Padme's Library: 03/03/15

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Cover Reveal: Closet Confession by Kindle Alexander

Title: Closet Confession

Author: Kindle Alexander

Series: Night Shift: Dirty Things Happen in the Dark Anthology

Release Date: March 17, 2015

Summary:
Dr. Derek Babineaux is intelligent, dedicated, and one of the best ER physicians in the fast-paced world of critical care at Tulane Medical in New Orleans. Always on top of his game, he’s thrown off balance when the newest staff member finally unleashes his hidden desires.

Justin Delacroix’s job at the inner city’s busiest hospital might be just what he needs to ease back into civilian life after a long stint in the military. High-preforming shifts make working as a trauma nurse at TMC the perfect way to utilize his skills and quick reaction times. There’s only one problem, his attraction for one sexy ER doctor is off the charts, but he has his reasons for not returning Dr. Baby’s night shift advances. Or maybe he doesn't.

Author Bio:

Best Selling, and newly award winning Author Kindle Alexander is an innovative writer, and a genre-crosser who writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and erotica. It’s always a surprise to see what’s coming next! Happily married with too many children, and dogs, living in the suburbs of Dallas.

Usually, I try for funny. Humor is a major part of my life – I love to laugh, and it seems to be the thing I do in most situations – regardless of the situation, but jokes can be a tricky deal. I don’t want to offend anyone and humor tends to offend. So instead, I’m going to tell you about Kindle.

I tragically lost my sixteen year old daughter to a drunk driver. She had just been at home, it was early in the night and I heard the accident happen. I’ll never forget that moment. The sirens were immediate and something inside me just knew. I left my house, drove straight to the accident on nothing more than instinct. I got to be there when my little girl died – weirdly, I consider that a true gift from above. She didn’t have to be alone.

That time in my life was terrible. It’s everything you imagine times about a billion. I love that kid. I loved being her mother and I loved watching her grow into this incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out. She was such a gift to me. To have her ripped away so suddenly broke me.

Her name was Kindle. Honest to goodness – it was her name and she died a few weeks before Amazon announced their brand new ereader. She had no idea the Kindle was coming out and she would have finally gotten her name on something! Try finding a ruler with the name Kindle on it...Never happened.

Through the course of that crippling event I was lucky enough to know my writing partner. I would have never gotten through those dark days without her unwavering support and guidance. There wasn’t a time she wasn’t there for me. For the first time, I used the hand offered. I know without question I wouldn’t be here today without her. It takes a special person to stand beside someone at a time like that. I will love her forever. I could go on and on about both of them, but I won’t and now you know a little more About Us.

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Cover Reveal: Jase by MariaLisa deMora

Title: Jase

Author: MariaLisa deMora

Series: Rebel Wayfarers MC #4

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 4, 2015

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Summary:

Meet Jase Spencer.

He’s just your everyday kinda guy, a hard-

partying, hard-living professional hockey player. Nothin’ special.

Good-looking and ripped, the man has moves, on and off the ice. But, he’s also jaded and alone, and tired of living out of suitcases.

For as long as he can remember, hockey has ruled his life. He’s chased pucks across more than a dozen countries, and had his pick of women in any town he visits.

Then he met HER. And now, he’s about to turn his life upside down because of HER. Because he can’t get the one night of passion he shared with a smokin’ hot biker babe out of his head. Unfortunately, DeeDee wasn’t interested in anything long term, and she’s gone before he’s ready.

Life becomes complicated and difficult when Jase is traded to another team, and as he tries to settle in his new hometown, everything seems to conspire against him, determined to go wrong.

Dancing around their mutual attraction, one day he and DeeDee find themselves face-to-face and body-to-body, but will they be able to set aside their past pain and focus on the future they could make together? Can he make her reconsider her relationship fears and trust him?

Jase is on a mission to show her what they have together is worth fighting for, to convince her to take a chance on him. His attempts will bring him squarely into the path of a motorcycle club, earning him the attention of Mason, president of the Rebel Wayfarers MC.

Jase says, “Bring it on.”

You miss 100% of the shots you never take. – Wayne Gretzky

Author Bio:

Raised in the south, MariaLisa learned about the magic of books at an early age. Every summer, she would spend hours in the local library, devouring books of every genre. Self-described as a book-a-holic, she says “I’ve always loved to read, but then I discovered writing, and found I adored that, too. For reading … if nothing else is available, I’ve been known to read the back of the cereal box.” She still reads voraciously, and always has a few books going in paperback, hardback, on devices, on napkins!

Oatmeal is her comfort food. She hates gardening but loves flowers; not cut arrangements, but in the wild, outside. She has a deep and abiding respect for our military. Her dad was career Air Force, and flew during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean Conflict and Vietnam War. Parades make her cry. Walking Dead is about the only TV she watches anymore, don’t bother her on Walking Dead night, when she’s been known to shout, “Go Team Darryl!” Yes, she’s still sad about Firefly.

She’s a hockey fan, like … a serious hockey fan. She’s loyal to the Edmonton Oilers, but asks that we don’t judge her about that. She also likes the Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators. The local ECHL team, the Fort Wayne Komets, are a fav of hers, and she has season tickets. She’ll also generally try to hit the road games within a hundred-mile radius.

She’s a wanna-be hiker, working on a “bucket list” of hikes like Knobstone (completed in four days mid-April 2014 – whoooo!), sectioning parts of the AT (51 miles in Georgia in early-May 2014), and now and then looking west towards PCT.

She embraces her inner geek; MariaLisa has been working in the tech field for a couple decades. A sometime PC gamer, she still plays EverQuest after all these years. She says, “What can I say, I’m loyal (see above, I’m an Oilers fan LOL). Yes, I’ve heard of WoW, and have a coupla toons there, too.”

On music, she says, “I love music of nearly any kind—jazz, country, rock, alt rock, metal, classical, bluegrass, rap, gangstergrass, hip hop—you name the type, I probably listen to it. I can often be seen dancing through the house in the early mornings. But what I really, REALLY love is live music. My favorite way to experience live music is seeing bands in small, dive bars [read: small, intimate venues]. If said bar [venue] has a good selection of premium tequila, then that’s a definite plus!”

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Heart's Song by Charity Parkerson

Title: Heart's Song

Author: Charity Parkerson

Series: Ugly Eternity #2

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: March 2, 2015

Publisher: Punk & Sissy Publications

Cover Artist: Charity Parkerson

Photographer: Taria Reed/The Reed Files

Summary:
Hawke swore one day he’d hate Maddox for using him…

Maddox, lead singer of the band, Ugly Eternity, is a man of many secrets. Unfortunately, Hawke isn’t one of them. He’s been openly using Hawke for his delicious body for over a year, taunting him with a half-life, and always giving him just enough hope to keep him hanging on.

When three tiny and heartless words finally break Hawke, the day of reckoning arrives…

Even though Maddox knew Hawke would one day grow tired of his games, Maddox never expected how thoroughly the other man would cut him from his life. Left with no other recourse, Maddox is forced to live on Hawke’s terms to have any chance of reclaiming Hawke’s heart.

But in Hawke’s determination to rid himself of the sexy singer, he failed to consider one major detail—he belongs to Maddox.

Both Hawke and Maddox have an idea of how and where their "relationship" is going. As we all know, not everything goes as we plan and that's exactly what Hawke and Maddox are facing. I loved how the author took us on their journey. You can't help but have issues with both characters and how they are going about dealing with each other. Personally for me, I wanted to shake Maddox a bit more, but both parties have to face the consequences of their actions. How Miss Parkerson gets us there is where the fun is and boy is it fun.

RATING:

He’d had enough. This constant weight sitting on his chest was choking the life from Hawke. The price of Maddox was Hawke’s sanity. It wasn’t one he could afford to pay any longer. Anger carried Hawke’s feet outside, intent on settling things now. Waiting hadn’t gained him shit. He found Maddox at his car, shirtless and digging around in the trunk.
“What was that all about?”
Maddox glanced up. The closed expression on his face let Hawke know this was going to be a useless conversation. Maddox shrugged.
“You were horny. I helped you out. No big deal.”
No big deal. Hawke’s brain latched onto those three tiny words and began repeating them like a mantra. Anger grew with each pass. As usual, he was no big deal. "I've got some of your clothes in my backseat." Hawke couldn’t believe how calm he sounded. Surely that wasn’t his voice.
Maddox didn't seem to notice anything off. “You should throw them out."
Hawke ran his hands through his hair, beyond frustrated. The guy couldn't give him inch. Not ever. "At least take my shirt so you'll have something. It's my fault you're without, and I can go home whereas you still have to work." Maddox still wouldn't look at him. He slammed the trunk closed. "Nah. It's cool." He flashed a fake smile, not meeting Hawke’s gaze. "Everyone likes me better this way anyhow." He smoothed his palm across his bare chest, emphasizing his point. "They'll never even notice when I'm off-key."
Hawke wanted to punch him in the throat. Maybe then Maddox would understand what it was like to be incapable of drawing a single breath. The way Hawke couldn't whenever he was around.

Author Bio:

Charity Parkerson is an award winning and multi-published author with Ellora's Cave Publishing, Indie Publishing House LLC, and Punk & Sissy Publications. Born with no filter from her brain to her mouth, she decided to take this odd quirk and insert it in her characters. *Winner of 2, 2014 Readers' Favorite Awards

*2014 Golden Ankh Nominee

*2013 Readers' Favorite Award Winner

*2013 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner

*2012 ARRA Finalist for Favorite Paranormal Romance

*Five-time winner of The Mistress of the Darkpath

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Voluptuous Vindication by Rose Wynters

Title: Voluptuous Vindication

Author: Rose Wynters

Series: The Endurers #4

Genre: Erotic/Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

Release Date: December 25, 2013

Length: 415 pages

Cover Design: Webmark

Summary:
No good deed goes unpunished...

Reeling from a tragic event, Endurer Ian Bauer is forced back into the fight when demons set their sights on an mortal angel. He has to keep her alive for four weeks, something easier said than done, especially since it's easy to see that the plus-sized female is attracted to him. The last thing on his mind is sex, especially when it comes to a BBW.

But Ian never counted on the wicked attraction that flares up between them...

“What's your story, Ian,” Sara shot back, struggling to hide her irritation. “With your attitude, it must be a big one.”

Instead of retorting, he grinned grimly. It wasn't a pleasant expression. Instead, it was simply scary. Sara had seen that look before. Somewhere in the past, something, or someone, had hurt this Endurer badly.

Her first instinct was compassion, but Ian was too hardened to take kindly to it. So she remained silent, waiting to see if he would continue. When he did, it wasn't what she was expecting.

“Consider my story a diary, with a giant padlock on it. It's not open to you, or anyone else, and it never will be. Let's just make this clear now. I've bedded hundreds of women in my lifetime, and I'm no novice when it comes to recognizing feminine sexual interest.”

He stopped, casting a firm look in her mortified direction before adding, “I'm not interested, so don't bother. I'm not in the market to get laid, and even if I were, you wouldn't be my type.”

Top 10 Paranormal Movies/TV shows
True Blood
Twilight
The Conjuring
Annabelle
Dark Shadows
Unsolved Mysteries
An American Haunting
The Amityville Horror
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia
Candyman

Author Bio:
I've often been asked how I'm inspired to write about werewolves, immortals, and zombies. The answer is easy. I adore them.

Be it the Wolf Town Guardians or the Endurers, these characters have been a joy to write about. And why not? What woman wouldn't love a sexy immortal male or a long-lived werewolf that is destined to have them?

Not all of my books contain plus-sized heroines, but many of them do. I believe in true love and true love isn't based on a size tag. If you agree with this, I think you will enjoy my books.

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Release Day Blitz: Savannah Sins by Jenna Fox

Title: Savannah Sins

Author: Jenna Fox

Genre: Erotic/Horror/Suspense

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Publisher: Dark Hollows Press

Cover Artist: 3 Rusted Spoons

Summary:
Her prison became his hell.

The only thing standing between Beverly Price and a prison cell is her well connected attorney, Jackson McNabb. Jackson pulls some legal strings, getting Beverly sent to his family’s plantation to work out her sentence at an isolated setting- the perfect place for sexual escapades. When Jack and Beverly act on the pent-up lust burning between them, their passion rouses an angry and restless spirit, setting off a series of frightening paranormal events and sending Beverly fleeing the arms of her lover, leaving Jack to fight for both of their lives.

He pinned her back up against the wall, anger blazing in his eyes. The corner of his lip curled and his forehead wrinkled. “The spoiled little rich girl wants attention by trashing her room.” He yanked down his zipper. “Well, now she’s got it.”
Jack was up in her face when Beverly’s hands slapped against the sheet rock, seeking purchase as he kneed open her legs. Her feet left the floor and she braced her legs around his waist when he forced his thighs underneath hers. He slammed his cock in her slit, the force making her pussy burn and spasm from the delectable shock.
The muscles in Jack’s arms corded as he reached around and spread her ass cheeks as wide as they would go. Beverly’s eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head with the chafing of his jeans against her, and his denim covered skin on hers fired new pleasure receptors to life. She never considered that area an erogenous zone.
Beverly had never considered a lot of things until Jack introduced them.
Her eyes jarred in their sockets and her spine jolted with the furious pounding of her body against his thighs. The dry friction rubbing against her clit and Jack’s heated breath was a cocktail strong enough to push her across the finish line. His sun browned skin was reddening, pulling taut over his cheekbones. Beverly wondered if she looked as crazy as he did. She laid her head against her shoulders and dug her fingernails into his shoulders, as he wrecked her in the way she always wanted.

Author Bio:
Jenna Fox is a civilized hillbilly, mother, wife and multi-published author of erotic romance residing in Eastern Tennessee. Besides juggling a busy family life, Fox reviews and critiques for other authors and crafts her own dark erotic tales. Stories always feature a mysterious alpha male with unexpected twists to shock the reader. She believes in HFN and HEA endings, although not always in a romantic or conventional way.
Her work is born from real life experiences, an overactive imagination and a consuming caffeine addiction. Fox is a listener of bad-ass music and a watcher of classic slasher films. In short, she’s a multi-tasker – a writer, a storyteller, able to make a boo-boo all better with just one kiss and a proud, world class expert at screwing up recipes and scaring away closet monsters. She believes in ghosts and God and is absolutely convinced chocolate soothes the savage beast.

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Ellie Stanton by Aurora Zahni

Title: Ellie Stanton

Author: Aurora Zahni

Series: Heller Park #1

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Summary:
An imperfect, unremarkable girl makes a hero’s journey. Ellie Stanton needed to have a good day. The universe had something else in store. Getting caught shoplifting. Check. Dumping her lame boyfriend. Check. Expulsion from school. Check. Getting kicked out of her house and then stealing her mother’s car while she’s in a New Jersey turnpike rest stop Cinnabon? Check. The only sensible option is to run as fast as she can and never look back. Now Ellie is running going cross country to raise a little hell and maybe along the way learn everything she needs to know about life.

Author Bio:

Aurora Zahni is a former rebel who’s trying to bring a little bit of Judy Blume and Sylvia Plath to the Twilight Generation. Over the years I have given half-assed / full throttle contributions to numerous zines and blogs, written a web movie and done significantly well in countless competitive eating events.

When I was in the 8th grade I was on the local evening news. A dead body was being lifted out of the water at a marina by the Meadowlands and you could clearly see me standing in the background watching, looking a bit excited for the camera. Looking back it may have been the highlight of my entire childhood.

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Paperback Release Day Blitz: Aftermath by Cara Dee

Title: Aftermath

Author: Cara Dee

Series: Aftermath #1

Release Date: March 3rd , 2015

Genre: M/M / Contemporary Romance

Summary:

***Warning: This story contains violence and scenes of an explicit, erotic nature between two men and is intended for adults, 18+.***

Austin Huntley and Cameron Nash are like night and day. One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.

Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.

After surviving a five-month long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they're more drawn to each other than they ever could've imagined.

"I know I'm not normal, but I'm not fucking stupid."

"Define normal," Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. "And for not being normal, you're the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?"

My original review from September 2013: This is an amazing book. Incredible story, breathtaking characters, and unimaginable scenario. Even if you aren't into reading M/M love stories, I highly recommend checking this one out. Not really a mystery but it's definitely seriously ladled with suspense. Incredible and amazing is the best way I can describe it without giving away anything.

RATING:

Cam was in purgatory when someone woke him up. Disoriented and ready to fight for his life, he flew out of his chair and pounced on the fucker touching his arm. Vision blurry, he gripped Psycho by the throat and they ended up on the floor—

“Cam!”

What the fuck?

The sound of Austin’s voice made Cam slow down his movements.

“Jesus Christ, Cam,” Austin growled. And with a force Cam couldn’t compete against, he ended up on his back, his shoulder blades digging into the wooden boards of the patio. Shit. Patio. He was back home. Not hell. Not that metal cage. Austin was here. They were safe.

Cam released a choked breath and tried to relax under Austin’s body.

Austin must have noticed. He loosened his grip on Cam but didn’t move away. Now Austin wasn’t holding him down to defend himself, it seemed. It was to comfort. He leaned down and cupped Cam’s cheek and rested their foreheads together. It was a contact that had worked for them before.

The next time Austin spoke, it was gentler. “Talk to me, Cam. You’re a mess.” He brushed his thumb over the shadows under Cam’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered in a strangled voice. “Fuck. I don’t—” I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

Well, he had a guess, but he refused to go there. His shrink had told all of them about PTSD, and Cam didn’t want to add another issue to his already-long list. PTSD was a condition that felt so permanent—the last thing he needed in his life. But it had been like this whenever someone startled him awake, so he knew he needed to address the problem.

At the hospital, it had been his brother. Then, a few days after he’d been released, he’d hooked up with one of the chicks who never stopped calling him. He had fallen asleep at her apartment after a mediocre fuck, and when she’d woken him up, she had been on the receiving end of a fist.

He’d felt beyond shitty. Savannah had been understanding—had even tried to comfort Cam while he took her to the emergency room for her split lip, and she’d offered to drive him to his shrink’s office afterward. Cam had passed on the offer, apologized a hundred times, and then ended their casual relationship.

He wasn’t gonna take a chance with Kim or Brian, the other two he’d hooked up with from time to time. He’d ended things with them, too. Kim had cried, reminding Cam of how women could get—so much for casual fucking—and Brian had been oddly quiet.

There was also another reason Cam had already planned on never seeing Brian again, and that reason was currently lying on top of him. Being with a guy would cause Cam to think about things other than being friends with Austin, a man he needed in his life.

“Have you spoken to Gale about this?” Austin asked as he slowly removed himself from Cam. They went to the same psychologist—all the surviving guys did. “You should. It could be PTSD.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cam grumbled and pulled himself up. Giving Austin a hand, he helped him up, too. “Sorry I attacked.” He adjusted the towel on his hips.

“I can take it.”

The two men stood before each other, close enough to touch, and maintained eye contact. It made Cam wonder if Austin found their relationship odd. ‘Cause closeness was as easy as breathing to them. So was touching. Personal space was usually so fucking important to Cam, but with Austin…

Austin broke the spell, clearing his throat, and plopped down in his chair again. Then he pulled out a bottle of painkillers from a side pocket of his shorts, and Cam gave him a cocked eyebrow.

“Headache,” Austin answered. “These glasses are taking some getting used to. Plus, the sun…” He shook his head and sighed. “You know how it is.”

Author Bio:
There aren't many things better than picking up my Kindle and getting completely sucked into a whole new world—where words morph into images and characters' moods suddenly reflect my own. Aside from good plot and writing, for me, it boils down to relatable characters.

As a writer, I'm not finished until the men and women in my books come to life, until I can see them as real people, until I can connect with them. Which means I write what I want to read: everyday heroes and heroines who have the same struggles we all do. They evolve, have flaws, make mistakes and amends, learn, and find the endings they fight for.

Those are the characters who take the readers on a journey away from work, laundry, grocery shopping, and to-do lists.

When I'm not writing, researching, or brainstorming, I'm either planning my next trip (never-ending bucket list!), reading, watching hockey, or spending time with family and friends.