Badge of Honor by India Lord blitz with giveaway
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Badge of Honor
India Lord
Publication date: December 5th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Scars—a badge of honor denoting strength.
Milly
My hellish month is looking up!
I’ve scored a private nursing job.
No more sleeping in my car, stressing about my debts.
My patient is a military man. Gorgeous. Tattooed. Built. He’s also temporarily blind and tries to sack me during my first hour on the job.
I’m way past desperate, so let him try to banish me.
Connor
All I want is to recover and return to my men in Afghanistan.
The problem is without my sight, I’m helpless as a kitten.
My family treats me like a child. When they get tired of my temper, they hire her.
The woman is determined, I’ll give her that. But there’s something about her that intrigues me, makes my mind wander to kissing and pleasure and soft curves.
Too bad we have no future.
Contains a grumpy, injured military man, a scarred nurse, and a little small town instalove, which makes everything better.
—
EXCERPT:
“Hold still while I clean your face. You’re bleeding everywhere. I’m going to place my hand on your shoulder.” A verbal warning, so he didn’t freak at the physical contact. I continued to inform him of my intentions.
The tension left his broad shoulders, and his frown relaxed maybe a millimeter. Up close, he was a handsome specimen. More rugged than pretty, his skin a golden bronze from sun exposure. A shaggy beard framed his mouth and jawline, and he wore a pair of black shorts and nothing else. Tattoos curled across his biceps and decorated sculpted pectoral muscles.
“Are you staring at me?” he asked, his bandaged gaze turning in my direction.
“Yes.”
“Well, stop.”
“I’m a nurse.”
“It doesn’t feel like a nurse stare,” he muttered.
A snicker escaped me. “Hold the gauze to your cheek while I open the iodine.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“True, but you’ve bled over the sheets.” I seized his right hand and lifted it to his cheek.
“You’re bossy.” Now he sounded intrigued rather than grumpy.
“It comes with the job.” I deftly opened the iodine bottle and transferred the yellow liquid to a blob of cotton wool. An instant later, I lifted his hand and covered the wound with the pungent liquid.
“Ow.”
“Don’t be a baby.” I lifted the cotton wool and applied a plaster covered with cartoon characters. “That should do the trick.”
“What have you done?” He’d heard the grin in my words.
“Nothing.”
“You’ve used my niece’s plasters,” he said after a long pause. He stood abruptly, anger and frustration returning to his features. “Dammit, I don’t need a nurse. Talk to Carolyn on your way out, and she’ll pay you for today. You’re fired.”
Author Bio:
An incurable romantic and a lover of reading—romance, of course—it was inevitable India Lord turned to writing next. India writes sassy, steamy romances with strong alpha heroes, curvy heroines who are no pushovers, and a happy ending. A must, in India’s opinion.
When India isn’t writing, she loves to walk and explore the countryside. She’s also a dedicated researcher of cheese scones—her favorite treat to eat with a cup of tea.
Keep in touch by joining India’s newsletter: https://indialord.substack.com/
GIVEAWAY!
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The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman Blog Tour #bookreview #thriller #suspense
**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.**
Title: The Opportunist
Author: Elyse Friedman
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Page Count: 251
My rating: 4 stars
About the book:
A deliciously sly, compulsively readable tale about greed, power and the world’s most devious family.
When Alana Shropshire’s seventy-six-year-old father, Ed, starts dating Kelly, his twenty-eight-year-old nurse, a flurry of messages arrive from Alana’s brothers, urging her to help “protect Dad” from the young interloper. Alana knows that what Teddy and Martin really want to protect is their father’s fortune, and she tells them she couldn’t care less about the May–December romance. Long estranged from her privileged family, Alana, a hardworking single mom, has more important things to worry about.
But when Ed and Kelly’s wedding is announced, Teddy and Martin kick into hyperdrive and persuade Alana to fly to their father’s West Coast island retreat to perform one simple task in their plan to make the gold digger go away. Kelly, however, proves a lot more wily than expected, and Alana becomes entangled in an increasingly dangerous scheme full of secrets and surprises. Just how far will her siblings go to retain control?
Smart, entertaining and brimming with shocking twists and turns, The Opportunist is both a thrill ride of a story and a razor-sharp view of who wields power in the world.
“The rich are different and Elyse Friedman brings the receipts in this twisty story of familial double crossings. The Opportunist is a visceral joy to read and Friedman’s storytelling has more levels than a superyacht. She never hides from the staggering truth that money, in fact, changes everything.” — Emily Schultz, author of Little Threats and The Blondes
“The Opportunist is a wry and unsettling novel featuring one of the most conniving families ever committed to paper. It’s a dark Highsmithian treat about love and greed and murder, and it will make your screwed-up family look like the von Trapps. I devoured it in one sitting. Highly recommended.” — Michael Redhill, author of Bellevue Square
“In The Opportunist, family brings unavoidable dangers. So does money. So does our memory of who we used to be. For her part, Elyse Friedman brings wit and pace and plenty of surprises to a novel you think you’ve figured out at least three or four times, but each time you’ll be thrilled when proven wrong.” — Andrew Pyper, author of The Residence and The Demonologist
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon / HarperCollins.com / BookShop.org / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / IndieBound
Excerpt:
When the calls started up again, Alana ignored them. Ditto the texts and emails, including ones with red exclamation points attached. She had a part-time job that felt full-time and a daughter who required around-the-clock care. She had neither the hours nor the inclination to delve into family drama. And she already knew why her brothers were so desperate to reach her. The younger of the two, Martin, had been messaging sporadically for months about the “skank” their father had taken up with—a nurse, hired by the eldest, Teddy, to tend to the old man’s needs as he grew increasingly infirm and cranky. Nurse Kelly, a woman forty-eight years their father’s junior, a gold digger, obviously, and a clever one according to Martin. Pretty sure she had him at the first sponge bath. Alana was more amused than disturbed. She told her brothers she couldn’t care less. She had more important things to worry about. Eventually, they stopped contacting her.
Then a few weeks ago an oversize envelope had arrived in Alana’s mailbox. Thick creamy paper, her name embossed in swirling gold script—an invitation to the wedding of Edward Shropshire Sr. and Kelly McNutt. Ha! Clever indeed. She felt a fizz of satisfaction, even as she braced for the onslaught from her siblings, who would be outraged at the prospect of losing any portion of their massive inheritance. Alana hated her father and felt nothing but disdain for her brothers. She had no interest in “protecting the family investments” or “presenting a united front” or “having Dad’s back” or any of the increasingly urgent drivel that trickled in from her greedy siblings. She had been estranged from her father for decades and had no stake in this game. It was frankly a shock that she had been invited to the wedding. It must have been Kelly McNutt who insisted on that. The calls, texts and emails started up again with renewed fervor. When Alana finally concluded that her brothers would not leave her in peace until she responded, she composed a simple three-word text, not exactly a family joke, but something they would recognize and understand: BEYOND OUR CONTROL. She added a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji and sent it to Teddy and Martin.
She stopped hearing from them after that.
It was a rough night. Lily’s BiPAP alarm had gone off twice. She could breathe without the machine, but not as well, and Alana was programmed to leap into action from the deepest slumber. The first time it sounded, around 1:00 a.m., it was a mask-fit alarm. A quick adjustment and back
to bed. The second was more annoying: a leak alarm at 4:28 that took forever to rectify—no matter how much she fiddled, the alarm kept sounding. She finally got it fixed and Lily was able to get back to sleep, but Alana couldn’t. She lay in bed, her brain churning. At 5:40 she got up, made coffee, and bolted two cinnamon buns in quick succession, an act she immediately regretted, even as she was scraping the last bits of hard white icing from the aluminum pan into her mouth.
It was a workday, so she woke Lily early, helped her dress, and did her hair in French braids. Ramona was coming for the day and Lily liked to look nice for her favorite support worker. Unlike Alana, Ramona was big into girlie stuff: hair, nails, fashion. She would give Lily mani-pedis, and they would flip through Harper’s Bazaar and Teen Vogue and critique the outfits. Ramona had been with them since Lily was three years old, and Alana trusted her completely. She was hugely competent and a ton of fun. Lily was an earnest child, but when Ramona was around, she let herself be silly and boisterous. It would not be unusual for Alana to come home and find them both with teased-up hair and full-on glitter makeup, binge-watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. Ramona was what Lily called “chill.” Pretty much the opposite of Alana, who was always stressed out and exhausted.
“What time will you be home?” Lily asked.
“If all goes well, five thirty.”
“When does all ever go well?”
Alana laughed. “It’s rare, but it has been known to happen. I was home on time twice last week.”
“True.”
“And you have Ramona.”
“OK. But try.”
“I always try, lovey. But if someone shows up out of the blue at four thirty, I can’t just leave. I have to help them.”
“I know.”
Alana worked part-time at the RedTree Shelter, which offered emergency housing for victims of domestic abuse. It was a foolish job for her to have: low-paying and high stress. Not what she needed in practically her only hours away from managing Lily’s health. She should have taken employment that was easy on the soul, like flower arranging—some vaguely pleasant, not overly cerebral activity that would give her time to refresh and restore. She often fantasized about becoming a professional dog walker or making perfect heart shapes in foamy coffees all day, but she stayed with RedTree. It was important work that made her feel a little better about herself. She sometimes wondered if her motivations were selfish at root.
When Ramona arrived, Alana kissed Lily goodbye and left for work. On her third try she managed to get her Stone Age Honda Odyssey to start and was backing out of the drive when a Lexus pulled in behind her, blocking her way. She tapped the horn—a polite “I’m actually leaving here” signal. Nothing. The car just sat there. She honked again, harder, wondering why it always seemed to be a Lexus or a Mercedes or a BMW that cut her off in traffic, or jumped its turn at a four-way stop, or blocked her driveway when she was trying to get to work, for fuck’s sake. She curbed an impulse to ram her SUV into the shiny roadster, and instead left the Honda running while she strode toward the offending vehicle, getting ready to unleash years of pent-up luxury-car-inspired fury on the entitled asshole behind the wheel. But before she could bang her fist on the tinted window, it slid down smoothly, revealing her brother Martin talking on a cell phone. He had it resting flat on an upturned palm held in front of his face. “OK,” he said. “I know. I’ll take care of it.”
“What the hell, Martin? I have to go to work.” It had been years since she had seen him, but he looked pretty much the same—a slightly higher hairline, maybe a few extra pounds. He was still conventionally handsome, fair and blue-eyed with their father’s chiseled chin, but he now had the slightly puffy face of a drinker, the lightning-bolt blood vessels on the side of his nose. He smelled faintly of good cologne with a top note of leather from the luxury rental car’s seats.
He gave Alana the “I’ll-just-be-one-second” finger. “Listen, Damian, I gotta go. I’ll call you in an hour.” Martin pocketed the phone and smiled at his sister. “Sorry about that.”
“What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t get my texts? I need to speak to you. You have a minute?”
“Not at the moment, no.”
“I flew across the country to talk to you. You can’t give me two minutes of your time?”
“I have to go to work, Martin. If you want to ride with me, you’re welcome to. Just let me out, then you can park in the drive and Uber back.”
Martin eyed the dented Odyssey that was belching out exhaust. “Why don’t I drive you and give you cash to cab home?”
“No, thanks.”
He smiled tightly. “Fine.”
Alana returned to the SUV to wait for her brother. When Martin climbed in, he was carrying a stiff white envelope with a button-and-string closure and an airport gift-shop bag.
“Here, I got this for…your daughter.”
“Her name is Lily.”
“I know that. Of course…you named her after Lillian.”
A demented-looking doll with stiff blond ringlets stuck out of the tissue paper.
“Thanks,” said Alana. “She’s a little old for dolls though.”
“Oh. How old is she now?”
“Eleven.”
“Wow. Time flies. But I thought…”
“What?”
“You know… I figured she’d still be into dolls.”
“She’s not slow, Martin. Her brain is fine.”
“Oh. So…?”
“She has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Well, rare for girls, common for boys.”
“Right.”
“She’s inside, by the way. You want to meet your niece?”
Her brother looked confused and pained, as if she’d asked if he wanted to donate a kidney or breastfeed a cat. “I thought you were in a hurry?”
“I am. I’m just messing with you.” Alana eased the Odyssey out of the driveway. She knew Martin wouldn’t want to meet Lily. And she didn’t want Martin to meet Lily.
“Can you turn the AC on?” Martin fanned himself with the white envelope. “It’s so freaking humid in this city.”
“Sorry, it’s busted.” Alana opened the rear windows to
let in more air but felt a perverse pleasure in depriving her brother of climate control.
“So, look, I understand you don’t care about Dad’s wedding—”
“I really don’t and I’m not going.”
“I don’t give a shit if you go or don’t go, but I’m here to tell you that you should care, actually.”
“And why is that?”
“Because this Kelly woman is seriously messing with Dad’s head.”
“His head or his assets?”
“Both. She’s got him wound around her finger. They’re in the process of setting up a charitable foundation.”
“And that’s a bad thing because…?”
“Because guess who’s going to run it and have access to three hundred million dollars?”
“Kelly McNutt?”
“Yes, Kelly McFucking Nutt. It’s a problem. This girl is dangerous.” A harp gliss sounded from Martin’s pocket. He switched his phone to silent mode.
“Well, it’s not my problem. And anyway, how do you know she won’t use the funds charitably and wisely?”
“Very funny.”
“I’m serious.”
“The same way I know that a twenty-eight-year-old nurse doesn’t fall madly in love with her seventy-six-year-old patient.”
Alana shrugged. “Unlikely, but you never know. I saw his picture in Forbes a few weeks ago. He still looks like Charlton Heston on steroids. Maybe she has daddy issues.”
“It would have to be more like granddaddy issues. I doubt she gets off on adult diapers.”
“He wears diapers?”
“He’s been incontinent for years.”
“Hmm.”
“You must have seen a pre-stroke picture in Forbes.”
“Dad had a stroke?”
“Yes. I told you that last year, Alana.”
“You did?”
“Jesus. Don’t you read your emails?”
“Sometimes the family stuff slips through.”
“Anyway, between that and the prostate surgery, I doubt he can even get it up for Miss McNutt.”
“OK, you know what? I don’t want to talk about this. I’m sorry you and Teddy are going to lose a chunk of your inheritance. But I’m sure there’s more than enough to go around.”
“Yeah, in a perfect world, we’d all be satisfied with our piece of the pie. He’s had playthings before, right? And wasted money on them. But this is different. This one is setting off alarm bells. She isn’t satisfied with having the run of the house and getting a Ferrari and—”
“He bought her a Ferrari?” Alana laughed.
“An 812 GTS. I don’t even want to tell you what that costs.”
“Like how much?”
“A lot.”
“Like a hundred Gs?”
“Try four times that.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah. You think she’d be happy with the lifestyle, right? And some agreed-upon sum in a prenup that would effectively let her retire in high style eight years out of college. But no. Apparently, there isn’t going to be a prenup because he trusts her.”
“Really? That’s surprising.”
“I know. This is what I’m saying. Because she makes him exercise and eat his greens, he actually believes she has his best interests at heart. The woman is very savvy, and basically on a mission to alienate us from Dad. She’s been trying to discredit us from the beginning. And she’s subtle about it. She’s supersmart. He’s already given her power of attorney for personal care. How long before she’s in charge of his property too?”
Excerpted from The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman. Copyright © 2022 by Elyse Friedman. Published by arrangement with MIRA Books
The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman is a domestic suspense novel that dives into the dark side of a wealthy family. The story does have some flashing back to the past but is mostly told in the present timeline.
Alana Shropshire has been estranged from her wealthy family not wanting to be involved in their cutthroat business dealings. Alana instead chose to fend for herself and raise her daughter away from her family. Life is always a struggle though so when Alana’s brothers make a huge offer she has trouble refusing.
It seems that Alana’s brothers are extremely worried about their inheritance falling into the wrong hands when their seventy six year old father insists on marrying yet again. The marriage just can’t happen or his twenty six year old nurse may prove to inherit the family’s fortune but Alana isn’t too sure she’s up to making the offer for the young fiance to walk away.
The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman is one of those books that is deliciously compelling to see just how horrible the characters can actually be. Lifestyles of the rich and rotten would probably have also been a great title but don’t get me wrong they were an addicting kind of rotten that kept the pages turning. Twists and turns kept coming as just as you think the story is over it just kept untangling the knots. Definitely an author I would read again after finishing this new book!
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
About the author:
Elyse Friedman is a critically acclaimed author, screenwriter, poet and playwright. Her work has been short-listed for the Trillium Book Award, Toronto Book Award, ReLit Award and Tom Hendry Award. She has also won a Foreword Book of the Year Award, as well as the 2019 TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter Jury Prize and the 2020 TIFF-CBC Screenwriter Award. Elyse lives in Toronto.
Author Website / Twitter / Instagram / Goodreads
Confessions of a Fangirl by Kirsten S. Blacketer 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.**
Confessions of a Fangirl
Kirsten S. Blacketer
(Her Confessions, #1)
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Life is good. I have a plush job, supportive friends, and a close-knit family. When the new hottie at the office asks me out on a date, I think I just won the jackpot.
Until movie night with the girls leads me down a dark rabbit hole. Who is he? An innocent Google search about a handsome actor has my imagination spinning. Now I’m drowning, and I don’t want salvation. I want him.
But I already have the perfect man. This obsession might just ruin my life.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
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EXCERPT:
“Why don’t you turn on the TV? I have a movie in for us to watch.” He winks. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
I narrow my gaze. “Is it inappropriate?”
Shaun’s eyes widen. “What would give you the impression I would dare cross that line? We’ve only known each other for two weeks.”
“True.”
“Normally I let crazy out of the bottle after the third date, never before then.”
I spin around to face him. “I knew it.”
He doubles over the sink laughing. “Just turn on the TV, Jen.”
When I turn it on, a familiar song comes through the speakers. I grin like an idiot when I see the familiar logo. “Source of Destiny,” I mutter under my breath.
“Good thing you’re a Space Vendetta fan, huh?” He dries his hands and joins me.
My face heats. “Actually, I’m a newbie to the whole thing. We watched it the other weekend for movie night. It was the first time I’d ever heard of the series.”
“Oh, so you had your SVS cherry popped recently, huh?” Shaun sits on the couch next to me and takes the remote from my hand.
“I guess you could say that.” I bite my tongue knowing he doesn’t mean anything by the comment, but it leaves me a bit breathless.
“I guess it’s not your typical movie night choice then.”
“No. One of the guys in the mailroom suggested it when he heard Lily and me discussing ideas in the break room.”
“Lily.” Shaun thinks for a moment. “Oh yes, the classic vintage aficionado.” He nods sagely. “She always looks stunning. It’s a great style on her.”
“Right?” I push away the twist of jealousy. “I envy her style. She looks so put together.”
“You do too.” He grabs my hand and laces his fingers with mine. “It’s what I noticed first about you.”
There goes the damn rollercoaster again. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He squeezes my hand.
I turn my head away to hide the flaming blush I know has consumed my face. My gaze rests on the TV and the logo on the screen.
“Shall we start the movie?”
“Sure.” He presses play and pulls me against him, draping his arm around my shoulder.
We’ve both seen the film before, but within moments we’re both drawn into the story on the screen. My body tenses in anticipation. I know what’s coming, and I brace myself for it.
Captain Korbin Ransom appears on the screen on queue. An ache settles in my chest. Guiltily, I glance at Shaun, who’s entranced by the film. My gaze drifts back to the movie.
This inexplainable gravity draws me into the story. A closeup of the villain’s profile has my heart racing. My fingers dig into Shaun’s thigh. He shifts and pulls me closer.
What the hell is wrong with me? My second date and I’m swooning over a man on the screen when I should be all over the warm, solid man beside me. He made me dinner. Made me feel special. Hell, he made me tiramisu!
As the movie continues, I hold my breath for the moments Korbin Ransom appears in all his leather-clad wonder. The character’s brooding darkness and sexy swagger have me on the edge of my seat. I’m drawn to this villain in ways I can’t comprehend.
I like good men. Honest men. Men who make me dinner and treat me like a queen. But deep in the dark recesses of my mind, my imagination flirts with something I’ve never allowed into the light. I’m aroused and ashamed. I shove these fantasies of a tempting villain aside and focus on enjoying this moment with Shaun, a good man of flesh and blood.
When the credits roll, I slowly shift from beneath his arm and stretch. “That movie gets better every time I see it. I mean, it’s like I catch details I missed before.”
“Yeah, happens to me too.” He stretches his arm out and grabs my wrist, pulling me back against him.
I’m breathless, caught in the haze of his blue eyes. My heart’s racing.
“Jen…am I going too fast for you?” There’s hunger in their depths.
I swallow. “No.”
“If I ever make you uncomfortable, tell me.” A soft smile curves his lips. “I like you.”
“I like you too.” My fingers brush his cheek. I lean in and kiss him.
His soft lips part beneath mine and he pulls me closer. “You can stay tonight if you want,” he whispers between passionate kisses.
“As much as I would love to take you up on that.” I sigh against his lips. “I can’t.”
He nods. “I understand. Sleeping together on a second date feels like we’re going at hyperspeed.”
I chuckle at the Space Vendetta reference. “Yeah, it does.”
“I’ll leave it up to you.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “When you’re ready, let me know.”
Author Bio:
Kirsten Blacketer writes the stories she’s dying to read. She likes mystery and intrigue, handsome heroes, sassy heroines, and a chance to break the rules. She lives for sexual tension and loves kissing scenes. There’s no way she can write in just one era, so don’t be surprised if you see her jumping from medieval Scotland to prohibition on the Mississippi River to late Victorian London then onto contemporary Brooklyn. She follows wherever the muse leads her.
The KSB Guarantee: A Steamy Getaway and Always a HEA!
GIVEAWAY!
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Moon Tamed by Audrey Greene 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.**
Moon Tamed
Audrey Greene
Publication date: December 6th 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Coraline Patten enjoys nothing more than facing new challenges, but when she’s asked to evaluate Moonriver’s ruling faction, she worries she’s bitten off more than she can chew.
Allasandro Stephans has reigned since she’d been a child, unwavering in his dedication to Moonriver. His heir, Calden, has supported him every step of the way. Together, the shapeshifting widower and his son appear to be the perfect men for the job of preserving and protecting their home.
When Moonriver’s heir asks her to free his father from the burden of leadership, Coraline is determined to do what is best for her people, even if it costs her the love of her life.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo
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EXCERPT:
Sila snickered. “With that comment, you just guaranteed your selection. That is what normal people call testing their luck. Have you worked for the Hunters before?”
“No.” With Sila, short and to the point worked the best. If I gave her a single opening, she would talk me to death and force me to regret my decision to be her friend.
Sila meant well, however, even when she drove me mad.
My friend rubbed her hands together. “They’re pretty nice to work for. While most of them are predatory shifters, they’re respectful of time and energy. It helps they can smell fatigue and frustration, and they understand a happy worker is a better worker. They stop problems before they become problems as a general rule. The male temps get the short straw—they get into pissing contests with the Hunters. Us women? We already know how to avoid the pissing contests. We win when we don’t play the game.”
When Sita started spouting sexist nonsense, it often sourced from a bad night with her latest suitor. “Did you have a bad date last night?”
“It was horrible. Who knew a Legacy researcher could be so clueless? I educated him, but there won’t be a second date. He was so dry I thought about asking him to do my laundry.”
The few times I’d dated a Legacy member, I’d emerged better educated but lacking in the basic relationship department. Members of Legacy lived for the pursuit of old knowledge. Intellectual company appealed, but I also longed for the other facets of a good relationship,
including physical affection, sweet nothings, and someone I could be near in safety and comfort.
Still, Legacy members could be taught, and I’d met more than a few who were kind to a fault but oblivious. “Maybe you should give him a second try, Sila. You bothered to educate him. Why not benefit from your tutoring. Is he nice?”
“He is disturbingly nice,” she complained.
Well, some problems had simple solutions. “Teach him to get a little rough with you, then.”
“I might. He texted me this morning. I replied that I was getting my work assignment. You think I should try him again?”
“He’s nice and can be taught, Sila. Find out if he cooks and cleans. If so, he might be the perfect man.”
“You make a good point.” Sila sighed, dug out her phone, and tapped at the screen. “There. I told him that, assignment allowing, I’m free most nights this week if he’d like to get together. This might be for the best. I was about to hit up someone from Moonward.”
I winced. Of Moonriver’s factions, Moonward attracted the most ambitious men and women with an interest in magic. Witches made up most of the membership, but they accepted all types. “Dangerous dates are not wise, Sila.”
“I’m looking for love. That is dangerous.”
No kidding. Before I could reply, our manager rang his little silver bell so he could deliver the news—and reveal who would assist the Hunters. “I’ll keep this as short as possible, as we have a busy day. I already drew the name for the Hunter contract while you gossips talked up a storm.”
When Almon Friarin went the route of serious efficiency, we had a higher number of requests than normal.
“Today is going to be fun,” Sila predicted.
I huffed and refrained from cursing. “Sure. It’s going to be about as fun as a lobotomy.”
Before I could further embarrass myself, our boss said, “Line up for your assignment. You’ll just have to accept I won’t be turning our job into a circus today. Maybe tomorrow. The Hunters of Moonriver have asked for discretion.”
“Well, this sucks,” Sila muttered. “He lured us all here so nobody would skip out on a crazy day.”
“You’re probably right.” My fellow co-workers queued up to receive their assignments, and I joined the line, dragging Sila with me. “Be grateful it’s not a parade. Or worse, a positive reinforcement day.”
“Good point. There is only so much public praise I can handle a year. A ten-minute lecture on how good I am at following basic instructions would break me today.” Sila made a show of shuddering. “Last time, one of the clients had sent him a photo of my work along with praise. I almost perished.”
I knew of one way to derail my friend before she delved deeper into the dark waters of her self-inflicted stress. “Did you get a raise?”
“Ten cents an hour for accomplishing perfection.”
Well, that backfired in a painful fashion. “I’ve never gotten a raise for perfection,” I informed her.
“I asked for it. Did you?”
The next time I got pulled into our boss’s office, I would make a point of asking. “Did the ten cents an hour actually help your budget?”
One of the distinct disadvantages of remaining unaffiliated was our pay; the factions made a point of paying their members competitive rates for their work. Migrant workers made up the majority of the unaffiliated, although holdouts like me existed.
I accepted lower pay and less say in the governing of Moonriver in exchange for flexibility and freedom.
“Every penny counts, except when it doesn’t.” Sila shrugged.
Author Bio:
Audrey Greene writes sweet paranormal and urban fantasy splashed with some romance and hints of science fiction. She lives in California, loves going to the beach, and appreciates taking the time to smell the roses.
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Cover Reveal: Queen of the Underworld by Felicity Heaton
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Queen of the Underworld
Felicity Heaton
(A Guardians of Hades Series Prequel)
Publication date: January 31st 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Hades, the wickedly dark god-king of the Underworld, needs a queen…
And he’s chosen Persephone.
All Persephone has ever desired is control of her own life, and someone noticing her once in a while. Kept in her mother’s shadow, and overlooked by the entirety of Olympus, her dream seems impossible… and now she’s doomed to wed a dull god of her mother’s choosing…
Until she crosses paths with a handsome, dark warrior who rouses wildfire heat in her veins—a male whose immense power is unmistakable, and who matches the fearful tales whispered in Olympus—stories of a cruel, heartless king who rules his realm of death with an iron fist.
When Hades abducts her and imprisons her in the depths of the Underworld, a dormant part of her awakens. And as she slowly discovers the truth about him, Persephone isn’t sure whether the snarling, dark beast of a king is her doom… or her saviour… but she knows one thing…
She will embrace the fire he awakens in her with every heated glance, and every vicious growl.
And use it to tame him and forge her dreams into reality.
Because, Persephone, the quiet, gentle goddess of nature, desires a king.
And nothing will stop her from claiming his black heart.
Queen of the Underworld is a forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance novel retelling the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, and a prequel in my Guardians of Hades series. In the vein of an adult beauty and the beast, it features a grumpy-sunshine pairing that will steal your heart, with a secretly cinnamon roll hero and a secretly fiery heroine, and a powerful forever kind of love. All Guardians of Hades books have no cliffhangers, a guaranteed happily ever after, and some strong language.
Author Bio:
I’m a NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY and International Best-Selling Author writing passionate paranormal romance books and series for adults.
I love to create detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! All of them alpha as you would expect in paranormal romance, and every book with a guaranteed HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER!
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Fans of paranormal romance books by authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione, Kresley Cole and Christine Feehan will love my books too.
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Carries Book Reviews 
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