Bet On Me

Bet On Me

by Mia Hoddell

Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense

Standalone

Release Date: May 23, 2016

Page Count: 290

Only $0.99 for Release Week

It’s all a game until they’re betting with their lives.

Alaya Matthews is in search of freedom. Tired of her mundane life, she packs everything she owns into two bags and heads for Europe. Her plan is simple: see the world and be adventurous, don’t get tied down, don’t settle for less than her heart’s desires, and never fall in love.

However, Alaya didn’t plan for Cole Ashford.

Drawn to her love of life, Cole wants to know how to live again. For seven years he’s been dead inside, and the numerous threats hanging over his head have finally caught up with him. What Cole doesn’t realise is accepting Alaya’s help will mean confronting every part of his tainted past. Alaya is desperate to know what haunts him, and she’s so certain he’ll reveal it she invents a bet he can’t refuse.

One is never enough though, and as they grow closer together, the more daring their wagers become. Neither of them will back down from a challenge, but the stakes are being raised. Gambling on Cole may cost Alaya her heart, or even worse, her life.

Bet On Me is $0.99 for the release week only!

Buy Bet On Me within the first week and you can also claim an exclusive bonus scene. Just fill in the form HERE.

“One of the best stories I've read this year … I rarely get chance to sit and read a book from start to finish, but this is one of those that you just have to make time for.” ~ Author Keren Hughes

“A romantic suspense full of intrigue right from the start that had me on the edge of my seat.” ~ Anne @ Bookaholics Reading Haven

“This book is full of suspense and the chemistry between Alaya and Cole is scorching.” ~ Author Sharon Stevenson

He shook his head in despair. “I’m beginning to think I made a mistake trying to save you. You’re not going to make my life easy, are you?”

I clutched my hands to my chest, giving him my best dreamy-eyed swoon. “Aww, you were trying to save me. You’re so sweet! And for the record, no, I’m not going to make your life easy. But hey,” I shrugged, “it was your choice. You could always save me by boxing him against the window and leaving me in peace.”

“Oh really? Maybe I’ll just go to the toilet instead and leave you to fend for yourself.” He kicked one leg out into the aisle, moving to stand. When his body shifted, it gave me another glimpse of the greasy-haired man who watched us from the corner of his eye and reached for his bag, as if ready to pounce as soon as Hazel … uh, Cole moved.

Throwing away all self-respect, I reached out and grabbed his wrist. “No!”

He sniggered and collapsed back against the seat with a smirk. “So you do need saving.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re cruel.”

“Sweetheart, you don’t know me, remember? Don’t sound so surprised.”

My jaw dropped at his words and my gaze shifted nervously around the carriage. Maybe I was better off taking my chances with the other guy. I swallowed hard.

“I’m not your sweetheart.”

“Would you prefer it if I called you Ice Queen or Gingernut instead? Because I didn’t think those would go over as well.”

Glowering at him for flipping my line back around on me, I folded my arms across my chest. I refused to rise to his teasing and ask why those names. Gingernut obviously came from the way my hair changed colour in the sun. However, Ice Queen could have been because of a number of things.

“This is the part where you’re supposed to give me your name,” he prompted when I didn’t respond.

“You could always not talk to me. Problem solved.”

“Sweetheart it is.”

To celebrate the release of Bet On Me, Mia is hosting an online release party.  There will be plenty of takeovers, giveaways, games, and more so make sure you JOIN HERE

#1 Amazon bestselling author Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading, loves anything romantic, and has an overactive imagination that keeps her up until the early hours of the morning.

Mia has written over ten titles including her Seasons of Change series, the Chequered Flag series, the Elemental Killers series, and her standalone novels False Finder, Not Enough, and Bet On Me. Her favourite genres are contemporary romance or romantic suspense, and with an ever growing list of ideas she is trying to keep up with the speed at which her imagination generates them. She also designs book covers on her website M Designs.

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Paradise Forbidden

Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense/Mystery

Release Date: August 28, 2015

When Trevor Cassidy steps foot on a bus to "Nowhere," Tennessee, he boards with a singular purpose: to leave the life he led behind.

A desolate girl on the ride catches his eye, but he wants almost nothing to do with the ten-foot invisible wall that she's built around herself.

But when calamity strikes deep inside the Tennessee forest, Trevor and the lonely girl, Kat, must learn to trust each other if they want to make it back to civilization intact.

Breaking down Kat's walls will prove to be the hardest thing Trevor's ever done, and on top of that...she's hiding something: something that may threaten their very existence, their dwindling survival.

But how does Trevor uncover Kat's hidden agenda without bringing his own to light?

I nod, never breaking eye contact. And how could I? With Trevor looking at me like that, there’s no chance that I can move, let alone breathe.
Every time our gazes cross, a shift takes place. It moves the air around us: swirling and circling, interlacing and enclosing. It weaves through us, wrapping us to each other: binding us… with this… need.
I can see in Trevor’s eyes all that I feel.
The apprehension. The latent confusion. That undeniable… need.
And there it is again: that needling… annoying… disturbing and somehow strangely consuming sentiment that we need each other. I don’t want to need Trevor. I don’t need him to need me, either.
Whatever it is that exists between the two of us, it is inescapable: invisible but potent. We’re two stars on a collision course, orbiting each other, dancing around another… until the inevitable happens.
A cosmic boom that threatens to rain destruction... or beautiful stardust, and I’m not sure which it will be, so I make a decision right then and right there.
The decision… to get out.
Get out while I still can: while I can spare us both the explosion that is bound to happen. While I can avoid the disappointment that will ultimately follow.
While I can spare myself Trevor’s discovery of my deceit.

My Review

From the moment the book opens, we know that both the hero and heroine have major issues and are running away from something. We also learn that the hero is attracted to the heroine, but she ignores him to the point of rudeness. We have to read a little more to learn that she's actually attracted to him as well.

They'd probably never have even spoken to each other if not for the actions of a bus driver who takes a short cut and ends up in a lake. At this point they must work together to save their lives because they don't really know where they are. 

Their characters are revealed as they try to escape the wilderness. I have to say I was angry with the heroine for one action that she took. I'm still not sure I understand her motivation. 

The two finally give in to the passion between them and consummate their love. Yet there are still many obstacles between them, and there's one major surprise that I never saw coming. 

My review: 4 stars.

Natalie Wrye is a math geek by day, writer by night. She is a quirky, former Yankee living in Northwest Georgia with nothing but her Friends and Gilmore Girls reruns to keep her company. Natalie started writing nonsensical stories at the ripe age of 6; she hopes things have changed since then. She loves chocolate, cuddly things, and large libraries. Oh...and she thinks it's pretty cool to talk in 3rd person.

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