We lost childhoods. We lost opportunities. We lost love.
Fate is giving us another chance. But a chance at what?
Because even though we’ve been brought back to each other under the worst of circumstances…
We are still. So. Damn. Lost.
Author of romance novels such as Red Card and the Captive Heart Duet, Carrie Aarons writes sexy, swoony and sarcastic characters who won't get out of her head until she puts them down on a page.
Carrie has wanted to be an author since the first time she opened a book. She loves spinning tales that include dapper men, women with attitude, and the occasional hunky athlete.When she isn't in what her husband calls a "writing coma", Carrie is freeing up her jam-packed DVR, starting her latest DIY project, or planning her next travel adventure. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, who is more than happy to watch sports while his wife plots love stories.
BT Urruela is former military with scars from war that forever changed his life. He attends an acting class, is a personal trainer at an elite facility in Tampa, and is your typical warm-blooded male.
Life is pretty easy-going for BT... then Aviana Maguire catches his eye.
Aviana attends the same acting class as BT, but does her best to stay under the radar. She’s the product of a broken family and a less than desirable childhood. She’s riddled with emotional scars and has extreme trust issues with men and all relationships in general.
Life was hard for Aviana as she struggled daily to just stay afloat. Just when she thought life couldn’t get more difficult, she’s snatched away from her home as retribution for someone else’s mistakes.
Underworlds, debts, and an obsession for justice could change everything for them both.
BT may rescue the girl he tracked into the dark recesses of Las Vegas, but will she ever be the same?
Or will BT become so deeply involved in SIN, that he becomes the one needing to be rescued?
Marie James: I’m a full-time, working mother of two boys and wife of 11 years. I've spent almost my entire lifetime living in central Texas, with only short stays in South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. I've always wanted to write novels and just recently had the gumption to sit down and start one. My passions include reading everything under the sun and plotting out new books to write in the future.
Kincaid is my 7th book. I’ve also written the Hale Series, Love ME Like That, and a FanFiction named Psychosis, featuring up and coming cover model, Matthew Hosea, as the main character. This book was done for fun and all of the proceeds are going to charity. All of my books are currently available on Amazon.
Synopsis: Henry Weston can’t take it anymore. Lately, his job with the Alliance seems to be less about protecting shifters from their enemies, and more about surveilling his own people and making sure they don’t break any Alliance rules. This is not what he signed up for, so it’s time for him to make a change. There’s only one problem: his mate and colleague Margaret isn’t on board at all, in fact they can’t seem to agree on anything lately.Meanwhile, Alliance leader Adrian Blacke’s new assistant, Gail McPherson is having similar trouble adjusting to her job. The ideals that made her join the Alliance don’t match up with her day-to-day reality and she yearns for something else.When the two of them meet, sparks fly, and they even start to hear each other’s thoughts, like only true mates can. But Henry already has a mate whom he wants to remain loyal to, despite their disagreements. If Henry and Gail can’t be lovers, at least they can be allies in a new cause: forming a New Alliance. What ensues is a battle between sense and emotion; loyalty and fate.This paranormal romance novella is the fifth in the Scottish Werebear series. For the best experience, readers are advised to read the series in order.
EXCERPT - A PAINFUL DILEMMA
Henry hadn't wanted a fight, but things had a way of escalating between him and Maggie."Why don't you trust me anymore?" Maggie folded her arms."Come on; it's not like that!" Henry argued, taking a step forward to rest his hand on Maggie's arm.She pulled away just in time and shook her head. "Well, there's no other explanation. First, you go on the surveillance mission on your own, then you don't even involve me in the interrogation of that prisoner you took. Tell me, what am I supposed to think?"Henry sighed. In a way, she was right. He hadn't wanted her to come along to Gartcosh to surveil Matt's house the other day. It's not that he didn't trust her, or didn't think she'd do a good job. Actually, he expected she'd do too good a job. She would have followed Blacke's orders to the letter, so they would have ended up with three prisoners, not just one. Caroline Pratt was a given, she was a Son's collaborator after all, but Maggie would have also rounded up Matt and Leah.He and Maggie had been an item for years; Henry knew how she functioned.As for the interrogation, he just couldn't risk Caroline cracking and mentioning the pictures she'd taken. Luckily, so far she seemed to hold up quite well and not said a word."Blacke gave me the order; it's only natural that I execute it," Henry excused his decision.He had to come clean to her about what had happened, but with Maggie in the mood she was in right now, it wasn't the right time. She'd always been hot-blooded, and not particularly easy to reason with when she was ticked off."Did Blacke tell you not to take your partner along on the job?" Maggie demanded.Henry remained quiet. Of course, he hadn't."I didn't think so."She was hurt, obviously. And Henry couldn't blame her. But if there was one thing he had to give her credit for, she did take her work very seriously."Look, I didn't mean to step on your toes, but I can't have you questioning my operational decisions like this. When we're on the job, I'm in charge. That's just the way things are.""Fine!" Maggie pressed her lips together. There was nothing agreeable about her body language."Now, shall we have breakfast? Wouldn't want to be late for work."Maggie shrugged and marched out of their bedroom. Although he'd pulled the seniority card on her, this argument was far from over.Today was going to be a long day.--For much of the day, Maggie made it a point to steer clear of Henry, which was just as well. They weren't hiding their relationship as such, but they made it a point to always stay professional at work.Henry liked to think of himself as a fair and capable leader. His agents trusted him - most of the time, in the case of Maggie - and he ensured not to give preferential treatment to his mate. Plus, bears weren't the sharing sort. They didn't wear their hearts on their sleeve like wolves seemed to do. In his unit, one's private life was just that: private.Before lunch, Henry interrogated his latest prisoner - Caroline Pratt - some more. Nothing came out of it, just as he had come to expect from most of the Sons of Domnall members. Especially those that seemed to be authority figures of some sort were especially tight-lipped. Caroline's demeanor, as well as her role in the attempted second kidnapping of Matthew Argyle, made Henry suspect she wasn't just an informant, but perhaps a faction leader.Then again, she wasn't in the loop on a great many Sons activities at all, or she might have already known who or what Matt was.Either way, it was time to close the file on her and send her and the other prisoners across to Stirling, where the Alliance Headquarters were located. Henry wrote up a sanitized version of the events leading up to Caroline's capture, whatever little details he gathered during the interrogation, and that was that. Case closed. He'd inform Blacke's people shortly.Once that was done, he grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and started to brainstorm about something else entirely. He'd had an epiphany outside Matt's house that day, but he hadn't taken the time to really think about it in depth. If he was going to set up a movement to counter Blacke's Alliance, he couldn't just wing it.
DON'T MISS THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE SEXY SCOTTISH WEREBEAR SERIES!
Lorelei Moone is an up-and-coming author of paranormal romance based in London. Her first book, Scottish Werebear: An Unexpected Affair has hit the virtual shelves on Amazon on 25 September 2015, and her second, Scottish Werebear: A Dangerous Business a month later on the 25th of October. A lover of all things sweet, and caffeinated, when she’s not writing about sexy bear shifters and their strong-willed curvaceous love interests, Lorelei can be found baking cookies or cakes for her family.
I knew from the first time I saw Marc Kirby that I was screwed.Big eyes, scruffy face, brown curls – yes, yes, and yes. The man is wicked hot.He’s also my roommate, and since I work nights and he’s at class all day – it’s like living alone at half the rent.Then an unexpected night off turns into an unexpected morning in Marc’s bed and an even more unexpected realization that both of us are terrible in the sack. This is not great news for Marc who’s going on a “bangcation” at the end of the summer – a whole month in France that he’s planned to spend getting busy with the women of Paris. It’s also not great news for me for obvious reasons.With both of us needing work on our skills, there’s only one logical solution to our predicament. Told you I was screwed.
About the Authors:With over 1 million books sold, Laurelin Paige is the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching Game of Thrones and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She's also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn't do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.Kayti McGee is a Kansas City native who now calls Colorado home. When she isn’t writing, she’s making up recipes to go with her favorite books.
Title: The Wikomsette
Series: The Wikomsette #1
Author: Emerald Lavere
Genre: Adult, Erotic Fantasy
Published: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Loose Id
Regina lost her husband four years ago. Now she lives a solitary life--by choice. But her preferences are tossed aside when an unseen force drops her into a remote jungle. There, a small group of handsome, athletic men are waiting to show her that the woman who takes on their tribe has no chance to remain lonely...or unsatisfied.
But Regina wants more than what she's offered. Niku takes her to bed for her first time in years, but is emotionally absent. Ax makes her writhe in pleasure, when he's not tempting her to punch him in the face. Brannon is a sweet-talking, dreamboat, but can she trust him not to break her heart? Tennyson, Benji and Sebastian all adore her, but is their connection with her more than just the wild times they share between the sheets? With Rayne overflowing with animosity, and Viktor making her want to run and hide, figuring out which one of these men might just be the next great love in her life, is going to be a challenge.
On Sunday—it must have been Sunday, because it was Wednesday when I’d arrived, and unless I was on a different planet…well, they sure looked like human men, acted like human men, felt like human men—anyway, it was Sunday to me, and all the men were resting. Some milled around the clearing talking and laughing, while others stayed in their quarters or swam in the nearby river.
Rayne was assigned to take me farther down the river where I could bathe privately.
Before I waded in, I asked, “What does it mean? Bisho un vu?”
Rayne sat cross-legged on the shore, absorbed in the black device he always carried. It was flat and about the size of a greeting card, and seemed to be a computer or tablet. He paused in his activity and answered in a solemn tone, eyes still on the device, “It means, ‘I offer myself to you.’”
“Oh.” That was surprising. “That’s rather romantic, considering I’m nothing more than a common prostitute here.”
“You are La Wikomsette!” Rayne snapped, frustration flashing in his icy eyes. “You are like a queen. They’ll do anything for you.” Then he finished bitterly, “There is no higher honor.”
“Why do you hate me?” I blurted. In my life back home, I didn’t open up to anyone, but here, so far from normal society, mincing words seemed an unnecessary formality.
“Don’t be stupid,” he replied with contempt. Concentrating on his device, he added, “Even if I did hate you, why would it matter? You have seven men here who would give their lives for you. If that’s not good enough, then you are a spoiled child and don’t deserve the love of even one of them.”
I seriously doubted love had much to do with anything. Mad horniness, maybe. I took off my clothes, and when Rayne didn’t show the slightest interest, I was stung by the insult. Maybe I was a spoiled child. But a wicked desire to harass him came over me.
Once in the water, I called, “I’ve figured it all out, you know.” That seemed to catch his attention, but he still didn’t look over or say anything. “You all are aliens, and I’m no longer on Earth.”
He burst out laughing. I smiled, pleased that I’d cracked his hard exterior. Also, it seemed I could cross that theory off my list. It was a lame one, anyway. The forest, or jungle, more like, was teeming with familiar wildlife.
“This doesn’t look like Earth?” he said, amused, gazing at the lush foliage around us. “Pity, we tried so hard to replicate your home planet to fool you.” He laughed at his own joke, then sighed. He shook his head and returned his attention to the device.
“Why did the men say that? About offering themselves?” I asked, splashing around in the pleasant water. “Not all of them did, though.” I wished Niku had said it. I would have liked him to, and Brannon was so affectionate, why hadn’t he?
After a moment, Rayne said, “In our…culture, a man says that only the first time he gives himself to someone.”
“But, it was the first time that each one…” I stopped midsentence, gasping as realization dawned. “Do you mean to tell me those men have never, ever been with a woman before? Ever?”
Rayne nodded.
After diving underwater to look for the soap I’d dropped, I came up and threw out my next theory. “Are you all from a monastery? Or some…weird cult or something?”
“Regina.” Even though he wasn’t looking in my direction, I could tell he was rolling his eyes. “Finish your bath. I don’t want to babysit you all day, and we have the Rest Day meal in a little while.” Despite the reprimand, his tone was lighter than before. Was this progress? Maybe he would learn to like me, after all.
“Your English is already flawless, and the others have learned so much. How is that even possible after so few days?” I asked while scrubbing my hair.
Rayne set the computer object down, stretched out his legs, and leaned back on his hands. “I’m not sure how to explain it well. But we have technology”—he waved a hand carelessly—“far more advanced than what you are used to—”
“How do you know what I’m used to?” Rayne had the annoying habit of talking down to me, and I was quickly growing tired of it.
“Are you done yet? Let’s head back,” he replied coolly.
“Almost. Sorry. Please tell me. Please?” I should really learn to keep my big mouth shut. He was annoyed again and waited a minute or two before answering.
“Well, the equipment is like a computer, a very, very small one. It houses thousands of languages. Ax identified yours the first day you came.” A dark look crossed his brow, and he went silent for several moments. Taking a deep breath, he went on. “I guess the most basic way to say it is we download the information into our brains, bits at a time. I already knew much of this language, so really I just had to fine-tune it.”
This was followed by several minutes of quiet while I climbed out of the water, wrapped up in a towel, and then just sat as I pondered the implications in his explanation. Rayne eventually glanced my way. “You’re androids?” I asked in a whisper.
“Oh good gosh, you are ridiculous! Get your clothes on. I’m starting back now, and you can keep up or get lost out here.” He stood and started walking while I pulled on my clothes as quickly as possible. I still almost lost him in the brush as I tripped over myself and tried to catch up.
Title: A Wife for the Future
Series: The Wikomsette #2
Author: Emerald Lavere
Genre: Adult, Erotic Fantasy
Published: January 18, 2016
Publisher: Loose Id
Ashling never understood some of the oddities in her upbringing, until a family secret is revealed: her father is from the distant future. It has been predetermined that he will return to his native time on Ashling's twentieth birthday and she must go with him. Future society has a critical shortage of women and humanity is threatened with extinction.
Given time to recover from the shock and to prepare for a vastly different civilization, Ashling accepts her fate. She's required to take several husbands, and produce offspring to help prevent the human race from dying out. After a sheltered childhood with limited social interaction, Ashling is aroused by the idea of having romantic partners for the first time in her life.
As soon as she's introduced to her prospective mates, feelings of being overwhelmed are quickly replaced by desire for the men who wish to court her. Ashling takes three husbands, reveling in the passion she shares with each of them. Life becomes one delicious encounter after another.
And then her father is accused of a crime, and the only man willing to help free him is the man Ashling wants most, but may never have.
She smiles, and it makes her less intimidating. She has very nice teeth. “My dear, calm yourself.” She sweeps across the room and sits in a dramatic pose on one of the couches. “I’m told your name is Ashling?”
“Yes, my lady.” I take a seat across from her. I feel self-conscious and horribly underdressed in my sweat suit.
“I feel already that you are different than the other girls I’ve mentored. I’m not exactly sure what it is…” She blinks rapidly at my outfit as if noticing it for the first time. “But you are quite lovely. The men will certainly be doing everything they can think of to win your favor and a place in your tribe.”
I blush. “Thank you. I hope I can…be what is required.”
“Darling, you will meet all expectations if you can do but two things: open your legs to let your husbands in and open them again to let children out. Anything beyond that is extra.”
Now I’m blushing so hard that Ambria laughs. “Oh my, you are sweet! I didn’t come here just to tell you that! I’m an experienced Wikomsette, darling, and I’ll give you much more advice in the ways of the life. If what I’ve said already has you turning so pink, you may need a brandy or two before hearing some of the rest. I’m afraid you’ll faint away!” She laughs again, and I smile back at her.
I also have the urge to lock myself away in my new, ugly bedroom, but there’s no getting out of this. Instead, I resign myself to remaining planted in the Penthouse living room and settle in for the afternoon with Ambria. Her lessons aren’t too bad at the start.
“I’ve been told you’ve led an especially sheltered life,” she says.
I nod.
“That you didn’t grow up in a traditional household and will need to have even the most basic things explained.” She raises an eyebrow and pauses as if hoping I’ll spill some beans. I respond only with my best wide-eyed innocent stare. She concedes and continues, “So bear with me if some of what I say seems remedial.”
Ambria goes on to explain that the Penthouse is referred to as the “Domain” in Wikomsette households, and gives a lot of advice about keeping peace in the home. Things like being clear with my expectations of the husbands and not depriving them.
“Unless they’ve upset you, of course, dear. Then feel free to teach the offending man a lesson! Oh, and also, I would be careful if you have any particular tastes, if you understand me. I once asked for two of my husbands to share my bed at the same time for a bit of extra excitement.” She shakes her head. “The request was not well received by those two! But I got myself a couple of new husbands after that who weren’t so particular about whom they bedded, and oh my!” Ambria winks.
I find myself giggling even though the very idea sort of horrifies me. “Oh, no. I don’t think anything like that will be an issue.” My face is hot again.
“Well, you never know, dear. Once you get a taste for the cock…oh that reminds me, we should discuss tasting the cocks…” For the next hour or so, I sit, listen, choke on the water I’m drinking several times, and think my face will burst into flames of embarrassment many more times. At one point, Ambria is so caught up in her explanations of sex positions, she actually bunches up her gown and gets on all fours on the floor to explain the best way to prop yourself up while “taking it from behind” and adding self-stimulus with either your fingers or a pleasure device. “Those are a bit taboo, of course, as a woman shouldn’t be relieving herself when she has so many men that can barely get enough of her as it is. But they are perfectly acceptable accessories during sex play with a husband.”
After that display, she rolls onto her back with a huff. “Oh goodness. I can’t believe I’m on the floor. I can barely maneuver as it is in this dress, but I do love it so. Give me a hand up, will you, dear?”
With a bit of effort from both of us, Ambria manages to return to her seat on the sofa and asks for a beverage. I call down the stairway. A minute later, Jules brings us a tray of lemonade and explains the intercom, which is a circular crystal on the wall.
“These are throughout the home, my lady, and for now, you’ll have to wave a hand past one to activate it. Later today, we’ll program the system to respond to your voice.” He bows and returns to the lower level.
“A fine-looking youth, that one,” Ambria says before sipping her drink.
I merely smile, and ask, “Um. Are you… Do you still…?” I have to wonder if at her age she still romps around in the bedroom.
“Oh, gracious, dear! Of course! I’m all for it. Though, you know, I have slowed down, but believe me, so have my husbands! I still take all of them to my bed. The ones that are left, anyway. But often it’s just for the sweetness of having one of my men to sleep beside when neither of us is up for more.”
“What do you mean, the ones who are left? Don’t you take husbands for life?
Ambria nods and sighs. “Three of my darlings have passed on. I only have six left now. I suppose I could take on some younger ones. Those who have no chance of getting a younger Wikomsette of their own. But our household is quiet and content. I think it will be just us from here on out.”
“What about children? Did you have any?”
Ambria laughs so hard that tears sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, precious! Did I have children! Seventeen, dear. All boys. I suppose that’s one of the reasons I so enjoy counseling young women as they enter their positions. It’s the closest I ever get to a mother-daughter relationship.”
I barely hear the last bit because my mind is still reeling. Seventeen babies! I think I might be sick. “So…so, you were pregnant seventeen times?”
“Only sixteen. My last two boys are twins,” she says fondly. “Are you all right, dear? You look a bit green.”
Emerald Lavere grew up in rural Oregon. A country girl at heart, she now lives happily in Southern California with her three children, and only one husband (unlike her main Wikomsette characters). Formerly a dancer, singer, and actor, she still teaches dance on occasion, and sings often, and loudly, in her car.
