Blog Tour Promo Post: The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron

New York Times bestselling author Chelsea M. Cameron is back with the opposites-attract, sweet-and-sexy small-town romance you’ve been waiting for.

Iris Turner hightailed it out of Salty Cove, Maine, without so much as a backward glance. Which is why finding herself back in her hometown—in her childhood bedroom, no less—has the normally upbeat Iris feeling a bit down and out. Her spirits get a much-needed lift, though, at the sight of the sexy girl next door.

No one knows why Jude Wicks is back in Salty Cove, and that’s just how she likes it. Jude never imagined she’d be once again living in her parents’ house, never mind hauling lobster like a local. But the solitude is just what she needs—until Iris tempts her to open up.

A no-strings summer fling seems like the perfect distraction for both women. Jude rides a motorcycle, kisses hard and gives Iris the perfect distraction from her tangled mess of a life. But come September, Iris is still determined to get out of this zero-stoplight town.

That is, unless Jude can give her a reason to stay…

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

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My parents and I hadn’t really talked about what happened and why I was back, mostly because it wasn’t for just one reason. There were many reasons, all culminating with me packing my shit in my car, loading up my dog, abandoning my friends, and driving back here.

I asked Mom if there was any ice cream in the freezer and she said that there was. While I was getting a spoon, I glanced out the window, which happened to look right into our neighbor’s living room.

Jude.

The lights were on and she stood in the living room wearing nothing but a sports bra and some athletic shorts. The spoon I’d just grabbed clattered on the floor. As I stood up from retrieving the spoon, I found her staring directly at me. Instead of looking away like a normal person, I stared back.

Her hair had been long in high school and her arms hadn’t been so…sculpted back then. At least not that I remembered. My mouth went dry and I held on to the spoon for dear life.

“What are you looking at?” a voice said behind me and I shrieked and dropped the spoon again. I turned around and found my mom leaning over my shoulder to see what I’d been staring at.

“Oh, nothing, just staring off into space.” I rushed with my spoon and the ice cream back into the living room. My parents kept the room dark and the only light was from my dad’s lamp and the TV, so I could hide in a corner with my lobster-red face.

What had come over me? I’d just stood there leering like a fucking creeper. Part of me expected a knock at the door and for her to storm in and ask what I’d been staring at.

That didn’t happen, but it didn’t stop me from looking up from my book every few minutes to check and make sure.

Before bed, I took Dolly out to do her business and my eyes kept flicking over to the house. The lights were still on, but I wasn’t going to stare this time. I hadn’t asked for more information from my mom about Jude, but I did wonder what she was doing back here. She’d hated this town, from what I remembered, so it couldn’t just be because of her parents’ house.

High school in a small town in Maine was brutal for anyone who didn’t conform, and Jude had been adamant about not conforming. I’d done my best to get through, and the drama club had been my safe haven. I’d never thought seriously about acting after high school, since that was way out of my league, but I still thought about it every now and then. There was a community theater group a few towns away. Could I put myself out there and get into it again?

Dolly was taking her sweet time, sniffing the bushes at the edge of the porch to find the right one to pee near. I jumped as I heard a door slam, the door to the neighbor’s house.

I froze with my back to the house, pretending I wasn’t completely aware of what was happening. Was she leaving again on that motorcycle? Where would she go tonight? The only bar in town closed in less than an hour, and there was nothing else open. Unless she might be going to a friend’s house for a party?

Or perhaps she was going to the beach for a midnight swim. I shivered at the thought of Jude slipping beneath the waves like a mermaid.

Copyright © 2020 by Chelsea M. Cameron

About Chelsea M. Cameron

Chelsea M. Cameron is a New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author from Maine who now lives and works in Boston. She's a red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader, and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, tweeting, and playing fetch with her cat, Sassenach. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is. Visit her at www.chelseamcameron.com.

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Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

A new Carina Adores title is available each month:

• The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover (available May 26, 2020)
• Just Like That by Cole McCade (available June 30, 2020)
• Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (available July 28, 2020
• Better Than People by Roan Parrish (available August 25, 2020)
• Full Moon in Leo by Brooklyn Ray (available September 29, 2020)
• If You Can’t Stand the Heat by KD Fisher (available October 27, 2020)
• Just Like Us by Cole McCade (available November 24, 2020)

Promo Post: Dark Surrendering by Chelsea M. Cameron

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Ryder Blythe is is a disaster. A red-headed, tattooed, dirty-talking disaster. But that doesn't stop Sloane Harris from being totally and absolutely attracted to him. She knows he's bad news, but she can't fight the way she feels.

Plus, it's hard to avoid him since he's her best friend's fiancé's brother. But Sloane can't ignore the issues Ryder has following his unintentional overdose. Ryder flirts with darkness and Sloane's not sure if she can fight being dragged down with him.

It seems like only a matter of time before Ryder will self-destruct. Is Sloane willing to take that risk? Or will Ryder finally get his life together and become the man she needs?

EXCERPT

“You’re staring at me again,” I said.

“I know. I can’t help it. You’re an interesting and extraordinary person.” Well, I wouldn’t go that far.

Our cupcakes arrived and distracted both of us.

“F*ck me gently with a chainsaw, this is so good,” I said as I took a bite of the Oreo cookie. All of the cupcakes here were filled with extra frosting, so it oozed out when you bit into it.

“Holy sh*t,” Ryder said, taking a bite of the Red Velvet. He got frosting on his nose, and I laughed.

“You’ve got a little something on your nose,” I said.

“Get it for me?” he asked. I thought about wiping it with a napkin, but used my finger instead.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem.” We went back to our cupcakes, and I considered ordering more because they were just so damn good.

“Life will never be the same,” I said. “This is all your fault. Now I’m going to be addicted to this place, and I will have no money because I spent it all on cupcakes. I’m going to get so fat. Are you happy now?” I asked, scraping the last of the bits of cupcake off my plate. I thought about licking the crumbs, but that seemed like a bad idea in public.

“You know, I think they deliver,” he said, wiping his face with a napkin.

“Shut the f*ck up right now. You are kidding.”

He held up the menu and pointed to the part that said they delivered anywhere in the city.

“You bastard,” I said, grabbing the menu from him and typing the number into my phone so I could use it to call anytime I wanted cupcakes, which would be always.

“How about I buy you another round? Drinks and cupcakes.”

I shook my head. “No, you bought the tea and cronuts. It’s my turn to pay for something.”

He sighed heavily.

“If this was a date, which it isn’t, you could pay. But it’s not a date. So you lose, fire crotch,” I said.

He choked on his seltzer water and sprayed it over the bar. That earned him nasty looks from those around us, but the bartender just handed us a stack of napkins with a smile.

“You two are cute together,” she said.

“Who, us?” I asked.

“Yes, you. How long have you been together?”

I looked at Ryder, wondering how we should handle this. He just put his arm around me and turned toward the bartender.

“Three months,” he said. “It’s our anniversary.” The f*ck? I gave him a stunned look and he just winked at me.

“Isn’t that right, baby?” Ugh. I hated it when guys called their girlfriends baby. It was so degrading. Or at least I’d thought it was degrading. But that was before Ryder called me baby and it made me feel all giggly.

He squeezed my shoulder, as if asking me to play along. Oh, what the hell.

“That’s right, sweetie. Three glorious months.” I smiled at the bartender, and she leaned in so she wouldn’t be overheard.

“How about I bring you something special? On the house.”

“Um, sure,” I said. “That’s so nice of you.”

“Really, thank you,” Ryder added.

She waved off the thanks. “It’s nothing. I’m just a fan of people in love. I think it should be celebrated, especially with cupcakes. I’ll be right back.”

She vanished and came back a few moments later with a cupcake that was so large, it was the size of three normal cupcakes. There was something stuck in it that she lighted which turned out to be a small sparkler.

“Congratulations,” she said, and then headed off to take more orders. The people around us all stared.

“They probably think it’s one of our birthdays,” I said to Ryder.

“Probably. We should blow that out before it sets something on fire.” He had a good point. He picked up the sparkler and doused it in the rest of his seltzer water.

“That’s one way to do it,” I said, and picked up my fork. The cupcake was vanilla with a creamy white marshmallow frosting, and it was filled with what was almost like raw cake batter with sprinkles.

“How is it?” Ryder asked, watching me as I chewed and swallowed with relish.

“Have a bite and see,” I said, pointing to his fork.

He did and banged his fist on the table. “Damn, that is good.”

We slowly ate the rest of the giant cupcake. Good thing I didn’t eat dinner or else I might not have managed it. I finished my third bellini and leaned over on the bar. It was probably dirty, but I didn’t care.

“You happy we came here?” he asked, pushing aside the now-empty plate.

“Happy. Full of cake. Same thing.”

“Agreed.”

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