No Damaged Goods Nicole Snow Publication date: February 20th, 2020 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Fearless firefighter. Mesmerizing voice. Damaged single dad.
Stick a freaking fork in me…
There’s a reason he’s called Mr. Silver Tongue.
Blake Silverton could sweet talk an angel into sin.
Fierce small-town fire chief. Rough velvet voice. Drop dead gorgeous.
Don’t even get me started on the tortured single dad thing.
Wintering in Heart’s Edge isn’t a choice when my van goes kaboom!
Neither is gawking at the human bulldozer who keeps charging to my rescue.
If only we could stop butting heads.
But I’m a healer. What’s wrong with offering a grumpasaurus a massage?
I’m hardly obsessed.
I’m not tuning into his radio love line every single night.
That charred lump of coal he calls a heart isn’t that fascinating.
I can handle one itsy bitsy insta-wildfire kiss.
Those fires some arsonist punk keeps setting around town, though…
Fine. I know I don’t belong in Blake’s desperado world.
Only, he won’t let me go until I’m safe.
Some men wear Bad Idea on their sleeve.
But sometimes the heart falls hard for damaged goods.
Hold me.
From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Nicole Snow – cupid slaps some sense into one small-town protector who swore he’d never love again. Witness an ultra broody hero man coming back to life for the spitfire he can’t live without. Full-length standalone romance novel with a bold shot of Happily Ever After.
Lines of age and maybe frowns, maybe laughter, trace wild history around his mouth, his eyes. He’s got cheekbones for days, a mouth like a cruel kiss, and his pulse ticks in stark highlight against his strong, firm throat as the light glides over him. Oh. My. God.
He’s grimmer than I expected.
Harder.
An absolute stone of a man.
That softness I’d heard in his voice isn’t there in his face. Almost like his body’s a granite vault for holding the gentleness hidden away inside. Why, Blake? I can’t help wondering.
But I think I get a little hint of an answer as he turns, striding toward me.
He moves like a man who knows how powerful he is.
Slow and controlled, smooth ripples of chiseled musculature trailing down from broad shoulders, over the sweat-darkened pull of pecs against his clinging black shirt. The tight line of his abs and narrow hips switch in a rhythm that’s as sensuous as a hunting panther’s slink.
But he also moves like a man who knows what hell is.
Somehow, I don’t think it’s just firefighting that taught him.
He’s favoring his left leg. Some kind of injury, the kind of walk that says he’s learned how to hide it, but he can’t always keep it down.
His strength fights against his own weight. He’s built to support that wall of a body, but every ounce of well-crafted muscle is also another ounce of pressure crushing down on the invisible wound, making him list just slightly to the left with every stride.
I probably wouldn’t notice if I wasn’t used to searching for pain.
That’s what massage therapists do.
Learn people’s pain, so I can tame it and chase it away.
But he’s stoic, withdrawn, as he stops in front of me, scanning my body with a critical eye that makes me feel kind of like one of those dummies they teach you first aid on. Eep. So much for all those flutters. My butterflies just iced over.
“You Peace?” he growls.
I smile faintly, pulling my frozen fingers from my pocket to wiggle them at him in a little wave. “Only person out here with a burning wreck. Blake, right?”
He only grunts, giving me another one of those looks. “You’re not hurt?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I jumped out and got away as soon as I had the van parked on the side of the road. I’m just cold.”
“Lucky it’s not quite cold enough tonight for hypothermia, but you’ll still catch a chill.”
He takes a step back then, retreating to the fire truck, and digs out one of those massive, thick fire jackets from a side compartment. It’s deep grey with reflective yellow and orange bands on the sleeves and back.
Slowly, he returns to me and swings it around my shoulders.
For a moment, I’m almost wrapped up in his arms. He reaches around me to pull the jacket tight, draping it over my shoulders and then drawing it in to bundle me up.
Now, my butterflies are thawed.
And it’s definitely not the jacket leaving my face so hot my ears burn against the cold, the contrast bordering on painful.
Oh, no.
Why did he have to be so…so…
That. All of that, including the faint whiff of cologne and Goliath I get as he straightens, still looking at me with this fierce, unmovable gaze.
Author Bio:
Nicole Snow is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author. She found her love of writing by hashing out love scenes on lunch breaks and plotting her great escape from boardrooms. Her work roared onto the indie romance scene in 2014 with her Grizzlies MC series.
Since then Snow aims for the very best in growly, heart-of-gold alpha heroes, unbelievable suspense, and swoon storms aplenty. With over a million books sold, she lives for the joy of making two people fight with every bit of their soul for a Happily Ever After.
Current fan favorites include her Enguard Protectors series, accidental love novels, plus long beloved MC romance thrillers like the Grizzlies and Deadly Pistols.
Title: Between Love and Honor Series: Men of the Secret Service #3 Author: Tracy Solheim Publisher: Tule Publishing Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: March 26, 2020
Blurb
Will
their double lives deceive their hearts?
The Secret
Service’s number one cyber asset, Special Agent Ben Segar, has a
reputation for playing it straight... until a top-secret assignment has him
cozying up to his runaway prom-date. Now, he’s willing to break a few rules to
get even. Potentially unmasking a traitor at the same time makes his revenge
even sweeter.
Photographer
Quinn Darby was born into the spy game. When her very existence is
threatened, she turns to the man she vowed never to deceive again for help.
Except Ben is no longer the mild-mannered lab partner she once loved. Instead,
he’s a full-grown, Alpha-man whose appeal is nearly irresistible. And to
protect him, she must keep him from learning the truth about her double
life.
Soon, Quinn
and Ben are embroiled in a cat-and-mouse game with the enemy—and each other.
Ben finds himself risking his job, national security and his life for a woman
he swore to never trust again. As the case intensifies, so does the heat
between them, until the op’s greatest casualties may be their hearts.
USA Today bestselling author Tracy Solheim
writes books with shirtless men on the cover. Some of them are actually
best-sellers. The books, not the men. When she's not writing, she's practicing
her curling. . . bottles of wine, that is. She's been known to cook dinner but
no more than two nights in a row. Most days, she'd rather be reading, which to
her is just necessary research. She lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with her
husband and a neurotic Labrador retriever. Her two adult children visit but not
often enough. (See the note above about cooking.) Check out her romantic
suspense series featuring the Men of the Secret Service--shirtless, of course!
See what she’s up to at www.tracysolheim.com
Enchanted Kingdoms: A Limited Edition Twisted Fairytale Anthology Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, New Adult
Fairytales, but not how you remember them…
The stories you loved as a child have been twisted into wildly addictive tales that will bewitch you as an adult: enchanted castles, spellbinding magic, handsome princes, beautiful princesses, and as many happily-ever-afters as your heart desires.
Cherish this mesmerizing set of 20 classic tales retold by a collection of best-selling and award-winning authors. Each novel-length story features a different take on your favorite fairytale.
Your every fantasy will come to life in ways you could never have imagined, packed full of heart-wrenching romance, gripping adventure, and magic that will weave you in its spell.
Scroll up and one-click now to grab this limited edition set before the clock strikes midnight!
All proceeds benefit Puzzle Peace United, a children’s autism charity.
Fairytales include:
Alice
Cinderella
Snow White and Rose Red
Beauty and the beast
Aladdin
Rumpelstilzkin
Sleeping Beauty
wizard of Oz
Snow white (7 dwarves)
Red Riding Hood
Rapunzel
Sinbad the Sailor
Robin hood
little match girl
twelve dancing princesses
Mulan
The Nightingale
The Girl without hands
Nix of the Mill Pond
Eve Miranski has spent weeks trying to find a killer who's
roaming free in Cutthroat. She's also working hard to protect her battered
heart from two alpha cowboys who aren't making it easy. Yeah, two. After they
meet at a holiday party, Shane Nickel and Finch Anderson have made it clear to
Eve they're interested in one thing. Her.
He might be the son of a movie star, but Shane Nickel's content living out of
the spotlight. When he meets the stubborn detective, his protective instincts
kick in. He should let her go, find a woman whose work doesn't require a gun
and handcuffs (although he can think of some fun uses for the handcuffs) and
not tasked with hunting down a murderer. His heart—and other parts of him—want
Eve.
As a forest ranger, Finch Anderson spends more time in the wilderness than in
town. That suits him just fine, until he meets Eve and everything changes. He
wants her, wants everything he never thought he could have, but how can a felon
and a feisty detective get along?
The men's doubts won't matter when new evidence in the Erin Mills case is
discovered and the identity of the murderer is revealed. The only thing they'll
have to worry about is keeping Eve alive because the killer won't be caught
without a fight.
Vanessa Vale is the USA Today Bestselling author of over 50
sexy romance novels, including her popular Bridgewater historical romance
series and hot contemporary romances featuring unapologetic bad boys who don't
just fall in love, they fall hard. When she's not writing, Vanessa savors the
insanity of raising two teenage boys and figuring out how many meals she can
make with a pressure cooker. While she's not as skilled at social media as her
kids, she loves to interact with readers.
Grabbing
her face with both hands, I smash my lips onto hers, claiming what’s meant for
me and only me. She doesn’t fight me, but I can tell she’s holding back. I know
she’s letting me have my way with her, but I want her to give it her all.
“Give me everything,” I whisper against her lips.
I know she
wants to; I could taste it on her lips and feel it on her body as she inches
closer and closer to mine.
She pauses
for a second, our lips red and heavy, desperate to collide again. “I want
something in return.”
I lean back
and grab her chin with my index finger and thumb. “You don’t get to make
demands, Natalie. It’s my way or the highway.”
“So this is
my only choice?” she says.
I nod, and
her nostrils flare as she shakes her head. “You play a dark game, Noah.”
“Oh, this
is anything but a game to me,” I reply. “I want every single inch of you.
No-holds-barred. Every look, every breath, every moan.”
Her cheeks turn
the same shade of red they had when she first entered the room. I quite like
how it looks on her. So innocent and sweet and not at all how I know she is
deep down inside. A devilish enchantress ready to steal your heart … or break
it into a million pieces.
And I cup
her face in my hand, and say, “Tonight, you’re mine.”
She doesn’t
resist, doesn’t pull away as I lean in and kiss her lips. Instead, she closes
her eyes and lets me persuade her to stay and give her what she needs for
tonight.
I plant a
million tiny kisses on her lips until she’s overcome with need and opens her
mouth, allowing my tongue to enter. I kiss her hard and deep, circling my
tongue around hers, claiming it, owning it. I want her to know what I could do
to her if she’d only let me, if I was the one to own her completely.
I wrap my
arms around her body and pull her in. In the warm water, her skin against mine
feels like a wet dream. Finally, I have her here, and I’m not letting her go.
Not before she’s completely wiped out, and I’ve overtaken her mind.
When I’m
done with her, our fucking will be the only thing she can think about for
weeks. Oh yes, I’ll give her exactly what she wants …
Clarissa Wild is a New York Times & USA Today
Bestselling author of Dark Romance and Contemporary Romance novels. She is an
avid reader and writer of swoony stories about dangerous men and feisty women.
Her other loves include her hilarious husband, her two crazy but cute dogs, and
her ninja cat that sometimes thinks he's a dog too. In her free time she enjoys
watching all sorts of movies, playing video games, reading tons of books, and
cooking her favorite meals.
Want to get an
email when my next book is released? Sign up here to receive 4 FREE short
stories: http://eepurl.com/FdY71
Much to the chagrin of foreman Josiah, Jessie Davidson wants a romance reduction. But the Double D Ranch hides a secret. Since inheriting the property, Jessie kept her grandmother’s hoard concealed, but now she’s found the courage to purge the unwanted items: steamy novels, thousands of them. Romance has to go! Donating books is a good thing, right? Not when coupled with a dare.
The dare spirals out of control. The ante is upped when caches of the spicy books, left in barbershops, pool halls, and pubs, challenge others to join the fad. A perverted prankster runs amok playing on the town’s fantasies. Book clubs are formed. Plots acted out. In a town saturated with romance, Jessie finds her love life underdeveloped.
Keep Jessie safe. It’s the promise Josiah Barnes made to Jessie’s dying grandmother. He aims to honor it, even if it means protecting Jessie from himself. Failing her in the past has him on high alert when the Double D becomes ground zero for the arousal avalanche sweeping the town. As a full-support, silent partner, Josiah will do anything to augment the Double D. But when Jessie starts selling handmade lingerie, keeping his hands to himself is easier said than done…
Will she shelve happily ever after like a rejected novel, or open her heart and start a new chapter?
Hired as a personal assistant to Jessie Barnes, Piper becomes much more: friend, beta tester, and . . . intimate apparel model? With a three-legged cat, fake news, drunken karaoke, romance novel obsessed men, a cocky old lady, and a perverted town prankster, Piper finds Fortuna plumb twisted.
All Cole Dart really needs is his family and job working at the Big Deal ranch. After surviving cancer, his life is like a pair of broken-in boots. Comfortable. He doesn’t want the complication of a relationship now. Or ever. But when Piper’s stalker catches up to her, Cole’s protective instincts kick into high gear and he’s determined to step between her and danger, no matter the cost.
When a tornado rips through town, Cole’s home is strewn across the county, can Piper help him pick up the pieces and find happily ever after or will the stalker tear them apart forever?
What a fun and awesome book!! I loved every bit of it!! Piper and Cole (two of my favorite names) are two just-wild-enough characters in a plot filled with ups and downs. They are perfect for one another though far be it from them to admit the truth about how they feel! It was a perfect romance, filled with all kinds of feels, humor and just the right amount of embarrassment. Their backgrounds were so realistic that I just loved what a great couple they became over the course of the storyline. The book reads smoothly and is over long before you want it to be.
Rochelle Bradley writes truly great stories. Such talent. They are sweet yet steamy, show us the reality of loving someone and always have the perfect villain that we all LUURVE to hate. I highly recommend this kick-butt RomCom with a twist saved for the very end for ages 18 and older.
5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The reviews and opinions expressed here on DARK 'N TWISTY BOOKS are strictly my own. I do not get paid to review books. If we receive an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from an author, publisher and/or publicist, the review will indicate such. All other eBooks are purchased at my own expense unless indicated otherwise.
More Than a Fantasy
A Fortuna, Texas Novel Book 3
Book 3 in the Fortuna, Texas series.
One night changed everything...
Finally content single, second-grade teacher Kelly Greene doesn’t need a man screwing up her life, even a sexy cop like Ben. All she needs is her rechargeable double-A batteries.
Operation: Win Kelly. For Officer Ben Moore repairing a creepy Victorian house, a workplace dalliance, and camping au naturel are beyond his comfort zone. Ben schemes to bring Kelly’s fantasies alive, but in Fortuna, Texas, where men read romance and cosplay is second nature, it’s hard to keep their rendezvous hidden from gossipmongers and, more importantly, her match-making momma.
When danger threatens Fortuna Elementary, Ben is assigned a case that keeps thrusting them together, Kelly has a helluva time ignoring her heart—let alone her girly bits.
Ben holds the key to the handcuffs but Kelly must decide if he also holds the key to her heart.
Book 4 in the romantic comedy Fortuna, Texas series.
She aspired to renew the town; he desired to revive her love life…
Who’d have thought Michaela Arschfick would like Texas? Particularly some Podunk town with the mighty Fire Ant as its mascot. But from first glance, Fortuna captivates Michaela.
With most of the residents, primarily men, keeping their noses glued to the pages of romance novels, they don’t notice Fortuna needs a makeover. Michaela takes on the challenge of opening the eyes of City Hall to Fortuna’s potential. The longer she stays in the cozy town the more it feels like home, especially with the sexy, young mayor giving her VIP treatment.
After his wife died in a flash flood, the mayor of Fortuna, Texas, Jasen Delay, delved into work. Two years later, he’s still wearing the placating smile, but when a vanload of urban consultants visits the town... a beauty catches his eye.
Determined to keep their relationship professional, Jasen and Michaela must stymie their blossoming feelings and focus on revitalizing Fortuna's downtown. A nosy newspaper reporter, a perverted prankster, and sightings of Jasen's wife's ghost have Michaela second-guessing her choice to stay. Jasen will do anything to keep Michaela in town. Fortuna needs her but, more importantly, Jasen needs her.
With Jasen's help, can Michaela wade through small-town bureaucracy, solve the mystery of the canyon ghost, and learn to trust her heart?
When Cole and
Piper arrived at the truck stop, Cole flagged down the owner, Norma Stitts. She
waved them in. He took Piper's elbow and led her to a booth.
Piper inspected
the bookshelf by the door, then gazed around the room, taking it all in. Cole
tried not to stare, but it proved hard not to watch her first encounter with a
Texas truck stop.
"There are
three men reading romance novels," she said in awe. Packed with men, but
also a few women and children, Stitts' was hopping.
"I'm
surprised it's not more," Cole said, rubbing his chin.
"Really?"
Piper's eyes widened.
"See that
bookshelf? It's a major exchange center for the book trade."
"Book
trade?"
"You'll have
to ask Miss Jessie about how it started," Cole explained.
"Mrs.
Barnes, my boss?"
"Yes. Sorry,
I've called her Miss Jessie for years."
A man entered the
restaurant, placed two books on the shelf, then ran his finger down the spines
in the line and pulled out another. He paused, reading the back.
"Do you see that man?" Cole asked,
and she nodded. "He's a farmer. Owns a couple hundred acres, a modest
spread, and he loves romances."
The farmer
pocketed the book. He picked out two more before leaving.
"Ah, romance
books. This is what you meant yesterday?" Her cheeks pinked.
"Yes."
He cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone dry. "It started with a
personal challenge to one man, a dare. He didn't back down. He liked the books
and dared others. Then it spread like wildfire on dry prairie grass."
They ordered and
sipped the rich dark coffee. "This is good." Inhaling deeply, she
gripped the ceramic mug as if it held ambrosia.
He leaned back
and relaxed. Warmth spread through his body, happy to have pleased her.
"So who
dared you?" she asked.
He nearly spit
coffee.
"I mean, why
do you read them?"
"I like the
stories."
"You mean
you like the sex." She tilted her head and grinned.
Sure, he liked
the steamy scenes, but that wasn't the whole reason he read them. "I like
happy endings," he offered with a shrug. She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Okay, I like the hot scenes, but only because of the love." He
swallowed.
"Love?"
The waitress
placed food on the table, saving him. They ate in silence except for an
occasional comment about the flavor of the food. After Piper pushed an empty
plate away, she asked, "Are all cowboys like you?"
Uh oh. "Like, how?"
"You know,
crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside?"
Cole laughed.
"Most likely," he answered, as another man took more books.
"I don't
like romance stories," she admitted in a quiet voice. Before he could ask,
she explained, "The heroines are too soft. I don't like to read about weak
women. Plus, those men always have movie star looks, amazing careers and are
billionaires. You can't find your soulmate in a romance book."
"But you
might find personality traits you like," he offered. She shrugged, not
buying it. "I don't see the women as weak—only flawed, with obstacles to
overcome."
"I suppose
everyone has flaws."
"What's
yours?" he asked with a smirk.
"Liking the
wrong type of men," she muttered.
His stomach
clenched. "That's a cop-out answer." He'd unfairly asked, so he
offered his shortcoming. "I'm self-conscious about my looks."
She inspected him
critically and sweat broke out across his forehead. "Most people
are."
He leaned close
and whispered, "It keeps me from talking and interacting with people. I
get nervous and won't go places if there's a crowd." It had been years
since the operation and it still affected him.
"You're
fine, Cole. You're more than fine." Piper shifted in her seat and leaned
forward. "Look, you're out talking to me and I'm a stranger and a
woman."
He nodded.
"Normally, I'd be a basket case of nerves."
"Looks are
all personal taste. Someone might think you're ugly or someone might think
you're the sexiest man alive. The thing you have to ask yourself is: does their
opinion matter to me?" She smiled sweetly over the rim of her mug.
"What's your
opinion?" he blurted, needing to know.
"Does it
matter to you what I think?"
"Yes. It
matters greatly." It was true, but he didn't want to ask himself why. The
smile that lit her face made his heart hitch. She set her coffee down.
"Well, Cole,
I like the crunchy-gooey combo. It's very appealing." She blushed, long
eyelashes hiding her eyes as she looked at the table. "I find you..."
she paused, drumming her fingers against the side of her mug.
"Pretty,
right?" A short, old woman said as she slid into the booth next to Cole
and pinched his cheek. "This one's a hot tamale."
"Hello, Ms.
Hardmann." Cole's face felt like the temperature of the sun. He rubbed his
cheek. "This is Piper McCracken. Piper this is Desire Hardmann."
"Hello,
young lady." Desire took Piper's hand and squeezed. With a wink, she
yelled over her shoulder to a man in a white apron, "Hey, Hugh Stitts!
Come over here and meet Cole's Russian mail-order bride."
Rochelle puts an artistic spin on everything she does but there are two things she fails at miserably:
1. Cooking (seriously, she can burn water)
2. Sewing (buttons immediately fall back off)
She loves baking and makes a mean BTS (Better than Sex) cake. When in observation mode she is quiet, however, her mouth is usually open with an encouraging glass-is-half-full pun or, quite possibly, her foot.
She is a Bearcat, a Buckeye, an interior decorator, and fluent in sarcasm.
In 2008, when her youngest entered Kindergarten, she decided to get the stories out of her head. Midway through her first novel, hurricane Ike (yes, a hurricane in Ohio) rendered the laptop useless with a nine-day power outage. She didn't give up, but continued to pursue her dream.
Every November Rochelle takes on the challenge of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) where she endeavors to write 50,000 words in thirty days. You can often hear her cheering the Dayton area Wrimos (those who join her in this crazy pursuit).
Rochelle shares her home with a big black cat, an itty-bitty orange tiger kitty, her daughter, her son, and her Prince.
She loves to connect with readers. You can find her on Facebook (search for Author Rochelle Bradley), Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Visit Rochelle's website to sign up for her newsletter to keep up to date about future novels and book signings (RochelleBradley.com).
