Title: Christmas with the Houstons
Series: Acceptance
Author: D. Kelly
Release Date: December 15, 2015
Blurb
Jake and April’s long-awaited delivery date is getting closer by the day. After thirteen years together, they are finally going to be parents. This should be the most exciting time of their lives except they are now faced with obstacles they never imagined.
Jake Houston is at his wits end and is taking it out on his wife. Work is a nightmare ever since his brother, Connor, joined the family business. As excited as he is to finally become a father, the stresses of day to day life are really bringing him down. When April drops a bombshell on him and tries to bring her work into their home life, it’s what he’s always dreamed of and his biggest nightmare all at once.
April Houston loves her husband with all her heart and knows he’s struggling. She wants to make things easier for him but oversteps some major boundaries in the process. Can Jake and April’s love conquer her major misstep? Or will this couple realize marriage isn’t all they thought it would be and throw in the towel?
Come celebrate Christmas with your favorite Acceptance Series characters and find out.
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Excerpt
When I wake up, Jake is no longer curled up behind me. I wish he would have stayed. Actually, I wish he would have made love to me like he said he was going to. I’m thirsty, grumpy, and know immediately from my mood I slept way too long.
As I make my way into the kitchen, I hear pounding coming from the front of the house. When I look up at the clock on the stove, I realize I’ve been sleeping for two hours. So much for a power nap. No wonder my mood plummeted. After grabbing a bottle of water, I follow the noise out into the yard to see what in the world Jake is doing out there.
My breath catches as I open the door and my eyes land on my husband—shirt off, body glistening with sweat, and giving the neighborhood stroller patrol a hell of a show.
Back off, bitches, he’s mine.
As I waddle my way out to him, I flash a fake smile and a wave to the three bitches openly ogling my husband. Two of them have the decency to blush and walk away, but the last one lingers long enough for me to narrow my eyes at her. Jake looks up and his eyes follow my glare; only then does Malibu Barbie begin to move.
“Hi, Jake,” she says with a smile and a wave as she walks by, shaking her tiny little ass and pushing her stroller as seductively as she can. Bitch.
“Hi Jake,” I mimic as she passes, and Jake laughs good naturedly, which pisses me off even more.
“April, stop. You know I only have eyes for you. Although, I’m not sure the same can be said for you after meeting Derek today.”
He did not just go there.
I don’t want to argue with my husband right now. He looks hot as fuck and it’s obvious he’s been working his ass off out here. Our yard now looks like a Halloween wonderland, complete with a graveyard. It doesn’t matter, though; if he’s going to push this Derek issue, we’re going to fight.
You know what? I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. I’m grumpy, hormonal, and it won’t end well. Instead of responding, I turn around and go back into the house, slamming the door behind me.
God, that felt good.
It’s rare when Jake and I fight, and I’ll typically try and avoid it at all costs. Fighting with Jake is emotionally draining. We’re both stubborn and at times won’t talk for days on end. Our fights leave me feeling uneasy, scared for our future, and sad. We haven’t had a bad fight since before the wedding and I’m not looking to have one now.
“What the hell, April?” Jake bites out as he storms in the house, slamming the door behind him.
It doesn’t feel so good when he does it.
“Exactly, Jake! What the hell? Do you see me? I’m as big as a house! I waddle, I’m emotional, uncomfortable, MARRIED to you, pregnant with your baby, and you have the audacity to jump my shit about Derek? Really, Jake?”
I will not cry. I will not cry over Jake and his neanderthal antics.
“Pregnant with our baby,” he corrects sharply.
“Well, you seem to be forgetting that part. How dare you accuse me of wanting Derek when I spend every day growing an extension of our love inside of me? How fucking dare you, Jake Houston?!”
“How dare me?!” he roars, inching closer, placing his hand on the small of my back and pulling me firmly into his embrace.
“He touched you here. This is mine, April. Mine.”
My pulse races as he grips me tighter. I’m so mad at him… but I’m also really turned on.
“Maybe I need to remind you of all the ways you’re mine. We can’t have you forgetting who you belong to, April. Especially when Derek smiles at you as if you’re his one and only because we both know you belong to me and only me.”
“Jake.” My whispered plea is captured by his lips. Those lips fit so perfectly against mine—there’s no way God didn’t intend for them to be there for eternity. His tongue meets mine in a synchronicity which can only exist between us. A fire burns deep inside my soul, one only he can light.
As I make my way into the kitchen, I hear pounding coming from the front of the house. When I look up at the clock on the stove, I realize I’ve been sleeping for two hours. So much for a power nap. No wonder my mood plummeted. After grabbing a bottle of water, I follow the noise out into the yard to see what in the world Jake is doing out there.
My breath catches as I open the door and my eyes land on my husband—shirt off, body glistening with sweat, and giving the neighborhood stroller patrol a hell of a show.
Back off, bitches, he’s mine.
As I waddle my way out to him, I flash a fake smile and a wave to the three bitches openly ogling my husband. Two of them have the decency to blush and walk away, but the last one lingers long enough for me to narrow my eyes at her. Jake looks up and his eyes follow my glare; only then does Malibu Barbie begin to move.
“Hi, Jake,” she says with a smile and a wave as she walks by, shaking her tiny little ass and pushing her stroller as seductively as she can. Bitch.
“Hi Jake,” I mimic as she passes, and Jake laughs good naturedly, which pisses me off even more.
“April, stop. You know I only have eyes for you. Although, I’m not sure the same can be said for you after meeting Derek today.”
He did not just go there.
I don’t want to argue with my husband right now. He looks hot as fuck and it’s obvious he’s been working his ass off out here. Our yard now looks like a Halloween wonderland, complete with a graveyard. It doesn’t matter, though; if he’s going to push this Derek issue, we’re going to fight.
You know what? I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. I’m grumpy, hormonal, and it won’t end well. Instead of responding, I turn around and go back into the house, slamming the door behind me.
God, that felt good.
It’s rare when Jake and I fight, and I’ll typically try and avoid it at all costs. Fighting with Jake is emotionally draining. We’re both stubborn and at times won’t talk for days on end. Our fights leave me feeling uneasy, scared for our future, and sad. We haven’t had a bad fight since before the wedding and I’m not looking to have one now.
“What the hell, April?” Jake bites out as he storms in the house, slamming the door behind him.
It doesn’t feel so good when he does it.
“Exactly, Jake! What the hell? Do you see me? I’m as big as a house! I waddle, I’m emotional, uncomfortable, MARRIED to you, pregnant with your baby, and you have the audacity to jump my shit about Derek? Really, Jake?”
I will not cry. I will not cry over Jake and his neanderthal antics.
“Pregnant with our baby,” he corrects sharply.
“Well, you seem to be forgetting that part. How dare you accuse me of wanting Derek when I spend every day growing an extension of our love inside of me? How fucking dare you, Jake Houston?!”
“How dare me?!” he roars, inching closer, placing his hand on the small of my back and pulling me firmly into his embrace.
“He touched you here. This is mine, April. Mine.”
My pulse races as he grips me tighter. I’m so mad at him… but I’m also really turned on.
“Maybe I need to remind you of all the ways you’re mine. We can’t have you forgetting who you belong to, April. Especially when Derek smiles at you as if you’re his one and only because we both know you belong to me and only me.”
“Jake.” My whispered plea is captured by his lips. Those lips fit so perfectly against mine—there’s no way God didn’t intend for them to be there for eternity. His tongue meets mine in a synchronicity which can only exist between us. A fire burns deep inside my soul, one only he can light.
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Can't Hold Back
by Serena Bell
Series: Returning Home, #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 15, 2015
Join the Facebook Party on Thursday, December 17 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm Eastern to help celebrate the release of Can't Hold Back!
In this tender military romance from the bestselling author of Hold on Tight—perfect for fans of of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery—a war-shattered veteran gets a second chance at love with the one that got away.
No girl can resist a man in uniform—especially if that man is Nate Riordan. But after an injury in the line of duty leaves Nate broken, body and soul, the soldier finds himself addicted to his pain meds, with no place to call home. Desperate for an escape, Nate reluctantly accepts a friend’s invitation to a new veterans’ retreat. Expecting a little R&R, Nate is shocked when the sight of his physical therapist opens up another old wound: heartbreak.
Years ago, Alia Drake fell hard for Nate, but never made her move. Instead, she set up her sister with the sexy, confident military man, a foolish decision that continues to haunt all three of them. Now, with Nate as her patient, she can make things right—even if it means getting too close for comfort. A healing touch and a little honesty work wonders, fueling a physical intimacy that crosses professional boundaries. This time, with desire in the air once more, Alia won’t hold anything back.
You didn’t have to be a pain-management guru to see it. It wasn’t the tapping that had hurt him. It was talking about what had happened. It was remembering.
The tender points on his body told her that his brain was overreacting to pain signals. He was feeling more pain than there was, like a mic and speakers in a terrible feedback loop. It was pretty common with trauma, particularly trauma that had both a physiological and a psychological component.
The first step was breaking the loop.
She put her hands on his shoulders.
His skin, even through his T-shirt, was much warmer than she was expecting, and the sensation surged through her fingers with a shock that she’d failed to brace herself for. That sheer, electric human connection.
If a physical therapist has natural feelings of attraction toward a patient, he/she must sublimate those feelings in order to avoid sexual exploitation of the patient.
Words to that effect had been all over her ethics textbook.
She pulled her hands away for a moment. Recalibrated her mind. Put her hands back on his skin. The sensation was less intense this time, but still there. Like the heat in his body threw a switch beneath her surface.
Sublimate.
She knew what it meant, but she really wasn’t sure how the hell one accomplished it. She’d never thought to ask.
Maybe this was a bad idea. She’d thought of it as making reparations, but it was starting to look more like making the same mistake twice.
It wasn’t like she had a lot of choices here. She had a man in pain on her table. He’d been treating his pain with an addictive painkiller. She was currently the only physical therapist on staff. A litany of facts that didn’t give a shit about her feelings, natural or unnatural.
Surely treating him—despite any stray “natural feelings of attraction”—was a lesser evil than kicking him out of her office and probably sending him back to the pill bottle. Especially since she’d already screwed up his life once because she couldn’t control her attraction to him.
A physical therapist stands in a relationship of trust to each patient and has an ethical obligation to act in the patient’s best interest and to avoid any exploitation or abuse of the patient.
Noticing that her body reacted chemically to the nearness of his wasn’t exploitation or abuse. And it was pretty clear that it was in Nate’s best interest right now to break the pain loop.
Tentatively, she sent heat into her own fingers, warmed the area over his collarbone. So much tension vibrating in him. Maybe that was all she was feeling, the live-wire coiled energy of a man who’d been wound too tight. She was used to all kinds of electricity pouring off people, the accumulated impulses that a human body stored and shed. What she’d felt a moment ago was just that, another form of strange energy. Nothing to make herself crazy over.
She felt more confident now. Right. Nate was in pain. She could help.
She pressed his shoulders gently down, trying to give his neck a little more room. She kneaded with her thumbs, urging the thick knot of muscle to let go. A firm, businesslike touch. Professional strokes.
God, his skin is smooth.
She watched as his lips, which had been pressed together, softened. Loosened, relaxed. Felt something uncoil in her own body. In her chest.
Lower.
Damn it.
 |
| Photo Credit: Susan Young Photography |
Serena loves to embrace new hobbies, and has at various times enjoyed birdwatching, backpacking, violin, Ultimate Frisbee, skiing, tennis, ice-skating, dance, needlepoint, kayaking, paddleboarding, meditating, and swimming laps—to name just a few.
Her supportive husband lovingly accepts each new hobby and all the equipment it requires, and her two school-aged children provide opportunities to explore new activities like coaching basketball and remembering just how much math she's forgotten.
You can sign up for her new release updates here! http://www.serenabell.com/newsletter
Title: Lullabye
Series: Rockstar #6
Author: Anne Mercier
Release Date: December 15, 2015
Series: Rockstar #6
Author: Anne Mercier
Release Date: December 15, 2015
Blurb
It's time for the Kingston triplets to be born.
I've heard stories of how women have their water break or go into labor in their home. That's not how it happened with Lucy and our babies. As long as Lucy and the babies are okay, I'll be okay--even if we are surrounded by the Russo Famiglia.
I've heard stories of how women have their water break or go into labor in their home. That's not how it happened with Lucy and our babies. As long as Lucy and the babies are okay, I'll be okay--even if we are surrounded by the Russo Famiglia.
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Author Bio
I’m an avid reader who gets inspired by reading the stories from my favorite authors as well as listening to various types of music. I am a huge fan of music, chocolate, fruit, desserts, autumn, M. Shadows, Avenged Sevenfold, and Milo Ventimiglia. Through my books, I am proudly creating new Avenged Sevenfold and Milo Ventimiglia fans one reader at a time.
I absolutely love interacting with readers and invite you to contact me any time via email: Anne@AnneMercierAuthor.com.
“The best part of being an author, to me, is being able to take the reader to that one place they long to go when they need to escape reality. Knowing I can do that, for even one reader, makes what I do worthwhile.” ~ Anne Mercier
Hugs and love,
Anne xoxo
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