A story of heartbreak, loss, redemption and second chances: Pocketful of Sand from New York Times bestselling author M. Leighton

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“She’s beauty for my ashes. And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer

I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul?

The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.

Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18.

After helping with the cover reveal of this book, I knew I instantly wanted to read it. Not only did I love the cover, but the blurb drew me in and I do enjoy a good, emotional love story. I had no idea how emotional this book would be when I received it for review. Having only read Leighton's Bad Boys series, I have to say the content and the emotional depth of this one really struck my heart and when Eden and Cole share their pasts with one another I was in no way prepared for what they have endured and are still haunted by.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. Leighton has an engaging writing style and can do intense, emotional so well. This is truly a beautiful story of two broken people finding love even amidst all the pain their pasts have to offer. I really admire Eden for her strength after everything she's gone through and how resilient she is. I can't even imagine the kind of past she's had and while it hasn't been easy, she cannot break down and show weakness for the sake of her adorable little girl, Emmy. Emmy was absolutely precious and I loved seeing her interact with Eden, as well as Cole. She is a very shy little girl so seeing her open herself up to Cole with these tiny little gestures absolutely melted my heart. Kids are so intuitive and it's like she knew Cole was someone she could trust and befriend from the very beginning.

Cole has closed himself off from the rest of the world, and while the small town of Millers Pond talks about his crazy, Eden doesn't let that stop her from ogling the deliciously sexy man who works across the street. She is surprised by the intense need that flares up while she watches him work, especially since she isn't looking to be intimate with anyone. Her daughter is her priority and will always put her first and foremost no matter what. Cole's gruff nature doesn't exactly lend itself to making new friends, but Eden can't help but think about him. She isn't the only one having problems either, as Cole feels the same way. Only Cole is angry that she evokes these feelings in him- feelings that he swore he would never allow himself to feel again. I liked Cole a lot, but there is one scene that really bothered me with him and given the content of the book, I didn't like the way it came across. I know it was inserted to trigger events, but still. I was able to push past it though because he really does care for Eden and Emmy and as much as he wants to believe he doesn't need them in his life, he does.

I am torn on the ending though. I can't say much for fear of spoilers, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand I loved it because it was everything I wanted after an emotional book, but on the other, I was so confused and left feeling like I didn't understand anything. For those of you who have read the book, I think you'll surmise what I'm trying to point out here. I trust Leighton and I'm no stranger to her crazy twists and turns (DOWN FOR YOU!) so I guess I will have to wait and see before I make any final decisions.

This is not an easy book to read. Please heed the warning in the blurb. It is not graphic in disturbing material, thankfully, but it's still enough to make your stomach churn and your heart ache. However, there is hope even after all the darkness these two characters have been through and that is a comforting thing to hold on to.

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author M. Leighton is a native of Ohio. She relocated to the warmer climates of the South, where she can be near the water all summer and miss the snow all winter. Possessed of an overactive imagination from early in her childhood, Michelle finally found an acceptable outlet for her fantastical visions: literary fiction. Having written over a dozen novels, these days Michelle enjoys letting her mind wander to more romantic settings with sexy Southern guys, much like the one she married and the ones you'll find in her latest books. When her thoughts aren't roaming in that direction, she'll be riding horses, swimming in ponds and experiencing life on a ranch, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.

 

We are dying to jump back down the rabbit hole with Heather Lyons' THE HIDDEN LIBRARY! THE HIDDEN LIBRARY is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy and the second book in Heather’s The Collectors' Society Series! Check out the latest fantastic installment in this series that brings you some of the classics with a twist.

 

 

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Excerpt:

We are about to open the conference room door and enter the hallway when he stops. He turns to me, his lovely eyes achingly sincere. “I want to take you on a date when all of this craziness is over. A real one. We’ve kind of gone about this all backwards, haven’t we?”

One corner of my mouth lifts up. “Are you saying you’d like to court me?”

There is no playfulness to his face, no quirk to his own lips. My heart flutters at his seriousness. “Yes.”

He wants to court me. Too many emotions rush around in a caucus race throughout my body. I have no doubts of Huckleberry Finn Van Brunt’s feelings toward me. I understood them two minutes ago just as well as I did this morning when I woke up and from the night before and from the day in Wonderland where he said, in not so many words, that he was falling in love with me. I told him he was my north star, and meant it. He countered we are binaries.

He and I . . . We’ve never said those words, though, not the ones that truly spell out fragile, deep secrets of a heart and soul. Words so easily and yet unfortunately uttered by many, be it to express their appreciation of fried bits of potatoes to sports teams on the television.

Words offered so frivolously about a variety of subjects and yet can be the most difficult, most painful, most meaningful, most cherished syllables we gift another person. I have said these words before, to another man. Another man I still love. One I know, in the deepest confines of my heart, that I will love until the last breath escapes my body. A man who courted me in secret and then publicly in the face of astonishment, disapproval, confusion, and, in the end, prophesies. I have willingly given the man in front of me my heart, though, whether he knows it or not.

He now holds it in his hands, and while I pray he is my future, there is still a part of me that bucks in conflicted confusion and delight by this declaration of his. He wants to court me. And yet, as sweet and romantic as such a gesture might be, I require no such formalities. My affections for Finn Van Brunt have already solidified into something real and wonderful and meaningful.

 

 

 

ABOUT THE HIDDEN LIBRARY: Sometimes, the rabbit hole is deeper than expected . . . Alice Reeve and Finn Van Brunt have tumbled into a life of secrets. Some secrets they share, such as their employment by the clandestine organization known as The Collectors’ Society. Other secrets they carry within them, fighting to keep buried the things that could change everything they think they know. On the hunt for an elusive villain who is hell-bent on destroying legacies, Alice, Finn, and the rest of the Society are desperate to unravel the mysteries surrounding them. But the farther they spiral down this rabbit hole, the deeper they fall into secrets that will test their loyalties and pit them against enemies both new and old. Secrets, they come to find, can reveal the deadliest of truths.    

Don’t miss the first book in this series, THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY!

 

 

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  About Heather Lyons: Heather Lyons writes epic, heartfelt love stories and has always had a thing for words. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. She and her husband and children live in sunny Southern California and are currently working their way through every cupcakery she can find.        

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We are absolutely over the moon about this Release Day launch for Courtney Cole's VERUM!!

 

 VERUM is a New Adult dark romantic psychological suspense novel and the second book in Courtney's The Nocte Trilogy!

 

To celebrate the release NOCTE is on sale for only $.99 through tomorrow! Grab both now! Thank us later.

 

 

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The truth shall set you free. My name is Calla Price and I’m drowning. My new world is a dark, dark ocean and I’m being pulled under by secrets. Can I trust anyone? I don’t know anymore. The lies are spirals. They twist and turn, binding me with their thorns and serpentine tongues. And just when I think I have it figured out, everything is pulled out from under me. I’m entangled in the darkness. But the truth will set me free. It’s just ahead of me, so close I can touch it. But even though it shines and glimmers, it has glistening fangs and I know it will shred me. Are you scared? I am.

 

Together, we float to the surface, still intertwined. We break through the top and I suck in a breath and Dare is staring into my eyes. There’s tension here, but not the bad kind. It’s the kind that ignites you, the kind that intoxicates you, the kind that once you taste it, you’ll crave for the rest of your life. I’ve forgotten that I was going to be careful, that I was going to reject him on every level. All I can remember, all I can focus on, is how very alive Dare DuBray is making me feel in this moment, how alive he always makes me feel. For a girl who has been surrounded by death her entire life, this is a very big deal.

“I’m a little afraid of you,” I blurt honestly, and Dare still has his arms around me. Our treading water motions keep our legs rubbing together, the friction still there. Hot, Hot, Hotter.

Dare smiles, but there is no humor in it. “Good.”

“Why?” My honesty makes me seem innocent, but I don’t know how to play games. I have no experience with the opposite sex at all.

“Because that makes you feel something.” But he’s hesitant now and he looks away. There’s something he wants to say, it’s balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows it.

“What is it?” I ask softly. “Just tell me.” He wants to, I can tell. His secrets are killing him. He just wants to be normal, he’s just acting out a role. I don’t know why I feel like I know this. It’s just there, suddenly resting on my heart. “You don’t have to be someone you’re not,” I murmur quietly. His dark eyes snap up to mine and he pulls his hands away. There’s something in his eyes now, something guarded, and our easy afternoon has come to an end.

“What makes you think I am?” he snaps. “Pretending to be something I’m not, I mean.” I’ve somehow annoyed him, and I don’t answer because I don’t know what to say. “I’m not being someone I’m not, Calla,” he says coolly as he strides from the water. “I’m being who you need me to be.” I’m utterly confused, and I’m dripping wet. “We don’t have towels,” is all he says when I follow him. My clothing soaks up the water and it is a very cold ride back home. Dare doesn’t say another word and I leave him in the garage. I don’t see him at dinner, and I don’t see him the rest of the night. But as I lay in bed around midnight, I see his car leave the garage. I don’t see him come home, and I’m awake for half the night waiting. I have no idea where he goes when he slips away. Somehow, I think he wants it that way.

There’s a fork in the road and even though I see it, I can’t avoid it. One road goes left, one goes right, and neither of them end well. I feel it in my bones, In my bones, In my bones. I sing a song of nonsense, and it sings back. The notes echo and twist in the air, and I swallow them whole. “

Come out,” I call behind me, because I know they’re there. I can’t see them, but they’re always watching. Eyes appear, blood red, and they blink once, twice, three times.

“I can see you,” I announce and there’s a growl and then I’m crushed beneath the dark, beneath the weight, beneath the oppression.

“You don’t scare me,” I lie. There’s savagery here, there’s grace. But above all, there’s oblivion and no matter what I do, I will be sucked into it. I know it. I feel it. I’m crazy. And it doesn’t matter. I’m the rabbitrabbitrabbit and I’ll never be free.

Don't miss the first book in the Nocte Trilogy...

 

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ABOUT COURTNEY COLE: Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people. Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.  

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Contradictions (Woodfalls Girls #3)

by: Tiffany King

New Adult Contemporary Romance

Jan. 6, 2014

Berkley Romance

 

"Without a doubt, the chemistry between the party-girl heroine and the geeky-but-adorable hero is off the charts explosive."—RT Book Reviews

 

"Fun, fandom, romance and the perfectly sweet kind of opposites attracting."—NY Times Bestselling author, Jay Crownover 

 

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When everything starts spinning out of control . . .

Three years into college, Tressa Oliver’s life is a nonstop party. She’s skating by in her classes, and there’s no shortage of drinking, dancing, and general hell-raising. The only aspect that hasn’t been much fun: She can’t shake the toxic jerks that always seem to gravitate toward her.

It will take someone totally wrong . . .

Trent Lawson is the classic anti-bad boy: smart, boring, and way too serious. To a wild girl like Tressa, there’s no way in hell they’re compatible—especially since Trent seems to see straight through her defenses.

To set her right.

When a college prank goes terribly wrong, Tressa starts to suspect that her partying ways are leading nowhere fast. Now she has to turn to the last person she ever thought she’d ask for help—and quickly discovers that there’s more to Trent than meets the eye . . .

 

USA Today Bestselling author Tiffany King is a lifelong reading fanatic who is now living her dream as a writer, weaving Young Adult and New Adult romance tales for others to enjoy. She has a loving husband and two wonderful kids. (Five, if you count her three spoiled cats). Her addictions include: Her iphone and ipad, chocolate, Diet Coke, chocolate, Harry Potter, chocolate, zombies and her favorite TV shows. Want to know what they are? Just ask.

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A man dances the same way he fucks. His stamina, his rhythm, the slow grind of his hips. Some people are born to it, others learn through years of careful study.

And dancers? We do it best of all.

The moment I saw her, I knew. Her innocence is intoxicating. My lust is fierce. Primal. To watch her dance is to know the torment of true temptation.

She will be mine.

 

THE DIRTY DANCING SERIES RELEASE DATES:

FIRST POSITION -- 11/5

SECOND POSITION -- 11/12

THIRD POSITION -- 12/1

 

 

I love all things Melody Grace, so when I saw she was writing a dancing series, I was ecstatic! I really enjoyed her With Every Heartbeat, which was also about a ballet dancer. I had no idea that when I opened First Position it would be the same story. Grace has taken her original novel and broken it down into three serials, as well as included some of the scenes from Raphael's point of view.

Having grown up the daughter of a prima ballerina, Annaliese has some pretty high expectations placed on her. Her mother sends her to a school in Rome as a way to help her increase her chances of becoming noticed and live the life she's always wanted for herself. Annaliese has never know any different- until she meets Raphael on the streets of Rome, dancing so freely and without inhibitions. For the first time, Annaliese finds herself wanting more for herself than just dance.

There is a bit of insta-love with Annaliese and Raphael, however. He is determined to make her his and protect her, even though he's only known her for a few days. He wants to know everything about her and be the one to awaken her- not just sexually, but with her dancing as well.

Annaliese knows he is one temptation she needs to resist, as her entire future is on the line here. She finds herself torn over what her head knows to be right and what her mother expects of her, and what her heart wants- to be free and happy.

About Melody Grace 

Melody Grace is the New York Times bestselling author of the Beachwood Bay series. A small-town girl turned SoCal beach lover, after spending her life with her nose in a book, she decided it was time she wrote one herself. She loves steamy romance novels, happily-ever-afters, and lusting after fictional menfolk. She is author of USA Today & international bestselling Beachwood Bay series.

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We are beyond excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Courtney Cole's NOCTE! NOCTE is a New Adult dark romantic psychological suspense novel. Hang on tight because this book will blow you away...

 

 

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EXCERPT:

 

Glancing up, I suck my breath in when I find dark eyes connected to mine, eyes so dark they’re almost black, and the energy in them is enough to freeze me in place. A boy is attached to the dark gaze. A man. He’s probably no more than twenty or twenty-one, but everything about him screams man. There’s no boy in him. That part of him is very clearly gone. I see it in his eyes, in the way he holds himself, in the perceptive way he takes in his surroundings, then stares at me with singular focus, like we’re somehow connected by a tether. He’s got a million contradictions in his eyes….aloofness, warmth, mystery, charm, and something else I can’t define.

 

He’s muscular, tall, and wearing a tattered black sweatshirt that says Irony is lost on you in orange letters. His dark jeans are belted with black leather, and a silver band encircles his middle finger. Dark hair tumbles into his face and a hand with long fingers impatiently brushes it back, all the while his eyes are still connected with mine. His jaw is strong and masculine, with the barest hint of stubble. His gaze is still connected to mine, like a livewire, or a lightning bolt. I can feel the charge of it racing along my skin, like a million tiny fingers, flushing my cheeks. My lungs flutter and I swallow hard. And then, he smiles at me. At me. Because I don’t know him and he doesn’t know better.  

 

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NOCTE Synopsis:

 

SAVE ME AND I'LL SAVE YOU....

 

My name is Calla Price. I’m eighteen years old, and I’m one half of a whole. My other half-- my twin brother, my Finn-- is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I’m terrified he’ll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I’m doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I’m drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline. Dare DuBray. He’s my savior and my anti-Christ. His arms are where I feel safe, where I’m afraid, where I belong, where I’m lost. He will heal me, break me, love me and hate me. He has the power to destroy me. Maybe that’s ok. Because I can’t seem to save Finn and love Dare without everyone getting hurt. Why? Because of a secret. A secret I’m so busy trying to figure out, that I never see it coming. You won’t either.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT COURTNEY COLE: Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people. Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.  

 

   

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Holy cannoli! It's here!!! We are extremely excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Heather Lyons' THE COLLECTORS' SOCIETY!! THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY is an Adult Romantic Fairy Tale, full of adventure and fantasy. This is Alice as you have never seen her before...

 

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From the author of the Fate series and The Deep End of the Sea comes a fantastical romantic adventure that has Alice tumbling down the strangest rabbit hole yet.

After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence, though. Soon, she’s whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors’ Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth. It’s there she discovers villains are afoot—ones who want to shelve the lives of countless beings. Assigned to work with the mysterious and alluring Finn, Alice and the rest of the Collectors’ Society race against a doomsday clock in order to prevent further destruction . . . but will they make it before all their endings are erased?

 

“Do you find my ability to converse lacking, Doctor?”

He chuckles softly, no doubt remembering how I wasn’t chatty with anyone, himself included, for the first month of my stay. To be fair, it is difficult to carry on an invigorating discussion when one is shaking so hard from withdrawals they fear they might shatter into thousands of painful pieces before a single word can be uttered. Plus, there was the whole bit of how once I did open up, I raved liked a lunatic about things no normal person could imagine being true.

“Certainly not,” he says to me. “But as I must stay at the Pleasance and you must go forth into the world, it will do you good to practice on somebody new.”

“Then send in one of the orderlies. Or one of the nurses. I’ll happily chat with a staff member.”

One of his bushy, out-of-control eyebrows lifts high into his forehead. “There are people out there who are quite content being solitary,” I point out. “Who do not need to converse with anybody but themselves and their dogs.”

He sets his pen down. “What about cats?” Rigor mortis sets in ever so briefly at this question. “You father said you were quite fond of cats growing up. There was one in particular that you favored. Dinah, was it not?”

“I’m—” I have to clear my throat. “Lately, I wonder if perhaps I’m more of a dog person after all.”

 
 

 

Heather Lyons has always had a thing for words—She’s been writing stories since she was a kid. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. Heather is a rabid music fan, as evidenced by her (mostly) music-centric blog, and she’s married to an even larger music snob. They’re happily raising three kids who are mini music fiends who love to read and be read to.      

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We are so excited to bring you the Release Day Launch of Rachel Harris' THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING! THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING is the first book in Rachel's The Fine Art of Pretending Series published by Spencer Hill Contemporary.

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According to the guys at Fairfield Academy, there are two types of girls: the kind you hook up with, and the kind you're friends with. Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Reed is the second type. And she hates it. With just one year left to change her rank, she devises a plan to become the first type by homecoming, and she sets her sights on the perfect date—Justin Carter, Fairfield Academy’s biggest hottie and most notorious player. With 57 days until the dance, Aly launches Operation Sex Appeal and sheds her tomboy image. The only thing left is for Justin actually to notice her. Enter best friend Brandon Taylor, the school’s second biggest hottie, and now Aly’s pretend boyfriend. With his help, elevating from “funny friend” to “tempting vixen” is only a matter of time. But when everything goes according to plan, the inevitable “break up” leaves their friendship in shambles, and Aly and Brandon with feelings they can’t explain. And the fake couple discovers pretending can sometimes cost you the one thing you never expected to want.

Check back tomorrow for my 5 star review!

An exhale of breath leaves Brandon’s lips, almost like a laugh, and he scoots closer to me on the blanket. I twist my legs under myself, sitting tall as I face him. He cups my chin and tilts it toward him, drowning me in the now dark-green depths of his eyes, the cologne I gave him for his birthday filling my head. It’s woodsy and yummy and I always loved how it smelled on the store testers, but on Brandon, it’s even sexier. My eyes flutter closed, and I inhale again, this time slowly. Goose bumps prickle my arms, and my head gets fuzzy. Brandon slides his hand down the column of my neck and brings the other up, threading his fingers through the hair at my nape. His breath fans across my cheek, and everything south of my bellybutton squeezes tight. When his mouth first meets mine, it’s hesitant, questioning. But as I move my lips with his, he quickly grows bolder, coaxing them apart. Desire, pure and raw, electrifies my veins as his tongue sweeps my mouth. A whimpering sound springs from my chest, and instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, tugging him closer. Needing more. My teeth graze his full bottom lip, and I pull it, sucking on it gently. He moans and knots his fingers in my hair, and a thrill dances down my back. Brandon is an amazing kisser, just as I knew he would be. I have no control over my body’s reactions. I lose myself in his lips, his tongue, and his strong arms, forgetting time and space and even my surroundings—until Gabi’s snicker brings reality crashing around us, reminding me we have an audience. And that I’m kissing Brandon. We break apart, out of breath, and stare into each other’s eyes. That was unexpected.  

 

 

 
Award-winning and Bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls next door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Emotion, vibrant settings, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books...and kissing. Lots of kissing. An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romance, and LOVES talking with readers.  

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