Release Blitz: No Regrets by Claire Kent

Title: No Regrets

Author: Claire Kent

Expected Publication: July 22, 2014

About No Regrets

On my last birthday, I made one vow for the year. Live with no regrets. Eleven months have passed, though, and nothing has changed. I still sleep alone, spend my life working, and never move out of my comfort zone.

Then the loss of my dog throws my whole life out of orbit, and I end up in bed with a very hot and slightly-too-young veterinarian, who has recently made a vow of his own. Live with no strings. Josh is more than happy to help me with the things I’ve been afraid to try. Semi-public sex. Spanking. Anal sex. He’s a willing partner for everything I’ve wondered about, as long as I don’t demand more.

He’s serious about his no-strings philosophy. As serious as I am about living with no regrets. I can’t help but fall for him, even though I know better. So my biggest regret might be a broken heart.

Excerpt

I couldn’t stay on this park bench forever.
I hadn’t moved yet. I was still staring blindly at the dogs and people on the path when I noticed from the corner of my eye a man slowing down from a run and then jogging toward me.
Glancing over, I expected him to head past me toward the parking lot, but he seemed to be coming directly toward me.
When he got close, I realized it was Dr. Bennett.
He looked different than he had this morning. He wore a t-shirt and gym shorts, both wet with perspiration. His face and short brown hair were wet too. He’d obviously been running hard.
His eyes rested on me as he approached. Obviously, he’d recognized me. Before I’d recognized him.
“Hey,” he said, breathing heavily. “How are you doing?”
“Fine.”
It was a stupid question and a stupid answer, but that’s what people do. It was part of living in a civilized world. You made up nice-sounding lies and you said them to each other, instead of talking about how much the world sucked.
His face was flushed, and he was having trouble catching his breath. Bending at the waist, he rasped, “I better do a lap to cool down. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
I had no idea why he’d bother coming back. We didn’t know each other. We had nothing to say to each other. And I wasn’t really in the mood for talking.
He’d killed my dog that morning, but I could hardly hold it against him.
He took a slow jog around the track and ended up back at the bench with a water bottle in his hand. His breathing was less ragged as he sat down beside me.
He didn’t say anything, and I felt a little strange. I didn’t know exactly what he expected from me. I certainly wasn’t going to cry on his shoulder, if that was what he was thinking.
So I just asked a casual question. “You’re done with your shift for the day?”
“Yeah. I got off at three.”
“Do you always come here to run afterwards?”
“Sometimes.” His vivid blue eyes rested on my face, searching or questioning or something. “It’s on the way home.”
“Have you lived in Lexington long?”
“I grew up here—in Versailles, actually. But I just moved back to the area.”
“Where were you before?”
“Vet school.”
“Oh.” I blinked, slightly surprised. I’d landed on his age as younger than me but still in his thirties, but he must be quite a bit younger if he was just out of vet school. “So you just got your degree?”
“Yeah.” As if he could see the surprise in my face, he added, “I started late. I didn’t go right after college.”
That made more sense. The conversation, as casual as it was, managed to distract me from thoughts of Polly, so I pursued it. “What were you doing before you went to vet school.”
He didn’t answer immediately, which prompted my curiosity. To take the edge off the silence, I said, “Bank robber? Computer hacker?”
He gave a low chuckle and smiled at me—not broadly, but it still transformed his face until he was almost unbearably attractive, even as sweaty as he was. “Nothing that exciting. I was in Chad.”
“Chad? In Africa?
“Yeah.”
“Wow.” My eyes widened in surprise. “What were you doing there?”
“International aid work. I started right after college and did it through most of my twenties. I was mostly in Chad and Sudan.”
“So what made you decide to be a vet instead?”
He gave a strange little shrug and looked away from me. “I couldn’t do it anymore. And animals…are different.”
I studied him, trying to read his expression, trying to interpret the paradoxically empty bitterness on his face. There was obviously more going on with him, but there was no reason to expect him to tell me.
There was no reason I needed to know.
“What do you do?” he asked, obviously trying to change the subject.
“Paralegal.”
“Who do you work for?”
We chatted for almost a half-hour, about my job, about how he was settling back into the area, about running—which I used to do, although not much recently.
Eventually, the perspiration had dried on his skin and his clothes, and we’d both faded into reflective silence.
I felt a little better—like I wasn’t on the verge of tears—but the thought of going home still filled my stomach with dread.
He’d been staring off in the distance, and he said without warning, “This morning was the first time I’ve had to do that.”
I glanced at him in surprise, realizing immediately what he was referring to. “Aren’t you supposed to be professional and distanced about the whole thing?”
“I guess. I thought I’d be able to keep the right perspective with animals, but it was harder than I thought. She seemed like a very sweet dog.”
I took a loud, ragged breath as emotion surged up. “She was.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Thanks.” I took a few more breaths until I was in control again. “I really don’t want to go home.”
“Do you want to get a drink or something?”
I blinked. “Right now, you mean?”
“Yeah. Why not? I don’t want to go home either.”
I finally landed on an explanation for his mood. He seemed adrift, kind of lost, not emotional but torn in some way.
I wondered what he’d experienced in Chad. What it had done to him. Why he’d decided against working with people anymore.
Even yesterday, I would have said “no” to his invitation. For the last few months, I hadn’t done much of anything except go to work and take care of Polly. I hadn’t liked to leave her in the evenings.
It had been years since I’d had a drink with a guy I didn’t know, and this particular guy was too young for me anyway.
But it was just a drink. Nothing more. He wasn’t coming on to me. He was just being nice. And it would give me something to do with myself, other than go home to an apartment without Polly.
I felt a little better, talking to him. Like the world wasn’t about to pull me into some sort of black hole.
I remembered my vow, eleven months ago, on the day I’d turned thirty-eight.
I was supposed to be living with no regrets, and so far I hadn’t done a good job.
This would be something I wouldn’t have to regret.
“Okay,” I said. “Why not?”

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Additional titles by Claire Kent

The Nameless series | The Escorted series | Seven

About Claire Kent

Claire has been writing romance novels since she was twelve years old. She has a PhD in British literature and, when she's not writing, she teaches English at the university level.

She also writes contemporary romance under the pen name Noelle Adams.

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Release Day Blitz: Hood's Obsession by Marie Hall

Hood's Obsession
Kingdom Series, #9
by Marie Hall

Erualis' time is running out and now Rumpelstiltskin says there are only two who can save him...

Lilith Wolf, the daughter of the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood has a problem, she's an unmated female in heat. She has to get away from the males of her village unless she wants to find herself involuntarily hand fasted to the first one to tame her wolf. So when Giles Damien comes to her calling due the pact she'd signed with Rumpelstiltskin years ago, she doesn't really think twice about the fact that she'll be journeying to Fyre Mountain, even though that means she'll be crossing paths with an angry water dragon, a pub full of rowdy Merry Men, and rock dwarves with a taste for flesh... For an alpha female that's an adventure. No problem. Find the Chalice of Hope, come back home, and life will return back to normal again.

But she hadn't counted on an honorable Giles Damien to intrigue not only her female sensibilities, but her wolf too. He's a warrior, but he's sweet, he's patient, and he's altogether different from the aggressive, rough males of her village. Problem is Giles is a demone, and everyone knows they don't mingle outside of their species. But now her sights are set on him and she's going to make it her mission to prove to the stubborn headed demone that sometimes love can come from the most unexpected of circumstances...

Lilith Wolf ran like her life depended on it.

Mainly because it did.

They were closing in fast.

Two from the left side, three from the right, and they were catching up. They were men, but covered in fur, and they were coming in hard.

“Keep running, girl,” the leader growled. “We love it when they run.”

His voice was a bassy rumble, a mix between man and beast. Heart in her throat, she called to her animal, the wolf that lived and breathed inside of her. It pulsed, hungry and violent. Ready to defend her.

The men laughed. Great wolf, they were gaining. They were so close. Way too close. She could practically feel their breath on her neck.

Her skin shivered, throbbed with the energy of the shift and then…the wolf exploded out. She shed her skin, becoming nothing but muscle and fur, and the woods were alive.

The wolf was wild, free, unhindered by things like emotion. Fear, anger, pain…none of it mattered except the need to run.

Her muscles bunched and gathered and her giant paws practically tore up the ground beneath her as she swerved around giant weeping willows whose branches soared into the heavens.

The sun was setting; soon the moon would be the only light in the sky. If she could just reach home, then she’d be safe.

She had never expected when she’d planned her trip to her girlfriend’s house that tonight, of all nights, her body would suddenly explode into heat. She was two weeks off from the date she and her family had expected.

Which wasn’t terribly shocking, it happened, but for it to happen now…on her way home, all alone in the hollers of the shifters’ den. This was bad.

Very, very bad.

Panting, she urged her body to move faster, almost blinded by the pounding adrenaline rolling through her. Her vision had narrowed down to a pinprick of light; all she could see was one paw going in front of the other. One tree flashing by on the left and then the right.

Her keen hearing though could sense the pending footfalls of alphas on the hunt.

For her.

Her hackles rose at the thought. As long as she could stay just a couple hundred steps ahead, she’d be out of range of their call.

But her muscles were quivering and the adrenaline was starting to turn to shock.

And then, like an answer to a prayer, she saw the top of her family’s chimney just ahead, and the sight of it lifted her flagging spirits, giving her muscles an extra jolt of speed. She was so close. So unbelievably close, and just as she was about to release a yip of relief she felt the heated waft of breath brush the side of her sensitized ear.

And then a giant body plowed into her middle, knocking her senseless and tossing her to the ground. Snarling, she jumped to her feet, snapped her jaws at the red-haired leader who’d still not fully shifted, and darted away.

“Run, but I’ll get you,” he called out with his hands cupped around his mouth. “I’ll always get you, Lilith! You will be mine.”

Then he howled, and if she’d not been half-human and capable of reasoning, if her human side didn’t hate St. John the way she did, she’d have turned back around. She’d have gone to him, because he’d thrown out the mating call and her wolf wanted it.

But even as her human side knew to keep going, her wolf whimpered inside her. Because the wolf was in heat and that was basic and elemental, St. John was a strong alpha male and that was the only distinction her wolf needed.

Then another howl, and another. Three more, all joining in chorus, and she whimpered, her claws gouged into the earth as she stopped, pulled up short by the instinctual need to go to him. To crawl to that vile, repulsive male.

She whined as the call grew louder.

No. No. She screamed it at her wolf. Don’t go. This is a trap.

But the drive was just too strong.

Brain and body at complete odds, she turned and whimpered her way back to the circle of men. They stood, holding hands, the alpha drawing his strength from his pack. His brown eyes glimmering with the threat of violence and sex.

Violent sex. The claiming of a wolf. They’d all wanted her, daughter of the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood—she was a conquest, sport. A notch on their belt, that was it. They wanted to take what was hers and turn it foul, tarnish it, ruin her for another.

At least her family would be expecting her return anytime now. They’d come looking for her. Her brothers would kill St. John if they ever discovered how he’d used pack magic against her. She crawled on her paws and belly, screaming at the wolf to stop.

“That’s right, you beauty,” St. John cooed. “Come to your master.”

She snarled and he laughed.

“You cannot deny me, Lilith, I am an alpha.” And the moment he said the name, the collective power of the pack slammed into her like a rolling tide and she knew this nightmare was real.

She would be raped, tainted, all because he could.

It wasn’t that St. John wasn’t good looking; up until last year he’d been a mate. A friend. She’d considered him as an option briefly, but he had a temper, and when shifters mated, it was for life. She was picky. So she’d slowly begun pulling away from him, giving him every hint she could that she was not interested. Making a point to sit as far away from him during gatherings as possible, giving only monosyllabic answers to any questions he’d ask, never making eye contact. All subtle hints that she was not interested.

And even so, three months ago he’d asked for her hand.

He should never have done that. Should never have demanded she tell him the truth. Because the moment she’d denied him, she’d sensed his immediate shift from cordial friendship to dangerous obsession. Wolves hated to be denied, but most especially alphas.

She watched in horror as his fingers slowly undid one button of his shirt at a time. Not only was he going to rape her, but he was going to do it to her while in his half-turned form.

Doing that while she was fully wolf would show not only dominance, but disdain. That he could overpower her even as a man.

She whinnied when the stench of his arousal brushed her sensitive nose. He reeked of male musk, a horrible, fishy stench. Now her wolf finally seemed to understand what was going on, because she snorted the scent. Offended by its repulsive odor.

Finally her wolf did not recognize this alpha as its mate. If she had the scent would have been clean, crisp, intoxicating. But now it was too late; she was locked under the power of the alpha’s call.

He dropped the shirt to the ground. St. John was covered in a furry carpet of red all along his arms and torso. She shook her head even as her paws dragged her into the center of the circle.

“Cover her eyes, boys,” St. John laughed.

Then she was set upon, but still under her thrall she couldn’t move. Could only scream in her head as hands tied a velvet mask around her eyes.

Shivering, trembling, she whimpered and awaited her fate.

Cries and howls suddenly exploded around her and the power locking her limbs in place was gone. But these cries weren’t ones of jubilation and conquest, but raw, visceral fear and pain.

Terrified, she jumped to her feet, shaking her head from side to side to release the mask. Had her brothers found her trail?

But if they had, why wasn’t she scenting them? She smelled smoke and brimstone. Not altogether displeasing, but not the fresh earthiness of her clan. What was going on?

Growling, she rubbed her head against tree bark to peel the damnable mask off. She debated whether to shift back to human form but quickly dismissed the idea. Stronger as the wolf, she knew she had no choice but to remain as she was.

There were grunts and hard exhalations of breath, a body being slammed. Then another. More howls. And then finally silence.

Standing stock still she listened to the rustle of dry leaves dance on the grassy meadow. To the chatter of squeaking mice. The hoot of an owl. The breeze smelled of apples and flowers and something dark…something dangerous.

Only one heartbeat besides her own remained in these woods. The mask was only half off; all she could see were her paws and the ground. Pulse racing she stood on edge waiting for the…whatever…to come at her. She could hear its breathing; it hadn’t gone anywhere.

The longer she waited, the louder her instinct became that this predator meant her no actual harm.

Realizing she needed more information than what her nose could give her, Lilith put her wolf to sleep by calling her shifting fire with no small amount of trepidation and shifted into her human form quicker than she’d ever done before. Yanking the bloody mask off her face the moment she was able.

An ebony-skinned man with hair like shadow and gleaming red eyes stared back at her. Dressed in dark jeans and shirt, he’d have almost blended into the darkness around them if it weren’t for the strange, luminescent sheen that rippled just beneath his skin. Like coals that’d been banked but still burned with a light glow of fire.

In his hand was a sword stained with blood. There were no wolves around, no dead bodies… It was just her and him.

“Lilith Wolf,” he said in a seductively smooth drawl, “come with me.”

Marie Hall is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves books that make you think, or feel something. Preferably both. And while she's a total girly girl and loves glitter and rainbows, she's just as happy when she's writing about the dark underbelly of society. Well, if things like zombies, and vampires, and werewolves, and mermaids existed. (Although she has it on good authority that mermaids do in fact exist, because the internet told her so.)

She's married to the love of her life, a sexy beast of a caveman who likes to refer to himself as Big Hunk. She has two awesome kids, lives in Hawaii, loves cooking and occasionally has been known to crochet. She also really loves talking about herself in the third person.

If you want to see what new creations she's got up her sleeves check out her blog.

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Cover Reveal: Who I Was by Kasidy Blake

Release Date 8/21/2014

Synopsis:

Lillian Jacobson was a very happy four year old. She had two loving parents and an older brother who put all other brothers to shame. 

Everything changed one horrible night when her entire world was savagely torn apart. Her parents were brutally murdered in front of her eyes and she was left with a bullet wound in her shoulder as a constant reminder of the tragedy. Now she and her brother are living their lives in constant fear; every day a fight for survival.

After years of relative safety under witness protection, their situation turns from bad to worse. Betrayed by a man who swore to protect them, her brother is taken by the same people who ended her parents lives years before. She is moved to a secure location under the protection of two agents, but a complication arises that she never saw coming. She begins to fall for both men, who are also falling for her. When a letter arrives bearing the ultimatum, “Surrender yourself or your brother dies,” she must find a way to suppress her desires or she may never see her brother alive again.

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About Kasidy:

Kasidy is married with two wonderful children.  Her family is very supportive and she knows she wouldn’t be doing this without them. She fell in love with reading and couldn’t put books down.  That was when her characters started talking to her and now she can’t help but write their story or they will never give her peace! Who I Was is her debut Novel.

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Release Blitz: One Night In Paris by Lucy Felthouse

Jacob is nearly forty, and has recently come to the sudden realization that he’s not doing much with his life. Sure, he’s got his own successful business, but what’s the point in earning lots of money and not doing anything or going anywhere to spend it?

He’s in serious danger of being all work and no play, so he starts to rectify this by organizing a twenty four hour layover in Paris en route to a meeting in Dubai. Whilst there, he goes on a bus tour of the city, and there meets Annabelle, a fellow Brit who’s studying in Paris. There’s clearly an attraction between the two of them, so when the gorgeous Annabelle makes an indecent proposal to help Jacob fill his time in Paris, who is he to refuse?

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Excerpt

Jacob huffed out a breath as he reached the kerb, shooting a dirty look at the motorist who’d caused him to leap for the relative safety of the pavement. Christ, he’d heard talk of Parisian drivers, but until he’d experienced the place for himself, he’d thought the claims were exaggerated. Apparently not.

Running a hand through his hair, he tried to regain some modicum of composure. It was not the best start to his day—all he’d done was catch the Metro to the Eiffel Tower so far, and he’d barely caught sight of the iconic monument before an insane motorist had almost run him down.

Checking his pockets to make sure nothing was amiss, he retrieved his pre-booked ticket for one of the hop-on, hop-off bus tours of the city while he was there. Horribly touristy, he knew, but given he’d never visited the French capital before, he felt it was excusable. Hell, he’d even booked a plane ticket with a nice twenty-four-hour layover so he could sneak in some sightseeing. It was going to be non-stop work when he got to Abu Dhabi, so he felt he was entitled to a little chill-out time before he got there.

He was the boss, anyway, so nobody could tell him what to do, where to go, or when. If he wanted to head for a brief jolly in Paris before a bunch of intense meetings with his Arabic clients, then he damn well would. What was the point in working his arse off constantly if he couldn’t reap the benefits? His fortieth birthday was approaching and the realisation had made him think. Almost forty and he hadn’t seen nearly enough of the world. Especially if you discounted hotels and conference rooms. Once, he’d flown to Rome, had a meeting in a hotel near the airport, then turned around and boarded a flight home. It had been worth it financially, but only months later, it hit Jacob what a colossally wasted opportunity it had been. Yes, the client had insisted on a face-to-face meeting, rather than a Skype chat, and yes, he’d needed to get back home to continue with yet more work, but it could have waited a day or two. Even a couple of days in the Italian capital would have been better than nothing.

What was the point in having plenty of money if one couldn’t enjoy it, after all?

With a decisive nod, Jacob checked his ticket for the location of the bus stop. He’d just headed for the Eiffel Tower in the first instance because he’d figured it would be the easiest thing in Paris to find. He’d been right in assuming that; the mighty iron structure pierced the sky, impressive and strangely beautiful. It was next on his list, after the bus tour, which he felt would help him get his bearings. He only had twenty four hours—there was no time to waste getting lost.

He quickly located the bus stop he’d been looking for, helped by the vehicle that had just arrived, emblazoned with the tour company logo. There was already a group waiting, and he hurried over to join the back of the queue. After a couple of minutes, it was his turn to have his ticket checked, then he was ushered onto the bus.

It seemed the majority of people who’d alighted in front of him had snagged seats on the bottom deck. It was far from full but somehow already felt crowded, so Jacob headed up the stairs, the child in him making a bee-line for the back seat.

He’d taken a couple of long strides when he saw someone already sitting there. A blonde, maybe a decade younger than him, and gorgeous. Their gazes met and they exchanged a polite smile before breaking eye contact.

*****

Author the Author

Lucy Felthouse is a very busy woman! She writes erotica and erotic romance in a variety of subgenres and pairings, and has over 100 publications to her name, with many more in the pipeline. These include several editions of Best Bondage Erotica, Best Women's Erotica 2013 and Best Erotic Romance 2014. Another string to her bow is editing, and she has edited and co-edited a number of anthologies, and also edits for a small publishing house. She owns Erotica For All, is book editor for Cliterati, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. 

Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. 

Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9

Author Spotlight: Melissa Haag

 Q & A with Melissa Haag

1) Did your experiences in life have an impact (big or small) in your writing?

Absolutely!  Experiencing life’s highs and lows enables me to pour that emotion into the scenes I write.

2) What advice would you give to your teenage self?

Do it!  Do it all! I was too content to let the wind take me where it would.  I would tell myself it’s okay to be more driven to find what I really wanted to do.  (And to not listen to everyone else!)

3) For your book, Hope(less), how much story line came to you early on during prepping and how much came along the way? 

I come up with the best ideas, start writing, and then the characters wreck it all!  They become willful and start telling their own story as if I hadn’t just spent countless hours daydreaming the plot I wanted.

4) What are your plans for the Judgement of the Six series?

Mostly world domination, mayhem, some tears…you know, the good stuff.  The three books I’ve written so far have been building up the world while showing you the lives those girls have led.  It’s all important to the overall plot.

5) Do you plan on expanding to other genres?

I really like paranormal.  Real life is real enough for me.  However, I won’t say never…maybe someday, I’ll venture into contemporary.  We’ll see.  

Right now, in my works in progress, I am bouncing around between YA, NA, and Adult within Paranormal.  I’ll have a pen name for the adult but think I might keep YA and NA under my name.  It’s another we’ll see.

Thanks for the great questions!

~*~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~*~

Melissa Haag currently resides in Wisconsin with her husband and three children. Touch is her first published novel. She is currently working on book three of a separate five book series. To learn more about her upcoming projects, visit her at: http://melissahaag.com 

you can connect with her on:

https://twitter.com/imagine2live

https://www.facebook.com/author.MelissaHaag

~*~BOOK LIST~*~

Judgment of the Six series

Touch

Shadows and Light 

Promo Post: Now or Never by A.J. Bennett

Twenty-one year old Grayson Alexander finally breaks away from an abusive relationship and finds herself free for the first time in three years.

Determined to enjoy her new-found freedom, Grayson is intent on sticking with 'no strings attached' relationships—one-night stands, and steamy sex.

But she didn't plan on Derrick. 

Her attraction to the sexy man in uniform quickly turns into an unhealthy relationship. They both try to resist the pull, but neither can stay away. 

When tragedy strikes, Grayson realizes it's now or never—walk away or make it work.

~*~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~*~

A.J. Bennett lives in Nashville, TN with her husband and bulldog. She's addicted to coffee, popcorn and books. Becoming an author has been a lifelong dream, and she's extremely excited about her debut novel Now or Never.

~*~BOOK LIST~*~ 

Now or Never

Unintentional Virgin

Truth or Dare

~*~SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS~*~

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Release Blitz: Finding Dandelion by Lex Martin

Finding Dandelion (Dearest #2)

Lex Martin

A New Adult Romance

When soccer all-star Jax Avery collides with Dani Hart on his twenty-first birthday, their connection is instantaneous and explosive. For the first time in years, Jax isn’t interested in his usual hit-it and quit-it approach.

But Dani knows better. Allowing herself a night to be carefree and feel the intensity of their attraction won’t change anything when it comes to dealing with a player. So when Jax doesn’t recognize Dani the next time he sees her, it shouldn’t be a total shock. The fact that he’s her new roommate's brother? That’s a shock.

Dani doesn’t regret that night with Jax, just the need to lie about it. Since her roommate has made it clear what she thinks about her brother’s “type” of girl, the last thing Dani wants is to admit what happened.

Jax knows he’s walking a fine line on the soccer team. One more misstep and he’s off the roster, his plans to go pro be damned. Except he can’t seem to care. About anything… except for the one girl who keeps invading his dreams.

Despite Jax’s fuzzy memory of his hot hookup with his sister’s friend, he can’t stay away from her, even if it means breaking his own rules. But there are bigger forces at work–realities that can end Dani’s college career and lies that can tear them apart.

Jax realizes what he’s losing if Dani walks away, but will he sacrifice his future to be with her? And will she let him if he does?

FINDING DANDELION, the second book in the Dearest series, is a stand-alone novel. This New Adult romance is recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.

Purchase the Books

Dearest Clementine (Dearest, #1)

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Twenty-year-old Clementine Avery doesn't mind being called bitchy and closed off. It's safe, and after being burned by her high school sweetheart and stalked by a professor her freshman year of college, safe sounds pretty damn good.

Her number one rule for survival? No dating. That is until she accidentally signs up for a romance writing class and needs material for her latest assignment. Sexy RA Gavin Murphy is more than happy to play the part of book boyfriend to help Clem find some inspiration, even if that means making out...in the name of research, of course.

As Gavin and Clem grow closer, they get entangled in the mystery surrounding a missing Boston University student, and Clem unwittingly becomes a possible target. Gavin tries to show Clem she can handle falling in love again, but she knows she has to be careful because her heart’s at stake…and maybe even her life.

DEAREST CLEMENTINE is a stand-alone novel with two companion novels. This New Adult romance is recommended for readers 18+ due to mature content.

About the Author

Lex Martin writes new adult novels, the sexy kind with lots angst, a whole lotta kissing, and the hot happily ever afters. When she's not writing, she lives a parallel life as an English teacher. She loves printing black and white photos, listening to music on vinyl, and getting lost in a great book. Bitten by wanderlust, this native Texan has lived all over the country but currently resides in the City of Angels with her husband and twin daughters.

Stalking Encouraged!

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Giveaway!

Kindle Paperwhite * Signed Paperback of copy Dearest Clementine

** Kindle Paperwhite is open to US entrants ONLY. International participants will awarded the monetary value in the form of an Amazon Gift Card if they win. **

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Author Spotlight w/ Q&A's: Amanda Aksel

AMANDA (ah-MAHN-dah)- Latin- Meaning lovable or worthy of love.

Fitting. I've always had an affinity for love.

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Being born in sunny San Diego in the mid 80’s to a young military couple gave me plenty of insight into the dynamics of a romantic relationship. Somewhere between moving coasts every three years, I found myself engrossed in fairytale romances and dressing up like a bride.

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My first real love was writing. By my sophomore year in a new high school in Virginia, I had a slew of short stories, songs, poems, and articles to my name. Writing was fun. It was a way to get the emotions, dialogue, and pictures out of my head, and create a destiny for my characters.

​I had no intention of making a career in writing, because it wasn’t what I did, it was who I was. In reality, I wanted to be an actress. Ah, to be the face of someone else’s authored story. The plan was to move in with my aunt in L.A. after graduation, but had a change of heart. Instead, I stayed with my high school sweetheart (now husband) and attended a film school in Norfolk, VA. It was at this school that I discovered my love for writing screenplays and felt compelled to follow that path. But…as the practical girl I was brought up to be, I decided to go to a real university. While working full time, I completed my BA in Psychology in four and a half years. Becoming a couple’s therapist had always been my “backup” career and there I was on my way to solving love's most complicated quandaries one couple at a time.

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With all my new free time after graduation, I decided to turn my full-length screenplay into a novel in hopes it would help my screenplay sell. I think I was in the middle of writing chapter two when I realized that everything I had ever written was to prepare me for that moment when I knew I was a novelist. Talk about the affirmation of my life. Now my plan is to solve love's most complicated quandaries one novel at a time.

~*~Q & A~*~

1) What are some of your pet peeves you have while writing?

Great question! I have two. The first is noise. I need total silence in order to write. Unless, I've had a glass of wine, then music is okay. The second is when  some one peeks over my shoulder to see what I'm writing. I REALLY hate that. 

2) What are your top inspirations in the writing world? (i.e. author?)

I love Emily Giffin. She loves to write about gray areas and so do I. I also admire her for her fantastic career and dedicated readership. Elizabeth Gilbert is another. I love the way she orchestrates words so beautifully.

3) Once you have an idea, how do you brainstorm?

I always outline a story, just like we did in high school. But I love to bounce ideas off of my husband. He doesn't read my genre, but he has a great understanding of story structure and can always see my story from a new perspective. I call him my story consultant and I pay him in kisses!

4) What is your guilty pleasure food?

That's easy. The California Skillet with pancakes but no bacon (I'm Veg.) from Village Inn. I constantly crave this meal.

5) Have you ever met a celebrity (minor or major)? And how was it?

I've met a few celebrities including James Shaffer from the band Korn and Evangelist, Pat Robertson (both are long stories), but my favorite celeb meeting was my friend Ty Hodges. At the time Ty was all over the Disney Channel. I wrote him a fan letter when I was 14 and a few weeks later I got an email back from him, and we became buddies. I saw him last in DC when he showed his film Miles From Home at a film festival. He's a super talented guy. 

~*~BOOK LIST~*~

Marin Johns is San Francisco’s Pollyanna couples therapist. She’s months away from wedded bliss when she discovers her fiancé is having an affair. After nursing her broken heart with Kleenex and break-up songs, she adopts a new brand of thinking when she uncovers a tell-all book that proves all men are liars and cheaters who will do and say anything so they’re not found out. No exceptions.

In an attempt to convince her friends of her newfound truth, she begins a fictitious relationship with James, a do-gooder from Montana. Marin seeks any means necessary to catch him cheating from hiring a PI to enlisting the help of a fidelity tester. Will her new "boyfriend" beat the statistic or will Marin regret the satisfaction of being right?

~*~SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS~*~

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