Spotlight: Excerpt & Giveaway of Relentless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Author:  Kari Lynn Dell

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Publication Date: 6/30/2020

There’s a reason they call this cowboy relentless

Gil Sanchez was once rodeo’s biggest and baddest hotshot. Now he's thirteen years sober and finally free of the pain that ended his skyrocketing career. Given one last, near-miraculous shot to claw his way back to rodeo glory, he can't let fantasies of happily-ever-after dull his razor edge...but Carmelita White Fox is every dream he’s never let himself have.

And from the moment he saw the spark of challenge in her eyes, he hasn't been able to look away.

Carma may come from a Blackfeet family noted for its healing abilities, but even she knows better than to try to fix this scarred, cynical, and incredibly sexy cowboy. Yet she’s the only one who can reach past Gil’s jaded armor, and the fiercely loyal heart buried beneath the biting cynicism is impossible to resist. Gil needs Carma just as much as she needs him, but as the pressure builds and the spotlight intensifies, they’ll have to fight like hell to save the one thing neither can live without.

Excerpt:

If following Carmelita was a bad idea, it was going to be one of the more interesting mistakes Gil had made. He didn’t just want her. He craved her…and that rarely boded well for him. But just this one time…

When the back door of the bar thumped shut behind them, Carmelita stopped and dragged in a long, deep breath. Her words came out in puffs of vapor. “God, that was suffocating.”

The closeness of the overcrowded bar? The argument with her cousin? The attention? “Why did you come?”

“My grandmother volunteered my services. Fund-raisers are the worst, though. Everyone is so…” Her hands fluttered in a broad circle, encompassing the tearful out­pourings of gratitude that marked benefits.

“You’re used to being in the spotlight.”

“I prefer an audience to a crowd,” she said flatly. And the difference was in the separation. She could walk off a stage without interacting with the masses.

She tipped her head back to gaze into the heavens and her body language slowly shifted, as if she was drawing in the stillness. When she started off through the parking lot, she once again moved with fluid grace. Gil matched her stride, closing the space between them so his coat sleeve swished against hers.

“Bing told me about you, and introduced me to your… friend,” she said.

With that slight hesitation, she summed up Gil’s uncer­tainty about his relationship with Hank, past and future. “I’m his sponsor,” he corrected stiffly.

“Mmm.” A sound that translated to if that’s what you want to tell yourself. “We lack many things up here on the rez, but we do not have a shortage of recovering addicts.”

“I watched Hank grow up. I understand him.”

She angled a searching glance beneath lowered lashes. “I see.”

Yes, she did. There was something in the way she looked at him—through him—that made him want to both hide and move closer. He did neither. The breeze caught her hair, sending a strand fluttering and carrying the scent of pine needles and snow down from the mountains. He swung around to face her as they stopped beside the door to his truck, and when he looked into her eyes, he felt as if he was losing his balance, falling into one of the bottomless mountain lakes—only much warmer. He could just keep sinking and sinking…

She caught him, pressing her hands flat against his chest, but her smile was tinged with regret. “I wish I could stay. You and I would be very good together, I think.”

The image of Carmelita naked and lush under his hands sent heat shuddering through him. Then he regis­tered what she was saying.

“You’re leaving?” Gil frowned at her in disbelief.

The hitch of her shoulder set the moonlight shimmer­ing through her hair. “I can’t leave my grandparents with a sick baby.”

“His mother didn’t seem overly concerned.” Gil’s voice was harsh, along with his judgment of her charming cousin. Even when he’d been regularly popping Vicodin like breath mints, he’d managed to stay clean on the weekends he’d had his son.

Carmelita smoothed her palms over the front of his jacket. “Next time?”

“I won’t be back.”

She angled her head to give him another searching look, then nodded. “You’re taking Hank home. That explains it.”

“What?”

“This.” Her hand moved down, pressing with unerring accuracy over the clutch in his gut. She reached up with the other to brush cool fingers over the knot of tension in his forehead. “And this.”

He wanted to lean into that touch—into her—and let her wipe his mind clean for a few hours.

“I’m sorry I can’t do more.” She stroked a blissful circle on his temple. “But I can give you something for that headache.”

“A fistful of ibuprofen?”

“A promise.” Her eyes were steady, her tone certain. “Hank will be fine. He’s stronger than you think, and what­ever you’re keeping from him, he’ll understand it was for the best. So will the others.”

Gil jerked his head back. “I never said anything to Bing about that.”

Her hands fell away and she angled her gaze upward, eyes going distant. In the Panhandle the stars were painted on the sky. Here it seemed as if they were standing among them.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just feel it. But I’m almost always right.”

Without warning, she tipped onto her toes and pressed her mouth to his. Her lips were cool, but at the touch of her tongue the glowing embers they’d been gathering between them burst into flame, whooshing through him like a prairie fire. His thoughts, the last of his reservations, the ability to think at all were consumed by a wall of heat. He gripped the lapels of her coat to drag her hard against him, and she fisted her hands in the sides of his jacket, pressing even closer. Her tongue slid over his, the friction setting off more sparks.

A palpable shudder ran through her. She braced her hands on his shoulders, slowly, inexorably separating her mouth from his. Then she smiled, a copper-skinned Madonna with fathomless eyes, and pressed a palm over his thundering heart. “You should get some rest, Gil Sanchez. You’ve got a long drive tomorrow.”

***

Excerpted from Relentless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell. © 2020 by Kari Lynn Dell. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved


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About the author:

KARI LYNN DELL brings a lifetime of personal experience to writing western romance. She is a third generation rancher and rodeo competitor existing in a perpetual state of horse-induced poverty on the Blackfeet Nation of northern Montana, along with her husband, son and Max the Cowdog.

Author Website: http://www.karilynndell.com/

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Blog Tour: Review & Excerpt of She's Faking It by Kristin Rockaway

Author: Kristin Rockaway

FICTION/Romance/Contemporary  

Trade Paperback | Graydon House Books 

On Sale: 6/30/2020 

978152580464

$15.99

$19.99 CAN

You can’t put a filter on reality.

Bree Bozeman isn’t exactly pursuing the life of her dreams. Then again, she isn’t too sure what those dreams are. After dropping out of college, she’s living a pretty chill life in the surf community of Pacific Beach, San Diego…if “chill” means delivering food as a GrubGetter, and if it means “uneventful”.

But when Bree starts a new Instagram account — @breebythesea — one of her posts gets a signal boost from none other than wildly popular self-help guru Demi DiPalma, owner of a lifestyle brand empire. Suddenly, Bree just might be a rising star in the world of Instagram influencing. Is this the direction her life has been lacking? It’s not a career choice she’d ever seriously considered, but maybe it’s a sign from the universe. After all, Demi’s the real deal… right?

Everything is lining up for Bree: life goals, career, and even a blossoming romance with the chiseled guy next door, surf star Trey Cantu. But things are about to go sideways fast, and even the perfect filter’s not gonna fix it. Instagram might be free, but when your life looks flawless on camera, what’s the cost?

BUY LINKS:

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My thoughts:

She’s Faking It was an interesting read. It involves 25 year old Bree who is adrift in her life.  She quit college and makes a very meager living driving for a food delivery service.  She reads a "self-help" book and that starts her on a journey of becoming an Influencer on Instagram.    I did enjoy the overall commentary about social media, but I did not love the main character. 

I thought this was an excellent look at the pitfalls of social media and how one can get wrapped up in the very unreality of Instagram and twitter influence.  I also liked the exploration of cancel culture as one of the characters experiences that aspect because of a tweet.  What I did not like and had a hard time connecting with was Bree herself.  She kept harping on her stoner ex-boyfriend as a loser when she kind of needed to look in the mirror herself.  It was all excuses.  She did show some growth in the end, but her ending was a bit too convenient for me.  So, I did like itoverall, I just didn’t love the story as much as a wanted to.  Give it a shot and see for yourself.

Enjoy this sneak peek:

From Chapter Two

“Don’t these books make your purse really heavy? There’s gotta be some app where you can store all this information.” 

“Studies show you’re more likely to remember things you’ve written by hand, with physical pen and paper.” She reached across my lap and opened the glove compartment, removing a notebook with an antiqued photograph of a vintage luxury car printed on the cover. “For example, this is my auto maintenance log. Maybe if you’d kept one of these, like I told you to, we wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.” 

I loved Natasha, I really did. She was responsible and generous, and without her I’d likely be far worse off than I already was, which was a horrifying thought to consider. But at times like this, I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake the shit out of her. 

“A maintenance log wouldn’t have helped me.” 

“Yes, it would have. Organization is about more than decluttering your home. It’s about decluttering your mind. Making lists, keeping records—these are all ways to help you get your life in order. If you’d had a maintenance log, this problem wouldn’t have caught you off guard in the middle of your delivery shift. You’d have seen it coming, and—” 

“I saw it coming.” 

“What?”

 “This didn’t catch me off guard. The check engine light came on two weeks ago.” Or maybe it was three. 

“Then why didn’t you take it to the mechanic?” She blinked, genuinely confused. Everything was so cut-and dried with her. When a car needed to be serviced, of course you called the mechanic. 

That is, if you could afford to pay the repair bill. 

Fortunately, she put two and two together without making me say it out loud. “Oh,” she murmured, then bit her lip. I could almost hear the squeak and clank of wheels turning in her head as she tried to piece together the solution to this problem. No doubt it included me setting up a journal or logbook of some sort, though we both knew that would be pointless. The last time she’d tried to set me up with a weekly budget planner, I gave up on day two, when I realized I could GrubGetter around the clock for the rest of my life and still never make enough money to get current on the payments for my student loans. You know, for that degree I’d never finished. 

But Natasha was a determined problem solver. It said so in her business bio: “Natasha DeAngelis, Certified Professional Organizer®, is a determined problem solver with a passion for sorting, purging, arranging, and containerizing.” My life was a perpetual mess, and though she couldn’t seem to be able to clean it up, that didn’t stop her from trying. Over and over and over again.

 “I’ll pay for the repairs,” she said.

 “No.” I shook my head, fending off the very big part of me that wanted to say yes. “I can’t take any money from you.” 

“It’s fine,” she said. “Business is booming. I’ve got so much work right now that I’ve actually had to turn clients away. And ever since Al introduced that new accelerated orthodontic treatment, his office has been raking it in. We can afford to help you.” 

“I know.” Obviously, my sister and her family weren’t hurting for cash. Aside from her wildly successful organizing business, her husband, Al, ran his own orthodontics practice. They owned a four-bedroom house, leased luxury cars, and took triannual vacations to warm, sunny places like Maui and Tulum. They had a smart fridge in their kitchen that was undoubtedly worth more than my nonfunctioning car. 

But my sister wasn’t a safety net, and I needed to stop treating her like one. She’d already done so much for me. More than any big sister should ever have to do.

 “I just can’t,” I said. 

“Well, do you really have any other choice?” There was an edge to Natasha’s voice now. “If you don’t have a car, how are you going to work?”

 “I’ll figure something out.” The words didn’t sound very convincing, even to my own ears. For the past four years, all I’d done was deliver food. I had no other marketable skills, no references, no degree.

 I was a massive failure. 

Tears pooled in my eyes. Natasha sighed again. 

“Look,” she said, “maybe it’s time to admit you need to come up with a solid plan for your life. You’ve been in a downward spiral ever since Rob left.” 

She had a point. I’d never been particularly stable, but things got a whole lot worse seven months earlier, when my live-in ex-boyfriend, Rob, had abruptly announced he was ending our three-year relationship, quitting his job, and embarking on an immersive ayahuasca retreat in the depths of the Peruvian Amazon. 

“I’ve lost my way,” he’d said, his eyes bloodshot from too many hits on his vape pen. “The Divine Mother Shakti at the Temple of Eternal Light can help me find myself again.”

 “What?” I’d been incredulous. “Where is this coming from?” 

He’d unearthed a book from beneath a pile of dirty clothes on our bed and handed it to me—Psychedelic Healers: An Exploratory Journey of the Soul, by Shakti Rebecca Rubinstein.

 “What is this?”

 “It’s the book that changed my life,” he’d said. “I’m ready for deep growth. New energy.” 

Then he’d moved his belongings to a storage unit off the side of the I-8, and left me to pay the full cost of our monthly rent and utilities on my paltry GrubGetter income. 

I told myself this situation was only temporary, that Rob would return as soon as he realized that hallucinating in the rainforest wasn’t going to lead him to some higher consciousness. But I hadn’t heard from him since he took off on that direct flight from LAX to Lima. At this point, it was probably safe to assume he was never coming back. 

Which was probably for the best. It’s not exactly like Rob was Prince Charming or anything. But being with him was better than being alone. At least I’d had someone to split the bills with. 

“Honestly,” she continued, “I can’t stand to see you so miserable anymore. Happiness is a choice, Bree. Choose happy.”

 Of all Natasha’s pithy sayings, “Choose happy” was the one I hated most. It was printed on the back of her business cards in faux brush lettering, silently accusing each potential client of being complicit in their own misery. If they paid her to clean out their closets, though, they could apparently experience unparalleled joy. 

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” 

She scowled. “It is not.”

 “It is, actually. Shitty things happen all the time and we have no choice in the matter. I didn’t choose to be too broke to fix my car. I work really hard, but this job doesn’t pay well. And I didn’t choose for Rob to abandon me to go find himself in the Amazon, either. He made that choice for us.” 

I almost mentioned the shittiest thing that had ever happened to Natasha or to me, a thing neither of us had chosen. But I stopped myself before the words rolled off my lips. This evening was bad enough without rehashing the details of our mother’s death.

 “Sometimes things happen to us that are beyond our control,” Natasha said, her voice infuriatingly calm. “But we can control how we react to it. Focus on what you can control. And it does no good to dwell on the past, either. Don’t look back, Bree—” 

“Because that’s not where you’re going. Yes, I know. You’ve said that before.” About a thousand times. 

She took a deep breath, most likely to prepare for a lengthy lecture on why it’s important to stay positive and productive in the face of adversity, but then a large tow truck lumbered onto the cul-de-sac and she got out of the car to flag him down. 

Grateful for the interruption, I ditched the casserole on her dashboard and walked over to where the driver had double-parked alongside my car. 

“What’s the problem?” he asked, hopping down from the cab. 

“It won’t start,” I said, to which Natasha quickly followed up with, “The check engine light came on several weeks ago, but the car has not been serviced yet.” 

He grunted and popped the hood, one thick filthy hand stroking his braided beard as he surveyed the engine. Another grunt, then he asked for the keys and tried to start it, only to hear the same sad click and whine as before. 

“It’s not the battery.” He leaned his head out of the open door. “When was the last time you changed your timing belt?” 

“Uh… I don’t know.”

 Natasha shook her head and mouthed, Maintenance log! in my direction but I pretended not to see. 

The driver got out and slammed the hood shut. “Well, this thing is hosed.” 

“Hosed?” My heart thrummed in my chest. “What does that mean? It can’t be fixed?”

 He shrugged, clearly indifferent to my crisis-in-progress. “Can’t say for sure. Your mechanic can take a closer look and let you know. Where do you want me to tow it?”

 I pulled out my phone to look up the address of the mechanic near my apartment down in Pacific Beach. But Natasha answered before I could google it up. 

“Just take it to Encinitas Auto Repair,” she said. “It’s on Second and F.” 

“You got it,” he said, then retreated to his truck to fiddle with some chains.

 Natasha avoided my gaze. Instead, she focused on calling a guy named Jerry, who presumably worked at this repair shop, and told him to expect “a really old Civic that’s in rough shape,” making sure to specify, “It’s not mine, it’s my sister’s.”

 I knew she was going to pay for the repairs. It made me feel icky, taking yet another handout from my big sister. But ultimately, she was right. What other choice did I have? 

The two of us stayed quiet while the driver finished hooking up my car. After he’d towed it away down the cul-desac and out of sight, Natasha turned to me. “Do you want to come over? Izzy’s got piano lessons in fifteen minutes, you can hear how good she is now.”

 Even though I did miss my niece, there was nothing I wanted to do more than go home, tear off these smelly clothes, and cry in solitude. “I’ll take a rain check. Thanks again for coming to get me.” 

“Of course.” She started poking at her phone screen. A moment later, she said, “Your Lyft will be here in four minutes. His name is Neil. He drives a black Sentra.” A quick kiss on my cheek and she was hustling back to her SUV. 

As I watched Natasha drive away, I wished—not for the first time—that I could be more like her: competent, organized, confident enough in my choices to believe I could choose to be happy. Sometimes I felt like she had twenty years on me, instead of only six. So maybe instead of complaining, I should’ve started taking her advice.

Excerpted from She’s Faking It by Kristin Rockaway, Copyright © 2020 by Allison Amini. Published by Graydon House Books.

AUTHOR BIO:

Kristin Rockaway is a native New Yorker with an insatiable case of wanderlust. After working in the IT industry for far too many years, she traded the city for the surf and chased her dreams out to Southern California, where she spends her days happily writing stories instead of software. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, and planning her next big vacation.

SOCIAL LINKS:

http://kristinrockaway.com/

 Facebook: /KristinRockaway

Twitter: @KristinRockaway

Instagram: @KristinRockway 

Books I Didn't Finish - June Edition

Ghosts of Harvard:  I was hoping for a good possible ghost story.  Instead, I was so bored.  The characters were flat and uninteresting.  The story just didn't pull me in.  I got about 25% in and put it down to start a new book.   I'm sure there are some who would love this, I didn't.

Saving Ruby King:  I really struggled with this book.  There should be some major warnings with it.  I was disgusted by the amount of people that ignored or looked the other way when it came to abuse of the main character as well as abuse of characters in the past flashbacks.  Nothing excuses that, especially when it comes from a minister.  Don't get me started on the abuse committed by a minister.  Also, I'm not a fan of making things like a building a main character.  Yes, a building narrates a portion of the book.   This was not a book for me.

The Woman in the Green Dress:   This is another book that wasn't for me.  I will admit to being really confused every time the timeline and perspective swapped.  I had no idea what was going on.  I switched to the audiobook and it was worse.  I also found it kind of boring and I just didn't really care about any of the characters.

That Summer in Maine:  I'm not a fan in general of books that feature bratty teens who need a major attitude adjustment.  Or feature parents who don't have conversations with their teens about how things are going in their lives.  This book had both things, so I opted out early on.

Q&A with Author Carla Cassidy

Today, we have a Q&A with the author of  the first book in the new Tactical Crime Division series, 48 Hour Lockdown.  

Author: Carla Cassidy 
Publisher: Harlequin Intrigue
Publication Date: April 2020

A new miniseries from Harlequin Intrigue.

Stopping criminal activity wherever it happens. The agents at the Tactical Crime Division are ready for anything.

More and more, federal law agencies have to mobilize to remote locations to address large-scale crime

scenes and criminal activity—terror, hostage situations, kidnappings, shootings and the like. Because of the growing concerns and need for ever increasing response times to these criminal events, the Bureau created a specialized tech and tactical team, combining specialists from several active divisions—weapons, crime scene investigation, protection, negotiation, IT. Because they are a smaller unit, they are more nimble for rapid deployment and assistance to address various situations. This joint team of agents is known as the Tactical Crime Division (TCD).

Purchase links:

Goodreads  Amazon  Barnes & Noble   Google  IndieBound  Harlequin.com:

Author Q&A with Carla Cassidy. 

1. The Tactical Crime Division is a specialized unit of the FBI. Did you do any research before writing about this type of fast-paced, high-adrenaline lifestyle?

CC:  Since my hero is a hostage negotiator, I definitely used the Internet to learn more about that particular skill. I also watch a lot of law enforcement-themed television. I’m addicted to shows like Live PD, Cops, and others.

2.  The Tactical Crime Division series includes four books written by four different authors; what was it like to collaborate with other authors and how did you decide who got to write each storyline?

   

CC: Harlequin editors came up with the initial premise for the series, and then assigned the books to different authors. I was lucky to get to write the first book in the miniseries, which meant that I didn’t have to do a lot of collaborating. However, I’ve been a part of many multi-author series before and working with other authors has always been a pleasure. Everyone is respectful of each other and their writing processes, and it’s usually a lot of fun to work with others for a change!

3. Can you share a recent book you have read that you would like to recommend?

     CC:  There are so many! My main recommendation right now would be to read all of the  books in this miniseries, the Tactical Crime Division!    

.      

About the author:

About Carla Cassidy: Carla Cassidy is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than 125 novels for Harlequin Books. She is listed on the Romance Writer's of America Honor Roll and has won numerous awards. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write.

Blog Tour: Excerpt of Sisters and Secrets by Jennifer Ryan

by Jennifer Ryan

Series
n/a; standalone

Genre
Adult
Women’s Fiction

Publisher
William Morrow

Publication Date
June 16, 2020

Purchase Your Copy Today!
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Add It To Your Bookshelf!
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If you love Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery, then you won’t want to miss this newest novel by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan.

There’s nothing more complicated than the relationship among family…Especially when the Silva Sisters are keeping secrets.

For Sierra it means returning home with her two little boys after a devastating Napa wildfire takes her home, her job, and even the last mementos of her late husband, David. Determined to start over, how can she ever reveal the truth—that her husband may have led a double life?

To the world, Amy’s world is perfect: handsome husband, delightful children, an Instagram-worthy home. But behind this facade lies an awful truth: her marriage is rocky, her children resentful, her home on the verge of breaking up.

Heather, impulsive, free-spirited, and single mom to an adorable little girl, lives for the moment wearing a carefree smile. But she refuses to reveal the truth about her daughter’s father, and his identity remains a mystery even to her family.

As the Silva Sisters secrets are revealed, each realizes that there is more to their family than meets the eyes…and forgiveness may be the only way to move forward and reclaim true happiness at last.

Sisters and Secrets is a moving novel of sisterhood, second chances, and the secrets that have the power to break or bond families—and alter destinies.

Enjoy this excerpt:

SISTERS AND SECRETS
A Standalone Novel

© 2020 Jennifer Ryan

---

CHAPTER ONE

Flames burned bright orange and red on both sides of the two-lane road as they consumed and destroyed everything in their path. Homes, businesses, multimillion-dollar vineyards. Nothing was spared as the fire climbed over the Napa Valley hills, unrelenting in its destruction. Sierra prayed it spared everyone on the road leading out, especially her sons.

She drove, heart pounding, fear amped to infinity, with her clammy palms locked on the steering wheel. Bumper to bumper, traffic moved at a snail’s pace. Like her, the other residents had been notified too late to gradually evacuate. The sheer number of people trying to escape all at once down a single lane prevented them from racing away from the flames. The other lane was left open to emergency vehicles that occasionally sped into the belly of the beast. Everyone had to feel exactly like her: desperate to flee before this dark and dangerous road became their grave.

She loved watching the flames dance in her woodburning stove, but driving through a wildfire made her feel like she was inside an inferno. Trapped. A wave of terror shot through her, cold fear dancing down her spine. She wanted out. Now.

Sierra glanced at her two small sons in the back seat, danger inches away outside. Helpless to eradicate it, she sucked in a breath to calm the fear and focus on getting them out of here as safely as possible. Every instinct told her to stomp on the gas, jump in the other lane, speed past everyone, and get them to safety no matter what. But like everyone else, she tried to stay orderly and calm.

Noxious fumes, unbelievable heat, and fire surrounded them. Nothing and no one was a match for Mother Nature’s firestorm. Ash, smoke, and sparks blew all around them while the satellite radio cut in and out, the signal blocked by the thick smoke obliterating their view of the night sky. Fear knotted her gut and rising panic sped up her heartbeat. Every second trapped within the blaze raging on both sides of them made it harder to keep it together for her two little boys.

She thought about their lives, how they’d already suffered a great loss when their father died, and all they had ahead of them. She didn’t want it to end this way. She wanted to see them grown, happy, healthy, living the life they chose and thriving.

“Mom.” Danny’s voice shook. “The window is hot.”

“Don’t touch it.” She’d flipped the vent system to recirculate, but the smoky stench permeated the car along with the immense heat. The acrid scent turned her stomach and left a sour taste in her mouth.

Oliver held his favorite blanket over his mouth and nose. His eyes held a world of worry, too great for one five-year-old to face and understand beyond the fact that the scene outside was scary as hell and he wanted to be far away.

So do I.

Frustration got the better of the guy in the pickup truck behind her and he laid on the horn. Where did he expect her to go? The line of cars had only moved ten feet in the last two minutes. At this rate, they wouldn’t get out of the fire zone before dawn.

At least, it felt that way.

A rush of adrenaline shot through her again, signaling the flight-or-fight response she’d felt when she’d seen the smoke and fire headed toward their home. She could neither fight it nor flee from it when it literally surrounded her. And so she tried her best to stay alert, remain calm, and pray this all worked out.

Three more fire engines sped past in the opposite lane. Reinforcements for the dozens she’d passed on the tedious and exceedingly dangerous trip out of here.

We’ll make it out. We have to.

She’d worked too hard the last eleven months to keep her head above water after her husband’s tragic car accident to have it all end like this . . . in a car, on a dark road, consumed by fire.

It felt too eerily close to how they lost David.

Sierra gripped the steering wheel even tighter to stop her hands from shaking and focused on the car in front of her, following it around another curve, not getting her hopes up when their speed increased even marginally, but telling herself steady as she goes was good enough, so long as they got out of this alive.

The thought of anything happening to her babies . . . She couldn’t go there. It stopped her heart. But that fear drove her to keep her head and do everything possible to get them out of this situation even as thoughts of their home, her job, and the future swamped her mind. She’d barely made it by these last many months. If she lost everything . . . What then?

How would she support herself and the boys?

More flashing red and white lights glowed against the thick smoke ahead. She inched her way toward the emergency vehicles, the cars slowing ahead of her as they approached what must be an intersection. Fire trucks and police cars blocked the cross street, drawing everyone’s attention and slowing them down as everyone stared to the side to see if the fire had destroyed everything down that road. Ahead, cars shot forward as if they were racehorses released from the starting gates as they passed the commotion and the open road broke free of the fire border.

Relief hit like a crashing wave.

We made it.

Now what?

She didn’t really have a plan for where to go. She ran out of her house with the clothes on her back, her purse, an armful of personal files, and her two sons in tow with the stench of smoke heavy in the air and flames devouring the houses only six streets away. By now, for all she knew, her house and all those on her block were gone.

Bile rose to the back of her throat, the thought so terribly upsetting, their future left uncertain.

Right now, though, she’d take the thirty-five-mile-an-hour speeds, the open land and road ahead of her as she outran the fire and smoke and spotted the sign for Yountville and the acclaimed restaurant the French Laundry.

“Is the fire gone?” Oliver asked.

She wished. “We’re getting farther and farther away from it.”

“Where are we going?” Danny leaned toward his brother so he could see through the windshield.

Now that the flames weren’t licking at the sides of the car and bearing down on them, Sierra took a moment to think about her next move. She needed a place to put the boys down to bed tonight. In the morning, there’d be news of the firefighters’ efforts to stop the massive blaze and whether or not her home had been spared. She hoped, but her heart sank with the realization it didn’t seem likely and they’d lost everything.

About the author:

NY Times & USA Today bestselling author JENNIFER RYAN writes suspenseful contemporary romances about everyday people who do extraordinary things. Her deeply emotional love stories are filled with high stakes and higher drama, love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find. Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper. For information about her upcoming releases, sign up for her newsletter: www.jennifer-ryan.com/newsletter.

Website http://jennifer-ryan.com/index.html Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Ryan/520021168037391?ref=hl  Twitter http://twitter.com/JenRyan_author  Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4693347.Jennifer_Ryan  BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-ryan Amazon http://amzn.to/2xBr7GG

Spotlight: All Things Reconsidered: How Rethinking What We Know Helps Us Know What We Believe by Knox McCoy

Author:Knox McCoy 

Publisher:Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: June 2020

Popular podcaster and author Knox McCoy offers readers a unique blend of humor, Bible stories, pop culture references, and personal stories that show how asking tough questions and approaching life with a willingness to reconsider ideas can allow them to grow in their faith.

What would it mean to really examine what you think you know about yourself and your beliefs? To not just rely on the generic platitudes you’ve always recited to yourself but to look more deeply into why you think what you think?

After exploring how pop culture shaped his life and carved out the foundations of his faith in his debut book, The Wondering Years, Knox McCoy began to think more deeply about those foundations and how they had evolved, changed entirely, or stayed the same. The result of this soul-searching led to a book about the necessity of reexamining our ideas and identities throughout our lives and how we grow as a result.

In a look back at his own life and the fundamental convictions—both secular and spiritual—he’s pondered over the years, Knox deploys his signature self-deprecation and an academic approach of understanding the absurd, whether discussing the social hierarchy of Sesame Street or the cultural allergy to participation trophies. Along with these voyages into the humorous and the mundane come deeply vulnerable revelations from Knox’s heart as he interrogates his own foundational beliefs. His stories will encourage readers to think about their own convictions and how reconsidering them leads to a deeper understanding of what they believe and why.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Knox McCoy

Knox McCoy loves laughing and making people laugh. Really anything that’s laughter-adjacent, he’s into. He’s also super into the word swashbuckling, and his dream is to one day use it in a bio.

Knox began podcasting in 2011 as a way to talk more about popular culture, and to his extreme surprise, he’s still doing via The Popcast with Knox and Jamie and The Bible Binge.

As a resident of the South, Knox’s heritage is to enjoy football and barbecue, and he does so with great passion. He also enjoys zombie movies, police procedurals, and a good Netflix binge.

Knox lives with his wife and three kids in Birmingham, Alabama, where he works as the swashbuckling cofounder of The Popcast Media Group.

Connect with Knox

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Instagram feature tour:

Monday, June 22nd: @sarahs_reads

Monday, June 22nd: @hothanjama_

Wednesday, June 24th: @tbretc

Thursday, June 25th: @readsrandiread

Thursday, June 26th: @zachrancey – Instagram story

Thursday, June 27th: @sweethoneyandbrei

Wednesday, July 1st: @bluntscissorsbookreviews

Thursday, July 2nd: @iamgeorgiabrown

Monday, July 6th: @happiestwhenreading

Monday, July 20th: @nurse_bookie

Wednesday, July 22nd: @thebookend.diner

Review tour:

Monday, June 29th: The Sketchy Reader and @thesketchyreader

Wednesday, July 1st: Leighellen Landskov and @mommaleighellensbooknook

Thursday, July 2nd: From the TBR Pile – spotlight

Friday, July 3rd: Well Read Traveler and @wellreadtraveler

Monday, July 6th: Tabi Thoughts

Wednesday, July 8th: @books_faith_love

Thursday, July 9th: @irishgirliereads

Friday, July 10th: @iowaamberreads

Monday, July 13th: Run Wright

Monday, July 13th: @thesaggingbookshelf

Tuesday, July 14th: 5 Minutes for Mom

Wednesday, July 15th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Thursday, July 16th: @megsbookclub

Friday, July 17th: Hallie Reads

Monday, July 20th: Nurse Bookie

Monday, July 20th: Mom Loves Reading and @mom_loves_reading

Wednesday, July 22nd: Books with Jams and @bookswithjams

Blog Tour: Review of Wild Wedding Hookup by Jamie K. Schmidt

Author: Jamie K. Schmidt

Publisher: Harlequin Dare

Publication Date: July, 2020

Concierge Mikelina Presley works for a luxurious resort club in sunny South Beach, Florida. She’s thrilled to land a two-week booking for a bachelor party at one of the resort’s most expensive villas—not least because the fiery chemistry between her and best man Bastian Ainsworth is deliciously tempting.

When the groom-to-be suddenly disappears, Mikelina and Bastian team up to find him, bringing them closer together. Their irresistible desire for each other is dangerously distracting, but the stakes are high for both of them: if they don’t bring back the runaway bachelor, Bastian’s little sister will have her heart broken. And Mikelina’s resort stands to lose out on the group’s lucrative booking—which would be devastating for her career.

As the search takes them all over South Beach’s sexiest hideaways, their racy fling becomes something much deeper and Mikelina finds herself falling for Bastian. But she hasn’t told him everything about her past, and a shameful secret weighs heavy on her mind… Can their passionate affair survive the truth?

Wild Wedding Hookup was definitely a wild ride!  I really enjoyed Mikelina and Bastian's story.  I loved them as a couple.  Not only because of their physical chemistry, but also how their personalities fit so well together.  I had a lot of fun following them on their adventures all over South Beach.  There were some fun surprises toward the end, especially regarding Jace.  I won't spoil it for you   If you are looking for a great summer read with a steamy romance, I highly recommend this one.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Jamie K. Schmidt

USA Today bestselling author, Jamie K. Schmidt, writes erotic contemporary love stories and paranormal romances. Her steamy, romantic comedy Life’s a Beach reached #65 on USA Today, #2 on Barnes & Noble and #9 on Amazon. Her Club Inferno series from Random House’s Loveswept line has hit both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble top one hundred lists and the first book in the series, Heat put her on the USA Today bestseller list. Her dragon paranormal romance series from Entangled Publishing, has been called “fun and quirky” and “endearing.” Partnered with New York Times bestselling author and former porn actress, Jenna Jameson, Jamie’s hardcover debut, SPICE, continues Jenna’s FATE trilogy.

Connect with Jamie

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram:

Tuesday, June 23rd: @ksquaredreads

Wednesday, June 24th: @readaholic19

Thursday, June 25th: @mixed_matched_socks

Friday, June 26th: @angelareadsbooks

Saturday, June 27th: @bookishwithwine

Saturday, June 27th: @bookishblissandbeauty

Sunday, June 28th: @one.chapteratatime

Monday, June 29th: @thatbookishbrunette

Saturday, July 4th: @thereadingchemist

 

Reviews:

Monday, June 22nd: @escape_in_a_book

Tuesday, June 23rd: Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, June 24th: Bree Hill: Falling for Romance and @falling4romance

Thursday, June 25th: Why Girls Are Weird

Friday, June 26th: @bookscoffeephotography

Monday, June 29th: That Bookish Brunette

Tuesday, June 30th: The Romance Dish

Wednesday, July 1st: From the TBR Pile

Saturday, July 4th: The Reading Chemist

Monday, July 6th: @thecurvysavante

Tuesday, July 7th: @diaryofaclosetreader

Thursday, July 9th: @the_litbitch

Monday, July 13th: She Just Loves Books and @shejustlovesbooks

Wednesday, July 15th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, July 16th: Books and Bindings

Friday, July 17th: @remarkablylisa

Release Day Blitz: Heartbeat Beat by Elle Greco

Looking for your next rockstar romance read? Head out on the road with the LA Rock Stars in newcomer Elle Greco's HEARTBREAK BEAT! Get your copy today or start reading it for free with Kindle Unlimited.

About HEARTBREAK BEAT

Nikki Benson is one of LA’s best drummers.

Rock scion Dion Davis, lead singer for the breakout band Rogue Nation, is her stepbrother from hell.

When Nikki is asked to join Rogue Nation to save their faltering tour, it’s her dream come true. But drumming for the band means being in close proximity to Dion. And this stepbrother from hell is the boy she’s crushed on since she was twelve.

For years, they’ve ignored the explosive chemistry building between them. But living in the tight confines of a tour bus, those sparks will be hard to ignore. And falling in love is the last thing these fledgling bandmates need right now.

Will saving his band mean breaking her heart?

Heartbreak Beat is the first book in the Rogue Rock Star Romance series. Set in the glam and gritty Los Angeles rock scene, the series is filled with swoon-worthy men and badass women, all chasing their dreams in Hollywood’s cut-throat music industry.

Get ready to fall in love with a Rogue Rock Star.

Add HEARTBREAK BEAT to your TBR!

Get HEARTBREAK BEAT on Amazon!

   

About ELLE GRECO

I write fiction about badass women (and the people they love). Urban Fantasy lovers will know me as Karen Greco, author of the best-selling Hell’s Belle series. My Contemporary Romance books are written under Elle Greco. While the genres are worlds apart, strong female characters are the chain that links all my worlds. These women are magical. They wield wicked weapons. They play a mean drum solo. They fall in love. They rule the boardroom and the bedroom. Whatever they do, they do it with swagger. My storytelling career began when I forced everyone play “make believe” with me when I was a kid. That eventually morphed into banging out short stories on my mom’s old manual typewriter. As I got older, I graduated to penning bad poetry, then not terrible plays as a teenager. I studied playwright in college but my career took a detour and I ended up working in journalism and then entertainment publicity, which kept me busy for 20 or so years. My “day job” has taken me from gritty rock clubs in The Bowery to glam red carpets during movie premieres and awards shows. My background working with talent (and the suits) in the industry has served me well with the LA Rock Star Romance series. A few years ago, I decided to pursue my original passion and a few full-length novels later, here we are. I love anything spooky and impossible to explain. If you love hanging out in cemeteries, the older the better, I’d totally go on a road trip with you. I have two rescue dogs, a patient husband, and an awesome kid.

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