Welcome to Gina Conkle w/ #ContemporaryRomance ‘Waiting for a Girl Like You’ @ginaconkle @GoddessFish

Today we have author Gina Conkle visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Gina Conkle writes Viking and Georgian Romance with a new dip into hot Contemporary Romance. She grew up in southern California and despite all that sunshine, Gina loves books over beaches and stone castles over sand castles. Now she lives in Michigan with her favorite alpha male, Brian, and their two sons where she’s known to occasionally garden and cook.

Today Gina Conkle will be talking about {how she/he handles balancing life and writing — how she/he became a writer and what inspired her/him in regard to the story she’s/he’s promoting — What sparked the idea for the story/series? — What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?}.
* I hope you’ll let me take this in three stages. When I was little girl, I read the book Corduroy by Don Freeman. I checked it out of the library multiple times when I was in first grade. Something about the little girl’s tender heart for the bear with a missing button grabbed me. I loved the miniature bed she made for Corduroy and how she loved him.
* When I was in fifth grade, I devoured Gone with the Wind. That book was pivotal because that’s when I knew I wanted to write books.
* As a teenager, my first adult romance was Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss. I’ve read the story so many times! It remains a top favorite. I have it in print and ebook format (Kindle and Nook).
* You can tell…I’m partial to history. I read a lot of non-fiction, contemporary romance of all subgenres, and historical romance.
* Thanks for hosting me on your blog!

A look into…

~ Blurb ~

(Two stories in one Book)
Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken Heart
* Bookstore clerk Abbie is off-the-charts nervous her first night moonlighting in a sex-for-hire job. If she only kept her mouth shut…but nothing goes as expected, including the intense blue-eyed surfer who walks through her door. Mark wants to work out a few kinks —and leave the lifestyle for good. Past mistakes still haunt him, but sweet Abbie turns Mark’s plans upside down, and two broken hearts discover honesty is the hottest aphrodisiac.
Anything But Safe
* Former trophy wife Jennifer wants to thrive again, but when her new life hits a speedbump, her unlikely hero is rough working man AJ. The woman he rescued is out of his league, but the two together are magic. Jennifer smooths his hard edges, and when she’s with AJ, her true, quirky colors show. A surprise threatens to derail the two who quickly learn…love is anything but safe.

~ Excerpt ~

Anything But Safe
* Hot sun beat down on the rest of the world. It was August. Standing under the pepper tree, AJ was a tall, cool drink of water. Stained coveralls didn’t put her off nor did his tattoo and the rough cadence of his speech. Under the gruff exterior was a real man with a good heart. He visually devoured her every time they’d crossed paths around town, and last night was no exception. But, could she be content with a sex only fling?
* “Well, that’s a relief.” Faint sarcasm edged his last word.
* “What is?”
* His steady gaze never wavered. “I thought you might be going in a different direction.”
* She cocked her head. “Did you think I was about to give you the ‘let’s be friends’ talk?”
* “I thought you were about to give me the ‘let’s hook up for sex only’ talk.”
* “Oh AJ,” she said around hiccups of laughter. Her cheeks burned. She shook her head, a little dazed. “I…I don’t know what to say to that.”
* “It’s not the first time a woman like you propositioned me.”
* Eyes rounding, she laughed at the absurdity. “I’m not propositioning you.”
* “Good because my answer would be no.”
* She’d come for lunch and conversation of the talking variety. A kiss or two was more than welcome, but they needed to slow down, let things simmer. AJ’s forbidding frown told her some of Hidden Valley’s well-shod women had dallied with him, and he was having no more of it. The town was an eclectic mix of gated communities, small farm-to-table co-ops and wineries. A lot of working class people had lived here long before it was hip.
* Hurt bloomed in her chest at the idea of any woman taking advantage of AJ’s goodness. Or his body. His past was likely more colorful than hers, but his flat out refusal to hook up intrigued her. He’d messed around in the past. What made him change his mind?

Buy Waiting for a Girl Like You here… The book will be on sale for $0.99
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | FREE BOOK! Listening to Her, free on Instafreebie

Find Gina Conkle here…
Facebook | Newsletter | Pinterest | Twitter | Website

Thank you for joining us here today, Gina Conkle! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Gina Conkle will be awarding a Amazon Kindle Fire 7” to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use this RAFFLECOPTER LINK to enter the drawing. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

Welcome to Skye Warren w/ #Contemporary #Romance ‘The Castle’ @skye_warren @GoddessFish

Today we have author Skye Warren visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.

A look into…

~ Blurb ~

* Safe in the ivory tower…
* Gabriel Miller swears he’ll keep me safe. Enemies lurk outside, waiting to strike. An army held back by these walls.
* Except some animal instinct warns me the danger is much closer. It’s already here. Is Gabriel my protector or my enemy? Is this house a castle or a cage?
* There’s nowhere for me to go, no one left for me to trust.
* No escape from a past determined to capture its prize.

~ Excerpt ~

* “Still giving orders, little virgin? Is that something you’re born with in the St. James family, or did they teach you that along with your ABCs?”
* Rage tightens a knot in my stomach. “I’m not a virgin.”
* “No?” he asks, lifting a hand to my face.
* I stand very still as he captures my chin between his thumb and forefinger, torn between wanting to wrench away and wanting him to kiss me. How can he make me feel alive when I’ve been sleepwalking for months, years? What sick twist of fate let the hands of this man bring me pleasure?
* “You made sure of that.” I mean the words to come out cold, unhurt. Instead I sound breathless and somehow inviting. The white carpet may as well be streaked with red. We’re both back in his bedroom, both flushed and sated and ripped to shreds from what he’s just done.
* He lifts my face, almost tender. “I put my cock into your warm little hole. Pushed right through that thin hymen to do it. It felt like fucking heaven to break you open.”
* I’m a tuning fork in his hands, and the sound I make is pure arousal. “I despise you.”
* “You were so wet,” he says, almost thoughtful. “But some of it was blood, wasn’t it?”
* “I’m going to find a way to get my house back.”
* He bends his head slightly, enough that our lips are an inch away, the words a tickle of breath against my lips. “I got off on the slide of your blood on my cock. I came that way, spilling salt into the fresh open wound.”
* There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to him, no line I wouldn’t cross in this moment. My anger takes an unholy shape, rearing back with all the fury and fear of a wild horse ready to trample his enemy. “And God help me, I’m going to ruin you. The way you did my father. I’m going to break you.”
* He nudges my chin higher, exposing the vulnerable line of my throat. His mouth drops to the tender skin, a whisper of a kiss. “Do you want to make me bleed, little virgin?”
* The violence takes me by surprise. My swing is wild, aimed straight for his face with all my strength. He catches my wrist midmotion, the abrupt stop shooting pain down my arm. We’re frozen that way, him holding me, breathing each other’s air.
* “Don’t call me that,” I say between clenched teeth.
* “Little virgin.”
* “I’m not. You saw the proof of it. You paid a million dollars for it.”
* “Actually,” he says, voice deceptively mild. “I paid a million dollars to use you for a month. And as that month isn’t over yet, I think I’d like to collect.”
* Shock courses through me, singeing every angry intention. “No.”
* “And as for your virginity, there are a hundred ways you haven’t been taken. A thousand ways you haven’t been fucked. A million dollars left to earn.”
* “That money’s mine. You sent me away.”
* “And yet,” he says, echoing his earlier words, “here you fucking are. This is what you wanted. This is what you came for. Did you really think you’d see me and walk away without my come inside you?”
* My gasp sounds virginal even to myself. “Of course I did.”
* He uses the hold on my wrist to drag me closer, off balance, almost falling into him. His warmth surrounds me, along with a musk my body remembers. Alarm bells ring more than they did this morning. A strange man could hurt me, but Gabriel—he’s worse. My own kryptonite.
* “Here’s the thing about fucking a virgin,” he whispers, breath a caress on my temple. “You gave me your pretty little hymen, the small spill of blood. The first feel of those walls squeezing my cock. And there’s no way to get it back, not ever. No matter who else you fuck. Even if you settle down with some prep-school fucker and let him climb on top of you every single night, I’ll always be your first. You will always be my little virgin.”
* The show of possession does something strange to me. It should be offensive. It’s meant to be offensive, but the humiliation turns liquid and hot inside my body. And the worst part is, I can’t even deny the truth. He left an imprint inside me. I can still remember the stretch of him, the burn. The very shape of that heavy thickness I can feel against my stomach now. And anyone who comes after him, they’ll never quite fill the space he carved inside of me.
* “That’s right,” he murmurs, soothing now that I’ve acquiesced. “I’ve got you.”
* “No, we can’t—”
* He releases my wrist only to run a finger along my cheek. “So young. You look so young like this.”
* “It’s the makeup,” I say with difficulty. And the hair. And the clothes. In a thousand ways I was different before, the society princess. What am I now? Almost homeless. Definitely scared.
* His eyes gentle, more brown than they’ve been before. “You didn’t think you were getting fucked today. You got dressed and took the bus and came up the elevator having no idea.”
* “Don’t feel sorry for me.”
* A slight smile. “Not enough to stop. Take off those clothes. Let’s see what you look like when you’re just a sweet, innocent college girl and not the toy I bought at auction.”

Buy The Castle here…
Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Find Skye Warren here…
Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Website

Thank you for joining us here today, Skye Warren! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Skye Warren will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use this RAFFLECOPTER LINK to enter the drawing. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

a #CoverReveal for ‘The Christmas Wedding Swap’ @1allysoncharles @SDSXXTours

The Christmas Wedding Swap
by Allyson Charles
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: 10/10/2017
SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED . . .
Allison Stuart has always been the odd-woman-out of her family. She wears her jeans a little too tight, colors her hair a little too blonde, and instead of going into medicine and law like her sisters, she runs a diner. She’s also the only single sibling left. And while she won’t change her style, and her meatloaf is to die for, thank you very much, she wouldn’t mind her share of wedded bliss. So she makes an early New Year’s resolution: No more meaningless flings.
Drop-dead sexy Luke Hamilton is everything Allison has sworn off. His only serious relationship has been with his five-star restaurant, Le Cygne Noir, in Chicago. When he’s threatened by a lawsuit, Luke decides to hide out in Pineville, Michigan, until the statute of limitations runs out. The small town is filled with Christmas charm, but he can’t imagine living there. Heating things up with the hottie who owns the local diner would make his exile bearable—if he can convince her to give up her ridiculous resolution . . .
Allyson Charles lives in Northern California. She’s the author of the “Pineville Romance” series, small-town, contemporary romances published by Lyrical Press. A former attorney, she happily ditched those suits and now works in her pajamas writing about men’s briefs instead of legal briefs. When she’s not writing, she’s probably engaged in one of her favorite hobbies: napping, eating, or martial arts (That last one almost makes up for the first two, right?). One of Allyson’s greatest disappointments is living in a state that doesn’t have any Cracker Barrels in it.