Thursday, October 21, 2021

Excerpt reveal: Well Played by Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

    


Excited about Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward’s upcoming release, Well Played?

Check out this SNEAK PEEK!




Here is a little bit about Well Played
Release Date: October 25th, 2021
Add it on [goodreads]

From New York Times Bestselling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward comes a new, sexy standalone novel.

It all started with a bet.

When my young son inherited half of his great grandfather’s historic inn, I decided to move us both to the place where I grew up.

Notice I said half of the Inn. The other half now belonged to Levi Miller, the famous quarterback who had other ideas about what we should do with the property.

We won’t mention that I accidentally injured him during our first meeting, causing him to get eight stitches.

You could say we got off on the wrong foot.

We bickered a lot as we both moved into the property while we figured things out.

He wanted to unload the rundown place which, admittedly, needed a lot of work.

I wanted to restore The Palm Inn to its original beauty and re-open it as a bed and breakfast.

We couldn’t agree on anything. So Levi made me a proposal. One he thought I would surely lose. If I could sell out the place by the time he had to leave for training at the end of summer, he would back off and let me run it.

But in the weeks that followed, we got more than we bargained for while we were living under the same roof.

Levi and I got closer, and before I knew it, my nightly fantasies about the brawny Adonis became a reality. Not to mention, he was so great with my son.

We were in over our heads in more ways than one.

Because not only was he the last man on Earth I should be falling for because of our deal, but Levi was also my ex’s older brother.

And now the inn was the least of my problems.


Pre-order NOW!!! 


PAPERBACK PRE-ORDER LINK  https://amzn.to/2WLN1tq

AMAZON LIVE RELEASE ALERT  http://eepurl.com/brAPo9 

**Please note: There will not be an Amazon ebook pre-order, but it will be available on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited on release day.






Presley

Harper picked up the notebook that contained my to-do list from the table and opened to a fresh page. Clicking the pen open, she scribbled across the top.

To do with Levi

I chuckled. “Are we making a dirty to-do list?”

She wiggled her eyebrows and put the pen to the paper. “We certainly are.” “Tell me one thing you fantasize about doing with him.”

Yep, I was definitely drunk, because sober me wouldn’t have participated in this. Though, even in this state, I felt my cheeks blush. “Well, every day he goes out back and does pull-ups in that big oak tree. Sometimes I imagine he’s naked while doing them, and then I walk out naked, too. I wrap myself around him like a koala and he’s a tree, and he keeps doing the pull-ups. Hoisting us both up and down.” 

Harper smirked. “Nice start.” She then jotted down koala pull-ups. “What else you got?”

“Well, I also have this running fantasy that I’m watching him do the pull-ups from my bedroom window with binoculars, and then I lie down on the bed and…you know…go to town on myself. And when I’m just about to orgasm, I look up at the window and see Levi with the binoculars. He’s watching me masturbate from outside.”

“Oooh… I like that one.” Harper wrote down voyeur masturbation.

For the next half hour, we polished off our spiked lemonades, laughed a lot, and added more than a dozen sexual to-do tasks to my list. It was the most fun I’d had in ages. But Harper had to fly home in the morning, and I didn’t want her to have a raging hangover. So rather than make another pitcher of spiked lemonade, I grabbed her a water bottle and some Motrin and told her to drink up before going to bed. 

But as I walked around and shut off the lights, another fantasy hit me. “That peach cobbler we had for dessert at the restaurant was orgasmic, wasn’t it?” 

“It sure was.”

I pointed to the notepad. “Sit on Levi’s face while eating that pie.”

Harper had been drinking water and spit it out all over the place. “Oh my God. That is most definitely going on the list!” She picked up the pen and spoke while jotting something down. “Double orgasmic peach cobbler.”

We started to crack up, but a knock interrupted our laughter. At least it interrupted mine. I looked up to find Levi standing in the doorway to the living room. 

My eyes widened. “Levi… What are you doing here?”

His brows lifted. “I own half the place.”

“No, I meant I didn’t know you were back.”

He looked between Harper and me and seemed to smirk. “Oh, I’m back.”

My palms started to sweat. “I didn’t hear you come in. How long have you been…standing there?”

Levi tilted his head, and his smirk elevated to a cocky smile. “Not too long.”

Oh my God. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. What if he heard? I suddenly felt pretty damn sober. “Umm…well, this is my friend Harper. She’s leaving early tomorrow, so we were just going to bed.”

He nodded. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”

Harper stood and hiccupped. She covered her grinning mouth. “Nice to meet you, too. Your family’s inn is beautiful.” 

“Thank you.”

Her eyes shifted to me. “Although there’s a lot to do around here. Presley and I made a list. You might want to take a look at it and get going on some of the new to-do tasks we added.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, and I lunged for the notebook on the table. 

Levi squinted at me. “Everything okay, Presley? You seem stressed.”

“I’m fine!”

He nodded slowly. “Right.”

“Alright….” I grabbed Harper’s arm and tugged. “We’re going to bed. Welcome home.”

Levi never moved from the living room doorway as he watched me drag my friend out of the room. 

Harper waved over her shoulder. “’Night, Levi. Enjoy your to-do list!”

Somehow I managed to get Harper to her room without her yelling anything too obscene. But for the next half hour, I lay in my bed with my heart pounding. What if he’d heard us? What if he’d been standing there listening the entire time? Oh my God. I covered my face with my hands. The things I said I wanted to do to him. My head began to ache, and tomorrow’s hangover hadn’t even started yet. 

After another twenty minutes of lying there freaking out in the dark, my mouth was so parched that I needed a bottle of water. But there was no way I wanted to run into Levi again. So I cracked open my bedroom door and listened for any sounds of someone moving out in the common area. Finding it quiet, I snuck down the hall and peered around the corner to see if any lights were still on. They weren’t, so I breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen for a drink. 

I guzzled half a bottle of water before turning to slink back to my bedroom. But I froze at the sight of Levi standing in the kitchen doorway. My hand flew up to cover my racing heart. “Oh my God. You scared me.”

“Sorry. I was just going to head out to grab a bite to eat.”

“Oh…there are leftovers from lunch in the fridge, if you want. I made chicken pot pies this morning.”

Levi held my eyes for a moment. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to go out.” He walked over and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I have a real hankering for peach cobbler.”

Oh.
My.
God.

My jaw dropped to the ground. I had no idea what to do or say. 

Levi winked as he walked to the door. “Get some sleep. I wouldn’t want you to be too tired to work on that to-do list.”


★★★

Excited?  We are too!







About Penelope Ward

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism. 

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.



About Vi Keeland

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-six languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, and Hungary.

Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies.

She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.  


Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Release Blitz+Review: A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    


"“One of the best fantasy worlds I have ever read.”
Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author

A Shadow in the Ember, the brand new fantasy women’s fiction set in the Blood and Ash world from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout is available now!




Here's a little about A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)
Add on [goodreads]


#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns with book one of the all-new, compelling Flesh and Fire series—set in the beloved Blood and Ash world.

Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.

However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.


Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.



Grab your copy today!






Check out the books that started the Blood and Ash world...


Here's a little bit about From Blood and Ash
Add on [goodreads]

Captivating and action-packed, From Blood and Ash is a sexy, addictive, and unexpected fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Laura Thalassa.

A Maiden…

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty…

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom…

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.


Start the series today!

✦ ✦ Amazon ➜ https://amzn.to/39nro2I
✦ Apple Books ➜ https://apple.co/3byVPo7
✦ Amazon Worldwide ➜ http://mybook.to/bloodash
✦ Nook ➜ https://bit.ly/2US0v1o 
✦ Google Play ➜ https://bit.ly/39yLW8h
✦ Amazon Paperback ➜ https://amzn.to/2UuUUiF


Here's a little about A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash, #2)
Add on [goodreads]
Is Love Stronger Than Vengeance?

A Betrayal…

Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her.
 
A Choice….

Casteel Da’Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he’s the only way for her to get what she wants—to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones that could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans that will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself—about him. Plans that could bind their lives together in unexpected ways that neither kingdom is prepared for. And she’s far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation.
 
A Secret…

But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms that would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake, and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late.


Get your copy!


✦ Amazon➜  https://amzn.to/3eKOns2 
✦ Apple Books ➜ https://apple.co/3eRB9to   
✦ Amazon Worldwide ➜ http://mybook.to/fleshandfire 
✦ Nook ➜ https://bit.ly/3ijciko  
✦ Kobo ➜ https://bit.ly/2D067Sd 
✦ Google Play ➜ https://bit.ly/2YOXYbB


Here's a little about The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3)
Add on [goodreads]


She's been the victim and the survivor… 
 
Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.  
 
The enemy and the warrior…  

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head. 
 
A lover and heartmate…
 
But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…


Get your copy!


✦ Amazon ➜ https://amzn.to/3pGJq9l
✦ Amazon Worldwide ➜ http://mybook.to/CrownofGildedBone
✦ Apple Books ➜ https://apple.co/35KztA5
✦ Google Play ➜ https://bit.ly/2ISWebS
✦ Hardback ➜ https://bit.ly/3nG8L1z
✦ Paperback ➜ https://amzn.to/35J310H




Read from: October 1st to October 15th, 2021
Read on: eARC


Review:



Once again, I am at lost as how to start my review and this is often the case when it comes to Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books. I’m going to try and make this review as spoiler free as possible.

I knew that I was going to love this new series from the Blood and Ash world, but I wasn’t expecting to be as enthralled as I was with the Blood and Ash series.

A lot happens throughout this book and even if sometimes it doesn’t seem like a lot is happening, you still can’t put the book down knowing just how unpredictable Sera’s mind can go and you never know what she will do next (when you wish you didn't need to work, sleep or eat or that you always had energy to read).

Which brings me to the two main characters…

Once again, Jen has cooked up characters that are so interesting and entertaining. She always has some awesome sassy heroines and Sera isn’t the exception. I loved how she isn’t afraid to speak her mind even if it can get her in trouble; more often than not. She also has such a beautiful heart even if sometimes she tends to forget that. Often, she finds herself questioning everything and that reminded me so much of another book character *cough* Poppy *cough*.

The Primal of Death is… Wow… He’s honestly such an intense character. I always felt like even if he will protect at all costs the people that he cares about, he has a lot of trouble demonstrating what he’s feeling probably due to everything that has happened to him and because of what he is. But he was such an interesting character to discover throughout this book and I cannot wait for the next book and see more of him.

But Sera and him together were such an amazing duo. Honestly, their chemistry was off the chart bringing any arguments between them to another level. But like for a lot of characters Jen has written, she has a way to find characters that will both bring the best and the worse out of each other but who also fit so perfectly together somehow.

A lot of characters come and go in this book and so many of them you will love, and others will leave you with the envy of slapping them across the face (I’m actually just being nice because let’s be real, I would have done more sometimes).

Overall, this was such an amazing book and even if the ending leaves your mind blown and in need to have the next book in your hands; you can’t resist the pull of this book. I honestly loved it from the beginning to the end and there are so many things I can’t wait to discover along the characters and see where their journey will continue next.

Also be prepared to go through an eruption of feels with this book as you are more than likely to invest yourself in these characters and what they are going through. You will be pulled from one to another to another and back to the first feel before you know it.

I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.





About Jennifer L. Armentrout

#1 New York Times and #1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Border Jack Apollo. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications.  Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was an Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over a hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.