used to be such a golden red, I always thought he looked like a lion. I wonder if he remembers me.
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Author Bio
Halo Roberts is a writer of steamy rom-coms, lover of coffee and dark beer, and spoiler of two fat cats affectionately known as the Bitchy Betas. She's living happily ever after in Iowa with her very own hunky farm boy, and a small herd of stubborn mules that look a lot like children.
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Title: Feisty
Author: Julia Kent
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Contemporary Romance
Audiobook Narrator: Erin Mallon
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Blurb
AN ALL-NEW STANDALONE FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JULIA KENT
Iâm not too proud to admit that finding Mr. Right involves swiping right. Right? Welcome to dating in avocado toastland.
Here I am, on my first blind date, ever, courtesy of a smartphone app and my two annoying best friends.
So what is Chris âFletchâ Fletcher doing, walking across the room, looking at his phone like heâs pattern matching a picture to find a real person heâs never met before?
Oh.
Oh, no.
The guy I drop-kicked in seventh grade cannot be my blind date. The guy who earned me this infernal nickname.
Thatâs right.
Feisty.
â
More from New York Times bestselling author Julia Kent as Fiona âFeistyâ Gaskill gets her chance at love - drop-kick included.
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AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS GOOGLE PLAY / AUDIBLE PAPERBACK Excerpt
âFletch,â I start, walking into my office, waving him on. As we pass by the children, they snicker and whisper, the girls more stirred up than the boys. We reach the office, I close the door, and ask, âWhy are you here?â
âI came to see you because I knew this was your lunch break and you've been ignoring my texts and calls.â
âMaybe I need some space.â
âI respect that.â
âClearly, you don't.â
âLook, Fiona, I'm not here to argue with you. Or to crowd you or upset you. The opposite, actually. I realized our wires have been crossed and it was better to just come to you, face to face, and say what needs to be said.â
âYou couldn't wait until I wasn't working?â
âIf you'd answer my texts and calls, I could.â
âFair enough. What do you want to say? What needs to be said?â
âI would like to ask you out on a date.â</</div>
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