Long Simmering Spring

Long Simmering Spring is the 3^rd book in the Sook in the Spring is the 3rd tar Harbor series from author Elisabeth Barrett. The publisher is Loveswept and the release date was May 13, 2013. From the author’s website.~

Spring comes to Star Harbor, bringing unexpected passion for a sexy sheriff, as the next Grayson brother finds love with the town’s beautiful doctor.
 
Julie Kensington grew up in the same small town as the Grayson brothers and remembers when the boys were nothing but trouble. As teenagers, Cole’s rugged sex appeal set Julie’s heart ablaze, but she did her best to ignore it. Now a grown woman with a medical degree, Julie still can’t resist her searing attraction to the roughest, toughest Grayson. He’s ex-military, tormented, and sexier than ever, but are his wounds too deep to be healed by her loving, gentle touch?
 
Even back in high school, straight-arrow Julie had a way of making Cole think twice about his bad-boy lifestyle. When Julie decides she’s finally ready to embrace her wild side, Cole knows he is just the man to show her the way, unleashing years of pent-up desire. Neither of them counted on falling in love, but when Cole’s demons threaten to derail their relationship, it’s up to Julie to show him that together, they can overcome the past . . . and build a future.

I was lucky enough to get a review copy from NetGalley thanks to the publisher. I love those Grayson brothers and was really excited to get Cole’s story.

I really loved Cole from the very beginning. I think the fact that he was still dealing with PTSD from fighting for our country only made me wanted him to find happiness even more. Enter Julie Kensington, who also grew up in Star Harbor and still remembered Cole as a wild teen. Julie was attracted to Cole when they were in high school, but would never have given the bad boy a chance back then.

Julie and Cole start the relationship pretty slowly, even though the chemistry is off the charts between them. Julie initially only is looking for fun, but after she and Cole make love for the first time, she realizes there is much more to their relationship than just fun. I love that Cole knew way before Julie that he loved her, and even was the first to say it. Of course, even true love doesn’t stop a huge mistake from putting their long-term relationship in jeopardy. While Cole messes up in a huge way, he also steps up in a huge way to make things right.

The on-going investigation into the drug dealing problem in Star Harbor runs through this book as it did in the first 2 stories. I’m looking forward to learning who is ultimately behind all of it in Val’s book, Slow Summer Burn, which is currently set for release on August 12, 2013.

Deadly Desires Release Information

Worlds collide as three bestselling authors deliver two tales of danger, suspense, and steamy encounters.

Don’t Walk Away

by Shiloh Walker

Ten years ago, former Army Ranger Ethan Raintree made one hell of choice…keep on lying, or tell the woman he loved the truth. He decided to tell the truth, and she threw him out of her life. He never stopped loving her, not stopped wanting her. Celeste Harper finally had everything she wanted—or so she thought. She’d escaped her past. She’d escaped her demons. But she couldn’t escape herself…or the man she’d left behind all those years ago. Looking into his eyes ten years later, she realizes it’s her turn to make a choice—let go of that pain and take him back. Or walk away…and face a future without him.

Code Word: Storm

by Sydney Croft

The extremely secret Agency for Covert Rare Operatives is the only thing that stands between the human race and complete chaos. Now, two agents with special abilities, Annika Svenson and Creed McCabe, are sent to stop a man who has harnessed the power of the supernatural world. But Creed and Annika have a history that puts them at odds — and in closer, hotter contact than they’d like. In this ACRO story, which falls in the series timeline between Riding the Storm and Unleashing the Storm, Annika and Creed grow closer, despite their resistance. And with their lives are on the line, they find they must not only work together, but be together, or risk a terrifying fate that could consume them both…

Amazon | BN  | ARe | Smashwords

These two short stories contain hot guys, determined women and some sexiness. Please note…they have been previously published, but we did add some new material.

Head over to Shiloh Walker's website for a chance to win your very own copy of Deadly Desires!

Guest Post from Leslie A. Smith

I'm so happy to welcome author Leslie A. Smith to my blog today. I've been a fan of Leslie's for years, first with her Leslie Kelly book, then her Leslie Parrish books, and now her Leslie A. Smith books. 

She can do it all and I'm so excited about her new venture into publishing. I'm so hoping all goes well so I not only get more Veronica Sloan books, but we also get more Black CATs and Extrasensory Agents books. 

The Never-Forgotten Story

As you might know, although DON’T LOOK AWAY is my first book published as Leslie A. Smith, I have written a lot of books under two other names. Like, about fifty. My Leslie Kelly romances are usually funny and sexy. My Leslie Parrish romantic suspense novels were dark and edgy. And now here comes Leslie A. Smith.

You might be wondering why—why a new series, why a new name, why a new genre (these books lean much closer to straight thriller than romantic suspense.)

The truth is, I started writing DON’T LOOK AWAY in 2005. Long before there was a Leslie Parrish or any Black CATs or Extrasensory Agents, there was Detective Veronica Sloan and her dark, dangerous, futuristic world.

Up until that point, I’d only ever written romances, from “series” books for Harlequin Temptation and Blaze, to “single title contemporaries” for HQN. But throughout all those years of writing, what I enjoyed reading the most was dark suspense. Thrillers, even horror. And I knew I would someday want to write it.

Then one night, I had a dream. I was on a Metro train in Washington D.C.—I’d grown up outside of the city, though I was at that time living in Florida. In my dream, I came up the escalator and emerged into a city that had been utterly decimated. The Spirit of St. Louis was lying in pieces in the reflecting pool, the Air & Space Museum having been reduced to rubble. So had the White House, the memorials, most of the Smithsonian buildings. I knew terrorists had wiped out the nation’s capital, and as I stood at the top of the escalator, these men came bursting up from behind me, saying they’d launched the attacks from the Metro train system that runs beneath the city.

I had to write it. HAD to write it. So I wrote down my dream, and then I began playing with the whole thing. Who had I been, what character had come up out of that escalator? What was her world like? Who had she lost in the attacks? And what direction would the country go in now?

That’s how Veronica Sloan was born. I developed a heroine who’d been forged in the fire of the destruction of her hometown. Who’d lost a father and two brothers and so many friends. Who’d hardened into a steel rod of determination when it came to stopping crimes, or at the very least solving them.

Then I flashed forward five years. What was Veronica—Ronnie—doing now? What was the country like? What about the rest of the world?

Those answers came so easily. Ronnie created herself and every piece of the story flowed out of her. Her view of the world is the one the reader shares, her pain and her heartbreak and her excitement all bring the series to life.

Believe me, I was absolutely thrilled with this book. But publishers…not so much. The proposal for DON’T LOOK AWAY made the rounds in New York and had lots of, “Wow, that’s interesting,” but no offers. So my agent suggested I try something else, a straight romantic suspense without the futuristic element. I did, and nine days after the proposal went out, we had an offer from NAL. That was for the Black CATs series. They went on to publish Extrasensory Agents. Although both series got wonderful reviews and terrific responses from readers, they just didn’t sell well so the publisher declined to publish any more.

Throughout all of that, I never forgot about Ronnie, or her partner Mark Daniels, or her nemesis/hero Jeremy Sykes. So when a German publisher who’d put out the Black CATs series asked if I had any other projects, I had a foreign agent send them DON’T LOOK AWAY. They bought it and began publishing it in Germany late last year.

With the huge success of indie publishing—including my own success with some old Leslie Kelly titles I’d never sold—I decided to go that route in the U.S. I actually had offers from a couple of U.S. publishers, but turned them down in favor of doing it all myself. I wanted control over the content, the story, the editing, the cover, the pricing, the distribution.

It had taken eight years…but that dream of coming up out of that escalator finally culminated in a published novel.

I couldn’t be more thrilled with how DON’T LOOK AWAY, and the sequel, DON’T EVER STOP, turned out. Readers who liked my Parrish books will almost certainly like them, as should anyone who likes dark suspense or thrillers.

I so hope the books do well under this new name. I am also hoping to get the rights back to my other two series because I’d really like to re-launch both the Black CATs and the Extrasensory Agents under this new pseudonym and write new installments of each. That’s the plan, anyway…here’s hoping it all works out!

I'm including the back cover blurb for Don't Look Away as well as buy links for both Amazon and B&N to make it easier for everyone to order their own copy of this amazing book. 

Back Cover Blurb

CAN A MURDER VICTIM'S OWN MEMORIES BE USED TO SOLVE A CRIME?

Detective Veronica Sloan isn’t shocked by much. Having lived through the worst terrorist attacks in history—which destroyed much of Washington, D.C.—she’s immune to even the most vicious brutality. But even she is stunned by the discovery of a murder in the basement of the under-reconstruction White House.

Sloan and FBI Agent Jeremy Sykes have been assigned to investigate the homicide because the victim was a participant in a top-secret experiment. Veronica has been training for just this kind of case, waiting to use her special skills, anxious to learn if a recording device implanted in a victim’s head can help solve their murder….before the killer strikes again.

Broken Blade Cover Reveal

Broken Blade blurb

Kit Colbana: assassin, thief, investigator extraordinaire. Now broken. She
always expected her past to catch up with her but never like this. Haunted by
nightmares and stripped of her identity, she's retreated to Wolf Haven, the
no-man's land where she found refuge years before. But while she might want to
hide away from the rest of the world, the rest of the world isn't taking the
hint.

Dragged kicking and screaming back into life, Kit is thrust head-first into an
investigation surrounding the theft of an ancient relic…one that she wants
nothing to do with. Her instincts tell her it's a bad idea to just leave the
relic lying about, but finding it might be just as bad.

Forced to face her nightmares, she uncovers hidden strength and comes face to
face with one of the world's original monsters.

If she survives the job, she won't be the same…and neither will those closest to
her.
Releases January 2014

I'm already counting down the days until I can read Broken Blade! Broken Blade excerpt thanks so much to author J.C. Daniels.


I knew the weight of a weapon in my hand.

Even at sixteen, broken, battered and bloodied. I knew what it was to hold a
weapon and realize that I had to fight or be destroyed.

Those last moments were nothing but a blur, but it was a blur of silver and
blade and blood.

I left the guards dead in the snow, taking their packs and fleeing into the
night, certain my grandmother would seek me out. And all the while as I ran,
the blade had whispered to me. I am here now. I am here…

Reaching out, I touched her hilt and drew her from the sheath and stared at the
gleaming, liquid length of silver.

"You're not here now."

If ever there had been a time when I needed her, it had been when I was trapped
up on that mountain. Broken, desperate.

But she hadn't answered my call.

And she couldn't come to my hand now, either.

Stroking my fingers down the blade, I closed my eyes…and wished.

Then I turned back to my weapons trunk and went about getting myself ready.

Just what did you take to the party when you were dealing with some ancient,
psychotic evil who unleashed holy hell just for the fun of it?



Link to http://jcdanielsblog.com/broken-blade/

Claim Me (Stark Trilogy #2)

Claim Me (Stark Trilogy #2) is the newest release from J. Kenner.  The publisher is Random House and the release date was April 23, 2013. From the back cover.~

For Damien, our obsession is a game. For me, it is fiercely, blindingly, real.

Damien Stark’s need is palpable—his need for pleasure, his need for control, his need for me. Beautiful and brilliant yet tortured at his core, he is in every way my match.

I have agreed to be his alone, and now I want him to be fully mine. I want us to possess each other beyond the sweetest edge of our ecstasy, into the deepest desires of our souls. To let the fire that burns between us consume us both.

But there are dark places within Damien that not even our wildest passion can touch. I yearn to know his secrets, yearn for him to surrender to me as I have surrendered to him. But our troubled pasts will either bind us close . . . or shatter us completely.

I was lucky enough to be approved for a review copy from NetGalley thanks to the publisher. I got hooked on this series with Release Me and had to see what happened next between Damien and Nikki in Claim Me.

The connection between Nikki and Damien is every bit as hot in Claim Me as it was in Release Me. I still love Nikki and Damien as a couple and liked this installment into their story. The only problem I really had with this book was Nikki’s repeatedly complaining about Damien not being more open about his past. She knew going into their relationship that Damien had secrets he wasn’t ready to share with her. I liked that he did open up a bit more about some of what happened in his past, but wished he had told her one of his biggest secrets before part was made public.

I honestly think Nikki is stronger as a person when she has Damien in her life. In my opinion, she was more willing to stand up for herself and those she loves, especially Damien. I did feel that Nikki and Damien grew closer in this book and really do love them as a couple.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in Complete Me, the final book in this series, and have already pre-ordered my copy for the July 30, 2013 release date.