Excerpt: His First and Last by Terri Osburn

Hello everyone!! It is no secret that I really enjoyed Terri Osburn's Anchor Island Series -which finished last year - and now I'm really excited to get to know the people of Anchor Springs in her new series. 

The first book is called His First and Last and today I bring you an excerpt of it!! :D 

Enjoy!

Exclusive Excerpt from His First and Last

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Not unless it’s hot chocolate.” Lorelei shivered again. “This blanket isn’t helping.” Spencer knew one way to warm her up, but he didn’t think she’d be open to his idea. “Get over here,” she said, holding the blanket open for him to crawl in with her. Spencer hesitated, trying to determine if she was setting him up for something. “Come on. I know you’re a damn heater over there. Help a girl out.”

He could help her out all right. Obeying the order, he scooted down the couch and put his arm around her shoulders as Lorelei settled the blanket around them both. “That’s better,” she sighed, cuddling in tight against his side and laying her head on his shoulder. When she dropped a kiss on his neck, Spencer pulled her in tighter. “Lorelei?” “Mm-hmm?” she purred.

Spencer gave the question real thought. There was still a lot of fragile ground between them. She wasn’t offering a lifetime or, for all he knew, anything beyond one night. But when she threw a leg over his lap, his brain function faltered, and the feel of her warm body wrapped around him squelched any ability to protect himself from harm. This had been what he wanted from the moment he’d spotted Lorelei sitting on that airport bench. What he’d dreamed about for years before that.

“Did you come down here to seduce me?” Another kiss, this time on his collarbone. “Would that be a bad thing?” “Should I take your lack of argument as encouragement?” she asked, lifting off the couch and sliding across his lap until she was straddling him between her thighs.

“Yes,” he said, the word coming out as a croak. Spencer cleared his throat. “I highly encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing.”

Book Information

Title: His First and Last

Author: Terri Osburn

Release Date: April 21st! April 21, 2015

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Summary

At eighteen, Lorelei Pratchett couldn’t wait to get out of her hometown. Twelve years later, her Hollywood dreams have fizzled and she’s back—temporarily, she thinks. Though she throws herself into saving the old theater and starting a baking business, small towns have long memories, and Lorelei’s wild past still haunts her. It doesn’t help that her ex-boyfriend, Spencer Boyd, is even hotter, smarter, and more distracting than before.

The fiery Lorelei that Spencer knew years ago may have become closed off and cautious, but their chemistry hasn’t faded one bit. Losing her a second time is unthinkable to him, yet Lorelei is convinced she doesn’t belong in Ardent Springs. Somehow, Spencer needs to show her that everything she needs is right here: family, friendship, new beginnings…and a man who’s never stopped loving her.

Warm, sexy, and laugh-out-loud funny, His First and Last is an irresistible story of first love and second chances.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24602229-his-first-and-last

Buy Link: http://bit.ly/HisFirstAndLast

Author Biography

Although born in the Ohio Valley, Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Terri Osburn found her true home between the covers of her favorite books. Classics like The Wizard of Oz and Little Women filled her childhood, and the genre of romance beckoned during her teen years. While Osburn went on to gain a degree in business administration, she couldn’t shelve her love of love stories. In 2007, she put pen to paper to write her own. Just five years later, she was named a 2012 finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award. The author of the Anchor Island contemporary romance series, Osburn resides in Virginia with her daughter, an assortment of pets, and her bookshelves full of keepers.

Links

Website: http://www.terriosburn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerriOsburnAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/terriosburn

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6873792.Terri_Osburn

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Book Review: Losing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux (Book Tour)

Summary(Goodreads)

Courtney and Josh are in love and excited to finally compete as skating partners. When they take the ice for their first competition, they want to show everyone, especially Josh's family, they are the perfect pair. 

But ice is slippery, and one misstep puts all their dreams in jeopardy. Now they must show each other both their love and their partnership are strong enough to survive.

My Thoughts

I always have so much fun when I revisit this world Jennifer has created. In Losing the Ice, Courtney and Josh are getting ready for their first competition and I thought she did such a good job of capturing how nervous and excited they were and how big a step was for them to start skating together after having had different partners most of their lives. 

I liked that and that the author didn't gloss over how hard it for Court and Josh to adapt to each other, and how their love and trust was shaken with the accident - not because it wasn't there but because it was a difficult time and their relationship (on and off the ice) new in many ways. 

Also liked seeing Josh's sister again and see her develop as a character a bit more. She might not be happy with all of Josh choices, but she wants him to be happy and she proves that. 

All in all I thought it was a good transition between the previous book and what comes next. And it was also fun to catch up with Sergei, Em and their family. I really love that Liza and Courtney are friends and that they support each other, even if Liza wasn't in this book all that much. The twins were super adorbs as usual. 

Favorite Quotes (our of order to avoid spoilers):

He smiled and wrapped one arm around me. “This day is my favorite everything.”

“If you weren’t strong, you wouldn’t be here right now, about to compete two months after a terrifying injury. A lot of people wouldn’t come back from that.” I turned his face toward me. “I believe in you, and I believe in us.”

He gazed at me a long minute. “I just want to be the partner you deserve. The man you deserve.”

“This don’t look like Mommy’s mac and cheese,” she said. That’s because Mommy is a gourmet cook who makes the pasta from scratch and grates the cheese herself. 

“It’s different, but it’s still yummy,” I said. 

She wrinkled her nose and peered closer at the bowl. “Why it orange?”

This review is part of the Losing the Ice Tour

About the Author

Jennifer Comeaux is a tax accountant by day, writer by night. There aren’t any ice rinks near her home in south Louisiana, but she’s a die-hard figure skating fan and loves to write stories of romance set in the world of competitive skating. 

One of her favorite pastimes is traveling to competitions, where she can experience all the glitz and drama that inspire her writing. Jennifer loves to hear from readers!

jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

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Release Day Blitz: Bridges Burned

Bridges Burned

By Chris Cannon

January 27, 2015

Don’t just fight the system…burn it.

Since discovering she is a shape-shifting, fire-breathing dragon on her sixteenth birthday (surprise!), Bryn McKenna’s world has been thrown into chaos. Being a “crossbreed”—part Red dragon and part Blue—means Bryn will never fit in. Not with dragon society. Not with the archaic and controlling Directorate. And definitely not when she has striped hair and a not-so-popular affection for rule-breaking…

But sneaking around with her secret boyfriend, Zavien, gets a whole lot harder when he’s betrothed to someone else. Someone who isn’t a mixed breed and totally forbidden. And for an added complication, it turns out Bryn’s former archnemesis Jaxon Westgate isn’t quite the evil asshat she thought. Now she’s caught between her desire to fit in and a need to set things on fire. Literally.

Because if Bryn can’t adapt to the status quo…well, then maybe it’s time for her to change it.

Excerpt:

On the drive back to school, Bryn reflected on how her life had recently gone to hell. It had all started when flames shot out of her mouth on her sixteenth birthday, proving she wasn’t completely human. Since then she’d been shipped off to a secret school for dragons—the Institute for Excellence—where she was learning how to control her shape-shifting dragon powers. She’d faced discrimination, death threats, and poisoning. She’d been blown up and involved in a battle to the death with a radical Revisionist member—and she’d been there for only a few months.

Though not everything about her new life was bad. She had a sexy boyfriend, Black dragon Zavien Blackthorn, and two good friends, Clint and Ivy. Being a crossbred dragon meant she had both the Red and Blue dragons’ breath weapons, fire and ice, and even though she was the only crossbreed, she could still outfly even the fastest Blue. Of course, that’s why some of the other Clans hated her. She’d upset the natural order of things in this color-coded world, where the Directorate dictated what Red, Black, Green, Orange, and Blue dragon Clan members could do as a profession and whom they could marry. It was absurd. Yet most dragons didn’t question it.

Part of Zavien’s appeal lay in the fact that he headed up the student Revisionist group that petitioned the Directorate to change outdated laws. Bryn glanced at Directorate lawyer Merrick Overton, who was driving the Cadillac SUV hybrid she was riding in. Her classmate and former nemesis Jaxon Westgate rode shotgun. She and Jaxon no longer hated each other. Scratch that: he no longer hated her based on his father’s vendetta against her mother, but that didn’t mean they were friends. Funny how saving someone’s life could turn you from enemies to…what? Not friends. Frenemies, maybe? Who knew? It’s not like she wanted to hang out with him, but there was a weird level of trust between them now that she didn’t know what to do with.

BUY IT ON AMAZON, ITUNES, BARNES AND NOBLE, & KOBO: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/bridges-burned/

~*~ABOUT CHRIS CANNON~*~

Chris Cannon lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and her three dogs, Pete the shih tzu who sleeps on her desk while she writes, Molly the ever-shedding yellow lab, and Tyson the sandwich-stealing German Shepherd Beagle. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures. Going Down In Flames is the first book in Chris Cannon's shape-shifting dragon series.

Review and Giveaway: A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Devi (Book Tour)

At First Sight: Mili Rathod has been married for as long as she can remember, to a man she hasn't seen since said wedding 20 years ago when she was only 4 years old. And there is no sign that she will be seeing her husband any time soon, but at least being married has given her certain opportunities that would have escaped her otherwise, like going to University and then to study abroad to America, all in the effort to become a well-educated modern wife.

Samir Rathod worked hard to become one of Bollywood's most successful directors, and enjoys living the high life and dating beautiful actresses. However, under that public persona lies a man who would do anything for his family. 

So when Samir's brother Virat finds out that he's still married to Mili, Samir decides he's going to fix this for his brother, hunting down the elusive bride and getting her to sign an annulment, so Virat can keep his life - and his new family - intact.

Once in Michigan, and after meeting Mili under less than auspicious circumstances, all of Samir's plans start to turn upside down, as Mili doesn't turn out to be like anything he imagined. She's smart, kind and beautiful, and before he knows what's going on, he finds himself stepping into Mili's life unable to tell her who he really is. 

Second Glance: There are many words I could use to describe A Bollywood Affair. For one is compulsively readable - once I started I couldn't and I didn't want to put it down! - and its sweet, and the characters are truly unforgettable. 

I kept thinking about Samir and Mili over and over, wondering how their story would unfold, and eager to get back to them. Both of them are very complex individuals. Samir is full of guilt and fear and is a bit damaged, but that doesn't stop him from being a good son and a good brother and generally a very decent human being. He has had lots of darkness in his life, but he is not a dark character.

Mili is stuck between two words and forever in a holding pattern, it seems. She wants to move forward, to start her life, but she can't until her husband comes to claim her; yet she has taken the time in between to make something of herself and take care of her grandmother as best she can and always willing to open her heart to new people. 

They were very interesting and I enjoyed being in their heads. The secondary characters were a little bit less well drawn - with the exception of Virat and his and Samir's mother Lata who seemed more fully formed - but since the story was centrally about the time Samir and Mili spend together I was totally fine with that. 

Even the setting was very interesting - most of the story takes place in Michigan with a little on Mumbai, and there is lots of references to Bollywood and the business, though they don't over power the story -and the food!! Oh, they talk about food so  much in this book.

Bottom Line: I can't recommend A Bollywood Affair enough. It really grabbed me from the start and I was sad to see it end - I kind of wanted to spend more time with Samir and Mili - but it was very satisfying. And you know what? It did have a very Bollywood-esque feel to it, thanks to the turns that the story took, and I mean that in a best posible way.

 

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

This review is part of the A Bollywood Affair Blog Tour @ Tasty Book Tours. For the rest of the tour stops go here.  And to enter the giveaway, just proceed bellow:

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