BLOG TOUR+ EXCERPT: WILD AND FREE (THE THREE SERIES #3) by KRISTEN ASHLEY

January 4, 2015

Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand.

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his.

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster.

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world.

Or die trying.

My Review:

Kristen Ashley is my favorite author. Her books make my heart pound, get my pulse racing, make me cry, make me laugh and wrap me, always, in a cocoon of family, friendship and love. Could you ask anything more from a writer? And Wild And Free, the third installment in the Three Series, does all of that, and much, much more.

Wild and Free contains some of the rawest, animalistic, sensual and gorgeous love scenes I have ever read. Abel and Lilah, destined to be mates for life, need to be able to draw you in to their characters and their fated mating for this to be a believable story. And boy, do they ever! Just when I think Ms. Ashley could not possibly create a more Alpha male than she already has, she writes Abel, who is a hybrid and who mates like nobody’s business!!

This book contains everything you could possibly hope for in a paranormal romance. There is incredible, heart-stopping action, hot sex, other-wordly beings, super-hot sex, wolves, vampires and heart-pounding sex! I absolutely loved Abel and his story broke my heart. Lilah is a kick-ass heroine, brave, uninhibited, sexual. loyal and loving. These two together just might save the world.

I could not put this book down and was literally swooning at every page. Even if you are not a big fan of paranormal romance, and I do not read a lot of them, Wild And Free is a MUST-READ. This book is truly Kristen Ashley at her finest. She is not afraid to pull the punches and make sacrifices when they work for the story. And for that, I love her. Be prepared to be wowed. Wild And Free has loads of unexpected twists and turns and it is a vital addition to your KA library!!

(*ARC provided by the author, with thanks, for an honest review.)

Exclusive Blog Tour Excerpt:

“I’m a monster, Lilah.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”
“You—”
“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”
I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”
“Nothin’ to break down.”
“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.
“Carry on,” he muttered.
“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”
“Four, and two wolves.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“These being the night we met,” I stated.
“Yeah,” he repeated.
“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”
To that he said nothing.
I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”
He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”
“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”
He shook his head.
“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”
“Fuck no.”
“Take too much and make them sick?”
“No.”
“Do it against anyone’s will?”
His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”
I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”
He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.
“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”
His brows shot together. “Fairies?”
“Fairies.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”
“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.
“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.
“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”
“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.
I stared.
“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”
“Holy fuck,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”
“Abel—”
“I can smell your fear.”
I swallowed.
“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”
“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.
“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

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KALEIDOSCOPE Launch Day Blitz with KRISTEN ASHLEY

December 16, 2014

About the Book:

When old friends become new lovers…anything can happen.

Sexy, gifted, and loyal, PI Jacob Decker is a tall, cool drink of perfection who had Emmanuelle Holmes at “hello.” His relationship with Emme’s best friend kept them apart for years, but things have changed. Now that a case has brought him to Gnaw Bone, Colorado, the road is wide open for Emme and Deck to explore something hotter and deeper than Emme dreamed possible. So why is she sabotaging the best thing that’s ever happened to her?

It isn’t easy to catch Deck off guard, but Emme does just that when she walks back into his life after nine long years. The curvy brunette had her charms back in the day, but now she’s a bona fide knockout . . . and she wants to rekindle their friendship. Deck, however, wants more. Emme’s always been the one; she excites Deck’s body and mind like no other woman can. But a dark chapter from Emme’s past overshadows their future together. Now only Deck can help her turn the page-if she’ll let him . . .

Excerpt:

I looked out my office window, down to the yard, my eyes to the bustling activity, and I did this tapping my phone on my desk.
I should be working but I wasn’t thinking about work.
I was thinking about Jacob.
More precisely, I was thinking about calling Jacob, had an overwhelming urge to do so.
I was also trying not to do so because I had a boyfriend, even though he was a boyfriend I wasn’t all that sure about. He was sweet, he was into me, but he was just… off.
Then again, I didn’t have a lot of experience so what did I know?
Additionally, after my dinner with Jacob last night, within an hour, I’d called him after ten at night and now it was only eleven thirty the next day.
I didn’t want him to think I was psycho, and calling him would imply psycho behavior. Further, when I called him last night, I’d asked him to dinner, which was dinner two nights in a row with a woman he hadn’t seen in nine years, a woman with a boyfriend, and that was semi-psycho.
Okay, maybe it was totally psycho.
I didn’t want Jacob to think I was psycho.
Ever.
But I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to connect with him on the phone. I’d missed him and I liked having him back. I liked it a great deal.
I also missed him a great deal.
And I needed to ask him something. Further, he was the only one I could ask.
I looked from the yard to my phone. My mind telling my thumb not to do it, my thumb not listening, I found Jacob’s contact and hit go.
I put it to my ear.
“I’m a psycho,” I whispered and luckily finished whispering two seconds before Jacob’s voice sounded.
“You okay?” he answered.
He kept asking that mostly, I figured, because I kept calling when I didn’t need to so he probably thought something was wrong.
Or that I was a psycho.
“I need to know if you don’t eat anything,” I lied.
Actually, it wasn’t a lie. Although I remembered a lot about Jacob (most everything, in all honesty), I couldn’t recall if there was something specific he didn’t like to eat.
I could recall how beautiful he was, how tall he was, how strong he was. I could recall how smart he was and how funny he was. I could recall how cool he was with me. I could also recall how much I missed him. But I couldn’t recall if he didn’t like chicken.
But that wasn’t the only thing I needed to know. I needed to know something else too.
Much like last night, when he didn’t make me feel like a psycho, in fact, the opposite and sounded like he was happy to hear from me and would be willing to talk all night, he again sounded like me psychotically calling him yet again in a precursor to stalker way was no big deal.
“I don’t eat it, I’ll pick it off.”
“You can’t pick it off if I cook with it in it or if the mainstay of dinner on the whole is what you don’t eat,” I informed him.
“You makin’ Indian food?” he asked.
“No. Don’t you like Indian food?” I asked back.
“Love it,” he answered.
“Then why’d you ask if I was making Indian food?”
“ ’Cause I hoped you were.”
I burst out laughing.
No, Jacob definitely didn’t make me feel like I was being a psycho.
When I quit laughing, I told him, “Sorry, honey, I don’t know how to make Indian food.”
“Shame,” he muttered, a smile in his deep, attractive voice, and if I was on an infrared scanner, specific parts of me would have shown up hotter.
You have a boyfriend, Emme! I told myself.
For a while, I answered myself.
Jacob is also your ex–best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Emme! I reminded myself.
So? I asked myself.
I shoved those thought aside, thoughts that, if anyone knew I was talking to myself in my head might prove I was indeed a psycho, and pointed out to Jacob, “You haven’t actually answered the question.”
“I’ll eat what you cook, Emme. Cook what you like.”
He was such a nice guy.
He always was.
Nice. Tall (very tall). Handsome (unbelievably handsome). Smart (so damned smart). Funny. Interesting. Gentlemanly. And a repeat of nice because it was worth a repeat since he was just that nice.
I liked all that about him. I liked that he wore his dark hair way too long. I liked that sometimes a thick hank of it fell over his forehead and into his eye. I liked that he was who he was and didn’t wear designer jeans or put gel in his hair. I liked that, even considering he was extortionately intelligent, in fact, a genius, he never made anyone feel less than him because they weren’t as smart. I liked that he never acted superior or arrogant and with all that was him, looks, body, brains, he was one person who could. And I liked that he liked to do what he liked to do, he did what he liked to do and wouldn’t get pushed into doing something he didn’t want.
Like Elsbeth tried to do.
He’d lost her to that and he’d accepted it. I knew it killed. He’d loved her to distraction. But he refused to be the man she wanted him to be and instead was the man he was.
She should have seen she had it all even if he didn’t make bucketloads of money and thus couldn’t give her the life she was used to getting from her daddy. Country clubs, tennis lessons, vacations in villas in Italy and beaches in Thailand, fabulous homes kept by maids and fabulous meals cooked by cooks.
She didn’t see all she had.
Stupid.

About Kristen Ashley:

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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JAGGED Launch Day Blitz with KRISTEN ASHLEY

September 30, 2014

Synopsis:

An old flame rekindled . . .
Zara Cinders always knew Ham Reece was the one, but he wasn’t interested in settling down. When she found someone who was, Ham walked out of her life. Three years later, Zara’s lost her business, her marriage, and she’s barely getting by in a tiny apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. As soon as Ham hears about Zara’s plight, he’s on her doorstep offering her a lifeline. Now, it will take every ounce of will power she possesses to resist all that he offers.

Ham was always a traveling man, never one to settle down in one town, with one woman, for more time than absolutely necessary. But Ham’s faced his own demons, and he’s learned a lot. About himself, and about the life he knows he’s meant to live. So when he hears that Zara’s having a rough time, he wants to be the one to help. In fact, he wants to do more than that for Zara. A lot more. But first, he must prove to Zara that he’s a changed man.

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Excerpt:

“You’ve been waiting for me to come to you?”
“Babe, you’re my Zara, my cookie, so fuck yeah, I’ve been bidin’ my time, givin’ you space to sort your head out, but waitin’ to get you back, as in”—his hand slid up to cup my jaw and his face dipped closer—“back.”
Was he serious? Two months…no seven, if you counted when he came back after hatchet man got to him, I’d been in misery and he’d been waiting to get me back?
I felt my eyes narrow.
“Last night, you rolled off me and didn’t say a word about a chat before you went to the bathroom,” I reminded him.
“Zara, what we shared, so good, so hot, so close, us bein’ back to us, didn’t feel I needed to say a word,” he replied.
Was he for real? “Back to us” and he didn’t feel he needed to say a word?
“Well, you did,” I stated.
“I see that now,” he returned.
Okay, then, time for a different subject.
“You said you didn’t want my body,” I accused.
“I lied, Zara. Fuck, when have I ever not wanted in there?” he asked, a question that had one answer, that being never. But he didn’t give me the chance to give that answer, he kept talking. “I would have said anything to get you out of that shithole, get you safe, and get you with me.”
“You lied?” I asked.
“I lied,” Ham answered.
“Lied?” My voice was getting higher.
“Asked and answered, darlin’,” he clipped.
“So you thought it was a good idea to lie,” I noted unhappily.
“Babe, I came to you, we almost instantly got up in each other’s shit. You had a lot you were dealin’ with and one of those things didn’t need to be me. You weren’t lettin’ anyone do anything for you. You needed time to deal. I wanted you with me. I did what I had to do to give you that and make that happen for me.”
My head gave a jerk as what he said tardily hit me.
“You wanted me with you?”
He was beginning to look impatient.
“You’ve known me years. I ever go back?” he asked.
“Go back to what?”
“Go back anywhere.”
“Ham—”
“I don’t go back,” he declared.
“I don’t get—”
“Now I’m back in Gnaw Bone, back at The Dog, babe, why do you think that is?”
I didn’t speak. I was back to staring.
Because I knew why I wanted that to be.
I just rarely got what I wanted.
Then Graham Reece finally gave me what I wanted.
“Because you’re here.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
He stopped looking impatient, his eyes warmed, his face went soft, and his lips twitched.
But, “Yeah,” was all he said.

Author Bio:

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY September 2014

September 22, 2014

Enter to win a set of UNSIGNED paperbacks!

My shelf is overflowing and I need to give some books away.

To enter to win one set of 6 unsigned paperback books, enter the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway is open to US only.

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LADY LUCK (COLORADO MOUNTAIN #3) Launch Day Blitz with Kristen Ashley

July 29, 2014

LADY LUCK by Kristen Ashley (July 29, 2014; Forever Mass Market)

Is love in the cards?

Since birth, Lexie Berry has had nothing but bad luck. Orphaned at an early age, she had a rough childhood and a boyfriend who was murdered. Now the beautiful, stylish Lexie is determined to change her luck and her life. But first she’s got to make good on a promise: to pick up Ty Walker from prison. One look at the gorgeous ex-convict and Lexie knows she’s in trouble-and already thinking about taking a walk on the wild side . . .

For five years, Ty was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he wants revenge on the people who framed him. Yet when the high-stakes poker player sees the leggy Lexie, he suddenly has other desires on his mind. Realizing that Ty is innocent, Lexie tries to stop his plan for vengeance and help him become a better man. But as Ty battles his inner demons, dirty cops and criminals plot to take him out. Can he and Lexie find a way to escape the past?

“I know it’s fake but thank you, Ty. I never expected to have anything that nice and it is nice, no matter what. So thank you for giving it to me.”
He didn’t speak but his eyes changed, one of those changes I didn’t know, didn’t yet understand but this one was meaningful. They all were but this one was more meaningful than the rest.
A lot more.
And I couldn’t stop myself, his eyes so close, that look in them, my arms moved from around his shoulders, my hands framed his face, I leaned up and whispered, “Thank you.”
Then I pressed my lips to his.
I meant to give him a soft kiss of gratitude. This was not to say I didn’t want to give him a long, hard, wet kiss of something else. And just what I wanted to give him and what that would lead to had also been filling my head space the last couple of days but that wasn’t where I intended to go just then. Not yet. Not with a house full of people downstairs waiting to eat fried chicken.
But when my mouth hit his, he didn’t give me the chance to give him a soft kiss of gratitude.
Instantly, his fingers slid up into my hair, cupping my head, and his mouth opened over mine making a demand.
Mine complied. His tongue spiked into my mouth and I liked the taste of it, I hadn’t had it in what seemed like a decade, I missed it and he tasted so fucking good my body pressed into his and not just because his arm around me grew super tight.
Then I was twisted, on my back in what was, I noted vaguely and was unbelievably happy for, a bed. His torso was on mine, his hips beside mine, his long, heavy leg moved to tangle with mine as his tongue moved in my mouth. I wrapped one arm around his back, one around his shoulders, my hand moving to cup the back of his head and hold him to me.
God, he couldn’t kiss. He could kiss.

Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and has lived in Denver, Colorado, and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write. Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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One winner gets a copy of the book with signed bookplate plus a Vera Bradley wristlet. Five winners get a copy of the book with signed bookplate. This giveaway runs through August 19 and is open to US/Canada only.

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UNSTUFF MY BOOKSHELVES GIVEAWAY

July 12, 2014

Ellen needs to clean out her bookshelves! 1 U.S. winner will receive unsigned paperback copies of the following books:

The Game and The Governess by Kate Noble
Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Different Dreams by Tory Cates
All You Need is Love by Marie Force
Bitter Spirits by Jenn Bennett
All of You by Christina Lee
Melt Into You by Roni Loren
The Darkest Joy by Marata Eros
Bound by Lorelei James
Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley
Beneath the Burn by Pam Godwin

Good luck! (US only please!)

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Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley Launch Day Blitz

June 24, 2014

SWEET DREAMS by Kristen Ashley (June 24, 2014; Forever Mass Market)

Synopsis:

She’s ready for the ride of her life . . .
Lauren Grahame is looking to reinvent herself. After leaving her cheating husband, Lauren moves to Carnal, Colorado, and gets a job as a waitress in a biker bar called Bubba’s. It’s a nothing job in a nowhere joint . . . until Tatum Jackson walks in. Lauren has never seen a man with such good looks, muscles, and attitude. But when he insults her, Lauren doesn’t want anything to do with him. Too bad for Lauren he’s also the bar’s part owner and bartender.

When the rough-around-the-edges Tate meets the high-class Lauren, he thinks she won’t fit in at Bubba’s. Yet there’s more to Lauren than meets the eye, and Tate soon sets his mind on claiming her as his own. Before long, the desire burning between them is heating up the cold mountain air. But when violence strikes the town, Tate must reveal a dark secret to Lauren-one that may put an end to their sweet dreams.

Excerpt:

Tate kept my hand in his as we walked to room three, which was way closer to Ned and Betty’s. I had to walk double-time to keep up with his long strides. He didn’t release my hand when he made it to the door. He just unlocked it, opened it, and pushed me inside.
I walked four steps in while Tate flipped the light switch.
It was an exact copy of my other room, to the letter.
I threw my purse on the bed, turned to Tate, and remarked,
“Weird, it’s like I didn’t even move. It’s the same room.”
“Enjoy the ride?” Tate asked and I blinked at him.
“Sorry?”
“Did you enjoy the ride, Lauren?” he repeated and I smiled.
“Yes, Tate, it was—”
I didn’t finish but I made another sound. It was a gasp because one second he was standing inside the closed door. The next he was standing right in front of me, one of his hands was sliding up my neck into my hair, the other arm was wrapped around my waist pulling my body into his.
“What are you—?” I got out before his fingers in my hair fisted, pulled down just a tad less than gentle, and his mouth was on mine.
And he kissed me.
No. He kissed me.
Brad was a good kisser and he was great in bed. He wasn’t my first kiss though, or my first lover. I’d had a better kisser than Brad, but not a better lover.
But Tate’s kiss . . .
There was no describing it.
It didn’t start slow. It started hard and wet and so demanding
I had no choice but to give back what I got. And I did. Our tongues sparred, then our teeth bit at each other’s lips and our heads twisted this way and that, all of it a mindless, sexy dance that was all- consuming. There was nothing but his mouth and my mouth, what they were doing and what they were making me feel. Nothing. Not in the whole universe.
When he lifted his head a fraction of an inch I found one of my hands was up his shirt in the back and one of them was cupping the back of his head. His hand was still fisted in my hair but his other arm had moved up to curve tight just under my shoulder blades, the pads of his fingers pressed into the side of my breast.
We both were breathing deep, our breaths mingling between us. I could feel his on my sensitized lips and he had to feel mine.
Finally, he spoke. “Shit, Ace.”
“Shit what?” I whispered, staring into his eyes, so close, I could count the tawny flecks.
“This isn’t good,” he whispered back and I swallowed and felt a sour pit forming in my belly.
“It isn’t?”
“I gotta focus.” He went on whispering.
“On what?” I asked, also whispering.
“On shit that doesn’t include what that mouth and tongue of yours could do to my cock.”
My hand at his back fisted. “Tate—”
“And if your pussy is as sweet as your mouth.”
“Tate—”
“Shit,” he muttered.
“Tate—”
“I gotta find this guy,” he told me.
“I know.”
“I get back, Lauren, you’re on the back of my bike.”
I blinked at what he said, mostly because I didn’t understand it. Then I swayed because he let me go and without a word or looking back, the door to my room closed behind him.
Several moments later, when I could speak, I asked the door, “Get back from where?”
Like the hall earlier that day, the door didn’t have an answer.

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Giveaway:

One winner gets a copy of the book with signed bookplate and an OPI nail polish set. Five winners get a copy of the book with signed bookplate. This giveaway runs through July 22 and is open to US/Canada only.

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Release Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway: Fire Inside by Kristen Ashley

March 26, 2014

Title: Fire Inside by Kristen Ashley
Publication Date: (March 25, 2014; Forever Mass Market; $8.00)

The Bellas are thrilled be part of the paperback release blitz for ‘Fire Inside’ by one of our FAVORITE authors, Kristen Ashley. We also have a print giveaway for Fire Inside, in addition to the tour-wide giveaway! Scroll down to enter.

About the Book:

Lanie Heron isn’t looking for love-no surprise, considering her last serious relationship nearly got her killed. So when Lanie propositions Hop Kincaid, all she wants is one wild night with the hot-as-hell biker who patrols with the Chaos Motorcycle Club . . .

For Hop, Lanie has always been untouchable. She’s too polished and too classy for his taste. But when she gives Hop the once-over with her bedroom eyes and offers him a night in paradise, he can’t say no. And he doesn’t regret it when he finds that Lanie is the best thing that’s ever happened to him-in or out of bed. Now the trick will be to convince her of that.

My Review:

“Wanna f****?”

And with that, we’re off on another glorious, heart-pounding, wild ride with the Chaos MC, courtesy of the freaking brilliant writing of Kristen Ashley. Fire Inside is the story of Hopper “Hop” Kincaid, a
member of the Chaos Motorcycle Club, and Elaine “Lanie” Heron who is the best friend of Tyra, the Club President’s wife.

The gorgeous and loyal-to-a-fault Lanie was almost killed protecting her boyfriend Eliot from the Russian mob. She was left with deep emotional wounds from those horrible events, so she is only looking for a little no-strings-attached fun when she propositions Hop one night:

“No expectations. Just us. One night. Tomorrow, it will be like it’s
always been. Like it didn’t even happen. I promise.” – Lanie

Except that this is a Kristen Ashley novel, Hop is a sexy Alpha-to-end-all -Alphas and Lanie is gorgeous, classy and smart. And the best thing that ever happened to Hop:

“Please be real.”His hand in my hair stilled, curled around my head
and Hop whispered back, “Lady, I’m as real as it gets.”
– Lanie and Hop

Hop and Lanie both start off swearing that there will be no deep emotional attachments. Hop gradually discovers what he really wants. Lanie has a seriously dysfunctional family which has messed up her
head. But Hop is going to fight for them no matter what.

“…It’s a clean, pure beauty the like I’ve never had, I’m gonna respect
it like I feel like I gotta and you’re gonna let me.” – Hop

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book. In fact it might be one of my favorite KA books ever. The super-steamy sex scenes, raw emotions and the honesty just really got to me. I also love that as with most of KA’s female characters, Lanie was a working professional whose job was major part of the storyline. And, most importantly, as with all of KA’s books, Hop and Lanie shared a deep emotional connection. I did not want this book to end. A must-read!

(ARC received via NetGalley)

– Ellen

Excerpt:

Hop came out of the bathroom to see Lanie on her feet on the other side of the bed, panties on, hands twisted behind her back putting her bra on. Again.

He didn’t say a word. He prowled to her, reached out an arm the second he was close, yanked her to him and fell to his back in the bed, taking her down with him.

“Hop—” she started, pushing her weight against his arms, but he slid her off him then wasted no time rolling over her and pinning her to his bed.

“Sleep,” he ordered when he caught her eyes in the weak dawn. “After rest, I’ll get coffee, we’ll juice up, then round four.”

She blinked and breathed, “Four?”

“Got lots more I want to do to you,” he informed her and watched her eyes go soft, sexier, then her teeth came out to graze her lush lower lip, also fucking sexy, and her arms slid around him.
But she asked, “What about Tack and Ty-Ty?”

“I’ll make sure the coast is clear,” he told her.

“But they’ll see my car,” she told him.

“I’ll move it,” he offered.

Her hand slid up his back, around his shoulder, and then to his neck where her thumb moved to stroke him.

Her touch was light but, fuck, it felt good. He’d never had a woman touch him in an unconscious way like that, just a touch, a stroke, giving something that meant nothing at the same time doing it without thinking about it meant everything.

Shit.

Complicated.

“This is just supposed to be one night,” she reminded him quietly, but he saw it in her eyes. She didn’t even try to hide it. She’d bitten off more than she could chew.

He had too and he was nowhere near done eating.

She was cute. She was sweet. She was hot. She was better than he expected and he’d expected her to be pretty fucking good. All that wrapped in a package that gorgeous?

Yeah.

He was nowhere near done eating.

“Change of plans. A night and a morning and, maybe, an afternoon and, possibly, another night,” he amended, and her eyes got softer as her hand slid up to cup his jaw.

“I have to work,” she told him.

“Call off,” he told her.

“I can’t. I own the joint.” She explained something he knew, that she ran her own advertising agency. “And things are a bit crazy.”

Things were always crazy for Lanie. The woman lived crazy. She thrived on it. If there wasn’t crazy, she stirred it up because she couldn’t breathe without it.

“Babe,” he pressed his body into hers, “told you, got more I want to do to you.”

About the author:

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting b0etter.

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KALEIDOSCOPE (Colorado Mountain #6) by Kristen Ashley – Release Day Blitz and Giveaway

February 4, 2014

We are thrilled to be part of the release day blitz for KALEIDOSCOPE by Kristen Ashley (February 4, 2014; Forever E-Book; $3.99). We read this book and LOVED it! It’s pure Kristen Ashley. Scroll down to read an excerpt and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

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I dropped my leg so I was sitting cross-legged in the couch and leaned into him. “Honey, you remember everything so I don’t have to remind you I haven’t seen you in nine years. I dig it that we reconnected and I love having you back.” I again threw an arm out, this time toward him and back to me. “This is great. You and me spending time together, shooting the breeze. I missed that. And I get it that friends make gestures, but this is too much.”
His eyes warmed during this speech and he took his arms from the couch, bent his legs, leaned into them, and me, and put his elbows to his knees, never releasing my eyes.
“Baby, I want you warm and liquid. The first bein’ physically, the second bein’ financially. You stop payin’ so much for heat, you’ll have more money for the rest of the shit you gotta do.”
This made sense.
But he’d again called me “baby.”
And I needed to address that.
So I asked, “What is that?”
His head cocked and his eyebrows drew together. “What’s what?”
I drew in breath and on the exhale, stated, “You calling me baby.” Then I went on quickly, “Not that I don’t like it. It’s sweet. It’s just not…” I hesitated, “us.”
Something happened to his eyes, his face, his whole big body and that something made me brace at the same time it made my heartbeat escalate.
“You know what it is,” he said softly.
I didn’t.
“I don’t,” I shared.
His eyes stayed locked to mine and I knew him relatively well, or I used to. But even if we hadn’t been separated for years, I still would not have been forewarned to the fact he was about to blow my mind.
“Before, we had Elsbeth between us. My head was fucked about that, about her, and it took almost a decade to get it unfucked. Lookin’ back, havin’ you back, I now know and I reckon you know, that’s the way it was. She was between us. She knew it too. And she didn’t like it. But it didn’t matter. My head was fucked so I couldn’t see clear of her and not doin’ that, I didn’t see you.”
I knew my lips had parted. I also knew my eyes got big. And last, I had no clue what to say.
So I said nothing.
“Now she isn’t between us,” he finished.
It was then I knew what the “baby” business was.
I just had no idea how to react to it because I never considered it. He was beautiful. He was kind. He was smart. He was funny and interesting and affectionate.
But he was my best friend’s boyfriend.
That didn’t mean my mind didn’t go there in vague ways, not stupid enough to wish for something I could never have, just silently covetous of what Elsbeth had. And, because of all that he was and that Elsbeth had it, in the end, infuriated she threw it away. Angry enough to end an important friendship because of it.
Sitting there, all that was Jacob, and all that being spectacular sitting across from me, holding my eyes, I finally understood that the reason I was angry at my friend was because, in throwing Jacob away, she took him away from me.
And now I had him back, but also, he was saying I’d always had him a different way, we just didn’t go there and he was going to take us there.
Yes. I had no clue what to say but my body had a clue how to feel. Warm and there were a lot more tingles.
“Jacob—” I started on a whisper.
But he interrupted again.
“You saw me, asked me out to dinner that same night, no fuckin’ around. Since then, you’ve called twice for no reason except to connect, and, baby, before you freak that I noticed that and what it said, I’ll tell you, I’m fuckin’ glad you did and I’m also fuckin’ glad about what it said. The boyfriend you were on the fence about, you got off the fence in less than twenty-four hours after seein’ me again and decided to get shot of his ass. And you didn’t waste any time gettin’ me right where I am tonight. That is not friends reconnecting. You know it. So do I.”
“I—”
“Don’t deny it.”
I shut my mouth.

On February 5, FOREVER ROMANCE will be hosting a LIVE Spreecast Chat with Kristen Ashley at 7 PM EST!! RSVP to watch and participate here

Author Bio:

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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JAGGED by KRISTEN ASHLEY RELEASE DAY EVENT

November 5, 2013

We love Kristen Ashley and are thrilled to share an excerpt from JAGGED (COLORADO MOUNTAIN #5) as well as a fantastic giveaway! Our review will be up soon for JAGGED, which was a 6-star read!!

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Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

EXCERPT:

When I saw who was outside, my mouth dropped open.
Luckily, the doorbell buzzing stopped.
Unluckily, the last person on earth I wanted to see was standing outside my door.
“Jesus, you don’t have a peephole?” Ham growled, looking incensed and Graham Reece looking, or worse, being incensed was a very bad thing. I’d learned that five months ago.
I didn’t have it in me to concern myself with Ham being incensed. I was more concerned with him being there at all.
To express this, I asked, “What the hell?”
“Open the fuckin’ door, Zara.”
I stared a beat, then pulled myself together.
This was not happening.
We were done.
I pushed the door closed.
The problem with this was it didn’t work, seeing as the toe of Ham’s boot was wedged between it and the jamb.
“Open the door, Zara,” he repeated.
“We’re done,” I told him through the gap in the door. “Move your foot.”
“Open the door.”
“We’re done, Ham,” I snapped.
“Right, then move back.”
“What?”
He didn’t repeat his order. He moved his foot but only so he could rear back and plant his shoulder in the door.
The chain popped right open, as did the door, and I went flying.
I righted myself as Ham, now in my apartment, slammed the door.
“You’re payin’ for that!” I yelled.
His eyes were beyond me, examining my new space as his mouth moved.
“Not a problem. I’ll reimburse what they take out of your security deposit when we move you out of this dump.”
I didn’t know what he meant and I also didn’t care.
I switched subjects.
“How did you get here so fast?” I asked, and his eyes finally came to me.
“I hope to Christ you didn’t miss local gossip because you’re spendin’ your days at Deluxe Home Store and your nights at some titty bar.”
“I’m not working at a titty bar, Ham, so you can stop concerning yourself with me and move on”—I paused—“again.” I bit off the last word then what he said penetrated and I asked, “What gossip?”
“Managing The Dog, Zara, have been for a week. I live in Gnaw Bone.”
I felt my eyes get huge as my stomach clenched.
“You’re managing The Dog?” I whispered, aghast.
“Yeah. And you just got a new job. You start after you work out your notice at Deluxe,” he returned.
“What?” This also came out quiet and horrified.
“You’re waitressin’ for me. Shit hours but, if I remember correctly and since the view hasn’t changed except to get better, with your face, tits, and ass, great tips. In the meantime, we’re movin’ you out of this shithole and, you don’t got a girl who can take you on, you’re bunkin’ with me.”
Bunking with him?
Was he high?
“I am not moving in with you,” I declared.

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