Title: The Devil Within Author: Tanya Nellestein Genre: Romantic Suspense
Sometimes you have to go to dark places before you can truly find the light.
Sarah Darcy has created the life she always wanted with her dream job in London, as far from Australia as she can get. However, all she’s ever wanted was to love and be loved. She thought she’d found it in bad boy biker, Alex Riley; until he ripped her heart out.
Unwanted his whole life, Alex went from foster child to an outlaw and enforcer with The Devils MC. He never went looking for love, never thought he deserved it, until he found Sarah. To keep Sarah safe, he ended the relationship. But he couldn’t stay away, not forever.
Alex has come to start his life over as well. But he’s running from a dark and violent past that will not let him go alive. Forced to run for their lives across Europe, being chased by a biker gang hell-bent on revenge. With no one else to turn to, can Sarah trust Alex, let alone love him again?
He stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist. Sarah was sitting on the sofa, but stood up when he entered. His head felt lighter seeing her still here. He was going to ask her if she felt like ordering dessert, but she’d crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him before he could get a word out. She lay her head against his chest and Alex closed his eyes and dropped his lips to her wet hair, breathing in the scent of the vanilla bath soap and the soft, sweet, purity that was innately Sarah. He tangled a hand through her hair, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and murmured another apology. God, he loved this woman.
Alex felt her breath hot against his skin, sending sparks of desire right to his core. His heartbeat kicked up a notch. He tried to take a step but found her hand against his chest, keeping him in place. Slowly, she raised her face until her eyes peered up at him from under long lashes.
Fuck, she was breathtaking.
His cock twitched. With a gentle hand, he smoothed her hair back, losing himself in those eyes. Allowing himself to forget, for just a second, what had brought them to this moment.
‘Sarah…?’ The question hung in the air. Her eyes had darkened; her tongue wet her bottom lip.
Need screamed through him. This could not be happening. It shouldn’t…
She rose up to meet him, dragging her lips across his.
‘I want you.’ Her voice was low and hoarse. ‘I need you.’
He ran a thumb across her cheek, searching her face and finding desire in her eyes.
‘Are you sure?’ His heart hammered against his chest.
Sarah snaked her arms around his neck, bringing his mouth down on hers. He held her gaze as they kissed, softly, tenderly. He teased her lips with his tongue. She pressed against him, a moan gently escaping. He deepened the kiss, and she matched his intensity. Her hunger drove him close to insanity.
He pushed the robe from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. She stood before him, her skin paler than he remembered, but every inch as sexy. He needed to touch her, taste her.
Alex picked her up and her legs encircled his waist while he moved them back towards the bed, his hands cupping her gorgeous ass while her lips found his again. His cock strained against the towel held in place between their bodies, desperate to be set free.
He laid her on the bed, letting his towel drop to the floor. Christ, he wanted her all at once. His need to taste her won out. He ran his tongue inside her thigh until he reached her soft curls and paused. If memory served, and it did, she’d always waxed her pussy clean and smooth when they were together. Alex chose to take this as a sign that like him, she hadn’t been with anyone else recently. With a groan, his tongue teased her slit; she responded by opening her legs wider. Fuck, she was so wet. He probed further, licking her salty sweetness while he grasped her hips to hold her writhing body in place.
Sarah moaned, her fingers knotting in his hair. He inserted one finger, and then another, feeling her grip him as he worked her with his tongue. His other hand slipped across to hold her at the base of her belly.
Her moans turned to cries of ecstasy, her fingers tightened in his hair. The pain at his scalp let him know she was getting close. He was going to take her over the edge. Feel her come against his mouth.
‘Alex! Jesus Christ, yes,’ she screamed while her body contorted against him.
Leaving his fingers inside her, he moved up beside her, crushing his mouth to hers so she could taste herself on his lips.
She reached for his cock, her fingers grasping his shaft. ‘I want you inside me.’
He slipped his fingers out and used her slick to wet her nipples. ‘Not so fast.’
He took her hand from his cock and held both her wrists above her head. While his tongue ran gentle circles around her breasts and across her nipples. Her back arched and her hips bucked, creating friction against his rock-hard cock lying on her belly.
‘More, I need more…’ His teeth grazed the side of her breast. Sarah hissed with pleasure. ‘Please, Alex.’
Tanya Nellestein has been recreating the fruits of her overactive imagination on paper since she was a child. She is an avid reader, novelist, experience enthusiast, outstanding car vocalist, and Queen of fancy dress. Tanya writes gut-churning historical fiction, contemporary crime/mystery and suspense with a romantic angle that always includes good sex and a happily ever after. One thing you will always get with Tanya’s books – a strong woman who knows who she is (eventually) and gets what she wants.
She lives on the outskirts of Sydney with her two children, a psychotic cat and a dog that refuses to believe he’s not human. Tanya is also an award-winning freelance journalist and member of the Romance Writers of Australia, the Australian Romance Readers Association and the Romance Writers of New Zealand.
Title: First Comes Love Author: Rachael Brownell Genre: Small-Town Romance
For lovers of second chances, small town romances, and happily ever afters…
Chloe
They say everyone has one true love, one person who was made just for them. A person they were meant to spend the rest of their life with. Who souls are intertwined.
For me, that person was Wyatt.
Our love was perfect. When we were together, nothing else mattered. Not college. Not our parents. Because our relationship wasn’t about anyone else.
We had big plans for our future together.
The thing about life… it doesn’t always go as planned.
It’s been five years since I’ve been home. Since I’ve laid eyes on the only man I’ll love in this lifetime.
And in a town this small, there’s no chance I’ll be able to avoid him for long. Or anyone else from my past.
Addison
From the moment I first laid eyes on Adam, I knew I was in trouble. There was a tension between us, chemistry I couldn’t deny. The way he was looking at me, as if he could see straight into my soul, sent my heart into overdrive.
After an hour together, I knew. He was the one. The one who would make me want to change everything. Who could make me believe in love again. In the idea of happily ever afters.
And he did.
His love and two tiny pink lines were about to change my entire life.
The thing about life… it doesn’t always go as planned.
“Sorry, I was taking a walk down memory lane when you called.”
“A good walk or the kind where you feel like someone is chasing you and you’re running for your life?”
Only Addy would remind me that I’m still running from my past.
“The good kind.”
“That’s good. Any sign of you-know-who?”
That’s a trick questions, but she doesn’t know that yet. “I have yet to spot him.”
“But he’s around, isn’t he?”
“I’m assuming. I ran into his cousin last night. I stopped at the Tavern for a drink, and he was working behind the bar.”
“A man after my own heart,” Addy teases. “What did he have to say about him?”
Addy knows I hate to talk about Wyatt. She also knows that I hate hearing his name. It still stings, deep down.
“He didn’t offer up any info and I didn’t ask.”
“You should have. At least you would know where to avoid this weekend. Plus, aren’t you the least bit curious? It’s been five years, Chloe. He may have moved away by now.”
He’s here. I can feel him. I felt him last night. His eyes, burning into my back as Jones hugged me. There’s only one man that’s lit me on fire like that. Only one man that ever will.
“Doubt it. With my luck, I’ll run into him with Lola. At least I won’t have to explain much when he looks at her.”
“What are you talking about? She looks just like her mommy.”
Right. Except the dark hair, the hazel eyes, and the strong jaw. Just like mommy dearest. If only I had a picture to show Addy, then she might understand what I’m talking about.
“Well, if he is here, I’m sure he knows I’m in town now. Jones and him have always been close, and I’m sure that hasn’t changed much.”
“That’s a good thing if you ask me. What did I tell you before you left, Chloe?”
Not this again. The first two times she said it I listened, took her words to heart. The day before I left, she recited it again and I did my best to block her words. Now that I’m here, it’s the last thing I want to hear. My heart won’t like it.
“I know, Addy.”
“Say it,” she demands.
“Why? It’s not like—”
“Chloe Grace Warren. You’ve never been afraid of anything in your life. You face things head on and you’re going to face this head on too. Now, say it.” Did she just summon my mother? She sounded oddly like her.
Damn her no-nonsense attitude.
“If I still love him after all this time, he may still love me too. Because our love is a love that doesn’t fade away. It’s the forever kind of love and imperfection is what makes it perfect.”
Leaving me with only her words, Addy says goodbye and hangs up on me. I come to a halt, my heart beating so wildly in my chest I need to pause. It’s time to a stop thinking about the chance that Wyatt may still be holding onto feelings for me after all this time.
That would mean he stopped living, and the thought breaks my heart.
Rachael Brownell is an Amazon bestselling author of contemporary, New Adult, and YA romance.
She lives in Michigan with her husband, son, snuggly dog, and hateful cat. She moonlights as a bartender a few days a week (her excuse to get out of the house and socialize) and writes full time. She published her first novel in 2013 and since she’s released more than 30 additional titles.
Rachael writes all kinds of romance – dark, sexy, sweet. She started her career writing young-adult romance and as she matured, so did her characters and her writing. These days, Rachael writes steamy, new adult romance. Her favorite tropes to write are small-town and friends to lovers.
When she’s not hiding in her office, writing her next novel, you can find her hanging out with her family, watching her son play baseball, or running on the treadmill at the gym (though she skips more days than she goes).
I’ve loved Calder Cruz from the moment he taught me how to fly. Racing down a mountain and giving me the release I so desperately needed. My understanding. My safe space.
Hadley has fought for a life of her own ever since her sister’s kidnapping. When she was drowning in expectations and family pressures, Calder was always the one who understood her.
Until one night changed it all. From best friends to strangers in a single breath.
She’s like a fire that lives inside me. Even when I thought it was all burned out, there were still embers that lived in my bones.
Calder knows what it’s like to almost lose the people he loves most. He’ll never make that kind of mistake again. Working at the fire station and taking care of his daughters are the only things he needs.
All it takes is a single moment to make him realize how wrong he is. A split second of coming close to losing the woman he has always loved.
But as long-buried embers light anew, there are those who lurk in the shadows. And they’ll do whatever it takes to extinguish that flame for good…
Heat flared to life in Hadley’s eyes, a mix of anger and frustration. She whipped her shirt over her head, leaving her in nothing but a pale pink lacy bra. I wasn’t blind. I knew that Hadley had curves, that she was beautiful, but the sight in front of me had my mouth going dry. I fought the urge to lean in closer.
“Cat got your tongue?”
I scowled at Hadley through the mirror. “Took me by surprise is all.”
“Sure.”
I returned my focus to her back, cleaning each scrape meticulously. “Hold your shirt to your chest?”
“Too much boobage on display for you?”
I chuckled, the sound a little rougher than normal. “I need to unhook your bra. That might be too much boobage for you.”
Hadley rolled her eyes but held her t-shirt to her chest, keeping her bra in place. I unhooked the little tines, letting it fall open. I cleaned the rest of the gashes and moved for the antibiotic ointment. As gently as possible I spread it over the worst of her scrapes.
Hadley trembled slightly.
“Did that hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” But her breathing was more shallow than usual. Her gaze focused on the counter in front of her. Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected.
Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.
