Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Beyond the Book: Turnaround Farm


Welcome to Beyond the Book. Turnaround Farm which is one of my all time favorite books released last September 1 from Wings ePress. I thought today I'd share a blurb and a short excerpt with you. The book is a Kindle Unlimited title available at https://wingsepress.com/turnaround-farm/

Blurb:

Dedicated career girl Holly Grant has no time for romance. She doesn’t need a man to complete her, thank you very much. Building Grant Realty takes all of her time and attention. If she can close a deal for Turnaround Farm her business will take off like a rocket. Her first problem is that Jeb Wakefield doesn’t want to sell his farm, and her second problem is Jeb’s grandson Dan, the finest looking man Holly’s ever seen.

Last Week
“When I saw him in the office, he was so verbally abusive I never thought about his looks,” Loretta answered in an injured tone. Holly stifled a smile. Loretta never took criticism well.

“He sure wasn’t pleasant tonight, was he?” Holly said. Thank goodness Loretta didn’t know about herknees. When she first saw Dan, her knees had felt spongy, and she’d have given a sizeable commission just to see if his shoulders felt as muscular and hard as they looked.She’d always had a thing for nice shoulders.

Of course she had no intention of saying anything to Loretta. If Loretta thought she had any interest whatsoever in Dan, she’d go on and on about it and tell everybody in the whole dang real estate office.


This week: We've picked up where we left off last week. 

Trust in Love

Title: Trust In Love
Author: Melanie Adams
Genre: Sweet Romance
Release Date: April 30, 2019 Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Cover Design: Deranged Doctor Design

I always dreamed of finding the kind of love my parents shared. Strong, loyal, passionate, and beautiful. But watching my father fall apart after my mother died, I can’t help but wonder if it’s worth it?
Is it worth finding a love so fierce, it has the power to destroy you within the blink of an eye? 
On the verge of giving up on love, I cross paths with a little girl in desperate need of my help to overcome her grief. Then I meet her father, Dr Brent Davies.
Brent is handsome, kind, and there’s an instant attraction between us. Sparks fly every time I look into his eyes, and it’s impossible to ignore the burning desire I feel for him.
But it’s not just his daughter that needs to deal with her grief. Turns out Brent needs to make peace with his own past before he can move on…
Before he can be with me.

Pulling into the driveway, Emma half expected to see Brent’s truck. She checked her watch. It was still early in the afternoon. Worn out from the excitement and the brisk hike, Hope was settled in watching a movie. There was plenty of time for a hot bath to take the chill off and soak her sore ankle.
She filled the tub and slipped out of her hiking gear. She eased into the hot water and settled back to watch time peacefully pass by. She soaked until the water was lukewarm.
Stepping out of the tub, she turned to check the cabinet for towels and their eyes met. Her heart pounded like a drum, ringing in her ears. Her cheeks were on fire. She had no idea how long Brent had stood there, but from the look on his face, he was just as surprised to see her. A small hand towel was the only thing available and she scrambled to cover herself, an impossible task. When she looked up again he was gone.
She dried off as quickly as she could with the tiny towel, regretting not checking for a bath towel before she climbed into the tub. Still a little wet, she forced her way into her jeans and pulled her t-shirt over her head. In her rushed state, she forgot to put her bra back on, and there was no way the shirt was coming back off. Not now, anyway.
She moved over to the mirror, shoved her bra into the pocket of her jeans and groaned at her reflection. She hobbled to the door and held the knob in her hand, summoned all her nerve, and turned the doorknob.
Brent was poised to knock on the door and they startled each other when the door opened and they found themselves face to face.
His eyes locked on hers. “I was just coming to see if you were okay.”
She covered her eyes with her hand. “I’m fine. I mean what happened is okay. I mean, I’m okay.”
Brent shoved his hands in his pockets. “Oh, okay. That’s good. You shouldn’t be embarrassed.”
“Well, I am, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. It was my fault. I should have closed the blinds.”
“With a body like that, I can’t imagine why you would be embarrassed.” He started to back away and then turned back, looking down at her shirt. “You look cold.” He unzipped his sweatshirt, took it off and wrapped it around her shoulders.
As he turned to leave he spotted her little black G-string underwear on the vanity and lifted them with his index finger. He took her hand in his and turned it over, dangling the panties inches from her palm. “You want these, or can I keep them for a memento?”
Emma snatched them from his finger. “I’m so glad you find this so or amusing.” She winced in pain.
Brent furrowed his brow. “You all right?”
“I will be. I twisted my ankle on our walk this afternoon.”
She stepped out the door, her panties still in her hand. With nowhere else to put them, she shoved them in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.
Hope hopped up and down beside her dad. “It was kinda scary, but kinda fun, Daddy. We went for a walk in Emma’s favorite place and we almost got eaten by a cat. It followed us in the bushes. Emma was brave. She had spray stuff to make it go away.” She paused and looked at Emma. “What did you call it? Tell Daddy what you called it.”
Brent frowned and hugged Hope to his chest. “Can you please go set the table for lunch?”
He waited a moment for Hope to get out of earshot. “How could you put Hope in danger? The cougar warning notices are up everywhere, Emma.” His voice was gruff while trying to keep it down so Hope wouldn’t hear. “You were hired to do a job; what the hell happened?” He raked his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth. “Who do you think you are, Emma? I thought I could trust you to keep her safe.” He put his hand up to silence her. “You are not her mother, I don’t need you running her all over the place. She’s all I have left, for Christ’s sake.” The scowl deepened, he shook his head. “I trusted you. Clearly, that was a mistake.”
Emma’s eyes stung. “I’m sorry. You are absolutely right. I shouldn’t be here. It’s the weekend and this is all very inappropriate.” She moved to the door, fighting the tears straining to get out. “My keys, my purse...” She frantically scanned the room, blinking to clear her vision. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Brent.”
She shoved one foot into her runner and headed out the door carrying the other—her ankle wasn’t going to tolerate anything else.
Brent stood watching her, the scowl still firmly in place. “Put your other shoe on.”
She gripped the handrail and limped down the few steps, not looking back. “I can’t. My ankle is swollen.” Hot tears poured down her cheeks. She kept moving as he continued to call after her.
“Wait a minute, let me get my shoes,” he hollered after her.
Jogging and hopping, and wincing with every step, she couldn’t stop moving. A few more feet and she would be in her car, alone, and she could let everything go.
Brent was right. What had happened in the last few months was so much more than she should have allowed. Tears blurred her sight as she slammed the car door shut. She ground them out of her way to start the car. This was the pain she had ran from. It didn’t take a death to crush her, just her own stupid lack of control. It was time to remove herself. It was going to take every ounce of strength she could muster to remain professional and composed.
Melanie Adams is loving her life on Vancouver Island with her husband of 28 years. She is continually impressed with the amazing people her children have become. They enjoy as much family time as possible.
Writing has been an undeniable necessity for as long as she can remember. With an imagination on overdrive, the best thing for her is writing.
She loves to read, especially romance and is currently devouring Nicholas Sparks books.
When she isn’t writing she is sorting mail at Canada post, usually at some ridiculous time in the morning.
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September

Title: September
Series: The Gypsy Moth Chronicles Book 4
Author: Hilari T. Cohen
Genre: Contemporary/Small Town Romance
Release Date: April 30, 2019 Cover Design: Cover by Noelle Raffaele
There’s a baby boom in the small town of Bluff’s Cove!
At least that’s how it feels to CeCe. All of her friends are pregnant, but try as they might, she and her husband Carl have had no success. So CeCe agrees to one round of a dangerous fertility treatment in the hope that they’d have a precious child of their own at the end of the grueling regimen of hormone shots and crazy mood swings. 
Then one day, during her regular shift as an ER nurse, a remarkable thing happens. Now CeCe will need to convince Carl to alter his preconceived notion of what constitutes a family. Can he let go of his stubborn pride long enough to grant her this one true wish? Will he open his heart to accept the smallest gift she has to offer?
In September, Book Four of The Gypsy Moth Chronicles, CeCe and Carl’s world is turned upside down. Can their love for each other survive the ultimate test?
Carl came around to where she stood, “I’d love a kiss from my wife.” “Just a kiss?” she asked with a smile, tucking the cake into the pink cardboard container. She turned into his embrace. “Well, maybe more than one kiss,” he replied, twisting his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans so that she knew he meant business. She was all too happy to comply. She tilted her head back and met his lips eagerly. Carl moved his hands onto her back, drawing her in even closer. He raised her shirt up over her head, undid the clasp of her bra in one practiced motion, and removed both articles of clothing before she even realized what he intended. He grabbed her hips and picked her up, placing her on top of her newly cleaned countertop. “Too much to move this into the bedroom?” she murmured. “Not sure yet. You tell me,” he replied as he undid the top button of her pants and then slid the zipper down, lifting her gently to pull them off one leg at a time, leaving her sitting on the cold granite in just a lacy scrap of panty. CeCe felt herself being swept up by his passion. She knew that she needed to talk seriously with him about the baby — he needed to know -- but decided that she could wait. Sensation stirred strongly in the pit of her stomach, and she knew exactly what he meant to do next. “The bedroom, Carl. Please. . ."
Hilari T. Cohen is an award-winning editor who has worked and consulted in the publishing field for over twenty-five years. She built brands for Berkley, Harlequin and Zebra Books as well as edited many New York Times bestselling authors and titles in both fiction and nonfiction categories. However, she always harbored a secret ambition to write a novel of her own, and she did, successfully publishing both The Lyric of Memory and Adjusting the Rear View before attempting her first romance trilogy, “The Gypsy Moth Chronicles”.
Hilari lives with her husband in suburban New York.
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Remnants of Evil

Title: Remnants of Evil
Series: McAllister Justice #6
Author: Reily Garrett
Genre: Romantic Thriller
Release Date: April 28, 2019
Fear is an illusion banished by courage.
Two months after escaping an underground prison, Abby is determined to redefine her limits by testing the boundaries defining her existence. 
Practicing law fulfills her need for order and consistency, but chaos soon decimates her neat and structured life. When a psychopathic killer draws a line in the sand, she’s forced to choose between her need for independence and the security of police protection. 
Royden has spent his adult life hunting society’s worst criminal offenders. Assigned to work with a McAllister wasn’t what he’d envisioned when relocating to Portland, but everything changed after meeting his partner’s sister. When death comes searching for his new family, each clue leads either to a dead end or more possibilities. 
Join the McAllisters, their better halves, and their dogs in an exciting romantic thriller.
Reily is a West Coast girl transplanted to the opposite shore. When she’s not working with her dogs, you can find her curled up with a book or writing her next story. Past employment as an ICU nurse, private investigator, and work in the military police has given her countless experiences in a host of different environments to add a real world feel to her fiction.
Over time, and several careers, many incidents have flavored the plots of her stories. Man’s cruelty and ingenuity for torment and torture is boundless, not contained by an infinite imagination. Witnessing the after-effects of a teenager mugged at knifepoint for a pair of tennis shoes, or an elderly woman stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver for no apparent reason, left an indelible impression that will forever haunt her subconscious. In counterpoint, she has observed a woman stop her vehicle in severe, snowy weather to offer her own winter coat to a stranger, a teenager wearing a threadbare hoodie. Life’s diversities are endless.
Though her kids are her life, writing is Reily’s life after. The one enjoyed after the kids are in bed or after they’re in school and the house is quiet. This is the time she kicks back with laptop and lapdog to give her imagination free rein.
In reading, take pleasure in a mental pause as you root for your favorite hero/heroine and bask in their accomplishments, then share your opinions of them over a coffee with your best friend (even if he’s four-legged). Life is short. Cherish your time.
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