Sheik Defense by Ryshia Kennie (VBB, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Sheik Defense

by Ryshia Kennie

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GENRE:   Romantic Suspense

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BLURB:

Tossed overboard, Ava Adams had been left for dead, drifting at sea.  But security specialist Faisal Al-Nassar was determined to find her.  He owed her father a great debt and had never forgotten the connection he and Ava had once shared.  Yet after rescuing Ava he discovered she barely remembered him.

Amnesia had left Ava uncertain of who had tried to kill her.  She did know, however, that Faisal was a man she could trust.  The sheik's embrace was familiar and enticing...and possibly even more dangerous.  How could she succumb to feelings for her protector when what she didn't know could get them both killed?

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EXCERPT

Ben wasn’t sure how it had happened. But he’d gotten lucky and landed in the water.  He’d just missed hitting his head on the way down. He’d seen Dan fall overboard but then he’d fallen over himself.  It didn’t matter, he’d planned to swim to shore anyway.  He’d shot Dan first and he’d gone over a dead man.  The yacht was on autopilot, its navigational system dead, heading somewhere out to sea.  In other circumstances he might have laughed.  It would keep the authorities occupied trying to find the boat.

   

 There was only one threat left and that was the little witch of a daughter Dan had managed to dump in the life raft.  There’d been nothing he could do to stop him.  It had all happened so fast.  He felt a twinge of regret.  Now Dan was gone and the yacht was already too far away to be a consideration.  He’d raised the anchor before the altercation began.

He swam toward shore. He’d locked in his mind in what direction and how far away they had drifted.  Yet the weather system was moving in faster than had been reported.  It was a squall, and that and his aching shoulder had him gulping water and struggling as the weather worsened.  Combine the weather with the fact his clothes weighed him down, and it was rough going.  He reached down, wrestling with the laces of his oxfords, finally managing to get them off and tie them to the belt loop of his pants.  It wasn’t supposed to go like this.  He wished he hadn’t had to kill Dan, but once he’d made the decision, he’d accomplished what he meant to.  He’d shot Dan and he’d fallen overboard.  Now there was only one problem he had to resolve before he became a rich man.  The one fly in the ointment was Dan’s daughter.  She wasn’t supposed to be on the yacht.  Yet, there she’d been like it was her right.  He hadn’t liked her the first and only other time he’d met her.

She’d heard too much and she’d injured him.  Neither offense could be forgiven.  A wave pushed him backward and had him swallowing water.  He choked and flipped onto his back, resting, thinking.  He had to get to shore and then he had to find Ava Adams, and when he did, the little witch had to die.

Buy Links:

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Kobo

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Harlequin

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

The Canadian prairies are my home and while the prairie landscape is blessed with beautiful blue skies, it also has four seasons that come on full throttle – especially winter and because of that I like to travel.  Often on those trips, stories are born. 

In 2011 I won my city's writing award, and was the first romance writer to do so since its inception.  In 2013 my romantic suspense was a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Awards.  Published in historic romance and paranormal romance as well as romantic suspense, in February 2016, my first novel was published by Harlequin Intrigue.

There’s no lack of places to set a story as my imagination and the too long prairie winters may find me seeking adventure.  The memories of those worlds both near and far, the words of a stranger, the furtive look one man gives another, often become the catalyst for a suspenseful story with a deadly villain and an intrepid hero and heroine who must battle for their right to love or even their right to live. 

When not dreaming of other stories, I can be found scouting out a garage sale or two, dusting off my roller blades or just thinking about the next adventure that may be miles away or in my own backyard. 

My website

Twitter

Facebook

My blog

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GIVEAWAY



a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here

Navy SEAL Seduction (Release day blast, excerpt and review)

Navy SEAL Seduction

by

Bonnie Vanak

Series: SOS Agency

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: July 2nd, 2016

Publisher: Harlequin Romantic Suspense

Print Length: 288 pages

Format: Digital and Paperback

Paperback ISBN: 978-0373279975

Synopsis:

A navy SEAL takes on a death-defying assignment to save the one who got away…

With the island nation of St. Marc erupting in civil war, SEAL Jarrett Adler must rescue the woman he never got over—his alluring ex-wife, Lacey. Jarrett regrets failing her as a husband, and he hopes protecting her will offer a second chance to win her trust.

 As charming and sexy as Jarrett still is, Lacey knows he won't stick around. She's found her niche in nonprofit work and longs to create a family of her own. But when death threats and bombs arrive at her door, she turns to the man who still holds her heart. Can Jarrett and Lacey navigate their way home—and back into each other's arms?

Excerpt #2:

“You don’t care about anything, do you? Just like before.”

Something flickered in his gaze. “You don’t want him as a donor. I do care. I care about hustling you out of here.”

She searched his face, the grim set of his jaw. Something was going on and he wasn’t about to tell her. Jarrett was a SEAL accustomed to secrecy. But her life was transparent now and she hated secrets.

“Joseph Augustin is a respected member of the upper class here in St. Marc. Why wouldn’t I want him as a donor?”

His gaze flicked around the courtyard. “Not here. We need to talk someplace where we won’t be overheard.”

Fine. “The hotel has a walkway around the gardens.”

As she reached down to grab her backpack, a staccato burst of gunfire exploded in the streets below the hotel. Jarrett leaped to his feet and pushed her down to the ground, covering her body with his own. His muscled weight pinned her down. She heard a handgun’s slide being racked, and looked up to see Jarrett, weapon in hand, crouching low. Screams and shouts erupted around her, and heavy footfalls pounded against the concrete courtyard.

Jarrett spoke into her ear, his deep voice rumbling. “I told you, this country isn’t safe. Now do you believe me?”

Available Here: Amazon| Barnes & Noble 

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About Bonnie Vanak:

Bonnie Vanak is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of paranormal romance. Navy Seal Seduction is her first romantic suspense for Harlequin. 

Connect with Bonnie: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

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My review: 

4 out of 5 stars


Navy SEAL Seduction by Bonnie Vanak is the first book in the ‘SOS Agency’ series. This contemporary military romantic suspense story features the complicated relationship between Navy SEAL Jarrett Adler (Iceman) and his ex-wife Lacey, who has established an NGO on a tiny island in order to provide support and employment for oppressed women by making them self-sustaining. Unfortunately, not everyone supports her efforts, including her ex, who is determined to remove her from the unstable and dangerous nation before it explodes. Once again, they are at odds, complicated by their painful shared past which may prevent them from being able to move forward before time runs out.

This exciting story gives an intriguing glimpse of an exotic locale peopled by folks who are struggling to survive in a harsh society. The tragedy of the struggle for women to support their families, their maltreatment by men, and their hopelessness that Lacey is trying to combat by providing them with gainful employment and a chance at a positive future is nicely balanced by the challenges faced by Jarrett and Lacey who made several mistakes during their marriage and must find a way to move past their pain and distrust to find a future of their own. There are poignant interludes as each main character finds a way to open up about fears and disappointments and lovely growth as they try to rectify and move past the painful events that tore them apart.

I love the insight that reveals the sacrifice made by those who are serving in the military as well as those who are left at home to worry about them. The challenge of reintegrating into civilian life is also touched upon and the genesis of the SOS Agency is revealed. There is a fair amount of violence reflecting the harshness of life on the island but there is also a delicious and sensuous connection between the main characters and a heartwarming look at the bonds of family that has formed. This was an exciting yet touching story and I look forward to reading about the other military men who become active members of the Agency.

A copy of this story was provided to me for review

 

Wild Horses by Claire McEwen (Excerpt, review and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Wild Horses

by Claire McEwen

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GENRE: Contemporary western

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BLURB:

This wild stallion can't be tamed.

Todd Williams is still the naive idealist he was in college. Only now he's endangering lives—Nora Hoffman's to be exact. Nora hasn't seen Todd since he decided that saving the rain forest was more important than their relationship. Until the night she's nearly crushed by the stampede he causes. Now Todd is determined to make amends, for everything.

She may not agree with his methods, but even Nora can't deny the importance of his fight to save the wild horses. With the attraction between them still sizzling and the fate of the horses in the balance, Nora must decide just how much she's willing to risk.

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EXCERPT


How was it possible that Todd had the power to make her crazy after all these years? She was a rational person. She always had been—except when it came to him.

He said he’d changed, but he was still the clueless rich kid who’d never had to struggle to put a roof over his head.

Nora took a deep breath of the clean air and let it out slowly. She just wanted all of her feelings about him to be gone. To live her life without the burden of her old, dusty love for him. Because, despite his ignorance, despite their differences, he still haunted her.

She kept the memories at bay during the daytime—she’d had years of practice at that. But at night he came to her in dreams so vivid that she woke in the morning genuinely shocked to open her eyes and find him not there.

And now he was here, as opinionated and idealistic and idiotic as ever. The guy she’d dreamed of, who’d never dreamed of her. And somehow she would have to figure out how to keep going forward and living her life, knowing Todd wasn’t just in her dreams anymore. He was in the machine shop in town, and at a ranch down the road. He was here in her hometown, judging her and finding her lacking.

Dreams were easy. They faded in the daylight. Reality was a lot more difficult.


Buy links:

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Harlequin


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Claire McEwen lives by the ocean in Northern California with her husband, son and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. When not dreaming up new stories, she can be found digging in her garden with a lot of enthusiasm but, unfortunately, no green thumb. She loves discovering flea-market treasures, walking on the beach, dancing, traveling and reading, of course!

Website
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GIVEAWAY




a Rafflecopter giveaway
The tour dates can be found here


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My review:

4 out of 5 stars

Wild Horses by Claire McEwen is the first book in the ‘Sierra Legacy’ series and follows Nora Hoffman, who has been hired by the Department of Range Management to study the environmental impact of wild horses on the native plant populations of a region of the Eastern Sierras.  Her traumatic re-introduction to Todd Williams reminds her of the difficult decisions made in their shared past, and discovering that their intense attraction has not fizzled out makes it even more difficult to deal with the fact that they are on opposite sides of Todd’s struggle to rescue wild mustangs.  Each will have to decide whether scars of the past will prevent them from finding a future together.

This contemporary romance does a great job of presenting the complexities surrounding the impact of development on the environment and the delicate balance of the ecosystem.  The theme of past lovers reunited is enhanced by the changes in the characters as they have matured and follows them as they learn to cope with some of the issues from the past.  This is an enjoyable sweet and sensual romance that touches on several serious topics, including PTSD and the difficulties of living with abuse and unethical role models, and deftly lays the framework for other stories to follow.  I enjoyed getting this glimpse of the land and learning more about the issues surrounding the plight of the wild horses that are trying to eke out an existence in a rapidly decreasing range.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review