Book Blitz with Excerpt + Teaser + Giveaway: Stealing the Heiress by Samantha Holt @samholtwrites @XpressoTours

Stealing the Heiress by Samantha Holt

Series: The Kidnap Club #2

Publication date: May 28th, 2020

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

She was looking for adventure...

Lady Rosamunde Stanley just never expected in the form of a kidnapping.

Well, an almost-kidnapping. The dastardly man only went and took the wrong woman!

But she soon discovers the dark, handsome man is not quite the terrible rogue she thinks him to be and she decides to put his experience to use. Her uncle has gone missing and no one believes her when she says he's in trouble. Can she persuade Russell to help?

Russell might have kidnapped her, but he has no intention of keeping her. Even if the heat between them is driving him out of his wits and her crazy family makes him long for things a battle-hardened orphan like him should never want.

Their societal divide isn't the only reason to keep his distance. Rosamunde is a bloody knife-carrying, picklock-wielding madwoman.

A far too appealing madwoman...

He's not the only one struggling. Rosamunde is finding it just as difficult to fight the attraction, despite knowing it is most likely her over-active imagination leading her down this path. Somehow, she must keep her head around the most exciting man she's ever met.

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Excerpt

Before he could argue, she gasped and snatched his arm. He scarcely had a moment to figure out what was happening when she pressed him up against the wall. She flung off her hat, pulled out a comb that clattered to the ground, and slung her arms around his neck.

"What the--"

She pressed her lips to his. Hard.

His mind raced to catch up with what had occurred. But all it could latch onto was the fact she had her mouth pressed to his. And that she tasted sweet. And that all he needed to do was skim his hands down and he could take two handfuls of that arse that had him so preoccupied.

So, he did what any red-blooded man would do and glided his hands down, taking her rear in his palms and squeezing her flesh. She moaned against his mouth and he used the opportunity to take a deeper taste of the sweetness.

Dear God, did she taste sweet. And so warm.

She moved against him, pressing her strangely firm chest to his. He kept her gripped tight and her fingers twined into the hair under his hat. She moaned again when he drew back and nibbled briefly on her bottom lip before taking her in an intense kiss once more. She angled her head so that the kiss moved deeper, and he met her sounds with a groan.

He ached fiercely. More fiercely than ever before, he could swear. He used his grip on her rear to move her closer, so close that their hips collided. He supposed he should be grateful she didn't have the added barrier of skirts. He rubbed against her and moved his lips from her mouth to her neck, taking little bites along her flesh and feeling her shudder.

She tapped his shoulder and drew in a long, shaky breath. "I think they are gone now."

He lifted his head and glanced around the street. A young couple strolled along the opposite side of the road, doing their best to ignore them. "Who?"

"A friend," she said. "I feared they might recognize me."

He eased his hands away from her, feeling as though she'd just thrown a bucket of ice-cold water over him. She'd been trying to hide. That was why she had kissed him.

"So you thought that was the best way to hide?"

"Well, no one wants to look at a couple kissing, do they?"

"Right. Of course."

"I think it worked." She grinned at him. "I had to think quickly there."

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author Samantha Holt lives in a small village in England with her twin girls and a dachshund called Duke. If you're not sure where to start why not try...

➤ Amelia and the Viscount (Bluestocking Brides #1) for a fun, slightly hot shorter length read. Meet the Chadwick sisters and follow their adventures in each of their standalone stories.

➤ You're the Rogue That I Want (Rogues of Redmeme (#1) is a longer read with heat, witty dialogue, a feisty heroine and adventure. All books in the series are standalone.

➤ Sinful Confessions is the first in the Cynfell Brothers Series. These are all novellas length and standalone--ideal for a quick dip into the world of the sexy Cynfell Brothers.

➤ Wake Me With a Kiss is a sweet, fairytale romance. Twists on Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella and also available if you love a clean, fun read.

➤ To Steal a Highlander's Heart is a full length dive into the world of sexy highlanders. For those who love braw Scots, some steamy scenes, and medieval romance, this series is a perfect escape.

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Review: Devils' Day Party by C.M. Stunich @CMStunich

Devils' Day Party by C.M. Stunich

Publication date: May 1st, 2020

Pages: 536

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

I crashed my shitty yellow VW Beetle into Calix's Aston Martin.

To be fair, he deserved it.

But Calix and his friends, Barron and Raz, they don't see it that way.

Not that it matters.

They've bullied me for years, and I've never known why.

At least today, they have something real to be pissed about.

All of which would be fine, if today was a normal day.

But it's not. It's far from normal.

My mantra has always been: this too, shall pass.

But not today.

Not the worst day of my life.

Hot bullies, busted cars, and pain.

Somebody kill me now.

Available at:

Free in Kindle Unlimited!!

Review:

I hadn't realized that C.M. Stunich was the author of one of my favorite rockstar reads to date until I was drawing up the buy links for my review. Talk about a blown mind! If I had known this fact going into the book I may have gone into it without an open mind and a healthy dash of bias. I am glad I wasn't aware until just now. It makes me that much more glad I picked up this book from Kindle Unlimited.

Karma has been the butt of the joke since she first starting going to the high school for socialite misfits. She wasn't brought up with money, she had lesbian hippie parents, and she lived in a trailer park instead of the student dorms most of her misfit classmates were shipped off to when they found themselves in too much trouble for their famous parents to be bothered with. It only got worse when she gave into the love confession of the king of the Knight Crew and handed her virginity to him only to have him claim it was all a joke. Her heart was broken and she has been fighting to stay sane since she became the pariah of her high school. Her only saving grace is her heavily pregnant friend April and her sassy pansexual buddy, Luke. But even with them at her side she hated the Knight Crew and their constant torment. So when she saw Calix at a gas station looking miserable she broke. How dare he be miserable! He has it all! She crashed her Beetle into his Aston Martin and woke up to his angry glares and his friends' usual cruel words. They vowed to make her life miserable and they succeeded... over... and over again. The day was on a constant loop that she couldn't break. All she could do was change small things in the timeline to make the day less torture and more meaningful. It was in those loops she really got to know her tormentors and the feelings she had for them individually and as a whole. She also was tasked with trying to find out who leaked a sex tape of her time with Calix and how to prevent a fellow student's suicide. But can she ever get out of her Groundhog Day existence or is she destined to constantly relive the same day?

Oh my God. This book was fabulous. I loved getting to see behind the masks of the bullies she dealt with and learn more about them and why they treated Karma the way they did. Raz was the one I really felt I would never bond with. He was the harshest of the group and was almost as demonic as his contact lenses wanted him to appear. It was interesting to learn why he was that way and while I don't think he should have treated Karma as bad as he did for that reason, I could understand it a bit. 

Barron was my all-time favorite. He was mean to Karma but only in a very soft way. He was never physically harmful and he rarely even called her names that I can remember. He was stoic and even seemed a bit protective of her even before we got to know him personally in one of Karma's many re-dos. I loved that him and Karma had a common interest in Art. It really was a good foundation for their bond once they got past their bullshit.

Calix was the meh-est for me. He was just such a whiner. He was so worried about outward appearances that he tormented a girl he "loved" just to save face. Why? Because his friends, his schoolmates, and/or his parents wouldn't approve? That's such a cop-out. And even on the days he shared with Karma I was struggling not to roll my eyes. Hard to believe I favored sadistic Raz over him.

This book was one of the best reverse harem books I have ever read. I could not put it down even to eat (I ate when I finished, promise). It was beautifully written and had just this small air of mystery tied into a great story of redemption and forgiveness. 

Devils' Day Party will knock your socks off and make even the most adventurous harlot clutch her pearls in it's delicious debauchery. 

Book Blitz with Excerpt + Giveaway: VIcious by Marteeka Karland @marteekakarland @XpressoTours

Vicious by Marteeka Karland

Series: Salvation's Bane #1

Publication date: May 29th, 2020

Publisher: Changeling Press

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Lucrecia: All I have in the world is my sister Mae. We were adrift, on our own until a guy from Black Reign, one of Lake Worth's most infamous MCs, spotted us and took us in. Ryks isn't cruel, but he's hard on us. We have to earn our keep, but then everyone does. Me? I dance for the club. I get a secret thrill from it--until Mae is kidnapped by enemies of Black Reign, and Ryks sends me to Palm Beach--straight into the hands of Salvation's Bane.

Vicious: It all started with some MFer stole my F'in' pizza and two cans of beer. I went looking for the SOB. What I found was a raven-haired spitfire too sexy for my own good. Her sister's in trouble, and wouldn't you know it that bastard El-Diablo's at the very center of yet more trouble. It's his club Mae's been taken from. His club Lucy was sent away from. Now, we have to get her back. Because I might be falling for the little dancer in my care. Not that I'll ever admit it. We'll have to call out all the stops for this. Bones. Shadow Demons. Hell, even Black Reign. If we're going to rescue Mae, nothing is out of bounds. But busting her out of some rich banker's estate will be a piece of cake. No worries. Yeah. Right...

Available at:

Excerpt

"Don't think I'm letting this go, brother," Vicious said. "I'm findin' out who stole my fuckin' pizza and I'm gonna nail someone's balls to the fuckin' wall."

"So, let's talk about Mercedes."

"I just won a fuckin' million dollars, you cocksucker." Vicious tried to snarl at Havoc, but it only came out a sigh.

"Oh? How's that?"

"I bet myself a mil that was why you brought up Mercedes' name in the first Goddamned place. What the fuck did she do now?"

Havoc raised his hand in surrender. "Not a fuckin' thing, brother. Just wondering where we stood with her. You know as well as I do--great lay aside--the girl don't belong here. She needs to go back to wherever she came from before she gets hurt."

"I know. Thought assigning her stuff to do, outside of fuckin', would help her realize just how much she wasn't ready for this, but I thinks he's got it in her head she's gonna be Thorn's ol' lady. You know. Get some clout in the club and have the girls all submitting to her every whim."

Havoc shook his head. "Yeah. Figured. Girl ain't smart enough to figure out a brother doesn't take an ol' lady from the club girl population, especially if everyone in the fuckin' club has already screwed her."

"She's a spoiled little rich girl, trying to thwart her daddy or some shit. I'd hoped she'd leave on her own but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to get Thorn to go with me and help her come to the decision."

"Well, I ain't seen her in a couple days. Maybe she already bailed."

"Maybe. I'll check her room in a while. You know. Soon as I find the motherfuckin' cocksuckin' son of a bitch who stole my fuckin' pizza."

Havoc snickered then pushed off the counter to leave. "Let me know what you decide. I'll tell the guys to back off for a while."

Vicious waved Havoc on, not sparing him a glance as he continued to stare into the fridge like the stupid pizza would just appear in front of him. He wished it would cause it was a seriously good pie. Which was when he noticed two of the six beers he'd put in the fridge next to the pizza were also gone. Someone was getting a beatdown like never before.

"Mother fuck," he bit out. "Mother Goddamned fuck."

He stalked into the common room. It was a perfect day for riding, so it didn't surprise him no one was there. Carnage, the road captain, had organized a ride for the evening, but, true to form, no one wanted to wait that long. Likely, the whole club had taken off in pairs for a little free time on the road.

With a growl he clenched his fists. No use getting angry right now. His wrath would be wasted with everyone gone. Might as well go check Mercedes's room. If the girl was gone, he'd need to make sure it was cleaned out and any personal belongings she left behind bagged and stored in case she came back for them. He hoped she was in her room because he was dying to confront someone. While protocol demanded Thorn be with him if he evicted a non-club inhabitant, it wasn't strictly necessary. His job was to see to the wellbeing of the club and anyone living with them. Mercedes's behavior was self-destructive. She needed to go home.

He stomped up the stairs. Club members were on the first floor. Women not ol' ladies were on the second floor in the middle rooms. Officers took the rooms on the outside, so the women were protected on both sides and below. Mercedes was no exception. In fact, Vicious had been careful to put her as close to the center as he could because he'd known sooner or later someone would come looking for her, and he wanted to be able to tell the girl's father she'd been as protected as any woman in their club. Of course, he'd neglect to mention she'd fucked nearly every single patched member in Salvation's Bane. Cause, yeah. No.

He was surprised to find the door wide open and stripped bare of anything other than the furniture. He sighed. Well, it was one less thing he had to deal with.

Again, that prickly sensation on the back of his neck had him rubbing it before scrubbing a hand through his hair. His years as a SEAL had him refusing to ignore the feeling. It had saved his life more than once, but what the fuck? Danger? In his own clubhouse? No fucking way.

Still, he gave the room a visual once-over. The longer he stood there, the louder his senses pinged. He wished he had a better idea of how the room should be, but with the recent departure of its occupant, all he had to go on was immediate visual clues. He moved around the room slowly, looking at the windows, the bathroom and windows there, the walls, and the ceiling. He was about to chalk it up to him being a paranoid son of a bitch when there was a muffled sneeze from the bathroom.

"What the fuck?" His muttered question seemed loud but was met with silence. Once again, Vicious checked the bathroom. Nothing. It wasn't exactly like there were a ton of places to hide. The place was pretty small. Wide enough for the bathtub/shower at the far end, the toilet beside the tub, and the sink beside the toilet. The window was in front of the sink with a small, wall-mounted cabinet for towels and washcloths beside the window. The only other closed-in space was the vanity under the sink.

Before he thought about it, Vicious opened the door under the sink and shut it again. Did a double take. He opened the cabinet door again to find a small girl tucked in the limited space, folded with her knees against her chest. Her eyes were enormous. A vibrant gold framed and coal-black lashes. Jet-black hair tumbled around her in tight curls. Cutoff shorts and a black tank revealed snow-white skin. Skin that looked liked it had never seen the sun of a single day in her life.

"What the everlastin' fuck?" Vicious tried not to raise his voice too much. This girl didn't look like she could take the shock of a six-foot-seven, three-hundred-pound man roaring at her. She looked like it would be nothing for him to break her in half. "Get your ass outta there, young lady!" Great. Now he sounded like an old man.

The girl hesitated until he tilted his head, giving her his best "so help me..." expression. Then she squeaked her distress as she tumbled out of the cramped space to stand in front of him. Good thing he was between her and the door, because he was certain she'd have tried to make a run for it otherwise.

"Wanna tell me what the fuck you're doin' in here?"

About the Author:

Romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of. Now, she breathes life into faeries, space hunters, werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, and a few just plain ole ordinary people. She loves to see the awkward, self-conscious band geek get the captain of the football team and make him beg for it.

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Book Blitz with Excerpt + Giveaway: Forsaken by A.D. Starrling @ADStarrling @XpressoTours

Forsaken by A.D. Starrling

Series: Legion #4

Publication date: May 28th, 2020

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

They thought they knew who the enemy was...

When the Vatican extends an official invitation to Artemus and his allies to visit Rome, Artemus is wary of their intentions. Especially since the demon inside Drake has turned out to be one of Hell's strongest princes, while Otis's newly awakened powers means he is their most powerful tool against Hell's army. Heading for Rome despite his misgivings, their arrival precipitates a series of attacks that soon has them questioning everyone around them.

Daniel Lenton is a shadow. Afflicted by a disease that weakened him as a child, the priest has dedicated his life to the church and wants nothing to do with Artemus and his friends. Not when such an association would risk exposing the lie he wants to keep buried. But when an ambush rouses Daniel's beast to defend him against a monster, he is left with little choice but to embrace who he was born to be.

After the precious cargo they are hired to protect is attacked by demons, Serena and Nate are convinced that Ba'al is after something hidden among the artifacts bound for an exhibition in Rome. The last thing the super soldiers expect when they arrive in the city is to come face to face with their past. 

As a new and formidable foe grows closer, Artemus and his allies must decipher the mysteries that await them in Rome, help a guardian find his key, and uncover the location of the next gate to Hell, all before Ba'al destroys the Holy See.

Available at:

Excerpt

The woman crouched over the child, her body taking the brunt of the blows raining down on them. The punches and kicks came erratically, the man delivering them so inebriated he could barely stand. Still, the attack was as savage as it would have been had he been sober.

"Get off him!" the man roared where he towered above them. His spit pelted the woman's nape, so hot she could barely distinguish it from the blood flowing out of the fresh cut on her scalp. "Let me see the ugly freak!"

That's going to need stitches for sure.

She whimpered as the steel cap of his boot connected with her side, denting her flesh with enough force to leave an imprint. Pain exploded inside her chest. She gasped and bit her lip.

She'd suffered enough broken bones to know that he'd just shattered one of her ribs.

The boy let out a low sob. It was the first sound he'd made since her husband had flown into a rage and started beating them, his anger fueled by the cheap booze he'd been drinking all afternoon in their tiny, one-bedroom apartment. Despite the illness that had rendered his body weak, the boy clung ferociously to her with his tiny hands, his tears soaking into her grimy shirt; she had just returned from a grueling shift on the assembly line at the factor and had not had time to change out of her work clothes.

Even though her husband was making enough noise to raise the dead, the woman knew no help would come. Not a single person in their drab and lifeless, red-brick housing block would raise a finger to stop the monster who was currently striking her and her nephew.

"Mama," the boy hiccuped softly.

The man froze for a moment. The woman waited breathlessly, wondering if the sound had somehow finally brought him to his senses.

The blow came from nowhere and sent stars flashing before her eyes. She slumped to the floor, body limp and skull ringing. The object her husband had used to strike her landed with a thump by her head.

It was her Bible. The one she read every night to the boy.

She should have known that the endearment would just infuriate her husband more. He hated that the boy called her mother. Not just because he considered the child a cripple and an embarrassment, but also because she had never been able to bear him his own child.

A hand grabbed the back of her shirt, coarse fingertips digging into the fresh bruises on her body. She was yanked off the boy and cast violently to the side. A choked grunt left her as she struck the edge of a sideboard. The meagermeagre porcelain dinner set she had received as part of her dowry rattled on the shelves inside the cabinet.

The boy curled up into a ball on the kitchen floor, his small frame dwarfed by the monster who loomed over him. The man clutched a handful of his dark hair and started dragging him across the floor.

The boy reached out to her, his crying face and desperate eyes blurring in and out of her sight.

A scream left his lips for the first time. "Mama! Mama! Help me!"

Fear gripped the woman when she saw where her husband was heading. She rolled awkwardly onto her front and tried to push up onto her hands and knees. Her arms and legs trembled. They gave way. Once. Twice.

The woman slammed her palms weakly on the linoleum floor, her tears falling in a hot, steady flow. She sobbed and cursed the frailty of her female body and the cruel fate that had ever seen her cross paths with the monster she had married.

The roar of water reached her ears. Her heart lurched painfully in her chest.

He was going to drown the boy. Just like he had drowned the puppy the child had rescued a few weeks ago.

The face of her late sister swam before the woman's eyes. She'd promised Magda that she would look after her son.

A loud splash came from the bathroom. The boy's screams were abruptly cut off.

The woman pushed up once more. This time, her body obeyed her will.

The room spun dizzyingly around her as she staggered to her feet. She clutched the sideboard and closed her eyes briefly. Then she was moving, her fingers finding a carving knife in the wooden block by the sink.

Her husband had his back to her when she entered the bathroom. He was on his knees by the tiny copper tub in the corner, his arms elbow deep in the water.

The boy's legs kicked weakly through the surface as he fought to free himself from the monstrous hold around his neck, his shape a blur.

The woman rushed across the room with an animal noise and sank the knife into the man's back all the way to the hilt, right between his shoulder blades. The sound it made as it carved through flesh and bone made her gag.

A low grunt left the man. He grew deathly still before twisting and glaring at her, his face a vicious mask. His pupils flashed yellow for an instant.

The woman froze, terror locking her mind and limbs rigid. Something else was looking at her out of her husband's body. He turned back to his task as if she weren't even there.

The woman blinked. Awareness returned. She snarled and started pummeling his body with her fists. The monster did not so much as budge.

The woman sank to her knees and started to sob, despair a living entity that choked her very breath. "God, please help us! Help this child! He has suffered so much already!"

A low cackle reached her. It was coming from her husband. The inhuman laughter echoed around the bathroom, an evil sound that frayed her nerves and made her stomach roil.

"Your God will not help him," he growled in a voice she did not recognize.

He let go of the dead boy and climbed to his feet before turning to face her, water dripping down his arms and a sickening smile splitting his mouth.

The woman gasped, hands moving automatically to make the sign of the cross.

The monster advanced toward her, his grin growing impossibly wide. The whites of his eyes shifted to obsidian. His hand, when he grabbed her neck, was no longer human, his fingers and nails having lengthened to razor-sharp talons that scraped across her skin.

Blood pounded thickly in the woman's ears as she stared blindly into the face of the demon. She knew she would be dead in the next few seconds. She cast a final prayer to Heaven and closed her eyes.

Forgive me, Magda.

A voice came then. One neither she nor the creature who was slowly strangling her to death had expected.

"Let her go!"

The woman's eyes snapped open. She gasped, the sound a wheeze.

The demon paused, his deadly grip stopping shy of crushing her windpipe. He looked over his shoulder.

The woman's eyes widened.

The boy stood in the middle of the copper tub. Steam was curling up from his skin and hair. His wet clothes were already half dry. But it was his face and hands that captured her shocked gaze and the attention of the demon.

Fire danced on the boy's fingertips and blazed from his eyes. The air around him trembled and shimmered, as if struck by an intense heat. A faint aura of flames flickered into life around his body as he climbed out of the tub.

Dark scorch marks stained the marble tiles under his feet as he came toward them. Some cracked, the limestone warped and bubbling as the blaze licked them.

The demon released her and turned to face the boy.

"Run!" the woman yelled, her voice hoarse.

The boy glanced at her.

The demon moved.

What happened next was something the woman never recounted to another living soul and took to her grave when she passed away years later in prison.

The demon swung lethal talons at the boy. The boy blocked the strike with one hand. Fire raced from his fingers and engulfed the demon. First the arm. Then the chest. Then the entire body of the creature was swallowed up by the flames.

As the thing that had once been her husband shrieked and dropped to the floor, skin and flesh blackened while he writhed helplessly, the woman realized that the monsters she had read about in her Bible walked this mortal realm.

A hush fell across the apartment when the demon exhaled his last breath, his corpse a dark husk that was barely recognizable where he lay curled up on the floor.

The boy blinked. The fire went out of his eyes and faded from his fingertips. He looked utterly lost and forlorn swaying where he stood, the weakness in his limbs evident once more.

The woman caught him before he collapsed to the floor.

"Mama!" The boy gazed at her beseechingly, fat tears rolling down his pale cheeks. "I didn't mean to kill him! I didn't!"

The woman tightened her hold on the boy. "It's okay, Judah. It's okay, my little kokhana." She took a shaky breath, her mind clearer than it had been in years. "Now, here's what we're going to do."

The boy protested when he heard what she said next. In the end, she made him promise on his mother's grave that he would do as he was told.

And so, when the police finally came, the boy stayed quiet. And as she was led away in handcuffs and the neighbors gathered in the corridors of the building and mumbled about what a terrible man her husband had been and how he had deserved what had happened to him, the boy kept his word and remained silent.

"I love you, Judah," the woman called out as she was pushed roughly into the back of a police car. "Remember that."

"I love you, Mama," the little boy whispered where he stood in the entrance of the housing block, a policeman holding his hand.

That was the last the woman saw of him.

About the Author:

AD Starrling's bestselling supernatural thriller series Seventeen combines action, suspense, and a heavy dose of the paranormal to make each book an explosive, adrenaline-fueled ride. Her spin-off urban fantasy series Legion has been compared to Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. If you prefer your action hot and your heroes sexy and strong-willed, then check out her romantic military thriller series Division Eight.

When she's not busy writing, AD can be found eating Thai food, being tortured by her back therapists, drooling over gadgets, working part-time as a doctor on a Neonatal Intensive Care unit somewhere in the UK, reading manga, and watching action flicks and anime. She has occasionally been accused of committing art with a charcoal stick and some drawing paper.

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