RELEASE DAY BLITZ - HERO by LEIGHTON DEL MIA

SYNOPSIS

Calvin Parish

They call me Hero.
I defend.
I protect.
I ask for nothing in return, and that makes me good.
Doesn’t it?

That which makes me the ultimate predator also feeds dark impulses I’ve learned to control—until I bring her too close. For years I’ve watched her from afar, but what started out as duty has become obsession.

Cataline Ford

I work hard.
I play by the rules.
I’m content.
My scars are quiet and invisible, and that keeps me hidden.
Doesn’t it?

One fateful walk home, I’m taken by someone I didn’t know I should fear. Captive and afraid, nobody will tell me why I’m confined to this hauntingly beautiful mansion. I’m given everything; I have nothing. He takes what he needs from me, and for that I hate him. But I might have loved him once.

And just because you’re reading this doesn’t mean I survive him.

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Because I’m lost in my thoughts, I don’t hear Cataline enter the room. Her tight black dress cuts across her mid-thighs, and her cleavage teases from a plummeting neckline. She’s done her makeup for probably the second time since arriving at the mansion.

“What is this?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“What?”

Jasmine drifts under my nose as she walks away from me to her seat.

“I told you not to dress up for dinner.”

“I thought you’d like it,” she says, lowering herself gracefully into the chair. Her back is straight as a rod, and her fingers are laced. “You don’t?”

Norman decorates the table with food as I stare Cataline down. He clears his throat. “For dinner, we have—”

“Leave us.”

He pauses. Though my eyes are still fastened on Cataline, I know he’s watching me as he bows his head. “As you wish, sir.”

I stand and slowly walk the line of the long table. My footsteps echo through the hall, appropriately menacing. I’ve just come from a burning building but am back in my suit and tie to maintain appearances. And my ridiculous glasses, which I remove and toss aside. She’ll believe I’ve just returned from the office. When I’m standing over her, she tugs up the neckline of the dress and blinks at me. I resist smirking as she tucks hair behind her ear twice.

“Well,” she says, “aren’t we going to eat?”

“I’m going to eat.”

“I’m not?”

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one meal at this table, and it’s you.”

My ears pick up her slow swallow, my eyes the curl of her hands in her lap. “That sounds like a threat,” she says quietly.

I bend over, flatten one hand on the table and wrap the other around the arm of her chair. “It’s not. This is a threat: if you’re not naked and spread out on this table in two seconds, I’m going to spank you so hard, you won’t know up from down.”

KYBO's Review
(ARC provided for an honest review)

I’ve been in an utter quandary about how to review this book, for me it was an utter mind fuck!!!!

You get from the blurb that Calvin Parish is a modern day Hero, he’s ridding the city of New Rhone from scum and gaining some pretty notorious enemies along the way! 

Catalina is an average girl, she had a tough childhood but it hasn’t defined her, she’s getting by - lusting after her boss, fantasising over Hero and as far as she’s concerned there’s nothing out of the ordinary about her or her life.

So why the mind fuck?? I don’t even know where to begin, but I’ll try……..

Calvin is an ass, Hero says to me saviour, role model, aspire to be, yeh, he was none of that! I did not like him at all from the moment we meet him to the last page! I honestly did not find anything redeeming about him at all, I didn’t care what his excuses were, what his background was I thought he treated Catalina appallingly! I love Alpha Males but I don’t think he projected Alpha, he just screamed entitlement & arrogance.

Catalina and her emotions are what were most real for me in this book, I felt her fear, her confusion, her devastation, her desperation and her utter despair, she kept it as real as she could and fought to keep herself sane under what were the most bizarre of circumstances, I loved that she kept a fire in her belly and never gave up on what she knew was right!

I would’ve liked just a little bit more, the back story wasn’t enough and I felt the ending and epilogue were rushed, though the Novella “Keep Me” may assuage that craving…………

To sum up, this book wasn’t for me, I love angst but this was a little too predictable to be angsty. I can’t reconcile the subject matter and Calvins behaviour with what he claimed to be to Catalina and that all is forgiven without redemption for what is a heinous violation however you wrap it up!
I do want to highlight what I thought were positives, it evoked emotion in me, it’s gritty, raw, thought provoking and I couldn’t put it down, I read it in one sitting. I also liked the authors writing style, I would definitely read other books by her but Hero was just a tad too far for me.

3.5 Books Knocked Off from KYBO

Leighton Del Mia lives behind large sunglasses and under massive headphones. She can usually be found behind and under these things at any Starbucks on the West Coast, which is where she writes twisty books between sips of black coffee.

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KEEP ME - A HERO NOVELLA

“I will disappoint you. I will hurt you. If I could be different, I would. But I don’t think I can.”

Declarations and sacrifices have been made. After three years, a better life is finally on the horizon. But when the past leaves marks that are both painful and permanent, is there ever such a thing as starting over? Can memories be replaced or forgotten—and should they be?

Keep Me is a follow-up novella for Hero readers who want a glimpse of life after breakfast. It is only intended to be enjoyed after Hero and is not a standalone. It is entirely optional and not essential to the original plot.

Purchase Links

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COVER REVEAL - KEEP ME by Leighton Del Mia

Release Date: 

February 27th 2014

Cover Designer: 

Cover It! Designs

Synopsis 

“I will disappoint you. I will hurt you. If I could be different, I would. But I don’t think I can.”

Declarations and sacrifices have been made. After three years, a better life is finally on the horizon. But when the past leaves marks that are both painful and permanent, is there ever such a thing as starting over? Can memories be replaced or forgotten—and should they be?

*Keep Me is a follow-up novella for Hero readers who want a glimpse of life after breakfast. It is only intended to be enjoyed after Hero and is not a standalone. It is entirely optional and not essential to the original plot.

Leighton Del Mia lives behind large sunglasses and under massive headphones. She can usually be found behind and under these things at any Starbucks on the West Coast, which is where she writes twisty books between sips of black coffee.

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COVER REVEAL - Very Wicked Things by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Briarcrest Academy #2

by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Synopsis

Born on the poor side of town…

Ballerina Dovey Beckham is a scholarship student at Briarcrest Academy, determined to prove she’s more than just a girl with the wrong pedigree. She does whatever it takes to succeed in her endgame, even if it means surrendering her body…but never her heart. 

Until the day she meets him, and he rips apart all her well-laid plans. Suddenly, the girl everyone thought unbreakable might just shatter.

Born into wealth and privilege…

Cuba “Hollywood” Hudson is rich, spoiled, and a star football player. With his fast cars and superficial girlfriends, he lives the high-life, hiding his secrets from the world.

Until the day he meets her, and she offers him something he’s never tasted…love.

But once in a lifetime kind of love doesn’t come easy. When trust crumbles and doubts creep in, both will have to decide to either love or let go…forever.

Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive. 

EXCERPT

Cuba’s POV

Not exactly a meet-cute…

The room closed in, making me sweat. I hadn’t talked to her in over a year, and now here we were, face-to-face. Two ex-lovers who hated each other.

I had to get away from her.

Dovey tilted her head as I stood, giving me a scathing glare. “Leaving so soon? Yeah, go ahead, cut and run. Coward.”

I ignored her and tried to get Weinstein’s attention, to let her know she could flunk me for all I cared.

“Before you go, tell me one thing, and I’ll make sure we aren’t partners in this class. You’ll be free of me,” she said.

“What?” I asked, my voice going all raspy, blocking all the words I wanted to say. They weren’t things she ever needed to hear.

“Why so cruel to me? You aren’t to the other girls you date and dump. Why single me out?”

I seethed. “And it didn’t take you long to find someone else, now did it? How is Spider? Does he get you hot like I did?”

She smirked. “He’s fine. He thinks I hung the moon. He thinks you’re an ass. I agree.” 

I tightened my fists and pressed them against my thighs, swearing to myself I wasn’t responding to her bait. I swore. She was a dangerous game I didn’t need to play.

Suddenly, her face fell. Was she recalling the last time we were together? Was she remembering how I used to…

 “I trusted you,” she whispered, all her anger seeming to be gone. The unsteadiness of her voice undid me, sent me right over the edge of that precarious cliff I’d been hanging on to by the skin of my teeth.

Yeah, she hadn’t been the only one who’d trusted me. I’d ruined them all. Every last one. Dark thoughts assaulted me, of the blood I had on my hands.

Snap! My pencil broke and small pieces flew across my desk and into the empty space between us.

I wanted to pummel my desk until my fists bled. I wanted to punch a hole through the wall, the floor, my face. 

Everything was my fault. Just mine. 

She’d been collateral damage, the kind that breaks everyone involved. And I was sorry for it, but sometimes you do what hurts because it’s for the best. 

But she was my kryptonite, leaving me no option but to hurt her. Again.

I didn’t think about my cruel words, I just said them. “You were a curiosity, Dovey. You weren’t the usual BA girl, and I wanted a taste. That’s all. I moved on when it got boring. Get over it.”

AWESOME TRAILER

                                                       

Book #1 - VERY BAD THINGS

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AUTHOR BIO

Ilsa Madden-Mills is a loving wife and mother, a loyal friend, and a teacher. When all that is done, she writes. Obsessively. 

She spent several years teaching high school English, but now hangs out at home with two small kids, a neurotic cat, and her Viking husband. She collects magnets and rarely cooks except to bake her own pretzels. 

When she’s not typing away at a story, you can find her drinking too much Diet Coke, jamming out to Pink, or checking on her carefully maintained chocolate stash.

She loves to hear from fans and fellow authors

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COVER REVEAL - Emi Lost & Found Series!!!

Photographer and Cover Designer : Christi Allen Curtis

Photography Assistant : Katrina Boone

4.8 stars on Amazon!  4.67 stars on Goodreads!

What Bloggers are saying about 

Emi Lost & Found!!!

Emi Lost & Found series - Winner of the Best Happily Ever After of 2013 - HEA Bookshelf

“THE BEST BOOKS YOU'RE NOT READING. 

This series runs the gamut of emotions. I felt everything from pure joy and happiness to absolute devastation.” 

Kelli, Alphas, Authors and Books Oh My

“Lori Otto managed to pull me in to the story so that I was so engrossed, entwined with it, so much that I didn’t know where the story ended and I began.” 

Stacy, HGG, Books Unhinged Book Blog

This special edition contains:

 Not Today, But Someday; 

Lost and Found; 

Time Stands Still; 

Never Look Back; 

Two short stories: 

Love, Lost and In the Mind of a Dying Man.

Not Today, But Someday (prequel)

Nate Wilson knows he wants Emi Hennigan from the moment he sees her. Emi knows she needs Nate after one night together. A life-long friendship is born, and a pact is made to ensure that nothing will come between them.

Lost and Found (book #1)

After swearing off love with Emi in a silly high school pact, Nate has been seeing other women in hopes of finding one that evokes stronger feelings than the ones he’s been harboring for Emi since he was a teen.  Over the span of a year, boundaries are crossed, feelings are confessed, and their unique friendship begins to blossom into something more. With a promising future ahead of them both, fate intervenes to bring two soul mates together.

Time Stands Still (book #2)

No man could compete with Nate, Emi thought, until one night – one evening, one party, one journey, one second alters her course completely. That night, her brother’s best friend, Jack Holland, comes back into her life with a mission.  In a year’s time, he slowly finds a comfortable place in Emi’s life, but only time will tell if it’s right for Emi – and enough for him.

Never Look Back (book #3)

To say Emi’s life over the past two years has had its share of peaks and valleys is an understatement – and her friends and family would agree. In the conclusion to Emi Lost & Found, Jack guides Emi through a year of self-discovery, and teaches her that faith in true love – and in soul mates – can yield happiness from even the darkest of places.

Plus two bonus short stories!

Love, Lost and In the Mind of a Dying Man

PURCHASE LINKS

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE BOOK:

CLICK HERE

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Vote Keatyn – Sweetheart Smackdown. Final 4

Vote Keatyn – Sweetheart Smackdown.

Final Four

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VOTING FOR KEATYN!

Keatyn is now in the final four in the Sweetheart Smackdown, and the KC Addicts are going crazy! WE ARE SO HAPPY! This time we are going to share some of our favorite moments and quotes from the Keatyn Chronicles. Enjoy!

Keatyn has just started at a new school, and like any other person, she´s actually really nervous. We think this is the first time Keatyn shows a weakness. She's getting to know a couple guys from orientation and making friends at her new school, but when they walk past a group of guys playing soccer, she runs down the hill, steals the ball, and kicks it straight into the goal. Everyone is shocked. Along with Keatyn, we hold our breath – maybe this wasn´t the best idea. Is it too late to change schools? She didn't need to worry though, people thought it was really cool. We love this scene, because when she ran towards the ball (in a dress and cowboy boots, no less) it showed that she no longer cares what people think of her. She's grown up a little. And she taught us that taking chances is sometimes the best decision ever.  

We love this quote because it sums up the series, which is Keatyn's journey. Keatyn is growing throughout the books - from the first book where she wishes she could be someone else, but really just needs to learn to be herself to discovering what true love is, to ultimately learning to love herself. Even though we sometimes want to strangle her for the choices she makes, we understand that she's learning and growing through these choices and this journey helps her get to her final destination. With every step, she shows growth. She finally understands - that's our favorite moment, because we know she's heading in the right direction. "It's not where you've been that matters, but where you end up that does."

Keatyn is our favorite heroine, and we hope that you will vote for her again.

Please vote and share the competition with your friends and family. If you’re just meeting Keatyn, we appreciate your consideration of her Sweetheart qualities and your vote. (And did you know the first book, The Keatyn Chronicles: Stalk Me, is FREE right now?) Below is the raffle copter link. a Rafflecopter giveaway     The Sweetheart of the Smackdown IS Keatyn Douglas Monroe.  

BLOG TOUR - TRICKS by CAMBRIA HEBERT

SYNOPSIS

Love can play tricks on your heart… After serving several years in the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Tucker Patton decides to hang up his uniform and go to work at a private investigative firm owned by his buddy. His boxes are packed and he’s got one foot out the door when a phone call changes everything. 

Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy. 

Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead. 

Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer.

Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world.

So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn't read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy. 

Until it isn’t. 

Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire.

But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.

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KYBO's Review

Let me first start by saying I think Cambria Hebert is a master at her craft. She's truly an amazing writer. That being said this was not one of my favourites of hers. I felt the story was slightly rushed and too far fetched to be actually believable.

Tucker is an ex Marine, only just out of service and ready to leave the demons of war behind and start anew with his marine Corp buddy (Nathan from Text) launching a private security company. He’s hot, badass, carefree and ready for whatever challenges are thrown at him………however, he’s not expecting to be asked to step into his twin brothers Max’s life by the FBI to close an investigation his brother died trying to bring to light!

The overwhelming guilt Tucker feels over the distance between him and Max weighs greatly on his shoulders and it’s with a heavy yet determined heart that he agrees to finish what Max started…………oh and lie to Max’s live-in girlfriend!!!

Charlotte is a young, up and coming lawyer, she’s focused and  career driven and almost a little blinkered on what her life entails and where it’s headed, she’s plodding along nicely with Max and even though they obviously cared for each other, monotonous and predictable was definitely the order of their relationship.

When Tucker lands on her doorstep, it’s almost comical watching how confused Charlotte is by this new, fresh, laid-back side to Max and it was great to see a different side to her, pushing her to challenge her uptight self. Tucker really gets her to open up both day to day and of course in the bedroom, he ignites her sexually and she starts to question all that she’s always held dear.

When the truth comes out it sends Charlotte into a total tailspin, she’s heartbroken over Max but she’s also struggling to fight her attraction to Tucker, this is where it all became a bit unrealistic, I loved Tucker but I couldn’t see him falling for somebody like Charlotte so quickly and I found it really hard to connect with Charlotte at all, I got glimpses of her guts and sass, especially how she greeted Tucker the first time they met!! But in the main, she was just too detached and robotic for me. I think the book would’ve benefited from a little bit more concentration on them getting and being together, I just don’t think Charlotte would have done what she did the night she found out who Tucker really was!!

Tucker and Charlotte fight together for the greater good but can two such opposite characters really move forward as a couple that started out under the most dramatic of false pretences??

This story is full of suspense and drama and Cambria can definitely write a sex scene like no other, it’s definitely worth a read. A part of the Take It Off Series but can be read as a standalone.

4 Books Knocked Off

Excerpt

Chapter One – Tucker

My mouth felt like it was packed with cotton. You know that dry but slightly sticky feeling? My tongue moved and it brushed against the roof of my mouth, and the cotton came with it. 

I grunted and opened my eyes, only to immediately shut them again. I wasn’t ready for morning. Shit, how much did I drink last night? My body was still heavy with sleep, my limbs not wanting to cooperate. 

One of my arms was flung wide and I pulled it in to rub a hand over my sleepy face, hoping it would wake me up a little more. I knew I needed to get up… I just couldn’t think of the reason. 

Something shifted beside me and I felt the covers lift and drop. The soft sound of footsteps reached my ears. It wasn’t a something. It was a someone.

I went home with someone last night. 

Opening my eyes again, I glanced to my left in time to see a woman wearing nothing but a pink thong step into the adjoining bathroom and quietly close the door. Well, now I remembered the reason I went home with her. 

Her ass was luscious. 

Vague memories of last night filtered through my hazy, beer-soaked memory of skin against skin and a low seductive laugh. What was her name again? Veronica? Violet? Shit, I hadn’t a clue. 

Tossing away the covers, I swung my legs over the side of the mattress and looked down. I was buck-ass naked. I looked around for my clothes, which were lying in a pile near the door of the bedroom. 

Must have been in a hurry to get naked. I smirked. I was always in a hurry to get naked. Especially when I was with a woman with an ass like that. 

I glanced back at the closed bathroom door as the toilet flushed and the tap water turned on. That was my cue to leave. I had on my boxers and jeans before the door opened. 

Rushing out the door with shirt in hand seemed a little immature, so I turned. And, man, did I get an eyeful. There was no way in hell her boobs were real. They were too perfect. Large round, creamy globes sat high atop her chest. They gave way to a flat stomach with a light-reflecting stud in her bellybutton. The pink thong was still in place but left little to imagination, and her long, tan legs stretched all the way to the floor. 

Her hair was dark, her features exotic, and her lips were full.

Even drunk, I had great taste.

I motioned with my chin, a little what’s up gesture, and draped my T-shirt over my shoulder. 

“Leaving so soon?” she asked, padding across the carpeting toward me. 

I didn’t even pretend to not look at her chest. Shit, this had been a one-night stand. She could think I was a dog all she wanted. Hell, she’d be right.

‘Course, she clearly wasn’t the type of girl to be offended by my wandering eyes. She walked right up to me, wound her arms around my bare waist, and pressed those perfect tits right up against my chest. Then she rubbed around like she was a cat and I was her scratching pole. 

“Don’t you want to stay for breakfast?” she purred.

“Much as I’d like to, I can’t. Got somewhere to be.” 

The woman whose name might or might not be Veronica pulled back and sashayed her ass across the room to a wooden nightstand by the bed. She bent at the waist, giving me the perfect view of said bottom as she scrawled something on a piece of paper. 

I considered staying longer, but if I did that, she’d think this wasn’t just a one-night stand. Girls were complicated like that. If our night stretched into morning, they got ideas. Ideas that maybe they would be the one to capture the guy no one else could. They would read something more into morning sex than the sex that occurred late at night when both our tongues tasted of beer. 

I might sleep around, I might like a variety of ladies, but I never gave false hope where there was none. I might be a dog, but I wasn’t an ass.

Sweet cheeks (I had to call her something) swayed her hips back across the room and held out a scrap of paper to me. “Call me,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. 

I glanced at her chest one more time, then stuffed the piece of paper in the front pocket of my jeans. 

She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, slipping her tongue between. I kissed her back quickly and then slowly pulled away. Reaching around, I palmed her ass. “Thanks for last night,” I said and walked out of her bedroom without even looking back.

By the front door, I found my shoes and leather jacket and quickly finished dressing before stepping out into the cold morning air. I wasn’t going to miss this cold. I was actually looking forward to moving on, trying something new.

A thin layer of frost covered the windshield on my truck. Instead of getting out and scraping it, I blasted the heat and let the engine idle, letting it melt on its own. While I waited, I pulled out the already crumpled piece of paper I was just given. Smoothing it out, I looked down, my eyes skimming over the number I was never going to call to look for her name. 

I laughed and crumpled the paper back up and tossed in on the floor of the truck.

Rachel.

Damn. I hadn’t even been close.

Take It Off Series

Amazon US // Amazon UK // Amazon CA // B & N

Amazon US // Amazon UK // Amazon CA // B & N

Amazon US // Amazon UK // Amazon CA // B & N

Amazon US // Amazon UK // Amazon CA // B & N

Amazon US // Amazon UK // Amazon CA // B & N

Author Bio

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting:


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GIVEAWAY

(US ONLY) 

Basket with Diamond Candle, Signed paperback, and swag.

Romance Basket Includes (A $75 value): One Diamond Candle in the Desire fragrance (features a ring inside the candle!) A signed PB of Tricks A heart filled with chocolate A set of 5 Edible Massage Oil for Sensual Intimacy Kissable Oil Gift Set by Earthly Body I Dare You: 30 Sealed Seductions - a box that has 30 seductive prompts and dares each in their own sealed envelope.

(US and International) 

$10.00 Amazon Gift Card

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DISCLAIMER

US only due to shipping costs. No purchase necessary to enter or win. There is an option to purchase the book for extra entries but it is not required. Facebook is not responsible for this giveaway. Amazon is not responsible for this giveaway. All entrants must be 18 years of age or older to win.