Excerpt from On the Surface by Kate Willoughby

I’m so glad to be here today sharing an excerpt from On the Surface. The book comes out on April 14 and I swear the anticipation has been killing me. It’s been fun to see early reviews, like Danielle’s, come out. People have been overwhelmingly complimentary so far, which only adds to my excitement.

 

In order to set the scene for the excerpt I need to ask you a question. How would you feel if you woke up to find you’d cuddled up to a man you barely knew? Weird? Uncomfortable?

 

What if he was a sexy, professional hockey player who had, only the day before, leapt to your defense when a bully pushed you to the ground? You might feel a little different, right? 

 

Well, this is what happens to Erin Collier, the heroine in On the Surface. Earlier in the day, she’s in line to get Tim’s autograph and a man assaults her. Tim, not being the type of guy who sits on the sidelines, takes the guy down. What with everyone being so ready to snap pictures and shoot video, Tim quickly gets into some hot water, PR-wise, and Erin participates in a joint press conference to explain what really happened.

 

Unfortunately, right after the press conference, Tim gets a horrible case of food poisoning and Erin helps him through a rough night. We find the two of them in Tim’s hotel room, where he’s been living until he can find a more permanent place to live in San Diego. The worst of the food poisoning is over…

 

When Erin woke for the second time, the sun hadn’t been up for long. No one had pulled the blackout curtains. Her back was cold. She normally found hotel rooms to be nippy, but bad enough she was sharing Tim’s bed—she wasn’t about to get under the covers. So, she’d resigned herself to being cold.

 

Oddly, her front was warm.

 

Mainly because she’d spooned up against Tim Hollander’s back.

 

Oh my God.

 

She froze, mortified. Luckily, her sleep self hadn’t gone so far as to wrap an arm around him, but that was definitely his mighty fine ass against her groin area.

 

He had remained on top of the covers too. Meager daylight allowed her to see that after his shower, he’d dressed in a white T-shirt. What he had on the bottom, she couldn’t see. Her field of vision was limited to his broad shoulders and back. She could detect his man smell beneath the showery soap now, and that sort of went to her head like an aphrodisiac. Ever so slowly she raised her head.

 

He had sweatpants on.

 

Thank God.

She let out a careful sigh of relief. Now all she had to do was extricate herself from her predicament. If Lady Luck smiled on her, she’d get free and he’d never know she’d stealth cuddled him.

 

Millimeter by millimeter, she eased her upper body away. She figured if she moved slowly enough, the temperature change wouldn’t wake him up. Her chest and tummy were pretty toasty.

She didn’t get far. He reached back and clapped a hand on her behind.

 

“Stop moving, damn it. You’re messing up my dream,” he muttered.

 

She froze again. He sounded annoyed, but if they stayed spooned, what the heck was he going to think? That she’d snuggled up to him on purpose? Plus, she was…well, getting turned on. He had big hands. Strong hands. One of them was now caressing her butt cheek, and man, it felt good. Wow. Wow. Wow. Desire like she hadn’t ever felt before started to spread over the entire bottom half of her body. She hadn’t had sex in forever, but that didn’t really explain the intensity of the feelings. She was actually tempted to reach around and find out if he was as turned on as she was. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She barely knew him. She didn’t do things like succumb to wild monkey sex with guys she’d met a little over twelve hours before.

 

“Er, Tim. It’s me, Erin,” she whispered, nudging his arm with stiff fingers. “Nurse Erin?” she clarified.

 

This time, he froze. His body tensed. He groaned and his shoulders hunched. He uttered a soft but fervent F-bomb.

 

Poor Tim. Kind of awkward for him. Erin too, actually.

 

If you want to find out what happens next, click on one of the links below. And if you are into sports romance as a genre, check out the other five books included in Carina Press’s first ever Sports Week. There’s something for everyone!

 

Find On the Surface at Amazon * Amazon UK * B&N * iTunes * Google Play * Goodreads

Find Kate on her blog * Twitter * Instagram * Pinterest

Review: On the Surface by Kate Willoughby

If you are a hockey fan this will be a fantastic read for you. From the first moment I was introduced to Tim who happens to be an aging hockey star just blows me away. Tim knows his time in the NHL is coming to an end since he is in his mid-thirty's. He was traded to a new team, divorced and continues to be haunted by the death of his 8 year old daughter.

Erin is a pediatric nurse who has a crush on a doctor at her hospital. In order to get the Doctor to notice her
she goes to a autograph signing at a burger place where some of the players from the Barracudas are signing autographs. The funny part is that Erin has no clue about hockey. Tim comes to the rescue after one of the fans push her. Tim becomes totally smitten with Erin and decides he wants something permanent with her. He doesn't want children because of his daughters death. Erin really likes Tim but she has no idea if she can give him what he is looking for. 

I have a thing for sports romance books and this one made the list of a must read. Tim and Erin are so right for each other. The love scenes in the book are hot! Kate Willoughby writes her men really well and the banter between his team and Tim were very enjoyable to read. I loved how Tim falls for Erin right away and doesn't hold back his feelings for her. I am excited to read the next book in the series!!

On the Surface is truly one of the best books I have read this year and it happens to be the first book in this new series. If you want a good contemporary romance this is the book for you!! A must buy!
 

Excerpt & Giveaway by Claudia Y. Burgoa

EXCERPT:

Nights meant sleep and dreams—my archenemies. The Crowley to my Dean Winchester, the Green Goblin to my Spider-man, the list of superheroes and their opposites was long, and so became the analogies I used on a daily basis. My lack of sleep began with Dad and his conditions for me to continue my art. Then came my parents' deaths. Those took a toll on me because I mixed dreams with realities and hopes. Not once did I have a nightmare, all of them were sweet and real. Seeing Mom and Dad on those nights filled my gut with nails, and my head pounded with the reminder that they were gone the next morning. Those had been merely fantasies that would never become a reality.

For the past three months I had been evading sleep and working overtime, over the overtime. The dreams of elevators, trips to sophisticated-secluded spots after a week of work and delicious nights with a man who I was required to forget in order to move on, came daily—nightly. They not only hit me with vengeance, but they came tangled with what humans liked to call hope. The urge to crawl inside myself to avoid the need of his touch, kisses and whatever it was that we had not long ago, consumed me. If I had the powers to morph into an animal, it’d be a sea turtle and I’d stay inside my shell for the next hundred years. Past the stage of melancholy and into the real world, I pushed my body outside of the bed and into the shower, where I got ready to face the Clements and the house next door.

Getting By (A Knight’s Tale I) by Claudia Y. Burgoa is a new-adult contemporary romance novel, published February 18, 2014.

Synopsis:

When Emma Anderson arrived at San Francisco International Airport, she regretted accepting the distinction of being the maid of honor to Gaby’s—her childhood friend—wedding. It had been years since the last time she set foot in Menlo Park, where her parents had been killed. The rug where she had been shoving her feelings since that day looked bumpier than a camel’s hump. Who could blame her; if she hadn’t been selfish they’d still be around. Ever since that fateful day, Emma has been perfecting the knack of Getting By.

Cade’s wedding in Menlo Park—a city close to San Francisco—might be the perfect place for Jake Knight to shake the memories of his ex, Emma Anderson for good. Single, available women galore for an entire week was the perfect medication, one he intended to take three times a day for an entire week to return to his player days. It was a plan the former spy thought flawless until he came face to face with the maid of honor. Jake’s perfect retreat turns into a flight, fight or hide week of celebrations.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19305020-getting-by

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Knights-Tale-Claudia-Burgoa-ebook/dp/B00II6IKLO

This is the first book in the 4 book series.  The second book will be released later this year. 

About the Author:

Claudia lives in Colorado with her family and three dogs. While managing life, she works as a CFO at a small IT Company. She’s a dreamer who enjoys music, laughter and a good story. Claudia writes romance, sci-fi, and fantasy. She has published two novels: Where Life Takes You and Getting By. Claudia is currently working on Standing By, the second book in the Knight series. For 2014, Claudia plans to released three, perhaps four novels.

Website: http://www.claudiayburgoa.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7202946.Claudia_Y_Burgoa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaYBurgoa

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yuribean

1 eBook will be given away. Please reply with email address to enter. Contest is done by random.  Ends 4/10/14 at 8 am :)

Good Luck!!

Author Linda Yellin - live broadcast tonight 8:00 pm ET!

People.com features Linda Yellin’s WHAT NORA KNEW (Gallery Books; January 2014; $16.00) in What We're Reading This Weekend!  “[A] quick, funny read…Cute and cynical with funny, raunchy friends, [Heroine] Molly makes for a fun companion.”

 

Please share this event information if you like and join Linda Yellin here for a live broadcast tonight, Monday, April 7^th, 8:00 – 9:00 pm ET!

(http://new.livestream.com/accounts/7521438/events/2833213)

*This event is hosted by The Women’s Exchange.  Autographed copies will be available for purchase after the event at The Book Stall.

 

An undeniable buzz for WHAT NORA KNEW continues to proliferate and grab the attention of readers everywhere with praise such as “Ephron’s influence is felt everywhere in this novel” (Publishers Weekly) and “Beautifully emulating the Ephron-esque vibe” (New York Journal of Books). 

 

Share Linda Yellin’s heartfelt tribute to the beloved Nora Ephron:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZbxMlucHTE

 

With her smart, funny and highly relatable writing style, Linda Yellin’s WHAT NORA KNEW will charm readers with the story of Molly Hallberg, a self-professed cynic who navigates New York romance with help from Nora Ephron’s romantic comedies!

Guest Post with Faye Hall

Passions in Australia

She giggled knowingly. “I knew your name, Re, both your first and your last.  How could I not.”

“Then why pretend you didn’t know me?”

She shrugged casually. “Would you rather me have told those ladies that we slept together?”

-          From Faye Hall's 'She's a Lot Like You', released April 2014

Faye Hall, an Australian author, will have her second eBook, ‘She’s A lot Like You’ released with Red Sage Publishing April this year.

Like her other passion driven, mystery filled books, her new release is set in a small township of North Queensland, Australia during the late 1800's.

Ravenswood, the setting for ‘She’s A lot Like You’, is a township in Queensland most commonly known for its history in gold mining.  However, for her story, Faye has chosen to show a more glamorous and risqué side of this once very prosperous town.  There are beautiful gowns, gala dances and the hidden beauty of a country estate, all things Ravenswood had and more before the gradual decline of the town.  As with all her stories, Faye has included something singularly Australian to entice her readers into the hypnotic allure of the Australian culture in the late Victorian period. 

Faye has chosen this period to set her stories in precisely because she feels it has not been explored enough, nor has the beauty of Northern Australia during that period been represented to its fullest extent.  Other townships Faye explores through her writings include the Burdekin Shire, Sarina, Proserpine and Bowen (the township made famous by Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’).

With every book, Faye has shrived to give her readers not only the passionate connection between the hero and heroine, but also the ever present threat of deceit, scandal, theft and sometimes even murder.

A third book has recently been contracted with Red Sage, but as yet a release date is unavailable.

Faye’s books can be purchased direct from Red Sage at:-

http://eredsage.com/store/MyGiftToYou.html

http://eredsage.com/store/ShesALotLikeYou.html

From Amazon:-

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00DPIMSMW

Also you can visit Faye’s blog and website for any updates:-

http://www.faye-hall.com

Or find her on social networks:-

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Faye-Hall/174774709247649

https://twitter.com/FayeHall79