Ellesea Loves Reading: 11/11/15

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

New Release Spotlight: Hidden Impact by Piper J. Drake

HIDDEN IMPACT

by Piper J. Drake

An aloof bodyguard and mercenary puts his heart on the line in HIDDEN IMPACT, the first book in the Safeguard series by Piper J. Drake.

Fans of Marie Force’s Fatal series or Laura Kaye’s Hard As It Gets, will love this brand new romantic suspense series.

He’s not the hero she’s looking for...

As part of the elite Centurion Corporation team, military-veteran-turned-mercenary Gabriel Diaz is a natural defender. He’ll do anything to ensure a mission is successful. Anything but get emotionally invested—he learned the hard way that can be deadly. Easy bodyguard jobs in between the more challenging missions are all he’s interested in now.

Maylin Cheng is desperate and running out of time. Her younger sister has gone missing but no one seems to take her concern seriously. Her last hope lies in asking an aloof bodyguard for help. He dismisses her outright, but all that changes when she is almost killed in a not-so-accidental hit-and-run right before his eyes.

As Maylin leans on Gabriel, she begins to rely on him for more than just her safety. But as their attraction grows, so does the danger surrounding them. When the elaborate web they're trapped in unravels, Gabriel will do anything to protect them. Even if that means putting his heart in the crosshairs.

Book one of the Safeguard series

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Breathe.

She gasped and cool air rushed in, clearing away some of the fog.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Take another breath nice and slow. Slow.” Strong hands patted her down, touched her with gentle purpose. “Does anything hurt? Your neck, your head?”

“The way you took her down, it’s amazing her skull isn’t splattered all over the sidewalk.” Another man’s voice floated over from some distance away. Or was it a shock thing?

Maybe she was in shock.

Did people’s feet get cold at times like this? Only her left one.

“Your left foot is colder because you lost a shoe when I shoved you out of the way.” A thread of amusement ran through the original speaker’s voice. She liked the sound of it. Kind humor, like what she heard in his words, was the sign of a good man. “I’m going to help you to a sitting position, but if anything hurts at all, you let me know right away and we’re laying you back down. Understood?”

“Yes.” She said it out loud on purpose, because she was pretty sure she’d been talking out loud anyway so it’d be good to know if she could do it when she actually meant to.

The same big hands she’d taken note of before took hold of her, one sliding under her neck to give her support as she came up to a sitting position.

“Slow,” her caretaker admonished.

His choice of speeds was frustrating.

Piper J. Drake (or “PJ”) began her writing career as “PJ Schnyder” writing sci-fi & paranormal romance and steampunk. She has recently received the FF&P PRISM award for her work as well as the NJRW Golden Leaf award and Parsec award.

Now, PJ is exploring the complexity of romantic suspense, incorporating her interests in mixed martial arts and the military into her writing.

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New Release & Review: Tryst by S.L. Jennings

Enter to Win a Print Set of TAINT & TRYST

TRYST

A Sexual Education Novel

S.L. Jennings

Releasing Nov 10th, 2015

Avon Books

From New York Times bestselling author S.L. Jennings comes another scandalously sexy, incredibly hot story about a woman who knows what she wants...and the two men who are dying to give her what she needs.

Heidi DuCane is a tough-as-nails publicist with a passion for success and her husband Tucker.
While they’re polar opposites, what they do have in common is a fierce love and commitment to each other. But their relationship-in and out of the bedroom-will be put to the ultimate test.

Rock superstar Ransom Reed is every woman’s fantasy, including Heidi’s. When she meets Ransom, she shares a wild night with him where Heidi gets to play-and Tucker watches, and enjoys, the pleasure Ransom gives Heidi. Though Tucker was a willing participant, Heidi still can’t help reeling with guilt. There’s no doubt that she loves her husband. While Tucker is the perfect
lover-generous, attentive and gentle-she needs much more. She needs the mind-blowing ecstasy Ransom offers.

Tucker isn’t blind to the fact that Heidi has unconventional needs which he can’t satisfy. He loves his wife and will do anything to please her The night he watched her and Ransom was so scorching hot amnd Tucker can’t stop thinking about it. He decides he wants to join Ransom in pleasing Heidi. But as Tucker and Heidi soon realize, it’s not just the sex that is enticing. Heidi felt something within her awaken, and she felt so deliciously sated and loved by both men. Tucker felt it too, and he finds it impossible not to want that feeling again.

Ransom and Tucker satisfy a need within Heidi. And now that she’s had them, she can never go back to the way things were before.

A tale of caution-Be careful what you wish for.

Heidi DuCane is tough. She's a publicist and not afraid to go after what she wants. She's passionate for her work and equally for her husband, who is supportive. Tucker DuCane appears to be chalk to Heidi's cheese, happy to give consent to his wife's fantasy. "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

Ransom Reed is a stereotypical bad boy rocker who's life is spiralling out of control. He needs someone to rein him in and spin some positive publicity for him. Heidi is recommended for the job, but first she has to prove to Ransom that she can be trusted…!

When I began reading, I had no idea this was a sequel to Taint. Reading as a standalone I felt I needed to know who Justice Drake was before the full extent of Heidi, Tucker and Ransom's lives began to unfurl. All is eventually revealed in the end, so the confusion about him disappeared.

I expected Tryst to be scorching hot sexy...which it is. However it is something more deeper and far reaching than I anticipated. Much time is spent trying to decide what motivates Tucker. Why is he happy to be the cockold husband? Is he attracted to Ransom too?

Heidi may come across as hard as nails but when she's with Ransom it's like she's had her feisty personality sucked from her. She mirrors Ransom in his neediness...Heidi is weak willed whereas Ransom is on the slippery road to drug addiction. What started out as a lust filled fantasy turns into something completely ugly, ending in an unsurprisingly dramatic way.

My first impression of Tucker at the beginning of this book – intense, analysing, hovers like a helicopter over Heidi! I guess I wasn't wrong.

4 stars

***arc generously received courtesy of publisher William Morrow via Edelweiss***

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“I dare you…to let me touch your wife.”

An audible gasp escapes my kiss-swollen lips and turn to Tucker, awaiting his wrath. He returns Ransom’s intent stare, his expression unreadable. Yet, the younger man doesn’t back down, cocking a challenging brow at Tuck’s silence. He remains unmovable, a master at the art of restraint from his years as a shrink. No doubt he’s had to answer some odd questions, but never any involving his wife.

“I don’t let Heidi do anything. She has her own mind…her own body.”

“So maybe I should be asking her.” A sinister smile on his lips, Ransom angles his focus on me. “Heidi, would you let me touch you?”

My first reaction is to say no—hell no.
But Tucker quickly grasps my knee, capturing my attention.

“This is what you want,” he whispers. “He…is what you want. And I can accept that.
This is your fantasy, baby. Let me help you make it come true.”

I search his face, waiting for him to break into laughter, but he’s completely serious. My husband is telling me to let another man put his hands on me—his wife. This isn’t right. This isn’t what married people are supposed to do. But even as that rational part of my brain lists all the reasons why I shouldn’t allow this to go any further, my body is already tingling with anticipation. My
face and chest are flush. My nipples harden in exhilaration. And my mouth waters with the prospect of tasting Ransom’s skin.

Oh, God. I do want this. And now the decision is mine and mine alone.

“So?”
Ransom asks, awaiting our fate.

Say no.

Grab Tucker’s hand and get the fuck out of here. Go home and make love to him. Let that kind, good, gentle man be enough.

Once again, Ransom Reed steals the truth from my lips, forcing me to abandon all
decency and sanity. Making me take the sanctity of my marriage and soil it with my own slick arousal.

In one single breath, I shatter ten years of devotion, trust and love. And although I know what I’m destroying by lighting this fire, I can’t do much more than stand back and watch it all go up in flames.

“Yes.”

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S.L. Jennings is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance, reality TV junkie, obsessive coffee drinker and collector of crazy.

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New Release Spotlight: Vanquished by S.E. Green

(Warning: For mature audiences only)

For a price, the world’s most powerful people can explore their darkest desires. On a private island hidden in the ocean they may hunt humans for game, attend gladiator-style fights, participate in elaborate orgies, and freely indulge in all the deadly sins within the cosplay of ancient times.

Abducted from their life in Miami, Valoria and her younger sister wake up in this secret society, wherein Valoria is condemned to the fights and her sister is taken away to become a sex slave.

Now “property” of a sadistic tyrant, Valoria joins other men and women captives who are forced to fight and maim for others’ enjoyment, to run in their hunts, and participate in deviant fantasies. And she’s under the cold, watchful eye of Alexior, a hired trainer with his own agenda for being involved in the twisted decadence.

After surviving several near-death ordeals, a defiant Valoria focuses on her training and against all odds soon becomes a favorite. But she fights for one thing and one thing only—to be reunited with her sister and to be freed.

But promises of freedom are sometimes just manipulative lies . . .

I pace in a circle and turn back to see the other warriors heading into the men’s and women’s quarters. I start to follow and glance to the left where Alexior stands in the dark beneath the awning where the water barrel sits.

He’s staring right at me, and his intense gaze thumps straight through me.

I cross the sand to step under the awning and come to a stop in front of him. I look up at the shadows cast by his cheekbones and into his conflicted eyes, and something deep inside of me stirs.

He lifts a hand and runs his fingers through my short dark hair. He caresses my eyebrows, down the length of my nose, across my cheekbones, then trails his index finger over my bottom lip. I close my eyes and soak in the warmth and comfort of his touch.

Cupping the back of my head, he brings me closer. His lips move over my cheek and down to my neck to nuzzle in, and I breathe out on a quiet sigh.

Lifting my hands, I curl my fingers into his hips, and he shifts his face, and our lips meet in a simultaneous open mouthed kiss. There is no preliminary peck. Our tongues dive deep. Circling. Pulsing. Devouring. Our bodies move closer until we are pressed from chest to hip, and every minute nerve in my body awakens.

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S. E. Green (aka Shannon Greenland) is the award winning author of the teen thriller, Killer Instinct, a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers; the teen spy series, The Specialists, an ALA Popular Paperback and a National Reader’s Choice recipient; and the YA romance, The Summer My Life Began, winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award. Her books have been translated into several languages and are currently on numerous state reading lists. Vanquished is her debut novel for adults.

Shannon grew up in Tennessee where she dreaded all things reading and writing. She didn’t even read her first book for enjoyment until she was twenty-five. After that she was hooked! When she’s not writing, she works as an adjunct math professor and lives on the coast in Florida with her very grouchy dog. Find her online everywhere @segreenauthor.