Hot new MMA romance: Passing His Guard
When a MMA fighter clashes wills with a sexy private investigator, the gloves come off…
Aiden “Disco Stick” Kruze walked away from it all—money, family, friends, and a successful career as a lawyer in Manhattan—to pursue his dream of being an MMA fighter. When a sexy private investigator shows up at Aiden’s gym, he mistakenly assumes she’s a cage-banging groupie.
Ryann is determined to haul Aiden back home. She’s desperate to claim the reward money that will pay off her father’s creditors before the man who killed her father comes to collect from her.
Aiden is done living his life under the microscope of being a senator’s son. He’s not going back to New York—ever—and there’s nothing this tenacious redhead can do about it. Or is there?
When the demons of Aiden’s past catch up with him, he realizes the lies, deception, and betrayal run deeper than he ever imagined. Aiden must put his career and his life on the line to save the woman who’s stolen his heart.
Series Description:
Against The Cage:
The gritty, rough, and hot-as-hell MMA men of the Cage Fighting Association never surrender. Each has his own battle-scarred past, and each has a reason to resist the biggest takedown of all: love. But when these fighters meet their matches, the battles in the cage pale in comparison with the sparks that fly outside of it. Against the Cage, Melynda Price’s MMA romance series, is big on action and high on heat, with alpha males who are just as unforgettable as they are irresistible.
- Win By Submission (book 1)
- Passing His Guard (book 2)
- Grappling For Position (book 3) coming 4/16
New in MMA Romance: Win By Submission
I’m very excited to announce my upcoming release, Win By Submission, the first book in my Against the Cage MMA Series!
Releasing 3/24/15!
To win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life…
After an illegal kick during a CFA title fight fractures Cole Easton’s spine, doctors say there’s nothing more they can do for the bitter Vegas fighter. They say it’s a miracle he can walk, if that’s what you call his crutch-dragging limp. Unwilling to give up on him, Cole’s manager sends the injured fighter to the best physical therapist he knows: his niece, Katie Miller. When Cole arrives in the small town of Somerset, Wisconsin, he quickly discovers his sly manager may have had reasons other than rehab for sending him to this frozen tundra.
After a year of running from an abusive ex-boyfriend, Katie has returned to her hometown to care for her father, who’s recovering from a stroke. When Uncle Marcus calls in a favor, she reluctantly finds herself taking on a rancorous MMA fighter, broken at the height of his career. He’s insanely sex-on-a-stick hot—and everything she loathes in a man.
If Cole thinks his fighting days are over, he’s dead wrong. To save Katie from her past and to win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.
Win By Submission is available for preorder now!
Jaded…
A new contemporary release about learning to love again… Congratulations, MJ, on your new release!
Jaded
A devastating breakup leaves Yasmine Phillips in shambles. Unable to trust another man with her heart, she focuses on the one thing she can control—starting her own business.
When her computer crashes, taking months of hard work with it, she must rely on computer genius Zachariah Givens to save her. A complete opposite of men from her past, she doesn’t expect the passion that ensues. But just as she finds happiness, she learns the truth about the other women in Zachariah’s life.
EXCERPT:
Dear Diary,
I’ve been called a slut, a ho, easy… and a few other words that I refuse to even write on paper.
Since middle school, people have taken one look at my light skin, grey eyes, and the shape of my body and assumed that’s who I was.
Assume.
The first three letters of the word described them. How dare they judge me? Nobody is perfect.
It has never mattered what I’ve done in my life. Being the daughter of a bi-racial marriage has always haunted me. With my fusion of graceful features I’d inherited from my white mother – the slender nose, cat-like eyes, vibrant smile – and the take-no-shit attitude of my black father, people didn’t know how to deal with me.
Guys in school wanted to date me as if I were a trophy. Girls hated the color of my eyes and the texture of my hair.
Things got worse as I got older. Why? Because I love my body and I love sex.
But I never used either to earn money or favors from any man. I am a confident, educated woman who goes for what I want, regardless of what anyone around me has to say. If that means I want a good lay every now and then, I’m damn well entitled to it. But one thing I’d never be is a home wrecker.
My philosophy on love and relationships is simple: sex isn’t love, but it’s nice while you’re waiting.
Well, that’s what I used to think before the man that I fell in love with trampled all over my heart.
And raped my best friend.
Love will never happen for me. No man will ever understand me. The real me.
Not my parents, not my brother, not even my best friends.
My life, my experiences – both good and bad – are what define the real me.
~Yasmine
The Butterfly Memoirs Series:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ButterflyMemoir
FB Fan: https://www.facebook.com/The.Butterfly.Memoirs
Bio for MJ Kane:
M.J. Kane stumbled into writing. An avid reader, this stay at home mom never lost the overactive imagination of an only child. As an adult she made up stories, though never shared them, to keep herself entertained. It wasn’t until surviving a traumatic medical incident in 2006 that she found a reason to let the characters inhabiting her imagination free. Upon the suggestion of her husband, she commandeered his laptop and allowed the characters to take life. It was that, or look over her shoulder for men caring a purple strait jacket. And the rest, as they say, is history.
No longer a television addict, if M.J. isn’t reading a book by one of her favorite authors, she’s battling with her creative muse to balance writing and being a wife and mother. She resides in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia with her high school sweetheart, four wonderful children, and two pit bulls. MJ can often be found hanging out at the local library where she is director of a local writer’s group, or online connecting with readers and other authors. Other activities she enjoys include: creating custom floral arrangements, assisting her children in their creative pursuits of music and art, and supporting her husband’s music production business, 3D Sounds.
You can find MJ on social networking sites, sharing writing tips, talking about music, life, and family. She’s always excited to meet new people. Connect with her via the websites below.
Author Contact Info:
MJ Kane:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MJKaneBooks
FB Author: https://www.facebook.com/MJButterflyBooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6034900-m-j-kane
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111337870949730559736/posts
When Noonday Ends~New Release
When Noonday Ends
When a new attorney accepts a pro-bono case of an abused woman suspected of attempted murder, he ends up with more than he bargained for. She’s the ex-wife of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Ashville, and her in-laws will stop at nothing to conceal family secrets—even murder.
Unable to ignore his attraction, he gets closer than he should. But when all evidence points to the woman he’s falling in love with, he will risk everything—his reputation, disbarment, maybe even his life to uncover the truth.
Carmen DeSousa Bio:
Carmen characterizes her stories as modern-day fairytales, as they overflow with romance, mystery, suspense, and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a fairytale be without a tragic event setting the stage? All of her novels are sensual, but not erotic, gripping but not graphic and will make you cry, gasp, laugh, love, and hope.
Her first two novels, She Belongs to Me and Land of the Noonday Sun, have reached bestseller status right alongside Nicholas Sparks, J.D. Robb, and other great authors. Her third novel, Entangled Dreams, just published September 2012.
All of her novels are standalones; however, she does link each of her stories with a little surprise. If you read out of order, you’ll never notice. But if you read in order, it’s fun.
Author Contact Info:
Website
Excerpt from When Noonday Ends
Sitting at the back of the courtroom, Tom’s mind wandered. One person after another approached the judge, claiming their innocence. He hated doing this, but the law firm where he worked required all new attorneys to accept hardship cases. To get your feet wet, they’d said.
Like his father before him, he’d chosen a career as an attorney. And for once in his life, his parents were actually proud of him.
Still, most attorneys spent their days off golfing. He couldn’t stand golf, but he’d give anything to be kayaking right now. Often he thought of changing careers, as his best friend Chad had done. He had thrown away four years of medical school to manage an outdoor store he’d inherited from his parents. Tom had always thought that it had been a stupid decision, but now he wondered. His best friend was married to a beautiful woman, had a son, and could kayak every day if he wanted.
What Tom really wanted was to take a few months off from life and hike the Appalachian Trail. After the year he’d had, he really needed some time away from life—all life. But then, his parents would be disappointed, and he’d really miss his niece, Samantha. His sister had been one of the wildest women he’d ever known. But since she’d had Sam, she’d finally settled down and was trying to be a good mother. Being a single mother wasn’t easy, and Michelle needed him. If only to give her at least one night a week to unwind.
Tom threw his head back and closed his eyes. Just the smell of the courthouse was grading on him today. The oil they’d used on the old wooden floors was giving him a migraine.
“No contest, Your Honor.” A soft country voice roused him from his brooding.
Tom forced his eyes to focus on the woman standing in front of the judge. It couldn’t be. The smooth blond hair, that beautiful country voice. Brandy? He shook his head to clear it. Brandy was dead; he’d shot her more than a year ago.
First Kiss ~ New Release by Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie
Congratulations Bernadette Marie on your new release, First Kiss. A must read for any lover of contemporary romance!
First Kiss
Promises made as children have a funny way of working themselves into reality when fate is orchestrated for them as adults.
Olivia Baker wants the best life for her young son, and that meant raising him in the small town she grew up in, but where her past still haunts her and rumors drip from the tongues of the local gossips.
Cade Carter moved away from Aspen Creek the moment they handed him his high school diploma. Now a washed up ex-professional football player he’s headed back after his father’s death to settle the estate of the man he’d left and forgotten about.
The friendship Cade and Olivia shared so many years ago is just now a haunting memory. People changed and moved on. Secrets were kept and loved ones around them buried with them. But when they are thrown back together to face the reasons their friendship faltered, and forces greater than them are in charge, anything can happen with the person whom they shared their First Kiss with.
Excerpt from First Kiss:
There was a chill in the air, even in June. Cade Carter rolled the windows up on his Porsche as he began his decent into the valley. The mountains of Colorado could deliver any unprepared traveler an array of weather to cope with, and it could change without warning in a matter of moments.
Though the higher peaks still boasted snow, he’d found the entire, long and boring trip from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to be fairly dry. Cade had considered driving his Bronco to Aspen Creek, but he’d needed the speed of the sports car and Ashley had needed it to move.
He glanced at his Rolex for the sixth time in the past half hour. He was going to be late.
Who was he kidding. He’d had no intentions of getting to his own father’s funeral on time. Had it not been for Ashley, he’d have blown it off all together. But no. The words still rang in his ears. “You have to go. He was your father. He loved you. You owe him…”
Cade gripped the steering wheel tighter. He did owe him the decency to be at his funeral, because Cade Carter had been the worst son, and he knew it.
The first sign that would alert drivers to the small town of Aspen Creek was coming up on his right. A left would take him over the next hill to the elite ski resort town of Aspen Hills. The road he veered down would drop him into small town hell.
As the deep groves of Aspen trees thinned he could see the small town at the bottom of the valley. Each street was visible, the cars looked small, and the town stood there as if someone had taken a picture of it fifty years earlier, not one thing had changed. He did see a 7-11 sign peeking above the buildings. Corporate America had moved in. That was new. At least he’d know what the coffee tasted like.
He could see City Park in the center of town. The grass was green. Green’s Market had the most cars in the parking lot and Sloan’s Diner must have just finished with their lunch crowd.
Aspen Creek rolled along the sides of town and under the Rose Bridge. It was fast, unforgiving, and cold all year long. He’d had his share of dunks in that water, some on purpose, some not. Beyond the bridge and the white rapids of the river that rushed through town with its new melt off he could see the street where he’d grown up, where his father had lived, and where he’d fallen in love as a young boy.
Cade pulled the car to the shoulder of the narrow road and slammed it into park. He lifted his sunglasses from his eyes and rubbed them. He hadn’t been back to Aspen Creek in twelve years. Long had been forgotten the sentiments of home, like people knowing your name, and not because you were some famous football player, but because you were Austin Carter’s son. High school football games, swimming in Aspen Creek, and the girl next door were things a man forgot about when he was an M.V.P.
He blew out a long, ragged breath. The comforts of a sports car were limited to the power of the engine on a man Cade’s size. He tried to stretch his legs, but to no avail. If he didn’t get out and walk around soon he’d be paralyzed in the car seat. Just another thing he deserved he supposed. Career killing injuries were just another daily reminder that he was lucky to be alive, even if he now stood on the sidelines and basked in the glory of what used to be.
It was easy for the team to cut him loose when he was no longer able to perform. The position needed to be filled by someone younger and able to play. He was just a washed up has-been now who’d collected his payout.
Adjusting his sunglasses back on his face, he put the car back into drive. He had demons to face and he’d better just get it over with. Ashley was house-sitting in Green Bay and Cade was expected back in three days. He couldn’t imagine closing out his father’s life could take longer than that.
Olivia Baker sat in the cemetery alone, next to the new grave and sobbed. The funeral had been small, but Austin had kept to himself for the past two years. She wasn’t sure everyone had even heard he’d passed. She wiped her eyes. No, they all knew he’d died. He’d died right in her arms and that had gotten the attention of the local gossips.
The casket had been lowered, the chairs had been collected, and now the only man she’d ever cherished lay beneath the mound of red Colorado soil with a spray of wilting flowers atop it. It didn’t seem dignified enough.
Her jaw clenched when she looked at the few bouquets and sprays that still lingered near the grave. Not one of them had Cade’s name on it.
Damn him anyway.
What kind of son didn’t even make it to the funeral of the man who raised him? The kind like Cade Carter.
The arrogant, self-centered bastard probably had some pressing football engagement and couldn’t be bothered with his father’s passing. Some dry-cleaners probably needed him to cut their big obnoxious grand-opening ribbon with an oversized pair of scissors, and to Cade that would have always been more important than respecting his father.
Olivia noticed she’d twisted the head off a carnation at her fingertips. She unclasped her hands and looked beyond the new grave to the one next to it.
CONNER CARTER.
Looking at the name written in stone sent chills up her spine. She looked away. She wondered if anyone at all had come to that funeral. She hadn’t. She’d been tucked away safely in Grand Junction, again, when Conner had died. She was sure Austin had paid to bury him and had splurged for the headstone too. And she couldn’t help but wonder if guilt over Conner’s death had in some way contributed to Austin’s death.
Just beyond the gate to the cemetery she could hear the sound of tires on the gravel. It didn’t phase her. Neither did her responsibilities at the bank. Her boss Parker Woods had told her to take her time and that was what she was doing. She was in no condition to head back to town and act professional.
Tears streaked down her face from under her dark sunglasses, and she let them fall.
The hole in her heart from Austin’s absence ached and she wondered if she’d get over her loss. Her son Gabe would never remember the man she adored and loved. He’d never know how much Austin Carter cherished him and loved him.
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut tight. Would she miss Austin everyday when she looked into Gabe’s eyes and saw the resemblance?
She wiped away the tears and then noticed that the driver of the car, which had parked in the lot had walked across the gravel and stood only a few feet from her. She did what she could to compose herself. After all, she owed it to Austin to be gracious and welcoming to his mourners.
Olivia pushed herself up from the ground, brushed off her black skirt, and turned toward the person standing behind her.
There was an uneasiness that settled in Cade’s gut when he saw the mound of dirt before him. Could guilt kill a man of his stature?
The woman who had been sitting at his father’s grave stood before him, her elegant black dress covered in dust, but she didn’t seem to mind.
He swallowed hard. “Is this Austin Carter’s grave?”
The woman shook her head more in an effort to convey disgust than to signal that he was in the wrong place. “Why did you even bother?”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Why show up now, Cade? You couldn’t even give him the decency of being here on time?”
“I…” he had no answers. Besides who was she to be criticizing him?
Cade examined the lean, yet curvy woman in the well-worn dress who stood before him. Her hair was pulled back and dark glasses covered her eyes. Little gold bands adorned each of her ring fingers, so she could have been someone’s wife. Hell, he’d grown up in the town, maybe he did know her. But still, what he did to get the funeral on time, or not, was not her concern.
“I guess you know me. Who might you be?”
The woman opened her mouth, and then shut it again. Instead of answering she picked her purse up off the ground and searched inside. She pulled out a business card and handed it to him. “I’m the one in charge of closing out your father’s estate.”
With that, she started off to the parking lot and he watched. Back in town five minutes and he was already pissing off the women there.
He ran his hand over the back of his neck and looked at the card as the woman sped away down the hill toward town.
Olivia Baker, Vice President Aspen Creek Bank.
His head shot back up and the air in his lungs escaped him.
A man could drive into town, and the girl next door, whom he’d fallen in love with as a child, could hand him a card with her name on it and he didn’t even recognize her.
Suddenly the aches and pains in his leg, from his brush with death, didn’t hurt as bad when he was faced with a woman scorned and a week in small town hell.
Purchase link : www.5princebooks.com/buy.htm
Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends. Her journey into novel-writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter. At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years.
In 2007 – after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children – Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published. That year she wrote 12 books. In 2009 she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born. In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released contemporary titles and began the process of taking on other authors in other genres.
In 2012 Bernadette Marie found herself on the bestsellers lists of iTunes and Amazon to name a few. Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.
Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events. She is also an accomplished martial artist who will earn her conditional second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do in October 2012. An avid reader, she enjoys most, the works of Nora Roberts, Karen White, Megan Hart, to name a few. She loves to meet readers who enjoy reading contemporary romances and she always promises Happily Ever After.
Author Contact Info:
www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie
www.authorbernadettemarie.blogspot.com
@writesromance on Twitter
ALL FOR LOVE by Ann Swann
Happy Release Day! Ann Swann
Liz falls in love with Quinn the moment they meet in college. He professes to love her, too. She begins to think about the future, but his past rips them apart. What Liz does next impacts the rest of their lives, but she feels it is the only way… she does it all for love.
EXCERPT:
We were drinking iced tea at our favorite sidewalk café when the plastic plant exploded.
One moment Ronnie was checking my left hand to see if my wedding ring was still there, and the next thing I knew she was crawling across the blistered sidewalk in slow motion, reaching out for me.
Ronnie and I have been friends since college. She and Carol were my dorm mates. The best friends I’ve ever had. But college was a long time ago.
“How long do you think it takes to fall out of love?” I had just asked.
Stalling for time, Ronnie gazed about The Sidewalk Café. The strong breeze should’ve been cool, but it was dry and hot. Instead of our usual twelve inches of rain for the year, we’d received just less than two. The drought in our area of West Texas had been catastrophic; a simple spark from a piece of machinery could start a wildfire that might burn for days or even weeks. The weather channel delighted in telling us we were smack dab in the middle of the worst dry spell since the nineteen fifties.
In a way, it was fitting. I seemed to be smack dab in the middle of a drought myself. My nest felt as empty as the prairie, and my husband, who could’ve been the spark to light my world, was also brittle and dry. In fact, he was so dry he was practically nonexistent, like the prairie grass hiding in the earth, waiting for moisture.
Ronnie swished a fly away from her drink. “What’s going on, Lizzie?”
I hesitated. She was so good at taking the wind out of my sails. In fact, I’d swear she was using “wait time” on me, a technique we had learned in our education classes at the university about a hundred years ago.
Shrugging nonchalantly, I forged ahead. I really wanted her input. I still valued it every bit as much as when we were nineteen. “I think he’s screwing around again.” I sipped my tea. Mine was sweet, hers was not. She was usually the sensible one—at least when she wasn’t toasted on Mexican red.
She smoothed the shiny fall of hair off her face. It was still the fresh, reddish color of a blood orange.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Or is it just suspicion?” She swirled her tea, giving me a moment to answer. The amber liquid climbed the inside of her glass like a tiny tsunami. She reached across the table to touch my hand. We weren’t very demonstrative anymore, not like when we were in school. I don’t know why, but I suspected it was my fault. A hug upon meeting was the extent of our physical relationship. Sometimes one of us would hug the other when we parted—it all depended upon our emotional altitude at the moment. But this time she wasn’t being demonstrative by clasping my hand, she was simply checking to see if my wedding ring was still in place. She turned my hand over and pushed it flat down on the table.
AUTHOR BIO:
Ann lives in West Texas with her handsome hubby and three rescue pets. All For Love is Ann’s first romance novel. She is the author of the Young Adult books: The Phantom Series. Book One is The Phantom Pilot, Book Two is The Phantom Student, and she is hard at work on Book Three, The Phantom of Crybaby Bridge. Ann has also published short fiction in the anthologies Timeless (paranormal love stories) and Campfire Tales (spooky stories for the young at heart).
Blog: www.annswann.blogspot.com
Website: www.annswann.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annswann.author
Twitter: @ann_swann
Email: swannann76@yahoo.com
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