Posts Tagged Excerpt
Kindle Blast! BAD FOR ME by CODI GARY #BFMBlast
Posted by The Literary Melting Pot in Book News on March 24, 2015
All she has to do is take a chance…
“Thank you. This was really nice of you, especially when I haven’t given you a reason to be.”
Everett looked up at her, wiping the rain off his face so he could meet her gaze. “You seem to assume that just because people are kind to you, they want something. Sometimes people help because it’s the right thing to do.”
Her gaze shifted away, and he went back to tightening the nuts on the wheel. He’d said his piece, but knew he wasn’t going to convince Callie with words that his intentions were honorable.
He had to prove it to her.
When he finished, he released the jack and gathered up all the tools, sliding them back in the spare tire kit. “I’ll put this and the new tire in the back, and you’ll be good to go. I’ll haul this one off to the dump for you.”
She knelt down next to him and took the kit from him, their fingers brushing. Despite the chill of their skin, heat sizzled between them, sending a shot of awareness down his throat. Her blonde curls were wet and falling out of her messy top knot, and drops of rain were clinging to her cheeks. Before he could stop himself, he traced the pad of his thumb across one, catching the cool droplet on his skin. Her amber eyes widened, and he dropped his hand, cursing his impulse.
“Sorry. You had something on your cheek.”
Callie cleared her throat and stood up. “It’s okay.”
He climbed to his feet and couldn’t help wondering if she’d felt something too. Was that why she kept pulling away?
But if she didn’t want him, why was he pushing?
Because she doesn’t treat you like a defective puppy she’d have to fix.
Grabbing her spare tire from the back of his truck, he slid it into the back of her Jeep. She stood back as he closed the door, and he could tell she was nervous—her hands kept twisting.
“Well, you’re all set. You should get home and change out of those wet clothes. If you get sick, I’ll have to listen to one of those ridiculous weekend deejays, and they play nothing but crap.”
Everett started to head back to his truck, but she caught his hand. “Hey.”
Just the touch of her hand sent his heart from a trot to a gallop. He loved the way her soft skin wrapped around his.
Facing her, he waited, afraid to move a muscle and scare her off.
But she moved so fast, he wasn’t prepared when her lips brushed the scarred side of his face. He stiffened as the warmth seeped through his cheek, his stomach twisting up as a thousand thoughts and insecurities made him wince. Had the roughness repelled her? Why hadn’t she picked the untouched side?
“Thank you. For being kind.”
Callie dropped his hand and ran to her car, as if afraid he would come after her. As she started it and pulled forward, he was finally able to move again, backing up a ways to watch her disappear down the road.
Everett’s hand came up to rest against his cheek, and he realized that he’d lied to Callie when he said he didn’t want anything from her.
He wanted everything.
An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.
COVER REVEAL! FROM ORIGINS by MARY TING
Posted by The Literary Melting Pot in Book News on February 27, 2015
From Origins
Descendant Prophecies
Mary Ting
Artist: Laura Hildago with Bookfabulous Designs
Date: March 27th, 2015
to the underworld to confront the evil Hades, who has been plotting to kill off
the descendants of all the gods. On this journey, they soon discover that
the ancient gods are not dead as once believed but are held captive in a secret
location. In order to save the world from destruction at the hands of
Hephaestus, the descendants must set out on a crusade to rescue the
gods. In the process, Skylar learns more about her bloodline and her
powers, but there is also a heavy price to pay. The darkest forces known to man
are about to return to reclaim their stolen kingdom.
awareness, and the mist that slowly crept out like thin layer of clouds,
spreading and covering our feet, brought another level of fright. The ground
started to shake, then a sound like thunder boomed, getting louder…louder…until
it sounded more like a stampede.
envision buffaloes charging for us. Roaring sounds burst in the air when a
dozen of the Cerberuses tried to charge through at once. I would have preferred
the buffaloes, but instead, we got Hades’s guard dogs.
first, then their vampire like teeth, and last three heads to a body. With
serpent’s heads on the tips of their tales and lion like claws, they looked
like they could rip us to shreds as they dashed for us as if we were a gourmet
meal.
quaked, standing next to Tara. Extending both of their arms up, they were
creating a shied. Blazing light engulfed us.
don’t think it would have mattered.” Nick’s eyes glowed, ready to fight. “Here
puppy, puppy. Let’s play.”
Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting
and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by
chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and
inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new
adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to
write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic
Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No
Bullies Allowed.
RELEASE DAY BLITZ! WITHIN MY GRASP by JOCELYN STOVER
Posted by The Literary Melting Pot in Book News on February 8, 2015
takes a jab at the guest on his show and I settle back on
I wear I pop the top off the cold beer I’ve just retrieved from the fridge
and take a long swig. I’m not really one for jewelry but over time I’ve
grown accustomed to the heavy band and some of its finer functions, like
how it doubles as a bottle opener quite nicely. With a flick of my wrist I
toss the cap on the coffee table and try to focus on the television, but I
struggle. I’m tired. It’s nothing new; I can’t remember the last time I
wasn’t exhausted. Had to be before David, I surmise. Surely I’d slept better
before the little monster latched onto me?
child I mute the television and turn toward the closed
behind which he lies sleeping. My keen Wanderer hearing
in fact it doesn’t detect anything at all, causing the hairs on the back
of my neck to stand on end. A paralyzing fear snakes its way through my
stomach and before I can think twice I’m off the sofa. Mother’s
instinct…that’s how one of the women at the M.O.P.S. (Mothers of
Preschoolers) group I’d been going to had described it. At the time I’d
thought she was nuts and had almost let her know, using very specific terminology
that there was no fucking way I was plagued by some feminine sixth sense. Then
I remembered that they all thought I was a woman, thanks to a little mental
tampering on my part so I could fit in. Looking at it in that context her
assessment wasn’t so offensive, I decided. Still I’d Googled that shit
when I got home only to discover she’d been spot on. The unexplainable
feelings of dread that I sometimes get are apparently frequent in mothers
through David’s door with no consideration for the sleeping
breeze from the window that I don’t remember leaving open and panicking I
flip on a light. I run to the bed and yank back the covers that I find nothing
out of the ordinary despite already knowing something is very, very wrong.
my forehead as my eyes dart from the empty bed to the
to the malevolent grin and dark luminescent eyes floating in the shadows.
I lunge for the Sylph calmly hovering mere inches beyond the window sill.
cry with mocking humor. Before I can get my hands
tufts of bright smoke that swiftly extinguish before my eyes.
fingers dug so tightly into the window frame that it cracks. I
about disoriented; it’s difficult to think. I have to move, I have to find
him. My battle-ready body responds to the simple command and all higher
reasoning checks out. I leap through the window into the night; it’s time
to hunt.
COVER REVEAL! BROKEN by LAUREN LAYNE
Posted by The Literary Melting Pot in Book News on April 24, 2014
BROKEN by Lauren Layne
Flirt New Adult Romance
On sale: September 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-553-39035-3
About the book:
Lauren Layne’s heart-wrenching novel tells the story of a girl with secrets, a guy with scars, and a love that could save them both . . . or destroy them.
When Olivia Middleton abandons the glamour of Park Avenue for a remote, coastal town in Maine, everyone assumes she’s being the kind do-gooder she’s always been. But Olivia has a secret: helping an injured war veteran reenter society isn’t about charity—it’s about penance. Only, Olivia’s client isn’t the grateful elderly man she’s expecting. Instead, he’s a brooding twenty-four-year-old who has no intention of being Olivia’s path to redemption . . . and whose smoldering gaze and forbidden touch might be her undoing.
Paul Langdon doesn’t need a mirror to show him he’s no longer the hotshot quarterback he was before the war. He knows he’s ugly—inside and out. He’ll do anything to stay in self-imposed exile, even accept his father’s ultimatum that Paul tolerate the newest caretaker for three months or lose his inheritance. But Paul doesn’t count on the beautiful twenty-two-year-old who makes him long for things that he can never have. And the more she slips past his defenses, the more keeping his distance is impossible.
Now Paul and Olivia have to decide: Will they help each other heal? Or are they forever broken?
** Teaser Reveal!**
Olivia squirms. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’ve never known a female to acquiesce that easily without a catch. How about you hit me with it now and get it over with?”
Olivia shrugs. “Fine. I was going to say that I won’t run alone, if you promise to go with me.”
“No,” I say, almost before she’s finished her sentence.
“Why not?”
I rap my cane once against the ground. “Well, for starters, despite the fact that there are tortoises that could surpass your sorry excuse for a jog, I’m in no shape to accompany even the most pathetic of runners.”
“What a handy skill you have of overloading a sentence with insults,” she says as she reaches up to adjust her ponytail. “That must be helpful what with your thriving social life and all.”
I thump my cane against the ground again, studying her. “Must be nice, picking on the cripple.”
Olivia rolls her eyes. “Please. Your soul’s more crippled than your leg.”
She has no idea how right she is, and I have no intention of letting her anywhere close enough to find out. I’ve gotten good at shutting people out by pushing them away . . . being as nasty as possible until they reach their breaking point. But with her? It’s different.
We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of BROKEN by Lauren Layne! Love everything Lauren Layne? Her newest adult contemporary romance in the Sex, Love and Stiletto series, JUST ONE NIGHT, is on sale now!
ON SALE!
Click below for JUST ONE NIGHT review post..A Romancebookworm.com Goody!
BLOG TOUR STOP! JUST ONE NIGHT BY LAUREN LAYNE (@TastyBookTours).
About the Author
Lauren Layne is a snarky smartass with a serious weakness for happily ever afters.
Marrying her high school sweetheart was a good start. *cue Disney soundtrack.*
But Lauren wanted all romance, all the time.
Now she writes fictional happy endings, and considers her job done well if you swoon while reading her books.
Don’t worry. You will.
Once upon a time she lived in a Manhattan high-rise, but now she’s on the laid-back train in the Seattle area. If you ever find yourself in Issaquah, she’ll probably buy you a drink. Maybe.
Connect with Lauren
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