Friday, March 31, 2017

RELEASE BLITZ E.M. Rinaldi HIDING TILL DAWN

Displaying Hiding till Dawn RDB Banner.jpg


BOOK INFORMATION:
Title: Hiding till Dawn
Author: E.M. Rinaldi
Genre: YA Paranormal
Cover Designer: Regina Wamba at Mae I Design & Photography
Publishing Date:  March 28, 2017
Publisher: Anchor Group Publishing
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

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SYNOPSIS:
Destiny is unrelenting. It will come for you, and when it does there is no escaping it; something Casey knows firsthand. On the run from the dean and his ever loyal Imperial Guardians; Casey, Cedric, and Falon must put their trust in the most unlikely of allies. Their search for help will lead them across the country, into enemy territories and mystical kingdoms alike. With a prophecy over her head, it is ultimately up to Casey to bring her world back to order. But for that to happen, the corrupted officials who govern her world must be stopped. New friends and old will align to bring back the peace, by force if necessary. And first on their list? The dean. Casey hasn’t forgotten the torment she suffered at his hand, and the nightmares are far from over. Can she eradicate this threat and help save her world? Or will she fall to the pressure of her fate?

BUY LINKS:
GoodReads:
HIDING TILL DAWN
Evading the Dark

AUTHOR BIO:

Displaying EM Rinaldi.jpg

E.M. Rinaldi lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her boyfriend, Milz, and their slightly psychotic pup, Boone. By day she is a Registered Radiologic Technologist taking pictures of mangled bones and by night she writes about all the bizarre situations her characters get themselves into while she was away. She is a Second Degree Blackbelt and can’t write a story without at least one fight scene in it. When she’s not writing, or trapped at work, E.M. likes to read (obsessively), clear her DVR, and have all night Buffy marathons with her friends, complete with cookies and cinnamon rolls. Her love for writing stems from an early age where she would create stories on an old computer program and force anyone within grabbing distance to read them. Not much has changed; be warned: stay out of grabbing distance. Evading the Dark is her debut novel and the first of The Cross Chronicles.

AUTHOR LINKS:

FACEBOOK EVADING THE DARK
GOODREADS
TWITTER
AMAZON 





REVIEW BLITZ -- Sawyer Bennett's THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT SUNSHINE!!

FBHardTruthNowAvailable

    The Hard Truth About Sunshine AMAZON

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett has written her most gripping and poignant tale yet. Provocatively heart-breaking, audaciously irreverent and romantically fulfilling, The Hard Truth About Sunshine exposes just how very thin the line is between a full life and an empty existence.

An angry, bitter amputee.
An optimist losing her eyesight.
A dying kid.
A suicidal thief.
Four people with nothing in common but their destination.

Despite having narrowly escaped death’s clutches, Christopher Barlow is grateful for nothing. His capacity to love has been crushed. He hates everyone and everything, completely unable to see past the gray stain of misery that coats his perception of the world. It’s only after he involuntarily joins a band of depressed misfits who are struggling to overcome their own problems, does Christopher start to re-evaluate his lot in life.
What could they possibly learn from one another? How could they possibly help each other to heal? And the question that Christopher asks himself over and over again… can he learn to love again?
He’s about to find out as he embarks upon a cross country trip with a beautiful woman who is going blind, a boy with terminal cancer, and an abuse victim who can’t decide whether she wants to live or die.
They will encounter adventure, thrills, loss and love.
And within their travels they will learn the greatest lesson of all.
The hard truth about sunshine…


Warning: This book deals with some tough issues including suicide and sexual abuse.

Amazon | Paperback | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

LaurenBlakelyQuote

Review

[Janet]
Amazon/Goodreads Rating:  5/5
In Patti's Imagination Rating:  10/10

If you are a Sawyer Bennett fan, you will find this book is very different than what she typically writes but no less gripping as it pulls you in ever deeper from start to finish.  It is not a light read and deals with some difficult subjects.  While there is some romance in the story, that is not what the book is about.  It is about the thin line between a full life and an empty existence.  It will make you question your choices, too.
Christopher Barlow will be someone you will be angry with and yet understand his complexity.  He is not your normal male lead of a book and this book is told completely in his point of view making it interesting to see inside this infuriating misguided soul.   He is given a choice to either attend group therapy or go to prison, so therapy it is.  He has such a hatred for life at times you really will want to reach into the kindle and strangle him.  Can Christopher's hatred for everyone and everything be curbed for the sake of the group?
The group is small, only the four of them and they have nothing in common.  What could these miss match bunch learn from each other ?  What could Christopher, a wounded vet who lost so much and has a boulder size chip on his shoulder, have in common with a blind person, a victim of abuse and a terminal cancer patient ?  As part of the bucket list of the one with cancer, the group embarks on a road trip across the country to see the Pacific Ocean in the  northwest.  This trip is not what you would expect as they encounter thrilling adventures, sad losses and love, but the greatest lesson of all is learning the hard truth about Sunshine.  
“I’ve thought a lot about her words, and her meaning is quite simple.  It’s nothing more than finding the good in a situation and appreciating it with such passion that it makes up for the loss of other things.  It’s redirecting.”  Christopher
This book will take you on a journey of emotions while this group of four journey on their road trip.  The author does a fabulous job describing the scenery, showing the complex characters and developing the storyline you will feel like you are a part of this journey - experiencing what they are experiencing.  
“You have to have faith.  You have to believe in Heaven.  You have to know in your soul it’s a place where regrets don’t matter because Jesus died for our sins and eternal happiness is yours for the taking.  With faith, you should have no fear of what happens after.” Connor
Each of these characters have something that the others in the group can learn from.  They spent one night a week for several weeks in a small room sharing their thoughts, but still not knowing anything about each other and learn from each other, but they learn so much on their journey.  This was a book that needed to be told and I love the story behind how it came about.  The author took the chance with writing something very different and did an over the top excellent job.  As difficult of a book as this was, it was a refreshing read. It is a must read - So compelling and so bitter sweet.
“I think back to when I questioned Jillian about her strength and courage while facing impending blindness and how she gave me the hard truth about Sunshine.  She said she wouldn’t miss it when she could no longer see it, because it wasn’t going anywhere.  It would always be there for her to feel in other ways.  The only thing that would change was her ability to perceive it in a certain way and she said she’d accommodate that.”  Christopher
Will this journey help them all to cope with their losses and let the sunshine be perceived in their lives again?  

Teasers

 







Excerpt

Jillian holds my gaze for a moment, her eyes drilling into mine before she gently tugs on the material of my jeans near the shin rod of my prosthetic. “What happened to you?” She doesn’t look away. Not down at the fire, not down to my legs. She stares right at me. Although my gut is turning slightly at the thought of telling her what she asked, I forge straight ahead. For the first time, I tell someone who is not medical personnel or a shrink my story. “I was driving a military Humvee and the right front tire ran over a roadside bomb,” I say, and Jillian makes a sound of distress low her in throat as her eyes turn sad. “It completely obliterated my buddy sitting in the passenger seat.” To my surprise, Jillian scoots over closer to me and lays her head on my shoulder. She pushes her hand in between my ribs and my arm, curling her fingers over my bicep. It’s a show of support. Solidarity. That she’s settled in for the long haul of this story, and she wants to hear it all. “It didn’t blow my leg off,” I tell her, and I can feel her body jerk slightly in surprise. Her fingers squeeze my bicep. “The fingers yes, the leg no. It just shattered and shredded it badly, but the doctors tried hard to save it.” “Obviously, they couldn’t,” she whispers the obvious. “They tried for three months,” I tell her, reaching down to grab my phone laying near my left hip. Jillian lifts her head up, watching as I pull up my pictures. I scroll backward, but it doesn’t take long to find what I’m looking for because I don’t take a lot of photos. I hold the phone out so she can see. “This was taken about a month after my injury.” Jillian makes a strangled sound as she looks at the photo of me in bed. My eyes are half open because I was bombed out on so many heavy-duty pain medications, and I have a grimace on my face. I vaguely remember this picture being taken, and I think it may have been by my brother, Hank, when he came to visit once during that first month. He came a few more times after that, and then he didn’t. Jillian’s eyes roam over the photo. My leg is encased in the external fixator with several rods leading from the outside of the cage right into my skin, where it’s drilled through and into the bone to hold the pieces together. The wounds on my leg are all open to the air, red and some of them dripping with puss and lined with blisters. I’ve got IVs in both arms and a PICC line in the right side of my neck to deliver the hordes of antibiotics and pain meds I needed to keep me alive and functioning. I took the maximum dosages they allowed me, preferring to try to be oblivious to what was happening. Yet, the pain was so great it just couldn’t be fully erased. Jillian turns her head to look at me, and I lay the phone back down. “How long were you like that?” “Three months. But they couldn’t get ahead of the infections, which were delaying the bones from knitting. I was in so much pain that I wanted them to amputate.” “You had to make that decision?” she whispers. I nod. “Yup. I mean… the doctors were at the point they felt it was the right way to go, although they were willing to keep trying if I wanted. But I wanted it gone. I was tired of being in the hospital and being in so much pain. I just wanted it gone.” “Do you regret that decision?” she asks me bluntly, but with that still-sweet melody her voice makes. The question doesn’t bother me, because even her hard questions sound lovely. “Yes,” I tell her without any shame. “I wonder what would have happened if I held on just a little bit longer. Not long after the leg came off, the pain receded and I became more lucid. Once I’d forgotten how bad the infections smelled, I regretted it.” “Three months is an awful long time to be in pain like that,” she points out the obvious. I shrug. “And the rest of my life is a long time to wonder ‘what if.’”

About the Author


   AuthorPhoto
Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released more than 30 books and has been featured on both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists on multiple occasions. A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone. Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active toddler, as well as full-time servant to two adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or a combination of the two.
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BOOKBUB | AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE | INSTAGRAM

Thursday, March 30, 2017

COVER REVEAL -- Kristen Hope Mazzola's LOW BLOW!!

LOWBLOW_BANNER 
Low Blow by Kristen Hope Mazzola releases on April 18th! 
Check out the HOT cover and PREORDER NOW for only 99c! Release Date: April 18th 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Cover Model: Josh McCann
17175872_1799601693694982_431315954_o
ONLY 99c! Price goes up on release day! 
unknow athlete ready for fighting, dark background

Blurb:

**Low Blow is the fourth book in the Shots On Goal series and can be read as a STANDALONE.**
One injury - a freaking broken rib. That's all it took to send life into a tailspin at the age of sixteen. After getting a heart transplant, I knew that I could never take life or my talents for granted - I was going to be the best of the best. Boxing consumed my life and I was on track for greatness. Everything was perfect until I woke up one morning, ten years after my surgery with an overwhelming need to meet her - the girl whose father's heart beat in my chest. Little did I know that she was going to save me all over again.
LOWBLOW_TEASER1

About the Author:

I am just an average twenty-something following my dreams. I have a full time “day job” and by night I am an author. I guess you could say that writing is like my super power (I always wanted one of those). I am the lover of wine, sushi, football and the ocean; that is when I am not wrapped up in the literary world. Please feel free to contact me to chat about my writing, books you think I’d like or just to shoot the, well you know. A portion of all my royalties are donated to The Marcie Mazzola Foundation.  

Author Links: 

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1fQ2eZI 
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eUz8P8 
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1gZdki8 
Website: http://bit.ly/1dBeHku 
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/184qzve

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

COVER REVEAL -- Katharina Leboeuf's LETTING LOVE GO!!



Synopsis:

Seven years ago, high school sweethearts Emma and Ryan were torn apart in the most shocking and unexpected way.
Over the years, Emma Leroux has learned to survive by building walls around her damaged heart. Exploited and betrayed by those closest to her, grieving the loss of her father and never really letting go of her first love has Emma at a new low in her life.
Desperate for a fresh start, Emma decides to go on a week-long vacation with a friend. Along with a change in scenery, she finds a new strength in herself and may also have found the one person who can open a door she thought was forever closed.
Justin finds himself at a crossroads in his life and he’s intent on making a fresh start. When he sees Emma for the first time, he knows she’s the one he’s been waiting for to walk into his life. Tearing down Emma’s walls isn’t as easy as he hoped it would be, but he’s not going to let her slip away without a fight.
After serving his time in the military and finishing his MBA, Ryan returns home to New Orleans. He has never given up on the dream that he and Emma could resurrect what they’ve lost. He’s determined to find her and win her back.
Will Justin be the one to help mend her damaged heart? Can this new relationship survive the shadows of their pasts, or will Ryan change everything? 

About the Author:

Katharina LeBoeuf grew up in New Orleans water skiing on the bayous and getting her fill of Cajun food.  She graduated from LSU School of Nursing and currently works as a Registered Nurse.
She loves sitting in her hammock and reading a good book.  On the rare occasion, there isn't a book in her hand, she's watching her favorite shows like Friends, Seinfeld, The walking Dead, and Criminal Minds on Netflix.  She loves cheering on her boys during their baseball games and attending plays her daughter performs in.  Oh Yeah!  She loves writing too!
Katharina lives in Orlando with her high school sweetheart, three children, a smelly cat named Chester (it's not his fault) and a dog named Rhett.  

Author Links:

RELEASE BLITZ -- Sawyer Bennett's THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT SUNSHINE!!

FBHardTruthNowAvailable

   

The Hard Truth About Sunshine AMAZON

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett has written her most gripping and poignant tale yet. Provocatively heart-breaking, audaciously irreverent and romantically fulfilling, The Hard Truth About Sunshine exposes just how very thin the line is between a full life and an empty existence. Despite having narrowly escaped death's clutches, Christopher Barlow is grateful for nothing. His capacity to love has been crushed. He hates everyone and everything, completely unable to see past the gray stain of misery that coats his perception of the world. It's only after he involuntarily joins a band of depressed misfits who are struggling to overcome their own problems, does Christopher start to re-evaluate his lot in life. What could they possibly learn from one another? How could they possibly help each other to heal? And the question that Christopher asks himself over and over again... can he learn to love again? He's about to find out as he embarks upon a cross country trip with a beautiful woman who is going blind, a boy with terminal cancer, and an abuse victim who can't decide whether she wants to live or die. Four people with nothing in common but their destination. They will encounter adventure, thrills, loss and love. And within their travels they will learn the greatest lesson of all. The hard truth about sunshine... Warning: This book deals with some tough issues including suicide and sexual abuse.

Amazon | Paperback | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

LaurenBlakelyQuote  

Excerpt

Jillian holds my gaze for a moment, her eyes drilling into mine before she gently tugs on the material of my jeans near the shin rod of my prosthetic. “What happened to you?” She doesn’t look away. Not down at the fire, not down to my legs. She stares right at me. Although my gut is turning slightly at the thought of telling her what she asked, I forge straight ahead. For the first time, I tell someone who is not medical personnel or a shrink my story. “I was driving a military Humvee and the right front tire ran over a roadside bomb,” I say, and Jillian makes a sound of distress low her in throat as her eyes turn sad. “It completely obliterated my buddy sitting in the passenger seat.” To my surprise, Jillian scoots over closer to me and lays her head on my shoulder. She pushes her hand in between my ribs and my arm, curling her fingers over my bicep. It’s a show of support. Solidarity. That she’s settled in for the long haul of this story, and she wants to hear it all. “It didn’t blow my leg off,” I tell her, and I can feel her body jerk slightly in surprise. Her fingers squeeze my bicep. “The fingers yes, the leg no. It just shattered and shredded it badly, but the doctors tried hard to save it.” “Obviously, they couldn’t,” she whispers the obvious. “They tried for three months,” I tell her, reaching down to grab my phone laying near my left hip. Jillian lifts her head up, watching as I pull up my pictures. I scroll backward, but it doesn’t take long to find what I’m looking for because I don’t take a lot of photos. I hold the phone out so she can see. “This was taken about a month after my injury.” Jillian makes a strangled sound as she looks at the photo of me in bed. My eyes are half open because I was bombed out on so many heavy-duty pain medications, and I have a grimace on my face. I vaguely remember this picture being taken, and I think it may have been by my brother, Hank, when he came to visit once during that first month. He came a few more times after that, and then he didn’t. Jillian’s eyes roam over the photo. My leg is encased in the external fixator with several rods leading from the outside of the cage right into my skin, where it’s drilled through and into the bone to hold the pieces together. The wounds on my leg are all open to the air, red and some of them dripping with puss and lined with blisters. I’ve got IVs in both arms and a PICC line in the right side of my neck to deliver the hordes of antibiotics and pain meds I needed to keep me alive and functioning. I took the maximum dosages they allowed me, preferring to try to be oblivious to what was happening. Yet, the pain was so great it just couldn’t be fully erased. Jillian turns her head to look at me, and I lay the phone back down. “How long were you like that?” “Three months. But they couldn’t get ahead of the infections, which were delaying the bones from knitting. I was in so much pain that I wanted them to amputate.” “You had to make that decision?” she whispers. I nod. “Yup. I mean… the doctors were at the point they felt it was the right way to go, although they were willing to keep trying if I wanted. But I wanted it gone. I was tired of being in the hospital and being in so much pain. I just wanted it gone.” “Do you regret that decision?” she asks me bluntly, but with that still-sweet melody her voice makes. The question doesn’t bother me, because even her hard questions sound lovely. “Yes,” I tell her without any shame. “I wonder what would have happened if I held on just a little bit longer. Not long after the leg came off, the pain receded and I became more lucid. Once I’d forgotten how bad the infections smelled, I regretted it.” “Three months is an awful long time to be in pain like that,” she points out the obvious. I shrug. “And the rest of my life is a long time to wonder ‘what if.’”

Teasers

 


About the Author


   AuthorPhoto
Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released more than 30 books and has been featured on both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists on multiple occasions. A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone. Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active toddler, as well as full-time servant to two adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or a combination of the two.
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | BOOKBUB | AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE | INSTAGRAM

Friday, March 24, 2017

COVER REVEAL -- Piper Rayne's THE BANKER!!




Title: The Banker
Series: Modern Love #3
Author: Piper Rayne
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cover Design: Djordje Grbic
Release Date: April 5, 2017




Blurb

Who knew my brother’s friend could be Mr. Right, and not just Mr. Right Now? 

My brother refused to introduce me, so I blame him. If he’d just caved, and introduced me to Jasper, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I mean, really, what’s the big deal? I’m not interested in the guy’s looks. 

Oh no, I want his cold hard cash. (Be honest, you were expecting that other four letter ‘c’ word weren’t you?) 

Now, before you go getting all judgy, I’m not a gold digger. I have a legitimate business opportunity for Jasper to invest in. The problem is that my stick-up-his-ass brother is embarrassed that his twin sister invents kick ass sex toys. His problem, not mine. 

So, I took matters into my own hands. Defeat isn’t a word in Lennon Hart’s dictionary. 

Using my stealthy P.I. moves, I narrowed my search to a time and place where I knew I could find him. It was completely innocent. A chance meeting that would give me the opportunity to pitch my business. 

It wasn’t until I sat down across from the gorgeous panty soaking man in front of me, that I realized I wanted so much more than just his money. I could very well want his heart if I wasn’t careful. 

Apparently my P.I. skills aren’t as stellar as I thought because Jasper had his own secret—and it changed EVERYTHING. 







Pre-order Links

$2.99 pre-order price

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU






Also Available


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

99c and free in Kindle Unlimited



AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited



Author Bio

Piper Rayne, or Piper and Rayne, whichever you prefer because we’re not one author, we’re two. Yep, you get two established authors for the price of one. You might be wondering if you know us? Maybe you’ll read our books and figure it out. Maybe you won’t. Does it really matter?

We aren’t trying to stamp ourselves with a top-secret label. We wanted to write without apology. We wanted to not be pigeon holed into a specific outline. We wanted to give readers a story without them assuming how the story will flow. Everyone has their favorite authors, right? And when you pick up their books, you expect something from them. Whether it’s an alpha male, heavy angst, a happily ever after, there’s something you are absolutely certain the book will contain. Heck, we’re readers, too, we get it.

What can we tell you about ourselves? We both have kindle’s full of one-clickable books. We're both married to husbands who drive us to drink. We're both chauffeurs to our kids. Most of all, we love hot heroes and quirky heroines that make us laugh, and we hope you do, too.



Author Links

Thursday, March 23, 2017

COVER REVEAL -- L.L. Collins -- RAVENOUS!!


Cover Design: Cassy Roop / Pink Ink Designs
Release Date: April 20, 2017
 

Synopsis

Raven: To seek, plunder, or prey. To devour ravenously. To seize as spoil. I am Raven. I knew what it meant to fight my way through life. To be the victim, the spoil, the prey. I decided long ago I would take control of my future. No more bug infested couches. No more drug-addicted mothers or absentee fathers. No more welfare checks or moldy bread. No more settling. I thought I had it all figured out, a way out of the hand I’d been dealt. Until my life got turned upside down by two very different men who look at me with mirrored lust in their eyes. Their want is palpable, heady. Their desire makes me reckless. I no longer know who I am or who I want. The only thing I do know is, I am ravenous. Voracious. Intensely eager for gratification or satisfaction. Despite the fact I know it is a disaster waiting to happen, I can’t stop it. I’m afraid I will never be sated.
   
Goodreads
 

Giveaway

One of Five ARC's for Ravenous
 
 
 
   

About the Author

L.L. Collins loves spending her days in the Florida sun with her husband and two boys. LL has been writing since she was old enough to write. Always a story in her head, she finally decided to let the characters out made her lifelong dream of becoming an author come true in the self-publishing world. She's the author of the Living Again Series, the Twisted Series, Back to the Drawing Board, and the Jaded Regret Series.  

Connect with L.L. Collins

Newsletter Sign Up: http://bit.ly/2nX8JDv
Facebook Author Page: http://bit.ly/2n1t5MN
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2n18qID
Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/2nWZCCM
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nDSHSZ
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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

RELEASE DAY BLITZ - Karla Sorensen's COLE

Title: Cole
Series: Bachelors of the Ridge #3
Author: Karla Sorensen
Release Date: March 22, 2017
 


Cole Mallinson has never been able to move on.

It’s been two thousand, three hundred and sixty-two days since he’s seen his ex-wife, Julia. He’s never stopped loving her, never stopped wishing she’d come back. Everyone thinks he’s lost his mind for never moving on, but they couldn’t understand. It was never a choice.

Seven years ago, Julia Mallinson left Denver, and even though it’s the last place she wants to be, she’s back. The years of infertility that she and Cole endured during their marriage wore her down past the point of breaking. And when she left, she didn’t look back, couldn’t look back, for the sake of her sanity, her heart.

Between an accidental run-in at the grocery store and a meddling pregnant sister, Julia is forced to face the man she walked away from. The man who still, after all these years, has never moved on. Though neither has she.

And in the end, she’s left wondering if the past is ever left in the past.

  



My small basket was packed full and I paused before going down the next row, trying to decide if I needed a cart. I could add more wine that way.

In the second I paused to think about it, my eyes lifted up to the end of the aisle, blinking at the tall, broad-shouldered man that stood at the opposite side.

And my heart exploded in my chest, a messy, visceral explosion, when I saw his profile.

Cole.

I yanked back behind the end cap and peeked over a row of pasta sauce jars to make sure I hadn't lost my damn mind. That I wasn't imagining him standing there because of how my day had played out.

Nope. No. Oh holy shit, no, he was not a specter sent to haunt me.

His dark hair was shorter than the last time I'd seen him, his frame larger. My stomach turned in on itself at the insane moment. The tears I'd pushed down in Brooke's bathroom spilled over my cheeks while I stared at him. His arm reached out to pluck a box of pasta from the shelf, and the way his forehead furrowed while he read the label made me back up a step so I couldn't see him for a beat. Like I was capable of not looking again. Ha.

The universe hated me.

A hysterical giggle lodged in my throat when I considered that the entire freaking cosmos was playing a joke on me, that I might have been living so close to Cole that we shared a grocery store for the last month. And no matter how much I wanted that wine, my feet had already angled toward the exit. When he started to turn in my direction, I didn't think, didn't question.

I shoved my basket onto an empty bottom shelf and turned to leave, plowing into the chest of a store employee carrying an armful of canned vegetables, which hit the ground with awkward, loud bounces.

Go! I screamed in my head. But my head lifted instead.

His eyes locked on mine, widening in the next heartbeat.

"Julia," he called out, the hoarse crack in his deep voice opening a chasm in between my ribs.

And I was gone, fleeing the store without a backwards glance.



Well, let’s see ... I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone's face, then I've done my job. I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob. If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies. I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I'll love you forever.