Mid Week Tease: “I know he can be a bit intimidating, Quentin…” #MWTease

mid-week-tease-buttonHi everyone,

Welcome back to Mid Week Tease! This week I’m sharing another tease from my MM paranormal erotic romance story, Winning the Campaign Manager, which released on 3rd July. However, this will be the last snippet from this book, as my latest full-length novel, Hiding in Plain Sight, releases tomorrow, so I’m going to be switching over to that for a while.

Winning the Campaign ManagerThere was a click, then the door opened. Quentin Rayworth looked up as Mary Summers re-entered her office.

She smiled and walked over to where he sat to one side of the room. “All right, he’s ready for you. He took some persuading, and I had to lay out a few harsh truths for him, but once he got it, he understood. He’s agreed to work with you, and I’ve told him he’s got to do exactly what you tell him.”

Quentin gulped. He was well aware of what a fantastic opportunity he’d landed in working with Cade Avery, and how good it would be for his career, but he wasn’t at all sure about the idea of telling the man what to do. Quentin had seen him on TV, and he was terrifying. Not only was he almost as wide as he was tall—and that was in muscle and bulk, not fat—he had a formidable personality, too. But then, he reminded himself, that was precisely why Cade needed him, Quentin Rayworth, to be his campaign manager. He needed, to coin an oft-used phrase, to win friends and influence people. And Quentin could help him do exactly that.

Pulling in a deep breath, he stood up and forced a smile past his nerves and onto his face. “Thank you, Mrs. Summers. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” Then, hoping he sounded much more confident than he felt, added, “I won’t let you down.”

She nodded. “I know. And I’ve told you, it’s Mary. You make me feel about a hundred years old calling me Mrs. Summers. Now, go get him. Out the door, turn right, and Mr. Avery’s office is second on the left. You can’t go wrong—his name is on the door. Relax, and be yourself. And, most importantly, don’t let him walk all over you. I know he can be a bit intimidating, Quentin, but in this situation, you are the expert. So be confident in your abilities. If he’s difficult, just remind him you’re here to help him. To make sure he wins this campaign. And, if he gets to be too much, just come and tell me.” She tipped him a playful wink. “I’ll sort him out for you.”

Get your copy of Winning the Campaign Manager here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/winning-the-campaign-manager/

Don’t forget to check out all the other blogs taking part!

Mid Week Tease: Mary’s face shifted into a wide smile. #MWTease

mid-week-tease-buttonHi everyone,

Welcome back to Mid Week Tease! This week I’m sharing another tease from my MM paranormal erotic romance story, Winning the Campaign Manager, which released on 3rd July. I hope you’ll check it out – politics has never been so sexy!

Winning the Campaign Manager“I know that, Cade, and the rest of the team knows that. Nobody is doubting your abilities, not one iota. But I’m afraid it’s a simple fact that unless you win people over, you haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of winning this election. So all of this will have been for nothing. And I, for one, am not willing to allow that to happen. Therefore, I have appointed you a campaign manager. You are going to work with him, you are going to do what he tells you to do, and together, you are going to boost your public image. And you are not, I repeat not, going to frighten him off. You need him, Cade. Do you understand?”

Even if he hadn’t been able to see her chest heaving with the rapidity of her breaths, the flush on her cheeks, and the intensity in her eyes, Cade would have known just how strongly Mary felt about this. His superior shifter hearing easily picked up the sound of her fast respiration and elevated heart rate. He could also smell the tang of the light sweat she’d broken out in. She put up with a lot of his shit, and had done for many years now, but it was rare for her to put her foot down like this. She was, after all, his employee. He was the boss, not her.
So for her to talk to him like this, to lay it all out in such a blatant fashion, knowing that it could, in fact, inflame his infamous temper and cause him to fire her, meant that she believed in what she was saying, one hundred per cent. Two hundred per cent. She’d never take such a risk otherwise.

Nodding to show her he had listened to and understood what she’d said, Cade mulled over her words. As their meaning slowly sunk in, shock and realization filled him in equal parts. Was he really that bad? He knew he wasn’t exactly Mr. Popularity, but everything he did, he did to improve the lives of local people. Surely that counted for something? But no … according to Mary, it wasn’t enough. He needed to … Christ, what the hell did he need to do?

“All right.” He cleared his throat, then repeated, more loudly, “All right. I want, more than anything, to win this election, and I’ll do anything—legal—to ensure that. So if I need to work with this campaign manager to, I dunno, make me more likeable or whatever, then I will.”

Mary’s face shifted into a wide smile. “Good,” she said, taking a step back towards the door, “because he’s here.”

Get your copy of Winning the Campaign Manager here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/winning-the-campaign-manager/

Don’t forget to check out all the other blogs taking part!

Mid Week Tease: “Do I really need to spell it out for you?” #MWTease

mid-week-tease-buttonHi everyone,

Welcome back to Mid Week Tease! This week I’m sharing another tease from my MM paranormal erotic romance story, Winning the Campaign Manager, which released on 3rd July. I hope you’ll check it out – politics has never been so sexy!

Winning the Campaign Manager“Mary,” he cooed, backtracking quickly, “come on, sit down. Why do you always insist on standing up in here?”

“Because, unless we’re having a meeting, I don’t generally need to stay long. I normally impart my information, you give your feedback, and we get on with our day.” She shifted restlessly and narrowed her eyes. “But today, it seems, you’re having a bit of a brain fart. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

Raising his eyebrows at her increasing irritation, and wondering if there was something going on in her private life that was making her so touchy, he nodded. “Yes, I really think you do.”

A few seconds of silence passed, in which Mary again seemed to be getting a grip on her irritation. She finally said, “All right. But don’t forget; you asked for it.”

“Noted. I’m all ears.”

“And you can’t fire me.”

“Just spit it out, Mary. I won’t fire you.”

“You’d better not,” she muttered. Then, “Cade, you need a campaign manager because, although you’re damn good at your job, at getting things done, improving things in the local community, you’re not very likeable. I’ve known you long enough to realize that you don’t do it intentionally, but you upset people, you say the wrong thing, you ride rough-shod over people’s ideas and feelings, and you do all of that with your eyes firmly on the goal. People want change, and a leader that’s going to get results. So you have that in your favor. But at the same time, you still have to get people to like you. People won’t vote for someone they dislike, even if they know that person might be the best candidate for the job.”

“But that’s stupid. I’m not trying to be best buddies with everyone, I’m trying to improve their community—their lives! The lives of their children, and grandchildren. And I will, if they’ll just give me the chance to do it.”

Get your copy of Winning the Campaign Manager here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/winning-the-campaign-manager/

Don’t forget to check out all the other blogs taking part!

My Soul to Give by Magali A. Frechette (@stormowl7)

My Soul to GiveBlurb:

When Celina Leviet escapes the brutal home invasion that kills her husband, she’s left with a bullet in her gut and vengeance in her heart. An alluring demon, Mekaisto, offers an irresistible deal—in exchange for her soul, he’ll let her live long enough to get her revenge, but she must hunt and kill the murderers herself.

After sealing the contract, Celina digs into her husband’s past for clues about his murder, and what she uncovers makes her question everything she thought she knew about him.

His company never existed.
His family history was a lie.

And he was involved with The Lumen, a shadowy religious order whose members know too much about demons. As the life she thought she knew crumbles around her, Mekaisto’s charms become harder to resist. Forced to face a horrible truth, Celina struggles against her late husband’s betrayal and the dark seduction of the devil she knows.

Buy links: Evernight Publishing | Amazon UK | Amazon US 

Add to your Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2rscvuM

Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/2tDtaYU

*****

Excerpt:

(This story has two points of view )

“I am a demon, Celina, and above all else, demons love the hunt.” He smirked when her eyes widened.

“So, you see having sex with someone as a hunt?”

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “By your expression, I would say you still do not quite understand.”

“It’s your twisted logic.”

Interesting…

“I take my time, stalk my prey first, count the number of breaths she takes, imagine her screams…”

She arched an eyebrow. “That’s not at all creepy.”

Kai ignored her. “I am a creature of infinite time; the world creeps by, yet an intimate moment is so fleeting, it feels as though it is gone in less than a second.” He stopped, expecting an interruption again, but she stayed silent. “The pleasure is heightened by the danger, and in the throes of passion, I could lose my control and revert to the form least likely to be found pleasurable by my … partner?” He lost himself in the images in his mind, pinning down Celina’s body, taking her in a way she would never be able to recreate with a mere mortal man. “Hunting is simple. There is always one in the crowd that stands out—rarely is it the one searching for the one-night stand—no…” Kai locked his eyes with hers and goose bumps rose on her arms and legs. “No, the one unsure of what society wants her to be, the one who is desperate to be loved and appreciated. She is the one I seek.”

“So, social outcasts are your type?”

His eyes pierced her until he could see through her mind again, to all those curious little fantasies.

He smiled. “It’s about finesse, Celina. I listen to her, and as she speaks more confidently, I brush a hand over her skin”—his hand skimmed Celina’s neck as he brushed her back—“just enough so she shivers with anticipation of what my lips would feel like in the same spot.” He delved into Celina’s mind as his words worked against her disdain for him. “Then I caress her in a way she won’t notice, but her subconscious will let her lean into, let her mind take over and her body will beg for more.”

“She’d notice if…” She followed his gaze to his hand on her knee.

“Are you certain?” He’d worked his own body into a sensual frenzy as he’d drawn her into his web.

She stared at him, her cheeks flushing. “I—”

“Eventually, I suggest a night filled with pleasure.” He couldn’t contain his smile as he moved closer. “I keep touching her in small ways—maintaining physical contact at all times.” His hand inched up her side, until he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She sucked in a breath and he cupped her cheek.

He sat close to her and her scent calmed and excited him at the same time.

“Kai?” Her voice wavered.

“Sex is fleeting.” He took her chin and drew her close. “But intimacy is endless, a continuous moment of gentle touches”—his hand dropped back to her knee, and then made its way up her thigh until she let out a small gasp—“personal boundaries broken, and pleasures that go beyond sex.”

She sat as if frozen. “It’s still a one-night stand.”

“Mine last longer—and you reveal not only your body.” His hand moved to the middle of her chest. “When you are intimate with a demon, you reveal your soul. You make yourself vulnerable and open.”

“Considering you’ll have my soul sometime soon, I’m not giving you a free sample.” She drew away from him and stood. “I won’t be your prey tonight.”

Another surge of heat rushed through him, but he pushed it down with a long, deep breath. “You would set me loose on another human?”

She glared at him. “I wasn’t aware I had a choice about what you do outside of our deal. This would be on you, not me.”

“You think you control what I do within our deal?”

She rubbed her arms when he stood. “Not when you say it like that.”

“Celina…” He stopped in front of her and leaned into her personal space, drawing a lungful of a scent he would only ever associate with her.

He wrapped his arms around her, swallowing the shiver that shook her body. “What are you—?”

“Let’s play, Celina. I can assure you, you will not regret a night in my arms.”

I want you… Against all my instincts, I need you close.

Celina pushed him as hard as she could, and he withdrew as disappointment withered his gaze.

“Let me go, Mekaisto.”

You are trembling again, my dove… Is it because you are scared you will give in? How far can I push you until you bend?

“What if I say no?”

She glared at him, but Kai’s smile widened. He could feel, even smell, the pulsing between her legs begging him to take her.

“Isn’t it enough you’re getting my life and my soul? Now you need my body, too?” She pushed against him again, but he only held tighter, unable to let her go. “Why are you doing this? I just lost my husband, found out things that break my heart. I can’t sit and flirt with you.”

“I am offering you the chance to forget.”

“No!” Her hands clenched to fists as she shoved even harder against his chest. “No! You want to take everything I have left.”

He grabbed her wrists, pushed her back on the sofa, and pinned her down, his body hovering over her. “What is your life without your body?” He tilted his head and flicked his tongue across his lips. “You never asked what selling your life and soul meant specifically. Allow me to enlighten you now.” He moved until his face loomed only an inch or so from her face and her breath caught. He let go of her wrists, but his gaze pinned her to the spot.

“What?” Her voice ached just above a whisper.

“I own every inch of you … body and soul.”

Her face flushed and her lips trembled. “I never agreed to that!”

“You agreed to living. The details did not matter to you.”

“I was dying! You told me I didn’t have much time left, so it—”

His smile widened. “Even if you had all the time in the world, it would not have made a difference. Humans never read the fine print.”

*****

Bio:

I’m passionate about writing, reading, photo manipulation artwork, animals, anime/manga, video games, the fandom world of TV shows and movies, and stuff like that. I’m a proud Ravenclaw: I’ve always been sorted into this house, but the recent Pottermore sorting placed me in Gryffindor―I don’t care since the Sorting Hat couldn’t consider my choice, so I identify with Ravenclaw, and that’s where I’ll remain!

I have two main hobbies: writing and creating book covers. I’m also a gamer (Diablo, Zelda, Final Fantasy), enjoy listening to music (and always singing along to Disney), have a passion for Japanese culture, and adore reading. I love anime/manga, Japanese Dramas and consider myself a proud fan of many different TV shows including Buffy, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Merlin, Game of Thrones, Outlander, etc.

I wrote my first story when I was 12 years old (and we’ll never talk about that story), but started writing three years later. Since then, I always write, and this particular novel is my 19th story. It’s always been a dream to be a published author, and I can happily say I’ve reached that goal―I plan on continuing writing and publishing for the rest of my days.

Connect with Magali

Website: http://bit.ly/1G4NELt
Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/2su1ZTS
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2oRUGit
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2sci0uL

Viktor (Happy Evil After #1) By Sarah Marsh (@SM_fiction)

When the heroes have reputations like these, who needs a villain?

ViktorBlurb:

Have you ever read a fairy tale and wondered why the goody two-shoe Princes and Princesses were always the ones who got their happy endings?

Pandora is a Fairy Godmother who’s never fit in with her own people. Only she has the power…and the attitude, to step in and help those who others have decided aren’t worthy of a happy ending. How hard could it be to manipulate some of the most feared beings in their world?

Viktor has spent his entire un-dead life being the bogey man to the paranormal community and that’s the way he wants to keep it….with everyone else far away from him. When the opportunity arises to take his revenge on his nemesis, he can’t resist—even if it means risking his reputation and rescuing the damsel in distress.

Halle never expected to find herself in need of a savior, especially one with a reputation like Viktor’s. But she’s used to listening to her instincts and her cat trusts the strange woman who pops up and claims to have some solutions.

If a girl can’t trust her own Fairy Godmother, then what is this world coming to?

Purchase Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Evernight Publishing

*****

Excerpt:

“I mean you no harm, lady. You can go. I’m only here for what’s in the car,” he said slowly walking towards her. She was a cute little thing, all soft curves with golden skin and hair.

“Ummm, yeah, about that … I’m what’s in the car, Mr. Krescech. You have to take me with you out of here,” she said almost nervously, those big green eyes pleading with him.

Clearly, she was also insane. What was with the women he was running into this week? Viktor had had more than his fair share of groupies throwing themselves at him in the bars, wanting to take a walk on the wild side for a few hours, but this wholesome little beauty certainly didn’t look like the type, so he had no idea exactly what she was asking him for.

“I don’t think so,” he said, moving past her towards the open back door to search the car.

“Seriously, there’s nothing else in the car. They were taking me from my family and my pard to be married to Conrad. I have to go with you to get away from him,” she continued, putting her tiny little hands on her very curvy hips in a way that distracted him far more than it should have.

Interesting, so this little number was a leopard shifter? Viktor hadn’t really had any interaction with the pard in this country, but by reputation, they were a good lot. Why on Earth would she agree to marry Conrad?

“I don’t rescue damsels in distress. I eat them,” he said with a flash of fang. “So run along, little kitten.”

The tiny spitfire threw her hands dramatically up in the air and sighed loudly.

“You just saved me from a life of baby-making slavery. Aren’t you supposed to whisk me away to your super-secret villain lair and ravish me? Sheesh, where’s your follow-through?”

Viktor just stood there and stared at her for a moment. He didn’t know whether to laugh at her ridiculous statement or take her up on her offer and bend her over right here on the trunk of Conrad’s car. He was extremely turned on by the fact that she didn’t seem the least bit afraid of him. He’d always tried to pretend that his reputation in the paranormal community pleased him, that it helped him by keeping the rabble away. But deep down it bothered him that everyone always thought the worst of him. His honor was just yet another thing that Melisandre and Conrad had stolen from him when they took his mortality.

“Don’t you know who I am, woman?” he finally said as she just stood there looking at him expectantly.

“Yes, I know who you are. Who else is capable of keeping me out of Conrad’s douchy hands?” she said sounding a little impatient.

“Don’t you have a family you can go to?” he asked, still wondering why he was even standing here talking to her.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Once she’d said the word “slavery” he knew he couldn’t leave her to Conrad’s tender mercies. Viktor knew more about slavery than he ever wanted to, and no being should ever be held against their will. That and he had seen firsthand what Conrad enjoyed doing to women. It still sickened him to think back to the horrors he’d had to witness as Melisandre’s pet.

“If I go back to my family they’d just have to hand me right back over to him again. My pard owes him a blood debt, and I am the payment. I need this to look like Conrad’s men lost me in the confrontation with you. This needs to be his fault, as otherwise, it will start a war between my family and his coven,” she said, stepping ever closer.

She stood so close now that Viktor could smell the strawberry and coconut scent of her shampoo. Good Gods, she smells good enough to eat.

“Why would you think that I should care whether or not this starts a war for your people? I will not be fighting in it,” he answered, trying to sound like he didn’t care one way or another.

“Because I think that you hate Conrad just as much, if not more than I do, and there’s nothing he wants more than to possess me,” she answered quietly, her huge green eyes staring right into his grey ones.

She was right of course. There was no one on this Earth that he hated as much as he hated Conrad. That’s what he told himself anyway when he ultimately decided he would take the girl with him—whether it was the whole truth about his motivations or not.

“First, tell me how your pard was thoughtless enough to enter into a blood debt with a killer like Conrad?”

“It’s not like we had any choice. My father was jumped one night by a bunch of rogues, and Conrad just happened to be there to offer his assistance … for a price.”

The venom in her voice clearly stated that she suspected they’d been set up. The rogues were most likely paid to attack by Conrad himself. It was a trick the coward had used over and over again.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “You can come with me, but just until we find somewhere to stash you that Conrad cannot reach you.”

“Thank you!” she said with a squeal just before she reached up and hugged him before he could stop her. “I’m Halle, by the way.”

Clearly, his reputation was never going to recover from this if anyone saw him being hugged in the alley, but with her luscious frame leaning against his, smelling so sweet, he had a difficult time finding a reason to care.

*****

Author Bio:

Sarah Marsh was born in British Columbia where she still lives, she has only recently began her writing career finding it the perfect outlet for taking the edge off a nine to five office job. She’s been a science fiction and romance junkie for years and when her imagination started to take the characters she’d read about even further in their adventures she decided to try writing something of her own.

Sarah’s also a former pastry chef and spends a lot of time cooking and baking for friends and family as well as painting and knitting. Her biggest weaknesses are animals of any kind…she even loves the ones that wake you up at four in the morning because they can almost see the bottom of their food dish.

When it comes to life in general she’s a big believer that laughter is the best medicine and that there’s no such thing as too much love, which is why she’s such a sucker for a happy ending.

Author page links:

Blog: http://sarahmarshfiction.com/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sarahmarshfiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SM_fiction

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_marsh_fiction/

Facebook Street Team link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/955387561187276/

Newsletter sign up: http://eepurl.com/b50yvX

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/sarah-marsh

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/sarahmarshfiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14226436.Sarah_Marsh

Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/sarah-marsh/

Mid Week Tease: “You’ve done what?” #MWTease

mid-week-tease-buttonHi everyone,

Welcome back to Mid Week Tease! As promised, I’m switching to something new this week. My MM paranormal erotic romance story, Winning the Campaign Manager, released on Monday, so I’m going to share from that for a little while. I hope you’ll check it out – politics has never been so sexy!

Winning the Campaign Manager“You’ve done what?” Cade Avery yelled, fixing his long-time friend and colleague, Mary Summers, with a glare. He slammed his hands down on his desk, making a bunch of pens jump and rattle, and causing water to splash over the side of his glass. “Why the hell would you do such a thing?”

Mary, by now used to Cade’s temper and frequent outbursts, didn’t flinch. Standing firm on the other side of his desk, she calmly stated, “You heard me, Cade. I’ve appointed you a campaign manager. And as for the why, I think it’s pretty damn obvious.”

“Not to me,” he grumbled, snatching a handful of tissues from the box in his top drawer and swiping irritably at the liquid he’d spilled. “Seems like an unnecessary expense.”

With a heavy sigh, Mary replied, “Do you want to win this bloody election or not?”

“Yes, of course I do. What sort of a stupid question is that?”

“Well then, you need a campaign manager. The rest of the team and I already have enough on our plates. We can’t handle that side of things, too. Not to mention the fact that you really need someone with … expertise … in that department. Someone who can boost your public image, make you more likeable … you know, so people will actually vote for you.”

Screwing up the wad of soggy tissue and dumping it in the wastebasket beside him, Cade snapped his gaze to Mary. She stood, the ever-present iPad clutched against her chest, looking as determined and immovable as a five-feet-one, slim thirty-five-year-old was ever going to get.

He sat back in his chair and folded his arms. “What’s wrong with my public image?”

Rolling her eyes heavenward, her body tensing, Mary’s cool demeanor actually looked on the verge of cracking. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, she looked back at him. “Give me strength, Cade. Are you fucking serious?”

She may have used the deep breath and probably a considerable amount of willpower to dampen down her physical reaction to his question, but her actual words gave her true state of mind away. As a rule, the word “bloody” was as bad as it got for Mary. To have enticed a “fucking” out of her, and within the same conversation, no less, meant she was in real danger of losing her temper with him. And despite her diminutive frame and usually chilled-out personality—especially in comparison with his huge frame and fiery personality—when she did lose it, she was utterly terrifying. Possibly the fact that she rarely got angry was what made it so potent when she did. Mary’s ire could turn even the thickest-skinned person into a blubbering wreck.

Get your copy of Winning the Campaign Manager here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/winning-the-campaign-manager/

Don’t forget to check out all the other blogs taking part!