Spotlight (Excerpt & Giveaway): Then Came You by Jill Shalvis

Title: Then Came You (Animal Magnetism #5)
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)
Release Date: July 1, 2014
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rumor Has It and the Lucky Harbor series comes the story of a woman whose world is turned upside down by one night’s torrid fling…

Veterinary intern Emily can’t believe she wound up in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho, instead of the Los Angeles clinic she had always imagined. Now she has to put her plans to move to L.A. on hold for a whole year while she fulfills the obligation of her vet school scholarship.

Then Wyatt, her gorgeous one-night stand from a Reno vet conference, introduces himself as her new boss. And Emily is just as drawn to his seductive looks and quiet strength as she was on that very steamy night. She soon learns that Wyatt isn’t just a laid-back doctor, but a delicious alpha male tempting her away from her carefully laid-out plans…

Excerpt

Emily sat on a fallen log and leaned back. When she was little, she’d loved to try to star watch. In LA, this was tricky because of all the city lights, not to mention smog. Doing it here, in the land of the big sky, was a whole new ball game. “I’m not lonely,” she said to the horse, who snorted again and swished his tail.

“Good. Cuz you’re not alone.”

Book Blast (Giveaway): Lovers at Heart by Melissa Foster

Title: Lovers at Heart (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters & The Bradens #4)
Author: Melissa Foster
Publisher: World Literary Press
Book Blast Organizer: Book Nerd Tours
Release Date: October 26, 2013
**CONTENT WARNING: Due to mature content, recommended for readers aged 18+** Lovers at Heart is a steamy contemporary romance with alpha male heroes and sexy, empowered women. They’re flawed, funny, passionate, and very relatable for readers who enjoy adult romance, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction. Enjoy Lovers at Heart as a stand-alone novel or for more enjoyment, read the entire Love and Bloom series (nine full-length novels featuring the Snow Sisters and the Bradens).

Handsome, wealthy resort owner Treat Braden is used to getting what he wants. When Max Armstrong walked into his life six months earlier, he saw right through the efficient and capable façade she wore like a shield, to the sweet, sensual woman who lay beneath. She sparked an unfamiliar desire in him for more than a one-night stand, leaving his heart reeling and his blood boiling. But one mistake caused her to turn away, and now, after six months of longing for the one woman he cannot have, he’s going home to try to forget her all together.

Max Armstrong has a successful career, a comfortable lifestyle, and she’s never needed a man to help her find her way–until Treat Braden caught her attention at a wedding in Nassau, causing a surge of emotions too reminiscent of the painful past she’d spent years trying to forget. Max will do anything to avoid reliving that pain–including forgoing her toe-curling, heart-pounding desire for Treat.

When a chance encounter turns into a night of intense passion, Treat realizes that the mistake he made six months earlier may cause him to lose Max completely. He will do everything within his power to win her heart forever–and Max is forced to face her hurtful past head on for the man she cannot help but love.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About the Author

Book Blast (Giveaway): Sisters in White by Melissa Foster

Title: Sisters In White (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #3)
Author: Melissa Foster
Publisher: World Literary Press
Book Blast Organizer: Book Nerd Tours
Release Date: October 9, 2013
Danica and Kaylie Snow are about to celebrate the biggest day of their lives—their double wedding—on an island in the Bahamas. But no wedding is complete without a little family drama. The two sisters aren’t ready to face the father they haven’t seen since he divorced their mother and moved away to marry his mistress, and live with Lacy, the half sister they’ve never met.

While Danica has exchanged letters and phone calls with Lacy, Kaylie has fervently tried to pretend she doesn’t exist. Lacy is sweet, fun, and nearly a mirror image of Kaylie. To make matters worse, not only is Lacy looking forward to meeting her sisters, but she idolizes them, too. As the countdown to the wedding date ticks on, their parents are playing a devious game of revenge, and there’s a storm brewing over the island, threatening to cancel their perfect wedding. The sisters are about to find out if the bond of sisterhood really trumps all.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About the Author

Book Blast (Giveaway): Sisters in Bloom by Melissa Foster

Title: Sisters In Love (Love in Bloom: Snow Sisters #2)
Author: Melissa Foster
Publisher: World Literary Press
Book Blast Organizer: Book Nerd Tours
Release Date: September 1, 2013
You loved Danica and Kaylie in Sisters in Love, find out what happens next with Sisters in Bloom.

Kaylie Snow has always been the fun, flirty, pretty sister. Now, her burgeoning baby bump, hormone infused emotions, and faltering singing career are sending her into an unexpected identity crisis. Watching her older sister Danica glide through a major career change and a new relationship with the grace of a ballerina, Kaylie’s insecurities rise to the forefront—and her relationship, with fiancé Chaz Crew, is caught in the crossfire.

Chaz Crew has everything he’s ever wanted: a lovely fiancée, a baby on the way, and soon, the film festival he owns will host its biggest event ever. When he’s called away to woo the festival’s largest sponsor—and the lover he’s never admitted to having—secrets from his past turn his new life upside down.

With her baby shower around the corner, and her fiancé’s big event looming, the pressure is on for Kaylie to pull herself together—and for Chaz to right his wrongs. In a few short weeks, the couple who had it all figured out will learn things about life and love that may change their minds—and their hearts.

Sisters in Bloom is a testament to the bond of sisters, the strength of women, and the pains and delights that accompany motherhood. A book for every mother, sister, and daughter, Sisters in Bloom will resonate with readers who love to explore family dramas

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About the Author

Book Blast (Giveaway): Working It Out by Rachael Anderson

Title: Working It Out
Author: Rachael Anderson
Publisher: HEA Publishing
Release Date: July 15, 2013
A chance encounter . . .

Grace Warren's life is safe and predictable—exactly the way she likes it. But when she gets roped into going to an auction to help out a friend, everything changes. She meets Seth Tuttle—a guy who unexpectedly kisses her then disappears, leaving her flustered and upset. If she never sees him again, it will be too soon.

A chance for love . . .

Weeks later, when Seth limps into Grace's rehab clinic post surgery, he's every bit as frustrating and annoying as she remembered. Yet there's something about him that makes her second-guess her carefully placed boundaries even though he's everything she's sure she doesn't want in a man. But maybe Seth is exactly what Grace has needed all along—assuming she's willing to risk safe and predictable for a chance at love.

Blog Tour (Interview & Giveaway): Act Like You Love Me by Cindi Madsen

All’s fair in acting and amore...

Brynn McAdams isn’t the awkward drama geek she was in high school—she’s grown up and confident, or at least she likes to think so. But when her old crush, the impossibly handsome and impossibly unattainable Sawyer Raines, comes back to town to direct her community play, Brynn finds herself determined to be someone other than the girl he doesn’t even recognize. Good thing she’s an excellent actress.

After his bad breakup in NYC, the last thing Sawyer wants is to get involved with another actress. But the glamorous and beautiful Brynn draws him in, even though as her director, he knows she’s off-limits. There’s just something about the woman that feels…familiar. Like home.

As Brynn’s lies start to snowball, she struggles to stop acting and come clean. But what if Sawyer is already falling for the fake Brynn, not the Brynn she truly is?

Title: Act Like You Love Me
Author: Cindi Madsen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Bliss (Entangled Publishing)
Expected Release Date: June 10, 2013
Interview

Hi, Cindi! I’m so happy that I get to interview you here on my blog to promote the release of your new book, Act Like You Love Me! Since I like you so well, I’ll try to keep this as non-boring as possible. When we first met, I had a writing/humor sort of blog that faded out. What did you consider to be your first writing adventure?

Yay, I’m so happy, too! You were one of my very first twitter peeps! As for my first writing adventure, it was probably the first novel I wrote. It was about a girl who meets a movie star at a baseball game. She tumbles over the seats trying to catch a fly ball and lands in his lap. Now I can see all the errors in it, of course, but I’ll always love it because it was what got me addicted to writing.

So far, your published novels have been Young Adult, and the sweet, clean romances like Act Like You Love Me. What draws you to writing the clean reads?

Blog Tour (Review & Giveaway): The Wisdom of Hair by Kim Boykin

Tour Schedule
Life can be beautiful, but it takes a little work...

“The problem with cutting your own hair is that once you start, you just keep cutting, trying to fix it, and the truth is, some things can never be fixed. The day of my daddy’s funeral, I cut my bangs until they were the length of those little paintbrushes that come with dime-store watercolor sets. I was nine years old. People asked me why I did it, but I was too young then to know I was changing my hair because I wanted to change my life.”

In 1983, on her nineteenth birthday, Zora Adams finally says goodbye to her alcoholic mother and their tiny town in the mountains of South Carolina. Living with a woman who dresses like Judy Garland and brings home a different man each night is not a pretty existence, and Zora is ready for life to be beautiful.

With the help of a beloved teacher, she moves to a coastal town and enrolls in the Davenport School of Beauty. Under the tutelage of Mrs. Cathcart, she learns the art of fixing hair, and becomes fast friends with the lively Sara Jane Farquhar, a natural hair stylist. She also falls hard for handsome young widower Winston Sawyer, who is drowning his grief in bourbon. She couldn’t save Mama, but maybe she can save him.

As Zora practices finger waves, updos, and spit curls, she also comes to learn that few things are permanent in this life—except real love, lasting friendship, and, ultimately… forgiveness.

Title: The Wisdom of Hair
Author: Kim Boykin
Publisher: HarperTeen
Acquired Via: Book Nerd Tours
Release Date: May 14, 2013
My Review

The Wisdom of Hair is not what I expected. I thought I would be getting a saucy, witty novel about Southern women in a beauty shop. Instead a found an exploration of relationships between not just lovers, but family and friends that followed Zora Adams to her discovery of what love really is. That is not to say there were no saucy witty moments, but the actual beauty shop time was minimal.

Zora Adams grew up with a really crappy mom, so when she went out in the world, she wasn't the best equipped to make healthy relationships. Thankfully, Sara Jane Farquhar came bursting into her life, and they were instantly best friends. Sara Jane's parents were probably my favorite literary parents because they essentially adopted Zora and loved her unconditionally just because Sara Jane did. It made me all warm and tingly in my chest region whenever I read most of the scenes with any of the Farquhars, and I may have gotten a little jealous that they haven't taken me in yet, too.

Book Blast (Giveaway): Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk

Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk is FREE this week (2/25 to 3/1) on Amazon. Get your copy and find out how to enter to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card below.

Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk
People get divorced, but that's what happens to other people. That's what Claire thought anyway, until her husband, Charlie, tells her he wants a divorce.

Claire has no choice but to take on the title of Divorced Woman, and face the question she has no idea how to answer. Who is Claire without Charlie? Her family believes her newly divorced woes can be cured by landing herself a boyfriend. With her dating dunce cap in hand, Claire stumbles her way through the foreign territory of online dating.

A teacher from hell, a softball coach, and a sap later, Claire proclaims herself the dating idiot she thought she was, and fears she's doomed to be a lonely, crazy cat lady. But an accidental run-in with an old acquaintance might change everything. What starts with comparing dating battle wounds over a cup of coffee, quickly turns into something Claire had given up on.

As Claire discovers maybe there is love after Charlie after all, Charlie realizes his mistake. He wants her back, and he'll do anything to prove it to her. Now Claire must choose who deserves her heart, and if she's really willing to give it away again.


About the Author

Darian Wilk was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the younger of two children. While still a toddler her family moved back to their home state of Michigan, where she still lives today.