Today is my turn on the Damppebbles Blog Tour to share my Feature Post and Book Review for THE PHOENIX PROJECT (DI Jack MacIntosh Book #1) by Michelle Kidd. This is an exciting thriller/international crime/mystery mash-up that is the first book in a new series by a new to me author.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
How long can the past remain buried?
A simple message in a local newspaper. A set of highly sensitive documents left in the back of a London black cab. Both events collide to cause Isabel Faraday’s life to be turned upside down. Growing up believing her parents died in a car crash when she was five, Isabel learns the shocking truth; a truth that places her own life in danger by simply being a Faraday. Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh of the Metropolitan Police races against time to save her, and at the same time unravels long forgotten secrets involving MI5, MI6, the KGB and NASA. Secrets that have lain dormant for twenty years. Secrets worth killing for. With kidnap, murder and suicides stretching across four continents, just what is the Phoenix Project?
The Phoenix Project is the first Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh novel.
THE PHOENIX PROJECT (DI Jack MacIntosh Book #1) by Michelle Kidd is an exciting thriller/international crime/mystery mash-up that is the first book in a new series by a new to me author.
Isabel Faraday is about to go from a simple shop assistant to becoming the center of an international plot which has her on the run for her life.
Long kept secrets that have lain dormant for twenty years are on the verge of being exposed, but there is a contingent that will do anything and kill anyone to prevent that from happening. Everyone is involved, MI5, MI6, the FBI, NASA and the KGB and with Isabel’s life on the line, Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh of the Metropolitan Police races against time to save Isabel and unravel the secrets of the Phoenix Project and a secret organization protecting it called PRISM.
What is the Phoenix Project?
This book is a little confusing at first, not just trying to understand why Isabel is in danger, but also because there are so many characters from many different agencies. Once you get everything sorted out, each turn of the page increases the pace of the plot. The thrills, twists and turns, murders and intrigue take off and continues to crescendo towards a very satisfying conclusion. I was especially intrigued with Jack and I believe he is a great protagonist to follow into future books.
I am looking forward to following DI Jack MacIntosh and author Michelle Kidd in the future.
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About the Author
Michelle Kidd is a self-published author known for the Detective Inspector Jack MacIntosh series of novels.
Michelle qualified as a lawyer in the early 1990s and spent the best part of ten years practising civil and criminal litigation.
But the dream to write books was never far from her mind and in 2008 she began writing the manuscript that would become the first DI Jack MacIntosh novel – The Phoenix Project. The book took eighteen months to write, but spent the next eight years gathering dust underneath the bed.
In 2018 Michelle self-published The Phoenix Project and had not looked back since. There are currently three DI Jack MacIntosh novels, with a fourth in progress.
Michelle works full time for the NHS and lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. She enjoys reading, wine and cats – not necessarily in that order J
Today is my turn on the Virtual Author Book Tour for the latest in the series of Christmas themed romance time travel books featuring Eve and Patrick Gantly. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE CHRISTMAS EVEPROMISE – A Time Travel Romance (The Christmas Eve Series Book #4).
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the authors section and the authors’ social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Eve and baby Colleen are traveling to Ohio for the Christmas holidays to spend time with Eve’s parents.
After a few days in Ohio, they all plan to fly to Florida in Eve’s father’s private airplane. Patrick will meet them there after he completes exams for his forensic psychology degree.
Nothing goes as planned. The day Patrick is to leave for Florida, he receives a shocking telephone call from one of Eve’s cousins. Sobbing, she tells him a terrible tragedy has occurred. It stuns him and shakes him to his heart’s core.
His life shattered, Patrick knows he has but one chance: he must use the time travel lantern to return to the past in order to prevent the current tragedy.
But once again, the time travel lantern has a mind of its own, and Patrick is hurled back to a time where he must confront a strange, unfamiliar world and learn why the lantern transported him there.
When Patrick comes face-to-face with a mysterious, beautiful woman who looks and acts like Eve, and whose name is Eve, Patrick is haunted.
He recalls the promise he and Eve had made to each other on Christmas Eve the previous year—no matter what happens; no matter if they’re separated; no matter what time or place they find themselves in; no matter what obstacles they must face, they will always find each other, help each other, and love each other for all time.
The Christmas Eve Promise is a journey about the enduring promise of hope and the infinite, unbreakable bonds of love.
Publisher: Broadback (September, 2020) Category: Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christmas Tour dates: September-November, 2020 ISBN: Available in Print and ebook, 405 pages
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
THE CHRISTMAS EVE PROMISE – A Time Travel Romance (The Christmas Eve Series Book #4) by Elyse Douglas is the latest in the series of Christmas themed romance time travel books featuring Eve and Patrick Gantly. While each book is complete with a HEA story, they are a continuing sequence of the main character’s adventures and journeys to find each other throughout time, so I feel they are best read in order.
It all began in book one with Eve discovering a time travel lantern which took her back in time to find her soulmate and true love, Patrick.
It is Christmas Eve, 2020. Eve, baby Colleen and Patrick are planning on a vacation in Florida for Christmas with Eve’s parents after Patrick finishes his exams in forensic psychology. First, Eve and Colleen travel to Ohio to visit relatives and then they will fly with her parents to Florida as Patrick takes the train from New York.
Then a tragedy occurs.
Patrick is devastated. He has one hope. He will once again use the time travel lantern to save his wife and child.
The time travel lantern has a mind of its own and Patrick in sent to 1925. Will Patrick find his soulmate, Eve and be able to save his family?
This is another wonderful addition to the series. The authors once again have Eve and Patrick not only searching for each other, but also changing the lives and sometimes the futures of others. Even as you need to suspend belief, it does not make the story less intriguing or heartwarming. The action is fast paced in this story and the emotional investment kept me turning the pages. I found all the details of the time-period, as in all the books, to be thoroughly researched.
I highly recommend this time travel romance and all the books in the series!
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Excerpt
Excerpt One
Eve held Patrick’s gaze, his champagne glass poised to touch hers “Patrick, before the new puppy comes crashing into our lives, I want us to toast to something else.”
“Now, there’s that mischievous gleam in your eyes again, Mrs. Eve Gantly. What are we about to toast to?
Eve worked to find the right words. “Okay, here it is. Do you believe in soulmates?”
“Soulmates?” he asked, testing the word. “Yes, you have used that word before. I know of it, but I haven’t thought about it. I assume you are about to educate me?” He sighed, playfully. “Thus, the second Christmas toast must wait.”
“I’ve done some research,” Eve said. “The term ‘soulmate’ first appeared in the English language in 1822, in a letter written by the English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.”
“I haven’t read much poetry, Eve.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, some psychologists believe that it’s an unrealistic expectation to think that a soulmate exists specifically for another person.”
“What are your thoughts?” Patrick asked, shifting his feet. “And, can we step away from the fireplace? I feel like I’m being roasted as a Christmas goose.”
Eve drifted over to check on Colleen, her mind at work. Patrick moved to the couch but didn’t sit. He was intrigued by Eve’s obvious interest in soulmates.
“So continue with your interesting discourse,” Patrick said.
Eve turned to him. “According to an esoteric religious movement called Theosophy, God created androgynous souls—equally male and female. A little later, there were theories that the souls split into separate genders, perhaps because of karma. Anyway, over a number of reincarnations, each half soul seeks the other soul. And then, after all the karmic debts are purged, the two fuse back together as one. They are connected by a kind of invisible thread.”
Patrick scratched his head and took another drink from his glass. “Eve, my love, I know nothing about soulmates, reincarnation or karma. I only believe in time travel because it has happened to me, against my will, I might add. But had it not happened to me, I would never, ever, under any circumstances, have believed in it. Maybe what you say is true, I don’t know, but it seems rather airy, the stuff of dreams and fertile imaginations.”
There was a long gap in the conversation as Eve wandered the room, finally returning to Patrick, who watched her with keen interest.
“Patrick… I met you because I time traveled. We have both time traveled back and forth several times. We could have easily lost each other or never found each other.”
Patrick nodded.
“But we found each other every time. We fell in love at first sight, didn’t we?”
He leaned and kissed her wet, champagne lips and felt the same electric charge he always felt when he kissed her. That first-time burst-of-love and desire for her.
“Yes, Eve. I fell in love with you at first sight as I followed you along the 1885 New York City streets. I fell in love with you when we were across the street from Zarcone’s Tea & Coffee House and when you boldly walked up to me and said, ‘Have you been following me?’”
Eve held up her glass and touched his. “Yes! And I fell head-over-heels in love with you—and it scared me how fast and how much I fell in love with you. But that love seemed timeless, didn’t it? As if love had been just waiting for us to come together on that street corner in 1885? As if I’d known you before and you’d known me before. As if we were soulmates just waiting to come together again, to merge again. Didn’t you feel that, Patrick? Don’t you feel that now?”
Patrick narrowed his eyes on her. “You are quite the romantic, aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t a romantic before I met you. I was married to a man for a little over two years, and I never felt the love I felt for you that very first time I looked into your face.”
Patrick kissed her again. “Yes, I’ll admit it. You seemed remarkably familiar the first time I stared into your lovely eyes.”
Eve smiled knowingly. “And that’s what I propose in this toast.”
She raised her glass to his. “I want both of us to promise that no matter what happens to us; no matter if we’re separated; no matter what time or place we find ourselves in; no matter what obstacles we face, we will always find each other, help each other and love each other, for all time. Will you make this Christmas Eve promise, Patrick?”
He gave her a warm smile. “All right, Eve. Yes, I promise. But I pray to the saints in heaven that we are not separated. I’ve had enough of that.”
They touched glasses.
Colleen cried out and a burst of wind rattled the windows, making the room suddenly chilly.
***
About the Authors
Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the married writing team Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse grew up near the sea, roaming the beaches, reading and writing stories and poetry, receiving a master’s degree in English Literature. She has enjoyed careers as an English teacher, an actress and a speech-language pathologist.
Douglas has worked as a graphic designer, a corporate manager and an equities trader. He attended the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and played the piano professionally for many years.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Release Blitz from Buoni Amici Press for the start of a new Rockstar contemporary romance series – EVERYTHING THAT GLITTERS (Velvet Thunder Book #1) by Emery Jacobs.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A decade of playing local bars and festivals with my band is over.
Just like that.
Big break? More like broke up. Broken Thunder– maybe the name was a sign.
Now I find myself at a crossroad, not ready to leave music behind.
An audition for the legendary band Reckless Fury, could change everything.
At least that’s what I hope until I see who’s calling the shots.
No names. One incredible night. It’s her!
I had no idea she was the Princess of Rock, when she was rocking my world.
All I need is a chance to prove myself.
With her.
With the band.
She thinks she knows why I’m here, she’s wrong.
Everything That Glitters is a steamy, sexy, full-length Rockstar Romance with a HEA
Everything That Glitters is the first novel in the Velvet Thunder series. All books in this series are interconnected standalones and can be read in any order.
EVERYTHING THAT GLITTERS (Velvet Thunder Book #1) by Emery Jacobs is the first book in a new Rockstar contemporary romance series.
Gracie is the daughter of the famous lead singer from Reckless Fury. She may not have inherited his musical talent, but she is great at the business and management side of the business. Her mother walked away when she was an infant, but her father devoted his life to his band and raising her. But Gracie’s current project, an all female band has broken up and she is feels lost.
For ten years, Slade has been the lead singer for Broken Thunder. Now the members are all going their own ways and Slade has no idea what to do next. Then he sees a beautiful blonde in the bar and for some unknown reason he cannot take his eyes off of her.
A one-night stand with no names and no promises.
When Slade goes on an audition several weeks later, there she is, the girl he has not been able to forget. Gracie is just as shocked, but she is not ready to fall into his arms. Both have had emotionally difficult family problems growing up and there are still some problems that may be too big to conquer.
I felt for Gracie because she was such a strong person, but she would not fully face all her emotional issues and it messed with her current relationships. Slade was a hot rocker who had it more together and after a few false steps was able to be what Gracie needed. I felt that Gracie and Slade worked well together as a couple. They had a combustible chemical attraction, but I did not feel the deep, emotional, fully fleshed out connection that I was hoping for. The sex scenes were smokin’ hot, explicit and appropriate to the story. Even though each book is to stand on its own, I wish the other band members had been introduced more fully.
Overall, a good start to the series and I would check out each new book in the series to find out about the other band members.
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About the Author
Emery grew up in Southern Arkansas and has lived most of her adult life in Northern Louisiana. She spends her days working as a Nurse Practitioner in rural health and her nights reading, writing, and occasionally sleeping.
She loves real life romance…lots of angst and heartbreak, but always a happy ending.
TOTAL POWER (Mitch Rapp Book #19) by Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills is the latest thriller in the Mitch Rapp series and Kyle Mills continues to prove he was the right choice to take on this series after the death of Vince Flynn. The premise of the terror attack in this story is still theorized frequently and it is truly scary to picture the post-apocalyptic world in this book.
As Congress debates the perceived danger and the costs to fix and update the U.S. power grid, an expert in the field is shopping the destruction of that grid to our foreign adversaries. While he has the computer expertise, he needs some armed assistance on the ground in eliminating a few strategic power stations. When Mitch and his team are sent to intercept an international terrorist, they hope the plot is done, but it was only a decoy and the power grid goes off-line over the entire country on Christmas Eve.
Now as the government is in bunkers and the country begins to descend into anarchy as there is no longer a safety structure and it is every man for himself, Mitch and his team work to chase down the man responsible and get the codes that could begin to bring the power back on-line.
I could not put this new Mitch Rapp down! The premise is as realistic as it comes and having lived through the blackout of 2003, I could imagine each sequence of events occurring the longer the power was out. Mr. Mills research is evident throughout the story without it ever overpowering the action/thriller aspect of the story. All of the secondary characters play important roles in this story as they come together to survive the loss of power and work to navigate their new circumstances without all the state-of-the-art help that in one way or another relies on electrical power.
Mr. Mills has Mitch by the end of this book thinking several times about his future or lack thereof. He also shows Mitch becoming more comfortable with his family life and surrounding friends. Will Mitch eventually be able to retire with his loved ones or will he be taken out while once again protecting our freedom and way of life? I hope for the first with a new generation of protectors to take his place, but only Mr. Mills knows.
I highly recommend this action packed and thrilling new Mitch Rapp!
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About the Author
Kyle Mills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty books, including the latest in Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, Total Power.
Growing up in Oregon, Washington, DC, and London as a the son of an FBI agent, Kyle absorbed an enormous amount about the intelligence community, giving his novels their unique authenticity. He and his wife live in Wyoming where they spend their off hours mountain biking and backcountry skiing.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the blog tour for this new dark and gritty British police procedural mystery HOW THE WIRED WEEP by Ian Patrick.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
The Wire crosses the pond.
Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.
Ben’s unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.
Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.
Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.
He lives in fear of discovery.
When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?
Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.
HOW THE WIRED WEEP by Ian Patrick is a new standalone dark and gritty British police procedural mystery. It takes the reader into a mystery in the world of covert police operations and how they handle the safety and anonymity of their criminal informants.
DS Ed Hunter and his teammates handle police informants out of the Metropolitan Police headquarters. Ed loves his work, but it is a tricky business. The informants are criminals and Ed does have rules and laws to work by and must also let the informants know that they cannot break them either. One of Ed’s informants, Ben is being released from prison and Ed is eager to get him back out on the streets.
Ben, a young gang member and his family have a history of being on the wrong side of the law. He likes the easy money from being an informant, but Ed is afraid Ben will end up back in prison for not being able to follow his rules. Ed needs him though to get information from the inside on a new violent gang leader.
Ben becomes more frustrated, greedy and angry at being used. Ed sees Ben spiraling out of control as he returns to the streets. Will Ed be able to continue to get Ben to walk the line and see beyond the easiest and quickest means to an end?
This story pulls you in to the two main characters lives and makes you feel everything they do. Mr. Patrick’s writing invests you in the outcome for both as the story is told in chapters related by each character. This book depicts the dark, dirty despair of the urban criminal landscape, but also has moments of friendship and humor. This is an intense, realistic and powerful read.
I highly recommend this book as a crime read that is very different from the norm.
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About the Author
Ian spent twenty-seven years in the Metropolitan police the majority as a Detective Sergeant within the Specialist Operations Command. He specialised in Child Protection and was part of a Major Investigation Team that targeted abusers and investigated the murder of children.
His last seven years were spent in the Covert Policing Command where he managed a specialist covert unit dedicated to the detection and disruption of organised criminal networks across London and the UK.
Rubicon, Stoned Love, and Fools Gold are published by Fahrenheit Press.
How the Wired Weep is a standalone novel.
Rubicon is in development with the BBC for a six part TV series.
He’s appeared at Bloody Scotland in 2018 as a spotlight author on the opening night with Val McDermid and Denise Mina.
Ian’s undertaken a mentorship with Write4Film Scotland and is developing a script for a short film. He’s also an ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Scotland. He lives in Scotland where he divides his time between family, writing, reading and photography.
You can follow Ian on his website https://www.ianpatrick.co.uk where you can subscribe to his newsletter and get updates on blogs, events and books.
Today I am excited to be sharing on the Social Butterfly PR Blog Tour. My Feature Post and Book Review is for the latest book in the Hot Cakes series – SEMI-SWEET ON YOU (Hot Cakes Book #4) by Erin Nicholas. This is one of my favorite contemporary romance series with great characters, sweet and yummy baked goods and plenty of fun!
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A semi-sweet second-chance rom com!
She broke his heart ten years ago.
Now he’s back — and her new boss.
And she might still be semi in love with him.
But that’s no problem, right? They can keep it professional.
Until her grandmother gets involved.
She’s thrilled to think that Whitney and Cam are still in love. And invites him to move in with her…and Whitney.
Of course, Whitney can handle that too. Yeah, everything is fine. Just fine.
Until Cam makes it clear that he’s all in.
Having him back is very sweet, but can she really have it all? Or will it all crumble around her?
SEMI-SWEET ON YOU (Hot Cakes Book #4) by Erin Nicholas is the latest contemporary romance in the Hot Cakes series. I have been anxiously waiting for Whitney and Cam’s second chance love story and it did not disappoint. Laughter, fun, family, friendship, love, smokin’ hot attraction and yummy baked goods are all used to solve even the toughest problems.
For three generations the feud between the Lancaster and McCaffery families has carried on in the small town of Appleby, but like Romeo and Juliet, Cam and Whitney fell in love in high school and hid it from their families. When it came time for Cam McCaffery to go to away for college, he wanted to stay and marry Whitney, but she knew he had so much more to accomplish, so she broke up with him and sent him on his way.
Now Cam and his best friends are back and have purchased Hot Cakes, the largest employer in town from the Lancaster family to save the town. Cam is now Whitney’s boss, but he realizes that Whitney is not the same girl he left behind.
Whitney has never had the chance to prove herself in her family’s company. Her father and brothers did not believe she had a place in decision making. Now with the new ownership she is determined to prove her worth and become a partner, but she is also dealing with her grandmother, Didi’s Alzheimer’s. Cam slides right into Whitney and Didi’s life with the promise that he will help and support Whitney as a friend only.
Cam is trying to be a friend to Whitney, but even Whitney is not sure this can work because every time they are together the sexual attraction is hot enough to burn anything Cam has baking in the oven.
PERFECT! Cam and Whitney are a great H/h couple. The sexual attraction is smokin’ hot between these two, but Ms. Nicholas has written a romance that shows them with feelings and emotions that have changed according to their new circumstances in life and are more mature than when they were together ten years ago. This relationship is everything I was hoping for and more.
The secondary characters all play a very important role in this story, also. The friendship of all the guys of Fluke, Inc. and that includes the talented Piper, too make this series very entertaining. In this book we get to get to know Didi, Whitney’s grandmother and her side of the feud story even as her mental cognition declines. (Have some tissues ready for these parts of the story.) Whitney’s emotional reactions and emotions for her grandmother I feel were realistically written and handled.
This book is the fourth book in the series, but it can be easily read as a standalone. I believe that after reading this book you will go back and read all the previous stories.
I highly recommend this second chance contemporary romance!
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Excerpt
He leaned in, close enough that she could feel his breath on her lips when he said, “Let me kiss you.”
Oh damn. She wanted that. She wanted it so much. She was weak.
“I—” she started.
“The tea is getting cold!” Didi bellowed from the kitchen.
Whitney and Cam stilled. Then she felt him sigh. But he didn’t pull back. “You going to let me do this or not?”
He was already practically kissing her. When his lips moved as he spoke, they brushed hers ever so lightly. His body heat surrounded her. She swore she could feel his heartbeat pounding. Or maybe that was hers.
They both clearly wanted this. She certainly wasn’t pushing him away or stepping back. But the only actual connection was his hand on her face. And their mingling breaths.
Clearly he was going to insist that she make this decision. He wasn’t going to just sweep her up and kiss the hell out of her before she could protest and then let the chemistry take over.
“Whit,” he said, his voice low and rough. “Push me back or pull me closer.”
She slid her hands up to his chest, not sure until the last moment if she was going to fist his shirt and pull him in or push him away.
Cam, however, didn’t look surprised when she pushed.
He let go and stepped back though. He didn’t seem angry or even frustrated. It seemed that he’d been expecting her reaction actually.
“Okay,” he finally said.
She wet her lips. “Thanks,” she said, hoarsely. And she meant it. She appreciated that he was giving her these choices. Kind of.
It would be a lot easier to just climb him like a tree and give in to everything zipping between them if he’d just back her up against the wall, seal his mouth over hers, and start running his big hands over her body. Then she could pretend she was just caught up in the moment and enjoy the hell out of it without actually admitting she wanted any of that.
Which he knew.
She could see it.
He knew that she wanted him, but that she didn’t want to admit it.
So, of course, he was going to make her confess before he did anything more.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m very stubborn,” he said.
Whitney gave him a nod. “I remember.”
“And something you should know about me and the past ten years,” he said, holding her gaze steadily, “I’ve also gotten very used to winning. “
That actually made her heart trip and her inner muscles clench.
See, she should really feel trepidation at that implied promise from him. But she didn’t.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, trying desperately not to act excited about the idea of him trying again and again to get close to her.
He looked at her for a long moment and a thought flickered through her mind—he knows.
***
About Erin Nicholas
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).
