#Giveaway - Author Karen White's The Night The Lights Went Out Novel

With a plot worthy of Shonda Rhimes and a cast of characters made for Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane, THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT (Berkley Trade Paperback Reprint; March 27, 2018; $16) brings a glinting new edge to White’s signature fusion of complicated family relationships, evocative prose, and picturesque southern locales.

Set in the gilded realm of Sweet Apple, Georgia, THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT achieves a magnetic sense of place, and with good reason—it is the first novel White, the “Queen of southern fiction” (Huffington Post), has set in her own community, the affluent suburbs of Atlanta.

White says: “I was sitting at a stop sign in my town behind a large white SUV and the license plate read YERSERV. . . and the whole Atlanta tennis­­–suburban mom–thriller idea came to me. . . . I realized perhaps for the first time that my hometown had a past and a story to tell.”

In THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, recently divorced Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over. But her new beginning isn’t helped by an anonymous local blog that reveals for the whole town the scandalous affair that caused her marriage to fail. And Merilee’s new landlord, the proud, irascible, Atlanta born-and-bred 93-year-old Sugar Prescott, certainly isn’t helping.

But off Sugar’s property, Merilee finds herself swallowed into Sweet Apple’s most elite ranks—its inner circle of wealthy school moms—thanks to her blossoming friendship with the belle of the town, Heather Blackford. But behind the tennis whites, shiny SUVs, and immaculate women, lurk generations of secrets and resentments. And Merilee quickly learns that, in a town where appearance is everything, sins and secrets can be found in equal measure in the dark woods on Sugar’s property, and within the gated mansions of her newfound friends . . .

THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT is what would happen if ABC’s Revenge followed the machinations of Southern PTA moms instead of Hamptons elite. For readers of Dorothea Benton Frank, Mary Alice Monroe, and Pat Conroy, this novel delivers everything her readers love and more.

THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT

Berkley Trade Paperback | March 27, 2018 | ISBN: 9780451488404| $16.00 

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About the Author

Karen White is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including the Tradd Street series, The Night the Lights Went Out, Flight Patterns, The Sound of Glass, A Long Time Gone, and The Time Between. She is the coauthor of The Forgotton Room with New York Times bestselling authors Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband and two children near Atlanta, Georgia.

PRAISE FOR KAREN WHITE

“PLUMBS THE DEPTH OF HUMANITY, OF LIFE AND DEATH AND TRAGEDY AND PERSERVERANCE” The Herald Sun • “GOTHIC GOLD” The Atlantan • “ULTIMATE VOICE IN WOMEN’S FICTION” Fresh Fiction • “EMOTIONALLY SATISFYING” Kirkus Reviews • “HER ICONIC MELLIFLUENT, INNOVATIVE NARRATIVE IS HAUNGTINGLY BEAUTIFUL” RT Book Reviews • “CHARACTERS WITH DEPTH” The Fayetteville Observer • “ENGROSSING” Parkersburg News and Sentinel (WV) •

“VIVID” Library Journal • “SENSITIVE, PRECISE, AND POWERFUL” RT Book Reviews

KAREN WHITE, the New York Times bestselling author of over 20 beloved novels, has given her devout readership a new type of story – now in paperback. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Waiting on Wednesday 

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Next Year in Havana

Author: Chanel Cleeton

Release Date: February 6, 2018

Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback Original

Blog Tour: Tessa Ever After by Brighton Walsh | Excerpt | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on Tessa Ever After tour for Brighton Walsh. This tour is hosted by Berkley Publishing.

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Tessa Ever After
Caged in Winter #2
Author: Brighton Walsh
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: May 5th 2015
Review Source: Berkley Books

  

In this grippingly emotional New Adult novel from the author of Caged in Winter, what you want isn’t always what you need…

Jason’s been living (and loving) the rich playboy lifestyle for five years, but now his parents are pressuring him to get involved in the family business. The last thing he wants is another obligation, but when his best friend moves out of state and asks Jason to look after his sister, he can’t just say no.

Tessa had to grow up way too soon. After dealing with the aftermath of her parents’ deaths, then becoming a teenage mom, she knows the meaning of responsibility. Which is why, at twenty-two, she’s looking for so much more than a party boy. She’s looking for someone who can stand by her and her daughter…forever.

A relationship between them is doomed from the start, but who says they can’t have a little fun? But as Jason gets closer to Tessa—and her daughter—fun starts to turn into something else… Something Jason’s not sure he’s ready for.

This is a New Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.

Excerpt 

Jason

The word isn’t out of her mouth before I lean down, her face cupped in my hands as I press my lips to hers. And her lips—Jesus, her fucking lips. They’re soft and warm, and she doesn’t hesitate to move them along with mine. With a groan, I press into her farther, trapping her body between mine and the wall, and Christ, she feels good. Her hands finally come away from the wall and press into my sides, her fists bunching up the material of my shirt, and I want more. I want to feel them against my skin, all over my body. I want her gripping and grappling and scratching. I want her teeth marks on my shoulder and scratches from her nails down my back. I want her moaning and writhing and panting and crying out my name. I want to sink into her, to feel her pussy pulsing around me, to see what she looks like under me as I fuck her.
I pull my mouth away from hers and kiss my way across her cheek to her ear. I trace the shell with my tongue, loving her moans of encouragement. “How much, Tess? How much will you give me?”
“What?” And I can’t deny how much I love the raspy timbre of her voice, the breathless and almost confused way she answers. Like her mind is focused only on the responses from her body. Like I got her so worked up, she can’t comprehend a simple question.
I pull back to look at her face. “How far do you want this to go? Can I take you to your bedroom?”
Her eyes go wide and panicked for a minute, and I rub my thumb along her jaw, soothing her.
“All right, no bedroom. It’s okay. I won’t push.” I press a quick kiss to her lips. “I can do a lot in a hallway.” With a smile, I duck down, sucking on the skin of her neck, and her head falls back against the wall again, her hands pulling me to her.
“No sex,” she says, and I don’t know if it’s my ego imagining it or not, but it seems like she has to
force the words out, as much to warn me off as to remind herself of it.
“No sex,” I repeat, nodding, already leaning in for another kiss.
She mirrors my efforts, her tongue searching for mine even before I can coax her mouth open. The sounds she makes, the way she moves her body against mine gets me harder than I can remember being in a long time. And I don’t know if it’s the taboo of this—if it’s because I’ve finally got someone who’s been off-limits for so long in my hands—or if it’s simply Tess.
Our height difference makes it awkward to kiss her and grind up on her in the way that makes her moan, so I reach down and grip the back of her thighs, lifting her up and against the wall as I guide her legs around my hips. With one hand gripping her ass to hold her up, the other trails up her leg, not stopping when I get to the material of her too-short dress now bunched around her hips. Knowing the only thing keeping me from her pussy is the thin scrap of lace I feel against my fingers makes me groan and press against her harder, my hips swiveling and trying to find the right rhythm that gets her exactly where she needs to be.
This is what I’m good at, what I’ve always been good at. Finding what makes a girl moan, scream, melt into a boneless heap under my hands. What gets her off. And while I want to do all that with Tessa, too, before it always felt like a duty. Like the least I could do for these women who agreed to spend nothing more than a night in my bed was to make sure they had a good time while they were there.
But with Tess . . . with her it’s so different. For one thing, I want so much more than a single night. I think I could spend days studying her body and not grow tired of it . . . not grow tired of her. And for another, I want to get her off. I want to give her pleasure, to see her come apart in my arms, to know I’m the only one making her feel like this.
I want to feel her soft and warm and wet, slip my hand under the material of her panties and make her come around my fingers. I want to pull the top of her dress down, put my mouth on her tits, suck her nipples until she screams, but I don’t want to push her too far. Instead, I grip her ass in both hands and
press my cock against her, moving until she gasps against my mouth, her eyes heavy and sleepy-drunk as she stares into mine. She’s restless against me, her rhythm long since lost, her body seeking the release it desperately wants.
Against her mouth, I say, “Come on, baby. Let go. Just let go. Let me make you come.”
And even though I had it in my mind that I wasn’t going to, that I didn’t want to push, I move my hand up to the top of her thigh and slide my thumb over until it slips just under the material of her panties. She’s wet and smooth and Jesus Christ, I’m going to come in my goddamn jeans like I’m an inexperienced teenager again.
She tenses, gasps, then moans, and it doesn’t take more than a brush of my thumb against her clit before she comes, her head thrown back, her neck exposed, her chest heaving.
The complete and utter satisfaction I feel at being the one who was able to do that for her should embarrass me, but I can’t seem to muster up any shame. I love the fact that I got her off with little more than a swipe of my thumb against her and a few kisses. The thought of what she’ll be like when I’ve got a bed to work with, when I’m able to use my fingers and my tongue and my cock, sets my head spinning.
This is usually when I start thinking about my next conquest, already bored with the girl I’d just made come, but the thought of not doing this with Tess again makes my chest twist. And I realize with panic that I’m not bored. Quite the opposite.
I could see myself doing this for her every day for a month and not tiring of it. And that’s scary as hell.

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Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with writing. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children.

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Book Review: Believe by Erin McCarthy

Believe
True Believers #3
Author: Erin McCarthy
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: November 4 2014
Review Source: Berkley Trade

A sexy and emotional New Adult novel from Erin McCarthy, the USA Today bestselling author of Sweet and True.

Robin used to be a party girl…until she got black out drunk and woke up in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend. Disgusted with herself, she doesn’t tell her friends the reason for her sudden sobriety and avoids everyone until she meets Phoenix—quiet, tattooed, and different in every way that’s good and oh, so bad…

Phoenix is two days out of jail when he meets Robin. He knows he has no business talking to her, but he’s drawn to her quiet demeanor, sweet smile, and artistic talent. She doesn’t care that he’s done time, and she supports his goal to be a tattoo artist.

But Phoenix knows Robin has a secret, and that it’s a naïve dream to believe that his own record won’t catch up with them at some point. Though neither is prepared for the explosive result when the past collides with the present…

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Robin is a college student wanting to break out of her norm, yet she did it so effortlessly. She turned into a big time party girl and ended up doing the one thing she never thought she'd do-sleep with Nathan, her best friend's boyfriend. Phoenix is a 20 year old who just got out of a 5 month stint in prison for protecting the one person who means the most to him, even if she doesn't deserve it, his mother. When they meet they know they aren't right for each other, but maybe Phoenix is Robin's road to her own forgiveness, and Robin is just what Phoenix needed for him to get some perspective.

From the start I was in love with Phoenix. I know he just got out of jail, but a guy who will send a kitten meme text after a joke about that has been made-what's not to love? He's honestly a sweetheart who has the bad boy image, which is honestly what I think most girls want.  Also his time in jail was for a good reason, it's not like he just killed a guy for fun. He was protecting his mom, which shows his devotion to those he loves. Robin, although I understand everything that she did, I just wish she had handled everything so differently! I understand that for her to get with Phoenix she had to handle her problems how she did, but I really wanted her to just come clean to her friends about what happened. Keeping it to herself makes it seem like it wasn't just a onetime thing, and that irritated me. 

The story was good, it kept me enthralled in what was happening. I loved switching between Robin and Phoenix's perspectives. I think this helped to show just how much Robin meant to Phoenix. It's hard when the lead romancer is a bad boy because there's always that doubt that he doesn't truly love the girl. But being able to get into Phoenix's head showed just how crazy he was for Robin. I did feel like the problems that arose at the end of the book were rushed, but honestly I really just wanted more of Robin and Phoenix's love story at this point so it wasn't too horrible that it was rushed. 

Blog Tour: Caged in Winter | Brighton Walsh | Review | Excerpt | Giveaway

Welcome to our stop on Caged in Winter tour for Brighton Walsh . This tour is hosted by Berkley/NAL Publishing.

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Caged in Winter
Author: Brighton Walsh
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: November 4th 2014
Review Source: Berkley Books

  

In this emotional and sexy New Adult debut from Brighton Walsh, the only thing more frightening than commitment is hope…

Aspiring chef Cade Maxwell is immediately, viscerally attracted to Winter Jacobson. But it’s not her mouthwatering curves he’s drawn to—it’s the strange emptiness in her eyes. When Cade saves her from a drunken customer with grabby hands, he’s shocked at her response…

Winter doesn’t need Cade’s help. After a lifetime of getting by on her own, she’s happy to rely on herself. She’s exactly seventy-six days away from graduating college, and if she can hold it together that long, she’ll finally be able to rise above the crappy hand she was dealt.

But now, every time she turns around, Cade is there, ready to push her, smile at her, distract her from her plans. Winter knows she can’t afford to open up—especially to a man she’s terrified to actually want…

This is a New Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.

Caged in Winter made me fall even more in love with New Adult books. Cade made me swoon like no other, and Winter, I hurt for her, I felt it all in this book. Caged in Winter follows two college seniors trying their absolute hardest to achieve their goals, make a name for themselves and become successful. Winter was 76 days away from graduating and being able to get out her crappy job waitressing to become a web page designer. Winter had a rough past but she has worked her ass off to get somewhere and not become her mother. One night when a drunk patron got a little handsy with Winter, Cade steps in to help her with the problem, but little did he know he was becoming the problem. Winter knew how to handle these kind of guys, she had it down to science, she needed the tip from the table so she had to slightly weasel herself out of the situation, but then Cade stepped in and ruined it all. Ever since that day Cade weaseled himself into her life and threw all her previous reservations out of whack.

I just want to take a second to gush over Cade. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a story where the guy falls completely head over heels, or would that be head over loafers, for the girl. Anyway, he was my prince charming; he was completely smitten over the feisty Winter, which only made him more curious about her. He was sweet and caring, and knew when to take it a step back when it came to Winter. He knew pushing her even the slightest bit would send her running for the hills and take back any progress he had at opening her up, which already proved to be hard enough. Plus he’s a chef and any man that can cook and bake a mean cookie is grade A in my book.


Winter and Cade both went through tough things growing up, which made them grow up much faster than kids either own age. Their stories hurt, you feel for them, you root for them, especially Winter. Winter seems cold on the outside but man was she strong, feisty, and fierce. I loved the strength the characters had and their growing they still had to do, I loved everything from this book. This will be a book you’ll want to pick up. I promise you, you most definitely will fall for Cade, epitome of a perfect book boyfriend. The way Brighton Walsh develops her characters and their stories makes me want more, thankfully there will be more with Cade’s sister and his hilarious friend Jason.

Excerpt

I bend my knees so we’re eye level and tug on her hand until she meets my gaze. “I don’t know what we could have. It might be nothing. But I’ll be honest . . . I haven’t felt like this in a long time, and that’s enough for me to know I want to see where it goes. Can’t we just see where it goes?”

With a deep sigh, she says, “I’m not right for you, Cade.”

“How about you worry about if I’m right for you. Let me decide the other.”

And then before she can stop me, before she can utter another word of opposition, I slide my hand up her arm, over her shoulder, until it’s wrapped around her neck. With my other hand, I swipe a piece of hair back with my fingers, and then lean in, brushing my lips against hers. After only a moment, I pull back just enough for her to be able to tell me to stop. When nothing comes, I close the distance between us once again, taking her bottom lip in between mine. I brush my tongue against it, coaxing her mouth open, and she breathes this sexy little gasp as I slip inside. She tastes like cookies and wine, and I want to fucking devour her.

She grips my shirt with both hands, clutching me to her, and I stop holding back and press every inch of my body against hers, groaning as my cock presses fully against her. The moment a whimper comes from her, I know she feels it. And I can’t muster up any embarrassment, because I want her to feel it. Even with all her brass balls and fuck-everything attitude, something tells me she needs reassurance, so I give it to her. In every stroke of my tongue against hers, every brush of my thumb along her jaw, I show her how much I want her.

When her chest is heaving, her lips parted and swollen and so fucking hot, I trail kisses down her neck, seeking out every inch of skin that’s uncovered. Her head thumps back against the wall, one of her hands gone from gripping fistfuls of my shirt. Instead, she’s holding my head to her, and I don’t want to stop. I want to kiss and lick every inch of her, slip my hands under the material of her sweater, unbutton her jeans, and not stop until I feel her soft wetness against my fingertips.

But the knowledge that she’ll regret it if I don’t stop forces me to slow down.

I pull back, loosening my grip on her and putting an inch of space between us. I kiss the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and then her ear. Against it, I whisper, “Don’t say no.”

There’s a beat of silence. Two. Three. And then she says the sweetest word I’ve ever heard.

“Okay.”

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Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with writing. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children.

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Book Review: Surrender by June Gray

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Surrender
DISARM #8
Author: June Gray
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: November 4th 2014
Review Source: Berkley Trade | Penguin

Bestselling author June Gray’s romances have been praised as “scorching hot”(MsRomantic Reads). Now, in her latest scintillating read, one woman is torn between remembering her past and committing to an unpredictable future...

Julie Keaton had everything—she had a new career in a new city and, more importantly, a bright future with fiance, Jason Sherman. That is, until the day she discovered that he had been killed in Afghanistan. In one moment, her life changed, as everything she’d hoped for died along with him.

Years later and Julie still feels the aftershocks of Jason’s death. She is no longer the same adventurous, open girl; now she wears armor around her heart in order to protect the most important thing in her life—her son.

But when Julie meets the mysterious Neal, she starts to feel the smallest flicker of hope, as what began as a fling quickly becomes something more. Neal is the first man since Jason’s death to break down her armor and make her believe again. But when she discovers the secret he’s been keeping, she has to ask herself: can she surrender to a future with Neal or will Jason’s death forever tie her to the past?

This is an Adult romance novel recommended for ages 18+ due to sexual content and mature subject matter.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to read and review June’s Disarmed series. It was a heartbreaking story. So when I started Surrender, I knew June will be breaking my heart again. To surrender is hard. To show your emotions to someone, to be honest… this is something one can have difficulty with. Julie, our main character, had a difficult time expressing her feelings toward Jason. And now it’s late. Jason’s a hero and died for his country in Afghanistan. If you’ve read Disarmed, then you may recall that Jason is Elise’s brother. Before heading to Afghanistan, Julie discovers that she is pregnant and his death hits her hard.

Years after Jason’s death, Julie is in California for Elise and Henry’s wedding. (My heart was happy to know this). Upon her morning run, she meets a gorgeous man and immediately hit it off. Let’s say Surrender was a lot steamier than Disarm! Neal slowly peels off Julie’s covers and we begin to see this fun and daring side of her.

Surrender was a steamy read compared to Disarm. I love how Neal was able to break the walls Julie built to guard herself from ever getting hurt again. He taught her man things - life is too short to regret things, to live life completely so when death comes, there is nothing left for it to take.

Once again, I found myself enjoy reading one of June Gray’s novels. I highly recommend this book, and/or Disarm, to anyone that lost someone dearly and is afraid to move on.

Pre-Release Celebration: Caged in Winter | Brighton Walsh | Excerpt | Giveaway

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Caged in Winter
Author: Brighton Walsh
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Romance
Released: November 4th 2014
Review Source: Berkley Books

In this emotional and sexy New Adult debut from Brighton Walsh, the only thing more frightening than commitment is hope…...
Aspiring chef Cade Maxwell is immediately, viscerally attracted to Winter Jacobson. But it’s not her mouthwatering curves he’s drawn to—it’s the strange emptiness in her eyes. When Cade saves her from a drunken customer with grabby hands, he’s shocked at her response…...
Winter doesn’t need Cade’s help. After a lifetime of getting by on her own, she’s happy to rely on herself. She’s exactly seventy-six days away from graduating college, and if she can hold it together that long, she’ll finally be able to rise above the crappy hand she was dealt.
But now, every time she turns around, Cade is there, ready to push her, smile at her, distract her from her plans. Winter knows she can’t afford to open up—especially to a man she’s terrified to actually want….

EXCERPT

CADE

“Okay, now add the flour, but—” It’s too late, a puff of white exploding in Winter’s face before I can get the words out or reach to flip the switch. “You need to turn the mixer to low.”
She spins around, her cheeks covered in random white spots, some of the flour dusting her hair. “You couldn’t say that before, ‘Now add the flour’?” Her voice is low, her eyes narrowed, and I take a step back.
“Well, yeah, I guess I could’ve, but I just sort of figured you’d know enough not to add loose flour to a wildly spinning mixer.”
“Oh, you figured I’d know enough for that, huh? Even after I told you I’ve never made cookies before? Even then?”
She’s advancing on me now, and I shouldn’t be retreating like a scared animal. I have more than a foot on her, a hundred-plus pounds, but she looks pissed. And that glint in her eye tells me she’s up to something. I glance down at her hand, seeing a measuring cup half filled with flour, and I realize what she’s going to do a split-second before she does, but not soon enough to dodge it.
A cloud of white powder hits me straight in the face, and I cough as I inhale some. Wiping away the dust from my eyes, I say, “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Oh, well, I just figured you’d know enough to duck.” She shrugs and offers me a saccharine smile.
“I don’t think you want to start this with me, baby.”
“In case you missed the flour in your face a second ago, I already started it, baby.”
I stare her down, then reach over, grabbing the bowl of melted chocolate—my mom’s secret
ingredient in her cookies—and dip my fingers into it. Winter narrows her eyes at me and takes a step back. “Don’t you dare.”
“Where you goin’? I thought you wanted to get messy.”
“No, I wanted you to get messy. I didn’t have a choice with this,” she says as she gestures to where the flour hit her. She darts her eyes down to the bowl of chocolate, then back up to my face. “Don’t, Cade. You’re going to get me dirty, and I have to be at work soon.”
“You maybe should’ve thought about that before you threw a scoop of flour in my face.” I don’t wait for her response before I smear the chocolate down her cheek to her jaw, then all the way down her neck and into the deep V of her shirt, stopping when I feel the swell of her breasts. “Whoops.”
“You did not just do that.”
“Looks like I did.” I shrug, putting the bowl back on the counter before I lick the chocolate from my fingers. She focuses on the act, her lips parted. I lean closer to her, drop my voice, and gesture to the spots of her skin that are covered. “You want me to clean you up, too?”
Glaring, she gives a jerky shake of her head, but a flush works its way up her chest to her neck—one of the tells she’s getting turned on.
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I step closer, backing her into the corner until she’s pressed against the cabinets behind her. “Sure about that? It wouldn’t take much. Just a lick or two. Maybe a couple sucks. We’d probably have to take your shirt off, though, and your bra, too. I really got down in there.”
Her head’s tilted back as she stares up at me, her chest rising and falling in quick succession from her labored breathing.
I lean into her space, lick up a path from her neck to her ear. “I think you do. I think you want my tongue all over you, don’t you, baby? I got you all dirty. Seems only fair I clean you up.” Before she can respond, my mouth closes over her shoulder, my tongue tracing along the chocolate I smeared there. By the time I’ve dipped into the neckline of her shirt, my tongue in the valley of her breasts, her nipples are pressed tight against the material, and she’s got a white- knuckled grip on the countertop behind her.
“Want me to stop?”
I wait a second. Two. And when she gives the slightest shake of her head, I take. Gripping her face in my hands, my mouth covers hers, my tongue slipping inside. She groans into the kiss, her hands finally coming up to clutch my forearms.
“Wait.” She wrenches her mouth from mine, turning her head to the side. “Cade, wait. Your sister.”
I focus on licking every stray ounce of chocolate I can find, her hands a counterpoint to her words as she holds me close. “Not home. Gone till four.”
“Shit! Four. I have to be at work at four!”
“We’ve got time. Now stop talking.”
I peel her jeans and panties off, then lift her onto the counter, desperate to feel her around me.
With one hand, I fumble with the button of my jeans, the other busy between Winter’s thighs, rubbing soft circles around her clit, getting her ready for me. She’s moaning, her head resting back on the cabinets, and the sight of her there, half naked in my kitchen, is too much. Too fucking much, and I can’t get my goddamn jeans off.
When she notices, her hands are there, opening my jeans and yanking my boxers down just far enough to pull me out. Her hands are around my cock, pumping slowly, and I need inside her now.

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Brighton Walsh spent nearly a decade as a professional photographer before deciding to take her storytelling in a different direction and reconnect with her first love: writing. When she's not pounding away at the keyboard, she's probably either reading or shopping - maybe even both at once. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children, and, yes, she considers forty degrees to be hoddie weather. Her home is the setting for frequent dance parties, Lego battles, and more laughter than she thought possible. Visit her online at www.brigthtonwalsh.com.

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Book Review: Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall

Shadows on the Nile
Author: Kate Furnivall
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical | Mystery | Romance | British Literature
Released: October 1st 2013
Review Source: Berkley | Penguin Group

1912 London. Jessie Kenton hears her young brother, Georgie, scream in the middle of the night and wakes up the next morning to find him gone. Her parents never speak of him again.

1932. Twenty years later, Jessie is haunted by the same nightmare. Her other brother, Timothy, has inexplicably vanished from her parents’ home. Wracked by guilt because of her failure to ever find Georgie, and convinced that the two events must be related, she sets out on a quest to find Timothy. She plunges into a mysterious world of séances and mystics, nebulous clues and Egyptian artifacts.

With the help of a dashing and impoverished aristocrat, Sir Montague Chamford, Jessie follows the trail into the alien, swirling sands of the Egyptian desert. Amid the ancient intrigue and blistering heat, a powerful romance sparks between Jessie and Monty. But they must first confront the demons of Jessie’s past—and reveal the dark secrets that threaten not only Timothy’s life but theirs as well.

Let me just start off by saying that this is normally not a book that I would pick up to read. I have to admit that I am THAT girl who has a bad habit of judging a book by its cover and this one just didn’t peak my interest. I was surprised at how eager I became after reading the synopsis. A little bit of mystery, suspense, a missing child and deep, dark secrets of the past. That sounded right up my alley. I did not read any other reviews because I wanted to give it a fair shot and not go in with any preconceived notions about it before hand.

The first chapters really surprised me. I read through the pages with excitement and curiosity. I really wanted to know what could’ve possibly happened to Jessie’s brother on that night so many years ago. And then it happened, that quick, the confusion set in. The story took on three different points of view. Jessie’s, that of her missing brother Timothy’s and her long lost brother Georgie. Jessie sets out on her mission to find Timothy with the help of Sir Chamford. Jessie uses random clues left by Timothy that send her on a mission through the sands of Egypt in search of him. In the meantime we are taken back in time a ways to Timothy telling his story of finding Georgie and forging a relationship with him that is both complicated and touching at the same time. Georgie appears as the narrator of his own ordeal and seems very much trapped in his own mind.

The storyline does start to drag on a bit and we go throughout the days with each character but with no revealing information or anything to help move the story along. This was a long read for me, it didn’t keep me interested enough to feel like I wanted to hurry and reach the end. All in all it was a good story. The final chapters did tie together a few loose ends but this book and I just didn’t click.

This is the first book I have read from this Author. It seems that most of her stories take place in the early 1900’s and journey to other countries in the storyline. If you enjoy this type of book then I would recommend looking into her other titles as well.