Spotlight: At Second Glance by Vicki Ballante

 

Blurb:

 

 

Four years after her divorce, Merryn decides she’s ready to find someone. Joining an online singles site, she connects with the perfect guy. Funny, sexy, sensitive. When he suggests they meet, excitement compels her to say yes.

 

Kirk pines for his ex-wife, but realizes he must move forward. After several stimulating online chats, he believes she might be the one for him. Smart, sexy, willing to experiment and learn. But when he happens across his ex, all his plans fly out the window.

 

Will Merryn learn to relax and have fun without giving her heart? Can Kirk forget the past and become the man he longs to be?

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

 

“Where did you meet this guy?”

“Online.”

“That’s not safe.”

“I trust him.” Fire spurted from her gaze.

She’d never trusted him when they’d been married. Never let him take the lead. How come time hadn’t healed the wounds? Instead, they’d festered inside him.

Online relationship? He felt the blood drain from his head.

“What?” Panic rose in her voice. “Are you Panda?”

He considered pretending otherwise. He could make his escape now and forget about the crazy mistake of meeting a strange woman in a restaurant because of an internet connection. Then he wouldn’t remember all those times he’d tried to reach out to her and she’d pushed him away and read her book or gone to sleep. The accusing words when she’d found out he’d been looking at porn. The hatred in her eyes when she’d asked him for a divorce.

“Are you?” She collapsed on the chair opposite him.

“I…I can’t do this.” He rose. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t meet guys you don’t know.”

“It’s a public place.” There was a catch in her voice.

“I don’t remember you being so pale. Blonde doesn’t suit you.”

She wrapped her face in her hands and became as stiff as a corpse. A crack of sympathy passed through him for a moment, but he pushed it away. Yet, she was Hedge. The woman who wanted to experiment. Who hurt from a previous relationship.

He’d called himself a loser.

A laugh came out, sounding out of place, and then he laughed recklessly.

She jerked her head towards him, anger evident in the harshness of her features.

“I called myself a loser.”

“What?”

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? If we’d both gotten over all our baggage from our messed up marriage, maybe we wouldn’t be here, digging up all the past hurt.”

“I didn’t know who you were. I wouldn’t have said those things to you. It’s the first time I’ve told anyone how I feel.” She didn’t look good with her face screwed up.

He glanced at her body. Had that changed? Her breasts pressed tight against the black shirt she wore. He remembered the first moment she’d shown herself to him on their wedding night. Merryn had insisted upon waiting for that special night. Her reserve had made her all the more desirable to him. In the beginning.

What if he could have another chance to touch her body? She was still shaped to perfection. None of the other women he’d had compared to the beauty of Merryn’s body. The shape of her twins, those pink taut nipples, and the peaks contrasted against her narrow waist. The gentle dip from her slight stomach to her intimate area. He sighed.

“You still want to experiment?” He’d always been impulsive, but seriously, had he said that?

 

Author Bio:

 

Vicki writes erotic and fantasy romance. She loves taking her characters into an alternate world where strange and sexy things happen. She lives with her patient husband and three noisy kids in South Africa. In between being a busy stay-at-home Mom who hates housework and spends half her life cooking everything from scratch, she runs several blogs, writes under another name, and buries herself in the delightful world of her characters. When growing up, her school friends asked her if she wanted to be a nun. She always said “no.”

 

Buy Links:

 

 

 

Decadent Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

All Romance Ebooks

 

Online Links for Vicki:

 

Blog: http://www.vballante.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vicki-Ballante-Sugar-and-Spice/517893148283488

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VickiBallante

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vballante/

 

 

Spotlight: Dream Across Time by C.R. Moss

A ghost story in time for Halloween!  Please welcome C.R. Moss to the blog and read about her new release, Dream Across Time.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Blurb:

 

A woman in love. A ghost in need. A man possessed.

 

Evelyn Sheridan is in love with Raritan Manor Ranch’s resident ghost, Quinn, but can only experience his embrace in her dreams.

 

Quinn VanAlder, who doesn’t realize he’s a ghost, loves Eve and wishes she’d stop saying they can’t be together.

 

While at the ranch, Alex VanAlder arrives for a visit, and Evelyn’s hopes rise. Perhaps she will be able to have a real relationship after all. Alex, though, has no interest in Evelyn. Yet, every time the house cat, Myrddin, comes around, Alex feels like a man possessed and wants Eve with a passion.

 

Caught between loving a ghost and putting up with a man who can’t make up his mind, Evelyn is at a loss. Can the magic of the ranch help Evelyn to stop being caught between two worlds?

 

Excerpt:

 

A deep, warm laugh rumbled from him.

“You think it’s funny that I’m going nuts?” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him over the horse’s back.

Quinn moved around the horse. “You are not going insane.”

As Quinn took another step toward her, she took a step back. “That’s what Julie says. I’m not convinced, though.”

With every step she took, Quinn matched it. In a deep, sultry voice he uttered, “My beautiful, intelligent Evelyn, your mind is very sound.”

Her butt hit the building. Standing in a pile of broken hay stalks, her gaze fixed on Quinn’s eyes, and her breaths came in short rasps. Her mind didn’t feel sound at all, neither did her body. Pulse racing, heart pounding against her chest, she seemed in the midst of losing control. All her senses heightened until colors were brighter. She looked past Quinn at the gentle slopes of the mountain range nearby and the deep blue sky.

He stood an inch before her. She breathed in his musky, masculine scent. Her clothes tightened and scratched against her sensitive skin. Though under a warm sun, a shiver raked her body. How could a man rob her of control, of her senses?

Quinn placed his hands on the building, trapping her between his arms. “Tell me,” his husky voice whispered in her ear. “What has gotten you so bothered you think you are going crazy?”

The heat radiating between their close bodies sent ripples of desire through her. She shuddered.

“Well?”

“You,” she whispered in return, not meeting his gaze. “These dreams. They’re interrupting my life. I’m letting my relationship with you interfere with everything I do when I’m awake. Any good psychiatrist would have a field day with me.” Evelyn paused, took a deep breath to calm her excited body.

Since he towered over her by at least a foot, she talked to his chest. The white shirt, pulled taut over his front, showed the outlines of his well-defined muscles. She wanted to touch them. Evelyn clenched her fists at her sides, taking in another deep breath, and looked up. “It’s gotten to the point where Julie thinks I’m in love—”

“Are you?” Quinn interrupted, a hint of pleading tainted his voice.

His question caught her off guard. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of love, of discussing their feelings for each other. She didn’t answer, and her lack of response brought an expression of sadness to Quinn’s features. She cared for him, but love? How could she love someone who wasn’t real, someone who existed before her birth? Someone who’s a ghost?

Quinn turned his back to her. “I thought… never mind.”

The misery in his voice pinged at her soul. “Quinn.” She put a hand on his shoulder to halt him from leaving. “I’m sorry. I can’t love you. You’re not real.”

His body tensed beneath her fingers. Quinn turned back to her and her hand fell to his chest. He held it there. “Damn it, Evelyn. Stop talking nonsense. I am real.”

She couldn’t deny that fact. His hands were warm. His heart beat strong and steady. Her eyes widened and she gazed up into his passion-filled gaze. She wished she wasn’t dreaming.

“Let me show you how real I am.” His lips descended onto hers.

All the blood rushed from her head and her knees weakened. She leaned into his body for support. His arms wrapped around her. Every nerve fired at his touch. His lips parted and his tongue coaxed her mouth open.

Too dazed to resist, she copied his motions, and the gentle kiss blazed into a raging fire. Their mouths, hot and hungry, moved against each other’s in perfect harmony. Evelyn’s arousal gained momentum. She swirled her tongue against his in wild abandon, learning the sweet taste of him. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she held on to the moment for dear life.

 

Buy Links:

 

~ Evernight Publishing

~ Kindle

~ All Romance eBooks

~ BookStrand

~ Find C.R. Moss on Barnes & Noble

 

Author Bio:

 

An eccentric and eclectic writer, C.R. Moss pens stories for the mainstream and erotic romance markets, giving readers Worlds of Possibilities.

 

More about C.R. Moss: 

 

So what does she write? She writes stories from the light and sweet to the dark and deadly with varying degrees of sexual heat. Writing as C.R. Moss gives her and her muses the freedom to explore worlds of possibilities when it comes to love. And where does the tag line “Love & Lust in the Wild West” fit in? Well, for one, she lives in NV. Two, her stories take place, either in part or in full, in and around the Las Vegas area. In fact, even this website sports “a look of home.” The background picture was taken in an area just a few miles west of Las Vegas and happens to be the inspiration for the setting of the Double D Ranch Tales saga.

 

She also has a passion for penning dark fiction. Writing under the name Casey Moss allows her to slate other stories under Horror ~ Paranormal ~ Suspense ~ Thriller ~ Urban Fantasy.  Visit: http://caseymossbooks.com/

 

Author Links:

 

~ Website

~ Blog

~ Facebook

~ Twitter: @CRMoss

~ Goodreads

~ Pinterest

Flirting With Fire by Tara Quan (@LaylaTarar) #PNR #1NS @DecadentPub #NewRelease

I owe my lovely hostess a huge thank you for having me over today. My paranormal romantic comedy, Flirting with Fire, was just released by Decadent Publishing. It features a clueless fire mage, his fed-up cat familiar, and Madame Eve’s renowned one-night stand service. On All Hallows’ Eve, this witch and warlock iron out the kinks of an outdated employment contract in a spectacularly fiery fashion (and once you read the blurb, my very odd description will make a lot more sense).

In celebration, I’m giving away a $15 gift card. To enter, leave a comment here, and drop your details in the Rafflecopter widget (at the bottom of this post, assuming the code works, or at my website: TaraQuan.com/FlirtingwithFire)

 

Flirting with Fire (A Witch’s Night Out, 1)

Apprentice witch Catalina Gato is prohibited from assuming her human form in front of her new employer without his express permission. Since he doesn’t know he’s a warlock, he can’t give it, leaving her in a familiar’s limbo. To make matters worse, she’s barred from leaving his house, and her attempts to enlighten him of his true nature results in burnt notes, charred walls, and exploding laptops.

On All Hallows’ Eve, she gets one night of freedom. Deciding some no-strings-attached sex might take the edge off the intense attraction she feels for her clueless boss, she signs up for Madame Eve’s service. When she meets her masked mystery date at the Castillo Capital, she realizes she might have gotten much more than she bargained for.

After being gifted a one-night stand from his annoying best friend, attorney Leo Difuoco reluctantly ventures to the Castillo Capital to celebrate Halloween. When he meets his oddly familiar green-eyed date in a Cat Woman costume, flames literally ignite, sparks magically fly, and life as he knows it changes forever.

Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy, Interracial/Multicultural

 

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | AllRomance | Decadent | GoodReads

 

About Tara Quan

Globetrotter, lover of languages, and romance author, Tara Quan has an addiction for crafting tales with a pinch of spice and a smidgen of kink. Inspired by her travels, Tara enjoys tossing her kick-ass heroines and alpha males into exotic contemporary locales, paranormal worlds, and post-apocalyptic futures. Armed with magical powers or conventional weapons, her characters are guaranteed a suspenseful and sensual ride, as well as their own happily ever after. Learn more at www.taraquan.com

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon

 

 

Excerpt

Soaping her too-sensitive body, Cat closed her eyes and recalled an image of Leo from earlier that morning. She’d wanted nothing more than to slip through the glass doors, run her palms along those wet, chiseled abs, and trace the defined lines of chest muscle with her fingers. After less than two minutes of voyeurism, she’d imagined levering herself using those broad shoulders, wrapping her legs around his torso, and fusing her mouth with his.

Why did her boss have to be clueless and sexy? If not for the latter trait, it’d be much easier to hate his guts. Instead, she was trapped in a weird limbo between impatient annoyance and unbridled horniness. She switched the water to a cold blast. It didn’t help.

One cardinal rule existed in all professions—Thou shalt not lust after the boss. To it, she’d add—especially not when you’re his minion, bound by blood to do his bidding, and he doesn’t see you as a human being. But the impracticality of this attraction didn’t change the fact this man appealed to her in the most carnal way. It was a good thing she transformed into a cat whenever he came close, else her panties would be damp from constant sexual fantasies.

When she slept, she dreamt of learning the texture of his dark five o’clock shadow with her lips, of feeling his coarse chest hair rasp over her breasts. He might be no more than two inches taller than her, but she’d be powerless in his grasp. The man was all muscle, from his thick neck to his toned arms. Even without the magical rules demanding her complete obedience, he could compel her to do whatever he wanted.

This embarrassing and unrelenting lust put an impetus on finding a way out. She’d served Nonna for a little over three years and spent the past six months in his care, leaving an interminable eighteen months on the damn contract. By the time it ended, she’d be a frustrated nymphomaniac.

 

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