Saturday, August 29, 2015

Release Blitz: Darkest Faerie Tales by Riley Bancroft


Darkest Faerie Tales:
Series Collection - Volume One
by Riley Bancroft
Series: Darkest Faerie Tales
Genre: Dark Erotic Paranormal Romance
Cover Designer: Fiona Jayde
Release Date: August 28, 2015


Join the Facebook Party on Sunday, August 30 from 2pm - 6pm Central 
to celebrate with Riley!


“Touched by desire. Claimed by a dark hunger.” 

Born the only hybrid between two warring factions, Mya's life is all smoke and mirrors. Her true identity has been kept a secret inside the virtuous Seelie Court of the ancient Fae. But that time has come to an end. A dark and mysterious stranger has set his sights on her to possess, consume and claim her for himself. As he builds the trust between them, he uses her desire for him as a tool to break her down, leaving her soul raw and exposed.

As one of the leaders in the infamous Unseelie Court, Cole is determined to seize the powerful and magickal hybrid from the enemy’s Court on behalf of his people. Despite the consequences he faces for touching her, Cole's dark and twisted hunger is unable to resist her allure. He craves her full submission, but in order to do that, he must strip everything away from her first.

Distorted truths from past and present threaten to annihilate what remains of their race as the veil of illusion drops between the rival Courts. The buried ancestors want Mya to restore their magick—but at what price? When Mya’s unique powers manifest, she disappears. Can Cole sacrifice his need for control and concede to a power higher than himself to save her?

Welcome to their twisted Faerie Tale.

Dark, Erotic Paranormal Romance with BDSM Elements…packed with a scorching heat. 
Note:This book contains dark sexual elements that may be uncomfortable for some readers and is intended for adults. 

*Two Bonus Wedding scenes included in the boxset*





Tempest In Disguise
Mya - Hurricane by MS MR
Cole - Come With Me Now by Kongo
Gavin - Holding on for Life by Broken Bells

Deep Into the Abyss
Mya - Clarity by Zedd
Cole - Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkey
Gavin - Stay With Me by Sam Smith

Fractures Of Betrayal 
Mya- Dark Horse by Katy Perry
Cole - Miss Jackson by Panic! At The Disco

Imperfections Of Fate
Mya & Cole - Awake And Alive by Skillet





Riley Bancroft grew up in the heart of Texas. Ever since she was little she favored stories on the darker side, not just supernatural, but psychological as well. She penned her first erotic poems in college, but the pursuit of her writing career began when she wrote a short story based on the intimate scene missing in Twilight, to share with her friends. They encouraged her to write her own novel. And so, she did.









Friday, August 28, 2015

New Release: The Lost by Cole McCade


The Lost by Cole McCade

Date of Publication: August 25, 2015

Blurb


She's known it her whole life. She knows it every time she spreads her legs. Every time she begs for the pain, the pleasure, the heat of a hard man driving deep inside. She's a slave to her own twisted lusts--and it's eating her alive. She loves it. She craves it. Sex is her drug, and she's always chasing her next fix. But nothing can satisfy her addiction, not even the nameless men she uses and tosses aside. No one's ever given her what she truly needs.
Until Gabriel Hart.
Cold. Controlled. Impenetrable. Ex-Marine Gabriel Hart isn't the kind of man to come running when Leigh crooks her pretty little finger. She loathes him. She hungers for him. He's the only one who understands how broken she is, and just what it takes to satisfy the emptiness inside. But Gabriel won't settle for just one night. He wants to claim her, keep her, make her forever his. Together they are the lost, the ruined, the darkness at the heart of Crow City.
But Leigh has a darkness of her own. A predator stalking through her past--one she'll do anything to escape.
Even if it means running from the one man who could love her...and leaving behind something more precious to her than life itself.


Available From


About Cole McCade



Corporate consultant by day, contemporary romance author by night.
Mid-thirties. Coffee addict. Cat lover. Bibliophile. Technophile. Definite sapiophile. Native Southerner. Runner. Country boy turned city suit. Shameless collector of guitar picks, vinyl records, and incense holders. Aficionado of late-night conversations over live music in seedy bars. Browncoat with a secret crush on Kaylee Frye.
Fascinated by human sociology, and particularly by the psychology of sex and gender – and their effect on relationship expectations, the culture of dating, and what it means to fall in love.
Non-smoker. The picture's just a stock photo. A rather broody, dark one for someone who isn't all that broody or dark, but sometimes forgets to smile even when he means to.

Find Cole McCade Online

Teaser

Note: This book contains material that may be triggering for some readers
PROLOGUE
"State your name."
Cold, clipped words, blending into the noise of the police station. Leigh lifted her head from a fixed study of her clenched fingers. Colors whirled around her in a lurid carnival nightmare, too bright, too blurry. On a bench on the far side of the room, a wasted and broken scarecrow woman picked at a scab on her wrist with a certain habitual listlessness, oozing diseased red-brown blood over liver spots. Her tendons were rails under her skin, and the dull gleam of cuffs chained her to the bench. She raised her head and stared at Leigh with yellowed eyes that captured her with a sort of empty, terrifying promise.
Across the desk a policewoman waited, with that compassionate impatience only a half-step from pity and shoulder-to-shoulder with disgust. Her flat blue eyes said she'd been trained to care, but couldn't be bothered anymore. Leigh swallowed and tugged her hoodie close against the tinny air-conditioned chill. Her mouth had dried to a tacky, sticky mess, gummy pills of lipstick beading on her lips, and her tongue was a bloated and useless organ, this swollen pink thing pushing pointlessly against her teeth.
"Leigh," she ground out. "Clarissa Leigh…" Her married name scratched sandpaper syllables against her throat. "…van Zandt."
"And Miss van Zandt, do you know why you're here?"
She nodded, her neck a creaking wooden puppet-hinge. "I do."
"Your family's been worried about you."
"I know."
She knew what she should do here. Bow her head in shame and contrition, maybe even sniffle. But she looked for the emotions and they weren't there; just scraps and tatters, clinging to the empty place where they belonged. She had no feeling left, hollowed out and lost and wondering how she'd ended up here. This didn't feel real. Instead it was a dream where everyone leered in fisheye close-up, their smiles all teeth and stretched red lips and manic glee. She wanted to run, but somehow she'd gone too numb to do anything but sit here surrounded by the stink of fear-sweat, stale beer, and that particular police-station smell of urine soaked into concrete for decades on end.
"What happened to you?" the officer asked. Leigh didn't answer, and the officer's pen tapped against the forms on her desk, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat, Morse code for I'd rather be anywhere but here with this spoiled little runaway princess. "It's been four years. You were declared legally dead."
"That's all right." She closed her eyes with a laugh that ripped her guts up into her mouth, and buried her face in her hands. Dead. Dead.
Yeah, that was about right.
"Miss van Zandt?"
Stop calling me that.
"Miss van Zandt. I need you to focus on my voice."
Stop calling me that!
Leigh took a measured breath and opened her eyes. Her shoulders squared. The bolts on the back of the hard, ass-biting chair dug into her shoulder blades. "I am focused. I can hear you just fine."
"Eyes are dilated." The officer—her nametag read Maroni, could there be a more clichéd name for a Crow City cop—leaned across the desk, peering at her face. Then she beckoned to the aide hovering over them like a mannequin. "I've seen this too many times. Drugs and prostitution." She talked about Leigh like she wasn't even there. "We'll have to clean her up before her husband gets here."
"I'm not on drugs. I've never been on drugs."
Maroni's pen-clicking stopped. Her disbelief was a heavy thing, push-push-pushing until Leigh nearly laughed.
"You're not on drugs."
"No."
"Then what happened?"
There it was. The first hint of exasperation. Of frustration, stitched into knitted brows and the purse of lips in just the right shade of I can't be a woman, I'm a cop mauve. Because like anyone normal, anyone who wasn't fucking broken to pieces and liked being that way, Maroni needed to make sense of this. Needed to quantify it in a world where the rules worked as normal and everyone wanted to chase that dream of happiness that wasn't anything but desperation painted over of a frantic tally of things. Things of plastic, things with value created by people whose upper lips curled when they looked down at little girls like Leigh, and demanded she account for herself in sane, rational ways that made proper sense.
Sorry, Officer Maroni.
I'm not the kind of thing that makes much sense.
Maroni pushed a harsh sound through her teeth. "You had a job, a husband, a newborn son. You had a life other people would kill for, and we find you here on the streets. Were you pressured? Kidnapped?"
"No. None of that." Leigh shook her head.
"You'll have to explain, then."
"I left." She trailed off, lips parted; no words came for long seconds, until she managed, "I…I was afraid."
"Of what?" Maroni tried to catch her eye, but Leigh looked down at her hands, at her chipped pink fingernails dipped in the sparkles of shooting stars. "Miss van Zandt. If someone was hurting you, you need to tell us now so we can take appropriate steps to protect you."
"No. No one hurt me. Not like that."
"I'm afraid you'll need to be more clear. What were you afraid of?"
"Of…"
She struggled for an answer. Struggled for something this woman would accept, something that would make her sigh with sympathy and pity and relieved disdain that said there, but for the Grace of God…
But again, she found nothing. Nothing but the truth, and Leigh shrugged as she looked up at the policewoman and wondered if she had daughters who might one day be like Leigh, daughters who would cut stark red lines of fingernails in the walls of flesh that caged her in the shape of pop culture's perfect woman.
"Of the inevitable monotony of it all," she said.
And smiled.
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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Blog Tour & Review: Laid Out by Sidney Halston





Sidney Halston
LAID OUT (Worth the Fight #4)
Release Date: August 18, 2015

Blurb:

Growing up an Army brat, Violet Channing could never meet her dad’s high expectations. But in the eyes of her best friend, she could do no wrong. He even insisted that he should be her first kiss. Now Cain Sorensen is all grown up, hardened by years in special ops and always looking for a good fight. Tall, with striking blue eyes and impossibly blond hair, he’s a modern-day Viking warrior. Of course, Violet’s all grown up, too, and she’s ready to surrender to his every command.
 
Cain knows he’s bad for Violet. His work is dangerous, and his hobbies are downright deadly. As a private mercenary and a mixed martial arts fighter, he could never let such an innocent soul into his world. And yet his most grueling combat training is no match for Violet’s killer curves, hot touch, and suggestive glances. Now all of Cain’s most explosive fantasies are coming true—but once they cross the line between friends and lovers, there’s no turning back.

Goodreads:



Buy links:




Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/laid-out


Excerpt:


She was kicking a rock out of the way when Cain grabbed her hand and pulled her to a nearby tree, causing her to yelp as she struggled to keep her balance. At nineteen, Cain was thin and lanky—all limbs. She was still short and stumpy. He turned her around brusquely and pressed her back against a tree, the bark digging into her. She looked up at him and saw an intensity in his eyes she’d never seen before. His cheeks were flushed and the vein by his neck pulsed. Suddenly she became nervous. He’d never looked at her this way—the way the cute guys looked at the pretty girls.
Lately she’d felt flustered when Jeremy was nearby, with his mess of curly dark brown hair and dimpled smile. Feelings that hadn’t been there before were now creeping in. In fact, she could’ve sworn Jeremy had been flirting with her lately—complimenting her clothes and hair, brushing against her “accidentally,” inviting her to the movies without Cain around. But these brief flirtatious moments were with Jeremy. Not with Cain. Never with Cain. Cain was just her friend. A little gangly, a little quiet, a lot overprotective.
That was until now.
Suddenly there was an awareness that had never been there before.
When he licked his lips, her pulse sped up. A foreign feeling—desire—began to take root. He reached toward her hair, and she flinched a little before he tucked a stray strand behind her ear. The tender action surprised her. For the first time, she noticed how clear his blue eyes were, how his hair was so blond it almost looked white. All of a sudden, he didn’t seem like just this boy who was always around. Unfamiliar feelings began to erupt throughout her body. She felt her cheeks flame and her heart race.
When he finally spoke, his voice shook a little. “I’m your friend because I want to be your friend. Not because of your parents or your dumb threats. I don’t like it when you call yourself fat. You’re not fat.”
She nodded and murmured, “Okay.” She drew her lower lip into her mouth and nibbled as her wide eyes gazed at his. Cain reached over and pulled her lip out of her mouth. “You’re nervous.” It wasn’t a question. He knew her well enough to be aware of her tells.
“I . . . uh . . . what are you doing, Cain?”
“I don’t want you to kiss just anyone to get it outta the way.”
Words failed her, so she just nodded again. There was a moment where neither spoke. He just looked at her as if trying to decide on his next move.
“I should be the first person you kiss,” he finally said as his tongue flicked out a little and wet his lips.
She gasped and looked up into his eyes nervously. His eyes never left hers, but his reddened ears and neck showed that he was also nervous. She too knew him well.
Like a fool, she bobbed her head up and down mostly because the words were stuck in her throat. It felt like he stared at her lips for an eternity until he finally leaned forward, causing her to press herself further back against the tree, her hands gripping the bark. He tilted his head to the side and she imitated the action.
Should I open my mouth? Leave it closed? What about my tongue? What should it be doing?
Softly, almost feather light, his lips brushed against hers. Her eyes instinctively closed tight, and she stopped breathing. It was less than ten seconds but it was forever. In that moment she fell into the category of girls who’d had their first kiss. She kept her eyes closed for far too long, and when she opened them he was standing upright, his face even more flushed. Her own tongue snuck out of her mouth to taste her lips. She swallowed and looked at him, her eyes as wide as saucers. What just happened?
Then, with the same intensity in his expression, he leaned back down, but this time he pressed harder against her lips causing her lips to part slightly. His body moved closer to hers, and then she felt his hands grip her waist and his tongue touch her lips before it moved into her mouth and brushed hers for a brief second, his fingers digging into her skin at her waist. She instinctively melded into him, her body seeking him out.
Again he moved away and looked at her. His expression never changed, and neither did hers. Her eyes were wide; she touched her lips, as if to determine whether the kiss had really happened. They just looked at each other, neither saying anything, her heart beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. Finally she spoke and said the only thing that came to mind. “Wow, my cup runneth over,” she whispered. It was a phrase he teased her about constantly, but it was exactly how she felt: she could barely contain her happiness.
He chuckled, and the smile did her in: she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Hard. He wrapped his arms around her waist and walked them the half step back against the tree again. Their noses bumped. It was awkward, but as first kisses went . . . it was perfect.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Vi.” It was the last thing he said to her before leaving for war.




Laid Out is an amazing friends to lovers story.  Violet and Cain have known each other for a long time, they grew up together and weathered many storms together, as kids often do living on an army base with their father's in and out.  Things change when Cain and Violet's other friend Jeremy join up and ship out on their first deployement. 

Violet is a fun character, even at the start, she's loyal to her father, even when he makes her mad, or hurts her feelings.  She's sweet, and caring, and funny but also has some sass.  She's a person I'd love to be friends with. I loved her from page one. 

Cain is a Dark Broody Alpha male who doesn't seem to grasp his own worth sometimes. He backed away from Violet when he knew Jeremy had feelings for her, but now things are different and he needs to decide whether or not to try for his turn or continue to bury his feelings. 

Laid out has action, sweet moments, hot times, humor and a love story that proves sometimes the things in life we feel we are least deserving of, can be the most important parts of our lives.   Cain and Violet's story was full of ups and downs, and sad, hard times and they had things to work through together to move on from the past and things they thought were going to be. It was nice to see that their turn from friends to lovers didn't happen too fast but rather flowed nicely and showed that even though they'd loved each other forever, they really had to get it together to become a couple.  

This was my first book in this series, and I'll defintely have to go back and read the previous books. 








About Author

USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Halston lives her life by one simple rule: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain). Or even simpler: “Just do it” (Nike). And that’s exactly what she did. At the age of thirty, having never written anything other than a legal brief, she picked up a pen for the first time to pursue her dream of becoming an author. That first stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing. Halston lives in South Florida with her husband and children.



About the Worth The Fight Series

Against the Cage (Worth the Fight #1)

For Chrissy Martin, returning to her Florida hometown always seems to bring bad luck. The day starts with a breakup text, followed by a jailhouse phone call from her troublemaker brother. Now a routine traffic stop has ended with her accidentally punching an officer . . . in a delicate place. Then Chrissy realizes that the hot cop on the receiving end of her right hook is none other than the man from her teenage fantasies.
Jack Daniels knows how to take a hit. After all, when he’s not chasing reckless drivers, he’s kicking ass in a mixed martial arts ring. So what takes his breath away isn’t the low blow, but the woman who dealt it: a gorgeous knockout with legs Jack wouldn’t mind being pinned under—who just so happens to be his best friend’s nerdy little sister, all grown up. Soon their instant chemistry leads to a sizzling affair, but Jack and Chrissy are fighting an uphill battle if they want to make love last beyond the final bell.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19082071-against-the-cage

Buy Links:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Against-Cage-Worth-Fight-Novel-ebook/dp/B00H12A1UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422479849&sr=8-1&keywords=sidney+halston+against+the+cage

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/against-the-cage-sidney-halston/1120679173?ean=9780553390964

iTunes/iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/against-the-cage/id770267777?mt=11&uo=4

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sidney_Halston_Against_the_Cage?id=YVuVAgAAQBAJ

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/against-the-cage



Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2)

How could she have been so stupid? When Jessica Cross decides to give her violently jealous boyfriend—the otherwise influential and charming Dennis Stavros—a second chance, she very nearly becomes a statistic. After weeks of healing from a broken rib and collapsed lung, and with Dennis behind bars, Jessica finally feels ready to come out of hiding. But will she ever be able to take a chance on love again with someone new?
 
Mixed martial arts fighter Slade Martin knows he has a bad reputation. Hell, he's probably earned it. So it won’t be easy to convince beautiful, vulnerable Jessica that she can trust him—that from the moment she walked into his life, she’s been the only one he’s wanted. Powerful and confident, Slade knows he can honor his vow to protect Jessica body and soul. Winning her heart will be another matter . . . but a woman like Jessica is worth the fight.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22469198-full-contact

Buy Links:
Below the Belt (Worth the Fight #3)

Once one of the most sought-after names on the mixed martial arts circuit, Antonio “Scarface” Marino watched his career go down for the count as he chased skirts and made tabloid headlines. Now he’s finally making a comeback, and it’s all thanks to Francesca Silva, a Brazilian bombshell as tough as any of her fighters. But who’s the real Francesca: the trash-talking trainer who rides him hard, or the vulnerable woman who blushes at his touch?

Francesca went to the mat to sign Tony because she believes he still has the potential to bring big success to her gym—if she can keep his head in the cage and out of her personal life. After a short-lived marriage soured her on love, a one-night stand is all she can handle. Now Tony’s kisses are stirring up complicated feelings—especially when he agrees to face her ex in the ring. Francesca’s used to freezing guys out. But Tony’s tempting her to give in to the heat.

Goodreads:

Buy links:


Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sidney_Halston_Below_the_Belt?id=3vFMBAAAQBAJ

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/below-the-belt-11



Review/Promo: Daron's Guitar Chronicals by Cecilia Tan



Cecilia Tan
DARON’S GUITAR CHRONICLES #7
Release Date: August 4, 2015

Blurb:
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Coming out and coming of age in the days of AIDS, MTV, Reaganomics, and Just Say No.
Daron Marks is a young guitar player with a dream, make it big like the guys he grew up idolizing in New Jersey--or at least escape his dysfunctional family. He makes it as far as music school in Rhode Island, and the rock clubs of Boston beckon him. But it's hard to succeed from the closet.
A story of how finding one's self is key to finding love, and loving one's self is key to loving another.
Winner of the Rose and Bay Award for Crowdfunded Fiction!
"For me, Daron is one of those rare fictional characters that I have a hard time believing does not actually exist on the physical plane. He is just too real. Part of it is that Daron is only a couple of years older than me and the way the 80s are brought to life here reminds me very much of my own coming of age: the musical references, the language, the AIDS scare, the technology, the hair... Most of all, though, it is the fact that Daron is an extremely well written character. He grows and changes and engages." —Reviews by Jessewave

Goodreads:



Buy links:








Daron's Guitar Volume One introduces us to Daron as he essentially starts his journey to finding himself.  He's in school, working towards finding his perfect band and his place in the world, while also working through parental issues and other things about himself. 

As the story is laid out for us, we learn a lot about Daron and his past. There are parts of his past that have molded him and parts he'd like to forget but can't really move on from.  We also see his complete enticement to a career in the music field and his ultimate desires for his band. 

The story shows a lot of growth and change for Daron as he's not only figuring out what he wants in life, but ultimately who he is.  The story definitely brings you in, wondering what is going to come next and where Daron is going to ultimately wind up.  







About Author

Cecilia Tan is a writer, editor, and sexuality activist. She is the author of Slow Surrender, The Prince's Boy, Mind Games, The Hot Streak, White Flames, Edge Plays, Black Feathers, The Velderet, and Telepaths Don't Need Safewords, as well as the Magic University series of paranormal erotic romances. She has the distinction of being perhaps the only writer to have erotic fiction published in both Penthouse and Ms. magazines, as well as in scores of other magazines and anthologies including Asimov's, Best American Erotica, and Nerve. She is the founder and editor of Circlet Press, publishers of erotic science fiction and fantasy, the founder and creator of the Fetish Fair Fleamarket ™, and was inducted into the Saints & Sinners Hall of Fame for GLBT writers in 2010.




Daron’s Series

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles #1:

(Free!)




Daron #2:


Buy Links: