Spotlight & Excerpt - Spicy With A Side Of Cranberry Sauce by Rachell Nichole.

Blurb from the author ~

Amy Easton is hell-bent on making this Thanksgiving holiday perfect for Dad, and herself. But when she arrives at Martha’s house, she quickly realizes she is in way over her head. She has no idea how to run a holiday, especially one in someone else’s home. What will Dad’s new girlfriend think when Amy screws it all up?

Mason Rider is blindsided by the woman in the grocery store headed for the last can of cranberry sauce. He lets her charm him right out of it and leaves with a non-committal maybe that she’ll call him next week. He should be more focused on helping mom through her first post-divorce Thanksgiving, but he can’t help but lust after the Kindergarten teacher with a hard edge.

When he comes home to find the sexy cranberry-stealing blonde and her father in Mom’s house, his holiday hook up plans burn to cinders. Will he be able to resist Amy’s temper and spontaneous nature, or will his desire force him to break a promise he made to his mother? 

Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Romance
Format: ebook
Release date: December 18, 2013
Buying Links:  Barnes & Noble   Loose ID   Amazon

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About the Author:

Rachell Nichole is saucy mama who writes Sizzling Romantic Entanglements. She is the author of "An Affair Across Times Square", "Spicy with a Side of Cranberry Sauce", and "A Marietta Wedding". Rachell lives in New York with a mountain of books, a loving family, and an evil cat named Godiva that she adores.

Website / Blog / Facebook

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Excerpt

Where the hell was the cranberry sauce? 

Amy Easton turned down the aisle of baking goods, searching for the last item Martha needed her to get. She had to find the damned can. This holiday would be perfect if it fucking killed her. The chain on her boots jangled as she hunted. The gallon of milk and box of stick butter froze her hands, but they’d been out of carts and Martha needed them both for first thing in the morning. 

She dodged an older lady pushing a heavy cart as she careened around the corner at the end of the aisle. She still didn’t spot the display. The stock boy had told her it was on aisle six, and here she stood at the end of aisle six, empty handed. Sighing, Amy turned and headed up the aisle again, her eyes roving left and right. She forced herself to slow down, fearing she’d miss the display. 

Martha had said the same thing earlier that evening when she’d sent Amy to the store. The woman was a Domestic Goddess. The way Mom used to be, the way Amy would never be. So when Martha had panicked after being unable to get in touch with her son on his way from the airport, Amy had volunteered to go get it. She’d be useless in the kitchen tomorrow, so it was the least she could do. Besides, it got her out of the house and away from the smooching her dad and Martha kept doing when they thought she wasn’t looking. 

It was sweet, really. And Amy couldn’t be happier with the way Dad was slowly coming back to life under Martha’s tutelage, but she could do without seeing her dad making out. She wanted to throw up her hands or punch something. 

Where the hell was that damn can?

There! 

She spotted the display across the end of aisle six. One lonely can of cranberry sauce sat on the shelf, as if it had waited just for her. She hadn’t thought Martha would be the kind of person to leave the shopping till the last minute, but apparently a few things had slipped her mind this year. With Amy and her dad down visiting, she wouldn’t be surprised if Martha had been a little worried about how things would go. 

A tall man with reddish brown curls was coming down the aisle diagonal to her. Heading for that damned can. She didn’t know where else to go around here to find one. She had to get to that can first. She picked up the pace and just as he turned the corner, she body checked his cart, flying back on her ass and dropping the milk and butter, just as the can of cranberry sauce flew off the shelf toward her.

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Check out the book trailer ~

Sunday Book Share #30

 

I'm participating in Feed My Reader Friday hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer,  The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews. These  memes allow book bloggers the chance to share print and digital books they've received, and different posts and events at their blogs. 

I don't want to jinx things but spring seems to have arrived and just in time for Easter. My plans today  for Easter are church, go for a walk, play with my cat, and read clean my condo, do taxes and play with my cat. April is going to be a busy month for me, both on the blog and off, so I need to take my downtime when I can get it. Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all who celebrate either or both of those holidays. 

  

The Week In Review

Reviews: Written in Stone by Ellery Adams (Cozy mystery)
Blood and Fire by Shannon McKenna (Romantic suspense)

Cover Reveal: Hard As It Gets by Laura Kaye (Romance, suspense, erotica)

Excerpts: Identity Crisis by Grace Marshall (Contemporary romance

Alpha Me Not by Jianne Carlo (PNR)

Guest Post: Identity Crisis by Grace Marshall (Contemporary Romance)

Spotlight: Ixeos by Jennings Wright (YA, Science Fiction)

Memes: Cat Thursday - How to Catch a Cat  Sunday Book Share #29

News/info: Reviewers Wanted

Giveaways: Alpha Me Not by Jianne Carlo (PNR)

odd search phrases that led to the blog - book written by dog's point of view & and seclusion

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge: I sucked. I got one, just one read. :( I might get one read today, but I have to get my condo in order as my brother's coming up for a funeral in a few days. So, for the month, I read 13 books and short stories, of which 8 count for the challenge.

Blood and Fire by Shannon McKenna (Romantic suspense)

Upcoming This Week

Blog Tours - Book Blitz & Giveaway of Hell's Hollow by Summer Stone

Cover Reveal of Bathing Beauties, Booze and Bullets by Ellen Mansoor Collier

BOOKS - click on images to go to the book's goodreads page

Review - Print

 

I requested the book below a few weeks ago and was excited when I heard I'd be getting it, but I didn't expect it so soon. The book isn't out until August 20th, but I'm not complaining! Kelley is one of my favorite authors.  Goof however was not as excited. :D

Kindle Freebies

Leave a link and I'll visit your Sunday post. :)

Review of Blood and Fire by Shannon McKenna

Publisher: Brava Romantic Suspense
Series:  McClouds & Friends #8
Format Read: Trade paperback
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Buying Links:  Amazon  Barnes & Noble  The Book Depository

Blurb from goodreads:

Restless and impulsive, Bruno Ranieri has the temperament to fit right in with the McClouds. And just like the McCloud brothers, Bruno has a dangerous past to contend with - one that's about to come crashing back into his life...Bruno Ranieri has always lived at a chaotic pace, and that goes double lately.

Since his uncle's untimely demise, Bruno is working himself to the bone, trying to keep his nose clean and save the family business. Not easy when the nightmares that plagued his childhood are hi-jacking what little rest he gets. So when exotically beautiful Lily Parr sashays into his all-night restaurant, claiming to be on the run from mysterious assassins, Bruno starts to wonder if sleep deprivation is finally getting to him. Especially when Lily implies that Bruno is involved. But the violence that accompanies her arrival is no illusion. Nor is the blisteringly hot, completely inconvenient desire that explodes between them.

Lily Parr has been a fugitive ever since her father's death a month ago in a mental hospital. Officials claimed it was suicide, but Lily's gut - and the savage murder attempt she barely escaped afterwards - say different. Snippets of information led Lily to Bruno's door...and his magnetic charisma compelled her right into his bed. But there are cold-blooded killers on her heels, with resources as limitless as their cruelty.

Bea's Thoughts:

I originally won this from the publisher but before I could read it, my brother gave it away (he was "helping" me clean *eye roll*) but I still wanted to read it. It took me a while to get around to it but I finally got it from the library. 

Once I started reading it, I enjoyed it although it was definitely over-the-top and the author has some odd word choices and an unfortunate tendency to indulge in purple prose. There were two word choices that pulled me right out of the story - early on the hero, Bruno, refers to his penis as a prong. WTF? That was an uncomfortable and disturbing image. I shared on facebook and someone commented that she thought it might be an old British term but still, eewwww. The other odd word choice was 'bimbo' used in reference to a toddler. The character speaking is originally from Italy, speaking the Calabrese dialect, and I thought child was bambino but an Italian acquaintance, when I asked for her input, replied

As for the word "bimbo", that's italian (sic), not a particular dialect, and it's short for "bambino", which is "child". "Bimbo" is male, singular, "bimba" is female, singular, "bimbi" is male (or if there are both males and females), plural, "bimbe" is female, plural. I have no idea if in Calabrese they often use "bimbo", but I think the Calabrese term for it would be something along the way of "picciddo" or "picciriddo": these are Sicilian terms, and Sicily is very close to Calabria, but as I said every region has its own dialect, so the Calabrese equivalent could be very similar or completely different.

 Still, while it may be linguistically correct, it's a skeezy word choice and hearing a grandmother refer to a toddler as a bimbo took me right out of the story. I did pick it back up again several hours later and continued reading. Things happen quickly and it's action packed; the book never feels padded despite being 503 pages long.

Lily has had a hard life; her mother died giving birth and she's spend most of life, starting in her teens,  parenting her father who is suicidal. Bruno's mother was killed when he was young and twenty years later he still has nightmares. He's made a successful life for himself and he is close to his aunt, Zia Rose, and his adopted brother Kev. Kev has recently found and reconnected with his biological family, the McClouds, and now Bruno feels left out. Lily and Bruno meet when Lily's father dies after babbling nonsense about people named Magda and Bruno. Bruno of course is our hero; Lily hares off to find him and things heat up quickly between them. Although the sex is great, Lily's tale sounds crazy to Bruno and he thinks she needs psychological help. Then they are attacked and the pace really picks up.

I haven't read any of the previous books in this series and at times, I was a little confused. There are a lot of McCloud brothers, most of whom have apparently had a book already. The book works as a stand alone but I think it might be best to read in order. The villain in this book is over-the-top and judging by references to other characters and their stories, over-the-top would seem to be McKenna's norm. However I enjoyed the storyline and would have liked to see it continued in future books but that seems unlikely now given the ending, which also over-the-top.

The story has insta-love, a big misunderstanding (though it occurs late in the story), a diabolical villain who needed more fleshing out but was interesting, a hot hero, a gutsy heroine, lots of purple prose, sexy love scenes, occasionally gory action, humor, interesting and fun secondary characters, a slightly implausible sci fi plot and it's all lots of fun. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, even though it was telegraphed early on, but overall I enjoyed the book and will probably pick up more in the series.

I borrowed this from the library.

Spotlight On Ixeos by Jennings Wright

Tour Schedule

Blurb ~

The McClellands are enjoying a lazy summer vacation at the beach when they are lured from our world into Ixeos, an alternate Earth. Finding themselves lost in a maze of tunnels under Paris and surrounded by strangers, they discover that they have been brought to Ixeos for one purpose:  to take the planet back from humanoid aliens who have claimed it. With the aid of the tunnels and a mysterious man named Landon, the teens travel the world seeking the key that will allow them to free Darian, the long-imprisoned rebel leader. But the aliens aren't the only problem on Ixeos -- the McClellands have to deal with brutal gangs, desperate junkies, and a world without power, where all the technology is owned by the aliens, and where most of the population has been killed or enslaved. The worst part? There's no way home.

Publisher: CreateSpace
Genre: Science Fiction, YA
Format: Paperback, ebook 
Length: 358 pages, 767 KB
Release Date: February 11, 2013 
Buying Links:  Amazon * Barnes & Noble

THE IXEOS TRILOGY CONTINUES:

Coming April 2013 - Ixeos: Rebellion

Book 2:  With Darian to give hope to the humans, will the outsiders and rebels be able to overcome the tyranny and technology of the aliens to build a rebellion?

Coming Summer, 2013 - Darian's War

Book 3:  The people have risen, but with the rebellion has risen the determination of the Firsts. Can Darian's army defeat the aliens and give the planet back to its rightful owners?

Author Jennings Wright


Born and raised in Florida, Jennings spent her early years reading anything she could get her hands on, when she wasn't spending time in and on the water. She won a prize in the 6th grade for her science fiction stories.

Jennings attended the University of Tampa, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, and almost enough credits for B.A.s in both English and History. She attended graduate school at the University of West Florida, studying Psychology. She spent time over the years doing various kinds of business writing, editing, and teaching writing, but mostly having and raising her family, homeschooling her children, owning and running a business with her husband, and starting a non-profit.

Thanks to a crazy idea called NaNoWriMo Jennings got back into creative writing in 2011 and hasn't stopped since. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, also a business owner and writer, and two children, and travels extensively with her family, and her non-profit in Uganda.

Facebook * Twitter * Website * Blog * Amazon * Goodreads

To read an excerpt or to enter to win an Amazon Gift Card or PayPal Cash, click here.

Cat Thursday - How to Catch a Cat

Welcome to the weekly meme hosted by The True Book Addict that celebrates cats; their foibles and humorousness and the joy they bring. You can join in by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you made or came across, cat art or share with us pics of your own felines, then post your link up at The True Book Addict.

More fun with cats and boxes. :D This picture always makes me think of the story, The Mitten.

Giveaway & Excerpt of Alpha Me Not by Jianne Carlo

I have a paranormal romance for you today; there's an excerpt and a tour-wide giveaway at the end of the post. "Alpha Me Not (White Wolf #3)", is a contemporary erotic paranormal romantic suspense by Jianne Carlo. This book, while part of a series, is a standalone story. 

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Excerpt–Adult-18+:

Tag Line: Susie White's motto is Alpha Me Not.  Mercenary wolf Joe Huroq lives for hot sex and no strings. They add up to the perfect affair, but murder changes everything.

 

Joe Huroq tossed his duffel bag onto the bed, scrubbed the week’s worth of stubble on his chin, and blew out a long sigh. It had been a hellish three months, and he’d seen the worst of the emerging Eastern European countries, but the mission had been successful.

Yeah. Right. The team had rescued the kidnapped daughter of an oil executive from the scumbags holding her for ransom. But he’d taken one look at the broken shell of what once must have been a normal thirteen-year-old, and known she’d never be whole again. She might have been better off dead.

He knew not to go there.

The plaintive notes of “Stairway to Heaven” wafted to his ears. Joe grinned.

His back-fence neighbor, Terri, was in one of her moods. He’d learned to gauge Terri’s state of mind by the music she blared while suntanning nude in her backyard. That particular rift meant she’d had a down and dirty fight with her girlfriend, had a twelve-pack of Heines on ice, and was halfway to being pissed.

Joe’s grin went ape-shit wide. Exactly what he needed.

Shoot the breeze with Terri, get a nice buzz on, jump in the pool, and forget the bleakness in the teenager’s eyes. He shucked his button-down shirt, tossed his boots, socks, shed his worn and grimy jeans, shoved off his briefs, grabbed a towel, and padded to the back door.

Spring in Hallie was his favorite time of year. A light breeze lifted the noonday heat, and the fresh aroma of just-mowed grass perfumed the air. A seven-foot wooden fence bordered his and Terri’s backyards. She upped the volume when Joe slipped the deadbolt on the gate between the two properties.

Must’ve been a doozy of a fight.

Terri and her significant other, Petra, had a tempestuous, passionate relationship. He’d come to believe Terri secretly loved makeup sex and deliberately picked fights with Pet.

He spied Terri on the opposite side of the pool. She lay nude on a lawn chair, her face covered by a wide-brimmed straw hat. Joe raised his face to the sun and rolled his shoulders. No place in the world like the good old US of A, and nothing washed away the sins of the universe better than an afternoon of dissing the latest political gaffes and arguing about sports teams while drinking beer and scarfing down pizza. He studied the wispy white clouds dotting the powder-blue sky as he made his way over to Terri.

A four-seater patio table with an open blue-and green-striped umbrella stood adjacent to the twin lawn chairs. He glanced at Terri and frowned.

She looked…different.

Those boobs. Perfect. Rounded.

At least a C-cup, with milk-chocolate areolae, and fat, pink-tipped nipples.

His cock stirred, and he stumbled. What the fuck?

He’d never felt the slightest attraction to Terri. He dropped his gaze lower and salivated. Inky, tight curls framed a heart-shaped mound of pubic hair from which peeked the prettiest pink pussy lips he’d ever seen, bar none. His jaw sagged, and his cock vaulted to commander-in-chief attention.

Holy Batman and Robin. He had died and gone to vagina heaven.

The song ended. His knees buckled. Joe grabbed a chair to try to steady himself. The metal feet squeaked on the pavers.

Terri jackknifed to a sitting position.

Not Terri. Not Terri at all. Whoa!

The female scrambled to her feet, grabbed the towel from the chair, and clamped the terry fabric over those perfect breasts. “Help! Help!”

Joe blinked.

She spun around and sprinted to the small deck connected to the back of the house.

A fine ass.

High, muscled, and sweetly curved.

He licked his lips and focused on her sleek thighs and the hint of pubic hair that did a stripper’s grind-and-tease peep show with each long stride.

And all the while she shrieked like a fire engine on full alert.

The high-pitched screams made him wince, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her backside, and he couldn’t have moved an iota even if someone had put a GLOCK to his head.

She threw open the back door, raced inside, and slammed it shut.

Joe shook his head, hoping the blood pooled in his groin would somehow speed back to fuel his lust-dazed brain.

The crack of a window being opened penetrated his sex stupor.

“I called 911, you pervert. Get out of my backyard!”

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Blurb from the author ~ 

Susie White wants no picket fences, no alpha, and no cubs. White wolf woman she may be, but no pack for her, no sireee. Alpha me not, that’s her motto. In all caps.

Mercenary and half-breed wolf Joe Huroq’s not looking for a mate. Stop and go screwing, that’s his motto. Hot and heavy between missions. Then he glimpses his new neighbor tanning nude and the situation explodes.

Literally. Susie’s house is consumed by fire. What’s Joe to do but offer Susie his hospitality?

Susie can’t resist the temptation of big, bad, mercenary, so she suggests a friends with benefits arrangement which he accepts with an amazing alacrity. The sex is frantic, hot, and frequent. Neither one can keep their hands off the other.

Then children go missing. The fire’s deemed arson. Bodies pile up. Susie refuses to accept Joe’s mate claim. Can he keep her safe when she won’t obey a single order?

Warning: This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains explicit sex scenes and/or situations and adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.

Publisher: Loose ID
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Erotica
Format: ebook
Length: 283 pages
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Buying Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Not-White-Wolf-ebook/dp/B0092V0P6M/

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-alphamenot-924207-142.html

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/alpha-me-not-jianne-carlo/1112677944

Loose ID: http://www.loose-id.com/white-wolf-3-alpha-me-not.html Loose-Id

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 About the author:

My motto is simple: Alpha Me Please. While strong heroines, exotic locations, and cultural differences are my forte, I go weak in the knees for warriors of any type, rebels, SEAls, Vikings, and bad-ass mercenaries.

Send me a man with an attitude and I'll find the right woman to tame him. My writing career began in 2008, and since then I've been lucky enough to have over twenty books published. Most of my books are TOP PICKs and several have been nominated for and won awards and prizes.

Nothing makes my day more than an email from someone who’s read one of my books. So far, I've received emails from almost every continent on the planet. Almost…

Find Jianne online:

Email: Jianne@jiannecarlo.com

Website: www.jiannecarlo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jianne.carlo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jiannecarlo

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004D8XOLM

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2508742.Jianne_Carlo

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jiannecarlo/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/jiannecarlo

Manic Readers: http://www.manicreaders.com/JianneCarlo/

The Romance Studio: http://theromancestudio.com/fm/jcarlo.htm

The Romance Reviews: http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/mypageprofile.php?location=Jianne

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Tour wide giveaway

Prize is an eBook copy of "Alpha Me Not (White Wolf #3)". Contest is tour-wide, open internationally and ends April 2nd. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Reviewers Wanted!

No, not for me, though I am thinking about taking on another associate since neither Liz nor Jax have been able to contribute much lately. It's actually Astraea Press, my employer, that's looking for more people to review their books. 

Astraea Press publishes Clean Fiction across genres including YA, mystery, and romance. We are always looking for reviewers and voracious readers. Are you interested? Do you want to get emails about new AP books available for review straight to your inbox? Email reviewcoordinator@att.net for more information and.... Happy Reading! Please share this with your readers at your blogs. Want to know more about Astraea? Click here to see our site and here to see what AP books I have on my goodreads shelf (no reviews because employees can't post reviews). Not sure if your blog is a good fit? Go ahead and email our review coordinator and talk to her, it's worth your time.

Disclosure: I'm not being compensated for posting this information. I am an employee of Astraea Press.