Absolution by Missy Johnson *~*~*~*~* Release Blitz & Review

Title: Absolution

Author: Missy Johnson

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 28, 2017

Blurb

Declan James was the perfect guy.

He was sweet. Charming. Caring. Until he wasn’t.

Fourteen years ago, his actions tore apart my family. He ruined my sister’s life and nothing was ever the same again. But now, a decade later, he’s back.

When he walks into my office, asking for my help, I’m shocked, but nothing prepares me for what I’m about to learn. I see how far he’s gone to redeem himself and I know that he’s changed. I also know that, as a priest, he’s more off limits than ever.

If I help him, my family will never forgive me.

If I fall in love with him, I will never forgive myself.

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Excerpt

“You’re not the first person to be shocked by my choice of calling.”

“Your family?” I guess. He nods. “I’m assuming they probably had bigger and better things in mind for you, but it’s a step up from rapist right?” His eyes widen and I cringe. Shit, I can’t believe I just said that.

“I can see why you might think that, but my father is very anti-religion, so I’m not sure he would agree,” he smirks and rubs his chiselled jawline, giving me a pointed look. “Are you done now?”

“I’m sorry that was way out of line," I mumble, admitting I went too far. "Sometimes I say things without thinking.”

“It’s okay,” He shrugs. His dark eyes penetrate mine. I'm shaking, but I hold his gaze, refusing to look away. “You get a free pass today to say whatever you like to me and then tomorrow you need to start giving me a chance. Is that fair?”

I’m not loving the part where I give him a chance, but I have so many questions burning inside of me that I’m dying to ask that I sit forward, and place my hands under my thighs.

“Okay I’ll play,” I say, staring at him. I question everything he says because it hurts too much to believe him. Why should he get to move on? “Why this?”

“Because it was the only way I could see getting my life back on track. I was at the point where I had nothing to live for, and God changed that for me. He gave me hope. I had something that was mine. I was making a difference.”

“How long have you been a Priest for?” I say the word like it’s dirty but only because he’s makes it that way. It’s like he’s taken one of the purest professions in the world and tainted it.

“Five years. After I got out of prison, I was in a bad place. Everything that happened with Cecily really messed me up and then hearing that she…. His voice trails off like he can’t complete his train of thought, so I make him, because he doesn’t get to do this. He doesn’t get to make this about him.

“You mean how she killed herself?” I say. I stare at him, my anger fuelling the strength I’m somehow finding within myself to confront him. This is what I’ve wanted for so long, to be able to face him and show him how much he hurt me. “How she ended her life after what you did to her and the way your family dragged her through the mud. Is that what you mean? You can’t even say it, Declan. Imagine how hard it was for me to live it.”

“I never wanted that all I wanted to do was plead guilty and move on—”

“Move on?” I whisper, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Like my sister got to move on? Like my dad moved on by ramming his car into a tree? You ruined our lives. Why should you get to move on?”

“I’m sorry about your father,” he says softly.

“You’re sorry?” I laugh. I throw my hands up in the air. “Well, so long as you’re sorry.”

“You have every right to be angry at me Hannah, but I’m just trying to explain it from my point of view. You asked me why I became a priest. This is why. Everything that happened is why.”

“But you don’t get to explain,” I whisper. “Because it’s not fair. All you get to do is sit there and take whatever I decide I need to say to you in order for me to get through this. That’s the only thing you need to do here. You don’t get to justify what you did, or tell me how much you’ve changed, because I don’t care. All I care about is being able to be in the same room as you without feeling like I’m going to be sick. Is that too much to ask?” 

"No. No it’s not," he mumbles. His eyes cast downward and I laugh. He can’t even look at me.

Review

I Heart Books Review

Absolution by Missy Johnson
Review by Theresa Esterline
Stars: 5

An absolute hit!

Real life romance filled with love, pain, laughter, betrayal, tragedy, and violence. You know that saying one man's trash is another man's treasure. This book reminded me a lot of that. You have an overworked child protection officer, who loves her job, and does the best she can, but she needs 48 more hours per day. You have an ex con turned priest, who is trying hard to put his past behind him and move on to help others. And now a bit about the story...

Hannah is on a routine child safety check when she stumbles into a domestic violence situation. She is able to get the mother and daughter out of the house and to a shelter. It's after 10 before she gets home to try and write up her report and then unwind. She feels she's had 10 minutes sleep when her sister barges in the next afternoon and all Hell has broken loose. Now she has a motherless daughter whose father just murdered said mother. How did things go so bad so fast... Once she gets to the office she learns Anna, the little girl, is with her mother's priest, so off she heads to try and do good.

Favorite passage: I straighten up, and smooth over the back of my skirt, trying to improve my foul mood. I probably shouldn’t be angry at a priest. Who knows when that would come back to bite me.

Author Bio

Missy lives in a small town in Central Victoria with her husband, and her confused pets (a dog who think she's a cat, a cat who thinks he's a dog...you get the picture).

When she's not writing, she can usually be found looking for something to read.

Author Links

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NEWSLETTER

The Knocked Up Plan by Lauren Blakely *~*~*~*~* Release Day Launch & Excerpt

   

From #1 NYT Bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes a new and sexy romance…THE KNOCKED UP PLAN! A standalone romance told in dual POV, THE KNOCKED UP PLAN is about all of the fun, hotness, and heartfelt emotions that come when a single woman asks her gorgeous, jaded, sworn-to-be-single-forever good friend to get one particular job done. What happens next when he agrees to provide the bun for her oven are lots of hot sexy times and heartfelt moments.

   

Now available on all retailers! Get your copy delivered now!

   

✮✮✮ THE KNOCKED UP PLAN is here! Grab your copy today! ✮✮✮

There are three little words most guys don't want to hear on the first date. Not those...I mean these... "knock me up."

This single gal has had enough of the games, the BS and the endless chase. I know what I want most, and it's not true love. It's a bun in the oven, and I'm not afraid to hit up my sex-on-a-stick co-worker to do the job. Ryder is gorgeous, witty and charming -- and he's also a notorious commitment-phobe. That makes him the perfect candidate to make a deposit in the bank of me.

I won't fall for him, he won't fall for me, and there's no way baby will make three.

Right?

**** There are four words every guy wants to hear on the first date -- "your place or mine?"

When my hot-as-sin co-worker makes me a no-strings-attached offer that involves her place, my place, any place -- as well as any position -- I can't refuse. Besides, I've got my own reasons to take her up on her deal even with her one BIG condition.

There's no way I'll want more from one woman than any position, any where, any night? Except . . . what if I do?

Be prepared to swoon and fan yourself from the heat! This full-length standalone contains lots of hot baby-making s-e-x, happy tears, playful jokes and a hot, swoon worthy hero you will fall madly in love with. One-click now for pure reading enjoyment!

   

✦ Kindle US ✦ Kindle UK ✦ Kindle CA ✦ Kindle AU ✦ iBooks

✦ Barnes & Noble ✦ Kobo ✦ Google Play ✦ Amazon PB

     

---

✦The audiobook will be narrated by Sebastian York and Andi Arndt! Link coming soon! ✦

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"A refreshing take on the baby trope, The Knocked Up Plan is as sweet as it is naughty. Blakely not only balloons Nicole and Ryder’s incredibly powerful chemistry to new heights with their steamy love scenes, but she also infuses sweet emotion into every single one of their interactions."

- USA Today

Except

“How does it work?” I ask. “The whole donation process.”

She stabs a carrot slice, chews, and swallows. “Well, there’s this thing guys do when they’re horny. It’s called”—she glances furtively from side to side—“jacking off.”

“I’m well aware of how the protein shake is made. What I mean is, are we talking about one of those little rooms you go into?” I ask, since what man doesn’t have an image of a jerk-off chamber? “With magazines or porn or whatnot?”

“Yes, they schedule the donors for forty-minute sessions in them.”

“I’m more efficient than that, but that’s good to know.” I take another bite and chew. I set down the burger. “So, a nurse or orderly would escort me to a special room, and then I’d need to drop my
drawers and whack off. Into a cup, right?”

“A plastic sample cup. With a top,” she says, and I’m kind of amazed that she’s answering every question like a champ. No blushing, no stammering.

“What do they provide for entertainment? Laptops? Computers? Or is it old school with Playboy?”

“They provide pornographic material in printed form as well as video on a TV screen.”

“Awesome. So I just choke the chicken in a room with a ton of other dudes going at it in their own rooms, too. Hand a cup to the nurse. She seals up the goods. Then, what’s next?”

“They do tests on your swimmers.”

“They’ll pass. Then you come in, maybe the same day, maybe a few days later?”

“Same day. We’d have to time everything to my cycle and when I’m ovulating.”

“Fine, so they undress you, prop you up on an exam table, and stick a turkey baster into you?”

“You paint a lovely picture of the process.”

I hold up a hand, waving her off. “Wait. I’m not done. You’re in nothing but a hospital gown. The doc tells you to put your cute little feet in stirrups, and they stick that baster up inside what I am sure
is an absolutely gorgeous and heavenly home,” I say, because if she can complement my tadpoles, I can say something nice about the paradise between her legs. She mouths a thank you. “After the boys
make the upstream trip, they send you home.” I mime patting her on the rear and then sending her out the door.

“I think you’ve got the basic idea.”

“And after that?”

“That’s all,” she says. “That’s all I’d want you to do. I don’t expect or want any involvement. I’d have all the paperwork drawn up in advance saying there are no legal rights, responsibilities, or expectations of parenting, and no financial commitments required.”

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but that’s the clincher for me—the lack of involvement. If I’m ever going to raise a child, I’m damn well going to do it right. The whole nine yards, two parents, just like my mom and dad raised my brother, my sister, and me.

Nicole isn’t asking me to sign up for daddy duty, though. She doesn’t want me to help with diaper detail or midnight feedings.

She’s a friend asking for the help she needs so she can then do those things on her own.

And helping a friend seems like something I should consider.

Fine, she’s asking for a hell of a lot more than a dude to put together an IKEA TV stand, and those things are beyond Da Vinci Code-level cryptic. I’d like to see Robert Langdon decipher some IKEA assembly instructions. Good luck with that, Harvard symbologist.

I like Nicole. I respect the dickens out of this woman. I want to take her request as seriously as she’s asking it. “Can I have a few days to think about it?”

“Of course. Take all the time you need,” she says, then glances at an imaginary watch on her wrist. “It’s only my biological clock ticking.”

 

“Wildly romantic! Incredibly sexy! Hilarious and sweet! The Knocked Up Plan HAD IT ALL! The PERFECT romance to kick your Summer into HIGH GEAR! Ryder and Nicole are Lauren Blakely's BEST CHARACTERS YET!”

- Shayna at Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads

       

“The chemistry between Ryder and Nicole is COMBUSTIBLE!!! They are magic together.”

- Bookalicious Babes Blog

 

Add it to Goodreads here!

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✮✮✮Enter to win this amazing THE KNOCKED UP PLAN GIVEAWAY!✮✮✮

Lauren’s Bundle of Joy Special Delivery Giveaway! This bundle is valued at $200 and includes the most delicious cupcakes delivered to your door from Wicked Cupcakes, a $50 gift certificate for luxurious bath products to make your skin baby soft from The Body Shop, and comes wrapped up with a beautiful sterling silver bow bangle bracelet from Pandora ($125 value).

http://laurenblakely.com/knocked-plan-giveaway/

   

About Lauren Blakely: A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that's hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she's sold more than 2 million books. In June she'll release THE KNOCKED UP PLAN, a standalone contemporary romance. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter    

Website ** Facebook ** Twitter ** Newsletter ** Goodreads

 

Deklan by Shay Savage *~*~*~*~*~* Release Blitz and Review

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My father owes a debt.  

I am his currency. 

 I’m supposed to marry the recently crowned mafia king of the Foley family as repayment for my father’s transgressions. I don’t understand why the Foleys would want me, but I’ve grown up in a crime family, and I know the ugly consequences of not doing what you’re told. 

 But as the wedding date approaches, the deal changes, and I’m about to be wed to a man I know nothing about. 

In fact, I don’t even know his last name.  

Instead of becoming a mafia princess, I’m marrying the henchman.  

Deklan. 

After one look at him, I’m not sure I’ll survive the wedding night.

 

 

 

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Come join the fun as Shay Savage celebrates Deklan's release

Release party: Giveaways, contests & guest appearances over at Savages Sandbox!

>>> CLICK HERE TO JOIN <<<

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REVIEW: 

I Heart Books Review

Deklan by Shay Savage 

Review by Theresa Esterline

Stars: 5

Three tragedies and you're...

They say the best stories come from those of overcoming tragedy. I wholeheartedly agree and mixed in with the crime, passion, humor, and love are a multitude of tragedies. Some deserved, others not. Just when you think you know what is coming next, you are shocked. But don't worry, Shay will take care of you! And now a bit about the story...

Her father sold his daughter to get out of a gambling debt. How awful is that. Can you imagine being 14 and held for ransom only to learn you've been rescued, but when you turn 18 you will marry Sean Foley. She knows her father isn't all on the up and up, but he isn't as bad as the Foley's, right? Except Sean's dad dies days before the wedding, now there is an emergency meeting and who knows what will happen...

Favorite passages:
- It’s taking all my willpower not to let the tears fall.
- “Are you giving me orders now?”
- “I’m teaching you to shoot.”“A gun?”“No—pool.”  He laughs.  “Yes, a gun. 
- “You with a fake ID.  Who woulda thunk it?”“Hush, you!”  I grab the ID out of her hand and shove it back in my wallet.  “It’s for emergencies.”“Vodka is an emergency.” 
- “It’s always the unknown that scares you the most,”

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Shay Savage is an independent author from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she lives with her family and a variety of household pets. She is an accomplished public speaker and holds the rank of Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmasters International. Her hobbies include off-roading in her big, yellow Jeep, science fiction in all forms, and soccer. Savage holds a degree in psychology, and she brings a lot of that knowledge into the characters within her stories. From the author: “It’s my job to make you FEEL. That doesn’t always mean you’ll feel good, but I want my readers to be connected enough to my characters to care.” Savage’s books many books span a wide variety of topics and sub-genres with deeply flawed characters. From cavemen to addicts to hitmen, you’ll find yourself falling for these seemingly irredeemable characters!
 

 

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Salvaged (A Saints of Denver Novel) by Jay Crownover *~*~*~*~* Release Blitz, Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway

   

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover continues her delightfully sexy Saints of Denver series with the next thrilling standalone, SALVAGED! Don’t miss this amazing new novel and grab your copy today!

   

Hudson Wheeler is a nice guy. Everyone knows it, including his fiancée who left him with a canceled wedding and a baby on the way. He’s tired of finishing last and is ready to start living in the moment with nights soaked in whiskey, fast cars, and even faster girls. He’s set to start living on the edge, but when he meets Poppy Cruz, her sad eyes in the most gorgeous face he’s ever seen hook him in right away. Wheeler can see Poppy’s pain and all he wants to do is take care of her and make her smile, whatever it takes.

Poppy can’t remember a time when she didn’t see strangers as the enemy. After a lifetime of being hurt from the men who swore to protect her, Poppy’s determined to keep herself safe by keeping everyone else at arm’s length. Wheeler’s sexy grin and rough hands from hours restoring classic cars shouldn’t captivate her, but every time she’s with him, she can’t help being pulled closer to him. Though she’s terrified to trust again, Poppy soon realizes it might hurt even more to shut Wheeler out—and the intense feelings pulsing through her are making it near impossible to resist him.

The only thing Poppy is sure of is that her heart is in need of some serious repair, and the more time she spends with Wheeler, the more she’s convinced he’s the only man with the tools to fix it.

   

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play

iBooks | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada

 

ADD SALVAGED TO YOUR GOODREADS

       
REVIEW:

I Heart Books Review

Salvaged (A Saints of Denver Novel) by Jay Crownover 

Review by Theresa Esterline

Stars: 5

Patience... It has rewards! 

We've all heard to the victors go the spoils meaning the winner gets extra winnings.  This story is no different, both Poppy and Wheeler have had an awful go of it so far.  Both are worried of the past coming back to wreck things.  But both are getting good at salvaging the best parts even in the worst scenario.  And now a bit about the story ...

Poppy has been thru a lot. A controlling, preacher for a father. A typical college jock that lied and knocked her up, only to knock her out when she wouldn't abort. And finally a verbally and physically abusive bible thumping idiot her father approved of. Luckily she escaped all of them to Denver. She is becoming stronger by the day. In fact the story starts with her going to see Wheeler out of the blue with a surprise.

Wheeler has his own crazy past. His mother left him at 4, he's bounced around from one foster family to the next growing up, but he's finally grounded himself. He owns a profitable business, is engaged, and has a great group of friends he considers his extended family. Then his fiance decides she prefers women and his world starts to crumble. When Poppy shows up at his garage with a puppy, things turn a shade happier. Now just to wait out her nerves!!

Favorite passages:
- She was born to be a hot rod but for reasons that were hard to think about she was living her life like she was meant to be a minivan. 
- “I’m cheaper than a shrink, Wheeler, and my office is a lot more fun.”
- One of these days all those years of conditioning to heel at her commands would break.

  EXCERPT: I didn’t want her to be scared of anything ever again. Things at home had been rocky, rougher than class-five rapids in winter, but I was paddling for my life and prepared to ride it out. I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t let go. I saw Poppy the day she walked through my shop and I started to feel how sore my hands and my heart were from holding on. Her head was down, focused on the tips of her shoes. Her shoulders were hunched over and her long hair hid her face. She was skinny, so skinny, nothing but skin and bones. She was nothing that I should have noticed, not because she was clearly doing everything in her power to be invisible, but because I was supposed to have my eyes locked on my future and doing whatever I could do to salvage it. But I did notice her and I couldn’t look away once I did. She was obviously terrified, clearly out of her element and uncomfortable, but it wasn’t her unease that called to me…it was her loneliness. I could feel it filling up the space that separated us. Stretching, growing, expanding until it was all I was breathing in and exhaling back out. It was bitter on my tongue and heavy across my skin because I knew the feeling well. I lived with it pressing me down and pushing me forward every minute of every day. The reason I was so set on the way things had to be, the reason I was singlemindedly set on settling down and building a life with the girl that was slipping through my fingers was because I never again wanted to be as alone as this girl was. I didn’t want to be left and forgotten. I’d barely survived it the first time. I did my best to sell her a car that was as beautiful as she was…a classic with clean lines and a flawless finish. She picked something practical and boring but that was ultimately safe and reliable. I understood her choice but it grated and annoyed me long after she left the shop. When she wasn’t standing in front of me, she should have been easy to forget; after all, everything in front of me, everything I had been working for and toward, was falling down in front of my eyes. My world was collapsing in on itself and everything I thought I was so goddamn sure about turned out to be nothing more than lies and illusions. In the middle of all of it, I couldn’t forget her sad eyes and shivering, shaking form. Her loneliness clung to me, unshakable and unforgettable. I didn’t think I would see her again and against my better judgment I often found myself wondering how she was doing and if she had gotten a handle on all the things that seemed to be crushing her under their inescapable weight. I was wrong about seeing her again, just like I was wrong about thinking that doing everything in my life differently from how my mother had lived hers would ensure my happiness and a future built on an unshakeable foundation. I was wrong about hard work and sacrifice being enough. I was wrong about holding on when what I was holding on to desperately wanted me to let go. All I was left with was bleeding palms, rope burns around my heart and scars on my soul. The next time I saw Poppy Cruz it was my loneliness that was filling up the space, suffocating me, choking me, making me forget to handle her with care. I was nothing more than a vast, open wound. One that was raw, aching, throbbing, and leaking my heart and shattered emotions out everywhere. I felt like I’d lost everything, like my entire life had been nothing but a waste of time, nothing more than building blocks knocked over with the swipe of a careless hand. The girl I loved didn’t love me back, my future was ultimately nothing more than a fuzzy, fractured blur. I couldn’t see anything clearly other than waste and ruin. But I saw her. And I saw that I scared her. It was the last thing I wanted to do but my loneliness was just as big and just as consuming as hers was. It spread out, hungry and angry, looking to consume anyone that might try and challenge its reign. I tried to pull myself together, apologized because I knew our paths would cross again now that she lived next door to my best friend. I didn’t want to be another man that she was terrified of. I locked the loneliness down, wrestled it into submission, and tried to quiet down the wild inside of me that was howling, screaming at the loss of its mate. I wanted to be nothing more than gnashing teeth and tearing claws but I swallowed those instincts and allowed myself to be like a kicked puppy that just wanted to whimper and cry. Poppy had been through more than I could imagine. She was the one I couldn’t look away from, but even then, she managed to slip past me and disappear. She looked like honey but she moved like a ghost. I memorized everything about her even though she hardly let me see her face. I wasn’t supposed to be looking at anything other than how to salvage the mess my life was in, but she was all I could see.  



   

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About Jay Crownover: Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men, The Point, and the Saints of Denver series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her dogs.        

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