She either loves him or wants him dead: Forsaken

2 New Excerpts!!

Meet Chad in the newest addition to The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series by Lisa Renee Jones!

Now available!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1IckAVe

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1GxDQXI

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1FzklNE

iBooks: http://apple.co/1SHmQqH

Blurb

In this third book in the sexy, suspenseful “The Secret Life of Amy Bensen” series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, we meet Amy’s brother Chad—and the woman who either loves him or wants him dead.

Six years ago, Chad’s hunt for a dangerous treasure turned deadly when his family home was set on fire, his parents killed. Faking his and his sister Amy’s death to protect her from further retaliation, he set her up in a new life with a friend’s help, letting her believe he’d died.

But now the men who hired Chad to find the treasure have found him, imprisoning and torturing him to learn where it’s hidden. A dark-haired beauty named Gia helps him escape, promising him access to his worst enemy. And as he tries to unravel the deep secrets of the past, he starts falling for her…only to discover she’s not what she seems.

Unable to trust anyone, Chad focuses on only two things: protecting his sister Amy and getting revenge. Is love even possible in the midst of heartache?

Review by pearls
Lisa Renee Jones is the master at keeping the reader on her toes.  She has so many players, so many potential directions, that you can see the dangers in every choice.  The hero of this story wouldn't call himself the hero.  In fact he admits to being the downfall of his family.  But his act of redemption shows the heart deep down inside, leaving you rooting for him.  Gia's loyalty and bravery is to be admired, although at times it is easy to question her motives.  It is good to see Amy and Liam again, as their solidarity provides the stability Chad has needed.  This installment is Chad's story though and explains many questions about why Amy has faced her life struggles.  She has every reason to hate him.  But Chad will learn that love has a power, and a mind, of its own.

Excerpt #1

I stare at her. She stares back at me, and a battle of wills ensues, crackling with challenge that slowly shifts to something darker, hotter, and I reply with a low, rough tone. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind,” I murmur, and suddenly I’m staring at her lips, her full, kissable, tempting lips. A mix of adrenaline and lust rushes through me, barely contained. My mouth lowers, my need to lose myself in this moment, in this woman a fierce beast that does not want to be ignored.

“Don’t,” she whispers urgently.

“Don’t what?” I ask, lingering a breath away from touching her face, so close I can almost taste her.

“Kiss me again. Because I’ll kiss you back, and we’ll both hate me for it.”

She’s right. But I still want to kiss her.

“Please,” she whispers.

“Please kiss you? Please tie you up and fuck you like you’ve never been fucked? Please make you come so many times you’ll never forget who you fucked if you fuck me over?”

“Please don’t do any of those things.”

“Because you don’t want me to?”

“I already told you why. You’ll hate me later. And I’ll hate me for giving you the chance.”

“And what about me? Will you hate me?”

“I don’t have a reason to hate you, Chad. I don’t know you.”

“But you want me.”

“I don’t know the right answer to that.”

“The truth will set you free.”

“The truth can’t set you free if no one believes you.”

Excerpt #2

It’s nearly eight in the evening when I take the elevator to our secure, key-coded floor and enter the suite, where I immediately hear, “Chad! Is that you?”

Angry, I grab the chair in front of the door and shove it aside.

“Oh, thank God,” Gia gushes, flinging her arms around my neck. “You’re in one piece.”

Stunned by her greeting, by the way her sweet curves meld against me, I fight the heat rushes through me, untangling her grip and pressing her hands against the wall. “Tell me what you know about my sister,” I demand.

“Nothing, Chad. I told you that. Is she—was she—”

“You know I didn’t find her.”

“I wanted you to find her. I was terrified for you.”

Anger expands in me, seeping into my veins, and on some level, I know it’s not about Gia at all, or maybe I just fear it will be about her. I don’t want to trust her and be wrong. “You barely know me.”

“I know you’re in pain. I know what being alone feels like, and I know that’s what you feel right now.”

Alone.

It’s a word that pierces my heart with guilt. It’s what I know my sister has felt for six long years. I was all she had, the only one she could count on, even if she didn’t know I was there—and I failed her. The pain is a seed that grows and expands inside me in an instant, and suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, the idea of being betrayed by Gia is not as biting as the idea of failing her as well. My hands come down on her face, and I stare at her. “I have money and resources to hide you, and I promise you, no one will find you. But I won’t be there with you. I’m poison to anyone near me. You can’t forget that. I can’t forget that.”

I don’t give her time to reply. My mouth closes down on hers, my tongue pressing past her lips, stroking and stroking again, in what is instantly an aggressive, searching kiss. She moans, and I swear the sound of her moan shatters a piece of my soul that is already bleeding for my sister. In this moment, it feels like all I have left is this woman.

Escaping Reality (book 1) is available to "Read Free" on NetGalley right now - https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/62595

For More information on The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series page including: buy links, and excerpts for the previous two and also upcoming releases.  Visit Lisa’s website here: http://bit.ly/AmyBensen

About the Author:

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) 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 lists.

Watch the video on casting for the INSIDE TV Show HERE

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 on her website and she is active on twitter and facebook daily.

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

$25 Amazon Gift Card (2 Winners)

Signed Set of The Secret Life of Amy Bensen Series

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Share Link:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/09964f03718/

THANK YOU!

Meet Chad in Forsaken on Aug. 18

Meet Chad in the newest addition to The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series by Lisa Renee Jones!

Now available for Pre-order!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1IckAVe

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1GxDQXI

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1FzklNE

iBooks: http://apple.co/1SHmQqH

Pre-order Forsaken and Unbroken and receive exclusive content leading up to the release and super special bonus content after the release of Unbroken as well. You can find the form here - http://lisareneejones.com/pre-order-promotion/

Blurb

In this third book in the sexy, suspenseful “The Secret Life of Amy Bensen” series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones, we meet Amy’s brother Chad—and the woman who either loves him or wants him dead.

Six years ago, Chad’s hunt for a dangerous treasure turned deadly when his family home was set on fire, his parents killed. Faking his and his sister Amy’s death to protect her from further retaliation, he set her up in a new life with a friend’s help, letting her believe he’d died.

But now the men who hired Chad to find the treasure have found him, imprisoning and torturing him to learn where it’s hidden. A dark-haired beauty named Gia helps him escape, promising him access to his worst enemy. And as he tries to unravel the deep secrets of the past, he starts falling for her…only to discover she’s not what she seems.

Unable to trust anyone, Chad focuses on only two things: protecting his sister Amy and getting revenge. Is love even possible in the midst of heartache?

**Please choose one excerpt**

Excerpt #1

I cross the room to enter the master bedroom and Gia greets me at the door, her pale skin like ivory, her dark brown hair draping her shoulders, and worry etched in the furrow of her brow. She is beautiful. She is here. She is mine, if only for now, and I have every intention of keeping her.

I kick the door shut and she takes a step backwards, giving me space I do not want. “You have to know that party is a setup. You can’t show up there.”

“I take it you listened in on our conversation.”

“Yes. I did. Chad—”

She yelps as I grab her, rotating her to press her against the door, trapping her legs with mine. “He hacked your personnel file.”

“Of course he did. I don’t trust him.”

I tangle rough fingers into her hair, tugging just enough to force her blue eyes to mine. “He doesn’t trust you.”

“Like you?”

My answer is a deep, hungry kiss. The taste of her, addictively sweet, fills my senses, stirs a craving for more. She makes me crave more. Escape. Passion. That indefinable sense of needing what only she can give me. She moans, a soft, sexy sound I feel in the tightening of my body, the burn in my limbs. My free hand caresses her hip, her waist, the curve of her breast, and I want nothing more than to be lost at sea with this woman, floating on an ocean of waves, so far away from the rest of the world we can’t be found. But I have to settle for here. Now. Lost in her. With her.

Only, she’s not with me. I feel it in the tentative caress of her tongue, the uncertainty and reserve of her fingers barely flexing against my chest, and I tear my mouth from hers. “I fucked up in the lobby. But Gia, in a very short time, you’ve gotten inside my head and under my skin in a way no one else has. You know the real me, and that’s dangerous for both of us.”

“I’m a part of this world now, too, and I need to understand to survive.”

“You aren’t. You can’t be. I won’t allow it.”

“You can’t change what already is. You think that if I’m out of your sight, I’m safe? That’s a fantasy, Chad, and I’m not willing to live in a fantasy that could kill me.” She balls her fingers around my shirt.

We stare at each other, the sound of our breaths mingling together, the sun starting to dim beyond the windows, like the resistance I once had to this woman. “I want your help. I even need it, but I won’t lie to you anymore. You need to know that the first chance I have to make it happen, I will get you out of this.”

“If I don’t want to go?”

“You’ll go.”

She inhales and lets it out. “And never see you again.”

“It has to be that way.”

“If I resist?”

“Then we’ll go to war,” I assure her, “and I’ll win.”

“If you send me away, I’ll go after him on my own.”

I lean back, pressing my hands on the wall beside her. “That would be foolish, and you’re not foolish.”

“So is your thinking that you can take on something this big on your own. And don’t say you have Jared. You didn’t even tell him what you were hiding for six years.”

“What he doesn’t know can’t get him killed.”

“That’s bullshit, Chad. They’ll kill him to get to you, just like they’ll kill me, or your sister. You do have to destroy them, and I don’t even know how you do that.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Damn you and your stubbornness,” she hisses. “You’re going to end up dead.”

I slide my hands to her hair. “You need to stop talking. Right here, this moment, is about just that: the moment.”

“This moment won’t erase the facts. This is bigger than you and me. I have to be a weapon if I can be.”

“But not another loss,” I declare. “You give me the information. I risk myself. End of story.” She opens her mouth to argue and I silence her with a kiss, and I swear I can almost taste the blood I won’t let be hers, almost hear the piercing scream of my mother’s agony in my head. I cup Gia’s head, deepening the connection between us. Needing again. Demanding. Taking. Relieved when she goes from stiff and unyielding to wildly responsive, her tongue stroking mine, her hands sliding under my shirt, her palms soft and warm. Her touch is somehow like a calm summer breeze on a hot Texas night and at the same time it’s the fire that makes it hotter.

But Gia isn’t calm. She’s all over me—kissing me, touching me, possessive in her own right, as if she is trying to hold onto me beyond the moment.

Excerpt #2

I join her at the sink, where she’s struggling to get the bandage wrapped around her palm. I grab her hand and take over and our eyes lock and collide, the air instantly thick with a huge dose of lust-filled distrust.

“You’re going to get caught in here,” she warns softly, as if she can’t quite find her voice.

“It’s a Walmart in Texas,” I tell her. “They’re happy if you manage to show up with pants on.”

She laughs despite an effort to stop herself. “I suppose so. I’m just nervous about getting attention we don’t need.”

“We’re fine.” I fit some tape over the bandage on her hand and dump the supplies back inside the basket sitting on the counter.

“Right,” she agrees. “I know we are.”

She doesn’t sound convinced, and I can’t seem to quell my need to convince her otherwise. “Don’t let my getting captured fool you. It took him years to find me. I’m good at what I do. He won’t find me again. That means he won’t find you.”

“Until you’re done with me,” she murmurs, cutting her gaze away from me, and for the first time since that bedroom in East Austin, fear radiates off her. I tell myself to let it go, that she could be working me over, but I can’t seem to care.

I slip a finger under her chin and force her gaze to mine. “No matter what your intentions were when this started tonight, if you help me, really help me, I’ll make sure you stay protected.”

“I don’t work for him, and I don’t know why I’m even saying that again. I know I can’t convince you.”

“I told you. Help me. I’ll help you. Okay?”

“Yes. Okay.” She’s not convinced, and the truth is, neither am I. I stayed away from people until Meg, Amy included, for a reason. People die when they’re near me, but I’m not telling Gia that, and I let my hand fall away, settling both on my hips.

She hugs herself and for several beats we simply stare at each other, until she wets her lips, and I try not to look at her mouth, or think about kissing her, but I fail. I think about it. In vivid, I-want-to-fuck-her detail.

“This is what you do?” she asks. “How you live? Always looking over your shoulder? Is that how I have to live?”

“I, like others in the organization I work for, find what no one else can find.”

“For a price.”

“Yes. For a price.”

Escaping Reality (book 1) is available to "Read Free" on NetGalley right now - https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/62595

Infinite Possibilities (book 2) is on sale for $1.99 (reg. $7.99) until 8/16

For More information on The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series page including: buy links, and excerpts for the previous two and also upcoming releases.  Visit Lisa’s website here: http://bit.ly/AmyBensen

About the Author:

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) 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 lists.

Watch the video on casting for the INSIDE TV Show HERE

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 on her website and she is active on twitter and facebook daily.

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

$100 gift card,

3 Infinity Necklaces

$40 Godiva gift card

Share Link:  https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e837c2b0236/

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THANK YOU!

Forsaken: a Falllen Siren novella

Forsaken

Fallen Siren 2.5

by S.J. Harper

Genre: Paranormal romance

Publisher: All Romance eBooks

Date of Publication: July 1, 2015

ISBN: 9781936387960

Word Count: 35,000

Cover Artist: Erin Dameron Hill

Blurb/Book Description:

Join Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.

She protected him. He loved her.  

They can trust one another with their lives, but what about their hearts?

Special Agent Emma Monroe is a Fallen Siren seeking redemption. Thousands of years ago, she was banished from Mount Olympus by Zeus and cursed by Demeter for failing to prevent the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades. Now she’s working for the FBI, seeking salvation while searching for and finding the missing. Her partner, Zack Armstrong, is a werewolf with a grievance of his own. 

The former Black Ops sniper who once carried out a string of questionable assignments is atoning for his past. Ironically, Zack’s just discovered an important piece of his past has been magically wiped from his memory—an affair with Emma. It doesn’t matter she used the spell to save his life, that’s something he’ll never know. With trust eroded and love overshadowed by betrayal the only thing holding them together is the job.

When the son of multi-billionaire Roger Maitlan is kidnapped and his babysitter murdered in cold blood, Emma and Zack travel to New York to work the case. They go undercover, infiltrating a playground of private dungeons where those who are rich and powerful can live out fantasies without consequence. What they find is a conspiracy born of a twisted mind and fueled by greed. The clock is ticking. Will Zack and Emma be able to find the missing boy and their way back to one another?

Available at ARe

Review by pearls

The Fallen Siren series is a great myster series, much like CSI with paranormal detectives.  Throw in the tension of an unrequited love, and the storyline really heats up.  Once agent the agents are working against the clock to save a kidnapped innocent.  But the stress of their non-relationship is affecting their job as his ability to trust her has been shaken.  I love this series and this is a great addition.  Sex appeal and Suspence! 

Excerpt: 

I’ve learned that it can take a lifetime to mend a broken heart. Right here, right now, I’m ready to stop suffering this one. To stop suffering altogether. I glance over at Zack who is sound asleep. He didn’t get any rest Friday night, thanks to Demeter. He was too preoccupied with feeling betrayed, manipulated, played the fool. Just as Demeter intended. Fuck Demeter. Fuck the world. I’m not giving up. I’m not giving in. I have a role to play, a duty to perform, a failure to make up for. It’s what I do, who I am.

A Siren is a Siren. A sexual creature, born of Gaia. I’m one of three, cursed by Demeter thousands of years ago for failing to protect Persephone. It’s for this I atone, for this I pay. It’s the reason I work for the FBI and search for the missing. It’s the reason I avoid love at all costs. Finding the missing brings me closer to redemption. 

Finding love? I swallow hard. That always ends in ruin and death. Once again, my gaze drifts to my partner, Zack, a dark, rugged werewolf who was formerly, and quite secretly, a badass black ops assassin. Also, formerly, my lover. We met during a case in Charleston about a year and a half ago. The attraction was instant, giving into it seemingly safe. The assignment was to be temporary after all. He was to go his way. I was to go mine. There was to be no contact between us. And there wasn’t until he transferred to San Diego, to my unit. Until he became my partner both in and out of bed. Until we fell in love and I made the only choice I could. I took his memories to save his life. 

“Can I get you anything else?” the flight attendant asks quietly. 

I hand her my empty cup and shake my head.

She moves on down the aisle. 

I transfer the case file I’ve been perusing onto the seat between Zack and me along with my laptop and cell phone. I’ve read the dossier on real estate mogul and philanthropist Roger Maitlan a half-dozen times along with what little is known about the kidnapping of his seven-year-old son, Robby. Maitlan’s missing child is the reason we’re on our way to the Big Apple. The reason our boss, Jimmy Johnson, denied the request Zack made for transfer just yesterday morning. 

I notice the light above the forward lavatory has turned from red to green. I consider waking Zack for a fraction of a second before deciding against. I’m agile, limber, and frankly not looking forward to once again facing his ire. I quietly unbuckle, lift up the arm separating the window and middle seats, then slide over. I stand in so much as I can, considering the outcropping of overhead bins, and turn to face him. Left hand on the middle seat, I lift my right leg up and over his. He doesn’t flinch. There’s no alteration in his breathing. My toe touches the ground, and I begin to shift my weight to the foot that’s now firmly planted in the aisle. His hand brushes my thigh, his eyes open. 

He sits up straighter in his chair. “You could have woken me and asked me to move.” His tone is irritable, bordering on accusing. 

I avoid eye contact, avoid his touch. “Let’s pretend I did,” I say before slipping out of the row and making my way toward the front of the plane. I feel his eyes on me. Never did I imagine viewing an airplane lavatory as a refuge. I take care of the most immediate needs first, then I wash my hands. When I reach for the paper towels, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I have to admit, I look a little worse for wear. Considering what I’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. 

This time yesterday Zack and I were staging the rescue of ten missing girls, all young, blonde virgins—pawns in a power play between two ruling vampire factions. The losing side led by the now dead Southern vampire King, Philippe Lamont. The winner? Kallistos Kouros. My betrayer, my savior, and now the Sovereign of both the West and the South. Kallistos and I had been sharing a bed for the better part of six months. The no-strings-attached relationship worked for us both—the vampire who made no demands, except for the most exquisite sexual ones, and the Siren who could fulfill those demands without sacrificing her heart. Only in the end my heart did suffer as I watched him take the lives of humans to ensure his position, grow his kingdom, and increase his power. I’d like to condemn him, but I can’t. Kallistos told me what to expect of him more times than I could count. And I have to admit he’s delivered supremely on both his promise to be there when needed and to disappoint. If he hadn’t healed me two nights 

ago, I’d be gone. Not dead, Demeter would never have allowed that, forced to move on to another life. Problem is, I’m not done with this one.

I lean closer to the mirror and study my appearance, seeking assurance that the two spells I pay my best friend Liz for are still firmly in place. The first, a reverse glamour that hides my true appearance and furnishes me with the wholesome, plain-Jane facade I’ve become so accustomed to seeing. The second, a dampening spell that diminishes both my innate powers of seduction and the nifty little side effect that makes me the most reliable lie detector ever. I realize that Liz, who is not only the baddest witch this side of the Mississippi, but my touchstone when it comes to matters of the heart, doesn’t know what happened in the last couple days between Kallistos and me, between Zack and me, between Demeter and me—that I’m on my way to New York, that everything is different, my life changed.

I make a half-hearted effort to smooth down my hair, which is long, dark, and pulled back into a simple ponytail. I can’t help noticing that my skin, normally fair and unblemished, is paler than usual. Not because of a lack of makeup. I never wear makeup. No mascara. No lip-gloss. Nothing. I reach up and pinch my cheeks. It doesn’t help. The inside of my lower eyelid contains only the barest hint of pink. I’m anemic. I’ve lost too much blood. Not during the mission. Though there was plenty of blood shed last night, none of it was mine. My near death experience came this morning at the hand of my favorite vindictive goddess, Demeter. After she betrayed me. After Zack discovered my betrayal of him. 

Zack.

About the Author:

S.J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein, two friends who met at Comic-Con in San Diego and quickly bonded over a mutual love of good wine, edgy urban fantasy, and everything Joss Whedon. 

http://sjharper.me/

https://www.facebook.com/samanthasommersby

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000177556968

http://twitter.com/samsommersby

https://twitter.com/JeanneCStein