BOOK BLITZ ~ Cusp of Darkness by Olivia Preya

Cusp of Darkness
Olivia Preya
(The Cusp Series, #1)
Publication date: January 20th 2023
Genres: Adult, Mafia, Romance

Valerius Cafarelli
In my world, we live and die for our family. We brand our skin with symbols of loyalty and rank that bind us together. It’s time to step from behind the scenes and claim my birthright, leader of the Cafarelli family. But the mafia is nothing if not set in tradition. Marriage is the only way to claim what’s rightfully mine.
When the angel I’ve protected from a distance suddenly needs me as much as I need her, I make an offer she can’t refuse.

She is a candle in the night.
She is a prayer to the gods.
She is the knife that brings me to my knees.

—

Adaliya Solarin
I took an oath to save lives, trying to redeem myself from a bloody night where I played judge, jury, and executioner. I worked hard to erase all traces of the night I claimed revenge, but my mind can’t forget the man who ensured I’d never be put away for my crime.

Now I need someone to help me save my father from himself. When I’m left desperate and defeated, the man who saved me once offers one last chance at survival. What can I do but make a deal with the devil?

He is the bump in the night.
He is my darkest temptations come to life.
He is my salvation.

Cusp of Darkness is book one of the Cusp series but can be read as a standalone. It has a guaranteed HEA, swoon-worthy anti-hero, and badass heroine. This is an interracial mafia romance containing explicit sex scenes, graphic violence, and is recommended for readers 18+. Please check the author’s website for the full list of content warnings on the author’s website.

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EXCERPT:

Valerius suddenly hiked up a leg, holding it firmly with one hand on my calf and the other discarding the slipper on my foot.

“Hey!” I protested; the motion propelled me back onto my elbows and I scrambled to keep the towel from riding up. I froze, unsure of what he was doing. Unsure of what I wanted him to do. I was hyper-aware of my lack of underwear and his proximity. My mind told me to wiggle my foot out of his hold, but my body wanted to have his hands on me for as long as possible.

Valerius ignored me and inspected the pad of my food intently, stroking his thumb over the sole and narrowing his eyes. A strangled sound escaped my throat as tingles shot straight from his touch to my core. Valerius’s hand was rough and easily clasped my ankle, pulling the entirety of my focus to his touch. I never thought my feet were erogenous zones, but God was I wrong. He flicked his gaze to mine briefly and his bright green eyes were now dark. The cruel, cruel man then suddenly dropped the one foot and picked up the other, repeating the same treatment without a word.

“Listen,” My voice strained too much to sound normal, but I continued anyway. “Foot fetishes are super common, or so I’ve heard. I don’t judge. But I’m not really into that kind of kink.”

“Oh yeah?” His eyes caught mine and he started kneading my foot, hitting a pressure point that made my body simultaneously light up and release pressure at the same time. My head fell back onto the bed, and I stifled a moan. “Then what is your kink, angelo?”

“I don’t have one.” Lies. I had fantasies, don’t get me wrong. But I would never bring them to life. The romance books I read gave me a slew of ideas, but it was one thing to read about bondage and voyeurism and a complete other to act on them.

He stopped his stroking of my sensitive flesh and I almost pouted. Instead, he traced his hand up my calf to bend my knee and stepped into the narrow space between my thighs. He maintained a firm grip on my leg, and I yelped as the towel started to ride up and cool air touched me. I was naked under the towel, and he was getting closer than I should allow. But Valerius kept his eyes on mine the entire time, not once glancing toward my almost exposed pussy. “What did I say about lying?”

I swallowed as he brought his face to mine, balancing his weight on his arm right above my head and fanning his warm breath over me. The position was too close, too intimate. If he lowered himself a fraction more, the length of his torso would press into mine. I bit my lip and turned away, but he caught my chin and forced it back to face him.

“My kinks are none of your business. It’s not like we’re lovers.” I tried to sound matter of fact, but it came out too breathy. His eyes hardened and he dropped my leg before pulling back suddenly.

“Your feet have healed well from when you stepped on glass,” I appreciated him not explicitly referring to the night of Derrek’s death. “But you could have easily torn them again last night without shoes.” Valerius turned away from me and walked to a chair by the window, leaving me to catch my breath on the bed. He was giving me whiplash with this conversation.

“Huh?

“You need to take better care of your body. I will not have you neglect your needs and unnecessarily harm your body.”

“It’s my body.” I huffed. I didn’t intentionally seek to harm myself, but who was he to tell me what to do with my body.

“Wrong. While we are married, it is my body. And you will treat it well.” He sat in the chair and watched me. I clenched my thighs together. Why did my stomach knot and face flush when he said it was his body? That should make me furious. “And you can keep your deepest, darkest fantasies to yourself for now. But I’ll learn them soon enough. And angelo, you’ll be glad I did.”

I scrambled off the bed. The power dynamic seemed too unbalanced with me––vulnerable and on a bed, practically naked and him radiating power and dominance on a chair.

“I told you, I’m not having sex with you.”

“And I told you we wouldn’t until you begged.” He dragged his eyes over my body, and I felt completely naked. Holy mother of God.

Author Bio:

Olivia Preya is a romance fanatic and author living in Toronto, Canada. She writes about what she loves—love, spice, and panty-dropping men with a soft spot for the love of their lives. When life gets a little tough or bland, she finds that fictional men are the best medicine.

Olivia considers herself to have two personas, like Wonder Woman, but with a pen––corporate marketing specialist by day and spicy romance author by night. She also likes to embrace all forms of sensuality, from pole dancing and erotic novels to good food; she believes that sometimes the best things in life are a little sinful.

Website / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

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BLOG TOUR ~ Another Christmas from Hell by R.L. Mathewson

Another Christmas From Hell
R.L. Mathewson
(Neighbor from Hell, #13)
Publication date: November 4th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

The last thing that he wanted was to fall in love with his brother’s best friend.

From New York Time’s bestselling author R.L. Mathewson comes the next installment in the disturbingly funny romantic comedy series, Neighbor from Hell.

It was time to move on.

Granted, Cayley would have preferred to wait until after Christmas, but with her best friend somehow managing to get her fired and evicted in the same day, she had no choice but to move into the apartment across from the man that really didn’t seem happy to see her.

That was fine.

More than fine because if she could handle her best friend making her life a living hell and an ex-fiancé that was determined to get her back, then she could handle the man that was willing to do whatever it took to let the past destroy them both.

He couldn’t believe this was happening again.

For years, Bryce had been going out of his way to avoid Cayley, hoping that she would finally move on, but now that she was back, he realized that he no longer had a choice.

He was going to have to break her heart.

At least that was the plan until the little brat turned the tables on him, making him wonder how much longer he was going to be able to lie to himself even as one thing became painfully clear…

This was going to be the worst Christmas ever.

 

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This was starting to get creepy, Cayley thought as she sat there, sipping her Shirley Temple as the man that had been watching her all day sat down on the other end of the bar and-

Continued watching her.

She should probably be concerned about that, but since she was used to Bryce glaring at her, Cayley shifted her focus back to the list that she was working on, determined to prove the big jerk that stole her lunch out of her desk wrong. She was fine on her own. More than fine, in fact. And, to prove that she was fine, she came to this lovely bar to work on her list alone.

She was going to come up with a plan that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was more than capable of being alone and what better way to do that than around the holidays? She’d start with Thanksgiving, which was in two days and enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving dinner home alone. She would follow that up by putting up the Christmas tree she bought at a yard sale a few years ago the following day, starting a new tradition, decorate it, bake cookies, and do all the Christmas-related activities leading up to Strawberry Manor’s annual Christmas party and when she was done…

She was going to rub it in the big jerk’s face, Cayley thought with a satisfied sigh as she took another sip of her delicious beverage, only to once again find herself wondering why Bryce was still watching her. After more than twenty years, Cayley was used to him glaring at her, but this wasn’t glaring. The way that he watched her was…determined and, admittedly, starting to concern her.

She definitely preferred glaring to this, but at least he hadn’t brought up that nonsense about being in love with him again. That was something, Cayley thought as she watched a beautiful blonde woman wearing a black cocktail dress approach him. She still wasn’t sure why he thought that she was in love with him, especially since she never went out of her way to spend time with him, mostly because of that whole glaring issue that he seemed to have going on.

There was no question that he was handsome. All the James boys were, but she’d always secretly thought that he was the best-looking James brother. She’d made the mistake of admitting that to Sean once when they were little, which had resulted in her being trapped in his attic until she took it back. All the James boys had similar features, dark hair, large builds, and intense green eyes, but there was just something about Bryce that made her…wonder why she was even thinking about him.

 

 

 

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2x $50 Amazon gift cards

 

New York Times Bestselling author, R.L. Mathewson was born in Massachusetts. She’s known for her humor, quick wit and ability to write relatable characters. She currently has several paranormal and contemporary romance series published including the Neighbor from Hell series.

Growing up, R.L. Mathewson was a painfully shy bookworm. After high school she attended college, worked as a bellhop, fast food cook, and a museum worker until she decided to take an EMT course. Working as an EMT helped her get over her shyness as well as left her with some fond memories and some rather disturbing ones that from time to time show up in one of her books.

Today, R.L. Mathewson is the single mother of two children that keep her on her toes. She has a bit of a romance novel addiction as well as a major hot chocolate addiction and on a perfect day, she combines the two.

If you’d like more information about this series or any other series by R.L. Mathewson, please visit http://www.Rlmathewson.com

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COVER REVEAL ~ The Pathseekers Duology by KaSonndra Leigh

Hacienda Moon
KaSonndra Leigh
(The Pathseekers Duology, #1)
Publication date: January 19th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Suspense

Tandie Harrison is a police medium who has just suffered a divorce after losing both her psychic visions and her daughter in a car accident.

When she leaves New York City to start a new life near her hometown, she moves into the alluring plantation house, Chelby Rose, and falls for its charismatic caretaker, Eric Fontalvo. Their burgeoning affair ignites a centuries old curse ensnaring them in a web of danger, deceit, and intrigue. Soon Tandie learns that in placid Bolivia, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected.

Hacienda Moon is a seductive tale of one woman’s journey to confront the demons of her past and find the courage to face her future. It is a mesmerizing novel that explores the deepest depths of human nature, and the characters will hold and haunt you long after you have read the final chapter.

The Emerald Isle
KaSonndra Leigh
(The Pathseekers Duology, #2)
Publication date: April 25th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Suspense

Two years ago, Tandie Harrison learned she was a Pathseeker, a witch who can manipulate time. With the help of her soulmate, Eric Fontalvo, she was able to break a 300-year-old curse. Now she has established herself as a private paranormal investigator in the quiet little old southern town of Bolivia, North Carolina. With the past behind her, she’s prepared to embark on a new journey of love and success.

However, the past has a way of coming back to haunt you when you least expect it. Enter Saul Chelby: the handsome real estate tycoon who stepped aside to allow Tandie happiness with Eric. Now a new entity threatens everything Tandie, Saul, and Eric worked to conquer. Will Tandie and Eric’s newly reignited love will pass this latest test?

Love, ghosts, witches, old houses, handsome heroes, and a secret that will threaten everything Tandie and Eric fought to achieve. The Emerald Isle, a Paranormal Time Travel Mystery.

Duology Page

Author Bio:

Meet your word sculptress…

Author of the International bestselling novels, the Prelude and the Lost Immortals Saga, KaSonndra is also a mother, designer, reader, gardener, home renovator, and a slayer of undead Egyptian mummies in Tomb Raider. She believes in karma, coffee, and seriously wishes that the producers of Xena would bring her favorite show back.

KaSonndra was born in the race-car city of Charlotte, NC, and now lives in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, NC, when she’s not hanging out in Bardonia (Lost Immortals Saga setting). Most of her characters are based on people that she has met throughout her travels and adventures.

People tend to stop and start conversations with KaSonndra as if she has known them her entire life. Does this freak her out? Not really. Her mom says that one day she’ll get kidnapped by one of these folks. KaSonndra’s response? She told her mom that if it weren’t for these lovely people, then she wouldn’t be able to create such fabulously romantic stories!

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Son of the Salt Chaser by A.S. Thornton

Son of the Salt Chaser
A.S. Thornton
(Salt Chasers, #2)
Publication date: November 8th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

The gift of magic may be a curse.

After her desert-transforming wish, Emel follows Saalim to Madinat Almulihi to reclaim all she has lost. But the seaside city is not what she expected. When she is tasked with assisting the palace healer, she is faced daily with the reminder that Saalim—focused only on seeking the revenge of those who killed his family—does not remember her at all.

Cursing the magic that destroyed her love and brought her to an unwelcoming city, Emel regrets her decision to leave her settlement. That is, until she meets Kas. Though inscrutable, he is the first person to help her forget her past, and the pull of finding happiness with him tempts her from the life she wished for with Saalim.

But darkness waits in the desert, and not all people in Madinat Almulihi are what they seem. When Emel understands she is entangled in the fate of the city—and of Saalim—she is faced with the realization that magic may be the most powerful card in her hand. It might be the only way to save all that she loves, but if she plays her hand wrong, it could destroy everything.

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SNEAK PEEK:

Leaning back onto my hands, I pushed my feet into the cool water. My raw, blistered skin welcomed the relief.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Firoz asked, nudging me with his own submerged foot.

Soldiers from Madinat Almulihi stood across the large pool. I would have assumed they were cooling themselves, too, but the longer I watched, the more I saw that there was a pattern—almost a rhythm—to the way they dipped their hands into the water and pressed it to their brows, wrists, and necks.

“Praying,” a voice said from behind me. A voice so achingly familiar it took all of my strength not to jump from the ground and rush to him.

Slowly, I turned to Saalim.

In our few days of travel, I had come to understand that he and his men behaved differently from my father and his court. It still surprised me that their king—my king—could appear so unlike a royal. His dark sirwal was rolled at his calves, his feet bare. He wore no weapons, and the black tunic across his chest was dust-covered and almost tattered at the edges; the guthra that loosely wrapped his face, equally worn. Had Saalim himself not told me tales of the wealth and allure of Madinat Almulihi, I would not believe that it was a city worth seeing at all.

“Eiqab will strain to hear,” Firoz said.

Saalim looked away from his soldiers down to Firoz. “We worship the giver, not the punisher.”

“Wahir,” I said. How strange it was to see someone praying to the lesser god. How wrong.

Saalim’s gaze met mine.

A rush of cold and hot, longing and desperation, and . . . Sons, how didn’t he feel it? Couldn’t he see me as I saw him? I felt as I had the first time he looked at me after he became human again, when he had killed my father and his eyes locked on mine. I stared back, willing him to feel, to remember as I did . . . the set of his jaw hard beneath my fingers, his lips against my own, his breath warm as I pulled it into my lungs. His hands so careful against my skin, his heart beating against my breast, the tremor of his voice as he said my name.

“Emel, isn’t it?” he asked.

The memories scattered. I bent my head to the ground, not wanting him to see my grimace. He felt nothing, remembered nothing. Sons, he did not know me at all.

Masira was a devious goddess, giving so much but taking as much in return. Damn her magic that she unfurled like a woven rug! Something beautiful to cover all of the ugly scars and secrets, to distract from them. But that was all the magic did, wasn’t it? What it tried to remove, it did so sloppily. Everything still lay underneath the threads.

“Yes, she is Emel,” Firoz said loudly.

I looked back to Saalim, brushing away my thoughts like sand on my palms.

Saalim continued. “Today, you and . . .”

“Firoz,” he said.

Saalim paused at the name, his brow pulling together slightly before he continued.

“Firoz. I am still learning. You both will help with the cook-fires.” Then he turned from us and continued around the water’s edge.

“Well, I at least know food is cooked on a fire. What do you know about cooking?” Firoz chuckled. His mother always cooked for his family, and I had had no business working in the palace kitchens as an ahira.

I forced a laugh as I watched Saalim walk away.

“What bothers you?” Firoz asked.

I shook my head.

“He’s just a king, Emel. Same heart that can be pierced by blade.” He stabbed the air with an invisible blade.

Author Bio:

A. S. Thornton is the author of award-winning Daughter of the Salt King (CamCat Books, 2021), the first book in the Salt Chasers duology. She has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. She lives with her family in Northern California. When not writing, she’s taking care of dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though. Those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention.

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Blood and Thunder by Wren Michaels

Blood and Thunder
Wren Michaels
(Thunderbird Brotherhood, #2)
Publication date: October 20th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Rowtag Aktoon is about to die. He doesn’t know how, and he doesn’t know when. All he knows is it’s coming.

After his cousin shares a vision and part of it comes true, the reality creeps in that his end could very well be imminent. His family convinces him to seek the help of a witch who could provide answers. He only hopes that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Everleigh Ulric isn’t what she seems. Hiding from a father who wants to exploit her and an immortal witch out for vengeance, she’s built a life of anonymity hidden away at Cirque de Mystique – a paranormal circus.

When Tag discovers Everleigh is his fated mate, life takes on new meaning, however short theirs may be. He plans to do everything in his power to make sure neither he nor his new mate end up six feet under. But dying may just be the key that unlocks the doors of their happily ever after.

Goodreads / Amazon

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SNEAK PEEK:

A kaleidoscope of colors danced across the sky as they walked along the strip. It was near midnight by the time they arrived, but it could have been noon for all Tag knew. Light was everywhere, immersing everyone and everything in a melting hue of red, orange, and blue. Pulsating lights to drumbeats, dancing water to music, and people bumping into each other like in a pinball machine was enough for sensory overload. How do people live here?

Tag shook himself out of the stupor that was enough to drive anyone mad. Maybe that’s why people lost all their money—they were all sent subliminal messages through the strobing lights and music, promising to shut that shit off if they hand over all their money.

“So, where exactly are we headed?” Tag asked.

“Denali and Nova are supposed to meet us outside the casino up ahead.” Nodin pointed to a large set of buildings that looked like a circus tent in the front.

“Oh, hell no. There’s a clown with a lollipop on their sign. And you want to put my life in the hands of someone who works there?” Tag blinked, spun around, and walked away.

Dominic and Nodin grabbed him by the arms and carried him to the front of the clown sign.

“So, I’m not the only one thinking this whole thing is kinda sketch?” Denali said, folding his arms as he leaned against the bottom of one of the clown shoes.

“Denali!” Tag shouted, his eyes wide as saucers, happy to see his cousin was there. Surely, he’d rescue him from this insane plan. “Don’t let them take me in there, man!”

Nova chuckled and shook his head. “I have to go with Tag and Denali on this one. What the hell are you thinking, Nodin?” He glanced up at the giant, horrifying clown towering over them like a nightmare.

Dominic looked over his shoulder with a laugh as he stopped at the bottom of the clown sign. “Oh, ye of little faith.”

“Nodin, I swear…” Tag started as he watched Dominic walk between the giant clown feet and disappear. “Wait…what?”

“After you, brother.” Nodin fanned his arm toward the spot where Dominic had vanished into thin air.

Tag shook his head. “Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any worse.”

“Well, I thought that was pretty cool. I’m down,” Nova said as he leapt through the void and vanished like Dominic.

“And this is why Nova would be the first one killed in a horror movie.” Denali sighed, shook his head, and dove into the apparent portal after his brother.

“You used to be a lot more adventurous,” Nodin said, clutching Tag’s shoulder, easing him forward.

“Well, yeah, I was a young, dumb teenager who thought he was invincible. Now I have a death sentence hanging over my head. It changes a person.” Tag shirked out of Nodin’s grip.

Nodin pursed his lips and stared at Tag.

“Okay. Okay. Fine! I’m going. But I don’t have to like it.” Tag shook out his shoulders and sucked in a deep breath as he jumped on the concrete foundation holding up the stupid-ass clown. “You better not be filming this.”

Nodin threw his head back with a laugh. “Just get your ass in there.”

Energy radiated along his skin, surging with a heat he could only describe as sensual. Air ripped from his lungs in a gasp, which rang out as more of a moan of pleasure than pain. Tag snapped his eyes open and blinked himself back to reality, or a new version of it, as he glanced around at the site before him.

Two giant figures loomed toward the night sky, arguing in pantomime with each other. Dressed in black-and-white striped outfits, their bodies coiled elegantly, rising above each other yet tethered to the ground, the bottom half of the male a circus tent, and the bottom of the female a carousel.

“What the hell is this place?” Tag looked around.

The male figure tipped his hat as he twisted around, bending down with a loud creak that vibrated through the air around him as he came face-to-face with Tag, a ludicrous smile blazing over his wide lips. “Welcome to Bizarre Bazaar.”

Author Bio:

Wren hails from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin where beer and cheese are their own food groups. But a cowboy swept her off her feet and carried her to Texas, where she promptly lost all tolerance for cold and snow. Fueled by coffee, dreams, and men in kilts, Wren promises to bring you laughter, heart-fluttering romance, and action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Arabian Knight by Ines Johnson

Arabian Knight
Ines Johnson
(Knights of Caerleon, #3)
Publication date: October 18th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Sir Geraint gets tangled up in an arranged marriage in this steamy, magical modern-day adventure of knights, fairies, and slip knots!

Fairy princess Enid is tired of being a pawn in her father’s games of thorns. Don’t let the pretty petals of her flowers fool you because she’s no wilting wallflower. But when the king goes too far, she calls on the Knights of the Round Table to help free her from an impossible situation. She doesn’t expect for the valiant knight who comes to her rescue to sweep her off her roots as he comes to her rescue.

After pledging himself to the chivalric code, Sir Geraint feels useless as the modern women around him fight their own battles. Given purpose by the call of a fairy in distress, he rushes in—sword at attention—to restore her honor. When he learns that only a marriage of convenience will save her, he lays his sword at her feet and offers his name, and his heart. Agreeing to this forced union is against everything he stands for as a chivalric knight, but for once he’s willing to throw those vows out the window in exchange for making lifelong ones with Enid.

The price of her freedom is higher than she expected, but as Enid grows to care for her new husband and her new home of Camelot, there are secrets she must keep. Geraint longs to break through her protective barriers, but it may also mean breaking his oath to his brother knights. And when the fairy king’s plots and plans put Enid’s new life in jeopardy, will she have to betray the husband she’s starting to fall for in order to save him and everything he loves?

Arabian Knight is the third book in a series of modern-day retellings of the myths and lore of Camelot. If you like fierce knights who would lay down their lives for their brothers and lose their hearts for their women, then you’ll love the Knights of Caerleon.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

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SNEAK PEEK:

“Your mother didn’t explain…” Geraint let the sentence dangle.

He had never had The Talk with a woman before. With the squires, he knew what to say. It was largely some variation of practice abstinence or use your own hand. If the need was too great, then they were counseled to find a widow who knew the score or a woman of the night who agreed with compensation.

Geraint was not the type of man to begrudge a woman her pleasure. But he did believe that some women were meant to only be touched by their eventual husbands. If that made him a chauvinist or fascist, then so be it.

“My mother withered and returned to the soil many seasons ago,” Enid said.

And her father had proven himself neglectful and negligent many times over. So, as her husband, Geraint would take on this task. “When a man and a woman… or two individuals of compatible sex organs…when they care for each other… the man inserts his….” He motioned at his still straining erection.

“His stamen,” Enid offered, eying his cock with interest.

Geraint blinked at the foreign word she’d used. He’d never thought of plants as being male or female. “When a man inserts his stamen into a female’s…”

“Pistile.”

Though the words weren’t the same naughty ones that humans would use, warmth spread through Geraint’s cheeks to hear her speak in such a manner. He hadn’t been with crass women. None had referred to their intimate parts as their pussies or his dick. But he loved hearing the coarse words from Enid’s delicate mouth. He wanted to hear her say stamen again. But first he wanted to be inside her pistile.

“Go on,” she said. “When a human male inserts his stamen into a female human’s pistile… Is there something different that happens after that?”

He was shuddering like an untried teenager. His brain was filled with visions of him and Enid in a field of flowers as he thrust inside her lush body. His wife was a dirty talker, without her even knowing it, and it delighted him.

She seemed to know the mechanics of the act. He gave himself a shake before speaking again. “No, there is nothing different between men and women. A woman loses her virginity when a man puts himself inside her for the first time.”

“The first time? Why is that important?”

“Um, well, because… It’s the first time.”

“What about the times after that? Does she become a virgin again when she takes a new man into her bed?”

Geraint didn’t like this frame of questioning. “There will be no one else anywhere near your bed.”

Enid nodded vigorously at that pronouncement. “Yes, I would prefer to be monogamous. I’ve pollinated with enough plants.”

“You’ve… what?”

Geraint knew that most marriages suffered from communication issues. He ran her words through his head again… and then again. No matter how many times he repeated that last sentence, it still made no sense.

“You haven’t?” she asked. “Pollinated?”

Her hand reached out to him, stopping just before touching his arm. The gesture felt patronizing as her features turned from confusion to concern. He felt a flush creep up his neck as she studied him anew.

“You haven’t had sexual intercourse with another of your kind, I mean? Are you a virgin?”

“No, I’m not a virgin.” His brows wanted to rise into his hairline, but his face went still. No, not still. The bottom half of his face went heavy due to the tension in his jawline.

“Well”—Enid raised her hands, showing him her empty palms—“neither am I.”

“Apparently not.”

The bite of his words must have been loud and clear because she dropped her hands back at her side. A green vine curled around her index finger. Out of self-protection or self-defense, he didn’t know. What he did know was that he was being an ass.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not slut shaming you.”

“I have a feeling I don’t want you to define the word slut.” She crossed her arms at her midsection. The small vine snaked around her bicep and over her shoulder like protective armor.

Armor against him—the man who had just sworn that no harm would ever befall her again. Yet here he was, standing in her bedroom and making her feel shame. This was not how he had expected his wedding night to go.

“Enid, I’m sorry.”

Remorse weighed like a cloud around Geraint’s shoulders. He wanted to throw the feeling down and make them both feel better. He wanted to hold her again and make her sigh, make her smile.

Unfortunately, there was now a weary set to those sweet lips he’d tasted just a moment ago. There was a guarded expression that snuffed out the light in her eyes.

“I’m feeling rather tired after all the excitement,” she said. “Perhaps we should just retire so that we’re ready for our journey to Camelot in the morning.”

“But we need to consummate the marriage.”

The words came out of his mouth before ever setting foot in his brain. The directive hadn’t come from the top down. No, it had come from the groin up. Despite all his talk of virginity and pollination, his cock was still standing by, eager for some attention.

“Why?” Enid asked.

“Proof.” Once again, Geraint cursed that he was thinking with his small brain rather than his big brain.

“Proof of what?”

He could not explain to her the medieval notion of proving a wife’s purity by the blood that could be found on the sheets after the bed sport of the wedding night. Nor did he want to go into the modern laws that sex had to happen in order for the marriage to be deemed legal. Especially when in most first world countries nowadays, all it took was the signing of a legal document.

Geraint had none of these backups to prove that Enid was now and would forever be his. She could walk away from him at any point, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Except she wasn’t leaving the room. She was slipping off her gown to reveal a sheer slip beneath the garment. Were his deepest desires about to be consummated after all his blundering?

“You’ll take me to Camelot?” she said. “You’ll take me away from this place?”

Geraint nodded mutely as Enid slipped beneath the covers. When he took a step toward the bed, she didn’t tell him to go. The bed creaked under his weight as he sat down on the mattress.

“That is all I require of you,” she said. “Then you can consummate me as often as you like.”

Enid turned over, giving him her back. Geraint wanted to reach out to her, to touch her. Though she was his wife, he didn’t feel he had the right. Not after insulting her honor. Again.

Author Bio:

Lover of fairytales, folklore, and mythology, Ines Johnson spends her days reimagining the stories of old in a modern world. She writes books where damsels cause the distress, princesses wield swords, and moms save the world.

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BOOK BLITZ ~How Snowball Stole Christmas by Kristen McKanagh

How Snowball Stole Christmas
Kristen McKanagh
(Snowball, #3)
Publication date: September 27th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday

It’s Christmas time at the Weber Haus mountainside inn, where the official greeter, watcher, and matchmaker of the hotel’s resident humans is an adorably mischievous bundle of feline fluff named Snowball. Snowball takes her job very seriously –even if it means being a little more naughty than nice –and she’s ready to celebrate her third holiday season by making the purrrrfect match.

Most cats have nine lives, but Snowball is one of the very few with two jobs. Officially, she’s the Weber Haus inn’s greeter. Unofficially, she’s the town matchmaker. Her track record is the cat’s pajamas—until she meets her owner’s grinchy brother, Peter Diemer. Peter hopes to move the family bookstore to a busy location downtown—but someone else has outbid him for the last storefront.

Christmas is the ideal season for Lara Wolfe to fulfill her dream of expanding her home business into a real shop. Too bad someone is posting negative comments on the town forum. What kind of Grinch objects to a toy store?

Snowball is sure these two are a perfect match. They already have so much in common—books are a kind of toy, right? Now all they need to add to the mix is love, and Snowball has just the shenanigans up her furry sleeve to deliver a sweet romance in time to make the season merry and bright . . .

“Purrresistibly heartwarming.”
–Modern Cat on The Twelve Days of Snowball

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SNEAK PEEK:

Snowball finds a new couple who need her help falling in love…

A second car pulling to a stop, headlights flashing across the ceiling, is new. Did Peter bring someone home with him?

Do I care enough to go look?

With a sigh I drop to the ground and pad silently across the carpeted floor to leap to the windowsill facing the street. Peter lives in what he calls a townhome. As far as I can tell, this is just a bunch of homes all squished together with a tiny garden in the back. Hardly a patch. I can hear people on the other sides of the walls, but I can’t get into the other units. People are weird.

This is an interesting development though…

Someone is parked in front of the unit next door. Until a few days ago no one lived there that I’ve been able to tell. Until Christmas lights went up. I can see the side of Peter’s dark head turned slightly toward me as he’s looking over at what appears to be a woman buried up to her waist in the trunk of the car parked there.

What’s interesting isn’t her…it’s him. The fact that he’s bothering to look. Peter doesn’t bother with anyone these days.

My, my, my.

Visions of happy humans falling in love dance in my head.

After all, I have a gift for matchmaking. Those silly creatures just can’t see happiness staring them in the face until I show the way. And Peter, despite being a bit of a grump lately is one of the good ones. He deserves happiness.

Since he’s moved back home, he seems sort of… I don’t know. Restless. What Peter needs is to fall in love and settle down. That would fix everything.

He takes a step off the porch and my ears prick and my whiskers twitch in anticipation.

Except, instead of going over to nicely introduce himself, he stomps in her direction. I frown. What is he doing?

“Hey!” He doesn’t shout it, but with his low voice, it’s close enough.

With a screech to wake the ghosts of Christmas past, the woman jerks up, banging her head into the top of the trunk with enough force that I can hear it through the window.

Hand to her chest, she scrambles away from Peter, her expression a picture of fright.

Good job, Peter. I give a little kitty huff. He’s going to mess everything up before I can even get them started.

Author Bio:

Romance author Kristen McKanagh writes sweet contemporary romance & Amish romance. She loves plots that warm the soul, feisty heroines with sass, heroes with heart, a dash of snark, and oodles of HEAs! Other titles include wife, mother, Star Wars geek, ex-competitive skydiver, spreadsheet lover, eMBA, organizational guru, Texan, Aggie, and chocoholic.

Kristen attempted to find a practical career related to her favorite pastime by earning a degree in English Rhetoric (Technical Writing) and an MBA. However, she swiftly discovered that writing without imagination is not nearly as fun as writing with it.

Kristen currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her own swoon-worthy hero, their amazing kids, who are growing up way too fast, and 2 adorable fur babies.

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Velvet Cruelty by Eve Dangerfield

Velvet Cruelty
Eve Dangerfield
Publication date: October 11th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fairy Tales, Retelling, Romance

Once upon a time I was promised to a powerful man. I was raised to be dutiful and innocent. But on my wedding day, I’m stolen by four men. Men who loathe my fiancé. They’re going to use me to fulfill their vendetta.

One of them only wants my body.
One of them wants me as his wife.
Another one offers freedom… at a price.
And the last wants me dead.

I was raised to be a good society wife. Now I’m facing a battle of wits and breathless desire. My only hope is to set aside my innocence. Or learn to use it as a weapon.

Author’s Note: VELVET CRUELTY is a scorching romance between a woman and four beautifully dangerous men in which she never has to choose. Read at your own discretion.

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EXCERPT:

A girl barely old enough to be called a woman is sitting on a bench two hundred feet below me. She’s laughing, a cutesy box of cupcakes on her knees. I adjust my lens scope and her face comes into focus. Green eyes, pale skin, and a wide, soft mouth with lips as red as blood—a color I’ve seen more of than most. She picks up a cupcake and holds it away from herself, as though afraid to taste it. Knowing her stepmother, she probably is.

Terrell says something and she laughs, her long ebony black hair catching the light. People stare as they walk past, their mouths falling open. The girl’s always been pretty but since she turned eighteen no one can take their eyes off her. I move my scope half an inch to the left and find Terrell. Clean-shaven with a hint of baby fat around the cheeks and chin. He looks younger than thirty-eight. And soft. The kind of guy you’d size up if you were looking to jump someone at a train station.

My finger brushes the rifle trigger. One squeeze, the whisper-jerk of a bullet and he’d be gone. But a quick death is better than Zachery Terrell deserves.

He can’t take his eyes off the girl either. From forty stories away I can tell he wants to grab her hair and pull her mouth onto his cock. He won’t though. Two benches away, not bothering to look like anything but muscle, are her bodyguards. Kurt Whitehall and Theodore Murphy. Their Rugers are in full view at their sides as they chat and eye up female joggers. I could be killing John F Kennedy behind them, and they wouldn’t notice. They’re there to stop Terrell from grabbing teenage tits and that’s all.

I’ll see Whitehall and Murphy soon. Show them exactly how bad they are at their jobs.

The girl stops laughing and brings the pink cupcake to her lips. Her small tongue flicks at the frosting and Terrell almost nuts in his jeans.

She’s not teasing him. She’s just fucking clueless. A doe-eyed little girl. Never been on a date. Never had a friend sleep over. Her mom dresses her in shirts Mormons wouldn’t be caught dead in. Whenever anyone talks to her those big green eyes glaze over. Bobby says she’s pretending to be slow. Doc and I think she’s dumber than a sack of hair. If she had a different last name, she’d have flunked out of high school. But when you know you’ll be married before you can buy beer, why bother learning?

Terrell moves to wipe the pink frosting from her nose and the girl glances at her bodyguards. They snap to attention and Terrell’s hands fall to his sides. He’s smiling but it’s fixed. Irritable. He doesn’t like being told what to do, but rules are rules and no one touches Harlow Constantine. He’s lucky to sit next to her. When the girl graduated from Pembrooke Prep, she received her diploma offstage. She’s danced at the New York Ballet Academy since she was nine, but no one’s ever seen her perform. A kid once tried to film her riding a horse at Kensington Stables and Murphy hit him so hard, he got a concussion.

Terrell’s spent millions gaining the stepmother’s loyalty and that bitch has made sure no one’s so much as brushed up against the girl’s side. She’s as pure as snow and in four weeks she’ll say ‘I do’ and belong to Terrell forever.

Or so he thinks.

Terrell’s security team is almost invisible. Two guys in the skyscraper across the road. Two more in a Buick idling by the curb. A sniper on top of St Michael’s church. If I shot Terrell this morning, I’d have to execute five men in under a minute to get away. Not impossible, but messy. I shift my position, easing the ache in my spine as the girl finishes her cupcake. She sucks leftover frosting from her fingertips and a throb runs down my cock. There’s a body begging for corruption under those ugly clothes. It’d be fun to tear her out of them. She’d cover herself with her hands, but that’d only make it hotter, her tits jiggling as tears ran down her face. I’d feed her Orchard, so she’d be wet and writhing, whatever her prissy little mind told her. I’d pin her to the floor, shove her thighs wide with my knees, and press into her pussy. I’d watch her virgin blood smear up and down my shaft as I fucked her. She’d fight me the whole way, her little fists pounding against my back as I broke her open.

The perfect Constantine princess, ruined by a dirty lowlife like me.

But that’s not the plan. Whatever Morelli decides to do with the girl she doesn’t really matter. Terrell matters. Making him regret the day his father slimed into his whore of a mother matters.

There’s a chance I’ll fuck Harlow Constantine, but it’s more likely I’ll kill her. Kill her, cut out her heart and feed it to Terrell. And it won’t be personal. As Terrell taught us a long time ago, sometimes you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Author Bio:

Eve Dangerfield has loved romance novels ever since she first swiped her grandmother’s paperbacks. Now she writes her own stories about complicated women and gorgeous-but-slightly-tortured men. Her work has been described as ‘genre-defying,’ ‘insanely hot’ and ‘the defibrillator contemporary romance needs right now’…and not just by herself or those who might need bone marrow…OTHER PEOPLE! She lives in Melbourne with her boy and a bunch of semi-dead plants. She can generally be found making a mess.

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Pets in Space 7 Anthology

Pets in Space 7: A Science Fiction Romance Anthology
Publication date: October 4th 2022
Genres: Adult, Romance, Science Fiction

Pets in Space® is back for a new year of adventures!

Pets in Space is back and better than ever! Featuring 13 original, never-before-released stories from some of today’s bestselling science fiction romance authors, starring your favorite sci-fi pets. These furry, feathered, and slightly alien friends are always ready for a new adventure with their two-legged human and alien companions. From dogs to cats to sea creatures and unicorns, these romantic tales show that pets are more than just animals – they’re family.

This limited-edition anthology includes novellas by some of the biggest names in science fiction romance. New York Times Bestseller S.E. Smith and USA Today Bestsellers R.J. Blain, Grace Goodwin, Skye MacKinnon, Carol Van Natta, Honey Phillips, Carysa Locke, S.J. Pajonas, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch, plus Leslie Chase, Winnie Winkle, and Candace Colt.

The Pets in Space 7 authors continue their vital support of Hero-Dogs.org, the non-profit charity that improves quality of life for veterans of the U.S. military and first-responders with disabilities.

Don’t miss out — grab this limited-edition anthology before it’s too late!

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SNEAK PEEKS:

Marked Mate by Grace Goodwin

Elite Hunter Stark, Earth

What was the human doing here? No sane female would seek out these bastards.

Until she appeared, everything had been going to plan. Humans in a black vehicle had arrived to pick up some Quell at the odd window on the side of the building. I’d marked their vehicle so I could track them once I was done here.

Then? Chaos. Human weapons firing. The female was injured, severely.

The Siren operatives didn’t know I was here. Not yet. But I would take pleasure in ending their lives. Males of worth did not harm females of any species.

“Let her bleed out. Kill the animal. We can dump the bodies later.”

I moved closer without making a sound.

“No!” The female’s voice rang out.

I watched the Rogue 5 hybrid lift his ion blaster and point it toward the animal. I could not afford to intervene. Rokor, their leader, was dangerous. Deadly. I could not lose foc—

I felt the blast to my hip as if I were the one shot. The barrier in my mind shattered like broken glass and suddenly I was seeing through two sets of eyes.

She held up her small, blood-stained hand and begged for her pet’s life. “Don’t hurt her. Don’t. Please.”

I saw myself through her eyes, a shadow moving closer, Death himself. She was not afraid of dying, nor of me. She wanted—me. My cock twitched. Hard. Hot. My hand burned. She wanted to be in my arms. She ached for me.

She was mine.

The connection faded yet I clung to the fleeting warmth in my mind, desperate to feel it again. It had only been a few seconds, but I was out of time.

Her beast must have sensed the danger as well. The golden animal charged the male who held the ion blaster.

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BOOK BLITZ ~ Hades by Felicity Heaton

Hades
Felicity Heaton
Publication date: October 4th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

The fate of our world rests in their hands.

Hades, god-king of the Underworld, has uncovered the mastermind behind the uprising destined to set his realm and the mortal world on a collision course. But his enemy has gone to ground and finding them is proving impossible, and the longer they elude his grasp, the stronger the darkness within him grows, slowly stealing control.

Persephone, god-queen of the Underworld, can only watch as a storm gathers on the horizon—a deadly war that threatens to strip her beloved family from her. As Hades fights his own battles against their enemy, she fights to keep the darkness within him at bay, never more aware of the danger he would be if she failed to keep it tamed.

But when their enemy strikes out at them from the shadows, dealing a blow that changes the course of the war and incites Hades’s wrath, the leash on the monster within him snaps and he is plunged into the darkness.

And saving this world might no longer be an option.

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—

EXCERPT:

Persephone pushed away from and turned her back on her grim thoughts, refusing to allow the poisonous fears and doubts to cloud her mind and make her believe they were destined to lose this war. To rid herself of them, she focused on her family, shutting out the world around them to give herself a moment’s respite.

The new additions to their family had only made it more wonderful to her. Her sons were all madly in love with incredible women, and her daughter had fallen for one of the most powerful gods in the Underworld. She couldn’t have asked for a better match for Calindria, or for any of her sons either.

If Ares made Megan look small, then Thanatos dwarfed Calindria. The seven-two god loomed a good fifteen inches over her, and even stood four inches taller than Hades. Her lips curled as she remembered how irritated Hades had been when Thanatos had grown taller than he was, and how he had levelled a dark look on Persephone when she had mentioned that it wasn’t only Thanatos who was taller—his twin Hypnos was too.

Her smile became a full-blown grin and her cheeks flushed as she recalled how fiercely Hades had taken her that night, staking a claim on her that had seen them still making love when dawn had come.

“Mother.” Ares’s disgruntled voice broke into her thoughts, scattering them. He looked appalled. Possibly disgusted.

She flushed all over again when she noticed the way vines had sprung from the black earth to snake up her legs towards the apex of her thighs, slipping between the layers of her green dress, and pretended she hadn’t seen them.

“Have you seen your father?” she said, her voice even, with not a trace of the embarrassment she was feeling in it.

Ares grunted, “Clearly you need to see him.”

Thanatos shook his head, the picture of a gentleman as he too pretended he hadn’t seen what had happened. “I have not seen my god-king this day. Is he not at Tartarus?”

She silently thanked him for his diplomacy as her cheeks cooled. “No. I cannot feel him there.”

Ares slid her a look, one she caught the meaning behind. She almost scowled at him. She hated that she felt compelled to constantly ‘keep tabs’ on Hades, as Ares put it in his mortal vernacular, but she was worried about him and feared he was vulnerable when alone.

The enemy wanted to open a gate between this realm and the mortal world and then force it to remain open, allowing the two realms to bleed together and form a new one. The easiest way to do that now their sons had closed all but one of the permanent gates was to use Hades’s blood.

His blood had the power to create a gate.

The enemy had gotten hold of it and come dangerously close to opening a gate with it in the past.

They had also come dangerously close to killing him.

Which meant it was perfectly reasonable for her to be concerned when she couldn’t sense him. She hadn’t been able to sense Calindria in all the centuries she had been a captive of their enemy after all. What if Hades was now their captive too?

Her hand drifted to her stomach as the coldness inside her began to spread again, the warmth she had felt from being around her family giving way to it as fear and doubt began to creep into her mind. She hated that feeling. They had faced danger before. This wasn’t the first attempt to destroy their family.

But everything felt so much more uncertain this time, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that they wouldn’t make it through.

That the unthinkable would happen.

Persephone looked at her children and thought about the members of her family who weren’t there with her. Her heart clenched and she struggled to get air into her lungs. The thought that they might be taken from her—she just couldn’t.

It hit her that was what was different this time. She had such a large, wonderful family now and she feared she would lose them all.

That she would lose Hades.

Author Bio:

I’m a NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and International Best-Selling Author writing passionate paranormal romance books and series for adults.

I love to create detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! All of them alpha as you would expect in paranormal romance, and every book with a guaranteed HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER!

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Fans of paranormal romance books by authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione, Kresley Cole and Christine Feehan will love my books too.

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