Showing posts with label Broken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broken. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Broken: an explosive attraction



Broken
Lost Series, Bk #1
By Cynthia Eden
a Military Alpha Romance

Blurb:
The first novel in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s sizzling LOST series introduces the Last Option Search Team, an elite unit that must protect the only surviving victim of a serial killer.

Ex-SEAL and LOST founder Gabe Spencer is accustomed to the unusual in his job. But when knockout Eve Gray steps into his office, he’s rattled. For the mysterious woman is a dead ringer for the heiress thought to be the latest prey of the serial killer who goes by the name Lady Killer.

When Eve awoke in an Atlanta hospital, her past was a blank slate. Then she recognized her own face in the newspaper and vowed to learn the truth. Determined to confront the nightmares hidden in her mind, she never expects to find a partner in Gabe.

As Gabe and Eve work together, their explosive attraction becomes irresistible. Gabe knows that his desire for Eve is growing too strong, bordering on a dangerous obsession, but nothing pulls him away from her. And when another Eve lookalike disappears, Gabe vows to protect Eve at all costs. While Eve may have forgotten the killer in her past, it’s clear he hasn’t forgotten her.



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 Excerpt


“Do you think I’m a con artist or a victim?”

“I think you’re a woman who has been hurt.” No denying that. “One of my team members, Wade Monroe, is contacting the Montgomery family. We’ll get DNA from them and find out—”

“If I’m Jessica.” There was hope in the words. Enough hope to break his heart.

Gabe nodded.

“When will we know?”

It would take a few days, even with the strings that he could pull. “As soon as possible,” he said, not wanting to give her a specific timetable.

“Thank you.” Then, just like that, she was across the car, giving him a tight hug. “Thank you.”

His arms wrapped around her, an instinctive response. She smelled faintly of flowers, a sweet scent that teased his nose, and her body was soft against his.

She tried to pull away, as if realizing what she’d just done.

For an instant he was tempted to hold her, to keep her close.

She’s a client. Focus.

He let her go, but his body ached.

“I … um … I should get inside.”

Yes, she should. While he was still clutching tight to his control. The control that said he shouldn’t push her. Shouldn’t want her so much. Not when she’d already been hurt so badly.

Her fingers reached for the door.

“Let me,” he said, voice rumbling, and Gabe climbed from the Jag. In seconds he was on the passenger side, opening her door for her. She rose, and her body brushed against his.

He stepped back. Distance. He seriously needed to put some distance between then. But even with some fast steps back, he could still smell that light and sexy scent that clung to her body. 

And he still wanted her.

“Your shrink asked me a lot of questions about you,” Eve told him as she stood temptingly close.

Gabe inclined his head. “I’m sure—”

“I think she wanted to know why I respond so much to you.”

Oh, hell, she’d just said … He cleared his throat even as part of his body surged in quick response to her. “It’s a tense situation, you’re—”

“You don’t look at me as if I’m a victim.”

He stopped talking.

“I mean, you know what I am, but you still look at me and seem to just see me … as a woman.”

“Others see you the same way.” Doc Tyler sure did. Bastard.

“It’s different with you,” she murmured as she stepped even closer to him. Her head had tilted back so she could look into his eyes. “I don’t know what I’ve felt for other men before.”

Why did the idea of others have his body knotting with tension?

“But I know that when I see you, I want.” A hushed confession. “I just … I needed to tell you that.”

And he needed to make his self-control a hell of a lot stronger. Her lips were just inches from his, and he wanted her mouth beneath his. Wanted her lips open. Needed to taste her.

“You’re the first man I’ve wanted since I opened my eyes in that hospital.”

He could actually feel his control splintering. Client. Cli—

“You probably don’t want me. I—I might not be your type.”

Now her gaze had fallen, as if in embarrassment. Had she really just asked if she was his type? 

She was probably every damn man’s type.

“But you make me feel normal again, so I had to tell you—”

His fingers curved under her chin. “Eve …”

Her smile was a little too big. Too bright. “I don’t think I can handle anything else right now, I’m …” She pulled away. Stumbled onto the sidewalk. “I just wanted to tell you how I felt,” she told him again.

Then she walked into the shelter, her steps hurried. As if she were running.

From him.

He stared after her. She wanted him.

And she was so beyond his reach.


About the Author

USA Today Best-selling author Cynthia Eden has written over twenty-five novels and novellas. She was named as a 2013 RITA® finalist for her paranormal romance, ANGEL IN CHAINS, and, in 2011, Cynthia Eden was a RITA finalist for her romantic suspense, DEADLY FEAR.
Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings.  She has always wanted to write (don’t most authors say that?), and particularly enjoys creating stories about monsters–vampires, werewolves, and even the real-life monsters that populate her romantic suspense stories.

Cynthia’s foreign sales for her books include translations to Japan, Germany, Thailand, Greece, and Brazil.
(Back in the day…) Cynthia graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama where she studied Sociology (because people interest her) and Communication (because she likes to write about said people).  Cynthia has worked as a college admissions counselor, a teacher, and as an editor. But now, Cynthia is thrilled to be spending her days making up stories.



          

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Friday, March 27, 2015

Blurring Lines and Feelings in Broken





 The Only Exception: Broken
 by A.L. Davis
a Contemporary Romance
Mystery/Suspense/Military





 “Everyone I’ve ever loved has been taken from me and I can’t take the heartache anymore. It’s time to build that wall around my heart and let no one in, no exceptions.”

Ellie never did know her mother; before she turned twenty she lost her father in the line of duty; a freak accident stole her fiancé from her before they had a chance to start their life together. She wants answers, but now that she’s living in a new town and trying to start over, she’s finding that it’s not that easy. Maybe new surroundings are what she needs to make it easier to move on and forget all about her old life. It could have been…until he showed up.

“Having the sort of job that is as dangerous as what I do doesn’t allow for a personal life, no exceptions.”

Jack and his team of military misfits have seen their fair share of war zones and violent criminals. Skilled in precision rescue operations, they’ve traveled into some of the most terrifying countries and stood up to intimidating adversaries, but when a mentor of Jack’s calls them in for a favor that he is unable to turn down, he finds himself up against his most challenging fear of all…his heart. There is a fine line between getting close enough to do your job and getting so close that you get attached. That line used to be obvious, but now that he’s met her, things have blurred and priorities have shifted. Can he keep his feelings in check and still protect Ellie from an adversary more dangerous and twisted than she could ever imagine?







Review by pearls
This book really pulled me in from the start.  Ellie is strong and independent, but also broken.  Jack is the same.  Together, they give each other the chance to repair and to dream of future.  But the danger in their lives keeps interfering with that dream and planting doubts of a future together.  Part Romance, there is great chemistry between Jack and Ellie.  Part Mystery/suspense, the story opens with a mysteriously dead fiancé and father and several secretive investigations.  The choice of making Ellie an investigative reporter was brilliant.  And Part Action/Military, there is a state of high alert through out the whole book, revving up the tension.  Will Zach and Ellie make it out together?  I don't know, but it is a wild ride to find out.

 




“And this…” I tossed the manila envelope back to the desk, “…is not a job. It’s a death sentence. My death sentence. I’m walking in blind. I mean, how do I know she’s not running from the law?”

Lou shook his head, his mouth contorting into a tight frown, and answered matter-of-factly, “She’s not. And why would that stop you?”

“How do I know for sure? How do you know for sure?” I challenged, making him smile.

Somehow, that irritated me even more. He was hiding something.

“Because I know,” he answered, lips pursed, eyes narrowing at me. He didn’t look away and neither did I. I wanted to know what he was thinking. What was he hiding? Unfortunately, he was going to make it difficult to find out.

I sighed, knowing that was the only answer I was going to get. “Is she hiding from her husband or boyfriend or something?”

“Most definitely not,” he answered with a heavy sigh, sadness flicking across his face.

This piqued my interest. And why was a small part of me so damn happy with that answer?

“Did she kill someone?” I figured I already knew the answer to this one, but I had to ask.

He chuckled. “Absolutely not.”

“What if she’s got the mob after her? Did she piss off a terrorist group?”

“So what if they are? So what if she did? You’ve been wrapped up in worse and handled it,” he answered quickly. “Stop with the stalling already, Jack. I need to know. Are. You. In.”

“Lou, I don’t help people against their will because if they won’t listen and do what I tell them to do, bad things happen. She doesn’t want me anywhere near her. She won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me. Ellie dodges me all day long. I tried to just talk to her like you asked me, but she avoids me like the plague and scurries off in the other direction. She looks at me like…like…”

“Like the frightened child she is,” Lou interrupted sighing.










A.L. Davis lives in Southern California with her husband, two kids, and one fur baby. A.L. has had a passion for writing since high school where any free time was spent thinking up new stories. Shortly after graduating high school writing took a back seat to start a family. Now that the kids are older, writing has become her hobby once again.




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Giveaway is US ONLY except the ebooks

Two Signed Paperbacks of The Only Exception: Broken
Two Ebook copies of The Only Exception: Broken
HUGE swag pack from United Indie Book Blog
Two smaller swag packs from United Indie Book Blog


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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Ready for a hot new series, darlin'?


Review by pearls
While each is unique, the Cavanaugh brothers have one thing in common.  They are panties-wetting hot.  They not only turn heads, but they take control of the room.  Especially oldest brother Deacon, the tycoon.  In Branded the brothers are re-united on their home the Triple C Ranch for their father's funeral.  Long buried secrets have created animosities, but they all agree on a ray of sunshine, Mackenzie.  I love character driven books, and Laura Wright has drawn 5 distinct personalities for this series, each dealing with the consequences of tragedy in their shared youth.
  
Mackenzie has loved two things all of her life, but now finds she must chose between them.  Deacon thought he knew what he wanted most in life, but realizes that if he continues to pursue that dream he will lose the woman he has come to love.  The verbal sparring between the two revs up the sexual tension, which is explosive when unleashed.  As secrets continue to be revealed through out the story, a larger picture emerges behind the characters' motivations.  If home is where the heart is, what do you do with a home and heart that are both broken?  Do you destroy them both and start over, or do you let love have a chance to heal?  Great start to a new series, where each brother will have to answer this same question in his own way.

BRANDED
Cavanaugh Brothers, #1
by Laura Wright
 
a Contemporary Western Romance
from Signet

Blurb
In the small town of River Black, Texas, sits the Triple C—a working cattle ranch that sustains the town. But it also holds painful memories and shocking secrets for the Cavanaugh brothers....

When the Cavanaugh brothers return home for their father’s funeral, they discover unexpected evidence of the old man’s surprising double life—a son named Blue, who wants the Triple C Ranch as much as they do. The eldest son, Deacon, a wealthy businessman who couldn’t wait to leave the ranch and move on with his life, is looking to use his powerful connections to stop Blue at any cost. He never expected the ranch’s forewoman, Mackenzie Byrd, to get in his way.

Mac knows Deacon means to destroy the ranch and therefore destroy her livelihood. But as the two battle for control, their attraction builds. Now Deacon is faced with the choice of a lifetime: Take down the Triple C to feed his need for revenge, or embrace the love of the one person who has broken down every barrier to his heart.
 

Excerpt

 

Two hours later, hot and sweaty, his stomach barely appeased by the two sandwiches he’d already eaten, Deacon sat beside Mackenzie under the shade of a birch tree and watched her eat her first sandwich. Her hat was resting on the grass, and the breeze off the lake a few feet away was sending dark strands of her hair flying about her beautiful, dirt-smudged face.
Hell, a body could get used to this. Working hard alongside such a woman, his muscles being fed by hours in the saddle and under the sun instead of in the sterile private gyms in his office building and penthouse.
The thoughts moved uninvited through his mind, and he turned to the picnic, which was set up on a blue and white striped cloth on the grass, and grabbed a third sandwich, along with a handful of chips and a bunch of grapes.
“You sure worked up an appetite, cowboy,” Mac said, eyeing his plate.
“Thank God you had the good sense to pack enough for--”
“An army?” she finished good-naturedly. She grinned and crunched a slice of pickle.
Deacon laughed. “I was going to say a country boy.”
She cocked her head, pretended to study him. “Not sure you can call yourself that anymore.”
“I told you--”
“I know what you told me, but I think you been out of the game too long.” She shrugged, then popped the rest of the pickle in her mouth.
“There’s a statute of limitations on calling yourself country?”
She nodded. “Yes. It’s ten years.”
The flash of amusement in her blue eyes made his heart flip over like a damn fish on the bank. Out of its element and unable to breath. “That written down somewhere or did you just make it up on the spot?”
“Oh, it’s common knowledge,” she said, taking her half of a brownie she’d cut in two earlier.
He watched her eat it, watched the moist chocolate slip between her teeth. “So, if I go back to the house and ask Sam about this, you think he’ll back you up?”
“Oh, Sam will always back me up.”
“There’s gotta be someone I can ask.” He dropped his chin and gave her a serious look. “Someone impartial. Someone who either isn’t in love with you, thinks you’re the prettiest girl they’ve ever seen, or goes to bed dreaming of getting a kiss like the one we had last night.”
Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she dropped her gaze. “Hey, Deacon, about that. I’m sorry--”
“No, I didn’t mean anything, Mac,” he started, feeling like an asshole for shooting off his mouth.
“I don’t know. Maybe we should talk about it?”
“No. It was a mistake. Right?” He tried to catch her eye, but she wasn’t having it. “You were drinking, I was...there.”
She turned to face the lake, her jaw tight. “Right.”
Shit. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t like it. And he didn’t like that she’d agreed with him about the make out session meaning nothing.
“Hey,” she said. “You gonna eat the other half of that brownie?”
“You avoiding talking about our kiss, Mackenzie?”
“Maybe.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. Maybe he should avoid it, too. But his mouth opened anyway and he started babbling on. “Truth? It was amazing, Mac. Shit. It was hottest motherfucking kiss I’ve ever had. It deserves to be talked about. Might even deserve to be commemorated on a plate or something.”
She groaned. “The brownie, Deacon,” she said again, her eyes still trained on the dessert. “You gonna eat it or what?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“If you’ll let me feed it to you.”
Her head came up, and her eyes narrowed. “You have issues.”
“That a yes?” He picked up the brownie, smiled at her. “How bad do you want it, Mackenzie?”
She shook her head at him. “Not bad enough to humiliate myself.”
“Come on now. Don’t get all bent out of shape.” He leaned toward her and waved the brownie under her nose, then swiped a bit of the frosting on her upper lip. “Every man knows that women can’t resist chocolate.”
She licked it off instantly. “Where did you hear that?”
“You.” He shrugged. “And somewhere else, too. I’ll tell you if you open up and take a bite.” Deacon broke off a piece of brownie and waited. When she let him slide it between her lips, he felt his entire body tense.  
“Lucky brownie,” he whispered.
Her eyes cut to his. They were worried and confused, and glazed with attraction like they’d been last night.
Deacon knew he should stop this, end this. It was so damn dangerous, playing around with her feelings, and shit, his own. But they were so close, and her eyes were on his, and her sweet, salty scent was pushing into his nostrils.
He bent down and whispered, “I know I’ve never tasted anything better than your mouth. No hotter, sweeter place in the world.”


 
AVAILABLE NOW:





 



BROKEN
Cavanaugh Brothers, #2
Publisher: Signet
Release Date:  October 7, 2014

 Blurb

The Cavanaugh brothers left behind River Black, Texas, long ago. But after their father dies, bequeathing them the Triple C, a cattle ranch that sustains their small town, they return—and confront the painful memories of their childhood home and the truth about their sister’s murder…

For years, James Cavanaugh has traveled the world as a horse whisperer, but even the millions he’s earned hasn’t healed the pain he hides behind his stoic exterior. Forced to tackle old demons at the ranch, James throws himself into work to avoid his true feelings. Until he meets a woman who shakes the foundations of his well-built walls…

Sheridan O’Neil’s quiet confidence has served her well, except when it comes to romance. Tired of rejection, she’s ready to swear off men. But after being rescued from a horse stampede by the most beautiful cowboy she’s ever met, her resolve wavers. Only, as Sheridan uncovers James’s belief that no woman is safe with him, she wonders if such a wounded man could ever give in to love, or if some hearts are too broken to be healed…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Author of the Bestselling Mark of the Vampire series, Laura Wright spent the early years of her life immersed in the worlds of singing, acting and competitive ballroom dancing. But when she started writing, she knew she’d found her true calling. Laura lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband, two children, three dogs, two frogs and two fish. She’s been thrice nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, and loves hearing from her readers.

 
Connect with Laura:

 
 

TOUR GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Grand Prize: $10.00 gift card to Amazon  & paperback of BRANDED (International winner will get gift card &  eBook)
Runner-up:  1 runner-up will receive an eBook of BRANDED
 
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