Review: Explicitly Yours by Mika Jolie

Title: Explicitly Yours

Series: A Platonically Complicated Novella

Author: Mika Jolie

Genre: RomCom / Contemporary Romance 

Release Date: October 8, 2017 

Marriage.

The final frontier. The end of dating. The number one cause of divorce.

I bet you every man who is about to take the plunge experiences a wide range of feelings. As a guy, whose wedding day is only seven days away, I know this. 

Anxiety—Nerves are kicking in. Yeah, even confident, cocky guys like me are bound to face nuptial stage fright.

Let’s face it, forever is kind of a long time, right?

Excitement—Coriander and I are going to make it official. I’m marrying my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with.

Nothing can top this moment.

That is until I got the biggest surprise of my life…

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“Nothing about us is too fast.” On the contrary, I’d say it’s the other way around. Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time, not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice—especially when it comes to my relationship with Cori. “Don’t call off the wedding.”

Her spine straightens. “What?”

“I don’t want you to call off our wedding.” Fear smolders into panic. Shit. I’ve never felt so vulnerable, so transparent, so human in my life. I stand up from the bed, ready to drop to my knees and beg if necessary. She’s the best of me. And I’m in love with this woman standing in front of me. Everything she does, everything she says, everything she is. The way she laughs makes me smile, the way she talks gives me butterflies, and everything about her makes me fucking happy. 

“Whatever is wrong here, we’ll fix it.”

She pauses for a moment—contemplating. “Why would I call off the wedding?”

I swallow the lump lodging in my throat. “I don’t know.”

“Is that what you want, Dean?” She removes the lid from the jar, stares into the small bottle, twists the lid back on, then narrows her eyes at me. “Do you want to call off the wedding?”

Mika Jolie is the bestselling author of the Martha’s Way series. She lives in New Jersey with her Happy Chaos—her husband and their energizer bunnies. A sports fanatic and a wine aficionado, she’s determined to balance it all and still write about life experiences and matters of the heart. Let’s face it, people are complicated and love can be messy. When she’s not weaving life and romance into evocative tales, you can find her on a hiking adventure, apple picking, or whatever her three men can conjure up.

She loves to hear from readers. Connect with Mika on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Amazon. 

For latest news on her current works-in-progress, interviews with fellow authors, or just to see what she's up to, check out her website: http://www.mikajolie.com or sign up for her newsletter http://mikajolie.us8.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=031e437e36c82d666bd5f3d46&id=af83626053 where you can hear her latest news and enjoy giveaways.

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Blog Tour: The Selkie's Tale by Nara Malone

Book: The Selkie's Tale

Author: Nara Malone

Genre: Virtual Reality/Romance

#TheSelkiesTaleTour

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Synopsis

Seven tears cast upon the water summon the selkie, summon seal across the ocean, summon man from beast—liquid keys to break the curse. Freed one night every seven years, Ronin is doomed to repeat that cycle into eternity. Unless he can find a woman powerful enough to resist a selkie’s irresistible pheromones and sex magick.

Maille believes she lost reality between Maine and New Mexico. Between where she is now and where she should be. She believes in facts, not magick. But facts can’t explain how she wound up naked on a beach with the sexiest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Or how she knows in her bones that losing herself in the passion Ronin offers is a path to disaster.

It’s going to be a long, hot, wet night. Caught between sex magick and a sexy selkie, disaster is inevitable for Maille. To break the enchantment she has to rely on the oldest magick of all—the power of love-drenched hearts.

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Author Bio

Whether it's a shapeshifter romance exploring the primal power of the wild feminine, or BDSM romance where love digs into a character's shadows, Nara believes romance should open the door and push lovers into a new dimension: sexually, emotionally, and sometimes physically. 

Nara Malone is an award winning novelist and poet. As a freelance journalist and writer, her feature profiles on women entrepreneurs and her romantic short stories have been published in newspapers, magazines, and digital publications.

Nara lives on a small farm in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When she's not writing, she loves to run, hike, bike, and kayak. Every story she tells incorporates her love of animals, nature, and adventure.

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An Excerpt From: THE SELKIE’S TALE

Copyright © NARA MALONE, 2013

Tears.

Ronin was so tuned to the presence of a woman’s tears that he could swear he heard them fall. While hearing a tear hit the surf on the other side of the ocean was a stretch, there could be no mistaking the scent or the taste. Each woman’s tears were unique. These tasted of secrets and sorrow. Ronin held each on his tongue, decoding subtle clues and catching one after another.

Seven tears cast upon the water summon the selkie. Liquid key that broke the curse for one night. Sunset to dawn.

Ronin had twelve hours exactly on this night of Mabon, the autumnal equinox.

Obsidian black with foaming mane and tail, his liquid steed bucked and galloped across the Atlantic in the time it took a cloud to glide across the face of the rising moon. At the edge of Wolf Harbor, his ride dissolved into thrashing breakers along the jetty.

Seven tears summoned the beast across the ocean, carried the selkie to his intended on enchanted waters. Seven tears summoned man from beast.

The scent and taste of her—cool and crisp as new snow—washed through him, renewing his withered spirit. A vision of her tear-streaked face, framed in a wild mane of dark locks, was like a sun rising in his heart. Her need gave him power. Her hunger drove him up on the rocky barrier.

Metamorphosis clamped him in its jaws. Transforming Ronin form seal to man. He writhed and moaned like some great sea slug, belly down in a kelp pile. Bones shattered and reformed. Skin spilt at the seams until at last he crawled from the prison of his pelt. All indignities and agonies made bearable by the promise of holding her.

Growing taller with each breath, Ronin scrambled to his feet. Nothing equaled the sheer exhilaration and power of standing erect.

Ronin reached to the sky, and turning to face each of the four sacred directions, he named the elements. “Earth, wind, fire, water, I bow to your power. I am nothing on my own. Embrace the frailties and powers of this human form. Lend me your strength as I do the Goddess’s will.”

The wind carried a wolf song from shore. Tipping his head back, Ronin turned toward the moon, his voice rising to unite in song with his shape-shifting cousins. None but a being who walked the earth as both human and beast would recognize the subtle tonal differences and encrypted messages that signified the human souls beneath those canid hides. The pack leader’s solo answer welcomed Ronin ashore and promised no interference with his mission.

Satisfied, Ronin shook out his long hair and turned to face the wind. Heavy locks whipped back from his face and fanned out across his shoulders. A wave broke, colliding with the boulder he perched on. The resonant boom vibrated in his bones, cold spray making him shiver.

Maybe it was the remnants of the storm spinning up turbulence. Maybe it was the moodiness of autumn setting in, or maybe because it had been longer than usual since he’d last tumbled in clean sheets with a willing female, but tonight felt different.

Heat emanated from the water. Power dissipated by the goings-on at Shadowling, the magickal manor perched on the cliffs. The priestesses and their servants would be celebrating the Mabon, but the woman on the beach was not of them. Her tears didn’t carry the telltale electric zap of power. If she had power, it was dormant yet. Her summons had been born of innocent despair.

As such she was tonight’s innocent recipient of his eternal penance.

Shrugging off the mood, Ronin stashed his pelt under a cairn of loose rocks and dove back into the water. He had eleven hours and fifty minutes left. He wasn’t going to waste one second more than he had to. Still, he had to proceed cautiously.

She’d summoned him without knowing he existed, or the workings of his enchantment. Most women didn’t embrace strange men who walked naked from the surf.

Pity, that.

Release Blitz: One To See Me by Alicia Maxwell

Title: One To See Me 

Author: Alicia Maxwell 

Genre: Romance 

Release Date: November 2, 2017 

Cover Designer: Shari Ryan, MadHat Covers

Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.

Can you trust someone who can’t afford to trust you back?

Emmeline is ready to be seen. And someone is watching.

Emmeline Weiss is facing the most important day of her life. The stakes are high: her high-powered, high-society life in Chicago could come crumbling down around her. But if it did, would she be in a free fall, or would she be free? In a time like this, Emmeline knows she needs to sort enemies from friends—and quickly—but who can she trust? And what if trust has more than ONE definition?

As her life dismantles into dark questions and darker answers, the last thing Emmeline expects is for passion and chemistry, physical need and wild sex, to take over. For the first time, with this sexy stranger, Emmeline feels seen.

But maybe it’s because someone is watching…

I step inside and gasp. The space is filled with candles. Their lights flicker, casting shadows on the walls. Some tumblers are bigger, filled with shells, others are just small enough to hold the pillars. My heart jumps at the thought of Alex. Who else would have done this? How? He can’t be here. He’s in Miami. Chicago is not his kind of town. Or is it?

I take a few tentative steps inside and discover the flow of candles is endless, continuing from the main room to the bedroom. The air smells of candle wax and salty ocean breeze. I walk in slowly, making my way through the space. The bedroom comes partially into view; it’s completely filled with candles and glowing in their light.

I make my way in and the whole room is on display. A huge bed is surrounded by flickering lights, a chair tucked into the corner by the floor-to-ceiling window with a view of Michigan Avenue. Alex is sitting in the chair, legs spread wide, elbows on the armrests, hands forming a dome, with index fingers touching his lips. He looks at me quizzically, capturing my reaction.

I exhale and visibly relax, his mere presence lowering my stress level by several degrees.

“Hi!” I say in breathless voice, suddenly feeling overcome by the emotions of the day, energy leaving me and the warmth from the wine I had over dinner coming back to claim me. I’m ready to give up control for the night, let him be in charge. I’m way too tired.

My eyes shine with alcohol glaze, or maybe the unshed tears I kept at bay all day long. I step towards him and extend my arms. He’s on his feet and wrapping me in a hug instantaneously. We inhale each other and stand wordlessly in the middle of countless glimmering candles.

Alex finds my lips and kisses me gently, fingers skimming over my cheeks, tucking a loose, curly strand of hair away. Pulling back for just a second to look at my face, he places a gentle kiss on my forehead and tucks me under his chin. I’m so small against him, both physically and emotionally. He is the ever-in-control one. Finally, I feel safe today.

We spend minutes engulfed in each other’s embrace. Candles flicker near and far, on every surface of the suite, creating dancing shadows on the walls.

Finally, I look up at him, feeling calmed and grounded.

Alicia Maxwell has been an avid reader her whole life. Through the years, she’s enjoyed many genres and authors, from classics, like War and Peace, to modern-day romances. Her latest passion is writing.

As a resident of South Florida, she finds inspiration in the fast-paced, urban lifestyle, proximity to the ocean, and the year-round warm weather.

Her days are filled with reading, writing, and caring for her family—two children, and a husband, who also happens to be her biggest supporter and best friend.

Her two-book literary debut will be self-published in 2017. Look for them, read them, and leave a review. Your feedback and opinions matter and are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance to each and every one of you!

 

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