RABT Release Blitz & Giveaway - Hearing Love by Katie Lee @KatieLeeAuthor

Hearing Love - Release Blitz

By Katie Lee

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: April 16, 2014

   

Ella James, the beautiful, feisty Director of Operations at Coopers’ Treats finds herself immediately at odds with Alexander Shepard, CEO of SBS, Inc. Alex’s company is looking to merge with the financially shaky Coopers’ Treats, but from the moment they met, Alex had this way of getting under Ella’s skin. Alex’s plans for the merger would require Ella to uproot herself from her safe, quiet existence in the bucolic suburban enclave of Brookside and move to the bright lights of Manhattan. For Ella, who lost her hearing at a young age, change wasn’t something she embraced or welcomed freely. She was also reluctant to leave Chase Kramer, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, even though they were currently in the “off-again” phase.

But a merger with the more financially stable SBS, Inc. would mean ensuring Coopers’ Treats continued existence, so Ella packs up and heads for the Big Apple, hoping that giving Chase the chance to really miss her might clarify his feelings for her. When Ella gets to Manhattan, she is charmed by both the big city and Alex. Despite her feelings for Chase, she finds herself hopelessly drawn to Alex and the chemistry between them is sizzling. They embark on a passionate, fun, whirlwind affair. Ella is surprised by her intense feelings for Alex, even though she is still haunted by dreams of chasing after an elusive man, dreams that she started having when Chase first broke off their relationship.

 As the merger deadline approaches, Ella finds herself caught between her feelings for two very different men. As she works to see that the merger is completed successfully, her muddled feelings for both men threaten to jeopardize everything she holds dear. Will she finally be able to hear love and make the right choice?

EXCERPT

(SHORT EXCERPT)

“What happened to Alexander Shepard?”

“I kicked him out,” Ella James answered, her voice dismissive.

“You what?” Cynthia asked with a gasp.

Ella was surprised by the distressed expression on her assistant's face. “What?”

“I-I. . .” Cynthia stopped, shaking her head. “You really kicked him out?”

“Cyn, what’s going on?”

Cynthia took a deep breath before answering. “I saw Mr. Cooper while I was in the bakery and he told me that he forgot to tell you that someone named Alexander Shepard would be coming in to meet with you. He said to tell you that he’s the CEO of the corporation and that you’d know what that means.”

Ella bolted out of her chair as panic gripped her. “Oh my God!”

As she fought to contain the rising panic, Ella's mind went back to her meeting earlier that day

About the Author:

Katie Lee has had a lifelong love affair with books. She fell in love with her first book in the second grade and hasn’t looked back since. She first took up writing as a hobby, wanting to craft her own magical adventures, and through the love and encouragement of family and friends, decided to get serious about writing and share her stories with the world.

She currently resides in Maryland in the United States. She works for the government during the day, and her spare time is devoted to writing. She gains inspiration from all sorts of things, but mostly from the fun and adventurous trips she takes when she can.

Her debut novel, "What Endures" was published in August of 2013 and is available on Amazon.

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RABT Blitz - Saved to You by Helen Conrad @HelenMCon

Saved By You - Week Blitz

By Helen Conrad

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: January 14, 2014

  

Image is everything

Bad boy Kane's image is what gets him the job protecting Annie and her Hawaiian ranch but it's an image he's restless to shake.  This time he wants to get the girl--not the blame.

Annie Ventura needs Kane to be a tough guy, but what she falls for is the tenderness.  Now she has to figure out how to handle both sides of this irresistible man who is dredging up secrets from her past.

Kane Carrington can't resist a call for help from the girl he secretly loved in high school.  He goes back to his Hawaiian home, only to find he's still the "bad boy" to her golden girl image.  But now he's a man, not a boy and Annie Ventura can't resist him.  But does he have to destroy her memories of her dead husband in order to seal the deal?

As they work together to get to the bottom of the harassment she’s been experiencing, memories return and emotions are rekindled.  Annie learns that protecting the past for her son just might lead to her losing their future.  Kane begins to understand his family and his place in it—and how important it is to build bridges instead of blowing them up.

SAVED BY YOU is book #1 of  Destiny Bay Romances-The Islanders.

The full set:

Destiny Bay Romances~Islanders

Book 1-Saved By You  - Add to Goodreads

Book 2-Found By You – Add to Goodreads

Book 3- Tempted By You – Add to Goodreads

Book 4-Rescued By You - Add to Goodreads

EXCERPT

Emotions were usually pretty deep with him. He didn't like to let them get too near the surface. But for just a moment, he'd stopped and turned slowly, taking it all in, remembering a past that could never be again, missing it, missing home and actually feeling a slight stinging in his eyes.

And that was when she got him.

"Okay, you bastard, hold it right there. Don't make a move."

At the same moment the voice hit him, both barrels of a shotgun were jammed very hard and very painfully into the small of his back, and he groaned in disbelief. He hadn't even heard her coming up behind him. He shook his head. He was losing it.

"I'd like to blast a hole right through you. How would you like that, you slime ball?"

"Hey, hold on just a minute..."

The barrel jabbed him. "Don't try to talk, dirt bag. Just start walking. I'm going to walk you right off my land, and then I'm going to call the cops. And the next time you come slinking around I'm going to blow your brains out. You got that?" She jabbed him again to get him going toward the road. "And you can tell Bart Carlson I'll do the same for any other of his pathetic flunkies that he sends over here to screw up my life."

It took only one quick twist and a little leverage, and he had her on the ground, his big body holding hers down, the shotgun wrenched from her grasp and sent spinning in the dust.

But that didn't mean she gave up. Not by any means. She fought like a wildcat, spitting and scratching at him with fury. It took both his hands to hold down hers, and the full length of his body to hold her captive.

"Cut it out, Annie," he growled at her, annoyed that she wasn't giving up even once she'd realized his superior strength. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The sound of her name was what seemed to still her for a moment. She stared up at him and he stared down at her, wondering if she had any idea that they had known each other before.

She'd changed. But her hair was still blond, still a mass of shimmering tangles that seemed to go on forever. Her body was still slim and lithe, but there was a strength to her he wouldn't have thought she would ever possess. She was still squirming beneath him, but it was beginning to feel good. He glanced at her cotton blouse, all askew and revealing the soft curve of her breast and a tiny strip of lace.

"Don't," she spat at him fiercely.

He looked up. Her face was older, naturally. The crystal blue eyes he remembered so vividly were wary, haunted by pain and struggle she couldn't have dreamed of in her younger days. And she wasn't laughing. In his memories, she was always laughing.

There was no sign of recognition. Didn't anybody remember him? Had he been erased from the minds of an entire community?

Helen Conrad

Helen Conrad is an award-winning, best-selling author (over 15 million books sold) of heart-felt--and often humorous--contemporary romances, most of which are spiced with a little heat.  She's published more than 99 romances under various pseudonyms with Harlequin, Silhouette, Mills and Boon, Loveswept, and others and is currently revamping the best of her backlist, creating the Destiny Bay Romances Series about a rich, influential family living along the Central California Coast, Arizona and the Hawaiian Islands.  The Carringtons are good-looking, fast-driving, hard-hitting men and women whose impulses lead them into trouble--and inevitably, into love--every time.  Saved By You is the story of Kane Carrington who returns to Hawaii to settle old scores and revive a lost love.

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Release Blitz & Giveaway - Orange Blossom by Sarah Daltry @SarahDaltry

Orange Blossom - Release Blitz

By Sarah Daltry

New Adult Contemporary

Date Published: April 4, 2014

“I’ve never understood a year. A year was always a measurement of something bad for me. A year in my father’s prison sentence, a year since my mom’s death, a year left of school before I could get far, far away from here. Now, as I look down the end of my college career, with only a little more than a semester to go, a year seems like something magical. It has been a year since Lily chose me, since she sat with me on the old swing set and made a decision that I was worthy of her. And every minute of the entire year has been better than the last.”

You already know their stories: Lily, the perfect princess, always living someone else’s life. And Jack, the broken boy, who had stopped believing in hope. Somehow, though, they found each other and what was one night blossomed into a love story.

Now, a year later, Jack and Lily are dreaming of the future. Despite all of his promises to himself that he would never be indebted to anyone, Jack makes a new promise – this time to Lily – that he will be there for her forever. But when life unravels for them, he starts to pull away, and Lily worries he’s out of reach for good.

When Jack does the unthinkable, Lily is left destroyed. Is it possible to have a happily ever after? Does love ever really save anyone?

EXCERPT

He’s smiling. Not that smirk he gets when he’s bitter but also pleased about something. It’s not the smile that says that he knows happiness is temporary. When he lines up his Skee-ball shot, there is a smile on his face that is pure. Genuine. It’s like taking a step back and seeing Jack in a photograph. One from years before his life went crazy. He is just a dorky kid playing Skee-ball and he’s so happy when he nails the shot. He does an awkward little dance and it’s the kind of thing about Jack that makes me love him. He’s gorgeous and sexy and aggressive yet sweet. He’s kind and considerate of me, both sexually and in general. But I don’t love Jack for that. I love him because there is light in the world in the space he takes up. I know he doesn’t see it, but he’s inside himself. From the outside, all I see is the absolute electricity and fire that fills the air around him.

“That’s how it’s done,” he tells me when he finishes his game, wrapping up his ridiculous stack of tickets. I’m so going to lose, but I don’t care. He’s happy. I just almost wish I were better at this, so we could stay here longer, so that Jack could be this part of himself for as long as he needs.

“I think you’re perfect,” I say.

“Because I’m good at Skee-ball? Shit, that’s all it takes?”

I shake my head. “No, but you tell me all the time. I don’t think I ever say it to you. I don’t like the idea of perfection. It’s too much of a standard to live up to, but I don’t think you even understand. It’s cheesy and probably cliché, but I just can’t imagine how I could breathe without you. How did I exist before this?”

He looks down, uncomfortable because it is one thing to tell Jack he’s hot or sexy; he can handle that and he gets arrogant and ridiculous when I tell him that. However, this part of him, this vulnerability, he buries it so deep that drawing attention to it makes him want to disappear. But I don’t want that. I want him to embrace it, because it’s beautiful.

“Don’t look down,” I say and I lift his face to look at me. His eyes explode with light, the way fireworks do on New Year’s when the sky is like ink and then it’s suddenly on fire. I lean in and kiss him, feeling his hands tighten on my arms and his lips opening against mine. He’s scared. I can feel it in the way he kisses me today; he feels himself falling and he is trying to hold on and I need to figure out how to be steady enough to hold him. “Trust me,” I plead. “Let me take some of what you’re feeling. I can handle it, Jack.”

He nods. “Another day. Today, I just want to stay here, to be here with you, where it’s safe and comfortable and my entire world is this. Where strawberries and popcorn and Skee-ball and shitty plastic toys are the entirety of what exists.” He pauses. “I promise, Lily. I will. Soon. But let me hide from it. Just for a little longer?”

“Okay, but don’t hide from me, okay?” I ask.

About the Author

Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She’s written works in various genres – romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn’t as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she’s been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships – romantic, familial, friendly – because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn’t matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future – human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah’s stories.

Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.

When Sarah isn’t writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.

The other titles in the Flowering series are Forget Me Not, Lily of the Valley, Blue Rose, and Star of Bethlehem. The final book, Ambrosia, will be out in June.

Sarah has also written Bitter Fruits, an urban fantasy romance, and Backward Compatible, a gamer geek romantic comedy.

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Signed paperback of Blue Rose and some swag

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Firefly Hollow by T.L. Haddix @tlhaddix

Firefly Hollow - WEEK BLITZ

By T. L. Haddix

Romance w/ Light Paranormal Elements

Date Published: 9/23/2012

  

  

The mysterious recluse…

Owen Campbell holds himself apart from other people. Badly scarred from emotional wounds that have never healed, he doesn’t expect to find true love or happiness. He remains isolated in a prison of his own making, determined to not let anyone close enough to hurt him again. But his willpower is shaken to the core when Sarah Browning enters his world.

The girl next door…

Sarah Jane Browning is three years into her college degree when a call from home changes everything. Back at the family homestead in the heart of Appalachia, she’s forced to reevaluate her hopes and dreams for the future.

Distraction from her heartache comes in the form of her parents’ neighbor. Whispers about “odd Owen Campbell” abound in their small community, and Sarah’s curiosity is aroused. When she breaks the rules and trespasses onto his land, what she finds is beyond her wildest imaginings.

As Sarah struggles to overcome tragedy and loss, her burgeoning relationship with Owen is sorely tested. Will love conquer all, or will the secrets from Owen’s past tear them apart forever?

EXCERPT

Checking back over her shoulder after a few steps, Sarah frowned when the deer continued to mimic her path. Dismissing the incident as the curiosity of a wild young deer that hadn’t yet learned humans were the enemy, she let her mind drift. Before long, she heard the sound of water trickling rapidly over rocks, and as she rounded a curve, she saw a small stream curving through the mountainside. The branch of water cut into a shallow hollow, one side protected by a higher ledge of earth that was full of mountain laurel.

Sarah stopped to take in the sight and drew in a cleansing breath. As she looked around, she realized the deer had followed her and stopped a short distance away. The bench of land it stood on converged with the deer path alongside the stream.

If Sarah hadn’t known better, she would have sworn the deer wore a look of consternation. The animal bent its head to nibble at some greenery on the ground, but kept its eyes on her. It almost seemed to glance between her and the water, as though weighing the danger of coming closer for a drink.

“Maybe if I turn away, you’ll feel bolder.” The deer path crossed the branch at a narrow point, and she decided to go a bit further. The water cascaded down a small waterfall above the narrow point, pooling in a shallow area that would be the perfect spot for a thirsty deer to get a cooling drink. Hopping across the water, Sarah followed the trail. To her surprise, the path didn’t continue to the flat bench on the other side of the small ridge, but climbed up and around the rocky outcropping. Curious, she climbed the incline. The sight took her breath away, and for a moment, she didn’t believe what was in front of her was real.

The rocky outcropping the water cascaded down was a sort of natural dam. On its other side, a large pool of water had collected. Fifteen feet across and nearly that wide again going in the opposite direction, the pool was surrounded by sloping granite on all sides except the front, where the water dropped over the edge. The water was blue-green, going from light aqua to deeper cobalt, and the banks of rock and earth protected it on all sides.

On the opposite side, a craggy granite cliff rose about ten feet out of the water, overhanging slightly to form a shallow cave. The mountain seemed to curve around the pool and, mesmerized, Sarah continued around, crossing the branch once more at a point above the pool. From there, she was able to climb on top of the granite boulder that created the cliff. Easing to the edge, she carefully sat down, her legs dangling over the side.

When the curious deer appeared at the edge of the pool below, Sarah laughed. The deer gave a small jerk at the sound, eyeing her warily.

“I’m sorry.” She felt utterly insane, carrying on a conversation with a deer, but it had followed her like a curious puppy. Sarah realized that keeping quiet would feel even more absurd. “It’s so beautiful here. I had no idea any place like this existed.” She looked around, noticing that the trees didn’t arch out over the pool the way she thought they would have.

“I’ll bet it’s really hot here in the summer, and that water feels so good and cool. Or does the pool dry up, I wonder?”

For a while, she just sat, braced back on her hands, her face lifted to the sky. The peace imbued in the place washed over her. When she felt ready, she let herself remember Kathy’s words to Paul, and their laughter. The memory made Sarah sad and still made her cringe with embarrassment, but she realized that she didn’t feel quite as angry about it as she had.

“Thank you, God, for letting me hear that today. At least I don’t have to face Paul until Monday,” she said to the sky. “And… and maybe, if that’s what he likes, then maybe he’s not as special as I thought he was. Let him have his buxom girls. At least I don’t look like a milk cow, unlike someone I could name.”

A snort came from below, and Sarah jumped. She’d forgotten the deer. Looking down, she saw that it had moved to the edge of the exposed granite and settled down on a soft patch of leaves.

“What are you snorting at?”

When the deer shook its head, Sarah laughed. Even though she knew it was probably batting away flies with its ears, the deer acted almost human.

She glanced down at her watch and was shocked when she saw the time. She was going to have to run in order to make it home in time for supper. With a muted curse that she’d heard her father say when he hit his thumb with the hammer, she scrambled to her feet and looked around. Another bench ran down from the side of the boulder opposite where she’d come up and fell naturally into the one the deer had been on when she’d first seen it.

“That saves me a little time.” With one last look at the deer, which had gotten to its feet when Sarah did, she headed down the bench. “I’ll come back someday,” she promised over her shoulder. “Try to not get shot or anything.”

For a day that had gone so badly, she thought as she ran, things had turned out to be okay.

* * *

For a long time after the girl had gone, Owen stood on the edge of the pool, looking after her. With his enhanced hearing, he could follow her progress down the trail and back onto Browning land.

He didn’t know what to think. He’d never encountered another human in all the time he’d been exploring the woods. His parents had seen to that over the years; no one dared come onto Campbell property without his father’s permission. Now that the property belonged to Owen, he guessed he was the one who’d have to do something about trespassers.

He bent his neck, taking another sip from the water. As the girl had guessed, it was cool and delightful.

Owen sighed, a sound that came out in deer form much as it did when he was human. The pool was one of his favorite places to roam, one of his safe places. If the girl came back as she promised, he didn’t know what it would mean for him. He couldn’t risk being caught, and he wasn’t willing to give up his solitude. If the girl threatened that… he hated the thought of having to go to her parents, but if it came to that, he’d do it.

T.L. Haddix

T.L. Haddix was born in Hazard, Kentucky, a small town in the center of the Appalachian coal fields. Taught to read by her grandmother, T.L. has had a life-long love affair with books, devouring whatever she could get her hands on. From childhood favorites such as the Trixie Belden series and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books, to her current favorites from authors like Tami Hoag, Alex Kava, J.A. Jance and Lisa Kleypas (among many others), T.L. still finds refuge in the written word.

“Growing up, I wanted to be everything – astronaut, police officer, doctor, teacher, reporter, psychologist – there was no clear choice for me. I wanted to do it all. Becoming a writer has allowed me to do just that, because I can live vicariously through my characters.”

A resident of eastern Kentucky, T.L. is hard at work on her next book, when she isn’t chasing after her three cat-children with her husband.

Author Links

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Sexual Appetites of Vampires - By Donna Fletcher @Dfletcherauthor

Sexual Appetites of Vampires - PROMO Blitz

By Donna Fletcher

Paranormal Romance

Date Published: February 25, 2014

  

Lara Bennett intends to only take a few minutes of Michael Valaine’s time. But then she only has a few minutes since a snowstorm is about to hit the area. She’ll interview him, ask him a few questions about his family’s strange heritage and be on her way before the first snowflake falls.

Things don’t go as planned for Lara. First, Michael Valaine is a drop-dead gorgeous man and second, and most importantly, he claims to be a vampire. She assumes he’s either annoyed with her for her impromptu interview or he’s crazy, either way she wants out of his home and away from him.

A blinding snowstorm stops her from leaving and she’s faced with the prospect of riding it out with either a crazy man or a vampire. That is until Michael’s eyes begin to glow red, his lips draw back in a snarl, and his fangs descend.

Lara’s about to find out, firsthand, the information she came looking for...exactly what is the sexual appetites of vampires?

EXCERPT

Lara had met plenty of people who believed themselves a creature of the night. Some were just plain nuts while others played at it. She wasn’t sure if Michael Valaine fell into either category. And that was even more frightening.

            “The need for sex can border on complete madness when a vampire is in need of it.”

            Madness. Now there was something she could agree with. Michael Valaine was stark raving mad.

            “But that type of aching hunger, a need to devour, is what vampires try to keep at bay for it comes with consequences. So we keep ourselves well satisfied with sex with willing human women of which there is an abundant supply.”

            Lara finally had it. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You really expect me to believe this bullshit. I get it. You’re annoyed with me for showing up unexpected, and so you decide to play a little game with me. See if I frighten easily. Well, you chose the wrong woman, buddy. But I do have to thank you for giving me some great material for the book. Now I’m leaving and will never darken your already dark doorstep again.”

            “What were you expecting to find when you came here?” he asked accusingly.

            His dark eyes grew so intense that Lara thought they glowed black. “Certainly not a grown man who claims he’s a vampire.”

            “So you’re upset because you meet a vampire who can answer your questions about sex?”

            Lara rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re going to continue to claim that you’re a vampire. A blood-sucking, unearthly creature that is ravenous when it comes to sex.”

            “I thought you came for the truth.”

            “The truth would be nice, but it seems that you are intent on continuing your little game. I, however, do not wish to play.”

            That sly smile of his surfaced again. “I guarantee that you would enjoy playing with me, Lara.”

            “That’s it, I’m leaving.”

            Michael stood. “I’ll see you to the door.”

            “Not necessary, I know the way out,” she said, buttoning up her jacket.

            “Just because I am a vampire doesn’t mean I’m not a gentleman,” he said and stepped aside for her to pass.             

“A gentlemen vampire, now there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one,” Lara said as she scooted past him, eager to get out of the house and as far away from Michael Alexandru Valaine that she could get.

A phone’s jarring ring startled Lara as she entered the foyer and made her way to the front door.

Michael picked up the phone on the side table behind the vase of a beautiful winter flora arrangement. “Michael Valaine. I see. No, not to worry I will see to the matter. Thank you for calling and see that you take care in this storm. I hear that it is to last at least two days. Good. I’m glad to hear that. My regards to your family.”

He sounded so civilized and so normal that Lara grew more annoyed. Why had he treated her in such a ridiculous fashion? Why hadn’t he simply told her that he wasn’t interested in speaking with her and send her on her way?

 He approached her slowly, almost predatorily. And she was damn glad she was leaving.

 He stopped next to the door, taking hold of the handle. “That was Martha. She has calls for her bed & breakfast forwarded to her sister’s place when she’s not there. Your car service called and cancelled. The snow has already started and with predictions worse than they first thought, they won’t endanger their driver or you. It looks like you’ll be my guest for the duration.”

“Hell no! I’ll find someplace to stay, but it won’t be with you,” she said and shoved his hand off the door to swing it open. Her heart dropped along with her mouth at the sight of the blizzard-like conditions. She could barely make out what was in front of her, since the snow was falling so heavily.

Michael pulled the door closed and turned the lock. The click sounded so final, as if a jailer was locking her in and there would be no escape. She was trapped with a sexy hunk of a man who thought himself a vampire. It sounded more like the setting of a romance novel than real life. But she was no swooning heroine.

She looked Michael Valaine straight in those dark eyes of his and felt like a fool saying, “Tell me you’ve been playing me and that you’re no vampire.”

“Oh, sweetheart, if only I could.”

His eyes began to glow red, his lips curled back, fangs dropped down, and Lara fainted.

 Donna Fletcher:

Donna Fletcher is a USA Today Best Selling author of over thirty romance novels.

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Glory Days - By PatrickSzabo @PatrickJSzabo

Glory Days - PROMO Blitz

By Patrick Szabo

Young Adult / Coming of Age

Date Published: March 3, 2014

Matt is heading into his senior year of high school and has the world at his feet.

School comes easy for him. He’s the lead guitar player in a hard rock band, about to embark on their first gig. He has a job he likes, a car he doesn’t, a best friend he hopes to be friendlier with, and a pretty good set of parents. He has it all.

Until he doesn’t.

His dad suddenly begins acting strange and keeping odd hours. Matt has his own life to live, though, and doesn’t pay it much attention. Until he wakes up one morning to find his dad gone, leaving behind only a short note to his mother, setting into motion a chain of events that sends Matt down a dangerous path that could jeopardize his present as well as his future. Forced to quit a job he likes, he must take on a new job to help his mother out financially, but one that also eats into his ever important social life as well as school. Adding to his troubles, his best friend, Dawn, has a new boyfriend.

Matt can’t wait to become a member of the Class of 1989, but first he must get out of 1988 alive.

* NOTE *Contains adult language

EXCERPT

Chapter 1

I was seventeen years old when I played my first gig.

Thinking back, it really wasn’t that big a deal in the grand, macro scheme of things. It didn’t change my life nor did it lead to a record deal, followed quickly by fortune and glory. Women didn’t throw themselves at me or scream and cry when they saw me, like the girls in the old footage of The Beatles early shows. I played lead guitar in an 80’s hard rock band. We did get a fairly decent sized following around Columbia, SC, but a few years into our music career the bottom fell out of that type of music. Thanks in equal parts to fluffy ‘metal’ bands all over the airwaves and a few groups from Seattle that took the nation by storm. So, yeah, that first gig wasn’t that big a deal.

But at the time? It was the greatest moment of my young life.

The night before the show I didn’t sleep that well. I was way too excited to be bothered by any of those little slices of death, to paraphrase Poe. Don’t get me wrong, I tried to sleep, I really did. But each time sleep started to overtake me, my overactive mind kicked slumber to the curb and whirled with a thousand possibilities, all of them bad.

I only had one guitar, so what if I broke a string during a song? What if my voice went out? What if I forgot how to play the songs or messed up during the guitar solos? What if my dream girl didn’t show up? What if, what if, what if?

Then I would nod off for a few minutes and then wake up again and the cycle would continue.

Frustrated, I kicked the covers off and slipped out of bed. I thought about going for a swim—nothing quite like a middle of the night dip in the pool—and then decided against it. There would be dead bugs in the pool, possibly big ass palmetto bugs (my current Biggest Fear for some reason), and we didn’t have enough light in the backyard to properly scoop out all the detritus. So that was out. I decided to get a pop out of the refrigerator and think about my predicament.

I stepped quietly out of my room into the darkened hallway and tripped over my dog, who was asleep on his side outside my parents’s bedroom door. The big dog yelped and tried to jump up as I stumbled across his previously prone form. I cussed, regained my balance, and then he got his legs tangled in mine, and we both went down with a crash, a jumble of arms and legs and fur.

“Son of a bitch,” I said.

“Bo, shut up,” Dad’s groggy voice bellowed from behind the door.

I started to push myself up but Bo threw himself on top of me and shoved me back to the floor. He licked me.

“Get off me, you big moose,” I said and pushed his head away. He lurched forward and got in one more slobbery dog kiss—his impeccabley aimed tongue lapping my mouth—and then he was gone. I wiped his slobber from my face and swiped my hand on the carpet. “Gross, dog.”

He chuffed at me and then lay back down in front of Mom and Dad’s closed door. I shook my head, got up, and went to the kitchen. I squinted my eyes against the glare of the refrigerator light, grabbed a can of pop, and plopped down at the kitchen table. I popped the top as quietly as I could and took a big gulp. Then another. And one more for good measure.

I sat in the dark and drank and did my best to quiet my mind.

It didn’t really work all that well. I was nervous as hell, but at the same time I was as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve. I finished my drink, got up, and tossed the can in the trash. I thought about that swim again and immediately put it out of my mind. The last thing in the world I needed was a dead palmetto bug bumping up against me in the water. I shivered in disgust at the thought.

I went back to my room and, after closing the door behind me, flipped the light on. I took my guitar off its stand and sat down on my bed. If I couldn’t sleep, I might as well get a little extra practice in. Just a quick run through of the songs we would be playing the next night. I took a deep breath, played a few scales to limber up my fingers, and stopped. I couldn’t remember how to play the song we’d be opening with. Hell, I couldn’t even remember the name.

“Shit,” I muttered. I sat there with my guitar resting across one leg and stared at my closet door, but the set list didn’t magically appear on the wood in blazing letters from the heavens.

“Come on, dumb ass,” I said. I thought about calling the singer but I didn’t think his parents would appreciate a phone call at three in the morning from some dipshit kid panicking over a song title. Why didn’t I write the damned songs down and toss the paper in my guitar case? Why was I such an idiot?

And then it came to me.

“Stagefright,” I said and felt relief flood through me. I shook my head and noticed for the first time that I was sweating. I chuckled. “Flop sweat.”

I did a speed run through the first few songs of the set and figured that was enough. If I didn’t get some sleep I would be pretty useless the next night. I put my guitar away and stretched out on my back and stared at the ceiling.

I ran the set list over and over again in my head and finally fell asleep.

I dreamed of a swimming pool full of palmetto bugs and not being able to scoop them all out. Weird and disgusting.

I woke the next morning just before noon and had some leftover pizza for breakfast. I went outside into the bright heat of the day and glanced at the pool. Nope. Not full of those damnable little insects. Not even one.

I kicked around the house the rest of the day, not really paying any attention to what I was doing. It just wasn’t that important. Finally it was time to get ready for the gig, so I showered, blew dry my hair, and got dressed.

I grabbed my guitar case, told my parents goodbye, and went out to my car. I put the case in the back seat, climbed behind the steering wheel, and prayed it would start. I turned the key and prayed again. It would be just my luck that on the most important day of my life the piece of- - -

It started on the first try. Hallelujah.

I checked my hair in the rearview mirror—I wore it more Iron Maiden, than Poison—and, satisfied, backed out of the driveway.

I popped a tape into the tape deck and drove to the gig, a big dopey grin plastered to my face.

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Promo Blitz - Mail Order Groom by Cindy Flores Martinez

Mail Order Groom - PROMO Blitz

By Cindy Flores Martinez

Romantic Comedy

Date Published: February 2014

Lisa is about to marry her first real love and have the wedding of her dreams, but her world is shattered when she finds her fiancé, Jeff, in the arms of another woman. When he calls the wedding off, Lisa is heartbroken, but her heartache turns to anger when she sees him in town the next day with the other woman.

In a momentary lapse of reason, Lisa decides to marry another man at the wedding. She finds Krzysztof Zielinski from on Mail-Order-Grooms.Com. He needs to marry an American woman so that he can stay in America, and he’s willing to pay money for it, but his reason for needing to stay is what tugs at Lisa’s heart and convinces her to say “I do” to him. Besides, green card marriages are easy, right? They’re short-lived and not real. She won’t even have to live with him. And marrying another man would be the perfect revenge on Jeff. 

Lisa races to the altar with her stand-in groom, but she struggles with the guilt of deceiving her parents and facing her confused wedding guests. And then she learns that she does have to live with Krzysztof. She wakes up the next morning hoping it was all just a bad dream. 

How will she handle the dilemma she has gotten herself into? Will she be able to make things right in the end?

EXCERPT

Daphne was waiting for me as I raced down the sidewalk on Main Street through the bustling morning crowd. I had called her right as she was about to dial my parents number and tell them that the wedding was canceled, and I asked her to meet me there instead. I had picked myself up off my bed, my body rising as if from the ashes. My demeanor had gone from the deepest, darkest hopelessness to a light flickering upon my newly made up face.

Daphne watched me in disbelief as I approached. “Tell me you are not serious about this.”

“I’m dead serious.” I rushed past her without stopping.

“But he’s a total stranger!”

I was on my way to meet Krzysztof Zielinski from Mail-Order-Grooms.Com, and I was going to ask him to marry me. Crazy? Yes. Insane? Irrational? Unbelievable? It was all of those things and more, but my mind was made up.

Daphne joined me. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I have to. If Jeff doesn’t want me, or this wedding, then I’m going to show up with a man who does.”

She scoffed. “You can’t be serious.”

“You said your friend married a man to help him get a green card, and she only had to see him at the wedding and at the interview at the immigration office. I’m going to do the same thing myself.”

Daphne swerved around a passerby. “But your situation is different than hers. You have a lot of people in your life who know you. How are you going to explain this to them? What are you going to tell your parents?”

“I’m going to say that I fell in love with Krzysztof and that I want to marry him instead of Jeff.”

She guffawed. “They’re not going to believe that!”

“I’ll make them believe it.”

“How?”

I couldn’t see why she was acting as if it was so impossible. I didn’t think it would be too hard to convince anyone after they saw how Krzysztof looked, and wait until I told them he liked baking and writing poetry. “Aren’t you the one who wanted to marry Josecito what’s his name?” I flung my arm in the air.

“Only after I got to know him and if things worked out. I never would have done it this soon. Will you please stop and think about what you’re doing?”

“I have thought about it.”

“I don’t think you have. Not fully.”

The delicious aroma of baking bread permeated the air as we approached the Polish bakery where Krzysztof worked. I stopped a few feet away from the entrance. “Daphne, will you please go along with this for me? Please.”

“No, Lisa. This is crazy!”

“Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? I loved Jeff more than anything, and he threw me away! If you would have heard the things he said to me. If you would have seen him with her.”

“I know, but this isn’t the answer.”

“It’s the perfect answer.”

About the Author

Cindy Flores Martinez

My name is Cindy Flores Martinez. I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles. I have an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. I have been a screenwriting instructor, screenplay consultant, script reader, and screenplay collaborator.  My debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, which was inspired by my own Polish ancestry, started out as a screenplay and movie project. I spent years shopping it around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world and had two well-known actors, one of them Academy Award nominated, interested in portraying the lead character’s parents. After not finding the success I wanted, I officially canceled my film production company in November of 2009 and embarked on the journey of turning my screenplay into a novel.

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