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Showing posts with label excerpt.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label excerpt.. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Make an Appointment at Liz Crowe's Love Garage


Love Garage
Book 1
January 5, 2015 (ebook)
March 14, 2015 (Print)
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22294474-love-garage
Blurb

Antony Love is the quintessential responsible oldest brother of a boisterous, Italian/Irish family, placed in charge at a young age by his parents who are busy running the family business. He manages his siblings with a fair but iron hand, until his life is shattered by personal tragedy leaving him the shell of the man he once was.

When outspoken matriarch Lindsay Halloran Love becomes ill, the youngest brother Aiden shows up at Antony's garage, having dropped out of school (again), needing work and a place to crash. Antony provides both, with three caveats: "Don't smoke in my truck, don't be late for work, and don't mess with my girlfriend."

But Aiden Love, budding novelist, gets one glimpse of Rosalee Norris, young widow of Antony's lifelong best friend and all bets are off.

Set in horse country near Lexington, Kentucky, The Love Brothers Series is a saga of family devotion that runs as wide and deep as the Ohio River--except on Sundays when brothers Antony, Kieran, Dominic and Aiden work out their frustrations on the basketball court, Love brother style.

The Love Brothers: A family saga with humor, heat and heart—not to mention beer, bourbon and basketball.

Love Garage Excerpt:

Love Garage opened bright and early the next morning, a Saturday, a day Aiden had hoped to spend recovering.

“I get so many oil changes and random small jobs on Saturdays, it doesn’t make sense to be closed and let the jackasses with the Quickilube at Walmart get the business,” Antony insisted when Aiden groaned with dismay upon being awakened after two hours of drunken sleep. It didn’t help that the awakening occurred at the business end of a thrown pillow. “Get up, Romeo. You owe me rent money.”
He did, slowly, queasily hitting a shower, sore all over, his skin mottled from bug bites. But nothing topped the glorious agony of a bourbon hangover like the one that had him firmly in its evil grasp.
He slouched out the door, cursing Antony, cursing Tricia, cursing her ex-husband for throwing her in his path last night. But mostly cursing his own weak-ass uselessness. He rested his head against the cool comfort of the truck window until Antony hit a bump or two, which sent extra pain jolting down his spine.
“Sorry,” his brother muttered, glancing over at him.
“No, you’re not.”
“Got me there. And you’d better warn me if you’re about to toss your cookies. I won’t have that in my vehicle, got me?”
Aiden rubbed his neck and nodded, swallowing the urge to throw up all over the pristine interior on principal. “Why d’you hate me so much? You used to like me.” He stared over at his brother, heart thumping, ears humming, throat closing up with nausea. He despised waking up still drunk.
“I don’t hate you.” Antony turned onto the main road headed into town.
“Could’ve fooled me. You’re a real asshole anymore. Worse than Dom.”
Antony merely shrugged, not rising to that tried-and-true bait. So they spent the rest of the ride to the garage in silence. Once there, Antony sat gripping the wheel. Aiden waited, hoping he’d get something out of him—something he would assure him that the man he thought he remembered as the protective, funny, and loving guy he’d grown up with still existed inside the guy walking around wearing Antony’s skin.
Finally, he let go of the wheel, exhaled, and squared his shoulders as if prepping for battle. Aiden made a mental note to talk to Kieran about how badly Antony had descended into his life of non-stop mourning and jerk-hood.
“So, Rosalee, not putting out for you or what? You need to get laid maybe? Knock the edge off?”
The glare Aiden got for saying those particular words did make him worry Antony might punch his aching head through the passenger-side window.
He clenched his jaw in the way Aiden remembered from their childhood. “That is so far outside the realm of your business as to be in another galaxy. Get to work and don’t say her name to me again.”
And with that, Aiden was left with the fleeting thought that mentioning Rosalee directly was probably not a good idea. He surely didn’t need Antony to guess that her name was on his lips, or front and center of his mind.
He shook his head—a Bad Plan because it summoned the pounding agony back with a vengeance. Groaning, he climbed out and shuffled over to the door.
A new day began at Love Garage.


Pre order link available Dec. 15, 2014.

Coming Soon... Coach Love



Enter to win!
As part of this cover/trailer/blurb/excerpt reveal there is a massive, 3-prize pack, multi-author giveaway. Here is the Rafflecopter embed link:





Liz Crowe bio
                                                **************
Amazon best-selling author, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, mom of three, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse.
Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”). More recently she is garnering even more fans across genres with her latest novels, which are more character-driven fiction, while remaining very much “real life.”
With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
Don’t ever ask her for anything “like a Budweiser” or risk bodily injury.
Beer, Books & More Blog

Friday, May 23, 2014

Cover Reveal and Excerpt for Nikki Lynn Barrett's "The Key To My Heart"


Harmony's Echo, Texas is a small town being put on the map. It all started with Baby Stetson when Avery Callimer finally gets the answers she's longed for and finds the courage to chase her dreams. 




Then, in The Melody In My Head, a woman on the run finds her place in this tiny map dot of a town. Lead guitarist Jameson finally has to face his past and has a chance at love....



Coming in July 2014, readers will learn about Blaine Grant, Jameson's sister. You met her in The Melody In My Head, where there's a glimpse of something going on between Blaine and Baby Stetson's keyboard player, Randy.

Now their story is almost here. And today, we're revealing the cover for The Key To My Heart.  Are you ready?



One dream fails, a passion burnt out...


Blaine Grant hightailed it out of Harmony's Echo a year out of high school to find herself. Finding a passion didn't come as easily to her as it did for others around her. Now, Blaine has come home for good with mistakes she'd like to forget, but the past doesn't want to forget her. Everyone thought she'd been selfish to not come back when she was needed the most, but Blaine never let anyone know the emotional hell she went through.


Another dream is just beginning to see the light...


Randy Hughes has always been the shy nice guy. He's the glue that holds his family together. He's the one who takes everyone in when they need it, and he's the one whose own dreams are ignored. Now that big things are happening for the Baby Stetson band, Randy has to decide how to handle his family when his dreams are on the line...


A friendship is changing.


One spur of the moment, impulsive move leads Randy and Blaine into a dire situation that may bring them together, or pull them apart, just when he's finally able to gather the courage to tell Blaine how he's felt about her all these years...


Excerpt:

“What was your dream?” 
“To-” Hell, what was her dream? To dance? To teach dance? Things just fell into place without much thought back then, but was it really a dream, or was it her accepting life the way it was? “There you go again with those questions!” 
  Randy squeezed her hand before he turned on his side to face her. “ At least you're not trapped way up high on a carnival ride.” he laughed.
“No, but I'm out in the middle of nowhere in the back of your truck. That's just as scary.” 
“Scary, huh?” He leaned closer, his grin widening. “Like boogeyman scary?” 
Blaine rolled her eyes. “First off, there is no boogeyman. Second, I wouldn't be afraid of him if there was.” 
“You mean, you haven't heard the story of the boogeyman living out here by the creek?” 
“Nice try, Randy. I'm not one of those wimpy teenage girls you try to scare so badly that they cling to you and end up doing things.” 
He leaned up over her. “Didn't think you were, but now that you mention it...”
She socked him playfully. “You don't have to try to scare me to get a kiss, you know.” 
“Really? So, you'd kiss me without the boogeyman scare tactic?”
Pretending to think about it, Blaine closed her eyes. “Hmm.”
“You're a brat, Hollywood.”
“Ugh, don't call me that.” 
Randy wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Shut me up then.” 
“I'll shut you up by tossing your annoying ass in the water!” 
“Ooooh. Idle threats.” That didn't stop Randy from bolting up and off the truck bed. Blaine ran after him.
“What got into you all of a sudden? You've never been this bold!” 
“Maybe I'm infected by Blaine-Grant-word-vomit-itis.” 
“I'm not that bad, am I?” Oh hell, she didn't want an answer to that.  She caught up to Randy, who'd run behind a tree. 
“You have your moments, but they crack me up.” Randy said, peeking his head out from behind the tree.



Revisit the characters you've come to know in small town Harmony's Echo, as more changes settle upon them.




Author Bio: Nikki Lynn Barrett lives in Arizona with her husband and son. She's an avid reader, a dreamer, and loves everything about books. She runs a book blog, an online used bookstore, and writes various genres of romance. Nikki can also be found outside with her camera when a storm is near, snapping photo after photo. Her dreams of becoming a writer started when she was young, when she started writing books in one subject notebooks by the fifth grade.

Other Books by Nikki Lynn Barrett

The “Love and Music in Texas” Books

Baby Stetson
The Melody In My Head.

The “Secret Santa” books

The Secret Santa Wishing Well
On the 12th Date of Christmas

The Masterpiece Trilogy
A Masterpiece Of Our Love

Stalker Links:




Nikki's Book Nook (Facebook Chat group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/NikkisBookNook/


Street Team Nikki's Book Stormers:

You can sign up for my newsletter there, too!


Twitter: @Stormgoddess925

















Friday, May 16, 2014

Cover Reveal and first Taste of Ella Grey's "Guarding Mari"


I have a special guest today! Fellow Decadent Publishing author Ella Grey has a new release on the horizon. Here's a sneak peek at Guarding Mari. The second book in her Black Paw Pack series.

A killer is on the hunt for Mari, the doctor to the Black Paw Pack. It will take the combined efforts of Mari and her mate, a man she hasn’t seen in three years to keep her safe.

Guarding Mari

Three years is a long time to be away from your mate.
Mari has been living half a life.
A doctor before she was infected with the werewolf virus, Mari is now the target of a deranged serial killer. The night held one bright moment, she met Daniel Greyborn, the other half of her soul.
Daniel wants a life time with his mate.
He made a difficult decision when he left Mari with the Black Paw Pack. When he finds a body on his compound he knows that Ryback is back and it’s time to finish what happened three years ago.
But are they about to underestimate a killer?

SNIPPET

Mari smiled at him. “Hello Daniel.” She sat up and pulled off her shirt and bra. He darted forward catching her nipple between his teeth. Her fingers were in his hair as her back arched pushing it into his mouth before Daniel was pushed away. The change between human and wolf was seamless. Her fur was a dusky gold and the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Mari jumped off the table. She glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes were full of mischief. Daniel stripped out of the rest of his clothes. Her challenge was clear.
Catch me if you can, Greyborn.


So has this sneak peek caught your interest? If you haven't already, check out the first book in the series, Saving Kat. 

Saving Kat (Black Paw Pack, Book 1)

Adam Reece, Alpha of The Black Paw Pack, follows all the rules but he can’t resist teasing Katherine Moon. Pack law frowns on wolves and witches mating so the resident Earth Witch has become his friend and confidant, nothing more.
 Life is good. Kat’s blessed by the Goddess who connects her to the earth and the wolf pack she watches over, even the Alpha who only seems happy when he’s pestering her. But she wants more—namely the forbidden attention of a certain steadfast Alpha with a boyish grin. Too bad crossing that line isn’t an option.
 When a tragic accident threatens to steal her from him forever, Adam must make the hard decision—save Kat or lose her forever, even if she never forgives him.



ABOUT ELLA GREY

Ella Grey likes to tell stories which feature very human characters, even if those characters sprout fur or can conjure fire with a click of their fingers. Ella has been writing for over a decade and has been published for the last two years.
She currently lives in the UK with her son, partner and cat. She rarely sleeps and can often be found with a cup of coffee in one hand and her other hand on the keyboard.



Tuesday, July 31, 2012

"The Strix" New Excerpt




This is an excerpt from “The Strix”. In this scene Arcona has escaped a witch’s shop and fallen straight into the hands of handsome stranger, who happens to be waiting for her in a dark alley the moment she steps outside. The man she meets owns an odd bar named Slayers that’s peopled with more strange men…

“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you,” he called out to her.
She turned. “Why?”
“It’s a dead end.” A sly smile crossed his face. “Unless you’re carrying a grappling hook and a climbing rope in your purse, you’ll never get over the eight-foot brick wall waiting for you around the corner.”
He lifted his hand into the air and slowly motioned for her to approach. “Come here.” His tone softened. “A beautiful woman really shouldn’t be walking alone at night; it’s not safe. You can take a shortcut through my bar and walk straight onto a lit street.”
She relaxed her tensed shoulders. There was something dangerously intriguing about this Nordic beauty that drew her toward him. “You own Slayers?”
“Yes.” A proud smile warmed his sharply chiseled features. “You’ve heard of Slayers? My name’s Varn.” He thrust his palm forward in greeting.
“Hello, Varn.” She was too nervous to grasp his hand.

“Come inside and stay for a drink if you like.”

“I thought Slayers was some sort of private gentlemen’s club?”
Varn’s brows arched. He laughed softly as if he were enjoying a private joke. “Slayers is a gentlemen’s club by nature, not by choice. We’d welcome the privilege of entertaining an attractive female patron.” His eyes glittered in the darkness, almost as if they were casting their own light. “By the way, I’m not sure it’s accurate to describe us as gentlemen.”
He looked intense but seemed good-tempered. She silently admitted it was a heady thrill to have such a striking, semidangerous-looking man flirting with her. She loved the whole underworld attraction of ultratough guys but had never found one she could actually trust and relate to; most were just trouble, plain and simple.
A cool breeze funneled through the alleyway and blew Varn’s long hair away from his steep cheekbones. This guy sure looked like a big, burly bushel of trouble. His knuckles were raw with scars like he got in a fistfight every Saturday night, and won. Her imagination was really running away with her, but what the hell? He was just a bar owner in a touristy town, not a world-class mercenary, for God’s sake, though he certainly looked like one. The touch of danger called like a Siren’s song to her attention-starved libido.
“If you don’t mind, I think I will dart through.” God help, she was already thinking of staying for a drink and maybe more. Why rush back to an empty hotel room when a little fun might be had? She tried to be stealthy as she swept her gaze over Varn’s thick forearms. His sleeves were rolled up, and he didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the chill.
In her mind she cataloged each exciting detail, loving everything she saw. Solid, tough, and steely described Varn perfectly. How much would Jael love this guy’s icy good looks? A lot. She owed it to Jael to at least check this guy out.
Varn reached toward her and offered his hand a second time. “Be careful stepping over the crates. There are a couple of broken bottles. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
She took hold of his hand. His grip was iron, and his hands were heavily calloused.
Varn grabbed her around the waist and lifted her to his shoulders with an easy swoop.
She gasped in surprise as Varn effortlessly elevated her high above the crates and set her down gently at the threshold of Slayers’ back door.
He opened the door for her with a flourish. “After you.”
She breathlessly planted her boots on the ground. Men didn’t just pick her up and twirl her through the air every day, especially gorgeous ones in black silk shirts. This was a special thrill. What else could this guy do to make her heart race faster?
She felt a little shaky as she entered Slayers and immediately noted the building was chilly and dimly lit by old-fashioned kerosene lanterns. The scent of fresh-cut cedar hung in the air. Her first impression was Slayers felt like a men’s outdoor camping trip.
They walked down a narrow service hallway lined with wooden casks, dark cubicles, and storage closets, and past a small, candlelit room strewn with earthy red cushions and a curved lounge, before entering the main part of the bar.
Her gaze narrowed as she entered the room. The interior of Slayers was an odd, ultramacho ensemble of an old West saloon complete with a naked lady etched into an antique Parisian-style mirror hanging above the bar, a Viking longhouse with exposed wooden beams and dragons carved into the individual booths, and a military barrack embellished with Roman shields, medieval swords, weapons, and artillery shells of every description.
“Wow.” Every bizarre detail dazzled her. She couldn’t settle for long on a single thing. Slayers’ decor seemed to chronicle every great moment in warfare and mayhem. “Who’s your decorator?”
She began to worry she was barking up the wrong tree. When Varn had said gentlemen’s club, had he meant gay? This place definitely looked like it was a testosterone-drenched, chest-thumping, dick-swinging, war-craft-loving, all-male celebration, no-pink-panty zone.
A few of Slayers’ patrons sat in dark booths quietly playing cards and drinking from an eclectic selection of pewter-topped beer steins or wooden tankards. The rough- faced men casually looked up at her before returning their full attention to the card game.
There seemed to be a lot of combat boots and leather worn in this place along with steel rivets and fur. The whole place looked a little too Road Warrior, even for her tastes.
Varn leaned close to her ear. “Would you like a Humpen?” 
His deep voice sent thrilling shivers up her spine.
“Would I like what?” she asked in alarm.
Varn pointed toward a row of polished stoneware beer mugs lined up on the bar. He walked toward the bar, picked up a chunky mug, and began to draw a trickle of rich black beer from a keg. “A Humpen is a half-liter beer stein.”
His gaze dropped toward the dark, liquid filling the mug. “This is Slayers’ signature brew. It’s an ancient recipe and the only brew we drink. You can’t get it anywhere else. I want you to try it and tell me what you think.”
He handed Arcona the weighty mug with a tall head sloshing over the rim.
She accepted the drippy mug and fought the impulse to wipe her wet fingers on her pant legs. “Thank you.” She hoisted the mug in a toast. “To Slayers.” She paused before taking the first sip. “Are you going to drink?”
A dreamy, sexy expression briefly crossed Varn’s face. “I’ll drink later.”
****
I hope you enjoyed it! Have a wonderful. This week I'm editing book two "Claimed By Dragons" and that's a fun story too.
XXOO Kat

“The Strix” Katalina Leon & Amber Skyze
Book one in “The Bag Of Tricks” book series.
Loose Id Publishing
"The Strix" Katalina Leon and Amber Skyze Loose Id Publishing