It Had To Be You

It Had to be You is the newest book in the Lucky Harbor series from NYT Bestselling author Jill Shalvis. The publisher is Forever Grand Central Publishing and the release date is set for May 28, 2013. From the back cover.~

Ali Winters is not having a good day. Her boyfriend left her, everyone in town thinks she's a thief, and now she's about to be kicked out of her home. Her only shot at keeping a roof over her head and clearing her name is to beg for help from a police detective who's as sexy as he is stern.... 

After a high-profile case goes wrong, Luke Hanover returns to his hometown for some peace and quiet. Instead he finds a bombshell brunette in a heap of trouble. As he helps Ali put her world back together, the pieces of Luke's own life finally seem to fall into place. Is this the start of a sizzling fling? Or are Luke and Ali on the brink of something big in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

I am a huge fan of Jill Shalvis and was super excited to be approved for a review copy from NetGalley thanks to the publisher. I love the Lucky Harbor series and have to say that once again Jill Shalvis totally delivered.

I loved Ali from the very beginning. She might be one of the funniest characters I’ve read in some time. She can also be serious, because of her upbringing, but loved that she really seemed to believe things would always work out. Even when she is labeled a thief, she still tries to stay positive. Enter Luke Hanover, who is a super sexy police detective on leave and has come to Lucky Harbor to recover from a bad case. Luke and Ali have an instant attraction, but Luke has no plans on staying in Lucky Harbor, so he fights his attraction at first.

Luke knows Ali isn’t the type of person to steal from anyone no matter how bad her situation is. He makes it his goal while in Lucky Harbor to help her find out who really took the money and clear her name. Of course the more time Luke and Ali spend together, the harder it is to keep their hands to themselves. Ali and Luke agree to have a casual affair with no strings attached…because those always work. Ms. Shalvis gives her readers the hot and sexy love scenes they have come to expect from her books.

I will say I had totally guessed the wrong person as the thief, but loved how Ali and Luke worked together to solve the crime. I love that we were able to visit with many favorite characters from the series in this book. Since Luke had a job waiting for him elsewhere, I knew it would take him getting his head on straight to get things to work out between him and Ali. Ali and Luke are one of my favorite couples in the Lucky Harbor series and I was cheering for them to work it out from the very first time they saw each other.

I’m already counting down the days until I have the next book in the Lucky Harbor series. Always On My Mind is set for release in September 2013.

Live For You

Live For You (Boys of the South ~ Book 1) by Marquita Valentine was released on May 17 2013. From the back cover.~

***Mature New Adult/Adult novel - contains adult situations, high sexuality, some violence, and is suited for ages 18 and up***

On the surface, twenty-two year old Cole Morgan is exactly what any girl would be proud to take home to meet her parents: He’s charming, intensely handsome and goal-oriented...Only he has some secrets of his own, which include provoking bar fights and a former drug-addict of a mother slowly wasting away in a medical facility.

At barely twenty, Violet Lynn is Country Music's hottest star, until one night of partying gets out of control. Violet ends up in jail and on TMZ. Suddenly, she’s the girl least likely to be invited anywhere. Sick of the drama and keeping secrets, she runs away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi to her grandmother’s home in Forrestville, North Carolina.

A chance meeting knocks Cole off his feet, but he doesn’t recognize Violet for who she is. In fact no one does and Violet plans to keep it that way.

Circumstances, however annoying, keep throwing Violet and Cole together. Unable to stop themselves they give into the inevitable.

But when Nashville is ready to forgive and forget, Violet is forced to choose between Cole and claiming her spot as the new and improved Princess of Country Music.

Will Violet and Cole have the courage to live for their dreams...Or their hearts?

I’d never read a New Adult book, so wasn’t sure really what to expect from the genre.  When Marquita Valentine offered me an early copy of her NA book, I jumped at the chance to read it, since I’ve loved other books by her.

I’m so glad I gave the NA genre a try and specifically Live For You.  Let’s just say I fell for bad boy Cole Morgan from the moment he appeared on the page. He works his butt off at the bar to take care of his family, especially his little sister, Kelly. He and his brother Parker had to step up and care for their little sister since their mother is back in rehab once again.

Violet Rae Givens, better known to most people as Country Star Violet Lynn has come to her grandmother’s hometown to get away from the press and all the gossip. When she meets Cole, there is instant attraction. I loved how connected Cole and Violet (she introduces herself to him as Rae) were from the very beginning. He doesn’t even care once Violet tells him who she really is that she is a big country star. The chemistry between Cole and Violet is amazing and I loved how passionate they both were for each other.  Not that both Cole and Violet don’t make mistakes along the way, but they worked really well to make it all work out.

I’m super excited that we will get more to Cole and Violet’s story coming this summer in Only For You. I loved where they ended in Live For You, but am glad as always to get more to the story.

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.