AUTHORS AFTER DARK SPOTLIGHT WITH PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

Everyone give a huge welcome to Philippa Ballantine! She is our featured Author for Authors After Dark today. Philippa is a new Author to me and I am so intrigued with her Steampunk series Ministries of Peculiar Occurrences.

 
These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the river Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences- the Crown’s clandestine organisation whose baliwick is the strange and unsettling- will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness  for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest..and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books along with her into the perilous fray.
For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun- he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices- must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot… or see England fall to the Phoenix.

Evildoers beware Retribution is at hand, thanks to Britain's best-kept secret agents
Certainly no strangers to peculiar occurrences, agents Wellington Books and Eliza Braun are nonetheless stunned to observe a fellow passenger aboard Britain's latest hypersteam train suddenly vanish in a dazzling bolt of lightning. They soon discover this is not the only such disappearance . . . with each case going inexplicably unexamined by the Crown.

The fate of England is once again in the hands of an ingenious archivist paired with a beautiful, fearless lady of adventure. And though their foe be fiendishly clever, so then is Mr. Books . . . and Miss Braun still has a number of useful and unusual devices hidden beneath her petticoats.


      
                                                          ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 
Born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand, Philippa is a writer and podcaster of fantasy fiction.
Immersed in books from an early age, she moved onto to become a librarian. She'd been dreaming of being a writer since a teenager, but in the last ten years she's devoted herself to it.
She's the author of the Books of the Order series from Ace Books. Geist, Spectyr, Wrayth (2012) and Harbinger (2013).
Also, with Pyr books the Shifted World series, Hunter and Fox (2012) and Born and Made (2013)
Philippa is also the co-author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. Phoenix Rising and the Janus Affair (2012)
Philippa currently resides in Manassas, Virginia with her husband and co-writer Tee Morris, their daughter and a clowder of five cats who keep them all in line.
 Website: www.pjballantine.com
Twitter: @philippajane
Facebook: Group page

* Do you have any rituals you do before you sit down to write?  

I insist on having a cat nearby. They are required to help me feel comfortable...though our extra large male cat, Sebastian sometimes tries to crawl onto my lap. Since I write on a laptop that can cause problems!

 

*I know some Authors do not like to read reviews of their books. Where do you stand on this?  

Usually when a book first comes out I do read a bunch of reviews, but that turns into a little compulsive behavior and I have to make myself stop. I do have a google alerts just so I can find good reviews for my website though.

 

* Do you have a crazy fan story? 

No, and I am grateful for that! I've had people be super excited to find out I am at a convention, and I've had people dress up as characters from my books. In those cases I am the super excited one. Writing is a lonely occupation for the most part, so discovering people have been reading your work is sometimes surprising.

*Biggest pet peeve? 

As far as writing goes it is professional people who don't act professional. As far as life...I hate a cluttered countertop- that drives me batty!

*Are you attending any Conventions in the coming year?  

This month I will be attending (along with my husband and co-writer Tee Morris) Up in the Aether, in Dearbon MI. We will both be at Authors After Dark in Savannah, and DragonCon in Atlanta.

*What are you working on now? 

Right now, juggling! Edits for Dawn's Early Light, and working on book four in the series. Also preparing to launch Book four of the Books of the Order, Harbinger, and Book two of the Shifted World series, Kindred and Wings. Being an author these days means being not on a writer, but also your own publicity department.

*Do you ever get inspiration for a character from people you meet?  

Absolutely! We sometimes put our friends in the Ministry books as agents, but in my fantasy work I draw from all my friends and family. They usually do not go in fully formed, but end up mashed up together in one character or another. I try not to threaten anyone with the possibility that they could end up in my books though!

*Out of your books do you have a favorite character or one that was really easy for you to write?  

Eliza from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences is certainly the easiest to write, since she is like so many New Zealand women I knew and grew up with. I think she is a mixture of my grandmothers, and my good friend Cathy back home. She is so forthright about what she wants, and tells it like it is. Some of my other characters, like Sorcha from Geist, and Talyn from Hunter and Fox, are a lot more prickly and shadowy as to their motivations that sometimes I have a harder time poking the truth from them.

.

*What genre of books do you prefer to read in your down time? 

I read what I write; so steampunk, fantasy, sprinkled with some urban fantasy. I also love reading non-fiction books, particularly history. I'm a sucker for a good period drama...especially if it actually happened.

* I know some of us here at All the Fun Starts After Dark are guilty of this so I gotta ask, Have you ever bought a book because of its cover?  

Yes! I think a good cover should draw a person in. Jason Chan, who does my covers for the Books of the Order, won a Chesley Award for his art for Geist, and people have told me they picked up and bought the book because of his art. It really is a seamless supposition in my mind, and I am sure with everyone else. When you see an artist has really produced a beautiful piece of cover art, you make the assumption that was is inside is just as good.

SEE YA IN SAVANNAH! 

SPOTLIGHT/ EXCERPT OF ALL MY LIFE BY RUCY BAN

Seventeen-year-old Kari meets Neil Mars. “Neil as in Armstrong and Mars…as in Bruno.” A boy who beats every vampire, werewolf, highlander fantasy Kari has ever had. But she knows she can’t get close to him. Not ever. Because that would mean telling him everything. Coming clean. And Kari can’t bear the idea of changing the way Neil looks at her. Like she’s the only girl in the world. His reverence is something too precious to lose. Perhaps even at the cost of losing him. 

But Kari doesn't know why Neil calls her his ‘Angel’ and when she finds out, she realizes what love is all about. Boundless joy, unending longing and a fuckload of heartache. 

******

EXCERPTS from All My Life:

“I can take care of myself,” I tell him. 

His lips twitch in response. “Oh, I’m sure you can, little shrub.”

“You are warned!” I take my voice down a notch and point my ring at him, “I’ll tunnel your leathery knighthood right out of this galaxy!” 

Neil suddenly halts in his tracks and pins me down with his eyes. “Batman vs. Green Lantern? Batman wins. Every. Single. Time.”

“Ohmygod! So not true. In the…”

He cuts me. “One word…yellow.” I stare at him with my mouth half-open. 

“‘Nuff said,” he says smugly and then tugs on my hand.

******

Maybe I’ll forget this feeling someday. Maybe it’ll just be reduced to a memory made up of a flickering gas heater, the salty dew of his skin and the love in his dark, inky eyes. This feeling of pure unadulterated joy. Of reaching a high so potent that your spirit feels like it’s soaring across the universe…and falling from that glorious peak only to find yourself enveloped in someone’s warm caring hands. When you feel like you’ve just died or been born, right at the same time. 

It could be that I’ll forget this feeling someday. But I’m sure it won’t be anytime soon. Maybe when I’m a hundred and looking forward to my lunch of mashed bread. Not one single day before. 

******

Full length New Adult Contemporary Romance: 

HEA ending. 

******

Rucy Ban was born in 1978 and still continues to thrive. Ever since she first met Francine (the protagonist of her favorite novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Rucy fell in love with the written word. Rucy has a B-school degree in Marketing which she now puts to good use teaching lovable rowdy rogues and negotiating with her equally belligerent adolescent. In her previous avatar, she handled corporate communications for companies. At present, Rucy lives in Sao Paulo, travels often, speaks decent, if not quite fluent, Portuguese and really hates talking about herself in third person. 

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Authors After Dark Spotlight with Hanna Martine

Hanna Martine left a decade of office work in order to show her daughter what it meant to go after one's dream. She loves bar stools, books, travel and her friends. Though she and her family live outside Chicago, her heart resides in Australia.



                 BOOK SPOTLIGHT 
            BOOK 1 IN THE ELEMENTAL SERIES
Magic is Corporate America's best-kept secret
Gwen possesses the unique ability to pick up any language in an instant—a

power that will globally expand the profitable family business. As dutiful future leader of her race of water elementals, she'll do anything to protect her people's secrets and bloodlines—including enter an arranged marriage. Inside, however, she yearns for forbidden human men.
Reed is a mercenary addicted to the money and adrenaline rush of his work. After he inadvertently saves Gwen's life, he ignites her taboo desire for men without magic—and with bodies of gods. Just as things heat up, Reed discovers that Gwen is exactly who he's been hired to kidnap. He resolves to put work before lust, yet her luscious beauty and fiery spirit unravel him...
But there is a terrible truth behind Gwen's family business—and now, caught between the kinsmen she no longer trusts and an enemy bent on vengeance, the only ally she has is her abductor...

BOOK 2 IN THE ELEMENTAL SERIES

There is an untapped world of magic
that any man would covet...
Five years ago, Xavier escaped from the Ofarian Plant. Today he calls a Colorado mountain town home. It's there he buries himself in his work, swearing off magic and relationships—until a woman threatens every promise he's made to himself.
Cat has always known she is different. Water speaks to her on an uncanny level, and she channels this gift into beautiful painted waterscapes. Now, a gallery is debuting her work in Colorado—and it'll reveal far more about her than she imagined.
The spark between Cat and Xavier is enough to throw both of them off balance. Every tantalizing moment sends them dangerously close to a rising flood of desire. Dangerous because Xavier comes to suspect that Cat is an Ofarian—his people's enemy. But they're both about to discover a far greater, more malicious power at play...


BOOK 1.5 IN THE ELEMENTAL SERIES
Desire is released in these original stories by four masters of paranormal romance.

Hanna Martine expands on the fascinating world she introduced in Liquid Lies. "No Surprise More Magical" returns to the Elementals world, three months after the conclusion of Liquid Lies.
The Unbound anthology also includes New York Times bestselling author Angela Knight revisiting the world of Guardian, USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Ashley continuing her Shifters Unbound series, and national bestselling author Jean Johnson returning to her Vulland Chronicles.

*  Do you have any rituals you do before you sit down to write?

I have found that the more books I publish, the thinner I am stretched in terms of time able to be devoted to actual writing. I can choose to either let myself get distracted by promotion or other such things, OR to focus my attention on my craft, and on writing the best possible story for my readers. It's very easy to believe that the outside stuff is more important, but really it all comes down to story. Unfortunately, I have let myself get derailed more often than not.

In the past few months I've taken to going through some deep breathing exercises before writing in order to expel a lot of the outside world. It works!

*I know some Authors do not like to read reviews of their books. Where do you stand on this?

I do not seek out reviews at all. While I love Goodreads and maintain an author presence there, I skim past any of my own reviews. I just do not do well in reading them. I love love love that people are reading and talking about my books (whether good or bad), but I prefer to leave it at that.

However, sometimes bloggers have directly contacted me to inform me of a positive review on their blog. I will admit that I have read those in order to see if there is a quote I can use on my website.

*  Do you have a crazy fan story?

Not a crazy fan story, but a cool fan story! My first book, LIQUID LIES, had been out less than a month. I was signing at RWA last year and a reader stopped right in front of my table, wide-eyed and completely still. Finally she broke into this huge grin and squealed, "Oh my god! You're here! Can I take a picture with you!"

After dreaming of a moment like that since I was nine, and after going through so much rejection and pre-publishing turmoil, it was such an incredible moment.

*Biggest pet peeve?

Crunchy things mixed in with soft: ie, granola in yogurt, chocolate chunks in ice cream

*Are you attending any Conventions in the coming year?

As I write this, I am at the RT Booklovers Convention in Kansas City! I am also appearing at the Cleveland Rocks Romance Writers Conference May 17-18, the Romance Writers of America conference July 17-20 .... aaaaaaand Authors After Dark Savannah Aug 15-18!

I am really really excited about being a Featured Author at AADSAV. I love to meet readers and to expose my fiction to a whole new group of eyes. I'm also a reader myself, so I'm stoked to meet several other authors who will be there. Plus, I have been known to have a drink or two (or three or four) in a social situation, so Authors After Dark seems to be the perfect storm of things I love. Can't wait!

*What are you working on now?

I am writing the third book in my Elementals paranormal romance series. Titled DROWNING IN FIRE, it's about the tempestuous, adventurous relationship between a fire and water elemental, and it will come out in 2014. I'm loving writing it.

I'm also starting promotions for LONG SHOT, the first in my brand new sexy contemporary romance series centered around modern-day Highland Games in New England.

*Do you ever get inspiration for a character from people you meet?

Sure, all the time. Never complete characters, but I have been inspired by a single trait, a catchprase or quirk, or a little piece of a person's history. The characters usually evolve from there.

*Out of your books do you have a favorite character or one that was really easy for you to write?

Michael, the villain from A TASTE OF ICE, moved very easily from my head to my fingertips. I'm not sure what that says about me, that it was the Big Bad who gave me the least amount of problems and who I enjoyed writing the most!

*What genre of books do you prefer to read in your down time?

I am rooted very deeply in epic fantasy. I read a lot more romance now to keep up on my genre, but when I can, I crack open one of those giant hardback tomes filled with massive casts of characters, maps on the inside covers, and intricate political plotting. Right now I am reading TIGANA by Guy Gavriel Kay and I'm sort of blown away by it.

*  I know some of us here at All the Fun Starts After Dark are guilty of this so I gotta ask, Have you ever bought a book because of its cover?

Yep. Jaci Burton's The Perfect Play. I'm sure you know exactly which cover I'm talking about. *wink*

Thank you so much for having me! What terrific interview questions!

www.hannamartine.com

@Hanna_Martine

facebook.com/HannaMartineBooks

 Hanna is offering to one lucky person a E-copy of one of the books from her Elemental Series. All you have to do is be a blog follower and leave a comment! Winner will be announced May 10th. LEAVE EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT! Good Luck!

Authors After Dark Spotlight With A.L. Davroe

Lets give a big welcome to A.L. Davroe! She is one of the many fantastic Authors to be at Authors After Dark this year in Savannah. Don't know about Authors After Dark? CLICK HERE

                              BIO

 A.L. Davroe writes both YA and adult speculative fiction. She is represented by Louise Fury of the L. Perkins Literary Agency. She has a number of self published short stories, her YA Paranormal Romance, Scar-Crossed, and her YA Cyberpunk, Nexis, are currently on submission with NY publishing houses.  By day, A.L. lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and her two feline hench-creatures.

Website: http://www.aldavroe.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALDavroeFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aldavroe
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5212441.A_L_Davroe

 BOOK SPOTLIGHT

The Krie Seekers is the second short story in a serialized collection of “vignettes” called CITY STEAM.  This collection is a set of glimpse-teasers for a forthcoming novel -- you meet some of the characters, learn about the city of Dormorn, and get a taste of the socio-political conflict in the Windward Empire.  The CITY STEAM collection has an “uncanny horror” or “weird” theme to it.  For those of you who are more interested in the romance or erotic side of things, keep your eyes open for my CITY STEAM X collection (by Quinn Templeton) which has the same vignette idea but the stories are all centered around amorous encounters. 

In The Krie Seekers, you meet Tatty and Skell, two Seeker sisters who are recruited to help hunt down their mortal enemies, the Krie.  But the relationship between the Krie and the Seekers isn’t what it seems, even to them!  You’ll learn a little bit about the Krie and the Seekers – two supernatural creatures who have been put in a unique situation by this world’s god, Ehleis.  You can expect to find: horror, romance, supernatural beings, and some Steampunk elements.  I hope you enjoy!

Buy it on AMAZON

 EXCERPT

Chapter One:

     The one with the long, blonde braid paced across the starboard-aft engine room of the airship -- her route taking her back and forth between the B100 tanks. As she moved, her sensible boots rang hollow on the metal grating and her leather jacket billowed around her slight frame.

     Boone didn't think she'd be stupid enough to try a run for it, but the way she kept glancing at the dark-haired one in the jumper made him nervous. He couldn't get the feeling that the two young women were silently communicating out of his head. That, and the dark-haired one made him uncomfortable. Just a little bit. While both had an uncanny, almost ethereal way about them, something about the set of the brunette’s intelligent green eyes and the angles of her face made him think that she wasn’t quite human.

     “So-” Mardigan's words drew Boone's attention away from the two stow-aways and back to the tall, stately figure of his partner. Mardigan placed one gloved hand on his hip and began stroking his dark mustache with the other. “You found them asleep under the ballast bags? And that is when you summoned the port authority?”

     Shelton Weaver, the captain of the airship Ariella Sturgeon, nodded, his oily mouse-colored hair brushing his wind-reddened forehead. “Don't know how long they been there. We haven't stopped since Fort Lemonts back on Fair Isle, and then there ain’t many women there. Just the whores, an' these ones,” he pointed a thumb in the direction of the two women, “they don't got the look o' whores.” He shrugged. “But I can't see how they coulda gotten this far without coming out fer vittles or needin' ta heed the call of the wild. Ye know what I mean?” He planted an elbow in Boone's ribs and grinned, showing a severe lack of dental hygiene.

     Shifting away from the foul-breathed man, Boone exchanged nervous glances with Mardigan. His partner removed his bowler cap and rubbed a broad hand through his coal-black hair; then, sighing, Inspector Mardigan replaced the cap and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. He frowned, indicating he wasn't sure where next to take this.

     Squaring his narrow, tweed-clad shoulders, Boone said, “Have you made an inquiry into the status of your stores? Checked to see that nothing is amiss? Inspected the surrounding area for any detritus or debris?”

     The captain narrowed a watery, brown eye at the sergeant as if wondering if the man's use of such language were intended to stump him. “I have,” he said evenly. “Nothing amiss and I got a man on duty at the door all hours. Nobody's seen no woman sneakin' out to use the loo and my ship's as clean as the Empress's backside, I promise you that.”

     Boone raised his eyebrow. “Stowaways who neither ate nor defecated after weeks in the air? Seems highly unlikely.”

      “Not entirely,” Mardigan breathed, stepping forward and eying the women with newfound interest.

     Boone didn’t like his expression. “What’s on your mind, Inspector?”

      “Stasis,” Mardigan barked. The heads of the females came up in perfect unison.

     Uncertain, Boone bit his lip. He'd only ever heard of one kind of creature that went into stasis, but before he could ask the Inspector, Mardigan was turning back toward the captain and speaking again. “Have you ever heard of the Greene Street Massacre, Captain Weaver?”

     The man nodded, a slow jerky movement. “Yeah, who hasn't?”

     Mardigan's black eyes slid toward where the women were standing a few yards away. They were both watching the men now, curvaceous bodies still and bright eyes alert. They reminded Boone of street thieves ready to take flight.

     Almost as if he were telling the women and not the captain, Mardigan began his tale. “I was only a constable then. We were called out to the eastern province to investigate a rash of disappearances. We were lucky -- arriving on the night of another murder and we were able to trace the killer back to his lair. A squadron broke down the door and stormed in. No one came out.”

     The dark haired one blinked and turned toward the blonde one. Again, Boone got the distinct feeling that the two were communicating in some way beyond the human tongue.

     Mardigan turned back toward the captain. “Eventually, when we went in to investigate what had become of them, the entire squadron was dead. Not just dead, torn limb from limb, their innards strewn about like festival garland and, like the gruesome murders before them, parts of their bodies went unaccounted for. A foot missing here, a set of eyes there, the skin of another over that way. Strangest part of all was that, for such a massacre, not a sound had been uttered by a one of them.”

     He waited for his words to sink in before continuing. “Murders like that have spread all over the Empire and we've yet to catch a damn killer. It's like some kind of plague of elusive cannibals.”

     “Yeah,” Captain Weaver interrupted. “I know this. Everyone knows this. It's the Krie. Worshipers of Ehleis is claiming we woke the Krie. They says our mining up in the mountains and down in the earth has stirred up the Krie hives -- broken some kind of long sleep ‘er somthin’. Says they come to take vengeance for disturbing the sacred order o’ things.”

     Mardigan nodded. “We’ve disturbed the hives, it's generally accepted. We've managed to find some mention of them in ancient texts, from times before the Babel Decree, and-” His eyes wandered toward the women. They regarded him with cocked heads and eyes too predatory and intelligent to leer from any human's face. “Records of the Seekers who hunted them,” he mused.

     Scoffing, the captain waved his hand in dismissal. “Ain’t no such thing as a Seeker. Wishful thinking's all. Imma go with the Believers on this, the Krie are Ehleis' punishment for breaking the Decree. The whole o’ the Empire's gonna be overrun by something that no Mechanic or Alchemist, no class-defying Empress, and no amount o’ human pride can beat.”

     Boone couldn't help the horrified look that broke his features. This man, this captain from far off shores, was blaspheming the Windward Empire in front of two law-men with no regard for the fact that they could, without question, exterminate him right here on the grounds of heresy and treason. “Good cogs, man, do you know what you are saying?”

     The captain shrugged. “Course I do, ye can't tell me ye ain’t thinking it too. Much as I want to think we're beyond the reach of the Sun-God, I've seen a Seer and his Suldal in my time and they ain't no gran-nanny tale. Only thing keepin' me from bowin' and scrapin' to every word o' that Decree is that I'm more piss-scared of the Empress and her legions of fighting men than I am of Ehleis and his Seers and demons.”

     Boone nodded. “She is, indeed, not a woman to be trifled with.”

     “Still,” the captain muttered as he scratched his head. “I don't believe in no Seekers. They're just kiddie stories.”

     Mardigan turned to the women, his eyes bright with a laughing humor that Boone did not understand. “I wouldn't say that."

Cover Reveal and Giveaway for S.A. Price!

Maybe you have seen this little graphic about?

Did it get you curious? Winter is the very sexy bassist for the band 13 Shades of Red, and his book, THIS IS FOREVER will be releasing December 2013. Wanna see the cover?

Now isn’t that just sexy? From now till December if you check out some of your favorite blogs that are rocking the mini graphic on the side column, we will be giving some teasers, excerpts and interviews about the book, on the 10^th of the month.

Believe me; it really is going to be a Long Hard Winter. *wink*

And now… for a sexy sneak peek at THIS IS FOREVER…

Seeing Lola after eight months was a fucking kick in the teeth. She had changed her hair, it was purple with black streaks, and she was wearing one fucker of an outfit. Platform Mary Jane’s, her signature, purple torn fishnet thigh highs with garters that ended in bows with skulls on them, micro mini in black satin with a lace trim. She had tripled up on her belts, her little baby tee molding to her torso like a second skin. It was razor cut in places, showing skin and the purple of her lace bra. Her arms warmers were knitted with little skulls on them. He was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing underwear also, the girl just loved to shock. Dare he think it was for his benefit? He wasn’t sure he even saw her, thinking he was dreaming the perfection before him.

But dreams don’t blow you off… at least his didn’t. His dreams, her especially, blew him. When dreams blew you off, those were called nightmares, and those sucked. Sucked like life was sucking right now. She had walked in with the rest of her band, greeted everyone but him, her gaze lingering a little too long on Colin, Rhys’ little brother, but then moved on as she kissed cheeks and hugged people.

 He had to adjust his groin, discreetly of course, when she and Saffron hugged and snuggled. Apparently over the past several months Saffron and Lola had become quite the BFF, with Lola staying at Saffron’s place in New York when she had to go in for several shoots and meetings with her record company. Rhys had teased him about getting face timed and seeing both of them in little booty shorts and white tank tops… but he didn’t think they were that close.

And worse, he didn’t think seeing her all snuggly with Saffron would illicit the images rolling through his head. Not that Saffron wasn’t hot, but he just didn’t dig his best friend’s girl like that.  He grabbed a tootsie pop and unwrapped it, sticking the thick ball into his mouth. He watched her move from person to person, but never to him.

What. The. Fuck.

When everyone sat down, she sat at the other end, didn’t even bother to look at him. He went through dinner in a blur, his anger getting to him more and more. What the fuck was going on? He was beginning to feel like he was invisible. Maybe it was a nightmare?

When she got up and went to the bathroom, he followed, after exchanging a meaningful look with Rhys.

“So you’re just not going to say anything to me?” he said as he caught her coming out of the bathroom.

She looked at him and then sighed. “I didn’t want a public thing to happen.”

Public thing?

He cocked his head and scowled. “And what the fuck does that mean?”

She looked him up and down. “I don’t know if I’m ready to say hi like I want to.”

Winter rolled his eyes. “So you can wrap yourself around Saffron, eye Colin up like he’s a steak, which by the way he’s not even eighteen yet, eww,” he ticked off on his fingers, “Yet you can’t even just turn and wave at me?”

Lola shook her head. “It’s not what I wanted. And Colin is going to be very popular…”

“You just didn’t wanna talk to me at all?” he asked, thoroughly confused. She was the one that pushed for the tour, and by all accounts she didn’t have issue with their past. It was what gave him hope.

She moved closer and shook her head. “That’s not it.”

“Then what’s it?” he bit out, his hands clenched at his sides. Gods, only she could infuriate him like this. Fuck she smelled good. All honey and warm clover… no one smelled like Lola.

Her voice lowered. “Do you like my outfit Winter?”

He growled. Fuck yes he liked her outfit. Loved. Wanted it crumpled on the floor of his bedroom. Wanted to peel it from her slowly, kissing every inch of skin he exposed.

She reached for him, her fingers tugging him closer by the belt loops of his jeans. “Good. You’re supposed to. You don’t get anything from me Winter Tulane. No greeting, no, little wave, no explanation. Eat your heart out baby.”

She got closer, her lips just against his, a slight almost imperceptible move of the hoop through the middle of his lip and then she was gone, back towards the party, her ass shaking with a sashay that had blood rushing from every place in his body to his cock. Fuck. What the hell was going on?

“Hey Lo,” he called after her. She gave him the finger and kept walking.

Game on. Game fucking on, he thought as he followed her back into the room. Confusion didn’t even convey how he was feeling about what happened, but holy fuck the signals she was throwing off were so convoluted he didn’t know if he should fist pump for getting her so close to him or brood over her words.

LIKE? Add it to your TBR pile

on

GOODREADS

Books before this: Giving Up the Ghost (#1):

You Burn Me(Prequel/ Bridge book):

Wanna Win something awesome? Well easy peasy!

Add THIS IS FOREVER to your TBR pile on goodreads and you will be entered to win:

A Merch Package: t-shirt, Poster, Pin, Card, Door hanger, tote bag, and Keychain, a 25$ GC to Amazon.com, a Print copy of Giving Up the Ghost with a special short story from Saffron’s past and a Print copy of You Burn Me. Book MUST be ADDED between April 19 and April May 1st. Winner will Be announced on May 4th!