Thursday 26 November 2015

Upcoming New Release: Burning Bright by Megan Hart, KK Hendin, Stacey Agdern & Jennifer Gracen.


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Burning Bright
Four Chanukah Love Stories
Megan Hart, KK Hendin, 
Stacey Agdern and Jennifer Gracen
Releasing December 1st, 2015 
Avon Impulse



This December, take a break from dreidel spinning, gelt winning, and latke eating to experience the
joy of Chanukah. When you fall in love during the Festival of Lights, the world burns a whole lot brighter.


It’s definitely not love at first sight for Amanda and her cute but mysterious new neighbor, Ben. Can a Chanukah miracle show them that getting off on the wrong foot doesn’t mean they can’t walk the same road?

Lawyers in love, Shari Cohen and Evan Sonntag are happy together. But in a moment of
doubt, he pushes her away-then soon realizes he made a huge mistake. To win her back, it might take something like a Chanukah miracle.

When impulsive interior designer Molly Baker-Stein barges into Jon Adelman’s apartment and his life intent on planning the best Chanukah party their building has ever seen, neither expects that together, they just might discover a Home for Hannukah.

All Tamar Jacobs expected from her Israel vacation was time to hang out with one of her besties and to act like a tourist, cheesy t-shirt and all, in her two favorite cities. She definitely was not expecting to fall for Avi Levinson, a handsome soldier who’s more than she ever dreamed. 




Chanukah Fun with KK Hendin
Favorite Chanukah Memory or tradition:
My favorite memory is from the first year I lived in Israel. I was in school there, and we had the afternoons off that week. A bunch of us wanted to do something fun before lighting the menorah in the evening, but we were all too poor to do anything that really cost money. So we split up into two groups and wrote a ridiculous list of things to do. The goal was to see which group could do more things on the list, with picture evidence to make sure nobody lied. By the end of the afternoon, we had done things like decorate a public bathroom, confuse the heck out of a bunch of soldiers, ask random strangers both silly questions and very serious questions, and hired ourselves to work at people's restaurants. And all for the price of a bus ticket. 
My favorite tradition... hmm. Lighting the Chanukah candles every night is really nice, because we do it as a family. Everyone gets together in the living room, and we all light our menorahs together, and sing. And laugh when my dad reminds us not to go near the candles, because when it comes to menorahs, he seems to forget we're all perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves near fire.
 
Favorite Chanukah Dish/Dessert:
 It's traditional to eat both dairy products and fried food on Chanukah, which is the greatest possible combination of foods to eat. One Chanukah night every year we ignore the concept of a balanced meal for dinner and have latkes, homemade french fries, and a bunch of different kinds of cheese. It is a ridiculous overindulgence, and the next day everyone just eats salad as a recovery food. (I eat my latkes with cottage cheese, not applesauce. I don't understand the appeal of latkes and applesauce. I'm sorry.)
 
(When I called my mother to make sure I got the latke recipe correct, I mentioned eating latkes and cottage cheese. Her response was something along the lines of, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?? WHO EATS LATKES AND COTTAGE CHEESE??". When I reminded her that I have ALWAYS eaten latkes and cottage cheese together, she told me she probably blocked the memory.)
 
The recipe we use for potato latkes is our potato kugel recipe tweaked.
 
Potato Latkes (Or Potato Kugel)
 5 pounds potatoes
1 large white onion
(You can substitute a zucchini for a few of the potatoes if you want for the potato kugel.)
6 eggs
(1/2 cup oil-for kugel)
1 tablespoon Salt
Pepper
 
LATKES: In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, salt and pepper. Use a food processor to shred the potatoes and onions, then add to the mixing bowl. Form into patties, and fry them in oil. Serve with applesauce, sour cream, or (to quote my family), if you're irrevocably broken somehow like KK, cottage cheese. Makes a lot of latkes. 
 
POTATO KUGEL:  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, salt and pepper. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan in oil and place it an oven set at 450. Use a food processor to shred the potatoes and onions, then add to the mixing bowl. Combine all ingredients together, and the take the mixing bowl directly to the oven, and pour the mixture into the pan without taking the pan out of the oven. Cook for an hour and a half, or until the potato kugel is at the consistency and texture you'd like. Serve hot with anything at all, because potato kugel, and if you have extras somehow, potato kugel is delicious cold with a bit of mustard on top or dipped in humus. Makes one delicious pan of potato-y goodness. 

(Alternative, if you're feeling fancy: instead of baking the kugel in a 9 x 13, you can bake it in cupcake tins for fanciness and extra crispy bits. Adjust temperature and cooking time accordingly.)
 
Do you have any real life experience with finding love during Chanhuka?
I think I really and truly fell in love with Israel on Chanukah- I finally was settled in, I knew how to get places without taking the bus, and there were an abundance of cheerful soldiers. It was finally sweater weather, and every person, regardless of religious observance, was excited about Chanukah, and about sufganiyot. 

Also, as a New Yorker, getting to go to the beach in December without freezing your face off is pretty cool. 
 
What was your favorite scene to write for ALL I GOT?
Besides the ending? Probably the rain. I've done my share of dance parties in the rain in Israel, and it was so much fun to write one for Avi. 
 
One line that describes your holiday romance.
Sometimes you can meet the love of your life at a bus stop. 





Megan Hart is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than thirty novels, novellas and short stories. Her work has been published in almost every genre, including contemporary women’s fiction, historical romance,
paranormal and erotica. Learn more at www.meganhart.com



Jennifer Gracen hails from Long Island, New York, where she lives with her two young sons. After spending her youth writing in private and singing in public, she now only sings in her car and has fully embraced her lifelong passion for writing. She loves to write contemporary romance and romantic women’s fiction for readers who yearn for better days, authentic characters, and satisfying
endings. When she isn’t taking care of her kids, doing freelance copy editing/proofreading, reading, or talking to friends on Twitter and Facebook, Jennifer writes. She’s shocked her family hasn’t yet staged an intervention for her addiction to social media. But the concerts she gives in her car and the
dance parties she has in her kitchen are rumored to be fabulous.


Stacey Agdern is an award winning former bookseller who has reviewed romance novels in multiple formats and given talks about various aspects of the romance genre. She also a romance writer. You can find her on twitter at @nystacey. She’s a proud member of both LIRW and RWA NYC. She lives in New York, not far from her favorite hockey team’s practice facility.



KK Hendin writes books where people flirt awkwardly, make out, dish out a whole lot of sass and ridiculousness, and live happily ever after. She’s the author of many books, including the TWELVE BEATS IN A BAR series and the upcoming UNDERCOVER series. She also writes books as K.
Hendin, where people aren’t as nice and Happily Ever After isn’t a guarantee. KK is currently writing way too many books, and is still waiting for the subway to run on a regular schedule. When she’s not playing book Tetris in an attempt to fit everything onto the bookshelves in her tiny NYC apartment, she’s probably wandering her neighborhood with her camera or drinking yet another cup of coffee.


New Release Spotlight: The Harder You Fall by Gena Showalter

The Harder You Fall - RWB banner

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Week Blitz for Gena Showalter’s THE HARDER YOU FALL! Being released today, this fantastic contemporary romance in the Original Heartbreakers series is a scorching tale featuring an aloof bad boy and the rowdy Southern belle who rocks his world, published by HarlequinHQN! Order THE HARDER YOU FALL from the links below! And don’t miss the sexy excerpt we have for you below!

The Harder You Fall - cover


Amazon * Kindle * Barnes and Noble * Nook * Book Depository * Powells * iBooksBAM * Kobo * IndieBound


Jessie Kay smiled, but the amusement didn’t last long. “You must hate that I’ve been with them.”

“I hate the thought of you with anyone else and for a while, I thought I’d grow to resent the two for putting their hands on my woman. But now I realize it simply doesn’t matter. They are the past, and I am the present.”

“Your woman,” she whispered, as if she couldn’t believe he’d said the words. “The future.” Gulping, she turned in her seat to fully face him. “How did Monica know you want to pretend I’m a human buffet?”

West gripped the steering wheel more tightly. “I told her.”

A moment passed in silence. A moment he lacked any kind of heartbeat, the stupid organ waiting for a reason to beat.

“I want you, too,” she admitted. “You know I do. But I won’t do anything about it because I expect long-term and you insist on two months.” A heavy pause. “Right?”

His body reacted to her words—I want you, too—growing hot and hungry, his heart now racing as an insatiable need for relief plagued him. “Right.” He couldn’t over look his reasons for keeping this particular schedule. Not even for Jessie Kay. It would be an insult to Jase and Tessa, even Beck. It would be an insult to the pain they’d suffered on his behalf.

“Why?” she asked. “Why do you insist on two months? Tell me. Please.”

“Not yet.” He’d have to tell her sooner or later, he saw that now, but as for tonight, there’d been enough turmoil. “If we can’t be together, you have to help me resist you. Tell me all the horrible things you’d do if we were involved. Cling? Demand to know every detail about my rotten childhood?”

For a long, silent moment, she peered at him with yearning and hope, and it tore him up inside. He didn’t think there could be anything worse—until both emotions were eclipsed by resolve.

“I would cling so hard,” she finally said. “I would ask a million questions about not just your childhood but your day, everyday, and if I thought, even for a second, you’d looked at another woman, I would punish you by refusing to sleep with you. For a week!”

“You mean you would punish yourself. But keep going. This is helping.” Was it though? He wasn’t disturbed by the thought of her questions and her punishment. He was intrigued.

“I would take horrible advantage of you,” she said.

Again, he was intrigued. “Give me an example.”

“Well, for starters, I would expect you to trade cars with me.”

“Why?”

“Because any boyfriend of mine would insist I drive the safer vehicle.”

Guess who would soon be getting a new—safer—car all her own?

But she wasn’t done. “And I hope you like your girlfriends in baggy shirts and sweatpants. The moment I have you nailed down,I’ll stop putting any effort in to my appearance.”

He gave a mock shudder.

“And despite your obvious aversion to gift-giving, I will expect a present for every anniversary. And,West? I believe every week together is a new anniversary.”

The thought utterly terrified him.

The one gift he’d given his mother, she’d pawned. The first gift he’d given to a foster mother hadn’t compared to the gifts she’d received from her own children. She’d proudly displayed theirs, and his—a drawing he’d slaved over—had ended up in the trash with the wrapping paper.

“Your turn to help me.” Jessie Kay waved her hand at him. “Tell me the horrible things you’d do to me.”

He brought her hand to his mouth, and licked between her knuckles. One taste. Just one…“I’d have a schedule drilled into your head by the end of the first day.”

“Nothing new there.”

“If you were a minute late to anything, I would pencil in a lecture and a spanking.”

Her exaggerated gasp caused his lips to twitch at the corners. She placed her free hand over her throat, saying, “You’re such a beast! Yes, I would deserve and welcome the spanking. But the lecture? Cruel and unusual. How long would it last?”

“Hours.”

She tsk-tsked. “I hate to break it to you, sugar bear, but I wouldn’t hear a word. I’d be too busy day dreaming about the joys of single life.”

“Don’t kid yourself, kitten. I’d deliver the lecture naked. You’d only want more of me, not less.”

Goosebumps broke out over her skin. “What else?”

“I would demand to be the center of your world.” He never had before, but with her, he was certain he’d make an exception. “Every minute of every day would be long to me. I would expect you in my bed every night and in my arms every morning. I would have you so often and so hard you wouldn’t be able to breathe without thinking of me.”

Another moment passed in silence. Another moment without a heartbeat.

He reached the house, parked in the driveway.

“Horrible,” she finally said, her voice little more than smoke—smoke that drugged him…lured him deeper into her spell.

He shook as he got out of the car, walked around and opened her door. “I need another reason. Now.”

She stood before him, looking up at him with luminous eyes. “I would demand a hug at least ten times a day.”

He didn’t have to fake a shudder this time. “I hate hugs. I never know how long or tight to hold on.”

“Well, I can fix that in a jiff.” She stepped closer to him, stepped into him, winding her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek against his chest, where his heart drummed a thousand beats a minute. “Hold on until I say stop.”

He obeyed without thought, wrapping his arms around her and clinging.

“Tighter,” she said. “Good. That’s good.” A tension-laden pause. “Miserable yet?”

“Beyond,” he whispered.

“Good. Now run your fingers through my hair.”

It was a dangerous game, the most dangerous one they’d ever played, and it utterly defeated the purpose of what they were trying to do. Still he ran his fingers through the silken strands of her hair, and she sighed with contentment.

“Jessie Kay.” A heated rasp.

She looked up, pressed a gentle kiss into his lips.

The contact, even as brief as it was, obliterated whatever armor he’d had around his mind…his heart? His every hidden desire was suddenly on display, like exposed nerve endings, raw and sensitive.

Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. He lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers, stealing her breath when she opened for him.

Their tongues rolled together, soft and slow, and the incredible taste of her nearly unmanned him: the sugar that was a steady part of her diet laced with a hint of cinnamon. Two flavors he would forever associate with home…home…for the first time in his life, he felt as if he was home.

“Jessie Kay.” As good as the kiss was, it had nothing to do with passion. Not in this stolen moment. Every stroke and thrust somehow deepened the emotion between them. She branded him. She took him to a place where the past no longer existed. There was only here and now, and they were the only two people alive.

“West,” she gasped—then she pushed him away.

They stood at arm’s length, both of them panting.

Goal: Get her back in his arms. Without her, he had no anchor. He was set adrift, the past threatening to intrude.

He reached for her, but she sidestepped him. Can’t let her get away.

He caged her against the car to prevent an escape, and as she trembled, he cursed. He wasn’t this man. Needy and clingy—desperate.

“N-now that we got that out of our systems,” she said, unable to look him in the eye, “the wanting should end.”

“Yes,” he croaked. “The wanting should end.”

Please. Let it end.

The Harder You Fall - RWB teaser 1


THE HARDER YOU FALL:

From New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter comes another scorching Original Heartbreakers tale featuring an aloof bad boy andthe rowdy Southern belle who rocks his world…

Millionaire video-game creator Lincoln West has a dark and tragic past. The sought-after bachelor lives by a rigid schedule and a single rule—one relationship per year, lasting no more than two months. No exceptions. When he gave up the big city for a small town, he hoped to escapethe worst of his memories—until a brash beauty dredges up long-buried emotions.

A reformed party girl, Jessie Kay Dillon is determined to walk the straight and narrow. But her love-hate sizzle with West is just too irresistible. They can't be near each other without tearing off their clothes, but the last thing she needs is to be his next two-month dump. Will she becomethe one exception? Because as any former girl-gone-wild knows: rules are made to be broken.


"Emotional, heart-tugging, kept me turning the pages!" —Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author

And Don’t Miss the First Books in the Original Heartbreakers Series!

The Closer You Come -cover

THE CLOSER YOU COME

The Hotter You Burn - cover

THE HOTTER YOU BURN

The Harder You Fall - RWB teaser 2



Gena Showalter - author pic
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series--Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles--and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series.  In addition to being a National Reader's Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she's appeared onNightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black--if you ask her about it, she'll talk for hours…hours!  Her books have been translated in multiple languages.

She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfan


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