Blog Tours

#JUNKIE by Cambria Hebert : Blog Tour, Excerpt, and Giveaway

January 29, 2016 by Denise

Title: #Junkie

Series: GearShark #1

Author: Cambria Hebert

Genre: M/M Sports Romance

Published: January 20, 2016

Drew Forrester is a total adrenaline junkie.

His high of choice?

Cars.

The faster, the better.

He’s been making waves in Maryland’s underground racing circuit since he crossed the state line, and after speaking with him, we know he’s not hitting the brakes anytime soon.

So what exactly does it take to burn rubber and make a name for yourself in a world where the only rule is there are no rules?

You gotta be hungry…

You gotta have balls…

And you can never back down.

What’ve we learned here at GearShark?

Drew is all of the above.

We also know he’s got some secrets buried under his hood.

Secrets we think are loaded with octane and just might set the world of cars on fire.

Check out the full feature article inside…

Cambria Hebert is an award winning, bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.
Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).
Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, Text, Torch, and Tattoo.
Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.
You can find out more about Cambria and her titles by visiting her website: http://www.cambriahebert.com.

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Flying Solo by Susan Mac Nicol : Release Day Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway

January 28, 2016 by Denise

Title: Flying Solo

Series: Men of London #6

Author: Susan Mac Nicol

Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: January 28, 2016

Flight attendant Maxwell Lewis has spent years cultivating a bon vivant image only to find he finally wants something more—and that something more includes the never-does-repeats game designer Gibson Henry.

ABOVE AND BEYOND

Maxwell Lewis is proud of the life he’s made. Having turned tragedy into triumph, he’s now a beloved member of a Target Airlines cabin crew with more than his fair share of attention both in the air and on the ground. But lately he’s wanted something more than the occasional hook-up or sometime sex buddy—particularly after meeting game designer and passenger Gibson Henry.

Talented and driven, Gibson has built a company ready to be the next big thing in gaming. Devoted to his work, he takes onetime pleasures where he finds them and never does repeats…which is what he tells handsome, sexy Maxwell Lewis after a little mile-high flight attendance. But a chance encounter in a London club is about to change things forever. Two men, one who’s flown solo and another who’s only ever played alone, are about to find that at some point all games come to end, it’s time to bare your heart and try for love.

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“You got some time off from flying then?” Gibson cocked his head with a knowing grin, probably having seen the direction of Maxwell’s eyes.

“I have a whole three days off before my next shift. I heard about this place opening, decided to check it out. It’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, lots of new talent.” Gibson gave a noisy slurp of his drink then peered at Maxwell over his glasses. Maxwell’s stomach clenched in appreciation.

“I don’t normally do this, but do you fancy a repeat? There’s a bathroom on the left we can slip into.”

Maxwell drew in a deep breath. He was so going to regret this, he knew it. He had to take a stand somewhere though in his search for everlasting love.

“Thanks but no. You’re not the kind of guy to get involved, or so you said when you blew me off last time, so it wouldn’t solve any purpose except for a quick bit of pleasure. I wasn’t really in the mood for this tonight but I promised a friend.” He drank up what was left of his cocktail and put the empty glass on the bar.

Gibson looked shame faced. “Yeah, about that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been such a git. I wanted to apologise to you on the plane afterwards but then things ran away with me and I got distracted.”

Maxwell was heartened by the apology. That took balls. “No problem. I understand. I’m at a bit of different path in my life. I’m tired of the fuck’em and suck ‘em. I want someone to come home to. Maybe it’s a stupid pipe dream but I have to start trying to find someone somewhere, right?”

He smiled at Gibson who stared back at him with a strange expression.

I bet he isn’t used to being turned down. Maybe I’m being an idiot.

Maxwell wondered if his new-found principles were worth it. He might have to reconsider.

Someone shoved against Gibson, causing his drink to go flying all over the back of another man standing at the bar. A very big man in a shiny dress suit, flashy jewellery and what looked like a permanent scowl etched on his wide face. He turned around and grabbed Gibson’s wrist, causing him to cry out softly in pain.

“What the fuck? You’ve messed up my suit,” Shiny Suit growled.

Gibson tried to wrench his wrist free. “Hey, you ape, let go of me. I’m sorry, it was an accident. Someone knocked me.”

“Yeah? Fucking twinks. You think all you have to do is bat your girly eyelashes and a man will forgive you anything. I ought to-”

“Let him the fuck go,” Maxwell said evenly. His blood was heating up like lava in Pompeii at seeing Gibson being manhandled. His temper was slow to burn but when it did – oh boy. Maxwell was quick to go from slow denotation to supernova I’m going to fuck you up so badly status. He controlled it – mostly. When he’d been on the streets, it had taken all his self-control not to become an animal like some of his friends had. And sometimes an animal had been what you needed to be to get by.

“What did you say to me?” Shiny Suit’s lips twisted. “Punk, you think you can take me on?” He let go of Gibson’s wrist, who stood rubbing it with a worried expression.

“Max, leave him. He’s not worth it. He’s a douche bag in a suit. Let’s get out of here-” Gibson’s voice was cut off as the other man reached out and slapped him on the cheek, the flat sound echoing in Maxwell’s ears like the knell of doom. Behind the bar, Dan motioned to the bouncers across the room to come over.

The rushing blood in Maxwell’s ears grew to rock concert crescendo and he moved forward in front of Shiny Suit, standing between him and Gibson. At the sight of a red handprint on Gibson’s fair skin, and the look of shock on his face, Maxwell now wanted to hit someone. He took a deep, centred breath to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Gibson away.

“I might look all soft and cuddly,” Maxwell murmured, “but beneath this gorgeous and drool worthy exterior lies the heart and soul of a primal beast.”

Shiny Suit’s eyes widened in confusion and Maxwell thanked the Gods he seemed to have a dumb one here. Brawn and no brains were always so much easier to bring down. Years of fighting his own battles against bullies at school, hanging out with street gangs and learning to fight dirty had often proven his salvation at times like these.

And there was one way he’d found to distract a bully and calm himself down that was almost fool proof.

Susan Mac Nicol is a self-confessed bookaholic, an avid watcher of videos of sexy pole dancing men, geek and nerd and in love with her Smartphone. She is never happier than when sitting scribbling down words and making two men fall in love.

In an ideal world, Susan Mac Nicol would be Queen of England and banish all the bad people to the Never Never Lands of Wherever -Who Cares. As that’s never going to happen, she contents herself with writing her HEA stories and pretending, that just for a little while, good things happen to good people.

Sue is a member of Romance Writers of America and Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. She lives in the quaint village of Bocking in Essex, set in the countryside and not far from the sea should she get the yen to eat crab or oysters on the Cromer Pier.

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Rock~N~Soul by Lauren Sattersby : Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway

January 21, 2016 by Denise

I’m Tyler Lindsey, and until recently, I had an okay apartment, an okay girlfriend, and an okay job as a bellboy at a respectable Boston hotel. Then rock star Chris Raiden died right before I brought his room service—stiffing me on the tip, by the way—and my life went to hell. My fifteen minutes of fame was more like five seconds, and my girlfriend left me in disgust.

But even worse—Chris is haunting me. Not the room where he died, like a normal ghost. No, somehow he’s stuck to me and is insisting on taking care of a bunch of unfinished business in California. So now I have to traipse across the country with the world’s most narcissistic ghost.

But . . . I keep having these weird thoughts. Thoughts about how much I like the way he makes me laugh. Thoughts where I kind of want to kiss the emo-narcissist, even though he’s a ghost and an asshole and I can’t touch him anyway. And even if I could, what will happen when he finishes his business and nothing’s keeping him here anymore?

Guest Post

Hi, I’m Lauren Sattersby, and this is the blog tour for my very first novel, Rock N Soul! I’ll be featured on various blogs over the course of the tour, and I’ll be sharing deleted scenes, playlists, answers to questions, and some of my thoughts on what it’s like to write a ghost story and make it both hot and romantic. Comment on each spot to be entered in a drawing for a $25 gift card to buy some books from Riptide Publishing!

After I finished Rock N Soul, I tried my hand at a prequel story written in Chris’s point of view that would follow his time in Incite the Masses and then overlap a bit onto RNS. As I was writing, I was really struck by how individual characters can “feel” so different when writing, and Chris and Tyler have dramatically different voices in their first person narration. Where Tyler is snarky and fast-thinking, with punchy one-liners and jokes even in his internal thoughts, Chris turned out much slower, dreamier, and much more disjointed than Tyler. He thinks like a poet, which is fitting given that he ended up being a songwriter and musician.

I decided not to finish the prequel, mostly because it would have to have an unhappy ending (Chris is dead at the beginning of Rock N Soul, after all!) but it’s an interesting look into Chris’s character to see how he thinks about the world. So for your reading pleasure, I present a deleted scene from Chris’s point of view.

“You’re crazy,” Tyler says, looking at me out of the corner of his eye and gesturing at the TV screen. “Clearly Kirk is a better captain than Janeway. I mean, are you fucking kidding me? He’s Captain Kirk.”

I smirk, because it annoys him and I like it when he rolls his eyes. “That’s because you’re a sexist prick,” I inform him. “You only like Kirk more because he’s a man and you’re threatened by women in authority positions.”

“Not everything is a social issue, Chris,” he counters. He eats another forkful of his disgusting microwaved noodles and slurps to get the ends of the pasta in his mouth and I try to convince myself that the urge I’m feeling to lick his chin is completely because I have some sort of nostalgia for cheap noodles and not because it’s so easy to sit here with him and talk about nothing and everything all at the same time. “I’m judging them on their merits and you’re judging them on the fact that one of them is a woman and so you feel male guilt at admitting that she’s just not as good of a captain as the others.” He waves his plastic fork at me and continues, “And it has nothing to do with her gender and everything to do with the fact that she’s not badass enough to be a captain.”

“Just because she’s not waving her cock around at aliens all the time—both in sexy ways and in nonsexy ways, might I add—doesn’t mean she’s not a badass,” I point out. He’s fascinating when he’s animated like this, and nothing animates him like a nerdy Star Trek conversation so I spend a lot of my free time thanking my lucky stars that I’d bothered to watch Trek when I was alive.

He rolls his eyes at me but doesn’t fight it anymore, and green eyes are really pretty rare, comprising only 1-2 percent of the people in the world. Or so an article I once read said, anyway. I believe it, though, because my eyes are boring brown and so I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about how it would be to have beautiful eyes. Any color other than brown, really. Eric’s eyes used to be blue like the edges of the universe and all the possibilities between here and there, but for a long time now they’ve been blue like the metallic taste in your mouth just before you’re sick, the smell of bleach and cold ceramic and the residual alcohol on your tongue, and I can’t remember what color Tori’s eyes are at all and I’m not sure if I ever even noticed to begin with.

Tyler’s eyes are the color of the first leaves that peek out from the trees after winter ends and looking at them is like looking into all the springs you have in the future, the warmths and the resurrections and the rebirths, and I would tell him that except that he would make fun of me because this isn’t like that. But his eyes are springtime and peridot, fresh-mowed grass and the way that summer feels between your toes, the color that floods your brain when you’re convinced that you are young and alive and indestructible and he would give me so much shit for saying that out loud but it’s true, and part of me wants for it to be like that because I’ve never known what it was like to be happy and I’m happy when I’m with him, even though he’s a ridiculous little pissant and I want to strangle him half the time.

But he doesn’t want me that way. And isn’t that the story of my fucking life.

Lauren Sattersby works as a budget manager by day, but while she’s at her desk mindlessly crunching numbers, it’s a good bet that she’s also writing M/M romance in her head and counting the minutes until she can get home and write it all down. She is a grammar enthusiast, which is why she has a Master’s degree in technical writing, but that tends to scare friends away so she keeps that to herself.

Lauren lives in Wisconsin with her partner and their three terrible cats. She’s a recent transplant from a thousand miles further south, so she still gets crazy excited about snow. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found playing video games or scouring the countryside looking for interesting birds.

Connect with Lauren:

Website: laurensattersby.com
Facebook: facebook.com/laurensattersby
Twitter: @LaurenSattersby
Tumblr: laurensattersby.tumblr.com
Email: laurensattersby@gmail.com

To celebrate the release of Rock N Soul, Lauren is giving away $25 in Riptide credit! Your first comment at each stop on this tour enters you in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 23, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win!

Full Domain by Kindle Alexander : Blog Tour, Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

January 20, 2016 by Denise

Title: Full Domain

Series: Nice Guys Novel #3

Author: Kindle Alexander

Genre: M/M Romance

Published: January 12, 2016

Honor, integrity, and loyalty are how Deputy US Marshal Kreed Sinacola lives his life. A former SEAL now employed by the Special Operations Group of the US Marshal Service, Kreed spent most of his life working covert operations and avoiding relationships. Never one to mix business with pleasure, his boundaries blur and his convictions are put to the test when he finally comes face-to-face with the hot computer geek he’s been partnered with. Hell-bent on closing the ongoing case for his longtime friend, he pushes past his own limits and uncovers more than he expects.

Aaron Stuart strives for one thing: justice. Young and full of idealism, his highly sought after computer skills land him a position with the National Security Agency. Aaron’s biggest hazard at his job is cramped fingers, but all that changes when he is drawn into the middle of a dangerous federal investigation. Aaron gets more than he bargained for when the FBI partners him with a handsome and tempting deputy US marshal. His attraction to the inked up, dark-haired man provides another kind of threat altogether. Aaron tries desperately to place a firewall around his heart and fight his developing feelings, knowing one misstep on his part could ultimately destroy him.

The solution isn’t as easy as solving the case, which is treacherous enough as it is. But the growing sexual attraction between them threatens to derail more than just Kreed’s personal convictions as he quickly learns temptation and matters of the heart rarely fit easily into the rules he’s lived by. Will Kreed be able to convince Aaron to open his heart and face the fact that sometimes the answers aren’t always hidden in code?

Full Domain by Kindle Alexander from Becca the Bibliophile on Vimeo.

Everyone knows that Double Full was my first m/m read, and I fell in love with the genre immediately, creeping on Kindle Alexander right away. 🙂 That book led me to friends I would have never met, a blog, even attempting my own book. But in the end, it is the love of reading that brings me back.

Full Domain, the third and final book in the Nice Guys series brings everything full circle. Although it could be read as a stand alone, if you want to get the full experience and enjoy this book even more, you need to read Double Full and Full Disclosure first. You need to meet these wonderful characters, and understand their motivations, strengths and their relationships with each other.

Kreed Sinacola, even with all the pain in his past, had no problem embracing what he saw coming in his future with Aaron. His church boy, Aaron, on the other hand, fought with as much as he could to keep Kreed at bay, all to no avail. In the end, as in all Kindle books, the HEA won out. The secrets in Aaron’s life only kept him from jumping in too deep with Kreed, and Kreed just crashed through each and every barrier, using everything in his power to win this battle.

This book is LONG, over 6,000 locations, but brings back all your favorites (Mitch is one of mine!) and introduces you to a side of the world you don’t want to think about, the hatred and evil. Fortunately, though, that piece isn’t focused on. It is what draws these two men together, but not what keeps them together.

If you are a Kindle Alexander fan, you will love this final episode in the series. If you are new to Kindle Alexander, this is a great step into the genre. Mostly, though, you just want to sit back and savor every sexy moment.

If you are one of the few who haven’t, grab Full Domain, as well as the first two in the series, and sit down for a long session with some of the nicest guys you’ll want to read.

4.5 pieces of eye candy.

“You’re so fucking sexy with those fuck-me-I’m-so-smart glasses on and that intense look on your face.”
Aaron glanced up and narrowed his eyes as he shoved the glasses off to the top of his head and stretched out his back. There was just something about the big, gorgeous deputy marshal growling those words at him that made his dick want to come out and play. A tired yawn from hours of sitting behind his laptop slipped free as he rubbed his eyes.
“And those noises you make are a complete turn-on.”

“I have a feeling it doesn’t take much to turn you on. A slight gust of wind would probably have you at full mast,” Aaron teased, lowering the lid to his laptop.

Best Selling Author Kindle Alexander is an innovative writer, and a genre-crosser who writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and erotica in both the male/male and male/female genres. It’s always a surprise to see what’s coming next!

I live in the suburbs of Dallas where it’s true, the only thing bigger than an over active imagination, may be women’s hair!

Usually, I try for funny. Humor is a major part of my life – I love to laugh, and it seems to be the thing I do in most situations – regardless of the situation, but jokes are a tricky deal… I don’t want to offend anyone and jokes tend to offend. So instead I’m going to tell you about Kindle.

I tragically lost my sixteen year old daughter to a drunk driver. She had just been at home, it was early in the night and I heard the accident happen. I’ll never forget that moment. The sirens were immediate and something inside me just knew. I left my house, drove straight to the accident on nothing more than instinct. I got to be there when my little girl died – weirdly, I consider that a true gift from above. She didn’t have to be alone.

That time in my life was terrible. It’s everything you think it would be times about a billion. I love that kid. I loved being her mother and I loved watching her grow into this incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out. She was such a gift to me. To have it all ripped away so suddenly broke me.

Her name was Kindle. Honest to goodness – it was her name and she died a few weeks before Amazon released their brand new Kindle ereader. She had no idea it was coming out and she would have finally gotten her name on something! Try finding a ruler with the name Kindle on it.. It never happened.

Through the course of that crippling event I was lucky enough to begin to write with a dear friend in the fan fiction world of Facebook. She got me through those dark days with her unwavering support and friendship. There wasn’t a time she wasn’t there for me. Sometimes together and sometimes by myself, we built a world where Kindle lives and stands for peace, love and harmony. It’s its own kind of support group. I know without question I wouldn’t be here today without her.

Find out more by visiting www.kindlealexander.com or email me at kindle@kindlealexander.com

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When I’m Weak by Aria Grace : Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway

January 19, 2016 by Denise

Title: When I’m Weak

Series: Mile High Romance #2

Author: Aria Grace

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: December 19, 2015

Jamie presents a flamboyant and slutty attitude to the world because he’s been hurt before. Even though it’s mostly an act, he hides behind his persona to keep people at arm’s length. With only a small group of trusted friends, he’s vowed to never allow a man to have power over him again. Power to hurt him. Power to take away his freedom. Power to label him as a predator for the rest of his life.

Reed and his sister run a home preschool for toddlers. His focus is on getting credentialed so he can take some of the burden from Abby. He doesn’t have time for friends, much less a lover, but when he meets Jamie, he recognizes something in the man that makes him want to get closer.

Unfortunately, Jamie’s past prevents him from truly integrating into Reed’s future. It’s not just a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of the law.

The Unicorn is packed for a Wednesday night. Lots of new faces blend in with the regulars and I’ve been running nonstop since I got here three hours ago.

“Hey, hot stuff.” Ross, a big meathead that comes in practically every night, is reaching for my wrist as I pass by him. “Bring that sweet ass of yours over here, would you?”

“Just a minute, sugar. I’ll be right back.”

After dropping off the drinks at table seven, I head to a two top in the back corner where a new guy is sitting with a book. I don’t see many people reading books in here. In fact, I think this is a first.

His light yellow polo shirt and baggy jeans aren’t the norm either, but he probably didn’t come here for fashion advice. Like everyone else in this bar, he’s here for a drink and I’m here to serve him.

“Hey there. Can I help you?” I use my mellow voice. I have many voices when I’m at work. The high-pitched whine. The sexy drawl. The bitchy diva. Throughout the course of the night, I’ll work them all in with each of my different customers. Everybody wants something different out of me. And if I want decent tips, I have to give them what they need.

But this guy doesn’t seem like he’s looking for any of that. He’s not looking for entertainment. At least, it doesn’t seem like it. Sadly.

His eyes quickly scan my leather hot pants and pink mesh tank top. This is practically my work uniform.

“Yeah, can I just get a Coors light?”

I’m tempted to ask if he’s in the right place, but I hold back. “Sure thing, honey. Are you gonna be ordering any food?”

Looking up at the bar, he’s probably surprised that we even offer food. Truth is, the stuff we serve can barely be classified as edible, so he should consider himself lucky when he shakes his head and turns back to his book.

Okay. Not one for small talk. No problem. I turn around and slink over to Ross, leaning against the table so I’m facing him. “Hello, sweet thing. What can Jamie get for you?” His hand wraps around my thigh and slides up until his fingers are playing at the swell of my ass. I smile tightly and try to scoot away but his strong grip keeps me in place.

“Ross…” I try to keep my tone light while letting him know this isn’t okay.

“I love how you say my name, baby.” His fingertip presses against my hole as he looks at me. “For now, I’ll take another long island iced tea. But when you get your next break, I’ll take this,” he says as his finger rubs my pucker.

“You know I can’t do that, sweetie, but I’ll get your drink back here in two shakes.”

I give my ass a couple shakes as I walk away to punctuate my point. Ross is always flirty, especially when he’s drinking tequila, but this is the first time he’s been so physical. Usually it’s just words and rough smacks, but the fucker almost penetrated this time. I glance over at Billy, the manager. He’s watching me, so I know he saw what happened. As soon as I place the new orders with Trixie, I walk over to him.

“Can you keep an eye on Ross?”

He nods. “You okay?”

“I’m okay, but he’s getting a little more handsy than usual. I think he might… Well, just keep an eye on him.” Billy nods and his narrowed eyes shoot straight to Ross.

Ross isn’t even paying attention to me. The group of guys he’s with are all laughing about something when I bring his drink back a few minutes later. Ross tries to pull me into his lap, but this time I know better and twist out of his grip. “You know the rules,” I say as sweetly as I can. I still need his tips.

“What time do you get off tonight?” He isn’t slurring his words yet, but he’ll be there after this next drink. God, I hate drunks. Really hate drunks. That’s why I work here. Keeps me from getting too close to anyone.

“Really late.” I take a step back, trying to seem disappointed. “And I know you need to get on home. But don’t you worry, I’m sure you’ll find somebody in here who can take care of you much better than I can.”

Ross lunges forward and grabs my thigh, pulling me closer to him. I almost fall trying to support the tray in my hand, but manage to keep it steady. Without even having to look for him, Billy is standing over me. His huge hand is wrapped around Ross’s wrist.

“Let the fuck go and I won’t have to hurt you.” Billy is built like a tank. An old school biker bear with the leather and chains and all. He’s my height, about 5’ 10”, but he’s 220 pounds of solid muscle.

Ross doesn’t let go immediately, but after a stare down with Billy, he slowly releases his grip and spreads his fingers wide. I slip away and head straight to table nineteen to drop off their beers.

When I approach the cutie with a book, his eyes are wide. I frown, knowing that he saw everything. “Here you go, honey.” I bust out my perky voice, dropping the beer in front of him. “I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes to see if you need a refill or if you change your mind about food.”

“Hey,” he says quietly as I turn to leave.

I stop and look back at him. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” He seems genuinely concerned. Seeing an emotion other than lust or superiority in someone’s eyes is new. For a minute, I don’t even know what he’s talking about. Then I realize he’s referring to Ross.

“Oh, that? Yeah. That happens all the time.” I shrug. “Comes with the job.”

“They allow that here?” he asks, glancing at Billy. I follow his gaze and watch as Billy none-too-gently escorts Ross out of the bar.

“Nope.” I nod my head toward the exit. “Billy took care of it.”

“Wow. That must suck.”

“It’s fine. Sometimes guys are assholes, but you just got to deal with it. Right?”

“I guess.” He shakes his head and turns back to his book. I leave him to read as I work the room, picking up empties and taking refill orders. When I make my way back to him twenty minutes later, he’s still sipping that same beer.

“So is this more relaxing than a library?” I tease, watching him try to concentrate on the book in his hands. Kneeling down on the other side of the table, I read the cover out loud. “Child Development in a Plugged In World. Sounds deep.”

He looks embarrassed as his hand brushes the cover like he’s trying to hide the title.

Too late.

“I’m taking a class,” he shoves a napkin between his pages and lays it face down on the table, “and I really needed a beer after the day I’ve had.”

I cock an eyebrow and smirk, clearly letting him know I’m not buying it.

“Well,” he further explains, “I don’t keep alcohol at home, so I figured I’d hang out here and have a beer. I’m used to a lot of noise, so the music and people in the background doesn’t bother me. It’s kind of comforting, actually.”

“Okay.” It’s not how I like to cuddle with a book, but whatever floats his boat. “Are you sure you don’t want another beer?”

He tips his bottle to see how much is left then shakes his head. “Thanks, but one is enough for me.”

“Alright then. Just holler if you change your mind.”

“Thanks.” He’s checking out my chest, probably looking for a name tag.

“Jamie,” I say, winking at him. “Just call for Jamie and I’ll be right there.”

“Alright. Thanks, Jamie.” His smile is almost shy as he peeks up at me from under his dark lashes. I want a better look at the brown eyes that seem to be avoiding mine, but I just tip my chin and walk away.

Born and raised in beautiful California, Aria enjoys the year round sunshine and laid back environment of the west coast. Her career started out in tech writing and web development and has evolved into all things marketing with fingers in everything related to book publishing.
She lives with her husband and two children and more pets than she can keep track of. Despite her crazy schedule, she loves the time she carves out to read and write. Whether it’s on the beach or on the couch at 2am, she is a woman obsessed!
She loves to hear from readers so please feel free to drop her a note or visit her at www.ariagracebooks.com.
If you’d like to know when Aria’s next book is coming out or where she’ll be signing, join her mailing list at: http://bit.ly/AriaGraceFanList