Sweet Spot Book Blog: Teaser

Showing posts with label Teaser. Show all posts

Blog Tour ~ Hard to Come By (Hard Ink 3) by Laura Kaye ARC Review

Title: HARD TO COME BY

Author: Laura Kaye

Series: Hard Ink #3

Release Date: November 25, 2014

Synopsis:

Caught between desire and loyalty…

Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.

When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek’s easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.

As the team’s investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…

Five Stars

An absolute Hard Ink page turner!

Hard To Come By is Derek DeMarzio’s story. While fighting in Afghanistan, Derek (a.k.a Marz) lost a leg while protecting his friend. Just knowing that bit of info, you get an idea of the kind of person he is. Not only is Derek loyal to those he cares about, but also he’s the first to make everyone laugh. He’s just an all around great guy who tries to find the silver lining in everything. I was delighted that he gets paired with someone like Emilie Garza, because she’s one helluva strong heroine!

The quest for truth leads the Hard Ink team in search for Emilie’s older brother, Manny. When Emilie meets Derek, her life is forever changed in dramatic fashion. Both their backgrounds twisted my heart, and both have to overcome the issue of trusting one another. While reading, I just fell more and more in love with the idea of these two together. The timeline is quick, but Laura Kaye still takes the time to carve out their romance at an acceptable and believable pace. The emotions drawn out for them seemed pretty convincing for the tense situation they’re all in. I appreciate how Ms. Kaye is able to do that in her writing.

One of the things I absolutely adored in this book is that we get a little more of Beckett Murda! He’s been quiet throughout the series, but he’s got a lot to say this time. So much goes on with the series arc in this installment that will leave fans satisfied and craving for more!

I love, love, love this series! Again, Laura Kaye has managed to keep me turning the pages with the perfect balance of action, suspense, tension, and steam. So far each book has been incredibly addicting. If you haven’t met the Hard Ink men yet, you really should!

Hard To Come By links:

Hard to Come By on Goodreads

Purchase before December 2, 2014 and
get awesome bonus content!

And don’t miss the other Hard Ink books, now available:

Hard As It Gets

Hard As You Can

Hard to Hold On To

Praise for Hard to Come By:

"Rough sex and explosive fights power Kaye's third Hard Ink novel, a thrilling adventure that feels more like an action movie with a romantic subplot than a typical contemporary romance. New readers will head straight for Kaye's backlist after powering through this installment." ~Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"TOP PICK! If you're looking for danger, gritty action, and sizzling passion, then Kaye has just the book and the series for you." ~RT Book Reviews Magazine

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway link:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/OTE3MmMxYTA5NWI0YjhkMjZkNWU0YzM1M2E1YzU2OjIyMA==/

Follow this tour HERE

Blog Tour ~ Sugar's Twice as Sweet by Marina Adair Top 5 + Giveaway

I'm super excited to be a part of this blog tour!

Congratulations to Marina Adair on her latest book release!

Today we have a guest post, excerpt and the tour-wide giveaway.

Enjoy!

Marina Adair's

Top 5 favorite "Southern" things

#5. The food. Everything is smoked, BBQ, fried, or coated in gravy—including most vegetables, except mac-and-cheese. Yup, only in the South is that cheese goodness considered a vegetable on most restaurant menus.

#4. Grannies. Having grown up with two I can attest that Southern grannies rule. My Grandma Stowell made the best buttermilk biscuits on the planet, knew how to hug you until the world felt safe, understood the importance of masterful storytelling, and always put the fear of God in you with phrases like, “Honey, you’re going to split hell wide open and fall in with that kind of lie.”

#3. Can we talk biscuits? I know food already made an appearance on list, and we have mentioned biscuits, but when made right, these beautiful, fluffy little slices of heaven can be life altering. Add a little honey or homemade bumble berry jam and it is a religious experience.

#2. Country Music. All I need to say is, Eric Church’s Love you Like Wrecking Ball. Listen to that song and try not to swoon, I dare you.

#1. Southern Gents. Oh, ladies, there is nothing sexier than a sweet talking, down-home southern man in shit kickers and worn jeans who flattens his vowels when he speaks, know how to treat a lady, and doesn’t hesitate to go after what he wants.

Thank you, Marina, for stopping by! Y'all need to listen to that Eric Church song, because it will make you swoon! ~Grace

SUGAR'S TWICE AS SWEET by Marina Adair

(November 25, 2014; Forever Mass Market; $6.00)

He's trouble she doesn't need . . .

Thanks to a cheating fiancé, Josephina Harrington's perfect life just crashed and burned. Moving in with her overbearing parents is definitely not an option. No, she needs to prove she can make it on her own. And she will-by turning her great-aunt's old plantation house into a destination getaway. She's just not expecting her contractor to be so hands-on-and so totally irresistible.

. . . but everything she wants

Bad-boy golf champion Brett McGraw figured his hometown of Sugar, Georgia was the perfect place to lay low and get his life back up to par. The leggy blonde with a pint-sized pup is the kind of sweet 'n sassy trouble he never saw coming. She doesn't know a nut from a bolt and before long, he's renovating her house . . . as she steals his heart. Can he convince Josephina that his womanizing ways are in the past and he's ready for forever?

Buy Links:
B&N

Excerpt

Three days later, Josephina shoved the last scrap of wallpaper into the trash bag and knew it was quitting time. Her arms were sore from scraping off glue, which was littering the wood floor, she had a big bruise on her forehead from running into Brett’s elbow—and sharing breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a man who made her motor hum only added to her aches.

True to his word, he had asked her out every day. And every day it became harder to say no.

Today had been the worst, she thought as she watched the play of Brett’s muscles while he supported a plank of rotted wood over his head. He was all rippled and gorgeous and flashing that orgasm-inducing smile. The one that curled up slightly at the corners, saying he’d caught her drooling. Again.

“A simple yes is all it would take,” he said in that southern-boy way that made her heart warm. Along with some other, more pertinent, parts.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She stepped sideways, right into a bowl of nails, knocking them over. Then, blaming Brett for taking up too much damn space, she picked up the handsaw off the floor and reached into her back pocket for a pair of gloves—coming up empty.

“I’ve got an extra pair in my tool belt,” he said with humor in his voice as he jerked his chin toward his goodie bag, um, tool belt. “Right there in the center pocket. You see them?”

Oh, she saw them all right. She also saw how incredibly amused he was.

“Don’t move.” Eyeing him, she cautiously reached into the pocket, careful not to touch any of his tools. She grabbed the leather gloves and jerked her hand back.

Doing her best to ignore his laughing, she crawled up to the fifth rung of the ladder and sawed away the remaining few inches of beam. Between the sexy smiles and “accidental” brushing of bodies, Brett kept her in a constant state of unbalance.

“So to clarify, you’re saying you don’t want to go out with me,” he mused.

She sighed, sawing through the end of the beam and wondering why she kept repeating herself. “Dating wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Why is that?” he asked, lowering the beam to the floor.

This time she was certain he was flexing his arms on purpose.

“Because we’d go out, have a good time, come home, and have sex. Only instead of just amazing no-strings sex it would be complicated by all this other stuff, which would make things weird. Eventually I’d be short one contractor, miss my opening date, and wonder what happened.”

Not wanting to look at him, she set the saw on the top of the ladder, ready to move to the next spot.

“First off, I’m in this for the long haul, I gave you my word on that.”

Josephina turned around to ask him if he was talking about the inn, but then she forgot how to speak. Brett blocked her descent, climbing up behind her to the second rung, which brought him eye level. He gripped her hips and backed her up against the ladder. “And, sugar, sex between us wouldn’t be amazing, it would be earth-shattering.”

That’s what I’m afraid of.

He sculpted his hands down her sides to her thighs, paying extra attention to her bottom on the trip back. She rested her hands on those biceps she’d been watching all week so she wouldn’t fall over as the air whooshed out of her lungs.

Hell, she’d suffered from severe oxygen deprivation since the minute she found him this morning, standing on the front porch, latte in one hand, a cheese Danish in the other, and the sun cresting behind him.

The man redefined “sexy contractor.” The faded college T-shirt clung to his impressive chest. And the hotter it got, the clingier the material became. Which was why four o’clock was Josephina’s new favorite time of day. It was when Brett shucked his shirt. And the tool belt he wore weighed down his jeans, giving her a prime view of chiseled abs and lean hips, and highlighting his yummy parts.

And that wasn’t even the most tempting part. Nope. The more she saw Brett as a normal hot guy, the more the never-going-to-date-him rule seemed to blur, and the harder he became to resist.

“I suck at relationships,” she rushed out, more for her than him. “I get so lost in the other person that Josephina goes MIA. I can’t do that again. Not now when people are counting on me. When I’m counting on me.”

“It’s just a date, Joie. I’m not down on one knee.” He sounded so sincere her heart pounded as if he were.

“Date implies the start of something, and you’re leaving.” And if I let you, you might take my heart with you when you go. “And I’m staying here, in Sugar.”

With a single nod, Brett let her slide past him on the ladder.

He wasn’t giving up, not by a long shot, she could see that in his eyes. But he was letting it go—for now.

About the Author:

Marina Adair is a lifelong fan of romance novels. Along with the Sugar series, she is also the author of the St. Helena Vineyard series. She currently lives in a hundred-year-old log cabin, nestled in the majestic redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, with her husband and daughter.

As a writer, Marina is devoted to giving her readers contemporary romance where the towns are small, the personalities large, and the romance explosive. She also loves to interact with readers and you can catch her on Twitter at @MarinaEAdair or visit her at www.MarinaAdair.com.

Social Media Links:

Tour-Wide Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day ~ Hard To Come By (Hard Ink 3) by Laura Kaye Excerpt and Giveaway

We are beyond thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for Laura Kaye's HARD TO COME BY! HARD TO COME BY is the third full length novel in Laura's Hard Ink Series, published by Avon Romance. As a special treat, through December 2, pre-order Hard to Come By or purchase it during release week, and receive exclusive bonus content! Just fill out the quick form here!

Buy at

Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes| Kobo

Hard to Come By on Goodreads

Pre-order or purchase before December 2, and get awesome bonus content!

Excerpt:

Marz was playing with fire. He damn well knew he was. But that didn’t make him want to pull away.

He just wanted more of the heat.

Marz nuzzled the side of Emilie’s face with his nose, his lips. She turned her face toward him and offered her lips. He couldn’t refuse.

Capturing her mouth on a tortured groan, Marz poured every ounce of his longing and confusion and desire into the kiss. They grasped at each other and Emilie turned in his arms. He pinned her against the railing and planted his hands in her hair. She opened to him and accepted his tongue, sucking him in until Marz’s blood ran hot and his hard-on ached. He ground himself against her and devoured every little moan and whimper and gasp she spilled.

Trailing kisses from her mouth to her jaw to her ear, Marz dragged a hand down her body and grasped her breast in his palm. She cried out and her head dropped back, drawing his mouth to her neck, where he licked and sucked and nipped as he kneaded her soft flesh. “You are so damn sexy.”

Her hand flew to his hair and grasped the back of his head. “Touch me,” she said. “Don’t stop touching me.”

Marz pulled away long enough to do a three-sixty scan. The lighthouse cast a dark shadow over them, and the pier was otherwise empty. His heart raced and his pulse hammered. He dove back in, trailing kisses down her neck to her collarbone, which he traced with his tongue. Her nails scratched deliciously at his scalp and her grip urged him down.

Through the thin material of her blouse and bra, he mouthed and flicked at her nipple. He shifted the deep vee of the neckline to reveal a lacy royal blue bra. He tongued her through the lace until she was panting and moaning and writhing against the railing.

“Oh, my God,” she rasped as he shifted her shirt and moved to her other breast. This time, he tugged the lace down to bare the deep pink of her nipple. She tasted and smelled like something fruity and sweet, and it made Marz hunger for more. “Derek,” she gasped. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Her palm cupped and squeezed the bulge of his erection through his jeans. His hips jerked into the touch, craving more of her, all of her. He groaned and it seemed to egg her on, because she pressed and rubbed her hand against his trapped cock until he was panting and imagining taking her down to the ground.
“Jesus, Emilie, you’re driving me fucking crazy,” he said as he worked kisses back up her body to her mouth.

“I know just what you mean,” she said. Her molten hot gaze met his. Eyes hooded, lips shiny and swollen, cheeks flushed, she was a freaking goddess standing under the moonlit sky. He felt the force of her beauty every bit as much in his chest as in his cock.

“You sure about that, babe?” he asked as he took her mouth in a deep, wet kiss. “Because my imagination has me stripping you of those fuck-hot jeans.”

“Yeah?” She rubbed his cock in a long stroke with the heel of her hand. “Mine has us getting a room at the hotel back there. So I’m sure,” she said with a smile.

Marz’s heart hammered against his breastbone and his cock jerked, clearly liking her idea, too. Except, if he took her up on it, he was going to end up buried inside her for as long as she’d have him. And so long as this clusterfuck of a situation defined their relationship, he couldn’t take things that far. Could he?

About HARD TO COME BY:

Caught between desire and loyalty... Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team--sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there. When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek's easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn't trust. As the team's investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away...

And don’t miss the other Hard Ink books, now available:

Hard As It Gets

Hard As You Can

Hard to Hold On To

Praise for Hard to Come By:

If you're looking for danger, gritty action, and sizzling passion, then Kaye has just the book and the series for you." ~RT Book Reviews Magazine

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour ~ Saving Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia Release Day ARC #Review #Giveaway

Title: Saving Poughkeepsie

Author: Debra Anastasia

Series: Poughkeepsie Brotherhood #3

Release Date: November 22, 2014

Synopsis:

Beckett Taylor’s quest to be a better man has brought Eve Hartt back into his life, but sometimes it feels like they’re bound together with barbed wire. Though he longs to love her without causing pain, the wreckage of their past continues to crash down around them.

Yet with the help of his brothers—and for his brothers—Beckett won’t stop trying. He’s determined to make them all a family, to make a life they want to live, and to make Poughkeepsie a place that’s safe to live it.

He can feel their futures balanced precariously on his shoulders: Blake and Livia and their children, Cole and Kyle and the new baby they’ve just brought home, and Eve…always Eve. He wants their dreams to be real. But murderers don’t just get Happily Ever After handed to them. They have to wrench it away from Satan himself.

Good thing Beckett is prepared to do just that. After all, saving Poughkeepsie is the only way his story ends.

Prepare your heart and your head for a wild ride in this final installment of the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series. Debra Anastasia does not disappoint as she weaves the last chapter of a story that blends true love, turbulent emotions, and life’s harsh realities into an uplifting tale that calls to the good in each of us.

Excerpt 1

“I’m not worried about tomorrow. I’m worried about right now, with you, under this Christmas tree.” Blake supported her neck as he laid her on the floor.

Livia turned her head. “You’d better convince me. So far you’ve talked about the dog going to the bathroom, trash, and dirtiness.”

Blake kissed her jaw and turned her head gently, kissing her mouth as she bit her lips together.

“Can’t I just convince you with my manly ways?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

He could, of course, do just that—but she shook her head. She loved the playful sparkle in his green eyes. His five o’clock shadow just made him more handsome, framing his kissable lips with scruff.

“Okay.” He put his fingers at the bottom of her shirt, lifting it gently so he could circle her belly button with his index finger. “You’re the sexiest, most beautiful woman on this planet. So sexy, in fact, that I had to have you. I had to make you bear my children because my universe and yours had to be combined. Everything I’ve ever been needed to be buried inside of you, so deep, so full of love that we created life. Twice.”

He lifted her shirt and kissed the tops of her breasts, whispering his devotion into her skin. “And it’s never enough. Unless I can hear you coming, I can’t think of anything else. All day every day. For years now. You’re that powerful, Livia. This. Us. It’s so intense that years haven’t cured me. I can’t stop wanting to make love to you.”

“Wow.” Livia smiled and pulled his face back to hers, kissing him and effectively stopping his beautiful words.

Excerpt 2

“Come with me.” He led her to the beach again, but during dinner a few people had been busy. It was now lined with an aisle of candles, and a man stood close to the breaking surf, hands crossed, waiting. Someone had used the surrounding sand as a canvas, creating a swirling pattern. Their names were part of the art.

What? She asked without a sound.

“I want you to marry me. Here. Now.”

Beckett let go of her hand and strode away. When he turned around, close to the water at the end of the aisle, he hoped to hell she wasn’t running in the other direction.

5 STARS

A gorgeous series conclusion
(Non-spoiler review)

After reading book 2, I wondered how the hell Debra Anastasia was going to conclude the Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series. One couple in particular seemed to have so much stacked against them. Well, this series concludes in an epic way…EPIC I tell you!

The themes of brotherhood, friendship, and family continue to be ever present in Saving Poughkeepsie. I think this is one of the reasons why this series has a huge fan base. People relate to and care for these characters in some way. In the midst of all the pain and tragedy, they just want to know if everything will be ok.

In this installment, evil is wrecking havoc all over. Boy, does this person have HUGE, unbelievable plans! For each couple, Ms. Anastasia has lovingly crafted special moments that made me swoon to the stars! So much love and devotion is expressed for Blake and Livia. Although hinted in the summary, Cole and Kyle get to experience happiness tenfold, but there’s so much more that goes down you’ll have to read it to find out what happens. Finally, there is Beckett and Eve. I was weary on how things would conclude for these two, but it was pulled off in such a way that only Debra Anastasia can write it! Becket is such a bad boy (who is trying to be good) and Eve’s biggest dream seemed so impossible to achieve. Ms. Anastasia gave them a roller-coaster journey throughout the entire series, and more so in this book. What a wild and twisted plot filled with humor, love, and suspense!

The Poughkeepsie Brotherhood series is best appreciated when read in order. Saving Poughkeepsie is a MUST READ for fans. You will love it!!!

Although I’m sad that the series has concluded, these characters will live on strong in my heart. Thank you, Debra Anastasia, for telling this gorgeous story and taking me on quite the journey to Poughkeepsie!