Cover Reveal - Dirty Deeds by AJ Nuest

Coming Soon from Lyrical Underground
Dirty Deeds
A Likely Story by AJ Nuest

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Heat Rating: 4 Flames

Publication Date: January 31, 2017

Publisher:  Lyrical Underground

Author: AJ Nuest 

PRE-ORDER NOW at these on-line retailers: 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iTunes / Google

An Eye for an Eye

As owner of Dirty Deeds, a tech-savvy company specializing in the age-old art of revenge, Eden Smith knows first-hand that secrecy is critical. But when a dead body washes up on the shores of Lake Michigan clutching her business card, Eden’s well-constructed world begins to fall apart. Apparently, she’s not the only one with a passion for payback, and staying alive to outsmart a killer has become her most important job of all. 

Game for a Game

Hardened homicide detective Kelly Riordan is convinced Eden Smith is hiding more than she’s willing to admit. Years on the force have taught him that nothing is what it seems, and that couldn’t be truer than when it comes to investigating the alluring owner of a revenge-for-hire business. But revealing her past could put everything Eden has worked for in jeopardy. And trusting a man like Riordan goes against the very instincts that have kept her alive this long.

Book one in the highly-anticipated

Dirty Deeds, A Likely Story Series!

Kelly’s phone chirped, and he frowned, slipping it from the pocket of his jeans. A glance at the caller ID, and he jerked to attention. “Holy shit.”

He knew that number. It’d been the bane of existence for the past forty-eight hours.

Archer lifted his brows. “Problem?”

Holding up his hand, Kelly thumbed the screen. Whether or not this call qualified as a problem was still up for grabs. “Riordan.”

“I heard you’ve been looking for me, Detective.” The voice was female, soft, held a slight hint of humor. Yep. He raked his hand through his hair. This was gonna be a problem, all right. “I hope you don’t mind that I called.”

His brows jacked toward his hairline. Mind that she called? What the hell was she trying to pull? For Christ’s sake, the woman had not only located his private number, she’d dialed it and then acted like calling him was no big deal. Meanwhile, he’d only spent the last two days driving himself nuts trying to figure out her loca—

His eyes slammed shut. But, of course, she already knew that. Which could only mean she also knew his efforts at trying to find her had resulted in a dead end. So she’d called him. A power play to establish right from the get-go exactly who was in charge.

Nice move, Dirty Deeds. Bitchy, but nice.

“Are you there? Maybe I’ve called at a bad time. If you want, I can always—”

“No, no, I’m here.” He locked onto Archer and wrote an invisible line through the air, signaling for him to get some paper and a pen. Kelly cleared his throat. “How can I help you, Miss…?”

She laughed. Smooth, low. Like a shot of barrel-aged whiskey had just slid down her throat. “I think the question you meant to ask is how can I help you.”

Dammit. Huge problem. Huge, huge problem. Not to mention, she seemed to be enjoying this game she’d cooked up. A game she played without giving him the parameters. “Had I known it would be this easy to get your assistance, I would’ve started asking questions about you a long time ago.”

It was a stupid thing to say since he hadn’t even known she existed until Monday night, but based on the way her husky laugh brushed his ear like a feather, she got the point.

“Very good, Detective. At ten o’clock tonight, I’ll be at 17 South State Street on the twenty-first floor, room 4-B. I’ll give you ten minutes.” She paused. “Funny, I was about to say come alone, but I know you won’t. Besides, that sounds corny. Even for me.”

The line disconnected.

Kelly lowered the phone and stared at the screen. On impulse, he hit *69 to dial back the number, but a weird busy signal repeatedly beeped in his ear. Yep. He’d just been spanked and, at the same time, something about her… 

Damn, the woman had him intrigued.

Guest Review - It's Not You, It's them by Portia MacIntosh

It’s Not You, It’s Them

By Portia MacIntosh

Released: November 4, 2016

Harper Collins

An irresistible, feel-good romance, perfect for fans of Rosie Blake, Sophie Kinsella and Lindsey Kelk.

First comes love. Then comes family…

After a lifetime of kissing frogs, Roxie Pratt has given up on finding her own fairytale romance. That is, until she meets her very own Prince Charming, Mark Wright, and he sweeps Roxie off her feet!

So when Mark finally gets down on one knee and pops the question, there’s only one thing left to do: meet the family! And when everything has been picture-perfect so far, what could possibly go wrong…?

Today I am delighted to share with you a guest review by Gemma Hughes.

I really enjoyed It’s Not You It’s Them! I loved the characters Mark and Roxie and that the proposal was so early on in the book! 

Mark and Roxie haven't been going out too long but from the start of the book it's obvious they are very in love and that he will do anything for her I don't wanna say too much and give too much away.

There are lots of laugh out loud moments throughout the book, and lots of memorable scenes especially the broken bed and teenage mutant ninja turtles!

Being snowed in on the 1st time you meet your in laws especially as an unexpected guest well what could possibly do wrong?

I have read all Portia’s books this one has been my favourite by far! 

Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

Gemma x 

Book Links: Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Google Play | Goodreads

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2e652vf

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2dEey9h

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/its-not-you-its-them-portia-macintosh/1124177081?ean=9781474058995

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Portia_MacIntosh_It_s_Not_You_It_s_Them?id=0We7DAAAQBAJ

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31366739-it-s-not-you-it-s-them

When I met my boyfriend one year ago, I couldn’t believe my luck.

You’re probably not going to believe me when I tell you this, but the way we met was like a fairy tale.

I was covering an event for work: a big, fancy-dress ball hosted by a children’s charity. I’m not much of a comic-book nerd, but the second I saw Margot Robbie dressed as Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad movie, I knew that was who I wanted to dress up as. I pulled my long, blonde hair into pigtails before temporarily spraying the ends blue on one side, pink on the other. I watched hours of make-up tutorials so that my face was just right and then I slipped on a tight-fitting T-shirt, some hot pants and some Converse and was ready to go. I grabbed my baseball bat, brandishing it at myself in the mirror as I got ready to leave the flat, just as my flatmate Gil walked by me.

‘You’re showing your arse at a children’s charity ball?’ he said, laughing.

‘There won’t actually be any children there,’ I replied casually, making a pouty face as I snapped a photo in the mirror. But as I headed to the ball, I did worry that maybe Gil was right. Funny

Portia MacIntosh has been 'making stuff up' for as long as she can remember - or so she says. Whether it was blaming her siblings for that broken vase when she was growing up, blagging her way backstage during her rock chick phase or, most recently, whatever justification she can fabricate to explain away those lunchtime cocktails, Portia just loves telling tales. After years working as a music journalist, Portia decided it was time to use her powers for good and started writing novels. Taking inspiration from her experiences on tour with bands, the real struggle of dating in your twenties and just trying to survive as an adult human female generally, Portia writes about what it's really like for women who don't find this life stuff as easy as it seems.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Website: http://portiamacintosh.wixsite.com/books

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/macintoshportia/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PortiaMacIntosh

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7021666.Portia_Macintosh

Tour Link: http://tours.readingromance.com/2016/10/its-not-you-its-them-by-portia-macintosh.html

Blog Tour and Review - Celebrations and Confetti at Cedarwood Lodge by Rebecca Raisin

Celebrations and Confetti

Cedarwood Lodge # 1

By Rebecca Raisin

Releasing October 24, 2016

Carina

Part one in a feel-good romantic serial from bestselling author Rebecca Raisin!

Clio Winters is finally fulfilling her childhood dream of renovating the gorgeous old Cedarwood Lodge in Evergreen. Turning it into the perfect destination for big celebrations, weddings and parties has brought her back home, but Cedarwood Lodge is in need of a lot of tender loving care.

Perhaps all the work will be the perfect distraction from the real reason she had to leave her glamorous New York life behind.

Will coming home be the best decision of her life… or her biggest regret?

Cedarwood Lodge is a delectable romance told in three parts - following Clio Winters journey back to her hometown of Evergreen. This is Part One.

Book Links: Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | Google Play | Goodreads

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2exYINl

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2b4Q04O

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/celebrations-and-confetti-at-cedarwood-lodge-rebecca-raisin/1124580558?ean=9781474058414

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rebecca_Raisin_Celebrations_and_Confetti_At_Cedarw?id=bGPJDAAAQBAJ

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31423830-celebrations-and-confetti-at-cedarwood-lodge?from_search=true

I would like to thank Carina for approving me to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have got to say I fell in love with Cedarwood Lodge from the first page of this book.  As this is a first in the series it a novella size and a very easy read.  The descriptions are just enough to envisage the lodge without getting boring and going into too much detail which seems to be the norm for romance novels at the moment.

Clio is a likable character and you really feel for her when you find out her reasons for being buying the lodge, after all, we've all made mistakes when we have thought we were doing the right thing.  In some ways, she has gone home with her tail between her legs after leaving the small town to go to New York.  Enter hunky surfer Kai and the tension fly off the page.

There is drama in this novella and great character in the shape of Micah and Isla and also a 50th wedding anniversary to arrange.

An excellent beginning to a fabulous series and I was annoyed how it ended but in a good way as I didn't want it to end there but it made me eager to read the next part of this series.

Chapter One

Staring up at the imposing structure with its weathered facade, I had a terrible premonition that I’d made a mistake. A huge one. But, I reasoned, clawing back rising panic, I had always wanted to buy the hundred-year-old abandoned lodge. It had been put up for sale recently, and I’d jumped at the chance. The old place had good sturdy bones; it was solid, despite the desertion of its caretakers aeons ago.

Even though I’d always dreamed about owning Cedarwood Lodge I hadn’t expected for it to happen so soon. But it had, and I’d fallen madly in love with the place as it stood, shutters broken, doors in need of paint, ivy creeping through broken panes of glass, and cascading roses growing wild and free around the porch balustrades. Here was a place untouched for decades and I had a chance to bring it back to its former glory.

The September sky shifted from foggy wisps of gray to country blue as dawn arrived in the small New Hampshire town of Evergreen. A sputtering car swung into the long, winding driveway and I turned to watch my oldest friend Micah leap from his battered hatchback.

We’d been best friends since childhood, and though we’d drifted apart as adults he was the first person I called when I bought Cedarwood Lodge – I offered him the job of maintenance manager which he’d accepted with a ‘Hell yeah.’

“You look exactly the same, Micah,” I said, reaching up for a hug. ‘You haven’t aged a bit.” He’d filled out, no longer the lanky teenager I’d left behind, but aside from that he was the same old Micah with the same affable smile.

“It’s the daily hikes up the bluff. That thin mountain air does wonders for my skin.” He waggled his eyebrows. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I almost fell over when you called. Lucky for you I was between jobs…”

“Lucky for me, all right.”

I couldn’t believe it’d been so long – when was the last time we had properly caught up, five years ago, six? Time ticked by so fast while I’d been away.  

“You’re different,” he said, gesturing to my outfit and my usual flyaway curls restrained with a clip. “A little more polished.”

I grinned. “Denim cut offs and messy hair didn’t quite cut it in Manhattan.”

“What? Crazy city folk.” He clucked his tongue.

“Right?” I joked. “How’s Veronica?” I expected him to gush about his long-term girlfriend. Instead, his lips turned down for the briefest second, before he masked it with a smile.

“Veronica? There’s a blast from the past. I haven’t seen her for two and a bit years now. She was like you, Clio, left town and didn’t look back.”

Surprise knocked me sideways that she’d left town, left Micah.

“Sorry, Micah. I thought…” Way to go, Clio!

He touched my shoulder, giving me time to wrench the metaphorical foot from my mouth. “It’s OK.” He let out a half laugh. “One day she just decided that this place was too small for her big dreams. This town, it isn’t for everyone.”

Thanks for having me here today, Jo! Jo’s asked me where my inspiration came for the Cedarwood Lodge Series...

Originally, the series was set in an abandoned mansion, and it was really overgrown and derelict, but with the time frame set I didn’t give enough time in the story to get the renovations done and host the parties, though they are fictional, it still had to ring true! So instead my editor and I had a chat, and decided to set the series at a lodge that needed TLC and some modernizations to get it up to code, so the story could get straight into the good bits!

Cue Australian surfer Kai who also happens to be project manager for heroine Clio. As with any renovation there’s budget issues, schedules to meet, hidden issues crop up when you peel away those layers, figuratively and literally. I was inspired by the idea that there’s a whole history to the lodge, and a secret that will change Clio’s life, and those she’s related to… But she’s so busy, and distracted that it’s not her main focus, until suddenly there’s a confession and she has to figure out the past by herself.

And who doesn’t want to sit by a crackling fire, sipping red wine and watching the snow fall?

Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been published in various short story anthologies and in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance.

Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and most importantly believe in true love.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Website: http://rebeccaraisin.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RebeccaRaisinAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaxandwillsmum

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6915386.Rebecca_Raisin

Review and Blog Tour - Christmas Under a Starlit Sky by Holly Martin

Step inside a beautiful winter wonderland where love, laughter and cosy nights by the fire will make this Christmas one to remember.

Neve Whitaker loves managing the Stardust Lake hotel. She gets to work alongside her wonderful family and she's spending Christmas on the most enchanting, snow-covered island in Scotland. So why is her heart so heavy this festive season?

It might have something to do with the gorgeous actor Oakley Rey, the man she finished with before he left for California and the man she loves more than anything. With Oakley's career in Hollywood soaring, Neve is convinced she'd only hold him back. She had to end it with him - at least that's what she keeps telling herself.

But now she has a secret she's struggling to keep, and when Oakley arrives on Juniper Island determined to win her back, Neve is thrown off balance. Will Neve's fear of having her heart broken again push Oakley away for good, or is it time for her to take a leap of faith?

Get swept away by this deliciously sweet and heartwarming tale, and spend an unforgettable Christmas on Juniper Island.

I would like to thank Bookouture for approving me to read this book on NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

For the second book in this series, we're back on Juniper Island and the small town of Christmas. In this book we follow the story and Neve and Oakley as well as Adam and Ivy. I liked Neve as a character and she was trying to do the right thing but making a total mess of doing it. Oakley not so much at times I wanted to slap him around the head and just say listen. Adam and Ivy are the unsung stars of this book and I really loved these two characters.

If you follow my reviews you will know that all though I love Holly's books I have been struggling to connect with some of the main characters but in this one, it wasn't the case and feel that I am finally finding my love of reading and of Holly's books again.

This is a great Christmas story and not too sweet around the edges that if gets annoying as some Christmas books do these days and as I said in my previous review the descriptions are wonderful without being over the top flowery and going on for page after page. The action is fast paced enough and had me up til the early hours reading.

I would love for Holly to revisit the town of Christmas in the summer time but as there was an epilogue in this book I'm not sure this is going to happen. I would also have liked to read Luke's story.

Holly lives in sunny Devon in a little white cottage by the sea. She studied media at university which led to a very glitzy career as a hotel receptionist followed by an even more glamorous two years working in a bank. The moment that one of her colleagues received the much-coveted carriage clock for fifteen years’ service was the moment when she knew she had to escape. She quit her job and returned to university to train to be a teacher. Three years later, she emerged wide-eyed and terrified that she now had responsibility for the development of thirty young minds. She taught for four years and then escaped the classroom to teach history workshops, dressing up as a Viking one day and an Egyptian High Priestess the next. But the long journeys around the UK and many hours sat on the M25 gave her a lot of time to plan out her stories and she now writes full time, doing what she loves.

Holly has been writing for 7 years. She was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance. Her short story won the Sunlounger competition and was published in the Sunlounger anthology. She won the Carina Valentine’s competition at the Festival of Romance 2013 with her novel The Guestbook. She was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read, Best eBook and Innovation in Romantic Fiction at the Festival of Romance 2014.