MUST READ MONDAYS ~ The Perfect Spirit by Traci Hayden

Synopsis

28 year old writer, Vanessa Fortney has travelled the world, living life to the fullest. When she comes home due to the unexpected death of her only blood relatives, she only has one regret; never finding love that triumphs all others.

In a beautiful valley in the Rocky Mountains, Nessa finds her wondering about a mysterious stranger who saved her after a nearly disastrous car accident. The mystery that surrounds Daniel is quickly replaced by the increasing addiction Nessa feels for him.

Will she find that love that transcendences all love or will tragedy keep them apart?

Excerpt

Nessa's body melted as his deep and lusty French accent washed over her, penetrating her deepest fantasies. “My name is...”

“Vanessa. I know.” He answered. He stepped forward, pulling a gloved hand out from within his coat. “My name's Daniel.”

Nessa assumed since the town on the edge of the valley had a small gathering, her presence had been known within a few hours of her arrival. She looked down at his extended hand and contemplated taking it. When they touched, it was be final. Her whispering dreams of him would become real. All her fleeting thoughts of him would be physical.

Her drive to be captivated by him drove her tiny hand into his. A chill travelled her arm as she realized how cold his hand was even through the leather glove. Her hospitality and caring nature won out over everything else she was feeling. “Come to the house. Sit by the fire and warm up. I'm sure Richard and Sylvia would like to thank you also.” Secretly, she wanted to keep him close to her.

“I'm sorry, but I must decline.” His voice held a layer of regret. “I'm not comfortable around people. I've been alone for a long time.”

Nessa bowed her head, hiding her disappointment. “Maybe we could just sit and talk for a bit then.”

Daniel's hand came to rest on her cheek. His thumb under her chin, pulled her face up till his beautiful eyes met hers again. “As much as I would love to...” He looked towards the horizon, the sun barely visible as it set, “I must leave.”

The pang of disappointment stabbed Nessa's heart. She nodded, holding herself together. The profound sadness tore through her. “I understand.”

Daniel leaned in, breathing in her scent. “I missed this.” Nessa's body reacted involuntarily. She reached up on her toes and brushed her cheek against his clean shaven face. The fragrance of jasmine and lavender imprinted in her mind.

“Missed what?” Nessa asked, already knowing the answer, but relishing in the sound of his deep voice.

“Your smell.” He whispered, leaning his face into hers. “I haven't smelled the incense of lilacs in far too long.”

The heat of her blush flamed bright against her skin. She needed to see him again. “Daniel...” His name tasted sweet on her lips, “...when can I see you again?”

“Very soon, ma belle.” He breathed into her ear. “For now, remember me in your dreams.”

About Author

Traci Hayden is a proud mother of four beautiful girls and one adorable granddaughter. She has always had a passion for reading, but recently the obsession for writing has taken over.

As a Nova Scotian native now living in British Columbia, Traci has travelled across Canada, fuelling her imagination from coast to coast.

Along with two dogs and one cat, Traci's home is shared with her partner of 16 years. He is her rock and constant support.

Traci loves all genres of writing, but currently is exploring the world of romance.

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Coming May 15, 2014

FEATURE FRIDAY ~ Lost Dreams by Jude Ouvrard

Book: Lost Dreams

Author: Jude Ouvrard Date of the cover reveal: April 20^th, 2014 Genre: Military Contemporary Romance New Adult Cover Designer: K23 Design 

 

Blurb:

When Carter is killed in combat, he left behind his heartbroken wife, Avery and his shattered best friend Remy. Naturally these two wounded soul gravitate together, irresistibly drawn by the loss of the one they both loved, as well as their deep friendship with each other. But when that friendship starts to turn into something more, new problems arise. Will Avery be able to move on after losing the love of her life?

Will Remy be able to fill the void left by the loss if his best friend? Or will this new chance at love cost them all they have left?

Author bio:

 

Jude was born and raised in a small village named Lacolle. She now lives in Montreal, Canada. She is the proud mother of a beautiful five year old son, Isaac and has spent the last twelve years with her boyfriend, Cedric.

French is her native language, but she prefers to write in her second language, English. She has a passion for books, both reading and writing them

.  

 Also by Jude: Under the Sun Wonderland

 

To learn more about Jude Ouvrard, here are her links: Website/blog: www.judeouvrard.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/JudeOuvrard Twitter: @JudeOuvrard @AuthorJude_O Street Team: www.facebook.com/groups/judesbooks

Excerpt:

July 17th, 2007

Carter

I tried to be the strong one, but today hurt every bone, muscle and brain cell in my body. Without her by my side, life was painful. For years, she had been the sun in my days, the one I was looking for in the darkness. She was my light, my love and inspiration. My reason to stay alive. We were always together before I joined Special Forces. During our last deployment, we were lucky to be working together as a team and we both enjoyed it. I knew her better than I knew myself and while we worked jointly, I saw who she was and how strong and dedicated she had become. Her pride over serving in the Army was beyond most men. Her determination was astounding, she'd faced death, survived to my abject relief and still stayed the fighter she's always been. Her injuries and pain didn’t make her weak, she'd become stronger and fought against her fears.

I sat in the plane next to Remy. We had left a little over two hours ago and I could still feel her sadness, as if it was attached to my heart. Remy was also feeling blue, as he considered Avery to be like a sister. I hated that I was the reason behind her sadness. I held back the tears as long as I could, but mid-way to our destination, it overwhelmed me and I gave up.

"Fuck.... Fuck... I hate this!" I yelled. I regretted leaving her. I should have requested a release at the same time as she did. This was a fucking nightmare. "I should be home with her, Remy. We could be starting a family like we want. I shouldn’t have come... I shouldn’t have." Each word, every memory of our conversations about the future hurt, kicking me in the chest because I wanted them now. Every minute away from her was a waste of our time.

"Cart, man, relax." Remy squeezed my shoulder with a strong hand. "This, the Army, is our life, you can't go back now. We'll do this and go back home like we always do. A couple of months won't change anything in the end. She loves you like crazy and you love her even more." He paused. "Look, we can do this. It’s hard now because you just left her. Even I'm sad. I'll miss her too but it's what we do, man, we are Special Forces. We leave and we come back stronger. We fight for what's right. We have a job to get done now. Focus on that."

"Being away from her is different this time. It's not that I don't like it, I hate it. It shouldn’t be like this. We had the best times of our lives these past few days. She was glowing, she was smiling like she used to, before the bombing. I felt like she was finally back with me, with us."

"I saw it too. She was different, happy." He smiled. "It's all you, Carter. You were able to make her the happiest bride, even though she knew you were leaving. Use that to motivate yourself. We'll be back before we know it."

"Thanks, bro." I dried my tears on the sleeve of my shirt. I was still angry at myself but he was right. She was happy again. I had to focus on that and come back home as soon as possible. She was my life now. Everything I am or own, is hers.

''I want you to tell me how you feel while you are away. Write me or call me as much as you can.'' I grabbed my backpack and opened the front pocket to find my pen and paper.

Avery,

I haven't arrived at our destination yet, and I’m already writing because I'm thinking about you. I miss you. I can't stop seeing your smile and beauty in my mind.

Thank you for the pictures, I'll keep the one of you in your wedding dress with me all the time. Except when I'm in the shower, of course.

I’ve been wanting to tell you how amazing and beautiful you are. Your smiles are back, the ones that made me fall in love with you years ago. The smiles that reach your eyes and the smiles when you bite your lower lip. I loved the way you blushed when you walked down the aisle. You took my heart at that moment and stole it. You are the one who owns it, take care of it. My heart is nothing without you.

I will be back to you soon and we'll start our family. We could even buy a dog or a cat and move to a different city. Somewhere by the beach or in the country. Anything baby, just say it and you'll have it.

I love you my shining star, more than you'll ever know.

Carter

Kisses and hugs

I placed the letter in an envelope and addressed it. I wanted her to receive it soon, as I knew the waiting would be hard for Avery. I was planning to write to her every day or every other day.

Remy had fallen asleep and I wondered how life was for him. He was single, I'd never seen him serious about a girl before. He flirted here and there but he never talked about any girl in particular, or suggested he hoped to meet 'the one'. Never. As far as I knew, he didn't plan to stay in the Army forever and I always assumed he would eventually try to settle down with someone. I feared the loneliness he must sometimes feel. It was probably hard for him to see Avery and me so happy together. I wanted him to be happy too. He deserved to be.

I couldn’t force him into anything but maybe I could talk to him about dating.

~~~*~~~

We finally made it to the camp. It looked the same as the last one. I had to try and stop imagining Avery everywhere. I was ridiculously obsessed with my wife. She was safe at home and this was the right thing for her, for both of us. While we were getting installed, the guys were talking about our wedding and were really cool about it. Most of them were married and already fathers. Some of them even asked me to show them my ring. That was just weird, wasn't it something girls do? The ring was simple, white gold with two small diamonds. We chose it together, the diamonds representing us. Avery's ring was as simple as mine, she'd never been the type of girl who wanted huge diamonds. I was ready to buy her the biggest diamond I could afford but she'd refused and went for something small and modest. It represented her after all.

As soon as we got on camp, we started doing some work in settling in and we discovered issues. And to make everything worse, the internet was not working properly. We had security issues and couldn't use it for personal requirements. That meant no emailing and Avery was probably going to lose it in Fort Bragg. I had to make sure my letter got to her as soon as possible. I could try to call her, I would love to hear her voice. In the Special Forces, it only happened rarely that we had to deal with communication problems since it was one of our most important tool.

Finally, I located my bunk bed, I placed my backpack next to it and put the envelope containing the pictures under the thin blanket. I retrieved Avery's picture from my front pocket and looked at her for a few seconds. Her pale blond hair was piled on top of her head, in elaborate curls. She was gorgeous. Her gown was showing just enough skin, and kissed all of her curves. I was a proud man, and knew I was lucky that she picked me.

Today was my first day away but on the bright side, I was one day closer to seeing her again.

That was my main focus.

WISH FOR IT WEDNESDAY ~ I Call Him Brady by K.S. Thomas

NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon

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I Call Him Brady

A New Contemporary Romance by K.S. Thomas

Born the only son to one of Hollywood's most prominent power couples, Jack Cole's life is damn near perfect. With women lining up to be with him, movie parts most seasoned actors would die for and the freedom to live above the rules, Jack's life is going completely according to plan.

Until Embers...

Embers doesn't have time to waste on any more dirt-bags. Too busy trying to take care of herself and her daughter to take any more chances on romance, she's limiting her love life to daydreaming about one hot and sexy, Jack Cole.

Except her surefire way to keep her heart safe goes completely awry when her dream guy and her reality suddenly collide.

A master of recreating the human emotions he's never allowed himself to feel, Jack must now deal with the consequences of offering his heart to someone who may be too scared to keep it.

*

Holy Shit. That’s freaking Jack Cole! What do I do? Nothing. I do nothing. Shit. Am I blushing? Don’t blush. Do NOT blush. What am I talking about?! Forget blushing! Don’t faint! I could already feel the telltale signs of a full blown anxiety attack announcing themselves via the heart pounding out of my chest like a sledgehammer and the cold numbness setting in around my ankles.

My first instinct was to shut my eyes and take several deep breaths, but then I realized how insane I’d look and squashed that plan immediately. Instead, I focused all of my attention on the silver metal doors ahead. Still slightly maniacal, but then Mr. Cole seemed too wrapped up in his own problems to take notice of mine.

With my eyes steadily staring straight ahead, my ears were free to drop in on his conversation with unconscionable ease. My frantic heart froze the moment my brain registered what my wandering ears had heard. Jack Cole had dropped his model of the month girlfriend. He was single! I had to remind myself that in all reality, this information – however exciting it seemed – actually would have no bearing on me or my relationship status.

In the midst of forcefully hiding all of my Jack Cole madness, I had forgotten one minor detail. The tiny person to my left, who at any given moment could glance up and recognize the man of my every fantasy and sell me out faster than a girl scout peddling cookies to a pothead.

My daughter was no evil genius, but she was five with no inhibitions and a knack for listening in on my grown up conversations. She wouldn’t think twice before blurting out his name and asking him to marry me. In fact, I’d once had a daydream just like that, only in my warped and lonely mind, he had found her so adorable he had said yes on the spot. To be fair, my daughter didn’t hear ‘no’ from people often, something I hoped would work in my favor one day, but I digress.

I carefully lowered my gaze from the safety of the elevator doors to take a peek at Jessa. Much to my relief she was far too involved in chatting with Mermella the mermaid to pay attention to anything else.

Just as my eyes re-centered themselves on the shiny metal ahead, the door slid open revealing a large group of people eager to board the elevator. This was my floor. I had two choices. Either stay on and ride the elevator aimlessly in hopes of basking in Jack Cole’s presence a moment longer like a stalker, or get off.

Before my head had a chance to decide, my body took over, moving on autopilot and taking me onward as I had originally programmed it to do when I first boarded the moving metal box.

I said a silent goodbye to my once in a lifetime opportunity with each painful step I took. It wasn’t until I had safely removed myself from what had been loaded with potential for the most humiliating scene of my life, that I finally turned around to look at Jack full on.

I was still mesmerized by the sight of him when I watched as one of the new passengers opened his mouth, about to talk to Jack.

“Hey, aren't you Ja-” the words never fully formed before I interrupted him.

“Brady, are you coming?”

Unaware that he was being spoken to, Jack maintained his iron clad focus on the screen of his cell phone, while I began to panic. What the hell was I doing? This was insane. Not only that, but if I wanted to avoid looking like a complete ass at this point, I would have no choice but to fully commit and hope it didn’t end with me being hauled off in cuffs by airport security.

“Brady!” I repeated, this time more sternly.

At last he looked up. Still not entirely sure what was going on, his eyes darted back and forth between myself and the strangers beside him.

“Come on, this is us.” I was looking directly at him. Jack was about to say something when I gestured for him to follow me, now with a slightly annoyed expression to go with it. I watched as he took one more look at the guy who had been about to chat him up and then quickly fell into step behind me just in time to avoid the elevator doors closing in on him.

“Thanks. I really appreciate that.” He was looking around like a nervous animal trying to figure out his next move.

*

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About the Author

K.S. Thomas

Dog Lover who likes her pastries full of cream and sugar...oh...and I write some ;-)

Aside from being an author, I am also a mom to a beautiful little girl. I tell everyone I named her after my great-grandmother (because that's the mature answer), but really, I named her after my favorite princess - just so happens I got lucky and they had the same name...If I wasn't a writer, I would work on a horse ranch - I'm an animal lover (in addition to dogs, horses are at the top of my list). I wear flip-flops pretty much everywhere I go. I would rather stay awake until 5 am than get up at 5 am (years of bar tending have left their mark), if I can, I'm going to the beach AND I will always be nice to people who bring me chocolate...or coffee...if you bring me both, I'll probably love you forever.

A gypsy at heart, I write the way I live, following the story wherever it may lead, always ready to start the next one. This is clearly reflected in my body of work which to date includes everything from Children's Lit to Thrillers.

I happily reside in sunny Florida (for now) and can be contacted via my blog, my website or the following social media sites ~

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MUST READ MONDAYS ~ Pieces of Broken Time by Lorenz Font

PRESENTS. . .

Cover Reveal

for

​Pieces of Broken Time

by

Lorenz Font

Release Date: July 24, 2014

Published by The Writers Coffee Shop

Summary:

When wounded soldier Blake Connor returns from Afghanistan, he wants nothing more than to hide from the world. He’s plagued by the memory of his best friend’s death and the pain of his own injuries. On top of all that, he has another burden to carry. Take care of our girl. Blake’s vow to watch over the woman who was left behind is overshadowed by his self-contempt and bitterness, making it impossible for him to reach out to her like he’d promised. Jennifer Owens had expected to get married the moment her fiancé returned home from the war, but the news of his death changed everything. Shattered by her loss, she is still struggling with feelings of guilt when she receives an unexpected letter that raises new questions and reopens old wounds. Jennifer’s need for answers leads her to Blake’s doorstep, but she is met with hostility and rejection from a man who only vaguely resembles the head-turning charmer she remembers from so long ago. Blake is determined to keep her at arm’s length, and Jennifer soon discovers that she must decide whether to push back or let him go. Caught up in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer and Blake have to learn to accept the truths that lie below the surface. She comes to recognize the beauty underneath the scars, and Blake realizes that he’s broken in more ways than he cares to admit. Nothing will ever be the same for this ex-Army Ranger once he faces the truth. If he can learn to accept the help he needs, he might be able to overcome his warped self-image and emotional scars. To be the man Jennifer deserves, he must heal his wounds before he loses the woman he loves forever.

Excerpt: “What is this?” She traced one finger along the shape of the body art.

“It’s Trent’s dog tag,” he whispered. “Why are you wearing his name?” “It is tribute to a brave man and a friend.” His gaze was unwavering, so intense that she shuddered. When she didn’t say a word, his voice was filled with uncertainty. “Am I disgusting you?” Jennifer shook her head and spoke in a firm voice. “I love everything about you. This . . .” She traced a finger on the raised skin. “Is what makes you, you. I would never ask for anything more.” She lowered her mouth to kiss each scar, feeling his breath hitching with every touch of her lips. He cupped her face and planted a kiss on her lips. “I want to be perfect for you.”

 

  About the Author:

Lorenz Font discovered her love of writing after reading a celebrated novel that inspired one idea after another. She is currently enjoying the buzz from her vampire novels Hunted and Tormented, the first and second book of The Gates Legacy trilogy, Indivisible Line, a romantic thriller, and Feather Light, an erotic romance. Lorenz’s perfect day consists of writing and lounging on her garage couch, aka the office, with a glass of her favorite cabernet while listening to her ever-growing music collection. She enjoys dabbling in different genres, with an intense focus on angst and the redemption of flawed characters. Her fascination with romantic twists is a mainstay in all her stories. Lorenz lives in California with her husband, children, and two demanding dogs. She divides her time between her full-time job as a hospital office manager and her busy writing schedule.

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