Giveaway and Review of INTO THE FIRE: Gorgeous Entourage #1 by E.L. Todd

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I really enjoyed Ash and Alessandra's story. Neither of them were conventional characters, and I felt that E.L. Todd did a great job of spinning a tale that was engaging, dramatic, and sizzling hot.

Ash was good-hearted and really wanted to help his parents out of a jam, I think that it was pretty crappy of them to refuse to pay him back just because he wouldn't conform to their rules. Ash witnessed some terrible things as a soldier in Afghanistan, but he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Too bad his parents didn't think it was the right path for him.

Alessandra adhered to strict rules for her job. She never crossed the line, that is until Ash.

I loved their interaction as they quickly went into the friends with super hot benefits, they had fantastic chemistry.  I hated when they had their misunderstanding and found myself emotionally involved in the story as I pulled for their HEA ending.

Ash

Despite everything I've done for my parents, I'll never be good enough for them. Instead of seeing a man to be proud of, they just see an embarrassment. I served four tours in Afghanistan but that doesn't mean anything to them. They only see the ink, the party life, and my short stint in jail.

And nothing else.

When they were in trouble, I handed over my life savings. I didn't think twice about it because they're my family, my blood. They raised me to be my own man and gave me everything I needed. It didn't matter that it was every penny I had. It didn't matter that the money was set aside for my future. My dreams.

Because they needed me.

But now they refuse to pay me back until I become the man they think I should be.

Alessandra

I have an unusual professional.

I escort men, acting as their date to family functions or work parties. It's my job to act deeply in love with my client. And I always nail it.

But it's not what you think.

I'm not a prostitute.

I'm not a call girl.

I'm an actress.

Get it right.

There are strict rules when it comes to my profession. There is no touching, kissing, or anything but hand-holding. Those who choose not to comply will get a swift kick in the nuts.

But all this goes to hell when Ash walks into my life.

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Amazon Bestselling author, E. L. Todd, was raised in sunny California where she still lives today, claiming it’s the best place in the country. Easily hypothermic and hateful of the cold, she prefers to be warm all year round. She attended California State University, Stanislaus

and received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, but still pursued her dream to be a writer. She’s written several novels and many series’, and her imagination can’t seem to stop. She tries to find the good in people and

she exploits that in her writing, proving that people can make mistakes and rise above their past.

Her hobbies include sunbathing, swimming, eating at Surf

Taco in San Diego, reading, and learning everything she can about hippopotamuses’, her favorite creature. Her greatest dream is to make people forget about the harshness of reality and dive into a good story with lovable people. When fans tell her they love her work, it gives her the greatest sense of accomplishment.

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AGAINST THE WALL by Jill Sorenson Review and Giveaway

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I have been waiting for Meghan and Eric's story ever since I read The Edge of Night (April & Noah's book) in 2011!!!!!  Ms. Sorenson is one of my favorite authors because she writes characters that aren't the mainstream norm. They are multideminsional, layered with good and bad qualities that make them realistic and make me want too peel them apart.

I love that neither Eric nor Meghan are perfect. They make bad decisions and have paid for them. Nothing is brushed under the table...

(NOTE: I will be expanding upon this review)

AGAINST THE WALL

Jill Sorenson

Releasing on February 2, 2016

Loveswept

Fans of Katie McGarry, Simone Elkeles, and Tammara Webber will love Against the Wall! 

As teenagers, they fell for each other despite the odds. But now that Eric and Meghan are all grown up, they’re reunited by fierce passion and dangerous secrets.

Eric Hernandez is the bad boy of every schoolgirl’s fantasies—and every mother’s nightmares. But after serving time for manslaughter, he’s ready to turn his life around. He just needs a chance to prove himself as a professional tattoo artist. The one thing that keeps him going is the memory of the innocent beauty he loved and left behind.

Meghan Young’s world isn’t as perfect as it looks. The preacher’s daughter is living a lie, especially now that Eric is back. Tougher, harder, and sexier than ever, he might be the only person she can trust. But there’s no telling what he’ll do to protect her if he learns the truth, and that’s a risk Meghan won’t let him take. And yet, back in the arms of the troubled boy with the artist’s soul, Meghan can’t help surrendering to the man he’s become.

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Jill Sorenson is the RITA-nominated author of more than a dozen romantic-suspense novels. She has a degree in literature and writing from California State University. Her books have been selected as Red-Hot Reads by Cosmopolitan magazine, and have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. Sorenson currently lives in the San Diego area with her family. She’s a soccer mom who loves nature, coffee, reading, Twitter, and reality TV.

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NOT THE ONE by Amy Daws

~Not The One is a full length standalone adult romance~

My name is Reyna Miracle. Even though a part of my name is Miracle, there’s nothing miraculous about me. My body portrays the tales of my life. Every feeling, every heartbreak, every emotion. Marked. Inked. Stained. A walking canvas of my messed up truth.  But there’s one confession I can’t put in a tattoo. A confession that will kill me to tell, but my best friend died before I had the chance. Now I’m left with him. The only one who can hold me in the night and squeeze that spot on my neck that feels like my lifeline between sanity and chaos. But we don’t work together. We’re absolute poison for each other.We’re a stifling, suffocating, sickness of darkness. But I feel safe...because I’ve made an art of pushing people away.

Now he’s pushing back…

And making me believe...

Making me wonder...

Maybe, just maybe...

I could be the one.

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“Christ, I hardly recognized you,” he seethes, the angry bulge in his jaw bone ticking violently. He grabs my arm firmly and pulls me off the concrete steps and into a covered archway away from all the other happy students. “What the fuck, Rey?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask in utter confusion.

He reaches beneath my chin, grabs the zipper and yanks it down harshly. I shove his hands away as my robe is yanked open.

“Fuck, Rey! You’re skin and bones!” Liam’s face is tortured and sickly. Dark circles reside under his eyes but he still looks gorgeous as ever.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Grabbing the edges of my robe, I cover myself back up, protectively. I’m wearing a short blue shift dress that used to hug every one of my curves but now hangs on me like a potato sack. I know I’ve lost some weight since Marisa but I’m not about to let him scold me like a child over it. “I’m a twenty-five-year-old adult, Liam. I don’t need you chastising me over this.”

“Rey,” he says my name on a sigh. “How can you expect me to ignore this?” His eyes are pleading and pained as they flash between my eyes and my mouth in utter agony.

“I’m not your concern!” I push back my dark hair and squeeze the back of my neck to try to gain some of my control back.

“You made that perfectly clear when you shoved me out of your dorm room. Fuck. How did we get this so utterly wrong?”

“Just leave it, Liam.”

“No.” He grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. “Don’t you miss me? At all? I miss you like crazy. I feel like I’m mourning two deaths instead of one. It’s like you died on me two weeks ago. And now I see you today and it makes me sick to my stomach that I’ve left you the way I did!” His eyes are shimmering with tears and pain, only adding to the self-loathing I’ve developed the past fourteen days.

My eyes are dead and cold, my voice flat and unaffected. “I told you I wanted nothing to do with you, Liam. I meant it.”

“You’re lying to me. Again!” he roars, angrily punching the concrete wall beside my head. 

Q: Readers are calling Not The One a “painfully beautiful love story.” Why is that? What was the writing process like?

A: Writing this book was terrifying. I’ve never been so far outside my comfort zone with any other book. This storyline literally terrified me and I got pretty depressed during the process. It was crazy hard, but crazy cathartic. It feels good to sink into those dark corners sometimes. It makes finding the light that much more magical.

Q: What inspired this story?

A: Well, Reyna was a character in my London Lovers Series that I couldn’t get out of my head. I had an idea for an interesting backstory for her…a mother/daughter dynamic that I’d never read before but could relate to because of some of my own personal struggles. I needed to know more about her, so I wrote it.

Q: But this book isn’t a London Lovers Series novel, correct?

A: Correct. I’m calling it a spinoff. A cross-pollination so to speak. There are characters from my London Lovers, but it reads best as a total standalone.

Q: Who the heck is Frank? And how did you create him?

A: LOL! Ohhh, Frank and Beans. He is my London Lovers secondary standout. He’s a fantastical redheaded gay Brit that everyone needs in their life. Magically, he fit into Not The One like it was meant to be. Frank is the comedic lightness that this story needed, but he’s so much more. He’s special.

Q: Will he get a story? 

A: He is my most requested story.

That’s not an answer. 

LOL…Let me be “frank” when I tell you…it is a distinct possibility. ;)

Q: Who designed your cover? It’s stunning!

A: I’m so glad you like it because I did! LOL. My sister in law took the photos. We do all of my covers together. We both come armed with cameras and click away until our models can’t take anymore. But I always end up using my sister-in-laws pictures for the cover. I just like to see through the lens instead of  eyes. But I do all my own layout and designing in Photoshop.

Q: And the cover models? 

A: All of my covers have just normal people. I never shoot models. The cover models on Not The One are just a couple of local hairdressers that my sister-in-law knew! It’s funny…I had met the girl a couple of times and talked with her briefly about her incredible ink and through the writing process, her tattoos fit my story perfectly. It was kind of chilling.

Q: So what’s next for you?

A: I’m pretty sure I’ll be continuing on this London path for a couple more stories. Without revealing any spoilers, I’m really hoping readers will be interested in one of the characters’ HEA. I’d love to write his story next. And then…finally, Frank and Beans. :)

Amy Daws is a commercial producer and lives in South Dakota with her husband and daughter. The long-awaited birth of Lorelei is what inspired her passion for writing. Amy is a lover of all things British and her award-nominated romantic comedy series, The London Lovers Series, is centered around Americans in London. It's emotional and self-deprecating with lots of humor sprinkled in. On most nights, you can find Amy and her family dancing to Strawberry Shortcake’s theme song or stuffing themselves inside children’s-sized playhouses because there is nothing they wouldn’t do for their little miracle.

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RELEASE DAY for Laura Kaye's HARD AS STEEL!!!!

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Laura Kaye's HARD AS STEEL!! HARD AS STEEL is a Hard Ink/Raven Riders Series Crossover Novella brought to you by 1001 Dark Nights. Grab your copy today!!

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Excerpt:

I’m thrilled to be here celebrating the release of my 21^st book, HARD AS STEEL! After a midnight break-in at her apartment, close friends and Hard Ink Tattoo co-workers Ike Young and Jessica Jakes are forced into hiding—and forced to confront the feelings they’ve always denied for one another. I have always adored friends-to-lovers and forced proximity stories, and HARD AS STEEL delivers that and more, including a taste of both my award-winning and best-selling Hard Ink and upcoming Raven Riders series! Check out this excerpt:

They stared at each for a long moment. Jess went from feeling amused to awkward to observed…and that made her hot. Especially as she was standing there in nothing but a towel.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Ike’s gaze slowly ran down her neck to her chest. She wiped at something there and the wetness on the fingers told her it had been a droplet of water from her hair. Ike watched the movement of her hand openly, hungrily, and his desire made her bold, daring, hungry in return.

Without giving herself time to second guess the idea, she reached out and lightly dragged her wet fingers against his bottom lip.

And it was like she’d unleashed a beast.

Ike grabbed her wrist and hauled her to him. He was on her everywhere. His hands in her hair, on her back, grabbing her ass and lifting her up. His tongue licked the exact route that water droplet had taken, from chest to neck to ear. And then he was kissing her, fucking her mouth with his tongue, absolutely devouring her.

Jess held on like her life depended on it, and at some point she became aware of the breeze on her bare skin. She’d dropped the towel, which meant she was totally buck-ass naked in Ike’s big arms, and she couldn’t have cared less.

Ike licked her mouth, sucked her tongue, nipped at her lips. He turned and made for the stairs, and Jess thought she might die from sheer joy and anticipation. He tasted like strength and sin and sex, and she tightened her legs around his hips as he carried her to the loft, eager to see if all of him tasted so good—or even better.

When they reached the second floor, Ike growled low in his throat and his grip tightened on her on her ass, his fingers digging in. She moaned and—

Cool air from the ceiling fan washed over Jess as Ike dropped her onto the bed—and promptly turned around to leave. Jess was so stunned she couldn’t speak. Just as he hit the top of the steps, he said, “Don’t fucking tease me, Jessica. I’m trying to do right by you, but I’m still just a goddamned man.”

About HARD AS STEEL: A Hard Ink/Raven Riders Crossover Novella

After identifying her employer's dangerous enemies, Jessica Jakes takes refuge at the compound of the Raven Riders Motorcycle Club. Fellow Hard Ink tattooist and Raven leader Ike Young promises to keep Jess safe for as long as it takes, which would be perfect if his close, personal, round-the-clock protection didn't make it so hard to hide just how much she wants him—and always has.

Ike Young loved and lost a woman in trouble once before. The last thing he needs is alone time with the sexiest and feistiest woman he's ever known, one he's purposely kept at a distance for years. Now, Ike's not sure he can keep his hands or his heart to himself—or that he even wants to anymore. And that means he has to do whatever it takes to hold on to Jess forever.

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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