It’s my turn in the Tour to bring you The Husbands, by T.J. Brearton. This was a suspenseful story and drew me in from the very beginning, not letting go until I finished reading the final chapter.
A BREATHTAKING CRIME THRILLER FULL OF SHOCKING TWISTS AND TURNS
Winter sunrise over stream on the Lincolnshire Wolds
He kills their wives. He destroys their families.
Then he comes after the husbands.
“Do you want to know who killed your wife?” he asks.
Kelly Roth, FBI profiler, returns home to Syracuse to stop a sadistic serial killer.
Three murders in three separate jurisdictions in central New York State have the same pattern: women killed by fatal headshots from a hunting rifle. Kelly Roth is sent from Virginia to help the local police.
Each victim was found murdered in a remote area or in a quiet park. The media call him “The Park Killer.” But Kelly doesn’t think the killer lurks in the bushes. She thinks he hunts his victims somewhere else.
But is he really contacting the bereaved husbands or is this a cover for their own guilt?
Kelly will risk her own life in a heart-stopping race against time to stop more murders and find out the truth.
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO DISCOVER WHO KILLED YOUR WIFE?
If you like Jeffery Deaver, Linwood Barclay, Lisa Unger, Kendra Elliot, or JD Robb you will enjoy this compelling new mystery novel.
The book is set in New York State, an area the author brings to life with compelling detail based on his local knowledge.
ALSO BY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR T.J. BREARTON HABIT SURVIVORS DAYBREAK BLACK SOUL
DEAD GONE TRUTH OR DEAD
GONE DARK WEB DARK KILLS
T. J. Brearton Author Bio
Hi. Thanks for being here.
You know I write books, what else is relevant? Well, I started out wanting to write and direct films. After attending the New York Film Academy I worked in showbiz for a little while and wrote my own screenplays. Ridley Scott says writing novels and directing films are the “same thing.”* Okay, that’s out of context, but, yeah, part of my brain probably thinks it’s making movies when I write books.
I’ve had a lot of jobs. Construction, bartending, waiting tables — even weird things like cleaning tombstones and working for a non-profit. I’m fortunate to now write full time. (We’ll see how long it lasts…) And I’m lucky to have had my books hit the top 100 lists for Amazon Kindle in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. (Come on, other countries — step it up!)
Thanks again, and please keep reading because without you I’m just a guy sitting alone in his basement office listening to voices.
From beloved contemporary romance author Sienna Snow comes a dark and delicious tale of indulgence and passion. Enter the world of the gorgeous gods of Las Vegas — if you dare.
The one I shouldn’t want, shouldn’t crave, the one who could destroy my carefully built life.
Hagen Lykaios was the essence of sin, indulgence, and danger – everything I knew to avoid.
All it took was one unexpected touch, and he consumed me, left me begging, needy, and hungry for more.
He said if I entered his world he would corrupt me, own me, and change all that I had ever known…and you know what? I went anyway.
PENNY
The door locked behind us, and almost immediately I felt the atmosphere of the office we’d entered change. There was an undercurrent of arousal and need flowing, and it definitely wasn’t one-sided.
I leaned my back against the door and studied the predator in the impeccable suit before me. What was it about him that made me want to throw caution out the window?
“So, what now?” I asked as he took my clutch from my hand and threw it on a nearby table.
“You tell me.”
I pressed my palm to his chest, loving the heat that radiated through the material of his shirt.
“Tell me you feel this.”
“Yes.”
“My excuse is the adrenaline from the asshole earlier. What’s yours?”
I licked my lips and watched his eyes dilate. “Do I need one?”
He stepped forward. “No, you don’t.” His mouth covered mine.
Dear God, he tasted amazing, whiskey and his own natural essence. His lips were soft, softer than I ever expected. His tongue found its way against mine, and the kiss grew deeper. He rolled and glided, making my mind cloud with a need suppressed for too long.
I found my head jerked back in a tight grip as our mouths continued to duel. We ate at each other as if we were starved.
My arms pulled him closer, wanting nothing more than to feel all of him against me. His hard length pressed into my stomach and my core flooded with desire.
I knew it would be like this if I ever got a chance to kiss him. He was all-consuming and demanding, everything I could ever want. Logic should tell me to stop, to take a step back and think about what going any further would mean. But all I could do was drown in the cascade of desire.
Hagen released my hair, and his hands slid up my thighs, pulling them apart and wrapping them around his waist. He rubbed his rock-hard cock along the seam of my pussy and against my aching clit.
“Hagen,” I moaned, wanting more. “I need.”
“I know what you need. I’m just not sure you can handle it.” He licked down my throat and then nipped the juncture of my neck and shoulder.
I jerked, and my core clenched, arching into the pleasure-pain.
“More. Please. More.” I couldn’t believe I was begging. Now if only I knew what I begged for.
Hagen began to grind his cock back and forth against the sensitive nerves at the apex of my cleft, creating a rhythm that had every cell in my body screaming.
“Come for me, Starlight.” His hand slid farther up my skirt and then his thumb began to stroke my clit.
I detonated, throwing my head back as stars flashed behind my eyes. My pussy spasmed and contracted. I lost all sense of place and time.
My arousal flooded through my core, soaking his thumb and bringing out a groan from his exploring mouth.
“I can’t wait to taste your sweet cunt. One day you will come while I fuck you with my mouth.”
His words spurred another contraction.
Holy fuck. Dirty talk got me off.
Slowly, I came down from the best orgasm of my life and realized I was now sitting on Hagen’s lap. His erection was a brand under my bottom, and his breath was ragged. I looked into his blue depths that almost seemed black since his pupils ate up his eyes.
I tried to reach for his pants, but he stilled my movement.
“I won’t take you. No matter how much I want to. Watching you come apart has to be enough.”
About Sienna
Inspired by her years working in corporate America, Sienna loves to serve up stories woven around confident and successful women who know what they want and how to get it, both in – and out – of the bedroom.
Her heroines are fresh, well-educated, and often find love and romance through atypical circumstances. Sienna treats her readers to enticing slices of hot romance infused with empowerment and indulgent satisfaction.
Sienna loves the life of travel and adventure. She plans to visit even the farthest corners of the world and delight in experiencing the variety of cultures along the way. When she isn’t writing or traveling, Sienna is working on her “happily ever after” with her husband and children.
Gabrielle Duval belongs to me.
I’ve made sure of that.
Now it’s time to eliminate the man who kept us apart.
My father.
The devil himself.
His reign of terror ends here.
On my terms.
Delivered, Book 2 of The Devil’s Duet, is not a standalone. It should be read after reading Depraved. Those who are triggered by dark storylines, please proceed cautiously!
About Eva A confirmed city-girl, Eva moved to rural Western Massachusetts in 2014. She found herself living in the woods with no job, no friends (unless you count the turkey, deer, and coyote roaming the backyard), and no children underfoot, wondering what on earth she had been thinking. But as it turned out, it was the perfect setting to take all those yarns spinning in her head and weave them into steamy love stories.
A romantic at heart, Eva looks forward to date night all week. The perfect evening includes well-crafted cocktails, a fabulous perfume, Cherry Garcia ice cream, and her husband, of course. If you add good friends, live jazz, and impossible shoes, she will follow you anywhere.
Eva holds a BA from Boston College, and a JD from the Washington College of Law. She spent a career working in domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and civil rights. Aspects of this work often find their way into her books.
When she’s not writing sexy stories, trying to squeeze information out of her tight-lipped sons, or playing with the two cutest dogs you’ve ever seen, Eva’s creating chapters in her own love story.
RELEASE BLITZ
Title: Worship
Series: Sinful #2
Author: Trilina Pucci
Genre: Dark Romance
Release Date: March 3, 2019
BLURB
Book Two, in A Sinful Series, brings you an intense, taboo love story, and an even hotter ALPHA. Meet Luca King— broody, powerful and a man who’s never refused.
There are only two reasons a man falls to his knees: prayer and pussy.
And I sure as hell don’t pray.
But for this woman, I’d fall on my knees to worship every single, gorgeous part of her body.
And claim her as mine,
knowing I shouldn’t want to keep her.
Because we’re all wrong, too complicated, too explosive….too sinful.
I want what I can’t have.
But I’ll take it anyway because Gretchen Andrews has done the one thing my wife never could….she’s made me love her.
Luca’s hand pulls away from my chin, and he takes my glass, putting it on the table.
“How I see it is you need to stop assuming the worst and trust me to care for you, and the only way for us to do that is to make sure you get what you need, over and over, until you take it for granted.”
He’s talking about more than just sex, even though I love the “over and over” part. I didn’t trust him; I prolonged this moment as much as his stubbornness did. But I did it by way of mistrust, assuming he wouldn’t do what we both needed.
“So, you want to teach me a lesson in trust?”
The desire in my voice gives away my readiness.
He nods.
“I paid a helluva price almost losing you. What price should you pay for not trusting me? Huh?”
The tumbler he’s holding runs up my leg, and I can feel the coolness through my jeans. Luca leans close to my cheek and whispers, “Choose your fate. Do you want to be fucked or loved, Angel?”
I close my eyes, knowing they aren’t mutually exclusive, but for us, they have very specific meanings. He knows I need the connection between us, the aggression and anger we’ve both felt to play about in the sheets.
His breath is warm against my skin as he keeps whispering.
“Maybe we play your favorite game, Angel. I’ll hunt you…here.”
He brings the glass between my legs and runs it up, rolling it over where my clit is throbbing. My breath hitches.
“Do you trust me?” he asks seductively.
He sets his drink down and begins to gather my T-shirt, tugging it up.
I look around, worried about being caught.
“Luca, someone could catch us. The wall is all glass.”
The minute I say it, I know I failed my lesson. Luca doesn’t stop or change expression as he pulls my shirt up and over my head, leaving me exposed in just my bra.
“Take them off, or I will,” he directs in his deep gravel, indicating my jeans.
I’m not a submissive girl. But when he does this, gets sexually dominant, I feel understood. I’m a powerful woman, and I need a man who can handle me, break me, and make me feel devoured. Luca was made for me. He crosses his arms over his chest.
“The longer I wait, the longer you wait to come. Get ’em off,” he growls. Holy hell, I’m wet. Rough Luca is my favorite Luca.
I reach slowly for my button and pull it open, challenging his patience by lowering the zipper only a fraction.
“You know, I’m not wearing underwear,” I lie.
The thought of being fucked out here where someone could catch us makes me nervous, even if I’m supposed to trust him.
“When I pull off these jeans, everyone will see what’s yours…you sure you want to share?” My voice is a purr, and he bites his lip, gripping his bulge.
I know I’ve won. No fucking way is he willing to share me with prying eyes.
Right as I feel victorious, Luca shakes his head and says, “So fucking stubborn,” then grabs me by the waistband of my jeans and jerks me forward.
“Luca!” I yelp and laugh.
He pushes his hand down the front of my jeans, and I gasp, silenced. Grabbing my tiny lace G-string, along with the few hairs I have down below, he tugs me closer, and the sensation makes my pussy slick with need.
My back arches from being pulled forward.
“Little liar,” he whispers knowingly, and I whimper.
Pleasure grips my body as his hold tightens.
“You definitely need a lesson in trust. Maybe I’ll take it out on your ass or maybe in your ass. Here’s the game, baby: I catch you, I pick.”
His hand retreats as he takes a step away from me.
I’m breathless. My entire body is on fire. This man speaks to every filthy fucking piece of me.
“What’s the second choice? What if you don’t catch me?” I ask hungrily.
A slow smile grows on his gorgeous face. Luca takes out his phone from his pocket and presses a button, laughing to himself.
The light that glowed from inside the house begins to fade as heavy black shades roll down, and I hear a click as the door locks. He was never going to let me be seen. But now, I’m on my own.
Trilina is an author, wife, and mama to three rowdy kiddos. When she isn’t making grilled cheese sandwiches, she can be found writing saucy novels that titillate and excite her readers.
Three billionaire brothers: Cesare, Enzo, and Dante Sabatini have everything except the one thing money can’t buy. Three big beautiful, women Alicia, Bethany, and Chloe will teach them the ABCs of love. Follow these couples as they negotiate the riskiest deal of all, falling in love.
It’s hard to believe when I get the call: an offer to work for one of the Sabatini brothers. Cesare and Dante head a real estate firm that buys, sells, and owns some of the most spectacular real estate in Chicago. Dante Sabatini is the youngest of the brothers, and even though he’s an arrogant manwhore he doesn’t come close to the a$$hole level of the oldest Sabatini, Cesare. While I work for Dante, Cesare is in the office across the hall—and too close for comfort. I’m not sure what misfiring synapse has my stomach flipping a thousand times a minute or my skin hot and tight when the man is around, but I’m doing my best to ignore it. Even if I weren’t a virgin, I’m very aware getting involved with Cesare Sabatini would be a complete disaster.
Until the moment I find out Cesare is having the same problem. Seriously? The insanely gorgeous billionaire wants me? I’m a plus-size woman who has grown numb to the insults I have heard about my weight. I’m far from numb at the idea of throwing caution to the wind and giving in to the dirty demands Cesare whispered in my ear.
Then I get a call I never thought I would have to deal with. My little sister is being blackmailed. I need twenty five thousand dollars or her future goes up in flames. I’m borrowing it, I’ll put it right back.
When Cesare finds out, he demands twenty-five days and nights of my body. Only once I’m in his home and life, twenty-five days isn’t enough—I want forever. But what does Cesare want?
I’m barely settled into my chair when an instant message comes through. It’s from Cesare. All it says is:
My office
Why the hell does my
stomach drop then twist painfully? Is it about me giving my notice? It has to
be—he can’t know, not so soon. I look to Hannah, who is engrossed in the report
she’s writing, doing that mumbling thing she does as she’s typing. Heart
pounding, I push up from my chair then make my way to Cesare’s office. I knock,
I hear him say come in. My palm is sweating as I turn the knob then push the
door open. He’s leaning back in his chair. For the first time in what feels
like forever his eyes are meeting mine. They give nothing away.
“Yes, sir?”
“Have a seat, Ms.
Jeffries.” He gestures to the chair in front of his desk.
Slowly, I sink to the
edge of the chair. “Do you need something?” I feel it now: a heady satisfaction
surrounds him. He smiles, it’s blinding, it’s scary. The hair on the back of my
neck goes up.
“Maybe I should be
asking you that. Do you need something, Ms. Jeffries? Was there a difficulty in
your personal life?” Oh god, my heart stutters. “It must have been an enormous
difficulty to run into twenty-five thousand dollars. I take it the matter has
been resolved?” His tone is of concern, of solicitation, with just the faintest
twinge of sarcasm. I don’t respond. I can’t. “The matter has been resolved, has
it not?” I don’t move an inch. “Ms. Jeffries, I asked you a question. The
reason why you needed twenty-five thousand dollars, has it been resolved?”
I nod, just once. I
hate the tears that pour out of me as I blink. It’s clear he’s not happy about
them either. “Ms. Jeffries, this isn’t a speeding ticket where you’ll get away
with a warning if you turn on the waterworks. You stole twenty-five thousand
dollars from my company, from me.”
“I gave it back. I only
needed it to make a trade. I can pay you interest if you want it.” The words
come out of me before I can swallow them. “Bethany was being blackmailed. If I
didn’t pay fifty thousand dollars her entire future, everything she worked so
hard for was going to get flushed down the toilet by a malicious brat.”
His eyes narrow. “You
made a trade with that money? Are you crazy? In this volatile market, you could
have lost everything.”
I shake my head. “I’ve
made this trade three years running every quarter and it’s never gone against
me. Your twenty-five thousand was safe—I made even more this time around. I’m
sorry, I’m already quitting. Isn’t that enough?” I plead.
He cocks his head as he
studies me. His eyes run over me slowly, so very slowly. It’s back, the heat I
haven’t felt in so long, burning me from the inside out. “No, it’s not enough,
not nearly enough. I’m going to need twenty-five thousand dollars’ worth of
recompense in the form of you.” A plain manila folder is pushed toward me.
“Option one: I pick up the phone and make a call to the police and give them
that file that details every step of your removal of funds, unapproved, into
your grandmother’s account. Or option two: You agree to give yourself to me
when I want you, how I want you, as often as I want you.”
This is supposed to be
humiliating, I’m almost sure of it. Yet, his words cause a rush of wet heat to
flood my core. What is the matter with me? Lydia’s words come rushing back to
me as I fight not to fall on my knees screaming option two, a thousand times
option two. Cesare needs to feel like he has the power, he needs to be in
control. I had already told him I wanted him, would take him whatever way he was
wanted me. Yet as a virgin, somehow I had the power of obligation over him; now
he has the power all over again. Forcing a deep breath, I meet his eyes,
glowing with fierce hunger. “What if I don’t meet your usual standards? With my
lack of experience and everything?”
“Let me worry about
that. All I need from you is a willingness to please. I’ll take care of the
rest.”
Hell yes, I’m willing.
God, I’m such a slut. I nod, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?” I swear
he purrs the words like the tiger Dante once compared him to. I’ve caught a
tiger by the tail—now what the hell do I do with him? No sudden movements
flashes as a shiver runs up my spine.
“I’m yours, any way you
want me.” A dark eyebrow goes up. “As often as you want me. I belong to you.”
“You’ll withdraw your
letter of resignation. I’ll deal with Dante. At noon you’ll leave early, to go
home and get packed. Movers will be at your home at two. Pack everything you
will need for the next twenty-five days. You’ll be living with me in order for
you to be within easy reach to fulfill the whenever I want you, as often as I
want you portion of the agreement.”
Living with him? I get
to keep my job too? “I have a dog. I can’t leave him at home.”
He sighs then shrugs.
“Bring the dog. He won’t be sleeping in the bed. I’m not willing to share my
bed with a dog.”
I shake my head. “Me
either, he sleeps in his own bed at the foot of the bed on the floor. Um, how
long am I keeping my job for? The twenty-five days or…” I’m almost afraid to
ask the question, yet I need to know.
“For now, the
twenty-five days. I’ll look into moving you into another position, where you
don’t have access to money, maybe as an admin in our legal department.” He says
the last drily. I fight not to blush and lose.
“I’m sorry, you don’t
know how sorry I am. I have never so much as taken a penny from one of those
take a penny leave a penny things. But this was for my sister, and I can’t say
I wouldn’t do it again.” I shrug. “It was her whole world at stake—hers seemed
more important than my own at the time.”
He’s quiet for so long,
I can’t take it anymore and look up to meet his eyes. We connect and he sees
into my soul. Every secret I have ever had he knows, every lie I’ve ever told
is revealed to him. “For the next twenty-five days, I’m your whole world.”
AUTHOR BIO
Due to commitment issues I have lived in many different cities and my favorite is Chicago but I have managed to settle into Austin and perhaps my commitment issues are behind me.
I have enjoyed reading from a very young age and it wasn’t long before the children books bored me and I read the books my mother enjoyed Stephen King and Dean Koontz and I didn’t sleep without the light on until I was about ten.
I came across my first Harlequin by accident and it was love at first read, no one died and happy endings? It was a whole new world and I loved it.
I wrote my first story at eight and everyone died, of course. Since then I would like to think I’ve gotten better and now I’m writing the happily ever afters I first fell in love with, with some hot sex thrown in along the way.
As a plus size woman myself, I have started writing the stories I always wanted to see myself in but never did. And now I’m ecstatic to give BBWs the happily ever afters with hot Alphas I want to read.
There is a giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card, a $5 Amazon gift card, 3 ebook copies of His Dirty Demands, a signed paperback copy of His Sweetest Sin + a signed paperback copy of His on Demand (7 winners total, open internationally)
With a missing father, a murderous brother, and a marriage of convenience, Becca Gatlinburg’s life is one hot mess…and it’s about to get hotter.
After overhearing her brother plotting a murder, Becca is desperate to find out the truth behind her family’s business dealings and her father’s disappearance. She makes a deal with the devil–a gorgeous, irreverent soldier turned PI. She’s in over her head and sinking fast.
The last thing Bronson Warner ever wanted was to be a groom. The second to the last thing he ever wanted was to be a dad. Through a weird twist of fate, he’s now both within the span of a few weeks. His solitary life has been turned upside down and stomped on by a wife who’s his exact opposite and teenagers who have their own tragic secret, and it’s his responsibility to keep them all safe.
As Bronson strives to protect his new family, he realizes not only are their lives in danger, but so is his heart.
About the Author:
USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her two new indie endeavors: the Game On in Seattle Series and the Madrona Island Series. Jami’s new releases consistently rank in the top fifty on the sports romance and sports genre lists on Amazon, and she has hit the Amazon top hundred authors list in both contemporary romance and genre fiction multiple times. Jami ranked Number Seven on Kobo’s Top Ten Most Completed Authors, an honor bestowed on the year’s “most engaging” authors based on an average page completion rate by their readers.
Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare.
Jami works in IT for her day job and is a former high school business teacher. She’s a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan and is waiting for the day professional hockey comes to Seattle. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it’s the most beautiful place on earth.
The men never back down to danger, but always fall hard for love in the Cover Six Security series by USA Today Bestselling Author Lisa B. Kamps.
Gordon “Mac” MacGregor swore an oath to protect and defend–an oath he continues to uphold as a former Army Ranger. Now he specializes in dark ops private security with Cover Six Security where danger is a still constant companion–and one of the few things that make him feel alive. But he doesn’t expect that danger to come in the form of the Tabitha “TR” Meyers, the only woman who sees him for who he truly is–and the only woman he’s ever sworn off.
TR rarely abides by the rules, not when there’s something she needs. And right now, she needs Mac. She enlists his help for one night, thinking she can simply walk away when it’s over. But that one night is just the beginning, thrusting both of them into a dangerous web of scandal and cover-up with roots that run deeper than either of them expects.
When TR becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of deception and revenge, Mac will do anything to protect her–even if it means risking his own heart.
About the Author:
Lisa B. Kamps is a USA Today Bestselling Author who loves cheering loudly for her favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals. She came about the fandom honestly as she lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons (who are mostly sorta-kinda out of the house), one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count.
While Lisa writes a lot of hockey – one such series, The Baltimore Banners, features “…hard-hitting, heart-melting hockey players…” [USA Today], on and off the ice – she also delves deep ahem into the heat with a series of hot and heroic firefighters who put more than their lives on the line in the Firehouse Fourteen series. She’s recently introduced a whole new team of hot hockey players who play hard and love even harder in her Banners’ spin-off series, The York Bombers. The Chesapeake Blades–a romance series featuring women’s hockey–also recently launched with WINNING HARD. Her newest series, Cover Six Security, is launching now!
RELEASE BOOST Title: Brothers in Arms Series: Kings of Mayhem #2 Author: Penny Dee Genre: MC Romance/Contemporary Romance Release Date: February 26, 2019
BLURB
Someone is going to pay.
But who?
CADE They took someone from me. And I’m going to make them pay. In blood. But before I can do that, I have to make sure my girl is safe. And I will do whatever I have to, even break my own heart, to make sure she survives. Because she is my queen. My everything.
INDY He’s changed. His grief is overwhelming and I can feel the gap widening between us. Someone is coming after the Kings of Mayhem MC. And we are trapped as they play out their evil scheme. Because under the cover of darkness, they are coming for each of us, one by one, to play out their own twisted vendetta. And no one is safe.
I had blacked out again. I’m not sure when, or why. But when I woke up, morning light slid into the room via the small window on the far wall. My body was stiff and my wrists stung from the bindings. I was also dying to pee.
I tried calling out, but my throat was so dry I barely made a sound. As if on cue, the door to the room opened and I felt the same familiar male presence as before. I braced myself, waiting for another attack.
“I need to pee,” I croaked, now fully aware of my aching bladder. “And if you don’t want me making a mess of your sheets . . .”
He said nothing. He simply made sure my blindfold was secure before leaning down to undo my wrist binds.
I took the moment to try to work out who he was. Was that a familiar smell? Did I recognize it?
Yes, he smelled familiar.
“Get up,” he said gruffly when I was free.
Not sure if he was going to hit me again, I cautiously sat up. My head spun with pain and the blood whirling in my ears, and I had to bite back my fear as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Gingerly, I felt for the floor with my feet.
Where was I?
A pair of hands pulled me to my feet and then settled on my shoulders. With a shove, he pushed me across the room and through a doorway. Placing his hands back on my shoulders he hustled me along a corridor. I pushed my hands out in front of me, feeling in the air for anything I might walk into. My breathing was heavy and my pulse thumped wildly in my neck. Keep calm. Keep calm. Take in your surroundings. When my palms hit the doorframe in front of me, my captor shoved me again so I stumbled into the bathroom and fell.
When I climbed to my feet, he was right behind me.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” he whispered in my ear. I felt the unmistakable coolness of a blade against my throat. “Or I might have to get creative when I catch you.”
The door closed and I took a moment to calm myself. When I was sure I was alone I quickly ripped off my blindfold. Light stung my eyes as I looked around me. I was dressed in nothing but my tank top and a pair of panties. My legs were cold and I was desperate for a drink, but I was more desperate to escape. I swung around, checking for a window to escape through, but the only window in the room was bolted closed.
Right. If escape wasn’t an option, then I needed to arm myself. I scanned the room for anything I could use as a weapon. Anything. But the room was sparse. I went to the medicine cabinet, hoping for a razor blade, a pair of scissors—something! But apart from a cake of soap, a tube of antiseptic cream, and some kind of body balm, there was nothing.
I closed the mirrored cabinet door and felt suddenly overwhelmed by the situation. My head dropped to my hands. I had to find something to protect myself with because this might be the only chance I got. Who knew what hell waited for me when I left this room?
Lifting my head, I stared at my gaunt reflection in the tarnished mirrored door. The wound to my lip had been deep but it had scabbed over. Blood from the pounding I had taken to my nose had caked beneath my nostrils. Both my eyes were black and I was already showing signs of dehydration.
I turned on the faucet and bent down so I could hungrily gulp back mouthfuls of cool water until I was breathless. Straightening, I wiped the water from my chin and tried to steady my nerves. I lifted my eyes to look at myself in the mirror.
You have to get out of here.
You have to fight.
My gaze shifted to the dirty hand towel hanging by the basin and a plan quickly formed in my mind. Grabbing it, I wrapped it around my arm before I took aim at the mirrored door with my elbow. I had no idea if this would work, or if it would alert my capturer to the fact I was disobeying his don’t try anything stupid demand. But I had to try.
I coincided a well-timed cough with smacking my elbow into the mirror. Pain shot up my arm to my jaw, and for a moment I saw stars, but my reward was the muffled crack of glass. Thankfully, it didn’t shatter into pieces and simply cracked at the point of contact.
With fingers caked in dried blood, I loosened a shard out of the mirror and rolled it about in my hand, getting a feel for it. Granted, it wasn’t a knife. Or a gun. But it could mean the difference between me surviving, or me dying.
Taking care of my need to pee, I considered my plan. As soon as my captor was close enough, I would stick the shard straight into his neck and run for my life. But I only had one chance, so I had to get it right. I would aim for the jugular and I wouldn’t miss. It would be quick and it would be lethal.
When I finished peeing, I stood up and headed for the door.
I drew in a deep breath. I didn’t know what waited for me on the other side, but whatever it was, I wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Okay, you son of a bitch, let’s do this,” I whispered.
I opened the door slowly, inch by inch, holding my breath as I waited for it to be ripped open by my kidnapper. But as the second-story landing slowly came into view, I realized he wasn’t there.
I was alone.
I stood there for a moment, barely able to breathe, barely able to control my pounding heart. My eyes scanned my surroundings. I was on the second floor landing of what used to be a family home. But there was something old, faded, and unloved about the place. Pictures were missing off the walls and everything seemed yellowed and dusty in the dim light. It seemed lonely.
This is a trap.
To the right of me, a stairway led down to the second level.
Probably straight to the front door.
I strained to listen, trying to work out if my kidnapper was nearby, but the house was still and quiet.
Careful not to make a noise, I crept along the landing, gripping the makeshift shiv firmly in my hand, ready to use it. Taking each step with caution, I slowly made my way down the stairs, my knees weak and my heart pounding like it would beat out of my chest at any given second. I was almost at the bottom of the stairs and the front door was in sight. Two more steps and I could make a break for it—for freedom. The front door was glass and I was more than game to crash through it if it was locked.
One step.
Two steps.
As soon as my feet slapped the tiles, I made a run for the door and reached for the handle.
That’s when I heard him. His voice came from behind me.
“Nice of you to finally join me.”
I spun around and felt my brain tilt. My knees weakened and I dropped the shard of glass in my hands.
“You,” I breathed with disbelief.
Penny Dee writes contemporary romance about rockstars, bikers, hockey players and everyone in-between. She believes true love never runs smoothly, and her characters realize this too, with a boatload of drama and a whole lot of steam.
She found her happily ever after in Australia where she lives with her husband, daughter and a dog named Bindi.
With a missing father, a murderous brother, and a marriage of convenience, Becca Gatlinburg’s life is one hot mess…and it’s about to get hotter.
After overhearing her brother plotting a murder, Becca is desperate to find out the truth behind her family’s business dealings and her father’s disappearance. She makes a deal with the devil–a gorgeous, irreverent soldier turned PI. She’s in over her head and sinking fast.
The last thing Bronson Warner ever wanted was to be a groom. The second to the last thing he ever wanted was to be a dad. Through a weird twist of fate, he’s now both within the span of a few weeks. His solitary life has been turned upside down and stomped on by a wife who’s his exact opposite and teenagers who have their own tragic secret, and it’s his responsibility to keep them all safe.
As Bronson strives to protect his new family, he realizes not only are their lives in danger, but so is his heart.
About the Author:
USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her two new indie endeavors: the Game On in Seattle Series and the Madrona Island Series. Jami’s new releases consistently rank in the top fifty on the sports romance and sports genre lists on Amazon, and she has hit the Amazon top hundred authors list in both contemporary romance and genre fiction multiple times. Jami ranked Number Seven on Kobo’s Top Ten Most Completed Authors, an honor bestowed on the year’s “most engaging” authors based on an average page completion rate by their readers.
Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare.
Jami works in IT for her day job and is a former high school business teacher. She’s a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan and is waiting for the day professional hockey comes to Seattle. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it’s the most beautiful place on earth.
ALL WE ARE The Ex-Factor Duet – Book 2 Release Day – April 25 By Elisabeth Grace & Michelle Lynn
Coming face-to-face with my past changes EVERYTHING.
I’m at the top of my game. All my struggles have finally paid off. Life should be great.
I mean, life is great.
Except for the fact that I can’t stop thinking of her. The woman who mangled my heart into a bloody pulp and never looked back.
If I could free myself of our shared memories, my future would be golden.
There’s only one way to move on—I have to confront the past, so I can move into the next chapter of my life in peace. Which means confronting her for the final time.
I had no idea that knocking on her door that day would turn my life upside down.
ABOUT ELISABETH GRACE: USA Today Bestselling author, Elisabeth Grace, has a soft spot for romance novels with happily ever afters and a hot spot for alpha males! She currently lives outside Toronto, Canada with her hubby and two small children. Life is busy, but never too busy for a good story and to share her love of reading and writing with others.
ABOUT MICHELLE LYNN: Michelle moved around the Midwest most of her life, transferring from school to school before settling down in the outskirts of Chicago ten years ago, where she now resides with her husband and two kids.
She loves all thing romance and cries at happy endings!
Explore world literature and making meaning of life with scholar Neriman Kuyucu. Deep reflections on postcolonial narratives, migration, and the craft of writing.
I read lots of books, from mythology retellings to literary fiction and I love to reread books from childhood, this is a place to voice my thoughts for fun. I also like to ramble about things such as art or nature every now and again.
Sassy Redhead Book Reviews 