Blog Tour and Review: No In Between, by Lisa Renee Jones

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Synopsis

The fourth in the Inside Out erotic romance series by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, this steamy novel resolves Chris and Sarah's relationship and leads into Mark's story.

"Chris and I have faced our demons and bared our souls to one another in Paris. Now that we are back home in San Francisco, I want to believe that nothing can tear us apart. Not Ava’s accusations against me to the police, or Chris's fear that he will destroy me as he feels he did Amber. And not Mark, who was once too intimately a part of our lives, and who I can see crumbling inside out. He believes he is invincible, just as I want to believe Chris and I are invincible. We have to be invincible. We need each other too much for any other ending."

Review
4.5 out of 5 stars

I absolutely love this series!  Seriously, it's like the perfect combination of mystery, suspense and romance with a healthy dose of smut.  Not to mention addictive.  I had no idea when I first read Rebecca's Lost Journals (my first book of the Inside Out Series) how quickly I would be sucked into the lives of Chris, Sara, Mark and Rebecca.  It's like I cannot get enough, a definite guilty pleasure!  But be warned, if you haven't read any of these books then don't ruin them by reading this review, which may contain some spoilers.

No In Between takes our favorite characters and further immerse us into their lives.  Author Lisa Renee Jones did a brilliant job weaving us deeper and deeper into the story and details surrounding Rebecca's murder, you even begin to see a few of the secondary characters fighting their way to the forefront of the story.  I was right there with Sara second guessing everything I once thought I knew. 

From the first time Chris and Sara met I found myself rooting for these two to make it.  They have chemistry and passion.  An mutual understanding and respect of each other, knowing when to push and when to support.  They compliment each other so well and I have loved seeing their growth, both individual and in their relationship, in each of the books.  It's progressed so naturally and finally in No In Between we see the two of these character find the same page, find the same comfort and confidence in their relationship and I was left longing for what I assume will be their final chapter when it releases this upcoming Valentine's Day.

How does Lisa Renee Jones manage to come up with all these twists and turns?  While reading this series I have never found myself bored.  I'm not going to lie, until Rebecca's body is found I am always going to hold out hope her story isn't over.  Whatever happens it's apparent this one woman's life has changed the course of so many others.  Especially Mark, this book takes him down a path of vulnerability.  He is at his breaking point and although Chris and Sara are trying their best to help, to keep him together its obvious his path is going to continue to be rocky until he is completely broken.  I am excited to see what Lisa Renee Jones has in store for him!

In conclusion, this series is fantastic, addictive, a must-read.  I have enjoyed all the books, each one gets better and better because you learn more and more.  It's like a 1000 piece puzzle, the more pieces you put together the harder it is to put down.  Treat yourselves and dive into these books!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

About Author Lisa Renee Jones

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT SERIES, and is now in development by Suzanne Todd (Alice in Wonderland, Austin Powers, Must Love Dogs) for cable TV. In addition, her Tall, Dark and Deadly series and The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series, both spent several months on a combination of the NY Times and USA Today and USA Today lists.

Since beginning her publishing career in 2007, Lisa has published more than 40 books translated around the world. Booklist says that Jones suspense truly sizzles with an energy similar to FBI tales with a paranormal twist by Julie Garwood or Suzanne Brockmann.

Prior to publishing, Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by Dallas Women Magazine. In 1998 LRJ was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at www.lisareneejones.com and she is active on twitter and facebook daily.

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Review: You'll Think of Me by Lucia Franco

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Synopsis

Luke Jackson.

With his thick southern drawl and seductive charm, Luke is the country boy everyone adores. He has his future mapped out, but his plans with Olivia are suddenly derailed when she makes a decision that blindsides him, changing the path they both envisioned.

As Luke struggles to keep everything in check during a difficult time in his life, he must put his trust in the one person who broke it to begin with. The last time they saw each other, Olivia busted his heart wide open, turning him into the man he is today.

When Olivia returns to her roots, just like Luke said she would, he is shocked for more reasons than one. Nine years have passed since they've seen each other, and when their roads collide unexpectedly, Luke can only push his worry and misgivings away for so long.

Things are different now—they are strangers—and the rope that once bound Olivia's heart to South Fork, Georgia is pulling her back in, forcing her to remember how it used to be all those years ago.

Excerpt

“Nate,” she groaned with a sigh. “There can’t be anymore dates between us. I’m sorry, but this is the one and only date. I had a great time tonight, but this is it.”
“How about you let me decide that,” he said in all seriousness.
“No. We can’t. As much as I enjoyed myself tonight, this is it. No more. Don’t you see the lines we’re crossing?”
Olivia’s forehead wrinkled with concern. How was it that he didn’t have a drop of worry? Was he only thinking about himself? 
“I do see that,” he said moving in closely, “but I don’t give a fuck about any imaginary lines, Olivia. I want you, and I’m pretty sure you want me too. So what’s the problem here? And don’t give me that patient/doctor shit. I told you I would switch doctors. What’s your problem? You can’t deny the chemistry between us. It’s there. It’s pulling at us both and you know it. I can read your eyes and see it. It’s been there since the day we met. Don’t deny it.”
Olivia glanced around the parking lot. Deep down she wasn’t sure if she was ready to put herself on the line again, but by the deep undertone he used, she knew Nate was fuming. 
“I don’t have a problem with us. What I do have a problem with is you finding a new doctor. Dr. Thatcher is the best.”
“I understand,” he answered staring down at her, “but you diagnosed my problem and it seems like an easy one to fix at that. So I could switch doctors with no issue. Nate-3-, Livy, still 0. Go ahead. Give me another reason, Liv, and that will put me at 4 points and you 0, because you know I’ll win that one too.” He formed his fingers into a ‘0’ as he said it with a know-it-all-defensive-fucking-try-me attitude.
Shit. She was all out of reasons, not that she had many to begin with. She was holding back. Her one gripe was the fact that she was his doctor and he just blew that argument out of the water. 
Olivia didn’t want to get hurt and feared she would. It was a gut feeling she didn’t want to ignore. She was afraid to be around Nate. He managed to knock down some of her walls, expose her layers so early on and she wasn’t used to it. No one other than Luke had done that to her. She knew she’d fall hard for him, but not until she was ready to on her terms. When the time came she would let go and love again.
“Stop,” he ordered.
“Stop what?”
“Stop thinking so hard,” he demanded with a drawl. “I can see it spinning in your pretty brown eyes.” He was just an inch away from her now and breathing down on her. 
“I see what you’re doing, finding ways to say no,” he whispered. “You’re so easy to read, Liv. I know you already in this little amount of time. I paid attention to you, your body. Your incredibly sexy body that I want so, so fucking bad…” Nate trailed off, growling under his breath as he slid an arm around her lower back and pulled her up against him. 
“Stop looking for an out,” Nate insisted.
“Nathaniel,” she whispered. “I can’t.”
“Says who? You? You’re the one fighting me on it right now, Liv. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it between us. Just let go and give us a damn try.”

Review
4 out of 5 stars

You'll Think of Me is by debut author Lucia Franco.  Since it is set in the south, what is not to love?  I mean, I am sure I am partial since I am southern born and southern raised, but still.  Country boys in Georgia?  Hello!

The prologue creates a scene of young heartbreak for both Luke and Olivia and definately drew me into the book.  I had a feeling they would meet again, but I didn't really expect the story to unfold quite like it did.  There was laughter, tears and anger from me as I was reading it but in the end it was time well spent with some book characters I won't soon forget!

This story is well written and is an easy read.  It was really intriguing and a great story. I don't want to give too much away and ruin the book for you, but it was a great journey that I would recommend that you one click it!


About Author Lucia Franco
Lucia currently resides in South Florida with her brainy husband and wild kids who drive her up a wall. There's never a dull moment in her hectic world, but Lucia wouldn't change a thing. Luckily she has a strong man to stand by her side and combat the craziness with her. YOU'LL THINK OF ME is not her first book, but it's the first one she's completed and likes. The others will come at a later date.

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Release Day Blitz: This Is Falling by Ginger Scott

We're celebrating the release of This Is Falling by Ginger Scott! Check out the excerpt below and let us know what you think! 

Title: This Is Falling

Author: Ginger Scott

Age: NA

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release date: August 29, 2014

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Blurb:

First, I had to remember how to breathe. Then, I had to learn how to survive. Two years, three months and sixteen days had passed since I was the Rowe Stanton from before, since tragedy stole my youth and my heart went along with it.

When I left for college, I put a thousand miles between my future and my past. I’d made a choice—I was going to cross back to the other side, to livewith the living. I just didn’t know how.

And then I met Nate Preeter.

An All-American baseball player, Nate wasn’t supposed to notice a ghost-of-a-girl like me. But he did. He shouldn’t want to know my name. But he did. And when he learned my secret and saw the scars it left behind, he was supposed to run. But he didn’t.

My heart was dead, and I was never supposed to belong to anyone. But Nate Preeter had me feeling, and he made me want to be his. He showed me everything I was missing.

And then he showed me how to fall.

Excerpt

“You ever make wishes?” he says, out of nowhere. His voice breaks the thick silence, and it makes my heart jump. I think it would have jumped at hearing him anyhow.

“All the time,” I say. “You?”

“Nah,” he says, and I start to laugh, but I realize he isn’t. “I just made my first one in years.”

Breathe.

“Oh yeah? You want Barbie back?”

“No,” he smiles. “I wished you were over here instead of there.”

Oh.

More seconds pass, and I let them slip into minutes, my eyes unable to leave his. He didn’t ask. He didn’t come up with some transparent scheme. He was just honest—perfectly, beautifully, terrifyingly honest. We lie there for fifteen more minutes just looking at one another, this new feeling swallowing us both up whole, until Nate finally rolls to his back and then his other side, facing away from me.

More seconds. More minutes. I watch his body rise and fall with every breath, and it’s constant and regular, but I know he’s still awake. Being Cass’s friend, being Paige’s friend, even being Ty’s friend—that’s all part of healing. But what I’m about to do right now has nothing to do with my own personal growth and overcoming my trauma. Being Nate’s friend was a level I left in the dust the second I made his acquaintance. And right now is about me, and the pounding in my chest, and the voice in my head telling me to take what I want.

“Nate?” I speak, my eyes shut tightly.

“Yeah?”

“Can I come over?” I open my eyes as soon as I speak—amazed the words left my lips.

He rolls back over to face me, lifting his blanket open, and I somehow find my balance and tiptoe to the other side of the room, lying down next to him, in the most amazingly safe place I’ve ever felt.

He’s slow with his arm, pulling the top of the blanket over my shoulder and then reaching around the front of my body to pull me in close. He slides his other arm under my head for a pillow, and my head rests heavily on his bicep. I reach up and pull the tie from my hair, dropping it to the floor. Nate’s hand reaches along my arm when I do, and then he runs his fingers up my neck and into my hair, scooping my heavy strands into a pile along my skin. He continues to run his fingers from my hairline to behind my ear, each stroke like a wave crashing over me, making my eyes feel heavy.

“Hey Nate?” I say, my voice barely a whisper.

“Mmmmm,” he says, his nose pressed against the back of my head while he pulls me in closer, continuing to wind my hair through his fingers.

“You should make more wishes,” I say.

“I just made, like, about twenty. But don’t worry. I’m patient.”

Every nerve in my body is tingling from whatever it is we’re doing. This is no longer just flirting. This is levels beyond flirting. And I am about to fall asleep without the help of Ambien for the first time in months.

About the Author:

Ginger Scott is a writer and journalist from Peoria, Arizona. She is the author of four young and new adult romances, with her fifth title, This Is Falling, set to release in late August 2014.

Scott has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Scott is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

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Cover Reveal: Covertly Strong by N.A. Alcorn

Coming Soon 9/29/14…

Covertly Strong

Book One in The Strong Series

By: N.A. Alcorn

Add Covertly Strong to your TBR!

 

Synopsis

She can track down the world's most dangerous drug lords, hack into any computer, and kill a man in fifteen different ways—but when she comes face-to-face with the only man who’s ever held her heart, it might be her most dangerous mission yet... Or is it? Sloan Walker. Dr. Felicia Santora. Agent L-55. Three very different personas, three very different names, but all have one thing in common. They’re all controlled, acted out, and lived by one woman. Her past has been long forgotten. Ten years have gone by since someone remembered the girl she used to be. The young girl with the big-brown eyes and beautiful dreams of happiness, dreams of love. She now lives a clandestine life. A life filled with top-secret missions and covert assignments. Only a handful of people know the true nature of her job. Her safety is constantly being pushed towards the brink of life-threatening danger. Then one day someone unexpectedly steps back into her life… A man who once owned her mind, body, and soul. A man who held her heart in the palm of his hand. He remembers. He knows. And this knowledge could threaten everything she’s worked so hard for. Nixon West is as intelligent as they come and his Navy SEAL training has made him one of the most dangerous weapons in the United States Military. The moment she reappeared into his life he promised himself that he wouldn't let her go. But the true question is…what extreme lengths will Nix go to for her? She will soon face another mission. And it will test everything. Time never seems all that important until your life hangs in the balance. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock…

 

N.A.’s Social Media

Facebook: www.facebook.com/naalcorn

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/N.A.-Alcorn/e/B00JGDGI2G

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAAlcorn

Blog: www.naalcorn.com

Email: authornaalcorn@gmail.com

 

About N.A.

I march to the beat of my drum. Can you hear that? That perpetual bang, bang, bang that’s continually drumming relentlessly inside of my head. Oh, that’s just me? Never mind then, carry on…

Beautiful words, lovely plot lines, and COFFEE...Three of my favorite things. 

I savor the weird, embrace the pervy, and willingly open both arms to anything that will make me laugh.

My obsession is books. I like to read them, write them, and inhale them in any way my ravenous mind will allow.

I’m awkward and sarcastic and can’t take a proper selfie if my life depended on it.

I was once told by my high school English teacher that my colorful ability to state the obvious would be my biggest weakness. I thanked him and made it my life’s mission to make that my biggest strength.

At times, I’m bordering on obscene and have strongly considered tattooing the words Approach With Caution on some part of my body.

Procrastinator at heart who tries to tell herself that she’ll meet every deadline.

Tomorrow. I’ll finish it tomorrow, I swear.

Release Day Blitz and Review: Guardian, by Courtney Cole

 

We are absolutely over the moon excited about the Release Day Launch for Courtney Cole's GUARDIAN!!! 

GUARDIAN is a YA Paranormal Romance, and a book close to Courtney’s heart. Not only is this fabulous book back in a big way, it's Courtney's birthday! 

Barnes and Noble ** Amazon ** iBooks

Synopsis
Sometimes, things that go bump in the night are real.  My name is Whitney Lane.  I’m sixteen years old and at first, I thought I was crazy. I kept seeing shadows move along walls, and hearing whispers around corners, but whenever I looked, there was never anything there. Until one day, there was. Our world isn’t what we think.  There are things around us, good things, bad things, scary things. Things that we tell ourselves aren’t real, but they are. They’re very real, and they’re terrifying. I’ve been swept up now, in a battle of good and evil, confused about love and what is supposed to be love, but isn’t.  I don’t know what to think anymore.  I can’t trust my emotions and I don’t know what is true. There’s only one thing I know for sure. Nothing is what it seems. 


   

 

Excerpt

Sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real. 

Happy birthday to me.  I close my eyes and burrow into my pillow as I try to sleep, as I try to escape this life. It’s a life I never thought I’d have, a life I most certainly don’t want. I’m still feeling sorry for myself as the blackness of sleep finally overtakes me. I don’t know what time it is when I shoot straight upward like a rocket.  Something had yanked me from the oblivion of sleep, something loud and shrill scraping my window. My room is completely dark and I glanceat my clock in confusion. 3:00 a.m. As my heart pounds hard against my ribcage, I quickly scan every corner of the room. In the last few hours, dark shadows had migrated onto my pink walls, but they’re familiar, nothing out of the ordinary, although in the night, they seem twisted and scary. I remain motionless as I allow the sleep-induced fog to clear from my brain. As I sit, I feel common sense and logic slowly returning. Of course nothing had touched my window because my bedroom is on the second floor. Nothing can reach it.  And there are no trees near enough to brush against it.  It was just a dream. It was only a dream. I chant it silently to myself like a mantra as I consciously slow my breathing down, hoping that my racing pulse will soon follow. It was only a dream. But just as I’m calming down, I hear it again. A high-pitched shrill shriek, reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard, scraping down my window. I gasp and pull my feet up to my chest, which is when I notice the temperature. I notice because I can see my breath. Timidly, I blow a puff out again, watching the way my breath turns white in the air. Holy crap.  Oh my God.  What the hell? The sound stops and stillness surrounds me once again, the silence so loud that it echoes in my ear. Nothing moves around me, the shadows are perfectly still as they twist across my wall.  They look like mangled fingers and arms and legs, but they don’t move. My legs are weak and shaking, but I know I have to move.   I have to move off my bed because it feels like something is under it.  Something terrifying. With a leap, I bound across the room, my feet hitting the floor several feet away from the edge of my bed. The floor is ice cold, as though it had been covered in a blanket of snow. I’m trembling as I race to the far wall and check the thermostat.  Because that’s the only explanation.  I must’ve bumped it earlier, I must’ve turned the AC way down. But the luminous numbers stare at me in contradiction. 74 degrees. It must be broken.  It has to be broken. My breath is coming in pants now, terrified, anxious pants. My fear isn’t logical.  I know there’s nothing here.  I’m the only one in this room. Or am I? The air seems to push at me from all around, something dark, something heavy, something real.  Something unseen. My fingers shake, my legs tremble, and then all of a sudden, they can no longer support my weight.  I go down like a pile of bricks, collapsing onto the floor.  I lie still because I can’t move, because something seems to sit on my chest, holding me down. The shadows start to move, to slither across the walls, to reach and pull and dance. I struggle to focus, to see what it is. But all I can see are the numbers on the thermostat suddenly moving, rapidly counting down from 74 to 20. Twenty degrees? The air is frigid as I suck it in, as I try to pull the ice crystals into my mouth so I can breathe. All of a sudden, there’s a blackness in front of me.  It hovers over me, a shapeless mass, sucking in the cells of the air, the atoms and the molecules.  It’s darker than the blackness of my room, blacker than the blackest black. Something is here. With me.  “Dad?” I whisper in a white puff.  Because what else could it be? I reach out a finger to touch it, and then I can’t see anything else, because the darkness of it surrounds me, bleeding into everything else, even my vision.   The shriek is back, screaming into my ears, bleeding into my brain. Then there’s nothing.

Review
4 out of 5 stars

When I heard Courtney Cole was releasing a YA Paranormal Romance I immediately knew this was going to be a book I wanted to check out, especially after reading the synopsis.  While I tend to lean towards paranormal books containing vampires and werewolves I found myself rather intrigued with this book's plot being centered around Angels, Demons and their fight over good versus evil.

Whitney is your average teenage girl, well as average as she can be since her father's untimely tragic death and her mother's withdrawal from reality.  Now, in addition to being overcome with her own grief she's also desperately trying to fill her mother's abandoned shoes as she provides for and takes care of her much younger sister.  Add to those already overwhelming emotions and responsibilities some very intense dreams and hair raising/chill bump inducing moments and you're left with a heroine who even though is longing for and grasping at some sense of normalcy feels as though she's loosing her mind.

I think what surprised me most as I read this book was my realization this story was more than just another teenage paranormal romance, where the heroine's life is completely changed as she finds herself in limbo between the "real" world and the paranormal element.  In the end I believe Guardian was more about Whitney coming to terms with her father's death, about recognizing everyones life has a plan and oftentimes the reason's why things happen aren't revealed until the entire plan has unfolded, which unfortunately can be days, weeks, months or even years.  Guardian supports the theory of "everything happens for a reason."

There is no doubt in my mind Courtney poured her heart and soul into every single piece of this story and I loved how nicely the story was wrapped up.  Everything came full circle and all questions were answered.  Yes it was paranormal, yes there was a romance and yes it's PG, but the point to this book I felt was bigger all of those things.  While this story is different from many of Courtney's other books, its so well written, with fully developed characters (ones who never got on my nerves) and an intriguing storyline you won't be disappointed.  Especially when you consider it's only $.99!!!  Go ahead and give this one a one-click.

 To celebrate the release of GUARDIAN and Courtney's birthday the following books are on sale for .99, today only!

GUARDIAN
Confessions of an Alli Cat
Dante's Girl
Mia's Heart The Minaldi Legacy Soul Kissed Soul Bound

About Author Courtney Cole

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people. Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.    

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Release Day Blitz: You Loved Me at My Darkest, by Evie Harper

Title: You Loved Me At My Darkest
Series: You Loved Me #1
Author: Evie Harper
Release Date:  August 28, 2014
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Synopsis

Lily

Ripped from Heaven, Burned in Hell.

Caught and caged in beauty.

Beauty comes at a cost.

One man holds the key to our survival, to our freedom.

Find out how I lived and lost the greatest thing on earth.

Love.

Jake

I didn't see her coming and that will be my downfall.

She will ruin me, take everything from me, and give me everything I can't have.

I can't help her. I won't.

She is innocence. She is strength.

She is my piece of heaven in hell.

I’m not letting her go.

About Author Evie Harper

Evie Harper is an Aussie girl who has always been in love with reading. She decided to try her hand at writing and found it addictive and inspirational.

 

You Loved Me At My Darkest is Evie's debut novel. It is a stand-alone with two companion novels to follow:

You Loved Me At My Weakest
You Loved Me At My Ugliest

You Loved Me series are dark romance stories and are only recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.  FACEBOOK   GOODREADS   WEBSITE   TWITTER

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Book Blast: The Manhattan Puzzle, by Laurence O'Bryan

 

Title: The Manhattan Puzzle 

Author: Laurence O'Bryan 

Genre: Thriller 

Publish Date: August 26, 2014 

Publisher: HarperCollins 

ISBN: 9781847562906

Synopsis
An international cover-up that could change the course of history…

Sean has been tracking a symbol from another age. It provides a clue to a barbaric conspiracy. A puzzle with an answer feared for millenia.

When Isabel wakes to find Sean hasn't come home she doesn't worry. At first. But when the police turn up on her doorstep wanting to interview him, she has to make a decision.

Does she keep faith in him or does she believe the evidence?
The symbol Sean and Isabel have been chasing will finally be revealed in Manhattan as one of the greatest banks in the world totters. Can Isobel uncover the truth before time runs out…or will she too be murdered?

A thrilling, high-octane race to save civilisation that will engross fans of Dan Brown, David Baldacci and James Patterson.           

Excerpt

‘Go for it. The rougher the better, girl.’ The man had a black silk blindfold tied around his head. He spoke slowly, his voice thick with desire. Xena went to the door and unlocked it. ‘What’s that? Getting your toys out? Wow, this is even better than you promised.’ Lord Bidoner walked into the panic room. He closed the door behind him and pressed the button to turn on the air management system. The scrubber in the roof could remove the smoke from a blazing fire and turn the output into a vapour trail. The man, spread-eagled and handcuffed to the stainless steel bed frame, had an expectant smile on his face. ‘Go on, do it,’ he said. The navy Calvin Klein silk suit hanging from the stool beside the bed gave an indication of who he was. Lord Bidoner examined the man’s wallet. His bank ID card, a credit-card-sized piece of aluminium with an embedded proximity chip and his family name, Hare, embossed on it, confirmed what they already knew. The head of global security at BXH, one of the world’s few truly global banks, was lying face-up and naked in front of him. ‘Don’t keep me waiting, girl.’ ‘I won’t,’ purred Xena. She stroked his leg, then his inner thigh. He quivered in anticipation. The man’s wife would surely appreciate photographs of this event, but Lord Bidoner had more pressing concerns. He nodded at Xena. She was dressed in a low-cut skin-tight black catsuit that fitted her thin frame perfectly. The man laid out in front of them was expecting something memorable from the woman he’d met in the champagne bar opposite Grand Central, two weeks before. Xena’s story, about being an Ethiopian diplomat’s daughter, and her eager smile, had captivated him. She ran her finger down the man’s stomach. It trembled under her touch. ‘Don’t stop, honey. Don’t stop.’ With her other hand Xena clicked on the silver Turboflame blowtorch, the most expensive model in the world with its 1500C flame. She held the gently hissing blue, inch-long flame up and watched it glow brighter as her fingers moved slowly down his stomach. ‘What’s that?’ he said. She didn’t reply. Hare’s voice was still confident when he spoke. ‘Was that your sister who just came in? Is she gonna join us?’ ‘We have a surprise for you,’ said Xena. The man pulled on the handcuffs, which began to cut into his skin. It had taken a bit of persuasion, since this was their third meeting, for Xena to get him to go this far, but he trusted her now. And he’d made it clear that he wasn’t going to put up with any crap. He’d break the bed if she didn’t release him when he gave the password. She’d smiled, hugged him and agreed. They’d even laughed about making a written contract. ‘What’s the surprise?’ He shook the bed, testing its resilience and the strength of the handcuffs. He’d assumed they were easily breakable toys, like a previous pair she’d shown him. But he was wrong. And he didn’t know that the bed was bolted to the reinforced slab of the panic room floor, either. Though he might have guessed that there was something wrong when it refused to move under him. ‘Just a friend of mine. We have a little question for you,’ said Xena. ‘Yeah?’ He was still curious, still expectant of further delights. ‘What is the password for the security system at BXH?’ The man didn’t reply verbally. He shook the bed from side to side, trying to break free. He didn’t know that his only hope was if his thrashing managed to separate his hands from his wrists, and his feet from his ankles. And very few people have strength enough to do that. Xena waved the blue flame, raised it, as if offering it up. It flickered higher. The odour of the burning butane gas filled the room like bad perfume. The sound of the blow torch was a threatening hissing now. Xena placed the tip of the flame against the top edge of the whiskey tumbler the man had been drinking from. The glass turned blue. ‘Wait until you feel this. Then you will tell me,’ said Xena. Her tone had changed. It was demanding now. ‘What? Fu . . .’ The end of that confident word was bitten off by the piercing scream that came from deep within his throat. Xena had touched the flame against the pale skin of his shoulder. He began thrashing. Like a fish flailing. He moved from side to side, squirming away from the skin-blistering heat. But he couldn’t move fast enough. And his legs and arms were stretched out tight. Easy targets. The smell in the room changed and the atmosphere with it. Pain and whimpering, sizzling and guttural roars filled the air. The man had become a dog. Then Xena asked him again. ‘The password, please.’ She spoke softly, as if they were still playing a game. ‘If you give it up, I will release you. You can explain these little burns to your wife. But the ones I will inflict next will require hospital treatment. Or the services of a morgue.’ She clicked the flame off, then pressed the hot tip hard and fast into the biggest blister she had inflicted, near his ankle. ‘What do you say, Mr Hare?’ The man answered with a defiant, animal roar. He shook the bed under him. The last vestige of his pride in working at BXH bellowed out of him. Xena lit the flame again. She reached forward, touched it to his chest, and ran it fast down the middle until smoke from his burning body hair filled the room with a sickly odour. ‘Stop, stop!’ he screamed. His body squirmed to escape the heat. ‘It’s #89*99,’ he shouted. ‘Please! Stop!’ Bidoner keyed the password into his phone and pressed send. ‘I hope you’re not lying,’ said Xena. ‘I want all this to have a happy ending.’ She squeezed his thigh with her hand, then stroked it. Tears streamed from under his blindfold. His cheeks were red. It was good he couldn’t see the weals on his body, because he would know immediately that he wouldn’t be able to explain any of them to his wife. ‘Please, let me go. I promise not to tell anyone. I swear, on my children’s lives.’ Lord Bidoner’s mobile beeped as an incoming message came in. He nodded at Xena. The code had worked. ‘I believe you,’ she said. ‘But there is one more thing I must do for you.’ She put the Turboflame down and went to the fridge. She took out a six-inch-long serrated knife, honed with care to a perfect blade, from the freezer section. She held it in the air, admiring its cold edge. ‘Now you will find release,’ she said. The man’s body went still. His toes, which had scrunched up, half straightened. The only sound was his pain-filled whimpering. The panic room in the apartment on Fifth Avenue, overlooking the skyscrapers of Manhattan, was soundproof. It was why they used the room. Xena flicked the blade across the man’s pale skin, once, then twice, fascinated by how quickly blood gushed, how fast it flowed from a few simple cuts. ‘This is for my brothers,’ she said. ‘Don’t,’ he whimpered. Fear trembled in his voice. ‘I have two children, a wife.’ She growled, psyching herself up. ‘Prima quattuor invocare unum,’ she said, as she grabbed him, jerking him upwards and castrating him with one swinging motion. She held the bloody remains up in the air. His screams of terror and pain vibrated through the room as blood spurted two feet high. A foul smell followed and the man’s words became a babbling. Lord Bidoner held his nose. He’d seen enough. He went out to the main room of the apartment, with its view towards the glittering Jazz-era spire of the Empire State Building. ‘You did good, my dear. The first offering has been done correctly,’ he said, when Xena joined him. She was panting. ‘Come here.’ He pushed her up against the inch-thick glass of the window, as Manhattan glittered behind them. Afterwards, he handed her a balloon glass containing a large shot of Asbach 21. She sipped the brandy, then downed it in one gulp. Then she lay down on the sleek oak coffee table that dominated the room. The canyon of lights stretching into the velvet Manhattan night reflected all the way along the length of the table and onto her ebony skin. He reached down and stroked her shoulder. It was trembling. ‘Three more before the moon rises again. That is what the book says. That is what we will do.’ She smiled up at him. Her white teeth shone as she leaned her head back and stretched.  

 

About Author Laurence O'Bryan

Laurence was born in Dublin. He studied business, then IT at Oxford University.After going to England he paid for his own courses and began rising at 4AM so he could study and work at the same time. One early job was as a kitchen porter near the Bank of England cleaning the plates of the well connected. Laurence was first published by a school newspaper when he was ten, for a short story about aliens getting lost. Thirty-five years later, he attended an authonomy workshop and not long after was offered a publishing contract for three books. The Manhattan Puzzle is his third novel.  

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Cover Reveal: Shame, by Rachel Van Dyken

Synopsis
Everything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light.

I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can't change your soul.
A fresh start at college was just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident, but it was a lie.
When guys kissed me--I felt only pain. 
When they touched me--Nothing but fear.

Deep inside, every girl wants to be the beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their world. 
But the truth? I was the beast. And as much as I wanted redemption, I wasn't fool enough to think I'd ever get it. 
Until he walked into my life.

I wasn't prepared to fall for someone. My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace, he offered me security. I should have known it was just another lie--I should have known that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.
But I was powerless to stop myself from falling. 
And he was powerless to catch me.

Because the darkness finally caught up to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry. But I'm stronger than I knew. I'm stronger than you think.
You think you know my story, but you don't....after all everyone has Shame in their lives-- and I'm no longer afraid to show you mine.

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Excerpt

“Just hold still!” I yelled, holding up my phone while Gabe gave me the finger. I grimaced and dropped the camera away from my face. “Nice, thanks for that.”

“I’m a giver.” He smirked.

Saylor, his wife, smacked him on the arm and rolled her eyes.

“Ouch.”                  

I scrunched up my face when he leaned in and took Saylor’s mouth with his, kissing her senseless in the local Starbucks like they were doing a romance scene in a movie. I coughed.

They didn’t pull apart.

So I took a picture.

I earned another finger, but Gabe still didn’t dislodge from his wife.

“Whoa!” Wes’s voice sounded from behind me. “They been at it long?”

“Are all newlyweds disgusting?” I voiced aloud.

Wes moved around the table with his wife, Kiersten, and gave me a goofy shrug. I wanted to roll my eyes, but Wes was too nice and hot. Let’s not forget the hot part. Both he and Gabe were like walking poster boys for GQ. Both blond, now that Gabe had decided to dye his hair back to his original color. It was like staring at two really bright superstars.

Hating them was like hating the Easter bunny. Try all you want, but you’ll eat every piece of chocolate in the basket, just you wait.

“So, classes?” Kiersten leaned forward. “I heard you got stuck with that hot new psych prof.”

Wes growled low in his throat.

“Down boy.” I braced my hands on the table and laughed. “Besides he’s not that hot.”

“A girl passed out.” Kiersten’s eyebrows shot up. “Like in class.”

“Dehydration?” I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee.

“Or…” She leaned forward. “…the rumors are true.”

“Rumors…” Gabe backed away from Saylor, his lips swollen. “…are always based on truth.”

“So you really did do a naked dance in your underwear last week after getting drunk downtown at Pike Place Market?” I tilted my head and waited while Gabe rolled his eyes and popped his knuckles. “Exactly.”

He opened his mouth.

I took a picture.

With a grimace, he snatched my phone away from me. “Never thought I’d have to tell you to lay off the pictures, Miss Paparazzi.”

I slumped in my seat. “It’s for an assignment with that hot professor.”

“Aha!” Kiersten jabbed her finger at me. “I knew it.”

I pinned her with a look. “Sarcasm, friend, sarcasm.”

“Boys get girls pregnant,” Gabe offered, while Wes choked on the coffee he’d just stolen out of my hand.

Serves him right!

“Don’t date them.”

“You’re going to be a great dad.” I smiled sweetly. “What? You’re just going to lock your girls in their rooms and go—” I mimicked his voice. “—uh, you see boy parts are bad, they make girls have lots of babies, like rabbits, and you know how rabbits make dad nervous and—”

“Hilarious,” Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “And please don’t talk about kids yet…”

Saylor laughed quietly next to him then squeezed his arm.

My heart dropped.

A very long time ago, I’d wanted to be that for Gabe, then Taylor happened and well… I shuddered, blocking out the painful memories, the things I’d done, the things he’d done, the things we’d done.

“You okay?” Wes asked, his voice soft. He was way too perceptive for my taste. If I’d wanted to share, he’d be the guy I’d talk to, but I was a vault. Sharing meant admitting my guilt, and admitting meant I’d probably go insane just like he had.

“Yeah…” I straightened in my seat. “…I just don’t want to fail my class, and I need to write down nonverbal cues and take at least one picture. And pretty sure I need to ace this first assignment on account that I was late to my prof’s class, and I got in trouble.”

“He spank you?” Gabe’s eyes mocked across his coffee.

“Yes, Gabe,” I said calmly. “Because that’s how they punish bad students here at UW — with a yardstick and a smile.”

“I wish.” He whistled. “What I wouldn’t give to have Saylor—”

I plugged my ears.

He threw his head back and laughed while Saylor turned bright red and put her hand over his mouth to shush him.

“So…” Wes ignored Gabe as was his usual and leaned across the table. “…why don’t you take pictures of people here in the coffee shop? I mean, ask permission, but most people here are super interesting, right? Studying? Stressed out? Tired?” He pointed to a guy in the corner. “He looks like he’s running on five cups of coffee and one hour of sleep. Go ask, take the picture, make some notes, project done.”

“You make it sound so easy,” I grumbled.

He grinned. “I’m Wes Michels.”

I hung my head lower and grimaced.

“Phone.” He held out his hand and stood.

Within minutes, not only had he snapped two pictures for me but had taken notes on two pre-med students who had stayed up all night cramming for what they’d assumed would be a pop quiz, only to find out that they’d been in the wrong class on the wrong day.

“And that’s why I'm not pre-med.” Gabe shuddered.

“Really?” Kiersten asked. “I thought it was because big words scared you?”

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. What now?” He nodded. “Keep talking, Kiersten, or keep walking.”

“Spell it.” She smirked.

“So this professor…” Gabe changed the subject. “If he tries anything, use the Mace or the rape whistle.”

“Right.” I nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that. In class. With a hundred other students. When he looks at me cross-eyed.”

“Good,” he huffed.

“I was kidding.”

Saylor patted Gabe’s shoulder. “Gotta let the baby birds out of the nest someday, Gabe.”

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com

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