Book Blitz ~ What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Five

Book Title: What to Read After FSOG - The Gemstone Collection Part 5 

Author: Various Authors 

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

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Playing the Game by Stephanie Queen

Superstar athlete Barry Dennis gets taken down a peg by a woman in the habit of taking men down a peg.

She’s been accused of murder because of her habit.

Triage by Tara Crescent

A surgeon with secrets. A woman craves to be spanked. When they get together in an examination room – what will happen next?

Lisa Preston has always fantasized about a doctor tying her down on the examination table, and taking her for his pleasure. When she meets Dr. Patrick Anderson in a club, will she be brave enough to tell the Doctor what she needs? And will the Doctor make her fantasies come true?

Note: This novella includes medical play, spankings, domination, graphic sexual scenes, and more.

Fever by Cathryn Fox

Reporter Sara Jack has the fever to do a story on the Hot Line.  There’s no better man than Mitch Adams to help with research.  The solid stud is all pro, but in Sara he’s met a woman willing to fulfill one of his fantasies—if they’re ready to accept what comes next.

Rules of the Game by Elaine Raco Chase

"You need an attitude adjustment!" Samantha Logan told Adam Rourke.

She didn't care that he was rich, she didn't care that he was handsome, and she didn't care that her boss was his surrogate father.

She tried to ignore the fact that his deep voice hit her behind the knees and made her feel oddly off balance. And she was sure those heart palpitations were the result of drinking two five-hour energy drinks in less than thirty minutes and definitely not from a pair of broad shoulders, green eyes and a sexy stubble.

Fragmented by Colleen Connally

The first in the Boston's Crimes of Passion Series! A pulse-pounding thriller! Ms Connally's first murder mystery delivers! Suspenseful...shocking...a psychological thriller-- leaving readers on the edge of their seat. Cameron Quinn is caught in a web of deceit. Protecting her brother from being framed for a murder places Cameron in untold danger. When the real killer diverts his attention to her, she has nowhere to turn, especially not to the man she shared one unforgettable night... who now is trying to put her brother in prison.

Drake Restrained by S.E. Lund

Drake Morgan, MD, Neurosurgeon, bass player, philanthropist – Dominant. He doesn't do girlfriends, he doesn’t do sleepovers, and he certainly doesn't do breakfast in bed the morning after. Into bondage, D/s and the occasional dungeon scene, Drake keeps every part of his life separate, the divisions between them neat and tidy. That is until Kate McDermott crosses his path and screws everything up. Now, nothing is neat and tidy anymore, for Drake is smitten and things are going to get messy…

Cooking Class by Valerie Douglas

Lily Cavanaugh did it the hard way. She'd apprenticed under Master Chef Evan Taylor until he threw one temper tantrum too many. Then Evan and the director of his new TV show, Dylan Bryant, walk into her restaurant to offer her an intriguing proposition...

The Principles of Lust by Sasha White

Step into Lush, the decadent art gallery that specializes in the sensual, and let your desires set your heart free.

Businesswoman Teal Jamison knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it. With her dream art gallery about to open, she’s in need of some serious stress relief and virile carpenter Zack Dillon is just the man to give it to her.Only Zack doesn’t think they’re a good match. He likes to be in control, always, and Teal’s anything but submissive when she comes on to him.

The Sexperts: The Girl With the Pearl Necklace by Melinda DuChamp

In the future, some people are still prudes...

And the most prudish of all are the righteous defenders of righteousness at the Purity Foundation. When the director sends her own daughter on an undercover mission to eliminate sexual satisfaction from earth, the only thing standing between the human race and complete and total sexual frustration are the good instructors of the Seimann Sex Institute.

Fanny and Peter, along with new instructors Chastity and Milo, have devoted their lives to ensuring everyone can enjoy a healthy, prosperous sex life. But they will have to use every tool and technique in their arsenal if they are to overcome this new threat, because the Purity Foundation isn't going down...not without a fight.

No sacrifice is too much if the cause is just, and love might the greatest cause of all...

A Voice to Love by Karolyn James

Lead singer Luke Nolan's sudden success is everything dreams are made of. Going from playing at a local dive bar to touring with mega band Chasing Cross, seemingly overnight, and ultimately saving the headliner's tour, has the men of Fallen Tuesday absolutely loving the life on the road. In fact, Luke is loving it so much that he has used every excuse to not tell his bandmates about his medical condition that is worsening with each performance.

In a small town just outside Syracuse, New York, Amy Deleranne seeks solitude in the kitchen of Tommy Two's, her uncle Tom's restaurant that should have been hers by now. She understands his emotional attachment, but she has poured her life into its survival and has more at stake than anyone knows...

With Luke battling a skyrocketing career and the medically unknown and Amy terrified to look over her shoulder at all times, it is no wonder that sparks fly when they meet. However, can their hearts, and their careers, survive the secrets they've been keeping?

   

Stephanie Queen: USA Today Bestselling author Stephanie Queen is a romantic at heart and a writer by nature with the enthusiastic soul of a cheerleader. She enjoys creating stories where her rose-colored world-view comes to life and the good guys always win. Although she lost count of all the jobs she had before she settled on being a Novelist, her favorite was selling cookies as a Keebler Elf.

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Tara Crescent: Tara Crescent is a writer of erotic fiction. She believes in sassy submissives, firm Dominants, completely consensual relationships and happily-ever-afters! Her favorite kind of romance stories are ones that are somewhat believable.

In her spare time, Tara reads, gardens, cooks, and procrastinates about cleaning. From time to time, Tara blogs about what she's working on (and anything else that she finds interesting) at http://www.taracrescent.com. She lives in Toronto.

She is somewhat active on Facebook and Twitter, especially when the writing is going poorly.

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Cathryn Fox: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cathryn Fox is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. Cathryn has two teenagers who keep her busy and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan.  When not writing, Cathryn can be found laughing over lunch with friends, hanging out with her kids, or watching a big action flick with her husband.

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Elaine Raco Chase: If you like sassy, laugh out loud, contemporary romances - some more explicit than others - you have found the right author!

Reviewers have called them: "cat & mouse" - "slow burn" - "hot and steamy" - "highly addicting" - "solid characters & lots of humor" - "amazing reads!"

I call them fun! My heroines are NOT: thin, petite, clueless or submissive. They are strong women who aren't looking for a man - until the right one comes along!

And those men! Tough-guy, alpha males who don't know what hit them! But do know they want MORE!

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Colleen Connally: Colleen Connally is one of the pen names of Jerri Hines. Under Colleen Connally, she has written a historical romance series, Secret Lives, which is riddled with romantic suspense and a touch of paranormal. The Secret Lives Series consist of Seductive Secrets, Broken Legacy, and now Seductive Lies. Fragmented, Book One Boston's Crimes of Passion, marks Ms Connally's first contemporary suspense thriller.

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S.E. Lund: S.E. Lund lives with her family of humans and animals in a small city in Western Canada in an old house on a quiet tree-lined street. Besides writing erotic and contemporary romance for a living, she advocates for climate action, plays piano and dreams of living in a warm climate by the ocean.

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Valerie Douglas: Valerie Douglas is a prolific writer and a genre-crosser, much to the delight of her fans. A fan of authors in almost every genre she writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and, as V.J. Devereaux, erotic romance.

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Happily married, she's companion to two dogs, four cats and an African clawed frog named Hopper who delights in tormenting the cats from his tank.

Sasha White: Gifted with a salacious imagination, USA Today and NYT Bestselling Author Sasha White’s brand of Romance with Heat, and Erotica with Heart is all about sassy women and sexy men. Whether it’s contemporary, paranormal, or romantic suspense, you can’t go wrong by reading something White Hot.

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Melinda DuChamp: I'm a professional author who has written more than fifty novels, most of them romances. Recently, I began writing erotica under this pen name, beginning with Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland. I do my best to make my books playful and funny without taking away from the kinky, steamy love scenes. It's erotica for smart people who like to laugh, just like you.

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Karolyn James

Did you know Karolyn James is the pen name for bestselling western romance author, Claire Charlins?

KarolynWrites.com

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Cover Reveal ~ Just Breathe ~ Chelle C. Craze

Just Breathe ~ Chelle C. Craze ~ Cover reveal

Cover designed by MGbookcovers

Life is full of the unexpected. At times, the only thing you can do is just breathe.

For twenty-four year old Cassandra Anderson, life hasn't been easy. Haunted daily by her own demons and memories of the past, she suffers from panic attacks and questionable anal-retentiveness. The motto she lives by is "Trust no one. Fear nothing." 

Bartender Lucas Daniels comes into her life like a whirlwind. Hot enough to melt wax, he is tantalizing, sometimes overbearing, and quite possibly one of her weaknesses. Lucas, having secrets of his own, understands pain all too well.

Only time can tell what the future holds for them. Will Lucas cause Cass to question everything? Will she be drawn to him or will they end in resentment?

~ Coming to a kindle near you from 20th September 2014 ~ 

~ About the Author ~ 

A native West Virginian, Chelle has always been a dreamer. She spent her time growing up writing songs, poetry, screenplays, and movie scripts. She never thought about writing a book until she got older. Now, Chelle likes to spend her time being creative by painting, drawing, singing, dancing, playing instruments, and writing. By profession, she is a biomedical technician with an Electrical Engineering Technology A.S. degree and lives with her husband and three dogs.

Her debut novel is Just Breathe, book one in The Blue Series.

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Release Day Blitz ~ The Storm ~ Laura Lexington

Title: The Storm
Author: Laura Lexington
Release Date: Aug 30, 2014
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Jana Cook was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but her fierce determination leads to a successful career in medical device sales. Toss in five-star meals, fabulous sex with her nearly perfect husband, Andrew, and a gorgeous new house … and Jana’s life is picture perfect before she hits the big 3-0. What more can a girl want?

Overnight, her life begins to unravel. When Jana discovers she is pregnant, she dives from hero to zero in the eyes of Covington Company. Despite a resume most would kill for, Jana finds herself unemployed and devastated. Challenging her employer could change her life … if she wins. Does she have the strength to handle the gossip and face the likely reality of being blackballed from her industry?

As Jana struggles to make the right choice, her vivacious best friend, Grace, is convinced her own heartthrob husband, Gavin, is hiding something. Despite Jana’s best efforts to convince her that she is wrong, Grace’s mental illness overpowers reality. Jana was a superstar in scrubs, but navigating first time motherhood is real work … especially in the midst of secrets, lies, and unthinkable tragedy.

She makes her decision. And while Andrew promises to never let her fall, will love be enough to spark the bravery she needs to survive the storm that threatens to overcome her?

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Andrew laughed and shook his head. “When I met you, I never thought you would be so sexual. You seemed so ... quiet.”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to watch out for the quiet ones?” I raised my eyebrows and winked, grabbing him spontaneously and pulling him close. I brought my lips to his and lightly parted them, waiting for him to lead.
Now that my second trimester kicked into gear, sex regained its appeal.
Effortlessly, he kissed me, our tongues wrapping around one another’s, awakening an eagerness that zapped me of any other thoughts. “I want to be the only toy you play with tonight.”

I pulled away and gave him a glance at the fire in my eyes. “You can do whatever you want with me.”

“Shhh.” His voice rose slightly as he gently lowered me on the soft blanket I hadn’t noticed. “Take your clothes off for me. I will be right back.”

I obliged, slowly undressing with careful finesse, leaving my lacy panties for him to remove. Naked under the stars, I allowed the mystical, cool breeze to relax me as my eyes fluttered shut.

I never heard him return. Suddenly, he lay beside me, using his firm hands to massage me with the skill of a professional. I bristled with pleasure as he caressed warm liquid over every square inch of my body.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as I gently spread my legs, my muscles reduced to mush. Embracing the sensation of floating in a realm between a memory and a daydream, I relished his magical touch.

After sliding off my thong, he teased one finger over my sensitive spot, and I sighed at the promise of what came soon. Maybe six seconds and I was soaking wet, dying for him to enter me. His intent was sweet romance, but I wanted to grab his body and force him inside me and rock him until he couldn’t see straight. My sex drive now wild and untamed, my body pulsed with intensity unfamiliar to my experience.

I reached up to unbutton his shirt, exposing his sexy arms and chest. I slid his pants and boxers down and unleashed a seductive smile, my eyes lifting from his hardness to his heated eyes. Not much foreplay would be necessary.

I slid my tongue up and down the length of his shaft, amazed when he got even harder.

He started to position himself on top of me, but I placed one hand firmly on his chest and pushed him away. A flicker of confusion crossed his face, but then he grinned as I slyly turned over and rose on my hands and knees.

“You feel so tight,” he breathed as his body became one with mine. He squeezed my ass and let a soft moan escape with the first hard thrust.
He was the perfect fit. With every move he made, my body longed for more of him, grinding against him until I matched his pace. I wanted to slow down, to enjoy this fabulous sex underneath a ceiling of glistening stars, but I lost every ounce of self-control and thrust against him faster and faster until he exploded with pleasure.

“Damn!” He gazed into my eyes, his wild with ecstasy, as I smirked with satisfaction. “You’re an animal.”

I rolled over, collapsing on the blanket cushioned with soft grass. I guided his hand back to where he started, my mouth forming a long “O” within seconds. Feverishly, I grabbed his other hand and placed it on my breast. He took the cue and fondled each nipple until they were both pebbled.

Hold off, hold off... I could have come on command.

He rolled his finger in a circular motion, changing his rhythm to make me last longer. I thought I might fall unconscious if my legs got any weaker.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I came with such power that my whole body jerked. My eyes flew open just in time for my release to coincide with the surreal blend of the majestic stars and distant heavenly bodies as they faded into the night.

Andrew smiled and lay on his back, gazing into the celestial sky, lacing his fingers with mine. The breeze intensified, serving as the perfect cool down as we cuddled under the glistening stars.

This was perfection.

Laura Lexington is a Contemporary Women’s Fiction and Contemporary Romance author. Her debut novel contains elements of suspense and explores elements of every part of life – love, sex, friendship, careers, faith, social issues, and family. She lives in the Southern United States with her family, where she hates the humidity but loves being close to the beach. She is the proud mother of one daughter, a rambunctious five year old who chopped her glorious hair the first week of kindergarten, and is the most awesome wife ever (or so she likes to think). When she’s not daydreaming up future stories, she’s wearing out her Kindle, thinking about shaking the dust off her treadmill, or planning her next trip to Orange Beach.

Laura works full time, and unlike the main character in her debut novel, is thankful to work for a company that recognizes employee talent regardless of age, race, or gender, and provides many opportunities for development. She firmly believes in the power of a good housekeeper, a strong cup of coffee (or two or three), and a novel that makes one’s senses spin with all the good stuff – drama, love, suspense, sex. If dancing with her rambunctious five-year-old in the kitchen counts as working out, she exercises daily, usually after several desserts she couldn’t resist.

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Cover Reveal ~ Big Game: Hunted Love #1 ~ Aden Lowe

 

Title:

Big Game: Hunted Love 1

Author:

Aden Lowe

Release Date:

September 15, 2014

Genre:

Western Romance

RECOMMENDED FOR AGES EIGHTEEN AND UP DUE TO EXPLICIT SEXUAL SITUATIONS, AND STRONG LANGUAGE

Synopsis:

When a legendary predator decides prize horses should be on his menu, Kate takes the advice of her neighbor ranchers and hires a big game hunter to track the mountain lion and remove the threat. The hunter arrives to take up the trail, but instead of the seasoned older man she expects, he's young and impossibly sexy.

Freshly back from deployment to Afghanistan as a special forces operative, Jakob needs to clear his head of the horrors of war. When his uncle is injured, Jakob steps in to fulfill the older man's commitment to hunt down a mountain lion on the other side of the state. The prospect of several days in the wilderness with only his horses and dogs for company sounds like the ideal opportunity. Except the infuriating female rancher insists on going along for the ride.

Excerpt:

A faint noise drew Jakob from the twilight that precedes waking, straight into full alert. Unsure what disturbed him, he lay still and allowed his eyes to open a bare slit. Just his luck that mountain lion would be prowling through camp. Unable to spot anything out of place, he sat up, careful not to move too quickly and get his head injury in an uproar again.

Splashing, louder than the stream flowing over the rocks, drew his attention. Fascination froze him in place for an instant, forcing him to just watch. At the creek, Kate straightened and squeezed water from her hair, then flipped it back to swing down her naked back. Water droplets clung to her pale skin like crystals, refracting the light and mesmerizing him.

She half-turned to retrieve something from the ground, revealing the curve of one breast. The sound of Jakob’s agonized groan must have carried, because she straightened and turned to face him, moving too quickly, and lost her balance.

Head wound forgotten, he leaped up and dove across the small camp area in an attempt to catch her before she could fall into the icy water. She recovered just as he reached her, and stood facing him, breathing hard. Something in her face had changed and for the first time since meeting her, Jakob felt as if she actually saw him. The unreachable Ice Queen was gone, and in her place…  

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22734896-big-game?ac=1    

About the Author:

Aden Lowe:

As an English major in college, I took a summer job as a proofreader for a small town newspaper, and got hooked on editing. I also worked my way through college training horses. After graduation, I landed a job for a small independent editing firm, and stayed there for 15 yrs. An old friend, Lucian, approached me to edit his special fiction project, and I got hooked. After an insane few months editing his Dom Wars series for him, Lucian convinced me I should try my hand at writing as well. I’m his co-author for Round Six, the final Dom Wars installment, and we will co-write the White Knight Academy series as well. And in Sept 2014, I’ll release my debut solo work, an Erotic Western with BDSM elements, “Big Game: A Hunted Love Novella”. In addition, I have a military series in the planning stages.

Social Links:

Website/blog: http://www.adenlowe.com/ 

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdenLowe 

Pinterest:http://www.pinterest.com/adenlowe/ 

Amazon Author Page:http://amazon.com/author/adenlowe Instagram:www.instagram.com/Aden_Lowe 

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/AdenLowe 

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116073095679666073937/posts    

Cover Reveal ~ Missing ~ Jessica Wilde

Cover Reveal

TITLE:

MISSING (The Brannock Siblings #3)

AUTHOR: Jessica Wilde

RELEASE DATE: SEPT 21^ST

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22430814-missing

 

SYNOPSIS:

There are two things in this life that Gus Brannock truly loves; his family and his job. His family is growing and he wants what his brother and sister have before the job he's worked so hard for takes its toll. The woman he's got his eye on, however, isn't interested in being with a man who risks his life every day. When the unexpected friendship with the sassy red head he used to hate turns into something Gus just doesn't want to live without, he will do whatever it takes to have her. The hazards of his job as a detective for missing children may end up proving to be too much, but there's a reason Aiden was brought into his life and nothing will stand in his way to keep her there.

Aiden Murphy used to hate the handsome jerk next door until a surprising discovery spun her world in another direction. Her life of devotion to her sister and niece has been her biggest strength with the exception of her art. That is, until Gus turns out to be the one thing that has been missing from that life all along. Aiden must decide if the unknown is worth the risk of loving the dedicated detective or if being pulled into his world is more than she can handle. When Gus becomes the only way for her to keep the people she loves most safe, will she understand why he treasures her untried strength or will she let her fear of the unknown decide for her?

For readers 18+ due to strong language and sexual situations.

Other Books In this series:

Leverage (The Brannock Siblings #1)

 

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Synopsis:

Adventure. That's all Aislinn 'Ash' Brannock wanted in her life. Her dad and two brothers - all cops - got to see it all, but their over-protectiveness made her feel like she had been locked away in a tower with three fire breathing dragons watching her every move. Yes, it was that bad. The only silver lining? Lucas Shade. Her brothers' best friend growing up, and apparently the only man she will ever love because let's face it, none of the others even come close. After an unfortunate mistake lands her back in her father's home, her world is turned upside down and Lucas is there in a tightly wrapped package of serious with a big red bow on top. Life just got interesting, but it comes with a price, one she never wanted to pay.

Detective Lucas Shade never had a real family, but the Brannocks took him in as one of their own and he never took it for granted. Ash was a big reason for why he stuck around, but in order to save himself the beating of a lifetime from her two older brothers, he kept his feelings for her hidden. When the case he has been working on for months takes a turn, Ash could become the leverage the bad guys have been waiting for, but keeping her invisible may destroy everything Lucas has worked so hard for. Good thing Ash is the only person he would give up everything to protect.

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Conned (The Brannock Siblings #2)

       

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Synopsis:

 

Conall Brannock takes his job seriously. He doesn't get attached, he doesn't ask questions, and he protects his family at all costs. Nothing will change that. Not even the sweet, green eyed witness that just burst into his life and shifted his world. He has one job to do; protect Emily until she can testify. He can't let his interest in her get in the way, but the more he finds out about her, the more he can't help but wonder how the beautiful broken girl got into this mess in the first place. And the longer he takes to learn the truth, the deeper he falls for her.

Emily Dawson has a job to do. Stay off the grid, testify, and hopefully get her brother back. He's all she has left of the family she struggled so hard to hold together and she would do anything to keep him safe. Even if it means she has put herself in harm's way or that she has conned everyone into believing she saw something she didn't. She knows where her loyalties lie, but her stoic yet gentle protector and his crazy family makes her question everything she once knew.

Loyalty can be one sided.

Family isn't always blood.

And honesty can destroy everything she has come to love.

 

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About The Author:

 

I live in Morgan Utah with my husband, daughter, and dog, Kolo. I write as often as my active daughter will let me and my husband has the patience of a saint. I find inspiration from dreams, people I meet, and life experiences. When I write, I usually end up drinking one too many cans of Peace Tea, eating three too many Fruit by the Foot fruit snacks, and accidently kicking my pup and best buddy, Kolo, too many times since he loves to sleep under my desk at my feet.
I started writing as a teen, but my fear of the unknown won out every time and I threw everything out. After becoming a mother and deciding to stay at home to raise my beautiful little girl, I tried again when I couldn't stop thinking of ideas. I loved every minute, every hour of sleep lost, and every character that came to life in my mind.
It's strange, but my favorite moments are when I have writer's block because I can turn to my husband and find inspiration through him by just doing what we do best together. Talking, laughing, and just being in love. He doesn't like to read, but he never stops encouraging me to keep going.
Writing has become an important part of my life and every book has a special place in my heart.

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Cover Reveal ~ All Who Are Lost ~ Lindsey Forrest

All Who Are Lost

by Lindsey Forrest

Series: Ashmore's Folly Trilogy: Book One

Cover Design: Robin Ludwig of Robin Ludwig Design, Inc

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction (Romance)

Expected Release Date: October 21, 2014

Summary: 

One man.
Too many betrayals.
Three women.
One last chance.

 

On a cold winter day, a woman calls a number halfway across the world.

A man answers.

After fourteen years, Laura St. Bride hears the voice she has never forgotten, the voice she will remember with her last breath…

What do you do
when the love of your life
is the last person you should love?

A great family estate in Virginia.

Three sisters growing up in the shadow of their father’s obsessive drive to recapture his lost muse, the woman he threw into the cold Irish sea.

The scion of an old family, falling in love with the wrong sister, blind to the ice at her core.

A woman haunted by a moment of blood and violence, when she reached out and took a man who didn’t belong to her.

A man living a life of regret and sacrifice, given a second chance to claim the woman he should have loved all along.

Excerpt:

I know you’re out there somewhere....

She stared out across a crowded London square, unknowing, unseeing, the serenity of her face captured in the flat surface of the theatrical poster. The light noon rain ran down in small diagonal rivers across her, crinkling the smooth plain of her forehead and the gentle cut of her jaw. She wept, large, abandoned tears that warred with the lovely turn of her mouth.

The Great Cat, they called her.

Many of those who had come to Leicester Square, hunting for half-price theater tickets, gravitated to her, beckoned by her eyes, lured on by the legend of mist and mystery that surrounded her. A few balked at the price of “An Intimate Evening with Cat Courtney.” Others realized to their sorrow that they had conflicting tickets, meals planned with in-laws, flights to catch. Three nights only, announced the poster, and this, unfortunately, was the last night.

She smiled out at them all, oblivious to their concerns, uncaring of the rain wetting her face.

The American tourist who came walking into the square, his daughter by his side, did not notice her at first. The rain had stopped for a few minutes, and other matters engaged him: folding up a handy umbrella, glancing at his watch, reading a guide book over his daughter’s shoulder. For one minute longer, he remained merely a tourist on a much-needed vacation. For one minute longer, the Great Cat never crossed his mind.

But the Great Cat could wait, and for this man she would wait forever.

She had left him a decade before, both of them reeling from the blood of their folly, in a deserted cottage on a desolate shore on the other side of the world. Had she eyes to see, she would know him instantly.

Eventually, respite ended. Eventually, Richard Ashmore lifted his head, his eyes scanning across the theatrical posters, in search of an evening’s entertainment suitable for a young girl. The titles made little impression – Les Miserables, The Graduate, Noises Off – until he saw her and everything around her blurred into oblivion.

He knew her too, instantly.

Laura.

His worst mistake.

e

“Dad?” Julie touched her hand to his. “Do you think we can get tickets?”

“We can try.” Richard closed his fingers around hers, a talisman to ward memory off. “Don’t get your hopes up, Julie. Her concerts usually sell out.”

“Let’s ask over there,” suggested his daughter, pointing across the square to the ticket kiosk. “Maybe someone bought tickets and can’t go. Maybe someone dropped their tickets, and someone turned them in. Maybe —”

“Maybe, maybe, maybe,” he teased, but already he was allowing her to drag him across the stones towards the waiting queue.

They took their places in line. Julie was glowing with excitement, the happiest Richard had seen her since the morning before her grandparents had died. He was less optimistic. Others ahead of them had requested tickets, and the possibility of stray tickets lessened as they moved up the line. He sought to cushion her against disappointment by letting her plan the afternoon. They were only a couple of blocks from the National Gallery, or would she prefer to hop the tube for Harrods?

“Harrods,” said Julie immediately. “And tea, Dad.” She leaned in against him to look at his guidebook. “I have my birthday money from Lucy. I want to get something to wear to the concert.”

“Keep your money, kitten.” He wished that they had never seen the poster. Selfish, yes, but if meeting her eyes in a poster disturbed him, how would he feel to see her again, even in the black anonymity of an audience? Better not to know, better to go back to an occasional evening of listening to her songs in the dark and trying to make some sense of what had happened.

And Julie had endured enough recently.

They were second in line now, behind a couple attempting to get tickets to the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber. Good luck, thought Richard, who had tried for three months. They bought him a few minutes of reprieve while they settled for a sex comedy instead.

“Two for Cat Courtney,” he said, and if the gods had been with him, just this once, he would have been told in that inimitable British way, Sorry, sir, but that show has just sold out....

“Yes, a few tickets have been turned in,” and his fate was sealed. He and Julie looked at the seating chart. She sparkled as she so seldom did, and as he paid for the tickets he thought that he would bear any pain, any guilt, to see that look on her face.

“Those are good seats,” said the man behind him, another American from the sound of him. “I’ve seen her before, and she’s worth twice the price.”

Julie forgot her usual shyness with strangers. “I can’t wait! I’ve wanted to see her for so long —”

A woman with a Southern accent said kindly, “You know, darlin’, you’re just the picture of her.”

“Thank you,” said Julie. “I’m glad I am. She’s my aunt.”

And Richard Ashmore looked at the tickets and realized, with a shock, that it was June 9, and he had been married for seventeen years.

e

In his life, Richard Ashmore had made three mistakes with women. Not that three was so unusual; no man reached his thirties without suffering the particular pain that women could inflict and without inflicting it in return. He was luckier than most men, perhaps, for he had erred early and grievously, and caution had been driven into him like a bullet. He carried with him permanent reminders of his follies: a marriage gone disastrously wrong, the painful conscience that he had not always been the upright man his daughter loved, a shoulder that ached in cold weather.

Ah, Diana, unattainable once attained, a monumental mistake made in all the first flush of adolescent desire and pride. Too young to marry, too blindly in love to recognize the ice behind her eyes, he had turned a deaf ear to his father’s warning that his princess was hollow at her core.

Francie, silver-quick smile and hungry eyes, and his own need for the warmth of a woman’s arms. The dangerous combination of a magnum of champagne on New Year’s Eve and three years of exile from his marriage bed had erupted into a springtime of madness. The gods had demanded their due: a marriage wrecked beyond salvage, a family foundered, two young women cast adrift.

And the third.... Oh, but even now, all these years later, he stood before her picture, and he still did not understand. She watched him from the poster, more animated in flat gray and white than he had ever known her. But he knew those eyes. He knew how they adored him, how they burned in fever and desire, how they haunted odd moments of the day and dark pockets of the night.

Diana. Francie. Laura the Cat.

He supposed he had a special weakness for shuttered eyes that invited a man in with promises implied and unkept, for wild autumn hair spread gloriously across a pillow, for tall, elegant figures and clear, sweet voices and beguiling, destructive ways. They all three had this and more in common, and why not? They were sisters, after all.

e

                                                                                         

About Lindsey Forrest:

Lindsey Forrest, a lead writer/editor for an international information company, writes about income tax but prefers to dream of heroes and heroines and grand romance. With the publication of her trilogy, she checks off the top entry on her bucket list. She lives in north Texas with her family and cat and has a five-year plan for becoming a full-time novelist and editor of indie fiction. When she isn’t working or writing, she amuses herself with reading, needlepointing, tramping around historical sites and houses, and outbidding everyone who gets in her way on Ebay.

 

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