Ellesea Loves Reading: 05/25/16

Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Book Blast: Incapable by Marie Skye

Incapable
Incapable #1

By: Marie Skye

Releasing February 19, 2016
Self-Published

Emmalin

Gone.

Everything I ever had is gone. Ripped away, taken before I was ready. So I just hid. Hid in the shadows, hoping to disappear, blending in, fade away. I didn't want to be found, and I sure as hell didn’t want, to be discovered.

But one man did. He saw me. Saw right through me.
He's overbearing, egotistical, and did I mention a total asshole?
When I'm with him, I want to scream, Punch him,
And then have him rip my clothes off.

I gave him one night.
He wants more.
And so do I.
I'm his.
Grayson Mandrake owns me.

Grayson

I take, because I can.
I claim, because I can.
She was mine the moment I saw her,
And I will destroy her soul to keep her. Have her. Own her.

I'm ruthless,
And relentless,
A total asshole.
And I will do anything for her.
Emmalin Ross is mine.

Link to blast: HERE

We rode back to headquarters discussing how the rest of the day was going to pan out. I tried prying some information out of Chace regarding him and Isabella, but he remained tight-lipped. As we stopped at Glenda's desk to retrieve messages before our meeting, our attention was diverted to a woman walking out of Grayson's office.

Her designer heels made her at least 5'10, and the V-neck dress she wore, which barely held her breasts in, matched the blood-red lipstick she wore perfectly. She spotted Chace and strolled over as if she was on a runway. She looked me up and down as if I was no more than trash before placing her hand on Chace's chest and purring.

"It's been a while.”

Chace took a half step in front of me, as if blocking me from view. Grayson came walking out of the office, his hair a mess and collar mussed. It didn't take much to put together what had been going on here. He stopped at Glenda's desk.

"Please have security escort Mrs. Stewart out of the building."

She withdrew her hand from Chace and turned, a scowl creasing her brow. "Is that necessary, Grayson?"

He looked past her and made immediate eye contact with me. He glanced at Chace, almost as if he were silently pleading.

Chace lightly grabbed my arm. "You have that meeting."

I pulled my arm away. "He means well, right?"

The blonde stood there and watched us back and forth before widening her grin. "Wait, is this her?"

"I would choose your next words wisely, Ashley," Grayson said through gritted teeth.

Just then, the elevator dinged and security entered. I wasn't going to wait around for the drama and strolled right past all of them to the conference room.

Sitting there, I willed myself not to cry. I felt like such a damn fool. I didn’t know how much time went by before someone else came in, and I realized I had a job to do.

Right before our meeting was to start, Grayson walked in. I immediately diverted my eyes, and noticed how everyone sat straighter in their chairs, as I willed mine to swallow me whole. He stood directly behind me. That masculine scent overpowered everything as he leaned over.

"Ms. Ross, may I have a moment of your time?"

Keeping my eyes on the doodle I was drawing, I answered, "No."

He paused. "I'm sorry?"

I cleared my throat, and I glanced across the table at Edith, who only gawked at someone saying no to the CEO of the company. "I said no, Mr. Mandrake. No, you may not have a moment of my time. You may, however, request to schedule a moment of my time, and I'll be sure to pencil you in at my earliest convenience."

Holy shit! Did that just come out of my mouth? Okay, keep it together. You are officially speaking out of anger. Hold your ground. I dared a glance around the room. All eyes were on us. Well, this was embarrassing. I looked back up at Grayson, and his eyes were dark and smoldering. They narrowed at me, and I thought I saw a hint of a smile, but I was pretty sure that was wishful thinking on my part.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, his eyes never leaving mine. "On second thought, I think I'll stay for the meeting after all.” Of course, the chair next to me was free. He slid in closer than one needed to, not respecting boundaries at all. I tried turning my chair in the opposite direction, but a firm grip on my thigh stopped me instantly.

Pursing my lips, I turned toward the beginning of the presentation as much as I could, or as much as Grayson would allow me. Just when I thought there was a possibility this might go well, the lights dimmed. Grayson’s ironclad grip started traveling up my thigh. I made a mental note to start wearing pants. I tried everything to get my chair to move without causing a distraction. His fingertips grazed the outer edge of my panties. He wouldn’t dare do this here. I was torn between trying to be pissed at him and trying to keep myself from being turned on.

As I attempted to shut my legs again, I swore I heard him smirk.

Hooking a leg around my ankle, he pried my legs apart before pushing the lace of my panties aside and lightly grazing over my clit. I jumped immediately upon contact.

So he was going to do this here. I was trying to retain my composure, and just when I thought I had it under control, he slipped two fingers past my folds, and I suddenly gripped the table. In the distance, I heard my name being called.

I glanced at the front of the room where Edith stood with Kevin, looking my way. I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” My voice came out higher than I intended.

Edith started speaking again, but I didn’t hear a word that came out of her mouth the moment Grayson’s thumb started circling my clit. I was focusing hard on trying to keep my breathing under control.

All of a sudden, Grayson started contributing to the conversation while continuing his agonizing torture, while I sat there and bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from moaning. Every time a question was directed toward me, Grayson intercepted and I would nod in agreement. I was so close, and he knew just what to do.

“Well, I think this should call for an early dismissal for the day if everyone agrees, and if everyone is satisfied with this proposal?” Grayson flicked my clit and pleasure shot through me as I tried to stay as still as possible. He looked around the room as everyone nodded in response to the early dismissal. “Ms. Ross, for clarification, were you satisfied?”

That bastard. I nodded, since that’s all I could do. Everyone started to clear out of the room, but I just sat there.

When I finally got up and headed for the door, he grabbed my arm.

“I’m pissed at you. You had no right to do that.” I tried jerking my arm away, but he gripped it harder

He cocked his head. “Is that so?”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“No, I’m not kidding you right now.” He thrust me against the wall, his erection digging into me, and I found myself grinding into him. “You refused me, and in your defiant attitude, said you would pencil me in. Not only did you manage to piss me the fuck off, but you made me so fucking hard, I was prepared to throw you over this damn table and fuck you in front of everyone. So now we’re going to talk my way. I think it’s time I introduced you to orgasm denial. I’m going to fuck you, redden your ass, and then fuck you again, and maybe then we can talk.”

I opened my mouth to talk.

“Don’t say a word. I don’t want to hear a fucking word out of your mouth.” He dragged me out of the conference room.

As pissed as I was, I was unbelievably turned on.

Amazon

Marie Skye currently resides in Austin, Texas. She's always wanted to be a writer, and one day decided 'why not?' She's a sucker for all things romance, but also loves those stories that are dark and twisted, and makes you think to yourself "what would people say if they knew I read stuff like this?" They would be jealous. Visit her on Facebook, her Facebook Group or Website.

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Blog Tour Stop & Review: The Change Up by Elley Arden

Title: The Change Up

Series: Arlington Aces #1

Author: Elley Arden

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 16, 2016

Publisher: Crimson Romance

Length: 66k words

Format: Digital

Digital ISBN: 978-1-4405-9151-8

Commercial real estate mogul Rachel Reed is the one person her father can depend on, so when he walks into her Philadelphia office two weeks shy of her fortieth birthday to drop a personal and professional bomb, she rises to the occasion. She will help get his independent professional baseball team up and running before the inaugural season, and then … she will sell the team to recoup his substantial investment. It’s a tall order, but Rachel knows one thing for sure: a sexy nuisance from her past and a few acres of trees won’t stand in her way.

Former minor-leaguer-turned-landscaper Sam Sutter is surprised to find his brother’s ex in the woods behind the house he bought when he cashed out his signing bonus and said so long to baseball. He’s even more surprised to learn “his” trees are on her chopping block. There’s no way he’ll desecrate his nature-loving mother’s memory by letting that happen. But butting heads with the beautiful business woman is a tricky task that leads Sam to accept a position as head groundskeeper at her father’s stadium. Working under Rachel’s watchful, smoldering eyes might be Sam’s undoing.

She doesn’t know a thing about baseball. He swore off the sport ten years ago. But strange things happen when field dust gets in your veins.

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She thought about that for a minute, thought about him, standing there, looking at her like she was the only woman in the world, and the heat was undeniable. The attraction unmistakable. Sam Sutter was a mouth-wateringly beautiful man. Five years younger and without a discernible life plan, but damn it, libidos didn’t care about those things. And honestly, the only thing holding her back from taking out all her recent frustrations on his blessed body right now was the fact his crew was just outside the leftfield wall.

To neutralize the lust bubbling in her veins, she asked, “Do you miss baseball?”

He looked broadsided by the random question and didn’t rush to answer.

“I know that came out of left field …” she grinned at her cleverness, “but I’ve been wondering about it ever since the festival. When my dad was asking you about baseball, you looked very uncomfortable.”

His gaze shifted away from her and anchored onto something in the grandstand, but then he shrugged like she hadn’t hit a nerve. “I was uncomfortable because I was worried about your father. I wasn’t sure what was going on. That’s all.” But his jaw pulsed, and she knew better.

“Sam …” She stepped closer, narrowing the space between them. “I saw that same look a minute ago when I asked you to help me out with the coaching prospects. You miss baseball. It’s okay to admit it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be human. God, you played every year of your life until you were how old? Just because you were ready to hang it up professionally doesn’t mean you don’t miss the game personally.” He looked at her then with a hurt in his eyes that seemed to be saying maybe he wasn’t as ready to hang it up as he pretended to be.

“I miss some things more than others,” he said. “There’s a rush you get from playing the game.” Silence stretched out between them as the warm wind wrapped them in the sun-dried fragrances of spring. All the while, his eyes roamed her face until they focused on her lips. “Fortunately you can get that rush from other things.”

“Like?” she asked, breathlessly, knowing damned well she was encouraging him.

“This,” he whispered before he leaned in and kissed her, a brush of his lips, soft as the breeze that carried the heated scent of his skin to her nose and then to her brain.

The Change Up is so much more than a baseball-themed romance in my first book by Elley Arden.

Sam Sutter retired from playing baseball ten years ago and now works as a landscape gardener in his father's business. During a walk near his secluded property, he's angered when his brother's former girlfriend is negotiating with a contractor to cut down trees that border onto his property. Driven by his late mother's passion for this wooded area, he sets about challenging Rachel Reed with many unexpected results.

Rachel Reed, just shy of forty years old when her father announces he's got Alzheimer's. He gets Rachel to sign a power of attorney, giving her explicit instructions on what business he wants her to conduct on his behalf; a baseball team he bought, that he now wants to sell as quickly as possible.

Rachel isn't instantly likeable. She's a focused business woman, driven to succeed. Yet, as we get to know more about her, you can't help but feel sorry for her as she's sacrificed so much in her personal life to be the 'son' her father always wanted. As she reconnects with her family and gets to know Sam, she's torn between honouring her father's instructions or following her heart to reach a decision that will be the best outcome for everyone she knows. Equally, Sam has his own issues to overcome; torn between playing safe and concentrating on helping his father expand their business or to cease an unexpected opportunity to play baseball again.

The relationship between the protagonists is a slow burn as distrust for each other overshadows their mutual attraction as they initially lock horns over the trees that meant so much to Sam's deceased Mother. I liked them together as they make compromises, which then allows then to explore their lustful feelings in a fling that will be over as soon as Rachel has finished up her work commitments in Arlington. Neither realising they want more for their lives including each other. The author does a great job of highlighting the difficult issues faced by people like Rachel, dealing with a loved one who has Alzheimers. From personal experience, the portrayal of Danny Reed was heartbreakingly accurate.

Overall I enjoyed Rachel and Sam's story but would have preferred more romantic interaction between them.

***arc generously received courtesy of Crimson Romance via NetGalley***

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Elley has been reading romance novels since she was a sixteen-year-old babysitter, sneaking Judith McNaught and Danielle Steele novels off the bookshelves of the women who employed her. To say she’d been sheltered up to that point is an understatement. No one had ever told her women could live bold, love freely, and have sex lives that were exciting and fulfilling. (They don’t teach these things in Catholic school!) Now that she knows, she’s happy to spread the word. The women she writes about may be fictional, but the success, respect, and love they find on the page is a universal right for women everywhere.

Elley writes books with charming characters, emotional stories, and sexy romance. Visit The Bookshelf for a detailed listing.