Wednesday, July 24, 2013

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Erika Ashby

ERIKA ASHBY

So I have been friends with Erika on Facebook for some time. Through mutual friend we connected and I have always enjoyed interacting with her on FB. So when she contacted me a couple of weeks ago and said "Hey, would you like to read my books?" It kinda shocked me that I hadn't read her books yet. Now I am friends with a lot of authors - to which many of them I have not read their books, so this wasn't too much of a shock. I read the synopsis and knew right away these might be up my alley. So I happened to have a free night (which is so rare) in between blog tours I was reading for so I picked up Moving Forward and could not put it down. I started at 4pm and by 11pm I was done and so ready for book two. You know how it goes...I'll just read a couple of chapters and then finish in the morning. Well with tears streaming down my face at 4:12 am  I finished book two - No Going Back. I emailed Erika right away and wanted to know when the next book was coming out and what I had to do to get my hands on it! Well...it's coming soon and no I haven't read it yet but let me tell you this Novella is going to be good!

So here is my friend Erika Ashby and a little about herself. I hope to be working with Erika for a long time!

Being born an "Army Brat", Erika Ashby has been residing in Oklahoma the last 10 years finally putting an end to the nomad tendencies she had grown accustomed to. She's a happily married woman who has 5 kids between her and her husband. She has an insane passion for music and embraces her Inner Groupie any chance she has. It wasn't until the age of 29 that she realized she also had a hidden passion for reading; before then she claimed to have hated it. Six months after unlocking that deep desire she never knew she held, she turned the key to another chapter of her life which has become the desire to write. And the rest is still history in the making.



Moving Forward (Book #1 - Timing is Everything Series)


Jesika Reynolds’ heart was left broken one year ago when her husband died, leaving her and her son alone in this world. Slowly, she started putting the pieces back together of her life. Knowing that she may never open herself up to love again. That was until the day Derek came into the picture.



Why does this gorgeous stranger seem to care so much, so suddenly?


Derek Jordan's charm drew her in with an instant connection, and familiarity that helps her feel at ease. Her heart is falling at his feet, but as their relationship grows, so does a secret from both of their pasts that neither saw coming. One by one, the threads slowly start to unravel.

Can their newly sought love stand up against the secrets that life is unlocking to their pasts? Or can they decide together that moving forward and forgetting the past is the only option for them to find true happiness?

**Intended for Mature Audiences**





Moving Forward (Book #1 - Timing is Everything Series)

 I’m the type of person who believes there is a purpose for everyone who comes into your life. After Jake died, I realized that that purpose has a time limit. That nothing lasts forever. I believe I’m to the point in my life where that realization has finally clicked in my head. This whole last year I have been pretty miserable while trying to pretend I was fine. I know I have the best reason in the world to feel that way but still, what kind of life is that for me and my son?

    Maybe that’s why everything with Derek is different. Maybe I’m so comfortable with him because he came into my life at the ultimate time; maybe he was placed into my life with a purpose. For some reason I feel like Derek just gets me; like maybe we are birds of the same feather. Even though we talk a great deal about our kids, we don’t dare ask each other the details of the MIA parents and I’m very thankful he doesn’t bring it up. I’m not sure how he’ll take the details, and honestly, I’m not sure how much I’d even be able to communicate to him, especially while keeping my composure.

    Feeling like we literally talked and laughed for hours, we end the date with him asking me to go for a ride with him.

    He grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers as we make our way to his truck. I nudge the side of his waist with my elbow, making sure not to break our hands apart.

    “You know…your truck is pretty hot Derek. I love how big and black it is.” He busts out laughing and it takes me minute to catch my mistake.

     “Holy crap balls, that freaking came out wrong.” I know I’m beat red, but I can’t help but laugh as well.

     “Well Jesika, I’ve never heard that one before.” He says after finally calming himself down from laughing so hard.

    I look up at him with disgust. “Well, your truck was hot until some bird shit OSU on it.” I point to the sticker on his back window. He lightly chuckles while opening my door.

    “Lemme guess, you’re a Sooner girl?”

    “Sooner born and Sooner bred,” I chant. 


No Going Back (Timing is Everything Series #2)

Life isn’t always about fairytales and happily ever-after’s according to Seth Jordan. After having his world shattered and heartbroken beyond repair, he had always sworn off the idea of love. He was perfectly content with continuing his life with worthless one night stands and no strings attached sex. That was until one blue-eyed blonde managed to seep into places he thought were cemented shut. 



Like a jack hammer, Mallory Prentice came into Seth’s life and cracked the hard exterior that surrounded his heart. She’s the one woman he was starting to feel might be worth taking a chance on. 



But life doesn't always hand you the easy road. Sometimes you are constantly hit with the bad and have no hope of any good ever showing up. 

Will Seth and Mallory realize that ultimately they are the ones who are in control of their life’s outcome? Will they embrace the future and fight for their own happiness, or will they keep lingering in past mistakes and let it keep them apart? 

Life is all about forgiveness and second chances. Once you come to that conclusion and just go for it, there is…no going back.


No Going Back (Book #2 - Timing is Everything Series)

      I can’t keep my hands off Seth as he drives us to his house. Derek let us take his truck since Jesika had driven me in her car to the church. I love the way his trucks’ middle console is able to be flipped back so I can sit as close as possible to Seth. I hate how flipping horny I am for this man, but it doesn't keep me from letting my hands go back and forth up his thigh, inching closer and closer to the quickly growing bulge in his pants. Fuck it. I want to touch his dick now. I've missed it.



“What are you doing Mal?” Seth asks as he leans back further into the seat, making his pants more accessible for me to unbutton.



“I just want to say hi,” I tell him as I tug the zipper down and place my hand in his pants.

JACKPOT.

“You know my dick can’t talk back, right?”

“Sign language is very much so a form of communication. He speaks to me very well. Don’t cha?” I ask, looking down at where his hard cock is visibly begging to be released from its boxer prison.

Seth laughs. “Well fuck babe, if that’s the case I think he’s saying he wants you to kiss him.”

“I think you’re right.” I slide my hand through the opening and pull his hardness out. “What’s that?” I’m shocked by what I’m seeing.

He quickly looks down and laughs. “That’s a gift for you.” His smile is cocky and so fucking sexy.

I audibly moan as I lick my lips in anticipation. “Well, does my gift have a name?” I let my fingers slide all around it.

He gulps, clearly enjoying the sensation, “Ahh, it’s called an apadravya.” He can barely even pronounce the damn piercing.

“An aca what?”



COMING SOON: In the End (Timing is Everything Book #3)



*Novella-Prequel to Moving Forward*

Jake Reynolds’ life had always been perfectly mapped out for him as he was growing up. The only time he ever felt like he had any control over it was when he was inside the cage—the same cage that held no for sure outcome. In his twisted mind being inside that ring with his opponent was the most freeing feeling. In that moment alone he was able to let his perfected guard down and be who he wanted to be. 

From the outside looking in, everything about Jake’s life looked perfect, but he knew that he wasn’t. His whole life had been set up for him before he was even born, and even though it’s not the life he wanted, he continued living it. 

When you have everything you could ever want at your fingertips, why screw it up? 

That was his mindset until the night Jesika showed up at his fight. He knew she was different from the get-go. He also knew he didn’t deserve her, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to try. Jake had skills inside and out of the cage and he was known to always get what he wanted no matter the risk. But was he willing to change who he had always been in order to keep the one that he thought was worth the fight? Will it all be worth it in the end?





SPOTLIGHT: Lost for You by B.J. Harvey



What would you do if you were told that everything you had ever believed in and everything you had ever known, was a lie?

Elle’s life is altered forever after an unexpected phone call and an unwelcome visitor. Trying to put her life back together, Brax’s last words continue to echo through her mind. Why she is being followed and why is she suddenly in danger? The fact that Brax knew about it all and still left her alone, breaks her fragile heart all over again.

Brax will never forgive himself for leaving Elle at a time when she needed him the most, even if he believed it was the only way to protect her. As he makes his way back to her life, he is determined to win her back, regain her trust and help rebuild her for the second time. His return proves he is the same man, yet Elle sees in his eyes a haunted look she knows all too well.

When a confession leaves Elle reeling, her entire life unravels around her. She begins to understand that the people she trusts the most have put her in grave danger and the people who have been protecting her actually want to cause her harm.
Elle soon discovers that the old adage is true, you have to become lost before you can be found.



Shay

“And how about you?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow. “It’s not like your life was easy after-”

I see where he’s going now. “Gonna have to shut you down there, bro. I don’t talk about it.”

He sighs loudly. “If there is one thing I learned inside, Shay, it’s that you have to face the demons to find even the smallest amount of peace in your life.”

Who is this man, and what has it done with the asshole that used to be Devon Michael Evans?

“Yeah. Well, don’t think I’ll ever find peace with that until I’m six feet under.”

“I had an awesome counselor inside. He helped me deal with my mom’s suicide, and with how my father betrayed both of us. The one thing he told me that has stuck with me is a quote from Buddha. ‘Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without’.”

“Motherfucker. Prison has turned Devon into a believer,” I spit out in shock. Who would have thought that he could go inside and come out three years later a changed man without a chip on his shoulder.

“Ha ha. Smart ass. You’re a funny fuck, you know that? No, I’m not a born again. I just realized that holding onto stuff from your past will tear you apart. It’s the reason I took my mother’s name instead of Evans when I got out.”

I nod in agreement. “I noticed that.”

“It’s not a bad thing to put some distance from that man after what he did,” he murmurs before leaning over and turning the radio up. “Love this song.”


Subject obviously closed. 


Having always loved reading, and having been befriended and inspired by some awesome self published authors and book lovers alike, I decided to start writing my first novel, Lost in Distraction in December 2012. It was a conscious decision that started with a song, then the prologue and then catapulted from there. I love music too, like REALLY love music, if there isn't music playing, something is wrong. Out and Proud Vampire Diaries fan as well.


I'm also a wife, mother, full-time university student and I do contract work for myself from home.









Monday, July 22, 2013

BLOG TOUR: Pulse by Gail McHugh


How do you keep existing when your heart is so splintered, so completely torn to shreds, your pulse is fading?

You’re…broken.  How do you move forward when every breath is nothing more than a constant ache?  Living becomes and insidious reminder that you threw away the single largest part of yourself. Your…soul.  No amount of distraction can pull you from the torture of losing your…life.

Now that Emily Cooper has walked away from her first love, she finds herself running toward her only love.  Unraveling fast, bust clinging to hope, Emily risks all she has left on the man that has consumed her every thought and dream since the day they met.  Will Gavin take her back?  And if so, will their reunion be a collision of two hearts destined to complete one another and rekindle a love that knew no boundaries?  Or will scars from their past rip open, tearing slowly at what each of them was meant to be?  Can fate, the ultimate game changer, mend the shattered road it laid out from the start?

Only time will tell…

Tick-Tock…


With an equally devious brow lifted, Gavin ran a hand through his messy hair, and leaned back against the headboard, the grin on his mouth wide. “These gifts wouldn’t happen to include a black laced ensemble worn by you, double ‘A’ batteries and your ‘shmexy’ legs shaking uncontrollably around my head, would they?”

Eyes wide, Emily belted out a laugh. But shit if he didn’t look hot, waiting for her, shirtless no less. She swallowed, suddenly aware of the throbbing between her legs. All humor left her face as she slowly crawled onto the bed. With the bag in one hand, she took the other and slightly lowered his sweatpants. She rained kisses along his hip, following his glorious tattoo all the way to the side of his left rib cage. Sighing in pure contentment, she moved her lips back down over every delicious peak and dip of his washboard abs.  She felt Gavin tense, his muscles tightening. He buried his hands in her hair as she hovered, lightly skimming her tongue along the edge of the evil looking beast’s wings. In all its evilness, it tasted like the sweetest cotton candy in her mouth.

Emily brought her eyes up to his, their light, blue sexual intensity shocking through her system.  She smiled. “So you never told me why you got this particular tattoo on your body.”

Gavin blinked, a rush of puffed air escaping his mouth. “Are you honestly going to ask me that after you just achingly licked your way up my body?”

 “What?” Emily giggled, straddling his waist. Looking down at him, she frowned. “I want to know, Gavin. You told me why you got it where you did, but you left out why you picked a dragon.”

Eyes zeroed in on her lips, Gavin smirked. “I got the dragon because I knew women would never… everever be able to resist licking over it.”

Emily playfully swatted his arm. “You bastard. Are you saying I’m not the first to lick it?”

In one quick movement, Gavin slipped his arm behind her waist, flipping her onto her back.

Emily gasped, her heart nearly stopping as he hovered above her, lightly brushing his mouth against hers. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I was right. You are crazy.”

“And you’re trying to kill me with your questions,” Gavin countered, now nipping at her bottom lip, which she started to realize was something he loved to do. “You’re no longer allowed to say the words ‘lick it’ while in my presence. Is this understood, Miss Cooper?”

His demand drifted over her like a caress, however, she was about to push a few buttons. She popped a brow, her mouth curled into a smirk. “Lick it… Caveman.”
 

OHHH MYYY GAWWDD! This book blew me away! After the ending of Collide I thought that I was going to die...JUST DIE!! And I prepared myself for heartache and pain, angst...lots and lots of angst. The teasers that Gail was releasing were tearing me apart. Was I going to be able to make it through the book? I had some serious doubts if my heart could take it. So when Gail wrote me and said that she wanted me to read the book and on top of that do a trailer for it! It took me all of 2 seconds to say yes and then I crossed my heart hoping for the best. I am not a big angst person. I hate conflict. I just want everyone to get a long and find that person for them that makes their soul ache and everyone have a happily ever after. Yes I know that life is not like that, but a girl can dream. So talking to Gail when she sent me the book all she told me was "Be Prepared!" and then gave me an evil little laugh. LOL. So I locked myself in my bedroom. Made sure I have a box or two of Kleenex and buried myself into my bed and began to read.

Let me tell you what I loved about this book. Although it is filled with some gut wrenching, sob worthy scenes and at times I thought I was going to hyperventilate. The overall picture of this book is something that everyone craves. Protection. Redemption. Love lost but found. Forgiveness. Grace. LIFE with the one that is made for you. Now it's not an easy road. It never is. But the journey that they take in this book is breath taking. There are heavy subjects about abuse that are broached and also forgiveness of one's self. I loved how both Gavin and Emily really grew in this book.

I can't say more because the entire book is a conundrum of spoilers - so that is all you will get from me. But if you really want to know a little more. You can always watch the trailer I did for Gail. ;)

I can't say much more than is was AMAZING and I fell more in love with Gavin Blake (you ask how is that even possible?? IT IS!!) 5 FANTASTIC STARS FROM ME.




Wondering about the music to Collide and Pulse - 
Well here it is for your listening pleasure



I've always been a lover of writing, but mostly dabbled in creating poetry while raising my three beautiful children. I am grateful my husband of fifteen years has supported me—albeit sometimes kicking and screaming—as I pursue this "hobby" of mine. Without his help, writing would be an impossible endeavor.



In late June 2012, I felt an urgent tug of my pen, and I began writing one of my first novels, Collide. Although I thought it might never see the light of day, it gave me the courage to plunge headfirst onto a path I had never considered before.



 Author Email:  Author.Gail.McHugh@gmail.com


Amazon UK
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COVER REVEAL: When it Rains by Lisa De Jong

Cover Designer: Mae I Design & Photography
One night changed my life forever.

Beau Bennett has been my best friend since I can remember. He was my first crush before everything came crashing down, and now he wants more, but it's more than I can give him. Things are different now. I wish I could tell him why, but I can't.

I haven’t told anyone.

I never knew how much I really needed him until the day he left for college, and I was completely alone.

Then one day, Asher Hunt rides into town with his dark, captivating eyes and cocky grin. He doesn't care who I used to be, he's simply breathing life into what’s left. People warn me to stay away from him, but he helps me forget the pain that has held me hostage for so long; something I thought was impossible before he walked into my life.

I’ve been hurt.

I’ve been saved.

And I’ve found hope.

I thought my story was written that night, but now I know it was only a new beginning. Until one secret turns my world upside down…

Again.

Release Date: September 21, 2013





When you live in small town, there’s not much to do on a fall Friday night after a football game.  When the season started this year, some of the upperclassman at my high school decided that we should all have a bonfire after each game. It was really an excuse to drink and hook-up: two things I wasn’t interested in but I always went to hang out with my friends anyway.
            That’s where I was that night. 
            The night I retreated into darkness, where the night sky had no stars, the day had no sun, and all hope was drained from my body.
            The night my life ended.
            And Beau Bennett wasn’t there.  If he had been, he would’ve saved me, just like he always does.  He was grounded that night for staying out past curfew the Friday before; in fact, it’s the only weekend I remember Beau ever being grounded. 
Life is a series of coincidences and that night, coincidence screwed me over.
The most important thing I lost was my entire sense of self.  It took seventeen years to build my foundation and it took mere minutes to tear it down. 
I hate him.
The old Kate’s gone...and she’s never coming back.
And I’ll always hate when it rains.

Lisa De Jong is a wife, mother and full-time number cruncher who lives in the Midwest. Her writing journey involved insane amounts of coffee and many nights of very little sleep but she wouldn't change a thing. She also enjoys reading, football and music.




COVER REVEAL: Dear Adam by Ava Zavora



“You’re the more real to me than any man I’ve ever known … ”
To book blogger Eden, Adam is the embodiment of every literary fantasy she’s ever had. 

Intelligent, wickedly funny, sexy, and attentive – he and his fascinating life seem right out of a novel. Their whirlwind relationship is so intense and all consuming that soon she can’t imagine being with anyone else. 


But there’s one little thing that’s keeping Adam and Eden from their happily ever after.  

They’ve never met. She doesn’t even know what he looks like.

Despite how hard she’s fallen for him and how he makes her feel, Eden’s doubts begin to threaten their passionate love affair. Why is he so mysterious? Why does he seem reluctant to meet her? What is Adam hiding?  


Afraid that she’s being made a fool of, Eden is forced to choose between her heart and her head. Is Adam too good to be true, as her common sense is telling her, or is the truth more startling than fiction?  


Ava Zavora
Dear Adam
Contemporary Romance
Release date: September 2013


In her childhood, Ava Zavora used to ride water buffaloes and wade in swamps. Nowadays, she writes dark fairy tales and romantic novels about adventurous women.