a look at Amber Lacie & ‘Breathe’ @amber_lacie #Itsalovestory


Sometimes love is fated in the stars. You know
you are destined for each other. Your souls entwine and you can’t imagine your
life without them.
Sometimes it’s found when you’re not looking
for it. It peeks around the corner when you least expect it, sweeping you off
your feet, carrying you off into the sunset.
Sometimes, there are a lucky few who get to
experience both. I was one of the lucky ones.

A grunt escapes my lips, as I try to roll
over. It’s late. I’m not sure what time it is exactly, but I know it’s late.
The lights on the pole are lit up, sending random colors reflecting off the
windows and the mirror of his dresser. It’s calmingly beautiful. Holden is
spread across the end of the bed with his long legs hanging over the side. It
takes a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Lifting the blanket off of me, I kneel on the
bed, leaning towards Holden, attempting to see if he’s awake. My heart does a
little flip when I notice a small brown, worn looking stuffed dog. I cannot
believe he has kept it all this time. We were ten years old and we thought we
owned the world, as we walked around the state fair.

I had forced Holden on every ride and he was
paying for it with a massive headache. I kept teasing him about being weaker
than me. I must have taken things a little too far because he wouldn’t look at
me. Knowing I had hurt him, I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him behind me,
until I found a game I knew I could win.

There was a rather obese man with greasy hair
wearing a red shirt, juggling baseballs in front of his stand. Plates were
lined up awkwardly on shelves behind him. All I had to do was break three
plates and I would win the huge stuffed bear hanging on a wall full of smaller
prizes. It took me eleven tries before I finally broke two plates.

I guess the guy must have felt bad for me
because he handed me a small, brown stuffed dog with a white heart on its nose
and told me to move along. It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but I gave it to
Holden anyways. My reward was the tiniest of kisses on my cheek.

Giggling to myself, I lay back down. I’m not
sure he would want me to see him sleeping with a stuffed animal, but I’m glad
that I did. An idea pops into my head, just as I start to relax again. My eyes
peer around the room until I find what I’m looking for. Sneaking over to his
dresser as quietly as I can, I grab his camera and tiptoe back over to the bed.

The camera flashes when I snap his picture,
causing me to immediately regret my decision. Afraid he might wake up and catch
me, I grab the Polaroid picture and put the camera back where I found it. I
slip back into bed and pull the blanket over me just in time. He rolls over and
sits up a bit. My heart is frantic, as I watch him look across the room. I see
his head turn and I quickly close my eyes.

“What are you doing?” His voice is raspy,
almost menacing. Shit. I don’t answer, instead I pretend to be asleep. “I know
you. I know when you are up to something. I also know you are awake. Being that
it’s the middle of the night, I’m going to pretend I don’t know anything and
I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight, Carsten.”

“Night.” Shit. Did I just answer him? I hear
him laugh as he rolls over. Shit. I did answer him. Maybe he will forget, at
least I hope he does. I wait a few minutes to make sure he’s sound asleep
before I grab the Polaroid, shaking it a few times. There’s a glare from the
flash. It almost looks as though Holden has a golden light surrounding him. I
can barely make out the dark lump tucked under his arm. A grin spreads across
my face, as I slide the picture into the pillowcase under my head.

 

I grew up in Chicagoland and now live in
quaint little town in Northwest Indiana. I have two beautiful children and
husband who worships the ground I walk on (or at least he should). I’ve always
loved reading. Now I’m expanding that love into writing and look forward to
producing many books.

I’m a huge geek and proud of it. Books are my
life. I love reading, especially fiction. It doesn’t matter the genre or age
group. I will read anything from comics to novels. I read at least one book a
day. If it wasn’t for my kindle, my living room would be overflowing with
books.

Welcome to Jeremy T. Ringfield w/ #NA #RomanticSuspense ’51 Love’ @JTRingfield @GoddessFish

fs_tourbanner_51love

Today we have author Jeremy T. Ringfield visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?
mediakit_authorphoto_51love

* Jeremy lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He grew up in the south Atlanta area, where he eventually earned a football scholarship to Duke University. After experiencing enough life to form his own opinions, he enjoys sharing some with friends, reading, watching fantasy thriller and romance films, listening to music, and jogging when he is not writing. He writes new adult fiction.

Today character, Abram, will be talking about where ideas come from since he’s a writer as well.
* Hi reader, whoever you are.
* I don’t know why I am writing on this blog, but I wanted to take a break from walking outside all day so I stopped by the library to search the internet for a while. I guess this question was appealing, so I’ll share a few thoughts with you reader. I’m not sure where ideas come from, but I’m pretty sure it has a rap sheet. And a long one at that. Let me tell you, every time I come across these ideas, something is going down. Like last year for instance, I met this idea about writing a book. Right off the bat, it was strange as change sitting in the middle of a gas station parking lot. I don’t mean a spare coin or two here and there. I mean, a pile of change big enough to grab a handful. You know that someone had been there before, and its presence both begged my attention as well as shunned me to stop looking. On the one hand, I knew all too well what happens if I approached it. Nobody seemed to be looking so I figured it was safe to just nab a few without seeming so desperate. How wrong it would be to take from someone else’s stash had not occurred to me. I was too focused on what it is that I was saving all these random coins for. But never mind that. I took a few steps, got tunnel vision on the way the sunlight glistened off the metal, thought how I could make use of a few extra quarters, and suddenly that one person that always shows up out of nowhere was staring at my every move. I fake tripped on a flat piece of parking lot that I hoped looked uneven from the bystander’s view to save face. Did you just see that on the ground (wink wink)? Of course I wasn’t grabbing that five dollars and twenty-five cents worth looking pile of change.
* So I turned around and heard the voice before I connected the face with the origin of the oratory. “Did you want something to eat? I can buy you something from inside.” Almost bumping into her made my eyes close involuntarily as a thought erupted its way to the surface of my mind.
* “Listen you crazy buh-buh, ugh!” – Thud!
* And then my eyes opened.
* Her beauty was as genuinely pure as the gesture, and I could not have been more embarrassed at the same time for being so wrong about how real I played that stumble off. The homelessness of my attire didn’t even give my fake tripping act a chance to conceal my motivations for being so close to those coins. But if meeting her is like two wrongs not making a right, I’d be happy if this gets worse. Real worse. It turns out that the bad history of these ideas quickly lead to the most wondrous encounters, strange yes, but a beautiful beginning that I never saw coming. I wish I could say the same for my rap sheet. I replied without revealing anything that might give me away, “You sure? I mean, thank you. I’d be grateful if you don’t mind. ” I’d tell you more about what happened to her, reader, but the library is closing and the computers are about to shut down. See ya.

A look into…

cover_51love

~ Blurb ~

* This story is about Abram, a hopeless romantic who enrolls into college and begins leaving love notes for the girl, Jec, who works at the front desk of his student apartments. About why they know each other when neither have even met. That’s right, she had seen his face only two weeks earlier, when he tossed his book bag in the middle of the street, holding up traffic like a mad homeless man. But what she doesn’t know is that just before he came to grab his keys to move in, the handsome albeit strange eyes and the person they belong to had just been released from the county jail.
* The jail cell talk without any cameras around to record make his last 51 minutes in the pen with a sketchy bunkmate a do or die conversation that may explain why he became homeless, why he wrote the love letters in the first place, and if both were random at all.

~ Excerpt ~

* As I go to hand him his key and re-washable cup, I remind him that “the lobby coffee is free”, and he glances at my name tag.
* I lazily connect my last sentence with the next, saying “Jec, for short”.
* He pauses, then shakes his head and asks “What if I want to call you something different?”
* I meet his eyes with a stare of my own, slow to respond, blink, and say “It will be okay Abram.” His face scrunches for a moment and his eyes look as though he is wondering straight through me. My glance falls deeper into the hole of an eye, and I see a marble in the night, the dark side of a full moon, which can be plucked right out of the sky to place a piece of the void heaven filled should I grab it and tuck it into my pocket.
* The ascension falling as the walls collapse to drop a cloud in his ear, a long fiber weaves my wonder, wherefore out there did he discover?
* And I conceived a thought of a single droplet, enough months from now, falling into a gravitationally absent drip time has lost, and him not.
* Before I can tell if he eased his facial expression, he walks off keys in hand without another word.
* “See, I told you. Killer” Bobby says flatly, and I just return to checking my emails.

Buy 51 Love here…
Amazon | Amazon: Print | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Find Jeremy T. Ringfield here…
Facebook | Twitter | Website

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

ANNOUNCEMENT! Jeremy T. Ringfield will award to one randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card! 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 look at Jules Dixon & ‘Run to Love’ @JulesofTripleR @evernightpub #NA #Romance

banner-wraparound

Today we have author Jules Dixon visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

jules-author-pic

* Fuzzy sock collector, martini connoisseur, baseball fanatic, and dandelion lover, author Jules Dixon is a living testament to the genius of sugar and caffeine being able to keep a human alive. She’s addicted to everything related to the amazing emotion of love, probably instigated by her own happily ever after of 25 years with her beer-brewing hubby. Their own love story created a sassy, artistic daughter and a computer genius but ultra-sarcastic son.
* Jules explores the rich psychology of sexuality, choices, and conflicts of high school, college, and young adult characters with sizzle and humor in her novels and novellas. She’s a busy writer, and she loves it!

A look into…

run-to-love-one-thousand-teaser

~ Blurb ~

* Personal trainer Jude Saylor’s sense of direction in life has always been a little questionable. After a move and new job, he seems to be on the right path—until a cautious and sweet new client enters into the picture. Soon Jude wonders if happiness isn’t as simple as a direction, but if it could be the woman he has next to him on the journey.
* Presley Bradenhurst is a go-getter, as evidenced by her hundred pound weight loss, but the alteration to the outside didn’t quite transfer to the inside. When Presley’s trainer is fired and Jude steps up as the one who wants to make her sweat, will her instinct to run keep her from knowing a love she’s only dreamed about?
* In the end, can a lost soul and a broken soul work it out?
This is a previously published work. It has been revised and edited for Evernight Publishing.

~ Excerpt ~

* “Did you invite me into your truck just to tell me you don’t want to be my trainer anymore?”
* The green pools glistened like grass covered in morning dew, until rolling tears fell over the edge.
* I lost all train of thought staring into her beautiful eyes.
* She sucked in a jittery breath. “Fine! I get it. We’re done, professionally and otherwise. Have a good life, Jude.” She grabbed the door handle, yanked her bag from the floor, and swung her legs to exit the truck.
* When I recovered my faculties, I reacted quickly. “Shit! Presley! Please wait.”
* She kept moving. I jumped from my side of the truck to get to her. Her heels were just hitting the concrete when I rounded the truck to the open passenger door.
* “Presley, stop, please!” I slid one hand to her waist and one behind her neck. She stiffened as our bodies pressed lightly against each other. When I had her complete attention, I brought my hand from her waist and wiped away her tears. “Presley, it’s a good thing. Because now I can kiss you like I’ve wanted to from the very first day I met you. And this way, I won’t get fired.”
* I tipped her head and met her pouty lips with a soft, gentle kiss. Her eyes opened wide with surprise, then closed in surrender. She dropped her bag to the ground and slid her hands up my chest to the back of my neck where her long fingers tangled into my ponytail. She toyed with the trapped strands and my head spun at how sensual the touch was, and by her soft appreciative moan I could tell she really liked my hair the way it was.
* I led the kiss, but everything she did in response was 100 percent better than anything any female had ever done to me. I deepened the kiss. Our tongues rolled in a slippery fusion that seared my memory and taste buds with her sweet essence. Each of us gave a little of ourselves to the other person, and at that moment I’d give her anything she ever wanted. Our bodies heated along with our mouths. My hands searched her back, pulling her closer to me until we were crushed in a passionate vise-like hold.
* I broke the kiss, dropping my forehead to hers. “Presley, can we get back in the truck?”
* She nodded. Her eyes remained closed and her body shivered lightly.
* “Are you okay?”
* Not answering, she turned around and jumped back onto the seat.
* When I was seated back inside, she slid closer.
* Now that’s better.
* But her eyes still pointed down and her body tremored visibly. “Don’t hurt me again, please.”
* With those broken and fear-filled words, I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m going to do everything I can to never do that again, and that’s a promise.”
* Her soft eyes fluttered closed and my heart beat fast.
* “Jude, I want to trust you, but like always my mind and instincts are telling me to run the other way.” Her eyes met mine. “But I think my heart is saying something else. I think it wants to stay and see what could happen.”
* I guided her body closer. She’d opened her heart to me and I wanted her to know that I was doing the same.
* “I like what your heart is saying, Presley.”

Buy Run to Love here…
All Romance eBooks | Amazon | BookStrand | Evernight Publishing

Find Jules Dixon here…
Blog/Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Twitter

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