Feeling Ballsy by Beck Erixson blitz with giveaway
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Feeling Ballsy
Beck Erixson
(Love is Awkward)
Publication date: August 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Elin Axelsson is unmistakably the worst goalie in her women’s indoor soccer league. Yet each week, she laces up her cleats, pumps up her teammates, and gives it her all. At least playing soccer means being able to spend more time with her all-star goalie boyfriend, Nate. And her best friend of fifteen years—who’s a total ladies ’man—Hawk.
But when Elin catches Nate cheating, she dumps his ass, and finds herself thrust back into the weird world of online dating. At least she has Hawk to lean on. He has a new woman every week, and is a dating expert. But after a few awkward first dates with other people, Elin starts noticing Hawk in a different light. Except, that can’t happen. She can’t risk losing him, or their fifteen-year friendship if things go sour.
That is, until they manage to fall tongue-first into each other’s mouths. The two form a pact to prevent diving hormones-first into more bad relationships. They’ll hook up with each other, and compartmentalize their friendship. But there are rules: Elin sets the pace, no sex with others while the pact is in effect, and if either develop romantic feelings for the other, they must bail out to protect the friendship. It’s the perfect arrangement!
Until it isn’t.
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EXCERPT:
Our gazes split as I pretend to stretch my neck, crinkling the melting bag of ice, and severing a replay of the moment at the fire pit we both refuse to acknowledge.
He leans in, and a tiny giggle flutters up my chest and out through my lips.
“What?” He asks, pulling his torso back, his voice squeaking high. “Does my breath smell?” Furrowing his brow, he huffs into his palm. With a deep sniff, he shakes his head.
I swallow down a larger chuckle. He looks over my shoulder as he bites his lower lip. Do what happened the other night. It’s simple.
I cough to cover another laugh and clear my throat. “Let’s try again.”
Hawk crosses his arms and tilts his head like a confused puppy. “Are you going to laugh at me again?”
I shake my head. “No?” Maybe.
“Well, that’s so convincing.” His voice hits a puberty high crack. “It’s only me.”
I nod and take in a deep breath. It’s only me? Does he realize what that even means? There is no one I trust more than him. Despite that, this is still new territory. There’s this tiny nag in me throwing up blocks, worried about being tossed aside when he’s bored of me.
My lips part and hover close enough to feel the gentle exhale of air from his mouth. I peek open an eye to find he’s staring back at me. Another obnoxiously loud laugh erupts from my mouth, and a pang of worry seizes my heart.
I suck in my lips and bite down as I open my eyes. Well, crap. He looks so … confused?
“You’re not okay with this, are you?” He scratches at his cheek and glances down.
The bag of ice drips on my shirt and ceases the trembling tickle in my chest. “It’s not that. It’s every time I see your face I laugh.”
“I’m that horrible looking to you?” His tone suggests a joke, but one drenched in a heavy ouch.
“Shut up. You know you aren’t ugly.” I shake my head.
“True. I’m in the realm of hideous.” He flashes a wide grin and runs his tongue over his lips. “Would a bag over my head with lip holes help?”
“You. Are. Ridiculous.”
He covers his face with wide fingers. “Better?”
“Stop making fun.”
All I want to do is see if the fire pit was a fluke, and forget all the other nonsense. Instead, I can’t stop giggling like I’ve never been with someone before. I lean in, kiss the back of his hand, and lean back.
“Oh, baby.” He rolls his eyes back, pulls his hands down his cheeks, and lets out a groan.
“This. This is why it’s weird.” A full belly laugh pulls through, filling the air. “You’re, you.” Knowing it’s him kissing me is different from seeing him kiss me. When the structured lines of his face get close, my nerves flare a warning and a protective shyness takes over.
“Wildflower, I only want to kiss you. I need to kiss you.” His hands land at his sides with an exaggerated smack and his tone shifts to serious. “Do you actually want to do this?”
The way he says “Wildflower” melts me. I nod repeatedly and pout my bottom lip. My chest holds the tingles, the desire, the pull to him. “I don’t know what’s happening. It’s like each time we get near, one of our magnets flips over, shooting us far apart.”
“Oh. Talk dirty to me with science. Two poles of a magnet repelling.” He leans back and gives an approving nod.
The issue isn’t the repelling, it’s the pull. The thing I’m stuck on from the night we kissed is, he kissed me. He scrambled the natural balance of our friendship, messing with the normally clear division line. We crossed into the unknown and he was burned. Literally. I don’t want to get burned or set our friendship ablaze in a grand bonfire. And yet, I want to be kissed—by him. None of this is logical.
Author Bio:
Beck Erixson writes about the beautifully awkward world of navigating the journey to true happiness through friendships, love, and family—be it blood, found, or chosen. Her stories enhance the importance of positive interconnection, even when we feel lonely. She lives on the Jersey Shore, and can often be found either writing by the river, or in it in some way. Her short stories have appeared in Many Nice Donkeys, and Full Mood Mag.
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To enter, people need to follow @beckerixsonauthor, RT, and comment using the hashtags #feelingballsy AND #loveisawkward between 7/28/2023 and 8/8/2023!
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The Ring Academy: The Trials of Imogene Sol by C.L. Walters blitz with giveaway
The Ring Academy: The Trials of Imogene Sol
C.L. Walters
Publication date: August 1st 2023
Genres: New Adult, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Imogene Sol has had to work twice as hard for everything she has earned as a cadet at The Ring Academy on Serta. An orphan of notorious parents who killed hundreds of thousands of people in a bombing against the Federation, most people hate her by name alone, others have gone out of their way to make her life difficult. Though she’s managed to acquire a handful of trusted friends over her years at the academy, most of her peers loathe her. But she’s made her mark in the top ten of her cadet class and she’s ready to compete for what’s next.
As the Year Seven Final Trials begin—a series of tests to determine placement within the Federation—Imogene knows all her hopes are riding on her performance. But when she’s framed for an offense that could not only get her expelled from the academy but also incarcerated, Imogene must discover who’s behind the threat against her. When her greatest competition, Timaeus Kade, offers to help her solve the mystery to clear her name, Imogene must decide if she’s willing to trust him. The stakes are high. Only the mysterious saboteur strikes again, justifying she needs his help, proving the stakes aren’t just her future anymore but her life.
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EXCERPT:
Imogene raced across the room to grab the bo staff leaning against the wall, her opponent just steps behind her. The zip of his staff buzzed the air near her head as she ducked, rolled across the mat, and grabbed the weapon she needed from the holder. She turned and crouched with her back to the wall, wielding her staff to block her attacker. The clack of his weapon against hers vibrated up her arm through her elbow, jarring her teeth, but she ignored the discomfort—she was used to it—and shot forward.
“That’s all you’ve got?” She smirked at her opponent.
Vempur growled, showing his sharp incisors. His stark, black hair curled against his umber-toned temple slick with sweat as he followed it up by stabbing the end of the staff toward her face. His eyes, usually green flecked with sparkles of gold, turned completely black as he swung.
She blocked and went for a jab.
Vempur parried, then swung the staff at her head, once more with a loud grunt and frustrated huff. “You’re too quick,” he snapped.
Imogene smiled at her best friend but subdued the laugh. She knew he wouldn’t take it well in the middle of a fight. Not with everyone watching. Their silent, judgmental gazes were enough of a deterrent to keep Vempur’s temper in check. Besides, she wouldn’t have appreciated his humor at the moment either. There was too much on the line.
“You’re stronger. Taller,” she grunted out as she ducked once more. It wasn’t to feed his ego. “Find my weakness.”
“What weakness?” he snapped, frustrated more with himself than her, it would seem. “You haven’t lost yet today.”
“Exactly. I’m tired.”
Vempur growled, surging forward.
But she couldn’t afford to lose and that was the difference.
She rocked back, arching as the staff narrowly missed her gut, then swung her stick out to catch Vempur’s feet. He jumped and brought his bow down to the mat barely missing her back as she rolled out from under his strike.
“Stars!” Halo Mins—their instructor—yelled across the sparring room. “It shouldn’t look like a dance. It should look like a fight!”
Several of the other Year Sevens in the room snickered, and she knew it was at their expense.
“Shit,” Imogene swore, resetting as she hopped away. “He’s going to knock me down.”
“He won’t. He can’t.” Vempur punched out, and Imogene blocked the weapon. They pushed against one another and locked, resting for a beat. “You’ve dominated everyone today.”
“Not everyone.” She pushed, using her momentum to twist and swing, the pole wide, catching Vempur’s ankles. His giant frame slammed against the mat, and she went in for the kill, feigning a stab into his throat.
Vempur opened his hands against his bow staff in supplication and frowned. “Everyone knows you belong on the leaderboard, Imogene.”
Author Bio:
As a kid, CL Walters, world revolved around two things: stories and make believe. She’s built a real life around those two things: a teacher of stories and a writer of make believe.
With four books now published, she’s looking forward to her fifth release October 13, 2020, a YA Contemporary Romance called The Stories Stars Tell.
Sign up for her newsletter for news, goodies, and fun (www.clwalters.net)
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The Widow Queen and her Lover by Alan Gold blitz with giveaway
The Widow Queen and her Lover
Alan Gold
Publication date: September 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Historical
No longer one of the spoils of war, Catherine, Queen of England and France, resolves to fight for her new life – on her own terms
Catherine of Valois, daughter of the defeated king of France, looks down from the battlements as her future rides to greet her.
As one of the spoils of war, she is to be married to her father’s enemy, Henry V of England. She is prepared to do her duty – what could be worse than continuing to live with her ailing father and cold mother – but she wasn’t prepared to fall in love.
Henry is everything that she wanted in a husband, and a king. In him she finds a devoted lover and inspiring ruler. When he dies, shortly after she has delivered his heir, her future and that of her son is in doubt. Not only must she protect her baby, the young Henry VI, she must protect his legacy from the grasping and scheming of his uncle and protector.
When Owen Tudor — Welshman, commoner, troublesomely attractive — stumbles into her lap, she sees her future. A man who will not lead armies, nor rule kingdoms. Instead, one who will devote himself to protecting what is hers. But he must sacrifice everything he has in order to marry her, and even that may not be enough to keep them all safe.
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EXCERPT:
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Gaspar saw movement. It was a woman coming up the steps from the rooms below in the castle. She’d heard the singing and wanted to see who was chanting. Monks? Townsfolk? Jongleurs? She didn’t look scared, and Gaspar recognised her immediately. It was the young and beautiful Catherine of Valois, only eighteen and the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Tall, majestic, regal, yet happy in her life, friendly, open, and warm … the very opposite of the mad father and especially the cold cow of a mother. God knows how she could be so happy and cheerful when she had a mother like that woman down below, that Bavarian bitch and a lunatic for a father.
Author Bio:
Alan Gold began his career as a journalist, working in the UK, Europe, and Israel. In 1970, he emigrated to Australia with his wife, Eva, and now lives in St. Ives, Sydney, where he divides his time between writing novels and running his award-winning marketing consultancy.
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Cover Reveal: Urban Gladiator by Anya Summers
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Urban Gladiator
Anya Summers
Publication date: August 29th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Four times a year, a witch is chosen.
Four times a year, a witch is left bound in a clearing –
Served up as a sacrifice to honor the peace treaty.
But those offered up in tribute never return.
The rulers of Avalon exact vengeance on my people.
But many forget they started the war.
They are monsters. They are murderers.
And now it’s my turn. I volunteered to save my sister.
Only I wind up belonging to him.
He’s the heir to the throne, and my vilest enemy.
He’s bent on making me his slave both in and out of bed.
But this witch will never surrender.
Author Bio:
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.
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Year of the Fledgling by Linda Kage blitz with giveaway
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**
Year of the Fledgling
Linda Kage
Publication date: July 29th 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Theron, the Eradicator, has one job: to protect the people of Starcast by killing the deadly creatures that attack them. That’s it.
Being an Eradicator comes with a heavy price, however, for he’s strictly prohibited from having any kind of personal contact with the villagers.
But one night, he sneaks into the town’s harvest festival, anyway, and meets the lovely, young healer’s apprentice.
As Theron grows close to her, it becomes harder to tell what’s more dangerous: risking a fatal injury while battling dark ones or risking fatal punishment by beginning a secret dalliance with a forbidden girl.
In either case, doom seems to be the only outcome, and tension mounts as love and danger blur across the reach of this fantastical, seaside landscape.
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EXCERPT:
She pounded on the thick door as hard and loudly as she could.
When it began to open and she had her first look at his face again—his features a mask of puzzled bewilderment—the terrible pressure in her chest finally released in a flood, and it all seemed to spill right out of her mouth.
“Wha…?” he started to ask.
But the flood had already hit her.
“I am beyond vexed with you,” she seethed, flinging off her hood so he could see the full extent of her rage before she pushed past him to enter the watchtower.
Theron glanced out into the darkening evening as if to make sure she didn’t have anyone else with her, then he shut the door and turned, lifting his eyebrows sternly. “Please tell me you did not walk up here by yourself.”
Ignoring his question, she demanded, “Honestly, how could you do this to me?”
“Are you absolutely mad?” he challenged right back, just as upset as she, and stormed forward. “What were you thinking? If someone had seen you—”
“They would’ve shrugged me off as you! But no one saw me. And I was thinking about how mad I am,” she railed, lifting her chin to meet his swirling, livid gaze.
Theron scoffed. “Yes, I can tell you’re unhappy, but that gives you no right to put your very livelihood at stake to come up here and tell me thus.”
“It’s my livelihood to worry about, and my right to risk it as I please.”
“And you are one of two people left in this entire, bleeding world that I’m allowed to still talk to. So I refuse to let you be so frivolous with your—”
“Argh!” she shrieked, lifting her hands and curling her fingers as if to display her claws at him. “You are so maddening.”
One of his eyebrows arched, then he burst out grinning. “But am I maddening enough for you to want to kiss me senseless again? Please say yes.”
She snorted. “Hardly. You’re certainly maddening enough to make me want to wring your fool neck as hard as I can, though.”
Lifting his chin to put his neck on full display, Theron countered, “Well, take your best shot, little healer-in-training. But first, would you at least tell me what I did wrong this time that made you so mad? A fellow appreciates at least knowing why he’s being strangled.”
Xia sucked in an irate breath. Then her chin trembled. And finally, the tears that she’d been holding back all the way from Norbin’s pig pen came gushing down her cheeks.
“You made me care for you!” she accused, weeping so soundly that her entire body shuddered and she had to cover her mouth with both hands to contain it.
Author Bio:
Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy. Most Kage stories lean more toward the lighter, sillier side with a couple meaningful moments thrown in. Focuses more on entertainment value and emotional impact.
Published since 2010. Went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature. Then graduated with a Bachelors in Arts, English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.
Now she lives with hubby, two daughters, cat Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas, USA. Farm girl. Parents were dairy farmers. Was youngest of eight. Big family. Day job as a cataloging library assistant.
Harry Potter House Gryffindor, Patronus White Stallion, character match Hagrid. Supernatural Team Dean. Game of Thrones Team Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. The Walking Dead Team Daryl. Outlander Team Jamie Fraser. Teen Wolf Team Stiles. Avenger Team Thor…or Hulk (can’t decide). Justice League Team Flash. Arrow Team Stephen Amell. Stranger Things obsessed. Heard Laurel, not Yanny.
Started out reading with the Baby-Sitters Club. Then moved to Sandra Brown, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood, and LaVyrle Spencer in high school. Now all over the place with her romance reading tastes.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Instagram / Twitter
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