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Michael’s Heart by Lori Thomas Harrington ~ Release Blitz
Title: Michael’s Heart
Author: Lori Thomas Harrington
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
I cannot remember a time when I didn’t hear the music.
She longs for some other way,
they both could stay
lost inside forever
that now echoes yesterday.
What if the love of your life was on the other side?
Music has always captivated Colbie, and she was sure that music would escort her to her destiny. But then, lying on a cold operating table, Colbie’s heart stopped, and her life ended. Then, something miraculous happened. In an inexplicable new world, Colbie comes face to face with Michael and she realized that she has always heard the music.
What if you had to choose between love and life?
When she wakes up in the sterile hospital room to a painful recovery, she longs for the peace she abandoned when she returned to Earth. Back in her own world, Colbie is struggling with fate as she tries to once again, hear the music.
Will fate and love strike the right chords for Michael and Colbie?
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Her world suddenly came crashing all around her in an instant. It all made sense somehow. The music, the familiarity of him, the connection she now clearly felt — as if he had stepped right inside her core.
“You… you’re him,” she said placing her hand over his fingers. “You are my… my…”
As she searched for words, he reached out with hands physically shaking, and softly ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. She was overwrought when she heard his breath audibly catch in his throat. She knew that her emotions where mirroring his own feelings of abandonment as she became immersed in him standing before her.
Hesitantly, she slowly touched his face with her hands, staring at him as his gaze held her in a memorizing trance. Now shaking as well, she shifted one hand, and with a single finger, she slowly traced his lips until she was completely lost in him. All the years of an unseen force that had guided her was now standing before her. It was him.
Born and reared in Mississippi, Lori Thomas Harrington loves the South and all the charms its borders provide. A true southern Belle, she cherishes time with her friends and family. In her spare time, Lori writes music and participates in community theater, but she is often plotting her next novel, with coffee in hand. Lori loves her fans, and she is so thankful that her debut novel, The Point, is a favorite on Amazon and Goodreads. She believes that everyone has a dream, and Lori is proof that it’s never too late to transform dreams into reality.
Spar by Rebecca Jenshak ~ Release Blitz & Giveaway
Title: Spar
Author: Rebecca Jenshak
Series: Sweetbriar Lake
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
Chris White can take his big, chiseled muscles and shove it… at least to the room down the hall. After her apartment building goes up in flames, Tori Calloway finds her-self shacked up with her brother’s best friend and the man she’s spent the better part of her twenties hating with every fiber of her being.
Chris knows how to throw a punch that’ll drop a man to his knees, but sparring with Tori is a whole different game. He was just a boy when he lost her the first time, and he’s not about to make the same mistake twice. Toe to toe with his fiercest competitor yet, he won’t go down without a fight.
**Spar is a sexy, contemporary romance STANDALONE. Each book in the Sweetbriar series will follow a different couple**
Chris racked the barbell and glanced at the clock. It had been nearly eight hours since Tori had stormed — or rather, haughtily limped — upstairs. If she was determined to hide out, he wasn’t going to go banging down the door. This was his house, and he wasn’t tiptoeing around to spare her feelings. As he skipped up the dark stairway, he peeled off his sweaty shirt and shorts. A hot shower before bed sounded great.
No light peered out from the master bedroom. Tori was either sleeping or pretending to sleep. Either way it was a pretty clear signal she wanted to be left alone. Chris turned the door handle to the room he’d claimed for himself. Inside, he closed the door quietly and stepped out of his boxers. He fumbled for the light switch, cursing as he tripped over a pillow lying on the floor. What the hell?
“Oh my God, what are you doing!?” A female voice screamed as the light flicked on, revealing a shocked Tori in his bed, pulling the covers up to her chin like a child.
Chris froze, momentarily taken aback by the woman in his room. Recovering quickly, he let her stare at his naked form. That’s right, sweetheart. Look all you want. A faint pink crept up her neck and into her cheeks, confirming that she liked what she saw.
Tori covered her head with the blanket, screaming incoherently.
Chris headed to the bathroom, smiling at the sight of her hiding under the covers.
“This is my room. I had planned on taking a shower and going to bed alone, but this is a nice surprise. Care to join me in the shower, or do you want to wait for me here?”
Tori flung the covers off and hobble-stalked after him.
“Shower it is, then?” Chris said as his eyes wandered down to her bare legs and back up to her chest, which was covered with his gym shirt. The cut-off sleeves showed just a hint of side-boob, making it next to impossible to look away.
She crossed her arms as she apparently recognized him openly appreciating her choice of clothing. The weight of her arms pressed against her chest pushed her breasts up higher. He’d never be able to wear that shirt again without picturing her in it.
“So where am I supposed to sleep?” she demanded, not looking at him.
“You’re more than welcome to sleep in my bed, but I made up the master for you. End of the hallway,” he said as he stepped into the spray of warm water.
She either needed to get her ass in the shower now, or he was gonna need a hell of a lot more than water to keep his feelings and something else from springing up.
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Rebecca lives in Arizona with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, going to the movie theater, and binge-watching Netflix.
A Better Place by Jennifer Van Wyk ~ Release Blitz & Giveaway
Title: A Better Place
Author: Jennifer Van Wyk
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
Because fighting for love is always worth it.
After James Cole’s wife walked out on him, he put his dreams aside to raise his daughter. But now she’s grown and he’s ready for more.
When the opportunity arises to own a restaurant, his life-long dream, he can’t deny that it’s meant to be. And for more reasons than one.
He’s kept his heart closed off since the day his wife walked away. He’s never found someone who he thought was worth opening himself up to. But one look at her, and he knew she was everything.
Carly Hanson has a secret. A secret only she and her teenage son, Jack, know about. She’s built a new life but kept herself carefully guarded.
The day Carly stumbled, literally, into James, her world was turned upside down. She tries to keep him strictly as a friend, but he’s relentless in his pursuit. Can he break down the walls she’s so firmly built? Can he get her to join him in… A Better Place?
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“Can I come in?” he asks, still standing on my front porch under the soft glow of the porch light.
“Oh! Yeah. Of course. Let me just let Jack know you’re here,” I say over my shoulder as I make my way back into the house.
“Wait. Can I talk to you? Just for a quick second?” he asks, reaching out and touching my hand and stopping me.
“Sure.” I nod my head. “What about?” I ask as I lean against the back of the couch in the living room. I reach over and grab one of the cream-colored throw pillows and hug it to my chest. It gives me a sense of comfort, and stops me from fidgeting — or reaching out and tugging him close to kiss the crap out of him. That might not give him the right idea for just staying friends.
“I have a favor to ask,” he hedges but hastily continues, “and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t really important, and it’s a strictly friendship favor. I promise.”
“James. I know I’ve been a little… determined to keep it in the friend-zone, and you’ve never crossed the line. I can’t tell you how much your patience means to me. I trust you. I promise.”
“Yeah? I’m not being too pushy?”
“No.”
“Okay. Good. That’s good. I would never want to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.”
There’s not a single molecule in my body that doesn’t believe that. “I know. And you haven’t.”
“Would you go to a wedding with me?” he blurts out.
“What?!” I ask, surprise evident in my voice.
“I’m sorry. I just kind of blurted that out, huh? Let me start over. My niece, Emily, is getting married a few weeks after Christmas. It’s only about two hours from here, but I wondered if you would be my plus-one? And I’d love for you to meet Lily, and she’s been so swamped lately that she hasn’t had a chance to spend much time here. I guess she’ll be here for Christmas, so maybe you can meet then, but yeah. And, Tess will be there, obviously, so you would know someone.”
“I don’t know, James. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m honored that you invited me, or thought of me…”
“No one else I would think of,” he murmurs before I continue with my protest that I know will just fall flat anyway.
“You don’t want to bring someone else?”
“Like who?” he challenges, turning his head to the side.
I shrug my shoulders and say the only name that comes to mind. “Christine?”
They actually seem like a logical couple to me, both being in the food-service industry. Both being single parents of daughters. But even though there’s so much that seems right about those two together — and I love Christine dearly — the thought of it makes me physically ill.
He’s shaking his head before I even finish saying her name.
“There’s no one else I would rather bring with me to this wedding, Carly. Jack can come with us, if you’re worried about it being too date-like. I told you I would keep it in the friend-zone, and I don’t go back on my promises. But that doesn’t mean that I want to stop getting to know you better or spending time with you.”
“Can I think about it?” I ask, already knowing that he’ll break me down, and my answer will be yes.
His smile stretches across his scruff-covered face. I was never big on facial hair, but the way James does it makes shaving seem like it should be a crime. Apparently, anything James does makes me change my views. Tattoos? Used to make me turn the other direction. Now? Hot enough to lick. Facial hair? Used to make me think lazy and dingy. Now? I want to run my fingers through it and lick. Either I’m severely hard up, or James is getting burrowed deep under my skin.
“Of course. But let me sweeten the pot. This way you can answer that question that you’ve been dying to have answered since the moment you met me.”
I giggle quietly. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“Who’s the cooler uncle, Dean or myself?”
I almost burst out laughing. He’s so lighthearted and full of life. He’s truly just a fun guy to be around — always a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He could have become a bitter and cynical man after being left to raise a daughter on his own. Instead he embraced it.
“Oh, that question! I already figured it out!”
“It’s not hard to realize, right?” he said as he puffed his chest out a bit, giving me an impish grin.
“Nope. Dean is obviously the way cooler one between you two.” I press my lips together to stop the smile threatening to take over my face.
“Carly,” he warns playfully as he takes a step toward me.
“What? He’s probably not boring, and I’m sure way better looking.”
“Oh really?”
Two steps.
I nod my head seriously. “And in way better shape,” I say, almost choking on the words.
“You think so?”
Another step.
“I’m positive. And cooking? Pssshhh. Hands down, I bet he’s better in the…”
I squeal and take off running through the house as James advances one step closer, a deep growl escaping his throat.
I burst out laughing. Heavy footfalls follow me, making my heart race in anticipation. I round the kitchen island and spread my hands across it, breathless from laughing and running. “Maybe I had it wrong this whole time, and he’s Captain and you’re Private?”
“Take it back,” he says, smiling, his own hands spread wide across the wooden countertop of the island.
I turn my head to the side. “What? Take what back?” I ask innocently.
“Carly,” he warns again.
I tap my finger on my chin, feeling more playful and lighter than I have in years. “Hmmm, maybe I will have to come with you to the wedding. See what the younger Cole brother has to live up to.”
His eyes flash, and I know I’m in trouble, but I can’t seem to stop. “Oh, you think you’re so funny, don’t you?”
I giggle and shrug my shoulders as I start to take steps toward him. He turns and saunters my way, flipping his ball cap backward, our eyes never leaving each other’s. “I think I’m a little funny,” I say as I continue walking toward him, holding my finger and thumb up with only a little space apart.
“Funny or delusional?”
Saunter.
Step.
I guffaw and press my hand to my chest. “Delusional? Who’s the delusional one here?”
Saunter.
Step.
“You’ll see.”
Saunter.
Step.
“I’ll see the awesomeness of Dean? I have no doubts.”
Saunter.
Step.
And I’m suddenly hanging upside down over James’s shoulder being carried back into the living room.
“Aggghhh! James! Put me dow…” I laugh. “I’ll pee! James! Seriously!” I’m laughing so hard that tears are already forming in my eyes.
He tosses me on the couch and pounces, his large body covering mine in a very non-friendly way, but I don’t say a thing. I can’t say a thing. While we have not been overly touchy in the weeks that we’ve known each other, we also haven’t refrained from showing each other small amounts of affection. He always puts his hand on the small of my back when we’re walking, and he’s held my hand when we were crossing the street to go for supper. This, though? This is by far the most affection and feeling we have shown each other.
“Take it back,” he repeats, his eyes heated and voice husky, his arms pinning my hands above me, our fingers threaded together so perfectly it felt like they were made for each other.
“Hmm? What was that?”
“I said…” He lowers his face so we’re nose to nose. “…take…” His nose skims the length of my neck. “…it…” Deep inhale. “…back.”
Heart flutters.
Flips.
Flops.
Kaboom!
My breathing picks up, and I know in this moment that I have two choices:
- Melt into a pile of goo. Which I’m basically well on my way to doing.
- Take matters into my own hands.
I choose option two.
I pull my hands free, frame his face, and pull him down closer. His eyes heat and flit over mine questioningly. And I do something I’ve been wanting to do for what feels like ever.
I lick him, from jawline to temple.
I lay my head back down on the pillow and watch as his face transforms from lust-filled to incredulous.
“Did you just… lick me?”
“I did.”
“I don’t know what to do with that,” he admits.
He pushes himself into sitting position, and I shimmy up the couch, crossing my legs and tucking my hair behind my ears. He’s facing forward. Slowly he turns his face toward me. “You licked me,” he says like he still can’t believe it.
“Yup,” I say. I have no clue why I did it, other than I just wanted to, so giving an explanation isn’t even an option at this point.
“First time your tongue was on me…” He trails off, looking away again.
A giggle bursts out of me, and I quickly put my hand up to my mouth to hold it in.
James shakes his head at me, stands up, and places his hands on his hips. He narrows his eyes and points at me. “Now you have to go to the wedding with me.”
“For the lick?”
“Wedding for the lick.” My eyes widen, and he continues. “That’s right. I said it. You licked me. Therefore, we wedding.”
“That’s not even grammatically correct!” Stupid argument? Probably.
“That’s your defense against going?”
“Hey! It’s true!”
“Be that as it may, doesn’t change the fact that you licked me. And we’re now going to a wedding. Together. Hi, Plus-One.”
I hear a deep snort from the other side of the room and gasp when I see Jack standing in the doorway to the living room, his broad shoulder leaning against the opening, an amused expression on his face.
“You guys are so weird,” he says, pointing to the two of us.
“You say weird. I say awesome,” James says. “Just wait and see who the best Cole man is when you both join me for Emily’s wedding.”
“Why am I being sucked in to this thing?” he asks. “I hate weddings. I don’t wedding.”
“Maggie will be there. In a dress. She’s a bridesmaid.”
“I’ll be there.”
James snorts and looks my way, winks, and my entire body goes up in flames. Bye-bye wall I built so strongly.
James huffed and puffed, and it blew right down.
From the Ground Up was Jennifer’s first published novel, with the hopes of many more to come. Jennifer makes her home in small town Iowa with her high school sweetheart, three beautiful and amazing kids, one crazy Jack Russell terrier. This is where her love for all things reading, baking, and cooking happen. Jennifer’s family enjoys camping, boating, and spending time outside as much as possible. When she’s not writing or editing/proofreading manuscripts for the many talented authors she’s come to love, you can find her cheering the loudest at her kids’ sporting events, sipping coffee or iced tea out of a mason jar with her Kindle in her lap or binging on Netflix.
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Backhand by Elise Faber ~ Release Blitz & Giveaway
Title: Backhand
Author: Elise Faber
Series: Gold Hockey novels (book 2)
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Sports Romance
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
Puck Harder.
Who says dating a bad boy is a terrible idea? Or a reformed one at least…
**Standalone Novel**
Mike Stewart is a bad boy.
Sleeping around. Boozing. Fighting with teammates.
Name a bad behavior and he’s done it—done it so well, in fact, that he almost tanked his career as a starting defensemen for the NHL’s San Francisco Gold.
But Mike is done with all that. He’s starting with a fresh foot forward and putting his past behind him.
That is, until his past quite literally reappears before his eyes.
Sara Jetty is just as beautiful as she was a decade before, but Mike hasn’t seen her since she left for her first Olympics and scored a gold medal in women’s figure skating. Now something has put shadows in her eyes, a familiar type of hurt he is all too well versed in.
This Sara wants nothing to do with him. Their easy friendship is gone and in its place is a hardened woman who’s nothing like the girl from his past.
Still, Mike hasn’t become a top defensemen in the NHL by being afraid of hard work, and he isn’t about to let Sara push him away. Come hell or high water, he’s going to crack her tough outer shell and find the sweet, innocent woman he’s lusted after and loved, in equal measure, for more than ten years.
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“I’ve had enough serious for a while. Let’s stick with fun.”
“Fun as in you teasing me?”
She shrugged and got out. “Yes, that works.”
“Or fun as in sexy naked time?” he asked, getting out of his own side and looking over the top of the car at her. The garage was dark, except for the faint light coming from the opener above their heads.
He was gorgeous, as in he literally took her breath away, all planes of hard lines softened by his five o’clock shadow and plump lips.
She wanted to sketch him.
She wanted to f*ck him more.
Check out the rest of the Gold Hockey Standalones!
Gold Hockey, Book 1
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Offsides-Gold Hockey, Book 1.5
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Aside from writing romance, Elise’s passions are chocolate, Star Wars, and hockey (the order depending on the day and how well her team — the Sharks! — are playing). She and her husband also play as much hockey as they can squeeze into their schedules, so much so that their typical date night is spent on the ice. Elise is the mom to two exuberant boys and is thoroughly addicted to Dancing With the Stars. Connect with her on facebook (facebook.com/elisefaberauthor), twitter (@faberelise), instagram (@elisefaber) or http://www.elisefaber.com.
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The Lonely Girl by Gracie Wilson ~ Release Blitz
Title: The Lonely Girl
Author: Gracie Wilson
Genre: New Adult
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
Being Lonely is only the beginning…
One night can change it all. One argument can leave you reeling. A look can take you to a place you can never return from again. What happens when one day, you wake up and find your world has been turned upside down? The person you love is gone. The life you thought you’d have is no longer one you see being able to get back to. You lost the one person you loved more than anything. They tell you to move on, try. For them. It’s what they would want. But is it really? So I try.
This time, will be different. I slowly start to put the shattered pieces of my heart back together, only to have it broken again, by someone I thought I trusted. My heart’s barely healed, my world just starting to make sense again, when tragedy and devastation strikes. My circumstances leave me asking one question… Is it worth the risk to love again?
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GRACIE WILSON
Look for her in the trees enjoying nature’s wonders, traveling to see the latest animal conservations, or at aquariums all around the world. This girl loves nature and all animals. She has many pets and is always adding new additions. The more the merrier in her mind. Sitting under the shade reading a book, letting the world around her pass by, while she is safe in her bubble of imagination. Well, that is where she’d love to stay. She is a softball player, can be talked into the occasional Karaoke and loves going out to dance. She is a first generation Canadian living in Ontario. Her family is from Scotland, so finding her in the hot sun for very long is unlikely, but give her rain and thunderstorms and she’s golden.
