BOOKS AND BLOGGING PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy is defined as a theory underlying or regarding a sphere of activity or thought. Well, my theory is if I can add at least 10 new books to my Wishlist and move at least 5 older Wishlist selections to my TBR list every month, then life is a ice cream sundae. And if I can find those 10 books from at least 5 new blogs each month then that's the cherry on top.

NEW VISITORS AND OLD- WELCOME!

NEW VISITORS AND OLD- WELCOME!
Well, I've made it almost 5 years now, so for better or worse, I continue on. I tend to blog in spurts as the urge to be creative erupts. As I don't have an artistic bone in my body, you will see very few changes in the layouts. Hey, I'm a reader not an artist like so many of the awesome bloggers I follow. I know you don't always have the time but if you stopped and looked, take a half a minute and say your piece. Recommend a book that you have enjoyed or hated for that matter. Thank you to all who visit.
Oh, and I moved my Google Friend Connect info and share this buttons to the top, as without our friends, who are we?


Thursday, June 30, 2016

Her Legacy by Teresa Crumpton Cover Reveal

Most people inherit money; Alexis inherited Hell…
The secret murders that a psychotic doctor performed long ago will expose a family secret when a young emphatic law student inherits her family’s long forgotten haunted house.



Title: Her Legacy
Series: Foster House Legacy #1
Author: Teresa Crumpton
Genre: Suspense
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Length: 99k words
Format: Digital 
Digital ISBN: 978-0-692-74841-1
Cover Artist: Danielle Barclay of Barclay Creative


The Foster House
The house is important, and so are you, hexe. The ancient ones foretold this. Yet, we’re still not sure. But we won’t kill you. We have killed before, those that didn’t have the blood. Your ancestors want to protect you; they need to. Blood is the key. He wants your blood.
Peace and harmony must be restored. 
A house’s thirst for blood and a family secret are revealed when Alexis, a young empathetic law student, inherits her family’s long forgotten estate, The Foster House. 
An empathetic law student is the key. 
When Alexis moves in to The Foster House, she is surrounded by ghosts and a mysterious history. A history that is her legacy. But it’s not just the house she needs to worry about. An evil entity has enlisted the help of an ex-special ops Captain, Brenton Young, to manipulate Alexis’s life for his own dark purposes. 
A family legacy will be revealed. 
As the FBI, NSA, and local police close in on Brenton Young, Alexis enlists the help of her boss and secret crush, District Attorney, Josh Hampton. Together, can they solve the mysteries of the house and discover what her true legacy really is or will the answers they find lead to more questions & mysteries?

Pre-orders available soon! Add to Goodreads today!

Teresa Crumpton writes dark supernatural thrillers along with poetry, non-fiction and short stories. She started writing when she was young, never thinking one day she'd turn her passion into a career. She started writing her novel in eight-grade, though it's changed over the years. Teresa’s first novel, Her Legacy, is a haunting ghost story with a little rumored family history within the pages.
Teresa obtained two degrees, Government with an Emphasis in Legal Studies, and English Lit, hoping to get into law school. In 2004 she married the man of her dreams. As they moved around the country her dreams changed. She once again went back to school, this time obtaining a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and her writing became not only her passion, but also the fulfilment of a promise to her father before he passed. 
Teresa Crumpton grew up in Cincinnati and Dallas/Ft. Worth, making her a hybrid midwest and southern girl. She has five siblings (all half or step), which always made for a boisterous Christmas while traveling.

Visit her online at: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest


Follow the tour and enter to #win a $20.00 gift card to Amazon!


First Look Celebration for Shannon McKenna’s Right Through Me

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon McKenna launches The Obsidian Files with RIGHT THROUGH ME, a pulse-pounding tale of thrilling suspense and searing passion. A beautiful fugitive and a biotech tycoon with strange powers must face the lethal rage of a vicious enemy bent on their annihilation.


Stranger, speak softly...

Biotech tycoon Noah Gallagher has a deadly secret: his clandestine training as a super-soldier gives him abilities that go far beyond human. Yet he's very much a man. When Caro Bishop shows up at his Seattle headquarters with a dangerous secret agenda, his ordered life is thrown into chaos. Caro is a woman like no other—and her luminously sensual beauty cloaks a mystery he must solve.

Caro's lying low, evading a false charge of murder. She means to clear her name, and she'll do whatever it takes to survive—but seducing a man like Noah is more than she bargained for. His amber eyes have the strangest glow when he looks at her—she could swear he sees the secrets of her heart. The desire smoldering in Noah's eyes awakens her own secret hunger, but Caro has to resist his magnetic pull. Anyone close to her becomes a target. The only right thing to do is run, far and fast, but Caro can't outrun Noah's ferocious intensity—or deny the searing passion that explodes between them.

Nothing else matters—until a vicious enemy bent on the ultimate revenge puts his murderous plan into play. Noah and Caro must battle for their lives...and their love...

Find out more at Goodreads | Shannon’s Website

Exclusive Excerpt:
Welcome to the secret and dangerous world of The Obsidian Files!
I love stories about people forced to widen the idea of what it means to be a human being, as well as stories about what it would be like to be superhuman.  Now that the technology to augment, enhance, even design human beings is becoming an accepted reality, it fascinates me even more.
My hero, charismatic biotech tycoon Noah Gallagher, has a deadly secret—he’s more than human. As a teenager, he was swept up into the Obsidian program, a plan to create super-soldiers using gene splicing and nanotech. Noah led the other modified kids in a desperate rebellion. They barely escaped with their lives and went deep underground.
Now, years later, Noah’s crew now hides in plain sight, careful to mask their uncanny abilities. All except for breakaway element Mark Olund, a psychopath who uses his abilities to enrich himself.  Mark is a threat Noah’s group, so when Mark’s mistress, Caro Bishop, suddenly shows up near Noah’s Seattle headquarters working as a bellydancer, Noah’s sister decides that they need a closer look at her. Preferably one using Noah’s enhanced eyes.
But Caro has a secret, too. She’s running away from a false charge of murder. Mark Olund killed her boss, and has been hunting her relentlessly ever since. She’s the only one with the biometrics to open a safe that will unleash a terrible weapon onto the world.
This nightmare has to stop, one way or another. If no one else can help, she’ll do it herself. But in the meantime, a girl had to eat and pay her rent and bus fare. She’s been bellydancing to survive, and this gig seemed just like any other—until she set eyes on the mind-blowingly handsome recepient of her dance . . .

Caro narrowly missed slamming her hip into the table. For the third time.
Look away from the guy, for God’s sake. Get a grip. It’s just a dance.
But her gaze kept getting sucked back to Noah Gallagher, the birthday boy. Ultra-powerful CEO of the oh-so-myserious Angel Enterprises, cutting-edge biotech firm.
The man was gorgeous. Barrel chested. A dense slab of muscle. Short hair showed off the sharp planes and angles of his face, a wide, strong jaw. He wore shaded glasses, but he’d taken them off a few seconds into her bellydance, and it was incredibly hard to stay focused on the music and remember her moves while being examined with such blazing intensity. It made her lose the thread.
To say nothing of her physical balance.
Holy flipping wow. They said he was turning thirty-two today, but he seemed older, or maybe it was just his expression. Each time she twirled, she snagged a new yummy detail. The shape of his ears. Thick, straight dark brows. Sexy grooves framing a stern, sensual mouth. Sharp cheekbones. His face was a taut mask of tension. But it was his eyes that really got to her.
His scorching laser focus made her temperature rise. He looked like he’d tear you to pieces if you gave him any trouble, despite the elegant suit that sat just right on his huge shoulders. He didn’t laugh or look embarrassed like most men did when surprised by a bellydancer. He just sat there, with the charged stillness of a predator poised to spring. Radiating a subtle sense of danger.
Her smile faltered as she shimmied and spun. Suddenly, she was hyper-conscious of the erotic allure of the dance. She always tried to keep things as light hearted and playful as possible, but his silent, very male sexual energy made it feel deadly serious. As if they were alone, and she’d been summoned for a private, uninhibited performance designed to drive him crazy.
Oh my. What a stimulating scenario that would be.
She was actually getting aroused. For the love of God. Rising panic began to shred the sensation. Enough of this ridiculous crap. She had to get out of here, and fast.
Finish the dance. You need the cash. He’s only a hot guy, not a celestial being. You’re freaking yourself out. Chill. Usually she spread the wealth, bestowing flirtatious smiles on everyone, but no one made a sound. Tension was thick in the air. No laughter, no snickering, no whistles.
Who cared. Her mind was fully occupied with the task of not gaping at Noah Gallagher’s godlike hotness.
This is Caro’s first inkling that all is not exactly what it seems at Angel Enterprises. She has no idea that they know who she is, and still less that they are wondering if she is Mark Olund’s spy. But really, all she can think about is Noah.
Toughen up, cupcake. Take back the power. This was a tough crowd, maybe, but everything was relative. The people in this room weren’t trying to frame her for murder, kidnap her or kill her. And she certainly had the birthday boy’s full attention.
So she’d play with it. That man needed to be humbled. To worship at the feet of her divine awesomeness. She’d dance like she’d never danced before, blow his mind, and melt away, forever nameless. Leaving him to ache and writhe.
That’s right, big boy. Prepare to suffer.
The dance was ending. Caro sank to her knees, arching back in a pose of abandoned sensual ecstasy as the music reached its climax. Stretched before him like a sacrificial virgin on an altar.
Take me, I’m yours.
The pose felt obscene, but only because there were other people in the room. If there hadn’t been, it would have felt right. It would have felt . . . hot.
Caro rose slowly to her feet. Noah Gallagher didn’t applaud.
He just stared as if he wanted to leap over that table and pin her to the ground.
Tension built. The othe people in the room looked up, down, anywhere but at her. Caro smiled brightly. Not fair, to throw an innocent performer into the middle of someone else’s big fat faux pas and make her swim in it. Bastards.
So what. She’d stay dignified. While running for her life, fighting the powers of darkness, scrambling for money. Even if it involved putting on a scanty costume and shaking her booty for rude or indifferent strangers.
Or else one single intense, lustful, smoldering stranger.
Caro has been alone with her problems for so long. She’ll scramble to keep anyone else from getting punished by the toxic mess that is her current life, but she can’t resist Noah’s smoldering, magnetic gaze. Aside from how drop-dead hot Noah Gallagher is, she’s intensely drawn to the strength she senses in him. A strength that could withstand even problems as big as her own.
Still, all Caro dares to hope for is one secret night. That’s the extent of her self-indulgence—but Noah has other ideas . . . and he’s willing to protect what he loves . . .

 I hope you enjoy the mysterious and exciting new world of the Obsidian Files as much as I loved creating it! There is still so much yet to discover, so happy reading!  

About Shannon McKenna:
Shannon McKenna is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of fifteen action packed, turbocharged romantic thrillers, among which are the stories of the wildly popular McCloud series. She’s also the author of the upcoming OBSIDIAN series, the first of which, RIGHT THROUGH ME, comes out in July of 2016. She loves tough and heroic alpha males, heroines with the brains and guts to match them, villains who challenge them to their utmost, adventure, scorching sensuality, and most of all, the redemptive power of true love.
Since she was small she has loved abandoning herself to the magic of a good book, and her fond childhood fantasy was that writing would be just like that, but with the added benefit of being able to take credit for the story at the end. The alchemy of writing turned out to be messier than she'd ever dreamed, but what the hell, she loves it anyway, and hopes that readers enjoy the results of her alchemical experiments. She loves to hear from her readers.

Connect with Shannon: Website | Facebook | Twitter



Giveaway:
2 winners will receive a $10 Amazon Giftcard & 2 winners will receive an e-copy of choice from Shannon’s backlist!

Chaos Bound by Sarah Castille Release Event/Giveaway



Title: Chaos Bound
Author: Sarah Castille
Series: Sinner’s Tribe
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2016
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Print Length: 384 pages

What happens when the power of love becomes stronger than the need for revenge?  Chaos Bound, the fourth novel in the Sinner’s Motorcycle Club series is a vivid and powerful MC romance from Sarah Castille.  Fans of Joanna Wylde and Kristen Ashley’s biker romances will love this intense, rough and raw addition to the Sinner's Motorcycle Club series.
Love is a wild ride.
After enduring months of torture at the hands of the Black Jacks MC, and betrayed by his own club, Holt “T-Rex” Savage, a junior member of the Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, will stop at nothing to get revenge. But falling for a beautiful woman with dangerous ties to his sworn enemy was never part of the plan…


Raised by the Black Jacks, Naiya Kelly grew up fast, furiously, and with little to lose. But now that she’s put her MC days behind her, she is free to do what she wants—until she meets a man who imprisons her, body and soul. She swore she’d never give her heart to a biker, but Holt is the most passionate, protective man she’s ever known. But will Holt be forced to betray his one true love to exact his revenge?

Excerpt:
“Is this because of what happened last night?” Holt wasn’t usually so direct. He had never been a confrontational kind of guy. Usually, he would go with the flow, but right now he was seized by an urgent sense of desperation. He couldn’t let her go, and it wasn’t just because he needed her to lure Viper.
“No, of course not.” She turned away, tightening her grip on the bag, her hair swinging over her cheek, hiding her face.
Yes.
“It was good you . . . stopped.” She stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows over the valley spread out below them. “I mean, you have things you have to do, and I have things I have to do, and they aren’t things we need to do . . . together.”
Together. Fuck. She’d thought about them together. Although he was pretty damn sure she hadn’t thought of them together the way he had all fucking night long.
“Naiya.”
“I made breakfast. It’s on the stove.” She slung the bag over her shoulder. “Happy revenge.”
No fucking way. “It’s not safe out there.”
“It’s not safe in here.”
“I couldn’t be gentle with you,” he said. “I’m a hard man, Naiya, and the shit I just went through just made me harder. I don’t have sex. I don’t make love. I fuck. And when I do, it’s hard and it’s rough, and that’s not what you need.”
“You don’t know me.” Her face tightened. “You don’t know what I need.”
The hell he didn’t. He could read the longing on her face; he could hear it in her voice. It was the same longing that had gripped him since he met her. The old Holt would have let her walk out the door because it’s what she wanted to do, and who was he to rock the boat? He didn’t know where that Holt had gone, but the man he was now was not letting her get away.
Without taking his gaze off her, he ripped the bag from her fingers and tossed it on the couch. Then he cupped her face between his hands and covered her mouth with his.
Ah God. Her lips were as soft as he imagined, her mouth as lush. Her lips parted on a sigh, and he touched her with his tongue. She tasted of honey and coffee, warm and sweet. He wanted her, wanted this woman with the broken soul, wanted to fix her, show her the beauty of trust and surrender, open her up and fill her with joy. Yeah, he wanted to fuck her bad.
“Holt.” She pulled back, her chest heaving. “I don’t want this. I just broke up with Maurice. We were together two years. It just feels . . . wrong.”
Didn’t feel wrong to him. In fact, nothing had ever felt so right. He tagged her with an arm around her waist and crushed her against him, the way he’d seen Jagger and Cade do with their women, the way he’d seen Tank with Connie. Dominant. Controlling. And damn it felt good. Taking what he wanted. Being in charge.
And yet at the back of his mind, he was assessing her responses, the way she leaned into him, her soft sigh, the flutter of her lashes, and the little hints that told him she was on board and that he wasn’t stepping over the line. He had a strong feeling Viper had crossed that line, and if he caught her, he would cross it again.
Naiya leaned in, melted against him. Pleasure rippled through his body, and his cock hardened in an instant. He dipped his head, drank her down, delighting when she moaned and tangled her tongue with his.
She broke away again, her lips plump and swollen from his kiss. “I should go . . . I was just leaving . . .”
Deeper. Rougher. He slid one hand through her hair, tugged her head back, and held her still as he fed off her hidden desire. Her hands came up, pressed against his chest. Holt tensed, thinking she would push him away. Instead, her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him closer, straining upward as she kissed him back with a passion that belied her words. She wasn’t leaving. Not now.
Not ever.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Zero by Morgan Dark- Giveaway & Tell Your Story in 3 to 5 GIFs



Zero (Zero)
Author: Morgan Dark
Publisher: Rubiños, 1860
Release Date: June 28th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller


A baffling robber.
A mystery hidden for years.
And an elite boarding school where no one is who they say they are.
Kyle Bradford is the envy of Drayton College, but everything takes a turn when a dangerous shadow, hidden in the darkness, starts to stalk him. From then on, his life falls apart. Unjustly accused of being the main suspect behind the robberies terrifying high society, he is forced to prove his innocence. And to do so, he has to find the real culprit: Zero, an infallible criminal who keeps his identity hidden under a silver mask. What Kyle does not know is that his enemy is keeping a secret. A secret he would sacrifice everything for.
A dizzying, heart-stopping thriller you won’t be able to put down.

                         ZERO in Five GIFs
 Kyle Bradford is the envy of Drayton College.

 But everything takes a turn when a dangerous shadow, 
hidden in the darkness, starts to stalk him. 
From then on, his life falls apart. 

 Unjustly accused of being the main suspect 
behind the robberies terrifying high society,
 he is forced to prove his innocence. 

 And to do so, he has to find the real culprit:
 Zero, an infallible criminal who keeps his identity 
hidden under a silver mask. 


What Kyle does not know is that his enemy
is keeping a secret. A secret
he would sacrifice everything for.



BUY LINKS:
Barnes & Noble (B&N)
Kobo

Follow the Zero by Morgan Dark Blog Tour and don't miss anything! 
Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.



Morgan Dark is one of the most original teenage literature writers. Always enveloped in suspense, as of yet no one knows her true identity. She began writing Zero after a hooded man robbed her in her New York apartment. Included amongst the stolen items was her favorite ring. Yet in exchange, she received a publishing contract for her new novel. After Zero became one of the most awaited teenage books in 2015, her ring showed up in her house again…in black envelope with no sender.



International Giveaway | Rules & Conditions on the rafflecopter


Cover Reveal for This Is Me by C.E. Wilson!

A-SIST
Anthropomorphic Sentient Individualized Servile uniT
Rogan is a robot. More specifically, he is an Asist – a personalized humanoid servant that provides protection, assistance, and companionship for a lonely young woman living on her own in the city. Chloe is trying to get her big break, singing at bars and clubs all over the city at night while she pays the bills as a substitute teacher during the day. Ever since she activated him many months ago, Rogan has been her beautiful, dependable, obedient, dead-eyed security blanket.
One morning she is shocked when he disobeys a direct command in an attempt to please her and his dull artificial eyes flash a hint of something new. Is this the result of the adaptive Asist servility programming or is Rogan actually thinking? Can a robot think? Can a robot feel?
As Chloe struggles with these thoughts she is blindsided by the singular Niven Adams, a handsome, confident man with the voice of an angel who is everything she’s ever wanted in a boyfriend. He’s the perfect guy for her, except for one problem. Niven doesn’t approve of Asists and takes an immediate dislike to Rogan. As Niven charms his way deeper and deeper into Chloe’s heart, Rogan tries to convince her that he is more than a mass-produced disposable servant.
With Rogan doing everything in his power to prove that his thoughts and feelings are real and Niven trying to persuade her to abandon her robot and have a normal human relationship, Chloe is trapped between the two things that mean the most to her. Does she embrace her relationship with the blond newcomer, or face that her Asist’s feelings may be more than features of his programming?
What really makes a person a person?
Is it a ticking muscle inside their chest, or is it something more?

C.E. Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, grew up in Millersville, Pennsylvania, and has been living in Pittsburgh since 2009. For the first few years living in Pittsburgh, she was an English teacher. Her first book, "Oath of Servitude," was published in 2012. In 2013, she quit teaching to be a full time author and hasn't looked back since. She loves spending time with her daughter and husband.



Website | Twitter | Goodreads 

Giveaway Information:  Contest ends July 8, 2016 

One (1) winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card

Eternal Sacrifice Book Release Blast & Giveaway


The explosive conclusion to Stacey O'Neale's award-winning Mortal Enchantment series reveals the secrets of the fantasy world!

Valac has stolen two of the sacred objects. In a bid to rule all four courts, he has threatened to use Excalibur to cut the mist that protects Avalon--ultimately ending the lives of thousands of elementals. As the Akasha, Kalin has the power to stop him. And she refuses to lose anyone else she loves.

Will she have to sacrifice herself to save them?

Desperate to save Kalin's life, Rowan searches for the long-lost creator of the mist. But what he finds is the very last thing he expected. Everything he thought he knew about his past is turned upside down, and he questions whether he's meant to be the savior or the elemental that destroys them all.

Told from Kalin, Rowan, and Marcus's perspective, the final installment to the series follows their journey of courage, duty, sacrifice, and love.

Amazon Buy Link: 


Award-winning author, Stacey O'Neale, lives in Annapolis, Maryland. When she's not writing, she spends her time fangirling over books, blogging, watching fantasy television shows, cheering for the Baltimore Ravens, and hanging out with her husband and daughter.

Her career in publishing started as a blogger-turned-publicist for two successful small publishers. Stacey writes young adult fantasy and adult science fiction romance. Her books always include swoon-worthy heroes, snarky heroines, and lots of kissing.

Stacey loves hearing from readers. Follow her on Twitter @StaceyONeale, look for her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Goodreads. You can also visit her blog at staceyoneale.com/.
$100 Gift Card Contest

FOREVERMORE by Kristen Callihan- Review- 5*-Release Day Blitz

Title: Forevermore

Series: Darkest London #7

Author: Kristen Callihan

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:* * * * *
Publishers: Forever
(June 28, 2016)
Paperback: 336  pages
ISBN: 978-1455581702
FTC Disclosure: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Isolated and alone, Sin Evernight is one of the most powerful supernatural creatures in heaven and on earth. As an angel of vengeance, he hunts down the darkest evil, but when his long-lost friend, Layla Starling, needs him, he vows to become her protector. Even though she will be horrified by the man he has become. 

Now a famous singer and the toast of London, Layla believes that Sin is only here to guard her from rabid fans and ardent suitors. However, the truth is far more sinister. Desperate to avoid losing Layla a second time, Sin will face a test of all his powers to defeat an unstoppable foe - and win an eternity with the woman he loves.


Definitely another 5 star win for Kristen Callihan!
I've been reading this series since book 1 came out and it's one of my favs, one of the few that I read immediately upon release. It has paranormal romance and historical fiction mixed in with a dash of steampunk, three of my favorite genres. Callihan as usual has intermingled these genres in yet another wonderful tale. While we've met Sin before, Layla is a new and unique creature called a "Damnation". As she knows nothing of this paranormal London, she is surprisingly adaptable to what's going on in her life. I loved the romance between Sin and Layla, but felt a sense of sadness as this series comes to an end. I loved the brief interactions with many of the couples we've met in the past and am really going to miss this wonderful world. Make sure you read this series in order so that you get the whole picture. I almost wish I hadn't read them all so I'd have this whole series to binge read.


THE FULL DARKEST LONDON SERIES

Firelight, #1
Moonglow, #2
Winterblaze, #3
Shadowdance, #4
Evernight, #5
Soulbound, #6
Forevermore, #7
EXCERPT:
One might think being an immortal was a blessing, never grow old, never grow sick, never die. At one time in St. John Evernight’s life, he considered it a blessing too. He would be around long after the simple humans who surrounded him were nothing but dust. They could stare all they liked at his “strange” hair and frosty green eyes. They could gossip and speculate about him until they lost their voices. It didn’t matter. He was untouchable, and they were but fragile sacks of blood and bone. 
How naive he’d been. Because living forever merely meant a lack of escape from the desolation of regret and loneliness. He knew now that he could walk down Jermyn Street endlessly, see the sands of time shift and rearrange before him, and never be a part of life. 
“Brooding, Mr. Evernight?” 
Sin almost jumped at the sudden sound of Augustus’s voice by his side. Damn, the blasted man loved to startle him. He gave Augustus a passing glance. Dressed in conservative brown tweed and a bowler hat, the angel appeared every inch the English gentlemen, save for his dark coloring that marked him to be from Southern climes. 
“It’s really quite the trick, popping up like a soap bubble whenever you choose, Augustus. You must teach me how one day.” 
The man’s mouth twitched. “With your luck, you’d pop up in the middle of a parliamentary session.” 
Yes, Sin had abominable luck. Or perhaps it was more a matter of making abominable choices.
“You’re brooding again,” Augustus remarked.
“I’m not brooding. This is simply my face.” 
Augustus snorted but remained silent as they walked along, past Trafalgar Square and down Whitehall.   
“Care to tell me why you called me here?” Sin asked, when they came upon the grounds of Westminster. For the past year, Sin had been in Rome, soaking in the warmer temperatures, drinking espresso in cafes along the Piazza della Rotunda, under the shade of the ancient Pantheon. He’d eaten simple but delicious food, and listened to the rapid fire of Italian, and felt…well, not peace, but a measure of contentment. 
Until Augustus had sent for him. Returning to England sat like a stone in his gut. But he would obey. Augustus was his mentor, and the man who’d given him salvation. The price was a lifetime of servitude. To be fair, his role was for justice, not evil, which was a nice change of pace. 
A massive dray rattled past, kicking up dust and sending a fug of stale manure into the air. They hurried past the cloud and headed for Westminster Abbey. Sin hadn’t planned on visiting today, but here they were all the same. He wondered if Augustus somehow had led him to their usual meeting place or if Sin had merely headed that way because of the man’s sudden arrival. 
He’d like to think the latter. It did not sit well with him having another control his actions. Not since a certain evil fae had kept Sin as a blood slave for years. Even now, the memory made his stomach turn. 
Not a soul acknowledged them as they walked through the abbey and into the cloisters. Here, a rare bit of sunlight peeked through the constant cloud cover and cast lacy shadows along the walkway. The sound of their boot heels clacked out a steady rhythm as they strolled along. 
 “Layla returns to London tonight.” 
At the mention of her name, Sin’s heart stilled within his breast. He’d tried his best to ward off all finer feelings, to remain numb, detached from life. And yet he could not, for the life of him, remain immune to Layla Starling. His childhood friend. The one woman who could take his breath, his reason, simply by laying eyes upon her. 
Stuffing his shaking hands into his trouser pockets, Sin forced himself to keep an even tone. “So then I am to begin watching over her?” 
God, but he did not want to. It would be agony, staying so close to her and never being allowed to show his true feelings. And yet a thrum of anticipation went through him at the mere prospect of seeing Layla once more. 
 “Are you ready?” Augustus asked, though his expression told Sin he fully expected an affirmative answer. 
So Sin told him the only truth left to him. “I will not fail her.” 

Monday, June 27, 2016

His To Protect by Stacey Lynn is releasing in TWO WEEKS

Below, you will see the PROLOGUE and FIRST CHAPTER
 for the upcoming release,
 His To Protect.
His To Protect is currently available for pre-order on 
all retailers and will release on Juy 12th! 
It's the second book in a new series called
 The Fireside Series, 
but each novel is a complete standalone.
Trina

I left a week ago.
One week of constantly looking over my shoulder while I walked down the sidewalk.
One week of keeping one eye on the road and one on my rearview mirror while I drove away from Kentucky.
One week since I had been free, yet I still felt caged.
Antsy.
Paranoid.
Yet in one week, I had learned things about myself I didn’t know before.
I was stronger than I thought.
I was braver.
I was done.
Done being his punching bag. Done being his perfect wife in our perfect home in our perfect neighborhood with our perfect friends.
I never wanted to be perfect again.
I wanted to figure out who I was now, without him. Without the chains that used to keep me in my elegant prison—a home that was designed before I ever entered his perfect little picture, waiting for me to move into as soon as he slid a giant rock onto my finger.
I would never return.
I just had to make sure he never found me.
Because if he did, I knew I would not survive.

His to Protect
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Chapter 1
Trina

The air was crisp, the lingering stickiness of summer’s humidity changing into the first hints that fall was just around the corner. With one hand on Boomer’s leash, I tugged him along the sidewalk, pretending we were out for a late-night stroll through the cobblestone streets of Latham Hills.
I hadn’t intended to stop so close to Kentucky. Detroit was only a day’s drive from the home I’d fled just last week. But as soon as I arrived there, intent on heading to Canada and leaving my past behind, something about the little area on the north side of Detroit spoke to me.
It was old and beautiful, rich with a history I wanted to understand and explore, and that’s what so much of this journey was about for me.
Figuring out who I was and what I loved.
So even though I was close to crossing the border into a new country, I felt drawn to stay awhile.
Heal.
Wait for the bruises on my cheek to fade, and my ribs to cease aching when I moved too suddenly.
Then I’d move on to Canada, where, hopefully, Kevin wouldn’t be able to reach me.
“Come on, Boom.” I tugged on his leash again and led my boxer into the alley, where I’d been giving him food from the leftovers of restaurants for the last week. Leaving my old life with a small supply of cash forced me to stretch my budget in ways I never had before. Dog food wasn’t expensive in the grand scheme of things, but I only had a few hundred dollars left and I was trying to save every penny I could.
I’d make it up to Boomer with a bag of his favorite gourmet food as soon as we got settled somewhere. Besides, he didn’t seem to mind eating leftover burgers from the sports bar that we walked by on our first day.
I won’t lie. The delicious aromas that drifted into the air had called to me more than once, too. It’d been ages since I was “allowed” to sink my teeth into a juicy burger, but a good meal was just one more thing I couldn’t afford right now.
It had been gas station hot dogs and pizza slices for me, something else I hadn’t been allowed to eat before. Although now they were something I didn’t want to eat again.
With a cautious glance down the sidewalk, I ensured no one was watching before Boomer and I headed into the alley. There were lots of restaurants along this main stretch of road in Latham Hills, but few alleys where I could hide while I let Boomer nosh on grilled beef.
“Come on, pup,” I whispered, and gave another quick tug on the leash. He followed me eagerly, already licking his chops while his wild tail flopped back and forth.
My dog could understand basic commands; because of his size, I worked hard to train him properly. But even at six years old, he still acted like a puppy most days.
He began to whine with anticipation as I led him over to the dumpster, where I dropped his leash and told him to sit. He listened immediately, his tail thumping against the pavement, while I pulled myself up to the top of the dumpster.
Dumpster diving. If only my mother or Kevin could see me now. I almost snickered at the idea even as I was grunting.
My required Pilates and cardio routines had done little to build the muscle needed to lift the heavy metal lid.
With a final push, I used all my strength to shove the top open, cringing when the metal banged against the brick wall.
I dropped to my feet, waiting for any sign of life as the sound echoed in the dark, narrow alley.
Next to me, Boomer began to whine, his large, pink tongue drooping from his mouth.
“Hush,” I whispered, and gave him a quick, calming rub. “Just another minute, boy. Now, stay.”
His face rubbed against my thigh and I quickly pushed him away before I climbed back up on the dumpster and reached in for a bag of garbage.
Shame slithered through me as I grabbed the first black bag I could get my fingers on.
A week ago, I was coming home from a manicure appointment and running twenty minutes late for dinner, and I knew exactly what was in store for me.
Now, my chipped nails were clinging to plastic bags of garbage. I had no idea what the future held.
Even with the shame, this life felt better.
The bag slipped from my grip just as I lifted it over the edge and fell to the ground.
“Crap,” I muttered, looking at the mess of spilled garbage at my feet, and felt my cheeks heat with fear at the small infraction.
I was so tired of jumping at every mistake I made, quickly looking over my shoulder to see if anyone noticed. If he noticed.
I also didn’t swear. It’d been ingrained in me that a lady cursing was completely unacceptable, even if I used to curse all the time when Kevin and I first began dating.
He quickly cured me of the horrid habit once we married with a backhand to my cheek when I yelled “Shit” one night after dropping a vase.
I only dropped it because he’d yelled at me for not having the dinner table properly set by the time he came home.
It was the first night he hit me.
It most definitely wasn’t the last.
Boomer growled and I quickly squatted down to tear open the bag.
Another shiver of shame rippled through me as I realized what I was doing, what I’d become.
Dirt was visible under my chipped fingernails. I tried not to think about it as I dug through the bag until I found a plastic container filled with what I assumed was a patron’s forgotten leftovers.
I opened it to find exactly what I was looking for.
I reached out to hand it to Boomer when a bright flash of light caught my attention right before a loud clanging sound reverberated through the alley.
“What in the hell is going on out here?”
I jumped backward, falling to my backside, and quickly scrambled behind Boomer.
In front of me, a monstrous shadow filled the doorway just down from the dumpster.
I couldn’t see anything except the black outline of a large figure, but it was clear he had his hands on his hips.
In front of me, Boomer looked up at the stranger and let out a loose growl before he dropped his head and went back to eating.
Some guard dog.
I’d have scolded him for it if I hadn’t been so terrified about the stranger, who reached down and picked up something that looked like a brick.
“I’m sorry,” I stammered, and began searching for Boomer’s leash, but he must have been sitting on it.
Typical dog. He wouldn’t leave until he was good and ready.
“I’m so sorry,” I said again and scrambled to my feet. At five six, I wasn’t exactly short, but I had nothing on the man in front of me. “We’ll go . . . it’s just . . . he needs to eat, but that’s no excuse, I understand . . .”
My voice trailed off as the man dropped the brick in the doorway, propping open the door to the restaurant, and stepped into the alley.
“You’re the one who’s been digging through the crap in my dumpster?”
He took another step out of the doorway. With the light off to his side, I could just make out his features. Shaved head, tanned skin, sharp jawline. Big as a truck.
Nothing about this said it was safe for me to be here. I wrapped my fingers around Boomer’s collar, fruitlessly trying to pull him away from his food.
He whined and jerked forward. I stumbled from his sudden movement and hissed in pain.
My other hand wrapped around my ribs as I flinched.
“You hurt?” the man asked and stepped closer.
“Stop.” I thrust out my hand and looked away from him and down at my darn dog who wouldn’t stop slurping up french fries. “We’ll go, I swear, and we won’t come back. I just . . .”
Darn it. This was horrifically embarrassing. I never actually planned what I would do or say if I got caught digging through trash.
Tears welled in my eyes and I shook my head.
If I turned now and walked away, I doubted this mountain of a man would follow me. Or he would, but if I let Boomer go, he’d slow the man down.
Not with his teeth and a vicious bite. He’d probably lick the man to death. Or tackle him, wanting to play.