EXCERPT AND GIVEAWAY: MATCHPLAY by DAKOTA MADISON

I'm happy to be able to share an excerpt and giveaway of Matchplay, by Dakota Madison. This book looks so good, I can't wait to read it myself. This event was organized by AToMR Tours.

 

 

Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Short on Time Books

Publication Date: 3/17/13
 

 

A Girl, a Guy, a Tournament and a Challenge

The Girl: At a time when most girls obsess about homecoming and high school prom, Rainy Dey spent her senior year caring for her dying mother. So when her father drops her off at college to start her freshman year, his words of advice to his bookish daughter are to start acting like a young person and finally have some fun.

The Guy: College senior, Aaron Donavan, aka Mr. Hot-and-Knows-It, is President of the Clubhouse, a social club for the college’s most wealthy and popular guys. Aaron can have any girl on campus except the one who challenges and excites him the most—Rainy Dey.

The Tournament: Every year, the senior members of The Clubhouse engage in a golf-inspired tournament to see who can sleep with the most freshman girls. When Rainy finds out about the tournament, she believes Aaron’s only interest in her is to score points by taking her V-Card.

The Challenge: Can Aaron convince Rainy that his feelings for her are true and that she won’t be just another notch on his tournament scorecard?

--
This NEW ADULT ROMANCE contains language and content indented for adult readers (18+).

 

 

Excerpt

    I glanced over at the keg and saw that Aaron and his two groupies were still standing there drinking and laughing. The girls were practically throwing themselves at him and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. When he caught me looking at him and our eyes met, I saw a flash of something dark behind his rock star façade. Was it pain? Was he not really enjoying all of the attention from the beautiful blondes as it appeared? The look was only there for a moment and then it disappeared when the blonde at his left whispered something in his ear, which made him grin, but Aaron was still staring at me. The scene both disgusted and confused me. When he winked at me and gave me a sly smile, I felt sick to my stomach. Did he actually think he could flirt with me while two girls were hanging off him? I revolted.

    “Can we go into the other room?” I asked. “It’s getting stuffy in here.”

     “Sure.” Josh looked around. “Or do you want to go outside? You can see the stars in the backyard and it’s a beautiful night?’

     The stars sounded really good. The only problem was that we had to walk past Aaron and his girls to get out the back door.

    “Let’s go outside,” I said. “If you don’t mind leading the way.”

    “My pleasure,” Josh said as he placed his empty beer cup on the counter.

     I made sure that Josh was on the side that would be closest to Aaron as we passed. It didn’t stop Aaron from staring at me as we walked by him. The blondes seemed oblivious to the attention he was giving me and I made sure I had the most vile and disgusted look on my face as we passed. For a moment, he looked like I had slapped him but he quickly covered it up.  

     When we got outside, Josh asked. “Do you know that guy?”

     “What guy?” I replied even though I knew exactly, who he meant.

     “The guy from The Clubhouse with the blondes hanging all over him.”

      I shrugged. “Sort of.”

     Josh looked very concerned. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”

     I gave a chuckle as if it was the most absurd question in the world. “Why would you ask that?”

     “Just the way he looked at you. Even though he had two girls on his arms, it was like he didn’t even care. He was just staring at you.”

     I tried to minimize what Josh was saying. “We’re just partners in my art history class. We were assigned to work on a project together. That’s all.”

    “Are you sure?”

    “Of course,” I said but I wasn’t sure at all.

 

 

 

Purchase Matchplay at Amazon 

 

 

GIVEAWAY

I have an ecopy (mobi or pdf) of Matchplay to give away, courtesy of the author.

Entrants must be 17+ years of age.

Open Intl.

Fill out the form to enter.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author
Dakota Madison has been writing since she learned to read and fell in love with books. When she's not at her computer creating spicy new romances, Dakota is traveling to exotic locales or spending time with her husband and their bloodhounds.
Connect at:
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EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY ~ RUNNING ON EMPTY by L.B. SIMMONS

I'm happy to be able to share an excerpt and giveaway of Running on Empty, by L.B. Simmons. This is a book that I really want to read, and I highly encourage you guys to check it out. This event was organized by AToMR Tours.




 

 

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: L.B. Simmons
Publication Date: 1/9/13

I had the perfect life.

Beautiful and loving husband.Three gorgeous little girls.
Successful career.

The only thing missing was the white picket fence. I really wanted that fence.

Three years ago, I lost that life. I lost my husband. And I lost myself. But, eventually, I found my way through the darkness. I’ve made peace with my new life. I have my girls, and that’s all that matters. They are my world. I have no illusions of ever falling in love again or getting whisked away on a white horse.

But then he came back into my life. On a freakin’ motorcycle.

There’s no way I’ll let him turn my life completely upside down. Absolutely no way.

The question is…

How long can I keep pretending that I’m happy with my life being right-side up?

 

EXCERPT 

 

I turn my hand over and stroke his cheek.  He puts his head down and I force him to look at me again. 

“Shh, Blake.  That’s enough.  I don’t want to hear any of that right now.  Derek’s death was tragic.  It was heartbreaking.  It was too much for me some days.  But you listen to me.  There is nothing you could have done if you were here that would have protected me from that pain.  You need to know that.  You need to believe that.  I’m not going to waste time rehashing this crap, especially now that I finally have you back in my life.  It happened.  It’s over.  I’m fine.  End of story.  I refuse to listen to you tear yourself up over something you had no control over.”

He says nothing more.  He just grabs my wrist and pulls my body into his, being careful not to hurt my hand.  He rests his cheek on top of mine and whispers solemnly into my ear, “Never again, Alex. Never. Again.” 

He leaves his cheek against mine and I feel his breath in my ear.   He wraps his big arms around me and we stay like that for some time.  The warmth from the closeness of our bodies and the heat of his breath in my ear cause my heart rate to triple.  Yet, with my heart beating a million miles a minute, I feel a strange calm.  I want to let go of everything.  I want to sink my body into his and let him be strong for me.  I want to let him take my pain, my sadness, my exhaustion…everything that keeps me from being truly happy.   I want his arms to stay around me… his warmth and protection.   But as a familiar lump forms in my throat, I know this will never happen.

I can’t allow it.

I won’t allow it.

Blake is more right than he could possibly know. 

Never. Again.

 

 

 

Purchase Running on Empty at:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble 

 

 

About the author:

 

L.B. Simmons is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a degree in Biomedical Science.  She has been a practicing Chemist for the last 11 years.  She lives with her husband and three daughters in Texas and writes every chance she gets. 

Connect with Simmons at:

Facebook  |  Blog  |  Twitter

 

GIVEAWAY 

 

I have one ecopy of Running on Empty to give to a lucky reader! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE CADET OF TILDOR BLOG TOUR ~ CHARACTER RUNDOWN AND GIVEAWAY

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on The Cadet of Tildor Blog Tour. This fantasy, written by Alex Lidell, released yesterday, and I was so excited to be asked to take part in the tour hosted by AToMR Tours! You can find the entire tour schedule here. My stop includes a character rundown and the tour giveaway.


Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication Date: 1/10/13

Tamora Pierce meets George R. R. Martin in this smart, political, medieval fantasy-thriller.

There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

 

Character Rundown

 

Name: Sasha

Age: 17

Physical description: Tall good looking golden haired girl, usually to be found in the vicinity of books.

Quote that really fits this character’s personality: 

Sasha would look for hidden meaning if the kitchens served pudding in place of custard. 

 

Good quality: knowledgeable, well read and thoughtful

Vice: sheltered from harsh realities

 

 

Purchase The Cadet of Tildor at:

Amazon

 

Giveaway

(courtesy of Alex Lidell)

$20 Amazon Gift Card, PLUS a copy of THE CADET OF TILDOR with swag – US

$20 Book Depository Gift Card – International

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:

Alex Lidell is a YA fantasy writer and author of ABNA Finalist THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). 

Although English is Alex’s primary language, it wasn’t her first.  Coming from Russia, Alex learned english in elementary school and fell in love with reading when the school librarian put Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA into her hands.  Years later, in college, it was another book that re-united Alex with russian, which she had shunned in adolescence. The Three Musketeers.*  Alex thanks both books, and the writers who created them.

Beyond writing, Alex is also a photographer, a horseback rider, and a paramedic.  The latter two go hand in hand more often than one would like.  She is trying to self-teach herself and her horse to sword-fight.

Alex would love to see THE CADET OF TILDOR in the classroom and is working on developing teacher guides for the novel.  She enjoys “e-meeting” both students and educators.

 

Connect with Alex at:

Twitter  |  Facebook  |  GoodReads  |  Shelfari  |   Library Thing

TEASER TUESDAY ~ THE EDGE OF NEVER

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

·Grab your current read
·Open to a random page
·Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
·Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others.

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles.

Series: Stand alone
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Publisher: J.A. Redmerski
Publication Date: 11/15/12

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett had always been one to think out-of-the-box, who knew she wanted something more in life than following the same repetitive patterns and growing old with the same repetitive life story. And she thought that her life was going in the right direction until everything fell apart.

Determined not to dwell on the negative and push forward, Camryn is set to move in with her best friend and plans to start a new job. But after an unexpected night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she makes the ultimate decision to leave the only life she’s ever known, far behind.

With a purse, a cell phone and a small bag with a few necessities, Camryn, with absolutely no direction or purpose boards a Greyhound bus alone and sets out to find herself. What she finds is a guy named Andrew Parrish, someone not so very different from her and who harbors his own dark secrets. But Camryn swore never to let down her walls again. And she vowed never to fall in love.

But with Andrew, Camryn finds herself doing a lot of things she never thought she’d do. He shows her what it’s really like to live out-of-the-box and to give in to her deepest, darkest desires. On their sporadic road-trip he becomes the center of her exciting and daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But will Andrew’s dark secret push them inseparably together, or tear them completely apart?


Due to sexual content and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary Women’s – New Adult Fiction

My Teaser ~

  I want one thing in life. It's not money or fame or a Photoshopped d!ck on a billboard in Times Square or a college education that may or may not benefit me later. I'm not sure what it is that I want, but I feel it deep in the pit of my stomach. It's there sitting dormant. I'll know it when I see16% it.  ~Andrew   (16%)


You can purchase The Edge of Never at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble