Weak at the Knees (New Adult Contemporary Romance)

BLURB:   

“We got so busy living life that we forgot to live our dreams.”

Danni Lewis has been playing it safe for twenty-six years, but her sheltered existence is making her feel old ahead of time. When a sudden death plunges her into a spiral of grief, she throws caution to the wind and runs away to France in search of a new beginning. 

The moment ski instructor Olivier du Pape enters her shattered world she falls hard, in more ways than one.

Their mutual desire is as powerful and seductive as the mountains around them. His dark gypsy looks and piercing blue eyes are irresistible. 

Only she must resist, because he has a wife – and she’d made a pact to never get involved with a married man.

But how do you choose between keeping your word and being true to your soul? 

Weak at the Knees is Jo’s debut novel in the new adult, contemporary romance genre – a story about love, loss and relationships, set between London and the heart of the French Alps.

Buy on Amazon

EXCERPT TWO

              I leaned over, intending to air brush his cheeks with 

mine, but it didn’t quite happen that way. A stronger, more 

powerful force than my conscience, a force more powerful than 

morality, changed my path of navigation at the last second, 

making my lips meet his, melt deliciously into his, over and 

over and over again, sending shivers of pleasure through every 

limb in my body. My skin tingled, my head spun, I felt light-

headed even though I was sitting down. 

         That’s all we did for over an hour. Kiss and kiss and kiss, 

tasting each other, pressing our bodies close and steaming up 

the car. I didn’t want it to ever stop. I never realized that 

kissing could be so sensual and powerful and overwhelming. If 

Olivier and I were to never progress beyond kissing, then it 

would be enough, as long as I could keep on doing it forever. 

Finally, when he had to go, he hugged me tight and told me 

he’d wanted to kiss me since the first time we met, when I lay 

crashed in a snowy heap at his feet. 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

WEBSITE

When Jo was ten years old she wrote a short story about losing a loved one. Her mother and big sister were so moved by the tale that it made them cry. Having reduced them to tears she vowed that the next time she wrote a story it would make them smile instead. Happily she succeeded and with this success grew an addiction for wanting to reach out and touch people with words. Jo lives in London with her husband and three children where she works as a TV and print journalist. She tells life stories and can often be found travelling the globe researching the next big holiday hotspots for readers to enjoy. Since becoming a mother anything even remotely sad makes her cry. She’s a sucker for a good romance and tear-jerker movies are the worst. She’s that woman in the cinema, struggling to muffle audible wails as everyone else turns round to stare. 

P.S Jo’s pretty certain one of her daughters has inherited this gene.           

Blog Tour: Saving Casey by Liza O'Connor

We're pleased to host Liza O'Connor as part of her virtual book tour for Saving Casey, a young adult suspense thriller. There's a giveaway at the end of this post!

SAVING CASEY
by Liza O'Connor

Eighty-year-old Cass wakes up in the body of a troubled seventeen-year-old girl named Casey, which all believe has survived a suicide attempt. Cass intends to turn the girl’s life around, only it’s harder than she expects. All Casey’s troubles have now become Cass’s and someone wants her dead.

Pick it up: Bonobookstore / Amazon / Barnes & Noble




Check out the book trailer!



EXCERPT
Any chance you’d be willing to go to a different doctor to get another treatment on your face?”

“I really like Dr. Grey.”

“I know, but we can’t take the chance. You’d visit a doctor in Montana after office hours.”

“Does he have the equivalent experience and skills as Dr. Grey? Because I already have nightmares where I’m blind and irreparably scarred.”

“He won’t touch your eyes. He’ll just work on the cheeks.”

“And if I’m scarred, causing little children to scream at the sight of me, will you still love me?” She expected him to flounder with his response because it required him to actually admit he loved her, something he’d refused to do. To her shock, he replied at once.

“Absolutely.”

“No hesitation?”

“Nope.”

“So explain why you’ll love me without hesitation if I’m hideously scarred, but won’t even kiss me when I’m just ghoulishly tattooed?”

“Simple. Dan wouldn’t mind if I’m the only man in the world who still thinks you’re beautiful. But as long as millions of better alternatives exist, Dan would never forgive me for stealing your future.”

She hated it when he nailed the truth. If she were really seventeen, she would agree a hundred percent. Sighing heavily, she muttered, “I’ll see the doctor.”

“He’s not going to leave you scarred, Cass.”

“I hope not, but if he does, I’m holding you to your word.”

“You have it.”

She smiled at the turn of this conversation. “So you think I’m beautiful?”

“Inside and out,” he replied. “We need to change the conversation now.”

“Why? I like this conversation.”


MEET THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER

I live in Denville, NJ with my dog, Jess. We hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, I learned to fly small cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. I’m an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through my entire life, my first love has and always will be writing novels. I love to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

GIVEAWAY!
The author, Liza, will award prizes to randomly selected commenters during her tour—which means that every comment on this blog post counts as an entry. A $25 Amazon gift card goes to one commenter chosen from all blogs participating in the tour. Other randomly drawn commenters will receive: $5 Amazon gift cards, tattoos like Casey’s, or offers to place tattoos like Casey’s in a digital image for the winner.

The more you comment on the tour, the better are your chances to win! Check out the other tour stops here.

Book Blast: Love in Provence

AMAZON Buy Link

BOOK BLURB: 

When John Martin is forced to sell his tech company, he decides to take a six-month vacation to the south of France.

When he meets Madame Garcin, her daughter Sophie, and her granddaughter Isabelle, his life is changed forever. What began as a long vacation becomes a journey of self-discovery marked by love, loss, and tragedy. 

Excerpt:

It seemed to John that the next three weeks could not go by fast enough. He was energized and quickly got back into the routine of jogging along the Embarcadero. It was a Sunday morning and John had made it all the way to the Marina Green, which was farther than the length of his usual run. 

The green was filled with joggers, mothers pushing strollers, and the sailors heading for the yacht harbor. The sky was bright blue and cloudless, and a stiff breeze blew into the harbor from the other side of the Golden Gate. \

John stopped in the middle of the green to catch his breath and looked up to see a sky full of kites. There were large ones, small ones, one that looked like a dragon, and another which resembled a bird, all in a kaleidoscope of colors that were enhanced by the sun from above. They all danced in the wind, some darting side to side, and others diving toward each other as if to demonstrate who owned the skies. Some would descend to the ground then dart back up into the sky again. 

Off to one side was a small girl with a pony tail, who ran across the grass as though she were about to lift off like a bird. Behind her she towed a small red kite, which stubbornly refused to become airborne despite her best attempts to launch it. Each time the kite plunged to the grass she would tighten the string again and make another run at it, only to have the kite rise about ten feet, then plummet to the grass. 

She tried over and over again with such determination, John wondered how long she had been at it. After each failed attempt she would look over at her mother who was keeping an eye on her from a distance, then the girl would continue with more determination than the previous attempt. 

John thought about Isabelle and how much he missed her. He could not wait to see her. He could imagine Isabelle when she was young, pulling on the kite string with the same determination as the little girl.

John walked over to her mother sitting on the grass and asked with a smile, “Do you mind if I give her a hand?”

Her mother raised her eyebrows at first and studied John from top to bottom, but then a smile slowly crept onto her face. “Sure, why not?”

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

William Auch is a physician residing in Sacramento, California. When not seeing patients, he writes, studies French, and travels the world.

Book Excerpt: Memories of Murder by Lara Nance + Giveaway!

Today, we're pleased to host Lara Nance as part of her virtual book tour for Memories of Murder, a paranormal romance novel. There's a giveaway at the end of this post!

Memories of Murder
by Lara Nance

When Maeve McKenna renounces her witch powers and accepts a low-key nurse practitioner position at a Virginia retirement community, the last thing she expects is a suicide her first day on the job.

As the town's sexy sheriff, Paul Sutton, starts looking into the tragic death of his father's friend, Maeve can't help but get involved--with both the case and him. Their informal investigation unveils an old journal that connects the ruins of a nearby asylum and long-forgotten cemetery with the shiny new retirement community's memory unit--and Maeve's Alzheimer's patients.

Maeve senses a sinister presence in the old asylum, calling to the patients, but in order to stop it from killing again, she must first conquer some demons of her own and reclaim the magic she's denied herself.

Get the book on Amazon now!
EXCERPT
She imagined the thoughts that must be running through his head. She had to tell him everything now. If she didn’t, he would be dead in the next few days. He needed protection.

She stood up. “Want a glass of wine? This is going to be a long conversation.”

“Since I was just nearly killed, how about some whisky?” He fell back against the sofa. Liadan put her paws on his chest and licked his face.

Maeve went into the kitchen, trying to figure out how she’d gotten her powers back. It dawned on her that the morning after the Gems had arrived, her tea was not in its regular spot on the counter. She’d assumed her mother had only been cleaning, but apparently she’d also switched the contents of the jar to non-spelled tea.

She reached into the cabinet for the tea container and looked at it, shaking her head, then laughed. Never had she been so glad for the Gems meddling in her life. She threw it in the trash and returned to the living room with glasses, red wine, and a small bottle of George Dickel missing a few sips. “Here you go.”

He took the whiskey and tossed back a shot, then poured another glass, which he held between his hands. “So, what is it that tried to kill me and my father today?”

“You’re not going to believe me at first, but if you’ll hear me out, I think I have a pretty good case.”

He gestured with one hand for her to begin.

“Everything I’ve seen and heard, all the information in the journal, points to the presence of an evil spirit. I believe it’s the spirit of Dr. Colton Carterage.”

Paul stared at her for several moments. “You’re serious.”

“Completely.” She poured herself a glass of red wine from the freshly opened bottle, and sat in the chair across from him. A tingle of energy floated in the air. She recognized a witch cat at work. She tried desperately not to laugh at Liadan working her little cat magic on him, licking his face, nuzzling his chest, pushing her paws against his arm. He didn’t know what was happening, but darling LiLi was removing the mists of doubt from Paul’s eyes.

Maeve explained about patients in the dementia unit seeing ghosts of people described in the book. She told him about the white deer and why the limb had fallen. When she came to the part she dreaded most, she looked at LiLi and the cat complied. She curled up in his lap, purring, increasing the intensity of her witchy magic to ease his believing.

“There’s one more thing you need to know. My mother, my aunts…and me…we’re witches.”


MEET THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE
TWITTER

Lara Nance grew up and lived in many cities throughout the South. She loves to write in a variety of genres within the scope of women’s fiction. But the basis of all her stories is a tale that will entertain and intrigue.

If you want to escape and lose yourself in a novel, you’ve come to the right place. Choose your genre and settle in to be entertained. From thrilling mysteries and steampunk tales, to paranormal romance and adventure, Lara’s willing to explore a variety of compelling stories full of danger and suspense, with a touch of romance.

Having been on the fencing team in college and now living on a sailboat convinces her that she was a pirate in another life, or possibly kin to Errol Flynn… However, due to the unfortunate demise of the romantic pirates of the past, she lives out her fantasies, thrills and adventures in her stories.

Currently docked in Norfolk, Virginia (until the wind changes) Lara enjoys living on her sailboat and spends time reading, of course writing, indulging a variety of artistic endeavors, cooking and sailing with her husband, Joe and their Yorkie, Rio.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
Because she is just that awesome, the author Lara will award prizes to randomly selected commenters during her tour—which means that every comment on this blog post counts as an entry. (Comments on our Goodreads feeds do not count. Sorry.) A signed cover flat goes to one commenter on this post. And a $50 Amazon gift card goes to one commenter chosen from all blogs participating in the tour.

The more you comment, the better are your chances of winning. Ready . . . GO!