BLOG TOUR: ONCE IN A LIFETIME BY JILL SHALVIS (AUTHOR Q&A, EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY)

ONCE IN A LIFETIME by Jill Shalvis 

(February 18, 2014; Grand Central Publishing Mass Market; $6.00)

SOMETIMES WRONG IS OH-SO-RIGHT
After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?

Q&A with Jill Shalvis

Aubrey has some scandalous photos from her college days surface in her ex’s tell-all. Is there are anything from your past you wouldn’t want to see the light of day (but that you’re willing to share with us)?

Alpha Man has a photo on his phone that he snapped just as I was flipping him off.  I’m not super proud of that moment, which of course is why he has it as my photo id when I call him…

Aubrey inherits a cat named Gus, who has quite the personality—was he inspired by a real life cat?

He was inspired by my own Satan—er, Sadie, who believes she is the queen of all humans.

Ben helps run the Craft Corner afterschool program—what’s the craftiest thing you’ve ever made?

I’m not super crafty, to be honest.  But I can craft a hell of a cookie… 

What’s the nicest compliment you’ve received from a reader or reviewer?

I’ve had so many lovely letters, but one of my favorites is from a woman who was in divorce court.  She read Simply Irresistible and fell in love with love again, and realized she loved her nearly ex-husband enough to give him another shot.

What’s the most interesting way you got around a plot problem?

I wrote myself into a corner in Once In A Lifetime, twice.  I wrote XX happens here and it will be brilliant and funny.  And then I accidentally left that in when I sent it to my editor.  I’m sure she wasn’t as amused as I was. 

An Excerpt from Once in a Lifetime---
It was dark outside when she got back to the Book & Bean, and she stopped short just outside the door. She’d locked up when she left and turned off the lights.
But the door was unlocked now, and the lights on. She went still, then pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1. She didn’t hit send but kept her thumb hovered over call. Taking a step inside, she paused. “Hello?”
“Hey.”
The low, slightly rough voice wasn’t what had her heart pumping. That honor went to the fact that there was a man on a ladder in the back of her store.
Ben.
He was in jeans with a tool belt slung low on his hips, his t-shirt clinging to him. He seemed a little irritated, a little sweaty, and just looking at him Aubrey got a whole lot hot and bothered in places that had no business being hot and bothered by this man at all. “What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“I work here.”
“What are you talking about? Get out.”
“Sorry, Sunshine.” He wasn’t even looking at her, but using some sort of long, claw-like tool to pull down a ceiling tile above the wall she’d been working on. And his tool worked way better than hers.
His movements were agile and surprisingly graceful for a guy his size. Not that he was bulky in any way. Nope, that tall, built body was all lean, tough muscle, and it screamed power. And with each subtle movement, his body made it clear that it knew exactly what to do with all that power. “The owner of this building hired me,” he said. “Said you were making a mess of things because your pride was bigger than your wallet.”
This caught her completely off guard, both the insult and the information. “My uncle owns this building,” she said.
He smiled thinly. “Yep. Happy Birthday.”
“It’s not my birthday.”
“Then happy you’ve-got-a-great-uncle day.”

About the author:

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Social Media Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | iTunes

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HAPPY RELEASE DAY JESSICA SCOTT! ALL FOR YOU EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY

Can a battle-scarred warrior . . .

Stay sober. Get deployed. Lead his platoon. Those are the only things that matter to Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli. What he wants is for everyone to stay out of his way; what he gets is Captain Emily Lindberg telling him how to deal with his men. Fort Hood's newest shrink is smart as a whip and sexy as hell. She's also full of questions-about the army, its soldiers, and the agony etched on Reza's body and soul.

. . . open his heart to love?

Emily has devoted her life to giving soldiers the care they need-and deserve. Little does she know that means facing down the fierce wall of muscle that is Sergeant Iaconelli like it's just another day at the office. When Reza agrees to help her understand what makes a soldier tick, she's thrilled. Too bad it doesn't help her unravel the sexy warrior in front of her who stokes her desire and touches a part of her she thought long dead. He's the man who thinks combat is the only escape from the demons that haunt him. The man who needs her most of all . . .

Enjoy an excerpt---

Emily watched her friend weave through the crowd of broad-shouldered Cavalrymen and toward the captain. Alone at the bar, Emily twirled her wine in the glass, staring into the swirling pale golden liquid.

She sipped her wine and glanced around the wide open space, feeling the warmth. She was comfortable in this place. A drink after work. A good friend. This was a good life. It was simple. It had purpose. So much better than the complicated mess she’d left behind.

         She lifted her glass, savoring the freedom of her rebellion. She might not fit into her uniform just right but she fit here among these soldiers better than she’d ever fit back home.

         She saw Olivia gyrating slowly with the captain across the dance floor. Her friend’s movements were slow and sensual, a sultry undulation that spoke of power and of sex. She smiled at her friend’s pleasure. It was enough that Emily could enjoy another’s happiness. She’d come here tonight to relax, to help Olivia celebrate.

         “You don’t come here often, do you?”

         Emily glanced at the man who’d appeared at her shoulder. He’d been standing with the group of captains that Olivia had just infiltrated.

         “Not really,” she said, sipping her drink. She thought about easing away, putting space between where their upper arms touched.

         Personal space much? she thought.

         “Are you here with friends?” he asked. She caught a heavy scent of beer from his direction, beer mixed with cigar smoke. It was not unpleasant.

         She glanced over at Olivia. “Yeah.”

         “Not up for company?”

         She smiled and finally glanced back at him. “Not really. Thank you though.”

         He brushed the tip of his hat with two fingers. “My pleasure, ma’am.”

         He swaggered off, leaving her alone at the bar. That had been nice. Too bad she wasn’t interested. Once upon a time, she might have danced but there was something missing from the way he’d carried himself.

         He was missing that power that Sergeant Iaconelli wore like it was second nature.

         She shook her head and took a long sip of her wine. She’d done nothing but argue with the man but now she was thinking about him in a way that was purely unprofessional.

         The heavy iron door swung open at that moment and Emily’s breath caught in her throat.

         “Speak of the devil,” she muttered.

         Reza Iaconelli stood in the doorway, his gaze scanning the room as though he was taking a headcount. What was it about the man that he was always walking through doors at the wrong time? And this time, his gaze swept the bar and landed directly on her.

         His eyes lit up, his mouth flattened. Just a faint flicker, but it was enough to tell her he’d recognized her.

         And the familiar hostility was gone.

         Her mouth went dry and she took another sip. He wasn’t going to come over. It was going to be fine.

         They would keep the rampant hostility and no lines would be blurred.

It would be fine, right?

         Except that he was now coming over. Weaving through the crowd, his Stetson adding to his height.

         What the hell was she supposed to do about that? The closer he got, the more her stomach flipped beneath her ribs.

         She was too tired to fight. And the alcohol would probably allow her to say something that she’d regret come Monday.

         His clean white shirt accented his shoulders and made his skin look darker, more appealing. His face was shadowed by the brim of the Stetson.

         He was there. A short space separated them. He radiated something—a power.

         A rawness.

         She was doomed.

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author Jessica Scott is a career army officer; mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs; wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she's a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well-adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

She's written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View: Regarding War Blog, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas.

She's pursuing a PhD in Sociology in her spare time and most recently, she's been featured as one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012.

 

Social Media Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Buy Links:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes

Don't forget to enter the giveaways! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

BLOG TOUR: ELECT BY RACHEL VAN DYKEN EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY + FIND OUT WHICH MAFIA FAMILY YOU BELONG TO!

We really enjoyed the first book in this series, and can't wait to get to reading this one! Read below for an insane teaser (seriously, it is a deadly tease!) and play the fun mafia game to see which family you will belong to!!! 

Would you die for the one you love?

Nixon Abandonato made his choice. And now he has to pay the price. Tracey is the love of his life, but being with him has made her a target of his family's enemies. The only way to keep Trace alive is convince the world she means nothing to him.

Trace Rooks has fallen irrevocably in love with the son of her family's sworn rival, and she knows in her bones nothing can tear them apart. Until Nix suddenly pushes her away and into the arms of his best friend... But Trace isn't ready to give up on a future with Nix--and if he won't fight for them, she will. 

In the end, a sacrifice must be made. A life for a life. For what better way to cover a multitude of sins than with the blood of a sinner . . . 

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | ibooks

How about an excerpt--

“Let’s make a pact.” Chase put his hand on my shoulder.

“A pact?” I sniffled and turned to him. “What kind of pact?”

“One that’s forever. One that protects people rather than hurts them.”

“How do we do that?” I was suddenly interested. What if I could make all the hurt go away? What if I could save everyone!

“We do this.” Chase pulled out his pocketknife and cut open his hand, then nodded to me to do the same thing. Without pausing I cut open my hand and handed back the knife. “Blood brothers. We’re never gonna hurt each other and we’re gonna save those like your ma, Nixon. Ones who can’t save themselves. We’re going to protect them.”

“How?” I watched as the blood dripped from my open palm.

“Rules.” Chase shrugged. “They keep people safe, right? At least that’s what my mom says.” He smiled. “We make rules and we start our own club. That way, we don’t have to listen to anyone but us.”

I liked it. I chewed on my lower lip. “What do we call ourselves?”

“The chosen?” Chase offered.

“No, that sounds lame. We have to sound… more powerful than that.”

My eyes flickered to the road, and a sign poked into the ground. It said election. “Elect.” I pointed. “Let’s call ourselves The Elect.” It made sense; after all, the president was elected, wasn’t he? We weren’t exactly chosen, but we were making the choice, we were electing ourselves protectors. That’s what we were.

“Who else can join?” Chase asked.

“Tex and Phoenix. They’ll want to.” A weight suddenly felt like it was being lifted off my twelve-year-old shoulders. “Should we shake on it?”

“Yeah.” Chase smashed his hand against mine as our blood mixed. “No going back, Nixon.”

“No.” I shook my head. “No going back.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples and watched, replaying that moment over and over again in my head as the outline of Chase and Tracey flickered in the moonlight. Would he really do this to me? After all the shit we’d been through?

I gauged her reaction, hoping that I would be wrong. Praying to God that Trace would just this once listen to me. Her eyes flickered with interest for a few brief seconds before she looked down at the ground.

“Shit.” I waited in the shadows. A part of me knew this would happen. The part that told me to damn my feelings to hell and ignore all the warning signs that I’d been seeing. But now it seemed like it was too late. I stayed, planted where I was, watching, waiting.

“Chase, you can’t…” Trace shook her head. “You can’t be like this. We can’t do this!”

“We aren’t doing anything,” Chase said in low tones, reaching for Trace’s hand. “Don’t you?” He looked directly at me, although all he saw was a shadow. I knew I was well hidden. “Don’t you feel the same way?”

Trace jerked her hand away from Chase’s. “It doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s not about me, Chase.”

“But it is.” Chase reached for her again. This time her hand grasped his in such an intimate embrace I thought I was going to vomit all over the ground. The outside air was cold as hell as little pieces of ice tried to find their way into my wool coat.

“It isn’t.” Trace sighed. “It never was.”

Chase jerked her toward him. She fell against his chest and looked up into his eyes. “What are you doing?”

Chase sighed. “What I should have done a long time ago.” He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips touched.

I had to look away.

The only sound in the night was that of my soft footsteps as I walked away… leaving my heart in broken pieces where I’d last stood. She was lost to me; it wasn’t even the Sicilians that had taken her, but my best friend.

A gunshot rang out loud and clear in the night air. I turned back around just in time to see Trace collapse into Chase’s arms.

Author Bio:

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor. She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers! You can follow her writing journey at http://rachelvandykenauthor.com/

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BE THE FIRST TO FALL: Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway from BEFORE WE FALL by COURTNEY COLE!

One dark moment was all it took to turn twenty-four-year-old Dominic Kinkaide's world black. On the night of his high school graduation, a single incident changed him forever, and he became a hardened man-famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured inside. Now all he cares about is losing himself in the roles that he plays.

At twenty-three years old, Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but an absence of moments. She tries to find acceptance in the arms of men to fill the void-a plan that has worked just fine for her, until she meets Dominic.  When jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, the combination of his secrets and her issues turns their attraction into the perfect storm. It could change their lives for good-if it doesn't tear them both apart…

Buy Links:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

A Lil' Tease of Before We Fall

“Are you feeling warm yet?”

I watch his lips as he speaks the words, husky and low.   His lips are full, yet manly and suddenly I ache to lean over and press mine to his, to touch them in any way that I can. 

But I don’t. 

Because I’m not a girl who gets used.  Not anymore. 

 “No, not at all.”

But Dominic takes that as a challenge.  He’s not used to hearing the word no and he’s not about to start now.  I see that in his dark eyes a scant moment before he dips his head and consumes my mouth.

I say consume, instead of kiss, because that’s what he does.

He consumes me.

His lips are fiery and hot and he kisses me with a fierceness that touches a secret part of me; moist, hot, firm, sexy.  I want to inhale him, to suck him down.  I vaguely feel his hands on my back, his warmth emanating through my clothes, his hardness pushing into my softness.

I’m breathless when he pulls away. 

“What about now?”

Bio:

Courtney Cole is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives near Lake Michigan with her family.  She's always working on her next project... or staring dreamily out her office window.  To learn more about her, please visit courtneycolewrites.com 

Social Media Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Prizes include a "Night Out with Dominic Kincaide" gift pack full of naughty and nice items reminiscent of Cole's hot new hero!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RELEASE DAY LAUNCH + GIVEAWAY + REVIEW: THE EDGE OF ALWAYS BY J.A.REDMERSKI

He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…

When everything falls apart, love remains . . .

THE EDGE OF ALWAYS

Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged—and a wedding isn’t the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can’t wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew – a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to—until tragedy blindsides them.

Andrew doesn’t understand how this could happen to them. He’s trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won’t do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride…

Kindle Edition, 464 pages

Published: November 5th 2013 by Forever Romance

*eArc received from publisher in exchange for review*

Purchase The Edge of Always:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Bookish | iTunes

An Excerpt:

I hear the water from the shower shut off, and seconds later a loud bang vibrates through the wall. I jump up from the chair, letting the remote control hit the floor as I rush toward the bathroom. The edge of the coffee table clips the shit outta my shin as I pass.

I swing open the bathroom door. “What happened?”

Camryn shakes her head at me and smiles as she leans over to pick the hair dryer up from the floor beside the toilet.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“You’re more paranoid than I am,” she laughs.

She glances down at my leg as I rub it with my fingertips. She sets the hair dryer back on the counter, comes up to me, and kisses the side of my mouth. “Looks like I’m not the one of us who needs to worry about being accident-prone.” She smiles.

My hands cup her shoulders and I pull her closer, letting one hand fall down to touch her little rounded belly. I can barely tell she’s pregnant. At four months I thought she’d at least be emulating a baby hippo, but what do I know about this stuff?

“Maybe so,” I say, trying to hide the red in my face. “You probably did that on purpose just to see how fast I could get in here.”

She kisses the other side of my mouth and then goes in for the kill, kissing me fully and deeply while pressing her wet, naked body against mine. I moan against her mouth, wrapping my arms around her.

But then I pull away before I fall into her devious trap. “Dammit, woman, you’ve gotta stop that.”

She grins back at me. “You really want me to stop?” she asks with that up-to-no-good smile of hers.

It scares the shit out of me when she does that. Once after a conversation laced with that smile, she stopped having sex with me for three whole days. Worst three days of my life.

Our Review

Wow. That's all you need to know. Go buy the book and you'll see. The end. End of the review. Hahaha.

If ONLY!!!! I really really enjoyed this book...so much so that I buried J.A. Redmerski in tweets for a 24 hour period (ahem...sorry about that, J.A.!!). I felt like this novel offered the type of closure that we don't often get in many New Adult/Contemporary Romance novels these days. We usually get a cliff hanger or a wide open ending...but I felt 100% satisfied by the end of this novel.

I agree. The way The Edge of Always ended was only sort of closed. I was okay with it when the book originally ended, but I was really excited as soon as I found out this book was going to be coming out. It was so worth it! 

I haven't read what anyone else has said or thought and I truly don't care. I can anticipate that some won't like it as much as I do simply because the angst is low and there are leaps in time but I loved it! I saw it as almost a love letter from the author to her characters. It felt as if she wrote them with care.

It will definitely be 50/50...and so funny that I did the same thing! I wanted to read it and loved it without any other opinion, which is kind of ironic since now we want you to read our thoughts on the book! But alas, that is how we're rolling today! 

Camryn and Andrew have survived his tumor, are engaged, and looking forward to life as parents and spouses. Things happen that require their honesty, strength, and capacity to love each other deeply and truly. These events turn them back to the road and to their love of living in the moment. They rediscover their own selves and each other; they uncover hurts and begin to heal. I loved their insights and the rawness of some of their experiences. There is one scene with Andrew looking up at the stars and it was just ...inspiring. I won't even try to recreate the moment..but for me, it was a moment. And then true to Redmerski's amazing writing, we are offered some humor so that we don't drown in profound insights. Being a New Orleans girl, I also loved every second of reliving those Nola memories and seeing a few new ones (and she got New Orleans right BOTH times she wrote about it). Let's face it...I loved the entire journey seeing these two mature and grow and love. I know I'm vague and being super annoyingly general but I don't want to spoil even one second, if I can help it.

I definitely thought of you during all of the talks of Nola, and their experiences there. I have been there, but no one knows it better than you, so I'm so glad that it was genuine for you! (P.S. That is really, really important...for both of us...so thank goodness it was awesome!) In addition to everything goes on in the story, we also have Andrew's POV as well as Camryn's this time around. I love being in both characters head so that at least we know what the heck they're thinking...even if the SO doesn't. Andrew gives all of our favorite book boyfriends a big time run for their money...and had major swoons going on! There are some events that made me very sad, happy, smile, frown...pretty much the gamut of emotions. But I felt their love, and their insistent desire to be different than other couples, and experience every single second of life; not wasting it. I love that. If there is any message to be had here, it's not that the main guy is hot or there is major steamy pages...it's that our life is what we make of it. Deep stuff, IMO from J.A. 

I've officially made Andrew my new favorite book boyfriend--even when he's not perfect, he is. And after reading this novel, I am eagerly anticipating Reviving Izabel and Song of the Fireflies. J.A. Redmerski is an enthralling writer; I want to live in her books and know her characters. The Edge of Always is no exception--for me it is a MUST READ. Total must read. Amazing characters, amazing settings...grasping us into the pages, as much as Camryn and Andrew are grasping life. 

Shelley: 5 GINORMOUS and BRIGHT stars
Courtney: 5 Stars...or What She Said. 

About the Author

Born November 25, 1975, J.A. (Jessica Ann) Redmerski is aNew York Times, USA Todayand Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas with her three children and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries and is a huge fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook


a Rafflecopter giveaway