Blog Tour + Excerpt & Giveaway: The Night Belongs to Firemen by Jennifer Bernard

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Night Belongs to Firemen by Jennifer Bernard! This book releases on Sept. 30th–get your sneak peek below and make sure to enter the giveaway!

The Night Belongs to Firemen by Jennifer Bernard

The Night Belongs to Firemen
The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel #6
Jennifer Bernard
Releasing September 30th 2014
Avon Romance
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Daring . . . Sexy . . . Irresistible . . .
They’re the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel

When fireman Fred Breen rescues a bachelorette party after a construction crane collapses onto their limo, the media labels him the “Bachelor Hero.” But all Fred can think about is the petite brunette with the sexy mane of dark curls who bolted away from him faster than a wildfire after he carried her to safety. And when he discovers she’s none other than Rachel Kessler, the daughter of a tech billionaire, the girl whose kidnapping riveted the nation, he intends to learn every intimate detail about this intriguing woman who sets his pulse on fire.

Rachel can’t deny the lean-muscled firefighter is smokin’ hot. But after having one too many drinks at the bar where she first meets him, Rachel knows she’s made a fool of herself. Yet when he rescues her from the limo, she feels safe for the first time since she was held for ransom as a child. Then her overprotective father insists Fred be her bodyguard—and his close presence kindles a burning desire that only he can extinguish.

Buy Links:
Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iTunes

Now here’s an excerpt from The Night Belongs to Firemen! ❤

excerpt

No woman could help but notice the two men who strode into the City Lights Grill just after midnight. Not with that amount of pure, knockout maleness walking through the door. One had the broken-nose look of a boxer, the other a more fresh-faced appeal, along with a slight limp. Both moved as if they knew exactly what to do with their bodies at all times.

The two, who happened to be off-duty firefighters, didn’t register the influx of feminine attention, maybe because they were used to it. Or maybe because the rougher of the two firemen was too busy lecturing the other.

“The problem with you, Fred,” said Mulligan, “is that you’re too—”

“If you say ‘nice,’ you’ll be on your ass in two seconds.” Fred Breen was at the tail end of a rough night. “And you know I can do it.”

“Yeah, now I know, since you finally let me in on your big secret. But check it out.” He reached for the trophy Fred dangled from one finger, as if he didn’t even care about it. “Second place, it says here. You know who second place is for? Nice guys. Guys who don’t have the killer instinct. Guys who give kittens CPR—”

“Don’t start with the kittens again. They lived, didn’t they?” Fred flung himself into a chair at a table in the corner, then winced. He’d just spent the evening getting the crap beat out of him at the Southern California Muay Thai Championships. Every bone in his body ached, and his muscles had gone into some sort of traumatic shock. “And did you happen to notice the guy who took first? Jet Li couldn’t have beaten that guy. He’s like a sixth-generation master.”

“Excuses, excuses. My point is, I’ve noticed a theme in your life, Freddie-boy. Take Courtney—”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Mulligan.”

Even Mulligan, instigator that he was, backed off from the feral glare Fred aimed at him. “Pitcher?” he asked innocently.

“Yeah, sure.” Beer or a full-body transplant, either would do.

Mulligan headed for the bar while Fred, nearly comatose, slumped further into his chair. He knew that no one at the firehouse liked his ex-girlfriend Courtney, which was exactly why he hadn’t told anyone they’d broken up. He was tired of everyone’s opinions on his life. Including Courtney’s. She insisted on calling their current breakup a “trial separation.” Getting beat up by Muay Thai masters was easier than ending things with Courtney.

about the author

Jennifer BernardJennifer Bernard is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

giveaway

Three Winners to receive Print Copies of The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel Series Books 1-3, THE FIREMAN WHO LOVED ME, HOT FOR FIREMAN and SEX AND THE SINGLE FIREMAN

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Review: Unlit Star by Lindy Zart

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by

Unlit Star by Lindy Zart

Unlit Star by Lindy Zart
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: August 20th 2014
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

We are not guaranteed anything, not even this life.

Rivers Young is the popular guy untouchable by reality. He is like a star—bright, consuming, otherworldly. The thing about stars, though, is that they eventually fall, and he is no different.

He falls far and he falls hard.

Delilah Bana is the outcast enshrouded in all of life’s ironies. Alone, in the dark, like dusk as it falls on the world. When Rivers hits the ground, she is the night that catches him. In the darkness, they meld into something beautiful that shines like the sun.

Only, the greater the star is, the shorter its lifespan.

It is true that no one can save you, no one but yourself. And sometimes… even you cannot save you, no matter how much you wish it was untrue. Sadly, some things are not meant to be saved.

Wow. WOW. This book was simply stunning.

Unlit Star was beautiful, captivating, real, and heartbreaking. Honestly, it was nothing I expected, and I’m glad I went into this pretty blindly. This is the type of book that will move your heart–it stays with you for a long, long time, and I’m so glad to have read it.

First off, a big shoutout to my girl Tushara for recommending Unlit Star to me! After she messaged this to me, how could I NOT read it!?

LACE!!!! OMG I HAVE FOUND A BOOK, THAT IS RIGHT TRUMPING ANY FEELINGS I HAVE EVER HAD FOR ANY OTHER BOOK
SIGH
ITS LIKE ON PAR WITH TFIOS AND SLAMMED AND ALL THOSE
ITS BEAUTIFUL
AND I JUST SPENT THE LAST 15 MINUTES BAWLING MY EYES OUT BECAUSE OF THE LAST 15% OF IT

Obviously I had to read it immediately!

The first thing that captivated me about Unlit Star was the writing. All I can say is that it is flawless. I am so in love with Lindy Zart’s words–my favorite part of this book is truly how well-written it is. Even though the characters didn’t have me hooked straight away, I was still utterly mesmerized by the writing. The humor, the angst, the intensity… all of these were so powerfully evoked through this author’s words. Just… read this book, okay? I promise you won’t regret it.

The beginning was a bit slow–I wasn’t too sure how to feel about the characters at first. But gradually, as I got to know more about Delilah and Rivers, I started to fall in love with their story. Delilah has just graduated high school and has taken a job during the summer working at the Young’s house. She’s a sort of housekeeper, if you will. And the boy who lives there happens to be Rivers Young, who went to the same high school as Delilah. Rivers was the popular, all-star athlete at school, full of charisma and charm, while Delilah was the outcast, bullied by Rivers’s then-girlfriend. But a few months before graduation, Rivers was in a boating accident, leaving him with a limp and scars on his body, and ruining his chances of going to college on a football scholarship.

Delilah and Rivers are two very different people. Delilah is the type of girl who wants to make the best and most out of life. She’s real, but not pessimistic about the world. She’s able to see the joy in life. The post-accident Rivers is the type of guy who only sees what he’s lost. But when Delilah looks at Rivers, she doesn’t see his lost opportunities or the things that were taken away from him–she sees the life that still flows in his veins, the fact that he survived the accident, that Rivers is still alive.

How do you break through the black and into the light? How does a boy who used to have everything decide he has something to fight for when he’s lost all he’s known? What will be strong enough to pull him from the waters of his dark abyss of reality? I think he has to do it himself, but he has to want to. I also think it’s the scars of his heart that need to be mended, not the superficial outside one.

Rivers and Delilah studiously ignore each other, even though Delilah works at his house nearly everyday. But that changes when Rivers’s parents have to leave town, putting Delilah in charge of the house… and Rivers. Now they have to be around each other 24/7, and Delilah isn’t up for being around a guy who’s angry at the world. So she forces him to open up, to go outside, to try to be happy with his life. But she never expected to end up falling for this boy.

It wasn’t easy to like Rivers–at least, not at first. He’s broody and moody, he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t do anything. He basically mopes around the house, feeling sorry for himself and his legs. But Delilah, this awesome, sweet girl, is able to slowly pull him out of his misery. And it turns out Rivers is actually the sweetest, most amazing guy ever. He’s funny, smart, beautiful, a little self-deprecating, but overall, he’s a scrumptious package.

Rivers is a perfect mix of clouds and sunshine, openness and hardness. He’s an impeccable, yet inconsistent being of all that is good and all that is not.

My heart… it was just feeling so much during this book! So much happiness for Delilah and Rivers slowly opening up to each other, slowly falling in love. But my heart was also aching for Rivers, who just doesn’t see the amazing potential in him, even with his bad legs. He doesn’t see that he’s still gorgeous or that he can still do great things that don’t have to be football. But slowly, he stops feeling sorry for himself. All thanks to Delilah Bana, a girl he never noticed in high school, but now is all he can see.

“I used to fit in with the athletes, right? If I didn’t know anything else, I knew that. You never fit in anywhere. Now I know why. There is no way to put you into a category when there is no one way to define you. You’re like…” He pauses as he looks at me, smiling when he says, “Sunshine. And rain. Flowers. You’re everywhere, everything. The wind. The stars.
“…It’s like… you’re the complete embodiment of life. Your laugh, your sense of humor, your personality–you just–you put all of you into everything you do. You know? Even your heart…” He inhales deeply. “You’re a beautiful person, Delilah Bana.”

I just… Awwwwww. River just has the perfect way with words to make you smile and clutch your heart.

Delilah and Rivers together is just perfection. I adored these two–they’re sweet and romantic, but also funny and witty with each other. They learn from each other, they lean on each other. They’re just a wonderful couple I loved reading about.

But it’s not exactly an easy HEA for them. There are hints from the author, some foreshadowing that something heart-wrenching is going to happen. I don’t want to say anything because of spoilers, but I will say that Lindy Zart will no doubt break your heart. There are things to this story you might not be happy about, that I normally wouldn’t be, but it just fit right with this book. I couldn’t have imagined another, better, story for Rivers and Delilah.

“You woke my soul up and the rest of me followed.”

Unlit Star is just a beautiful story. It has lovable characters you grow to care for so much, it has humor to make these characters feel real, and it has an unforgettable way of storytelling. I will definitely be reading more books from this author!

4.5 hearts
lacey

Also by Renée Carlino

Roomies by Lindy Zart
  

Roomies: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Take Care, Sara: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Smother: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Within This Frame: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Steady as the Snow Falls: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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Cover Reveal: Chasing the Tide by A. Meredith Walters

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Chasing The Tide by A. Meredith Walters

Chasing the Tide by A. Meredith Walters
Sequel to Reclaiming the Sand
Release date: December 16th 2014
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***The powerful continuation of the story that began in Reclaiming the Sand- a tale of love and forgiveness and learning to over come a past that has come to define you.***

Bully and Victim

Friend and Lover

Past and Future

Ellie McCallum and Flynn Hendrick’s story was as painful as it was devastating. But they were able to find within each other an unlikely yet beautiful love. Despite the obstacles that tried to keep them apart.

And together they rose out of the ashes of their tragic history.

Now years after their life changing reunion Ellie is back in Wellston, having just graduated from college and ready to start her future with the man who taught her how to love. However, returning to a town that held so much bitterness and anger was the last place she wanted to start over.

But for Flynn, who is now an art professor at the community college and firmly rooted in the place that gave them their beginning, she’d do just about anything.

Yet it’s difficult building a life when you’ve only just learned how to live.

And love, no matter how strong, doesn’t always conquer all.

Ellie and Flynn must learn how far they are willing to go to stay together. Or whether the ghosts of the past will consume them both.

Because finding a happily ever after is harder than it seems. Particularly when you’re fighting against the one thing that could destroy you.

Yourself.

Chasing The Tide teaser

Book 1
Reclaiming the Sand by A. Meredith Walters
My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

A. Meredith WaltersThe New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance including The Find You in the Dark series, Bad Rep and its upcoming sequel.

A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.

When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly 6 year old daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.

A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency.

Website • Goodreads • Twitter • Facebook • Amazon Author Page

Release Day Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Bad Son Rising by Julie A. Richman

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bad son rising release day blitz

Bad Son Rising by Julie A. Richman

Bad Son Rising by Julie A Richman
Standalone
Release Date: September 12th 2014
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People think I’m a douche.
And maybe I am.
I use most people.
It’s what I know.
But if I love you,
I’d die for you.
I just don’t know that I’m worth loving.

Handsome, privileged bad boy Zac Moore has always played by his own rules – at school, in business, with women. He’s rewritten the rules to suit his own needs and his needs are all that matter.

Serious and focused family friend Liliana Castillo has one goal. Leave the pre-Med program at Yale to help people in developing nations.

As their paths cross and uncross, a tale of love, agony, betrayal and growth is woven, transforming two people who’ve hidden from relationships and love.

This is a stand-alone novel.

Purchase:
Amazon • Amazon UK • Amazon CA • B&N • iTunes • Kobo

excerpt

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that I was not going to be able to wait for next time.”

Lily’s elusive smile started at the corners of her mouth, lifting the apples of her cheeks and crinkling the outer edges of her gold-flecked eyes. “Do you seriously think you’re going to bang me against a Baobab tree?”

“I know I’m going to bang you against a Baobab tree.” He was already working on the zipper of her jeans. With his hands inside her pants, he slipped them into her underwear, tightly grasping her ass.

Lily’s gasp was audible as he kneaded a cheek with each hand.

“Are you ready for me?” he whispered.

Nodding she stepped out of her jeans and he undid his. Lifting her, she wrapped her legs around his slim hips and he lowered her onto his waiting cock. Leaning her back against the ancient tree trunk for leverage, Zac thrust his hips up burying himself deeply within Lily.

Her eyes were wide as she let out another gasp. “I’ve never fucked against a tree.”

Zac laughed, “It’s a first for me too, babe.” And after a few more strokes, “Tighten your legs around me, Lils.” Not taking his eyes off of hers, “You feel so damn good.”

“You too,” were the only words she could squeak out and finally, as a result of his deep pounding, with bated breath, “Zac.”

He nodded, “I know, babe.” His final powerful thrusts had her back molded to the tree.

He fell into her, the old Baobab holding them both up. With their heads on one another’s shoulders, they stood very still until they’d both regained their breath.

Hand-in-hand they headed back to camp.

Please don’t fall in love with me, Zac silently warned.

Please fall in love with me, Zac silently prayed.

Needing Moore Trilogy
On sale for a limited time
only $3.99

Needing Moore box set by Julie A Richman
Purchase:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo

about the author

Julie A RichmanAuthor Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.

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Cover Reveal + Excerpt: Love, in Spanish by Karina Halle

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I am SOOOO excited to share the cover of LOVE, IN SPANISH by Karina Halle!!!! Isn’t it gorgeous?

Love, in Spanish by Karina Halle

Title: Love, in Spanish
Author: Karina Halle
Series: LIE #2
Release Date: November 11th 2014
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“She sat beside me on the bus – and she changed my whole life.”

Successful, wealthy and absurdly handsome – Spanish ex-football player Mateo Casalles seemed like he had it all. A high-society wife, an adorable little girl, and flashy apartments in Madrid and Barcelona only sweetened the deal. But there was more to Mateo than met the eye – a life of uncertainty and regret that colored his black and white world.

That was until Vera Miles came into his life like a shooting star. Tattooed, wild and young, Vera seemed like Mateo’s polar opposite at first. But you can’t choose who you fall in love with and the two lost souls did everything they could to be together, all while suffering the grave consequences.

Now with Mateo divorced and living in Madrid with Vera, there is a whole new set of challenges and setbacks facing the couple and rocking the foundation of their star-crossed relationship.

Unfortunately for them, the brighter the star, the faster they burn.

Preorder:
Amazon

Now here’s an excerpt from Love, in Spanish! ❤ MATEO ❤

excerpt

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

I turn in my chair and give Vera a curious look. Yet another English saying that I don’t know. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

She gives me a soft but tired smile and sits down on the arm rest. I immediately wrap my arm around her waist and pull her down into my lap, where she comes to a rest with a giggle, her hair obscuring the impish smile on her face. No matter where she is, I can never stop touching her and now more than ever I need her to relax, to feel safe, to know I’m going to get us out of this.

“Explain,” I demand. “Or I will punish you with kisses.”

She raises her brow. “Followed by punishment by penis?”

I shrug. “That can be arranged. Now, tell me my Estrella.

She sighs and buries her lips into my neck. I can’t help the small moan that escapes from me, nor my hardness building beneath her plump, round ass. I close my eyes and fight the urge to pick her up and take her to the bedroom, the only other way I know how to make her feel safe and sated, the only way I know how to escape.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” she says against my throat, “is a saying. I don’t know where it’s from but it means, well, nothing is scarier than a pissed off bitch.” She pauses, sucking in her breath and I know she fears she’s said the wrong thing. “Sorry,” she quickly adds and I feel her body tense up beneath my fingers. “I didn’t mean that Isabel is a bitch.”

She is still so skittish over her words, the way she blurts things out, but it’s one of the reasons why I love her. I cup the back of her head with my hand and let the softness of her hair sink over me. “I know you didn’t,” I assure her. “And, well, she is being a bitch.”

“Can you blame her though?” she asks, her voice rising a pitch and when she pulls away from me, her eyes are wet. It breaks my heart. I’m getting tired of my heart breaking and I know that this isn’t going to change anytime soon. Every day there is another weight on us, another crack appears.

“No,” I tell her honestly. “I cannot blame her.”

A silence lapses over us, heavy like a wool cloak. It does this sometimes. What we’ve done, it coats us.

Finally she clears her throat. “She’s going to hurt for a long time,” she says. “She’s going to be angry. This isn’t going away. I thought everything was behind us now, that she’d move on. You’ve been divorced for a year, if she’s still this mad a year out…”

“She is mad because I am going back to Atletico,” I tell her. “She is mad because of the paparazzi, the way they are hounding us again. She is mad because she feels she is being made to look like a fool. If I had just stayed with my head down, she wouldn’t be doing this.”

“But you can’t live your life in fear, Mateo,” she tells me.

I smile at her and brush her sunset hair from her face. “And neither can you.”

She settles back against my body, sinks, conforms, melds. She is second skin. She is a part of myself I can’t bear to separate from. I pray I never have to. I pray we can survive whatever is coming our way.

And I can feel it coming, that tension, that storm rolling in the weeks and days.

I pick her up in my arms and for all her pillowy curves, she weighs nothing more than a feather. I take her down the hall to the bedroom, throw her on the bed.  She glows in the afternoon sun that streams in through our window and it isn’t long before we are both naked and I am climbing over her, pinning her arms above her head and drinking in her body like the most beautiful, decadent wine.

I will devour her until all of this is gone.

I will consume her until we are all that’s left.

I push inside her and let my hunger take over.

Book 1
Love, in English by Karina Halle
My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

Karina HalleWith her USA Today Bestselling The Artists Trilogy published by Grand Central Publishing, numerous foreign publication deals, and self-publishing success with her Experiment in Terror series, Vancouver-born Karina Halle is a true example of the term “Hybrid Author.” Though her books showcase her love of all things dark, sexy and edgy, she’s a closet romantic at heart and strives to give her characters a HEA…whenever possible.

Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup.

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