Release Blitz: Roommate Duet Series by Kennedy Fox

The worst day of my life happened when Brandon
died. 

We had our entire future mapped out. 

Careers, marriage, kids—in that order. 

Then the universe threw a curveball and ended it
all. 
As I come to terms with everything, I learn I’m
carrying his baby. Now I’m living with his roommate, the guy who’s made my life
a living hell the past two years. Hunter’s now the one to hold me up when all I
want to do is fall. 

Knowing my religious parents will never accept
the pregnancy out of wedlock, Hunter offers to be my fake husband. While I
think he’s gone crazy, it’s the only plan that’ll keep them in my life. So I do
whatever it takes to make our relationship believable—kissing, touching, even
letting him hold me when we sleep. The lines are so blurred neither of us want
to admit we’re no longer pretending. 

The guilt of what we’re doing eats me alive as I
struggle to deal with my emotions. I push him away, but he pulls me closer,
showing me how he’s always felt.  

Just as I begin to follow my heart, I learn
Hunter’s been keeping secrets.

And I’m left to make the hardest decision of my
life…

**This is book 2 in the Hunter & Lennon
duet and must be read after Baby Mine. Recommended for ages 18+**

 

 
 
 













 

 
I saw her first.
Blonde. Gorgeous. Feisty.
I was smitten. 
But it didn’t matter because she chose him and he was my best friend and roommate. I’d never be able to compete with that, so I pushed her away instead. It was easy when she lived hours away, and I didn’t have to see her every day, but then she moved in with us. 
Now, I’m screwed.

To her singing in the shower every morning, dancing in the kitchen while she makes coffee, and doing yoga in our living room, I can’t stop thinking about her in all the wrong ways. She’s not mine and never will be, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to push her against a wall and claim her mouth.

She’s constantly on me for making messes, bringing chicks home every weekend, and being a smartass when their PDA gets on my nerves. Considering neither of them know how I feel, it’s not fair for the way I act toward them. I should move out so I can get over her for good; however, the selfish part of me can’t let go. 

But then the unthinkable happens… 
When my best friend dies in a motorcycle accident, the two of us are left to grieve our loss together. Instead of pushing her away, I pull her closer. 

Just as we come to terms with our new reality, she finds out she’s pregnant with his baby. 
And I’m left to make the hardest decision of my life… 

 

 

 

Brooke Cumberland & Lyra Parish are a duo of romance authors who teamed up to write under the USA Today Bestselling pseudonym, Kennedy Fox. They share a love of You’ve Got Mail and The Holiday. When they aren’t bonding over romantic comedies, they like to brainstorm new book ideas. One day, they decided to collaborate and have some fun creating new characters that’ll make you blush and your heart melt. If you enjoy romance stories with sexy, tattooed alpha males and smart, independent women, then a Kennedy Fox book is for you! 


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Book Blitz: Ten Hours by Melissa Toppen

Ten Hours
Melissa Toppen
Publication date: May 17th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

TEN HOURS- A STANDALONE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Ten hours…

That’s how much time we spent together.

How much time I got with the man whose bright eyes and sultry smile almost made me forget that I was sick.

Six hundred minutes…

That’s how long it took me to fall in love.

Thirty-six thousand seconds…

And then it was over. And all I wanted was more.

More seconds.

More minutes.

More hours.

More him.

Ten hours…

Such a small, insignificant amount of time.

Yet those ten hours changed everything.

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Author Bio:

Melissa Toppen is a Bestselling Author specializing in New Adult and Contemporary Romance. She is a lover of books and enjoys nothing more than losing herself in a good novel. She has a soft spot for Romance and focuses her writing in that direction; writing what she loves to read.

Melissa resides in Cincinnati Ohio with her husband and two children, where she writes full time.

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Book Blitz: Taken by the Phantom by Isabella King

Taken by the Phantom
Isabella King
(The Phantom of the Academy, #1)
Publication date: May 16th 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

I’ve never felt at home at Juilliard. My stagefright always makes me choke when I’m under the spotlight, to my classmates’ delight. But when I’m dragged into a new world, to a new school—where singing is more than a talent, it’s magic—I can’t hide my voice anymore. This new power is tempting, but terrifying forces swirl around the kingdom of Cantus. Missing girls, rivals at my new academy, Rebels, demons slaying people in the street—and it all leads back to him. The mysterious, powerful Phantom, who lurks beneath the opera school and demands he be my teacher—a demand which soon grows into something deeper, darker. But if I want to survive this place, or have any hope of going home, I may have no choice but to give in to him… and all he desires.

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EXCERPT:

I appraise the Phantom of the Opera in shadow and light. For an eternity, he says nothing. Neither do I. There is no barrier between us, yet I can’t make myself move. I’m porcelain shot through with fissures—if he touches me I’ll shatter.

What if I want to?

Finally, he speaks. “Prima Donna.”

I stare at him. His one visible eye is dark, almost black. Set in his white face, against the pale of his mask, it is stark. Of course he is rendered in extremes. For the first time since our encounter here, he is less clothed than I am. He wears a white dress shirt, loose and open. He has a lovely body, finer even than it felt when pressed against mine. He’s more muscular than his tailored suits and sweeping cloaks would lead one to believe, with a sculpted chest, clear lines chiseled across his abdomen.

It’s then that I realize he is also young, probably only a few years older than me. If he were from my world, he might still be a student. He might go to Juilliard; an upperclassman who might tutor me or play me opposite in a musical.

Of course, in my world he probably wouldn’t wear a mask or live beneath an opera house.

He wouldn’t kill.

“I am not the Prima Donna,” I finally answer. My voice trembles, and I kick myself internally for showing even one crack in my facade. Still, neither of us have moved. I can see the hard plane of his stomach ripple when he breathes; his jaw is set, and a muscle ticks there. His hands are closed into tight fists. But he doesn’t move.

Why?

“Not yet.” At last: a step. I force myself not to retreat. “But after I am through with you…”

Through with me? Heat licks up the back of my neck. I’m grateful for the darkness. What would he make of me blushing? What do I make of me blushing? “Through with me?”

Another step. He’s framed in the doorway: a beautiful, horrifying portrait. Oils and lust and treachery all painted in broad strokes. “With my teaching.”

I bark out a laugh. “You’re not serious.”

He takes another step. We are toe to toe, and it takes everything in me not to run screaming through the Hall of Mirrors. I’m such an idiot. What was I thinking, coming down here? Staying when Charlotte left? Singing for him?

The Phantom looks down his nose at me, lips parted. “Deadly so.”

I snort. Narrow my eyes. “Oh,” I say, “so you’re funny now?”

“I have always been in possession of quite a sense of humor, Krissy Davis.”

“Even while you killed them?”

He cocks his head, eyes flaring. I’ve pissed him off. Good.

He lifts his hand, no longer gloved, but bare and plain as any man’s. Not monstrous at all. My knees shake, and I hope he doesn’t see. He touches his fingers to my jaw, tender as he might a kitten’s belly.

“Especially,” he murmurs, his eyes on my mouth, “while I killed them.”


Author Bio:

My short stories and articles have been traditionally published (under another name) but Amazon has given me the chance to venture into wildly different genres and my most recent titles have involved spanking and D/s relationships. My heroines are strong willed, intelligent women who battle against their need to submit to the dominant men in their lives. My stories are complex and filled with angst, turmoil and agonising twists of fate but a̶l̶w̶a̶y̶s̶ almost always have a happy ending.

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Book Blitz: Soulmates by Mira Crest

Soul Mates
Mira Crest
(Soul Mates, #1)
Publication date: June 4th 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

I’ve been broken. Time and again.

My body.

My heart.

My soul.

I’m tired of pretending I’m happy. Even when he makes it seem easy. But my heart is incapable of loving again.

________________________

She thinks she can’t love.

That there is nothing left in her to give to anyone.

Especially me.

But I would give anything to love her. If only my demons can stay in the past.

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EXCERPT:

“You wished to speak with me, child?” he asked. Only the fact that he was older than her grandfather kept her from being annoyed by the endearment.

“Yes,” she replied, bowing her head. “I want to know how to get to Annwn. The tales say there’s an entrance somewhere nearby.”

He blinked and sat up straighter. “What business does a young lady have in the land of the dead?”

“Someone I love arrived there recently, and I’m going to get him back,” Nia said, clenching her fists.

The Archdruid sighed. “It hurts to lose a loved one, I know, but it is not for us mortals to interfere in the natural cycle of life and death. The gods have a purpose beyond our comprehension.”

“There was no purpose to Celyn’s death!” Nia exclaimed. A hush fell over the hall, and her face flooded with heat, but she soldiered on. “If the gods have an issue with my plans, then surely they can stop me without your help. All I ask is knowledge. Will you deny me?”

He frowned, and she wondered if maybe she had taken things too far. But then, he nodded thoughtfully. “I will take an omen. If the gods do not wish you to undertake this journey, they will tell us so.” It felt like just a more roundabout way of refusing, but Nia sensed this was the best chance she was going to get, so she nodded.

Nia was led into the chamber behind the main hall, a room dominated by a colossal round hearth sunk into the floor. The Archdruid gestured for her to sit on one of the cushions around the edge of the room. Once she was settled, he tossed a bunch of herbs onto the fire. Fragrant smoke tickled the back of her throat. The shadows leapt and danced in a way that made her shiver with unease.

“This will help us to see more clearly,” he said, seating himself beside her and picking up a pouch that rattled like raindrops on a hollow log. “Close your eyes, and when I speak the words, I want you to tell me what images come into your mind.”

Nia did as he said, though she was beginning to feel anxious. It was well known that druids practiced magic, and though it was fun to hear about magic in tales Nia never thought she’d be participating in it. There’s probably a lot more magic in Annwn, she thought before turning her attention back to the Archdruid. The hollow sounds from the pouch seemed unnaturally loud.

“Journey,” said the voice of the Archdruid, and the images swimming behind her eyes reformed, becoming rain lashing her face while the sounds of wind and water roared in her ears.

“I see… a storm, on the ocean I think,” she said, shivering. Though her family had not been sailors, she knew a storm at sea could be deadly.

“Good.” More rattling. “What about choice?”

Again, visions flickered rapidly before her. “I see… a cauldron, and then… animals? A raven, a fox, others? I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine. One more… what does your heart say about fate?”

At the word, Nia felt like she was swallowed by darkness. In the distance she saw something shining. A thread, golden-white in color, fragile and all alone out in the void. Four new threads appeared. One was a violet so dark it was nearly black, one bright red, one cool blue, and one brilliant green. These threads wove around the original thread, and as a weaver, Nia knew that they were much stronger together. This vividly colored thread spooled upward into a tapestry. It was so intricate and beautiful that she couldn’t form words to describe it. When the vision disappeared the loss felt like a blow. She relayed everything to the Archdruid in a shaking voice.

“Hmmm,” he hummed for a moment. “You can open your eyes now. I am ready to give my judgment, if you are still willing to hear it.”

His words didn’t bode well for Nia in her estimation, but she was determined to see this through. She sat up straight, set her jaw in a fierce line, and nodded.

The Archdruid sighed. “This omen tells me that this journey is important for you, and perhaps for others. You will not, I think, find what seek, but you will find your destiny. Are you certain you wish to enter Annwn?”

 

Author Bio:

Since young, Mira loves fantasy romance with strong female protagonists and perilous adventures to magical realms and parallel universes to visit dragons, witches, shifters, and fairy tale creatures, bringing heroes and heroines together and aiding their epic fantasy battles against dark enemies so they can have the happily-ever-afters they deserve.

When she grew up, she takes a liking to young adult stories, which explains her passion writing in the young adult fantasy romance genre. Her books are clean romance with character development as the prime focus. Even now, she still journeys to fantasy realms whenever she’s not writing.

 

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Book Blitz: The Contessa’s Brooch by PJ MacLayne

The Contessa’s Brooch
P.J. MacLayne
(Harmony Duprie Mysteries, #4)
Publication date: May 12th 2019
Genres: Adult, Mystery

A firebug is stalking Oak Grove and internet researcher Harmony Duprie is on the case. It starts as a simple data analysis project for Police Chief Sorenson, but things get personal when the house she renovated is targeted.

The arsonist is in it for the glory, posting videos of his exploits on social media. So, Harmony calls for backup from her favorite computer hackers, Eli, Lando, and Scotty. Complications arise when Fiesker, a fire investigator with a chip on his shoulder, is brought in to unmask the culprit and put an end to the fires. Then there’s the mysterious emails being sent to the town’s firefighters. And who is leaving a trail of Celtic brooches behind?

Harmony finally gets a break when Jake, her ex, stumbles across information that might lead to the guilty party.

Can Eli, Lando and Scotty help Harmony track down the pyromaniac before someone gets hurt? Or, worse yet, killed?

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EXCERPT:

I stripped off the flimsy plastic gloves that came with the dye and tossed them in the garbage can. Jake was still Jake, but a new and improved version with black hair. The beard might make a difference but would take a week or two to grow.

Still, I stepped back and walked around him to admire my work.

He studied himself in a hand mirror. “I hate it,” he said. “I don’t look like me. But I guess that’s the point.”

“It brings out the color of your eyes.” A little flattery might help. But that gave me another idea. Glasses. “Wait here.”

Like there was any place for him to go in my small apartment. There were several pairs of my old glasses stuck in a drawer. The prescription would screw with his vision, but if they changed his appearance, we could pick up a pair of low-level cheaters from the drugstore.

The first ones I found sported pink frames, bought on a whim, worn two or three times. While they would be a fun joke to play on Jake, I didn’t think he’d find them amusing. I dug deeper. The perfect pair with heavy black frames was in there somewhere.


When I found them, he was pretending to comb his hair while staring at himself in the mirror. The lines on his forehead made it clear he wasn’t happy. I thrust the glasses at him.

He slipped them on and grinned. “I forgot how blind you are, Angel.” He squinted in the mirror. “I can’t see a darn thing!”

My eyesight wasn’t that bad.

He slipped them down his nose so he could peer over the top. “Makes me look like a professor.”

Not the ones I had in college. He was better looking. But I wasn’t about to say that out loud and inflate Jake’s ego.

Author Bio:

Born and raised among the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania, P.J. MacLayne still finds inspiration for her books in that landscape. She is a computer geek by day and a writer by night who currently lives in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. When she’s not in front of a computer screen, she might be found exploring the back roads of the nearby national forests and parks. In addition to the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, she is also the author of the Free Wolves adventures.

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Book Blitz: Naughty Things by JA Huss

Wild Thing
JA Huss
Publication date: May 13th 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance

Kidnapping her was the easy part. Now I’ve got to tame her.

Runaway corporate princess, Lyssa Baylor, was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

But that’s not what I’ll be sticking in there.

LYSSA

Freelance princess hunter, Mason Macintyre, thinks he’s so tough with those bulging muscles. He thinks he’s so smart with his plan to tame me with spankings and submission. Well, I’ve got news for him. They don’t call me Wild Thing for nothing. I’ve been playing unruly princess my whole life and I’m not about to stop now.

MASON

This was supposed to be a simple kidnap job. Catch her and bring her in so she can be married off to the son of a family friend. But once her father realizes the man he hired to reform his unruly brat of a daughter won’t be able to handle her, he blackmails me into completing the job.

No one blackmails me, I don’t care how rich and powerful you are. Her father might be untouchable, but Lyssa isn’t. I’m gonna touch her all over and punish her so hard, that forced marriage will be her only way out of my little princess reform school.

***

WILD THING is a smokin’-hot, sexy story of a runaway princess and her reluctant Prince Charming. A tantalizing tale of forced marriage, captive submission, and a hero who doesn’t know he’s a hero until he meets the girl he was meant to save.

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➤Buy Pretty Thing!

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EXCERPT:

She smiles at herself in the mirror. “Now this is a wedding dress.”

And I agree. So different than the one she used to wipe my come off her face.

“But oh,” she says, turning to look at her ass in the mirror. “Panty lines.”

And then, before I even realize what she’s doing, she reaches inside the side slits along each thigh and pulls her panties down, kicking them off to the side.

“Lyssa!”

“This is why I never wear underwear,” she explains. “I need to see if it looks OK without them. Because with them—”

“You are not walking down the aisle with no panties on.”

“Oh, yes, I am. This is a no-panties dress and you picked it out. So you have to live with it.”

My cock agrees with her. Because I’m fully fucking hard now.

She glances down at it, then lifts her eyes to mine, and says, “I hope you’re not thinking—”

“I’m not,” I say.

“—because if you wanted to do dirty stuff in here, we could get caught—”

“Don’t worry,” I say.

“—and Margaret would be so disappointed in us if she caught the best man fucking his best friend’s fiancée.”

“What?” I say, doing a double-take.

“That’s what I told her. It’s kinda hot, isn’t it?”

“No,” I say. “It’s kinda sad, actually.”

“Well, it was a lie, anyway. So that just makes it hot.“

“Jesus, Lyssa.”

She mouths the words Wild Thing at me, then reaches down to grab my cock.

I push her away, but she backs me into the mirror with a bang.

“Everything OK in there?” Margaret calls from the other side of the door.

“Just fine,” I yell back, glaring at Lyssa.

“Come on,” she whispers. “Wild thing, hold me tight.” And then she giggles.

“That’s not even how the song goes—”

But I stop. Because the next thing I know, she’s on her knees in front of me, the button popped on my jeans, the zipper down, and my cock is in her hands.

“Lyssa,” I groan.

“Tell me no,” she says, then sticks the head of my cock in her mouth, pressing her tongue up against my shaft, before I even have a chance.

“Would you like another dress?” Margaret calls.

Lyssa eases her mouth off my cock with a loud smacking sound and looks up at me. “What do you think, Mason? Do we need to try on another one?”

“No,” I call back to Margaret. “We’ll let you know if we need anything else.”

“I could wrap it up for you,” Margaret offers, just as Lyssa puts my cock back in her mouth and takes me deep into her throat.

“Uh… we’re not quite…. oh, God… done yet,” I say.

“OK, I’m right out here if you need anything.”

“Great,” I groan. Because Lyssa is giving me a full-on head-bobbing messy blow-job. And against my better judgment, my fingers are now tangled in her hair, urging her on.

She pulls off me, both her hands on my thighs, pushing me back, and then she stands again.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Making you choose.”

“Choose what?”

She backs up against the mirror and whispers, “You know why you chose the dress with two slits?”

I already know where this is going.

“Because I can do this.” She pulls the center portion of material aside and flashes her bare pussy at me. “And you,” she says, grabbing my shirt and pulling me towards her so my cock bumps into her leg, “can put that inside me and I don’t even have to take my clothes off.”

“I’m not gonna fuck you,” I whisper back.

Why not? she silently mouths and simultaneously pouts.

“Because you’re not mine, Lyssa.”

She sighs. Frowning. Giving up. Because she leans back against the wall and wilts. “I want to be yours.”

“You can’t be,” I say.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re engaged. And I’m just… I’m just your fucking babysitter.”

She slides her hand between her legs, then withdraws it and places the tip of her glistening wet finger against my lips.

I close my eyes and open my mouth, my cock totally in charge now. I suck on her finger the way she was just sucking on my cock.

“Please,” she whispers. So low, I almost don’t hear her. “I promise to be good in every other way if you just… make me feel loved right now.”

I pull her finger out of my mouth and say, “Lyssa,” feeling sad for her.

“We can pretend,” she says. “Right?” She places both her hands on my cheeks and leans in. Kisses me.

I kiss her back.

I know I shouldn’t. I feel the guilt of a best man fucking his best friend’s fiancée, and I don’t even care.

If her name is Lyssa Baylor then I want to fuck my best friend’s fiancée.

“Everybody pretends,” she whispers past my lips. “It’s all fake, Mason. So who cares, anyway?”

She pulls her dress aside again, reaching for my cock. And when she tugs on it, I do the unthinkable. I take two steps forward and we’re not even two steps apart. So now my chest is pressing up against her breasts, forcing her against the wall. She lifts up her leg and I brush the middle section of satin dress over the side of her thigh to get it out of the way.

And after that, it takes no effort at all to slip my cock inside her.

The one thing I told myself I wouldn’t do.

I would eat her out, and let her blow me. And kiss her, and suck her nipples, and smack her ass, and all that other stuff. And it would be OK if I just didn’t fuck her.

And now I’m fucking her.

In her wedding dress.

 

Author Bio:

JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller’s list 21 times in the past five years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.

Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.

Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her book were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.

She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.

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Cover Reveal: Dry Bones: The Valley Safari Spell

Dry Bones: The Valley
Safari Spell
(Long Live Dead Reckless #3)
Publication date: June 18th 2019
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance

In the third novel in the LONG LIVE DEAD RECKLESS series, Talor must find a way to remember what everyone wants her to forget…or lose herself forever.

As a Grigori Princess, Talor has everything most women could ever want: love, eternal beauty, wealth, and power. Supernatural servants bend to her every will and no material desire is denied her, but that rose-colored reality begins to crack when she hears a mysterious voice speaking through music.

After a violent encounter with a sinister figure in the countryside, her husband Rami turns cold and possessive, blaming her for the growing storm between the Grigori and the Dissent. Confused and heartbroken, Talor soon becomes less like a princess and more like a prisoner in her own home.

But as the list of enemies seeking to abduct her from the Valley grows, she begins to wonder what it is they know that she doesn’t. When she is faced with an unthinkable choice, she must be braver than she ever thought possible if she is to discover the shocking truth that will change everything.

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Previous books in the series:

 

Author Bio:

Safari Spell is a native of Albany, Georgia. Author of the Long Live Dead Reckless series, she has a BA in Journalism from Valdosta State University. She currently lives in North Georgia with her husband, two children, and a backyard jungle harboring all the dinosaurs everyone thinks are extinct. Her dreams include chasing autumn around the globe and having a wallaby sidekick.

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Cover Reveal: Kingdom of Mirrors & Roses

Kingdom of Mirrors & Roses: A Limited Edition of Beauty and the Beast Retellings
Publication date: August 1st 2019
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, New Adult

Beauty and the Beast, but not how you remember it

Deep in the forest, a castle hides. No one knows who lives there, but rumors of a beast keep people away.

Cloaked in shadows, hidden from view, a prince destroyed by a curse shuts himself away from the world, ashamed of the beast he’s become.

And in the village, a beautiful girl with her nose in a book, yearns for something more.

True love is the only thing that can break his curse. True love is the one thing she’s looking for, but how can they find true love when neither knows the other exists?

Find out if love really can defy all odds in this set of thirteen captivating retellings of the classic fairytale, filled with love, hope and the strength of two people willing to do whatever it takes…

One click now for your happily ever after.

Other books in the Kingdom of series…

Kingdom of Glass and Ashes (Cinderella retellings)

Kingdom of Salt and Sirens (Little Mermaid retellings)

Kingdom of Sand and Wishes (Aladdin retellings)

Kingdom of Mirrors and Roses (Beauty and the Beast retellings)

Kingdom of Thorns and Dreams (Sleeping Beauty retellings) coming soon

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Book Blitz: The Rule of Many by Ashley & Leslie Saunders

The Rule of Many
Ashley Saunders + Leslie Saunders
(The Rule of One #2)
Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: May 7th 2019
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult

Born to a death sentence in a near-future America, rebellious sisters herald a revolution—if they can survive.

Twins Ava and Mira Goodwin defy the Rule of One simply by existing. The single-child law, ruthlessly enforced by Texas’s Governor Roth, has made the sisters famous fugitives and inspirations for the resurgent rebellion known as the Common.

But the relentless governor and his implacable Texas State Guard threaten that fragile hope, as Roth consolidates his power in a bid for ultimate authority.

As Ava and Mira relinquish the relative safety of their Canadian haven to stand against Roth, new allies arise: Owen, a gifted young programmer, impulsively abandons his comfortable life in a moment of compassion, while Zee, an abused labor camp escapee, finds new purpose in resistance.

The four will converge on Dallas for a reckoning with Roth, with nothing less than their destinies—and the promise of a future free from oppression—on the line.

Disobedience means death. But a life worth living demands rebellion.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

MIRA

Limos and luxury cars line the extensive circular driveway, stuffed with partygoers ready for the welcoming bash. Mrs. and Mr. Cross have already arrived with much fanfare from their son and his doting employees. I wonder if Ciro’s sisters are here.

I hear him get on the microphone, introducing his unwitting parents onto the stage of the overflowing banquet hall, the governor of Alberta and the mayor of Calgary looking on from the front row.

Everything’s falling nicely into place. If only the man of the hour would show.

I look at my watch: 7:30 p.m. He’s late. Ava’s knee bounces furiously, as if she can shake out her anxiety.

“He’ll come,” I say.

From our hideout in the corner of the foyer, shadowed and easily overlooked, we have the best seats in the house. A perfect vantage point to see and be unseen. Ava scans the budding festivities through the glass walls on our left. I keep my eyes on the glass windows straight ahead, seeing past the dazzling flares from the cars’ headlights, holding out for the first glimpse of the president.

A string quartet begins to play, and an electric energy pulsates through the hotel, enlivening the crowd around us with a giddy exhilaration, and I can’t help but feel it too. Eager, I spring to my feet. I pace up and down our tucked-away corner, checking the time, watching Emery from across the room, waiting on her signal.

“Do you hear that?” Ava asks. She stares up at the ceiling. I move beside her as we listen to the muffled roar of whirling blades slicing the air somewhere above the building.

“A helicopter,” Ava says.

“He’s here.”

We look to Emery, who stands near the entrance, her gaze locked skyward. Guests file past as she removes a headscarf from her pocket, drapes the silk over her distinctive curls, and pulls it into a tight knot at the back of her neck. She folds her right arm over her chest, our cue to move.

I feel, rather than see, Barend steal into place behind us, our long shadow, as we push to the end of the foyer. Pawel detaches himself from the crowd and crosses our path as he follows Emery out the front door. “Lots of luck,” he whispers earnestly. Like luck has anything to do with it. It’s all up to us.

Our target is the oversized clock that consumes the entire wall alongside the vacant concierge desk. Ava stops before the number six, and we slip behind a false door and stride side by side down an empty staff hallway. Three right turns, two left, a final door, and we’re outside.

There are no lights behind the hotel and no people. The night is chilly and moonless, but we find the footpath we were directed to take and make our silent way to the small grove of trees just twenty yards out.

Ten paces in, Ava and I turn from the path and weave through the evergreens until we spot the narrow clearing that is to be our stage. We position ourselves in its center, shoulder to shoulder, and wait. Somewhere to our right, concealed within the trees and darkness, Barend stands guard.

When told of the plan, Emery immediately authorized the private rendezvous. She knows pleading our case face-to-face with the president is the only way. Cameras and screens provide a barrier, Emery said. The media paints you solely as American rebels. Let him see how human you are. With Pawel at her side, Emery is to meet and escort the president here, while Ciro entertains his parents and guests, keeping them safely ignorant inside the banquet hall.

The minutes tick off, and Ava starts to shiver from either the cold or nerves. Or is that me shivering? Ava and I brought no weapons with us, to show good faith. No guns, no knives. Just us, with our naked conviction and hope.

This could be our last stop, a final end to the endless chase. A place to plan and plot and devise our crucial counterattack.

Ava nudges me with a sharp elbow. She points to the trees in front of us. Two distinct shapes emerge, a faint silhouette floating behind.

“Ready?” I whisper needlessly. Ava tightens her jaw, and I ball my hands into white-knuckled fists. I take a big gulp of air and exhale slowly. My breath comes out in swirling smoke, reminding me of a dragon. There’s a fire inside me, and suddenly I feel warm and calm. One look from Ava and I know she feels it too.

We’re ready.

The outlines become faces and bodies. Emery appears first, then President Moore, with Pawel a few steps behind. I stare at Moore, transfixed, my eyes glued to the man who can grant us refuge.

He stumbles forward, as if his own eyes have not yet adjusted to the dark. I search his every feature, looking for any hint of surprise, or shock, or understanding. But his face, though startlingly attractive in the starlight, is blank. Indifferent.

“President Moore,” Emery says, “this is Ava and Mira Goodwin.” He looks at us cross-eyed, his round eyes squinting as he takes us in. We all stand motionless, awaiting his response.

“You don’t look identical to me,” the president finally states, his thin voice magnified in the still night air. “One of you’s slightly taller, the other rounder.”

The leader of the free world opens with an insult. My first reaction is to defend my identicalness. Surprising, when all I’ve ever wanted is to be seen as different from Ava.

“Sir—” Ava and I speak at the same time.

The president laughs. “Ah, there it is.” The ground spins as he turns to leave. “This conversation will be moved to a different setting. Just the twins and me.”

Barend detaches from the shadows. Pawel and Emery enclose my sister and me. Ava grabs my arm, her grip tight enough to bruise.

“We do not agree to any change—” Emery starts, but Moore shouts over her.

“Security!”

Everything shatters, all plans and expectations smashed to pieces.

A gunshot rings out, then two more.

Run!” Emery yells.

The last thing I see is Ava’s face, twisted in fear and fury.

Then something covers my eyes. My mouth.

I’m thrown over a bulky shoulder, the deafening sounds of a helicopter growing louder with every footfall. With every one of my muffled screams.

I’m shoved against something solid. I reach out, arms flailing, but there’s no one beside me. Ava.

I feel the chopper lift into the sky. Two spinning blades taking me higher and higher away from Common ground.


Author Bio:

Hailing from the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders are award-winning filmmakers and twin sisters who honed their love of storytelling at The University of Texas at Austin. While researching The Rule of One, they fell in love with America’s national parks, traveling the path of Ava and Mira. The sisters can currently be found with their Boston terriers in sunny Los Angeles, exploring hiking trails and drinking entirely too much yerba mate.

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Book Blitz: Timeless Sky by Paulina Ulrich

Timeless Sky
Paulina Ulrich
(Flightless Bird #4)
Publication date: May 15th 2019
Genres: Romance, Time-Travel, Young Adult

When it all ends…

In the tumultuous world of time travel, Livy does her best to adjust to her new life and abilities. Livy and Gregory’s shared dreams have them searching for clues to piece together their lives. In time though, Livy discovers that her lifeline to Gregory isn’t as strong as she thought and she now faces an even worse fate. A voice only she can hear has started to follow her and one mistake could keep her locked permanently in the past.

When people close to her begin to disappear, she and Gregory are compelled to join forces with any allies they have left. With Amelia on the path of revenge, the Society of Seven on the brink, and Damon still missing, the lives of those around them are in jeopardy and not all will survive.

Time is running out. How long will forever last?

Previous books in the series:

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EXCERPT:

I took a drink of my water, watching him over the rim of the glass. “Any other theories we have to test?” I set my glass in the sink but something else was already on my mind and it had nothing to do with theories.

“Hmm…nothing comes to mind immediately.” Gregory scratched his chin, faint stubble was starting to appear.

“Good.” I reached up and kissed him, not wanting to feel anything but him. Gregory seemed surprised but I felt his arms squeeze me against his chest. He pulled away, but I was having none of it and with my fingers tethered in his hair, I yanked his mouth back to mine, kissing him earnestly. I made sure my body pressed against every lining of his, pushing against him and making him stumble backwards.

 

Author Bio:

Paulina Ulrich: author, book nerd, & crazy cat lady received her BA in Creative Writing and is the author of the young adult Flightless Bird series, the award nominated young adult Fighting Fate series, and many more stories to come. She also writes nonfiction and has been published in various literary magazines. When she’s not writing, reading, drinking copious amounts of tea, or doing author-y stuff, she’s out buying way too many cute shoes. Stay up to date with her at http://www.paulinaulrich.com

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