Scared Beautiful by Jacqueline Abrahams Book Blast

SYNOPSIS:

Maia wants to be free. Free from the social obligations, free from the money, free from the control that her privileged upbringing has taken from her life. And at college, she wants to be unseen, unheard, unnoticed.

Jackson's life has been less than perfect since his high school girlfriend took the back door out of his life, permanently. After years of subscribing to an existence of less than gentlemanly behaviour, he decides to man up and go to college, promising to be done with random hook ups and female drama.

They had it all worked out, each one had a plan.

At least they did...until they met.

Together they run from everything; from life, from happiness, from each other. They are two people both so scared; of heartbreak, of repeating past mistakes, of trusting someone else. Two people simply scared of beautiful...

Please note: Scared of Beautiful is recommended for mature audiences 18+ due to sexual content and language

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EXCERPT:

              I didn’t, however, take into account that when I was trying to be an elusive ice queen, that I am and probably always will be annoyingly comfortable in Jackson’s company. After stuffing our faces, we order drinks and relax into the evening, which as it turns out, flies by with ease. The more scotch I drink, the more attractive Jackson becomes and my eyes revert more than once to the bulge in his jeans. If he notices, he doesn’t mention a thing, but does casually adjust his pants when I lean forward to grab my phone from my bag, or to reapply my lip-gloss. I know I’m teasing, deliberately bending forward to flash my black lace bra. I want him to want me. But at the same time, I told him not to. More than once in the evening I’m distracted by the head versus heart versus vagina dilemma I have going on.

            “This is nice,” Jackson says quietly during our third round of drinks.

            “What?” I ask curiously.

            “Having drinks, no pressure. I guess we can be friends after all. Who knew?” He gives me a cocky sideways grin.

            “Easy huh?” I say with mock offense.

            “Not even missing me a little?” I try to sound nonchalant, but the sadness makes its way past my smile.

            “Every day,” he says looking down with sudden interest at the label on his beer bottle. “If being friends is the only way to see you, then it’s what I’ll gladly take.”

            The conversation stalls right then, because truthfully, there’s nothing either of us can say. We’re both lying and we know it. This awkwardness, this conversation, will always be the elephant in the room for us.

            I knock back the contents of my glass and order another. I should stop drinking. That’s what I should do. We should say goodnight and exit stage left to our respective lonely beds right fucking now. But neither of us go. Neither of us can. The Clever Bean around us is alive with the sounds of glasses clinking and drunken merriment. I knock back the next glass as it lands in my hand.

            “I should go,” I say with hesitation before grabbing my bag.

            “I’ll walk you,” Jackson says standing up.

            “I’m fine, it’s a few doors down,” I reply with a polite smile.

            Jackson gives me a cocky grin, “Mama said to be a gentleman at all times. Gotta listen to mama, now.”

            I shrug and we walk. The whiskey obviously has had a much stronger effect on me now that I’m standing up and using my lower extremities. After me missing the curb twice, Jackson slides an arm around my waist. I would tell him to back off, but he’s all that’s keeping me walking in a straight line. And he smells so fucking good, like soap and fresh mint mixed with an ocean breeze.

            This half drunk, half lucid state that I’m in is doing nothing to help me maintain my resolve. I want to fucking leap into Jackson’s arms, wrap my arms and legs around his person and hold on for dear life. The urge almost brings me to my knees a few times in our short walk. I stay silent, as I’m not able to trust myself with whatever could spew verbally from my mouth. Jackson opens my building door and holds it open for me.

            “Will you be okay from here?” he asks.

            Yes, no, not really, maybe. What the hell do I say? Before my brain formulates a decent response to the question, my body answers for me, and my traitorous lips crash into his. Jackson grabs my waist and kisses me as though he’s been roaming a desert and I’m his oasis, his water.

            “Maia.” My name leaves his lips through the kiss in a guttural moan, and it sounds so freaking hot. It must be the alcohol affecting me, because every nerve in my body feels like it’s laced with live voltage.

            Jackson pushes me up against the far wall, and the first thought that pops into my head is, thank God I don’t have a doorman. My body rocks between the wall and Jackson, and his hips grind me into the plaster so hard I’m worried for a moment that I’ll go straight through. Our kisses are feverish, almost suffocating us, and the air around us electric. He struggles to find bare skin, practically clawing at my clothing. Without a moment’s hesitation, I reach down for his belt buckle, my fingers clumsily prying it apart. I want to feel Jackson so badly that the thought clouds every other in my mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jacqueline Abrahams is the author alter ego for an ordinary mum to three children (two human and one canine) and wife to one husband. Born in South Africa, she now calls Sydney, Australia her home.

A collector all things books and bookish, she in an avid reader and has a tiny obsession with filling bookshelves. When she's not preoccupied wearing her aspiring author or mummy hat, she is working her way towards completing a degree in Primary and Secondary Teaching (with an English major of course!)

Scared of Beautiful is her debut new adult novel, the first in The Scared Series.

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The Lost Love of a Soldier by Jane Lark book blast

Title: The Lost Love of a Soldier (Marlow Intrigues #4) 
Author: Jane Lark 

Genre: Historical Romance 18+ Regency Period Publication Date: July 17, 2014 
Publisher: HarperImpulse an imprint of HarperCollins 
Event Organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Synopsis

Young, naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a young army officer. Paul has such an easy enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow, vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love. Captain Paul Harding, finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on a battle torn field. His sanity clings to her; something beautiful to remind him that all in the world is not ugly. She’s someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is called to arms in the battle of Waterloo…    

The Lost Love of a Soldier Excerpt

“Ellen?” Paul whispered her name into the night as he heard the rustle of frost bound leaves on the ground. His breath rose in a mist into the cold winter air. He was on the Duke of Pembroke’s land. He’d not dared encourage her to take a horse, so he’d come close enough that she might walk from the house and find him. He waited at the end of an avenue of yews, out of sight of the house, in a place she could easily see him. His horse whickered, sensing something, or someone. “Ellen?” he whispered again. Still no answer. He stayed quiet. Listening. Wondering if she’d been caught as she left the house. He hoped not. If she’d been caught her father would give her no freedom. Short of leading a military assault on Pembroke’s home, he would not be able to get her out then. The horse shook its head, rattling its bit, and snorted steamy breath into the cold air. The chill of the winter night seeped through his clothes. There would be a hard frost. He hoped she’d dressed in something warm. He’d have to buy more clothes for her before they sailed. She would need garments to keep her warm in the sea breezes she’d face on their journey to America. There was another sound. “Ellen?” “Paul?” How did this woman manage to make his heart beat so erratically whenever he saw her? He could run into battle and not be so affected. She looked even more beautiful in the dark. Ethereal. A band of silver light reached through the scudding clouds and caught her face. He let go of the horse’s bridle and instinctively moved forward. He’d never held her. In the summer there had been no moments alone, she’d been strictly chaperoned and even when she’d come to meet him she’d brought the groom and her sister. When they’d met a fortnight ago, she’d still brought a groom. For the first time they were alone. “Ellen.” He stepped forward and embraced her. In answer her arm came about his waist. It was the most precious feeling of his life. He would always remember this day. She was slender and delicate in his arms. She slipped free, but he caught her nape and pulled her mouth to his, gently pressing his lips against hers. It was her first kiss, he knew; he could tell by the way her body stiffened when he‘d pulled her close. He let her go, a tenderness he’d never known before catching in his chest. “Come.” He took the leather bag she carried. “Will you ride before me, or would you rather sit behind my saddle and grip my waist?” “Would it be easier if I ride behind you?” Her voice ran with uncertainty. She was giving up everything to come with him. “Do what feels comfortable for you, Ellen.” She nodded, not looking into his eyes. “I would prefer to ride pillion.” “Then you shall.” He warmed his voice, hoping to ease her discomfort. Turning to the horse he slipped one foot in the stirrup, then pulled himself up. “Did you have any difficulty leaving the house?” “No, the servants’ hall was quiet, and the grooms had all retired.” He rested her bag across his thighs, then held a hand out to her. “Set your foot on mine and take my hand. I’ll pull you up.” He watched her lift the skirt of her dark habit and then the weight of her small foot pressed on his, as her gloved fingers gripped his. She was light, but the grip of her hand and the pressure of her foot made that something clasp tight in his chest, and the emotion stayed clenched as her fingers embraced his waist over his greatcoat. He shifted in the saddle, his groin tightening too. A few more days. Just days. He had been waiting months. As he turned the horse, Ellen’s cheek pressed against his shoulder. “Did you tell anyone you were leaving? Your sister? Or your maid?” “No, I did not want them to have to face Papa knowing the truth. He would be able to see they’d lied, and then who knows what he might do.” Paul urged the mare into a trot as Ellen continued. “He made me spend the day on my knees reading the Commandments because I refused to marry the Duke of Argyle.” “Today?” He wished to look back at her but he could not. Her father had been diabolical to Paul, sneering as though he was nothing when he’d done the decent thing and offered for her. He could not imagine the way Pembroke treated the girls. He had to get Ellen to Gretna before her father caught them, so she never had to come back and face his retribution.      

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About the Author

Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author. She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis. When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write. Now Jane is writing a Regency series and contemporary, new adult, stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others' imaginations at last. You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane's favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was 'Katherine' a story crafted from reality. Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots. 'Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it's wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.' Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life. Connect with the Author: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Website    

Giveaway

This giveaway, includes an antique English necklace worth £150, plus signed copies of The Illicit Love of a Courtesan The Passionate Love of a Rake And The Scandalous Love of a Duke  

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Splendor Book Blast

Title: Splendor (Inevitable #2)

Author: Janet Nissenson

Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+ / Stand-Alone Novel

Publication Date: June 17, 2014

Publisher: Bookbaby

Event Organized By: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Synopsis

British hotelier Ian Gregson had it all – wealth, good looks, power, and a share in his family’s worldwide, multi-billion dollar luxury hotel chain. His very name was synonymous with sophistication and elegance, and any woman he wanted could be his with just a look. But the only woman he truly desired was strictly forbidden to him for too many reasons to count. Tessa Lockwood was young, beautiful, and lonely, despite the fact that she was a married woman. Her life had not been an easy one, and the extravagant world she caught glimpses of as an employee of the Gregson Hotel Group was far beyond anything she could ever dream of. She could no more imagine herself ensconced in that sort of luxurious lifestyle than she could attracting the attention of her handsome, debonair boss. Ian and Tessa secretly long for each other from afar, never daring to reveal their forbidden attraction to the other, until circumstances bring them together in a very unexpected way. And from that point on, nothing will stand in Ian’s way to finally make her his. AUTHOR’S NOTE – despite what you might be thinking at this point, there is NO cheating in this story – just an incredibly romantic hero who will make you swoon with the way in which he sweeps the heroine off her feet.

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About the Author

Author Bio Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades, with her first ebook Serendipity published in December 2013. Splendor is book two of six in the Inevitable series, each book a standalone with no cliffhangers.

Connect with the Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Book Website | Pinterest

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