EXCERPT REVEAL: BLIND LOVE by KELLY ELLIOTT

    

Blind Love

Cowboys and Angels #5

By Kelly Elliott

Releasing July 24th, 2018

Self-Published

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Harley and I had our whole lives planned out, until her plans changed, and those plans didn't include me. After years spent trying to get the love of my life out of my head and repair my too-damaged heart, I thought I was finally moving on…but life sure has a funny way of letting you know when those best-laid plans are about to be turned upside down. 

My entire world was rocked when Harley unexpectedly moved back to Oak Springs. Every miserable moment I'd spent trying to get over her and every hour I'd wasted trying to erase her from my life came back to haunt me the minute she walked into my office, fear in her eyes, and asked me for help. Would I…or better yet, could I walk away from her this time after all that she had put me through? 

What I really needed to know is would I be able to forge ahead with the future I had so meticulously planned—one that didn't include Harley—or will her return finally open my eyes to a future full of endless possibilities?   

Blind Love is book five in the Cowboys and Angels series.    

     

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 Once I turned the corner I ran into something solid and knew I had spoken too soon. “Harley? Darling, what are you doing?” 

Taking a step back, I looked up into the deepest of blue eyes. They almost left me breathless. John Parker. The man was the older image of all of his five sons. Handsome. Built. And a smile that made your knees week. “Oh shit,” I mumbled. 

“Hell, shit, fuck,” Chloe whispered next to me. 

“Chloe Lynn!” John said. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” My eyes darted to Tripp. Great. Just great. “Oh hey. I was, um, just showing Chloe your new puppy.” 

Tripp’s eyes about popped out of his head. Of course, the little rascal who had started all of this was standing next to me giggling. “Ah. Come again?” Tripp asked. 

“You got a dog, Tripp? That’s amazing,” John said as he turned and smiled big.

 “I’ve been telling him for years he needed a dog.” I let out a nervous laugh. “Well, he’s got a cute one!” 

“Wait. What?” Tripp said as he shot daggers at me. 

“Who’s got a cute what?” Trevor asked, walking in behind Tripp and his father. Of course, the whole damn family would be walking through the very door I was trying to escape out of. We would have been better off going out the front door. 

“Tripp’s got a new puppy!” Chloe called out as I hit her on the arm as a warning.

 “Wait!” Tripp cried. I panicked and did the only thing I could think of. I unwrapped the puppy and shoved it in Trevor’s face. When he was little he was a sucker for a cute puppy; I was hoping things hadn’t changed. 

“Oh, my gosh! Look at this little guy,” Trevor said in a baby voice as he took the puppy from my hands. 

“Great, you want him? He’s yours,” Tripp said. 

“It’s a girl!” Chloe said with a clap of her hands. I hit her a few times to get her to take it back a few. We weren’t out of the woods yet. 

“Aww, he’s so cute. Don’t worry, Tripp. I won’t steal your girl.” Trevor looked at me when he said that and winked, causing my cheeks to heat up. 

“Now wait a second here,” Tripp started. I knew I had to cut him off. 

“Tripp mentioned he wanted a hound dog, and when I saw this little girl in town, well, I had to get her.” I could feel angry eyes on me, but I kept going. “I mean, she was the last puppy and I felt so bad, I had to take her.” Looking at Tripp, I motioned with my head to Chloe, hoping he would catch on. “He was afraid y’all might be mad if she was in the house so I was fixin’ to take her to the barn.”

 “What? Nonsense. Tripp, we don’t mind your puppy being in the house,” John stated. 

“Hell, Patches is always in the house,” Trevor said with a deep rumbling laugh. John sighed and lifted his cowboy hat to run his hand through his dark hair. A sigh of resignation escaped his lips. 

“What’s her name, Tripp?” Trevor asked. Chloe grabbed onto my hand and squeezed it hard as I held my breath. It felt like forever before Tripp finally spoke. 

“Hemingway’s Whiskey. Hemi, for short.” I pinched my brows together as I tried to figure out how in the hell he came up with that name off the top of his head. I knew it was a Kenny Chesney song, and Tripp liked his Kenny Chesney. But Hemi? 

“What the hell kind of name is that for a girl?” Trevor asked. 

Tripp forced a smile. “The moment I found out the dog was mine, I wanted to drink a fifth of whiskey.”

 

    

      

Kelly Elliott is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author. Since finishing her bestselling Wanted series, Kelly continues to spread her wings while remaining true to her roots and giving readers stories rich with hot protective men, strong women and beautiful surroundings. Her bestselling works include, Wanted, Broken, Without You, and Unconditional Love, to name just a few. Kelly has been passionate about writing since she was fifteen. After years of filling journals with stories, she finally followed her dream and published her first novel, Wanted, in November of 2012. Kelly lives in central Texas with her husband, daughter, and two pups. When she’s not writing, Kelly enjoys reading and spending time with her family. She is down to earth and very in touch with her readers, both on social media and at signings. To find out more about Kelly and her books, you can find her through her website. www.kellyelliottauthor.com 

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EXCERPT REVEAL: THE ONE NIGHT STAND by ELIZABETH HAYLEY

     

The One Night Stand

The Players #3

By Elizabeth Hayley

Releasing December 12th, 2017

Swerve

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Gabriel Torres thought his life after Major League Baseball would be simple and quiet, or at least quieter. However, as he takes over running the exclusive Players Club, he finds himself continually embroiled in scandal and drama. Surely nothing, and no one could make his life any crazier...Right?

Rachel Adler is a blast from Gabe’s past who crashed back into his life with the finesse of a freight train. But she's a welcome distraction. At least for a night.

Rachel has been working hard to become one of the top sports journalists in the country. She doesn't have time for a long-term romance or irresistibly charming baseball players. A one-night-stand with the man who she knew would hit it out of the park was all she wanted.

But when she gets a tip that Gabe could have ties to one of the biggest sports stories in history, a story that could make her career, Rachel decides that maybe she has a little time for the sexy baseball player after all. As she gets in deeper with both her story and Gabe, Rachel begins to question who she is, what she wants, and what exactly she’s willing to sacrifice for her career.

Will the potential grand-slam romance be stopped short or will Rachel and Gabe be able to go the distance?

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Chapter One

  Rachel hustled through the newsroom, her brown hair bouncing against her shoulders as her mind whirled with all of the different things her boss Rick Hartnett may want to talk to her about. None of them were good. She’d been a reporter with All Access Sports Magazine practically since she’d graduated college, but as she let her eyes roam around the room, she noticed the thrill wasn’t as strong as it used to be. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her job or had much of a desire to move on to a different publication. Moreso it was that she felt stagnant. Every day there was a reminder that she hadn’t reached the kind of success she’d hoped she would have after nearly a decade in the industry.

Reaching the door of Rick’s office, she gave it a few raps. “You wanted to see me?” she asked after he looked up from his computer.

“Yeah,” he replied, gesturing to the chair on the other side of his desk. Though All Access Sports was on the twenty-second floor of a building that was less than twenty years old, their space was anything but sleek. Stacks of old newspapers and magazines littered Rick’s floor, and Rachel had to step around them to make it to the chair. Rachel took a seat without closing the door, since Rick always preferred it stay open. She and Rick engaged in some sort of odd staring contest before he finally picked up the next edition of their print magazine and dropped it on the desk in front of her.

“You want to tell me why you don’t have an article in there?”

No, actually she didn’t want to tell him. “I didn’t have anything solid to contribute.”

Rick steepled his hands and let his chin rest atop them. “Hmm. That’s interesting. Because when I looked into our budget analytics for last month, I see that you flew across the goddamn country to chase a story. But,” Rick slapped a finger onto the magazine, “I don’t see a story.”

“The lead didn’t pan out.”

“I didn’t even approve that trip. How’d you get the go ahead?”

Rachel shrugged in an overly casual way that was an attempt to pretend she wasn’t about to get reamed out by her boss. And what was worse, she deserved it. “You weren’t here when the story came up so I asked Cal.” “You asked Cal, a junior editor with no actual authority to make this decision?”

“Accounting thinks he has authority.” It was not the brightest thing Rachel could have said in that moment, but it was at the very least true.

“But you know he doesn’t. What was the story anyway? At our last pitch meeting you said you were going to do a piece on the inflation of prices at ballparks. Pretty sure you didn’t need to go to California for that.”

Rachel looked down and studied her nails. She really needed to get a manicure. Her nail beds looked disastrous. “I heard some grumblings about the club so I thought I’d check it out.”

“Jesus Christ. Not this again.”

Rachel let her hands drop into her lap. “Yes, this again. You know this is an ongoing investigation for me. If I can figure out the truth behind the rumors, it would make my whole career.” S

ighing, Rick crossed his arms on his desk. “How long have you been looking into this club?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” she hedged. “Too long is the answer. You gotta drop this thing, Rach. If there was any truth to it, you’d have found out by now.”

“Not necessarily. It’s extremely exclusive. Only the best of the best get asked to join, so obviously they’re going to be tight-lipped about it. I just have to find the right angle.”

“Rachel.”

“And I’ve found enough details to support its existence. I just don’t have anything solid enough to base a story on.”

“Rachel.”

“But it’s only a matter of time. The source in San Diego didn’t pan out, but something else will. I just need to keep my ear to the ground.”

“Rachel!” Rick yelled. Taking a deep breath, she focused on him, even though she knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “It’s time to give it up. You’re out there chasing a unicorn when there are more pressing things we need you to cover.”

“It’s not a unicorn. It’s a Triple Crown winner.”

“A hypothetical Triple Crown winner. That’s not good enough to waste resources.” “I’ve spent years on this story. I can’t--”

“You’ve spent years on it and have absolutely nothing to show for it. I’m sorry, but you need to drop it. We can’t allocate any more resources toward it.”

“I’ll work it on my own time.”

“We consider your time our resource. We pay you for it. We need your head to be in the game.”

“You can’t forbid me from working on something when I have nothing else going on.” “No. But I can fire you if you don’t start providing usable material on a regular basis.”

Rachel’s eyes shot to his, hers widening in surprise. He’d never threatened to fire her before. Nothing even close. Under her scrutiny, Rick’s face softened. “Look, I’m not trying to scare you. But I do have to be honest. I can’t have a reporter going rogue whenever she feels like it. We’re a team here, and you used to be one of our most integral players. But it’s like you’ve put yourself on the disabled list and refuse to do any more than take a few practice swings.”

“That was...a really involved metaphor.” Rick rolled his eyes, but some of the good-natured vibes they normally had between them returned, which encouraged Rachel to be completely honest.

“This story is going to be epic, Rick. And it may not happen this month, or this year, but it’s going to happen. And I’ll be damned if it happens for someone else after I’ve spent so many years on it. I refuse to lose out because I was forced to give up.”

“Listen. If something comes over the wire that even so much as hints at the club, you’ll be the first one to know. But as far as using All Access time and resources to investigate it...those days are over. When you’re here, you’re to work the assignments we give you. And for Christ’s sake, next time you use company money to travel somewhere, you’d better go through the proper channels. I don’t give a shit if you’re riding a subway to Brooklyn. You clear it with me first.”

Figuring this was the closest to a compromise as she was going to get, Rachel nodded. “Got it.”

“Good. Now get out of here and pack.” Rachel startled. 

“Pack? I thought you’d just finished grounding me for the foreseeable future.” “Stop being a smartass or I won’t send you anywhere.”

Rachel stood and smoothed out her black slacks. “Where am I going?”

Rick reached across his desk to retrieve the magazine. “The Super Bowl.”

       

Elizabeth Hayley is actually "Elizabeth" and "Hayley," two friends who love reading romance novels to obsessive levels. This mutual love prompted them to put their English degrees to good use by penning their own. The product is Pieces of Perfect, their debut novel. They learned a ton about one another through the process, like how they clearly share a brain and have a persistent need to text each other constantly (much to their husbands' chagrin). They live with their husbands and kids in a Philadelphia suburb. Thankfully, their children are still too young to read. Elizabeth Hayley's writing motto is best captured by the words of Patrick Dennis: "I always start with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind."

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EXCERPT REVEAL: READY TO RUN by LAUREN LAYNE

A reality TV producer falling for her would-be star: 
a Montana heartthrob who wants nothing to do with the show.

READY TO RUN

I Do, I Don't #1

Lauren Layne

Releasing Aug 22, 2017

Loveswept

The Bachelor meets The Runaway Bride in this addictive romance novel about a reality TV producer falling for her would-be star: a Montana heartthrob who wants nothing to do with the show.

Jordan Carpenter thinks she’s finally found the perfect candidate for Jilted, a new dating show about runaway grooms: Luke Elliott, a playboy firefighter who’s left not one but three brides at the altar. The only problem? Luke refuses to answer Jordan’s emails or return her calls. Which is how she ends up on a flight to Montana to recruit him in person. It’s not Manhattan but at least the locals in Lucky Hollow seem friendly . . . except for Luke, who’s more intense—and way hotter—than the slick womanizer Jordan expected.

Eager to put the past behind him, Luke has zero intention of following this gorgeous, fast-talking city girl back to New York. But before he can send her packing, Jordan’s everywhere: at his favorite bar, the county fair, even his exes’ book club. Annoyingly, everyone in Lucky Hollow seems to like her—and deep down, she’s starting to grow on him too. But the more he fights her constant pestering, the more Luke finds himself wishing that Jordan would kick off her high heels and make herself comfortable in his arms.

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Damn. Charlie hadn’t been lying about the hot blonde.

The woman walking straight toward him was all tight jeans, high heels, and confi-dence. And hot. Very, very hot.

Charlie muttered something admiring under his breath, and Luke’s gaze flicked to the man beside the woman. Tried to place him. Couldn’t.

Not too many guys around here who wore light-purple shirts and white pants with the same easy comfort that Lucky Hollow residents wore jeans and flannel.

No doubt about it—neither was from around here. Not by a long shot.

The man was a half step behind the woman, and Luke assessed that the woman was calling the shots.

His eyes narrowed as he realized that she hadn’t once wavered in her approach.

She knew what she was after:

Him.

She got closer and Luke saw that the face matched the body. Wide blue eyes, full lips, sassy shoulder-length blond hair that was just tousled enough to make a man wonder how it had gotten that way—to want to be the one to muss it.

Her gaze flicked over him, and Charlie whistled and muttered under his breath. “She just checked you out, man.”

She had indeed, but Luke was far from flattered. It hadn’t been the assessment of a woman checking out a man so much as a predator evaluating its prey.

As though she was evaluating him for . . . something.

Blondie stopped in front of him, and the second her blue eyes locked on his, Luke felt a little jolt of awareness and was irrationally annoyed. It had been a long time since he’d been quite so aware of a woman.

Once, he’d enjoyed the feeling—sexual chemistry was almost the perfect combination of pain and pleasure. A subtle punch in the gut that you wanted to experience again and again.

These days, though, he was having a hard time getting past the pain part. The shitty parts had outweighed the good parts just one time too many. Now he mostly settled for casual hookups with a divorcée a few towns over who was even less interested in com-mitment than Luke was.

He had zero use for attraction to a pretty, bold woman in high heels.

Luke noticed that for a sheer moment she had a slightly off-balance look, as though she too had felt the annoying zip of arousal when their eyes met, but she recovered quick-ly.

Pasting a sunny, generic smile on her face, she stuck out her right hand. “Luke Elliott. I’m Jordan Carpenter. This is my colleague, Simon Nash.”

Good manners had him setting down his equipment and extending his own right hand toward hers even as his brain caught on her name. Familiar, and . . .

Shit. Shit!

He managed to stop from jerking his hand back, but just barely. Instead, he gritted his teeth, gave her hand a perfunctory shake, and then fixed her with a glare. “You’re wasting your time, Ms. Carpenter. And mine.”

Blue eyes narrowed. “Aha. So you did get my emails.”

Those. The voicemails. The letters.

“Sure,” he said with a nod, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Just like I suspect you got the message that I didn’t want to be a part of your show.”

Charlie looked from the woman to Luke and back again. “Show?”

Ryan ambled over, his shit-eating grin telling Luke that this damn woman had already spilled the beans on why she was here. “Luke’s gonna be a national heartthrob.”

“International,” said the blond guy in the purple shirt.

Jordan Carpenter didn’t look at her companion, but all three firefighters did.

The other man gave the sort of easy smile that probably had him making friends easily. Luke didn’t want a new friend.

EXCERPT REVEAL: MOON STRUCK by DONNA GRANT

 

Moon Struck

LaRue #3

By Donna Grant

Releasing July 24th, 2017

 

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BLURB

HIS FIGHT TO BE WHOLE

Years ago, Solomon LaRue’s life was ripped apart when his fiancée was taken from him brutally and without cause. After, he vowed to never love again and put all of his energy into defending New Orleans from the evil Voodoo priestess out to destroy everything he held dear. Until a beautiful and maddening witch from the Quarter comes into his life and shakes everything up. Now, he thinks of nothing but her, and despite the dangers surrounding his family, he can’t help but alter his plans to make sure she stays safe. At all costs.

HER REASON FOR BEING

For most of her life, Minka Verdin thought she was nothing more than a gifted fortune teller until a life-altering experience brought her into her powers. Now, honed and hardened to be the weapon she knows she can be, she has no time for lust and love in her life. Unfortunately, a certain sexy-as-sin werewolf occupies her thoughts—and her heart—day in and day out. Minka knows that the survival of many is always more important than the safety of one, and she is more than willing to sacrifice herself so that those she loves remain untouched. But Solomon is having none of that and reminds her that there is no force as strong as the magic between them.

 

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Was it worse to want someone you couldn’t have? Or to never know that kind of longing? 

Minka wasn’t sure which was more awful. She knew that no matter how much she hungered for Solomon’s touch or craved his attention, that she would never be his. That kind of knowledge did strange things to a person.  

Her heart had jumped in her throat to find him there. It had felt like forever since she’d seen his face and those brilliant blue eyes. All the LaRues and Chiassons had them, but Solomon’s were brighter than the others’. 

And his hair. The dark blond strands were laced with pale brown that made her want to sink her hands into the locks.  

His face was all hard angles and ruggedness that she longed to touch and kiss. The shadow of dark whiskers on his jaw made her stomach flutter and her skin prickle with awareness. 

Then there was that body of his. Could anyone wear jeans like Solomon? The denim clung to his trim waist and hips, curving over his fine ass before encasing his long legs. Though it was his ability to wear a plain white shirt over the impeccably hard sinew of his chest and wide shoulders that could make her heart miss a beat. 

He was simply mouth-watering. The complete package...and utterly out of reach.

 

ABOUT DONNA GRANT

Donna Grant is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the sizzling Dark King series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae. She was born and raised in Texas but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding. Despite deadlines and voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two children, four cats, and one long haired Chihuahua.

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