Spotlight & Excerpt: Fall Hard, by Jade Church

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We’re celebrating the release of bestselling author Jade Church’s latest romance, Fall Hard! Read on for details and an exclusive excerpt!

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Fall Hard
(Sun City #2)
by Jade Church
Genre: NA Romance/ College Romance
Expected Publication Date: March 3rd, 2023

Falling in love with your best friend sucks—especially when they don’t love you back.

Liv needs help, and Bryn is determined to give it to her. After a night out ends in a whole lot of embarrassment for Liv, she is faced with the fact that she might need some assistance in getting over her best friend and roommate, Jamie.

When Bryn is forced to temporarily move in with Jamie and Liv, a night of drinking results in a possibly disastrous deal: All of Liv’s decisions are now in Bryn’s hands. The goal? Operation fall-out-of-love.

But when sparks start to fly between the two women, they have to wonder if maybe their plan worked a little too well.

After all, nothing hurts like love.

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Excerpt

Love sucks. I wasn’t much of an expert, I’d only really fallen once, but heck if I’d fallen hard. There was only one thing worse than loving someone who didn’t love you, and that was watching them fall in love with someone else. So there I was, about to do something that was probably a terrible idea—but lately all my ideas seemed terrible, so what could one more hurt?

The girl I’d been watching for the past half hour pushed away from the bar and made her way to a packed corner of the club. Her blonde hair was an unnatural white that seemed to change color with the disco lights and was almost the same color as her skin and I kept my eyes on her retreating figure as she paused by a skinny white guy wearing a ripped tee. Her hand dipped into the pocket of her high waisted jeans as she leaned in close to the guy, then she moved back to the bar. Done. Easy. I could do this.

I waited til she reclaimed her seat, the steady pulse of Christina Aguilera’s Dirty making my heart feel like it thudded too hard, and then walked over to order a drink. Her top was red and off the shoulders, not unlike something Jamie might have worn—

I gulped the drink the bartender handed me as I shook off the thought.

“Whoa. Steady there. You know they put alcohol in those things, right?” The girl grinned at me and I swallowed before offering her a smile. If you didn’t know better, then what I was about to ask her might seem perfectly natural coming from my lips—tonight, I looked the epitome of a party girl. I’d loosely curled my hair and let it run free over my shoulders, put on my highest pink velvet chunky heels and let my sparkly eye make-up be the only accessory needed to match the pink sequin mini dress.

“Well, there’s a little mixer too. Got to stay hydrated.” I laughed breathlessly and bit my lip as the girl’s eyes moved over my legs, made longer by my heels, and back up to my face. “Listen…” I leaned in close and a flirty smile tugged up the corners of her mouth. “I, um, was wondering if you have any pills?”

She leaned back, a look that might have been disappointment flashing across her face before she nodded. “Sure. What are you looking for?”

“Ah, you know.”

An eyebrow raised at my answer and I wanted to curse. “Sure, but do you?” I didn’t answer and she rolled her eyes. “Look, are you sure you want to—“

“I’m sure,” I said firmly. “I’ve just never done this before. My friend usually buys,” I added, clearing my throat a little and her eyes narrowed slightly before she nodded.

“Fine. How many do you want?”

“Just one.”

Another eyebrow raise. Crap. I was so clearly out of my depth. 

“Thirty,” the girl said and I barely held in my surprise. That seemed like a lot for one pill, but I couldn’t say for sure if she was ripping me off or if I was just hopelessly naive. Either way, it didn’t matter. Thirty dollars was nothing in the face of the inheritance my parents had given me to stay out of their lives, another form of hush money—their signature move. 

I slipped the cash out of my clutch and she rolled her eyes as I tried to be surreptitious about it and failed. 

“Have a good night,” she said dryly, handing me a clear baggie and then shoving away from the bar.

“You too,” I murmured, the words lost in an old Taylor Swift song as I shook the pill free and examined it closely. Was I supposed to take the whole thing? I glanced around to see if I could maybe ask the white-haired drug dealer but she’d disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor. 

My palms were getting sweaty and I tossed the pill back and forth between my hands, not wanting it to melt or something. Just do it. I let out a slow breath as I brought my hand to my mouth and then paused. Was I supposed to swallow it whole? Chew it? Crap, I should have just asked Jamie—

I reined my thoughts in before I could get lost in my own head, wondering what she was doing right now, where she was… probably with Ryan. Her boyfriend. 

I sat back down at the bar, swiveling the seat so I faced outwards and could watch the dancers. She was the reason I’d come here. Jamie. One of them, at least.

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Get Even
(Sun City Book 1)
Now a #1 bestseller!

Don’t get mad, get even is advice Jamie Silver takes to heart when she discovers her boyfriend is sleeping with her best friend. What she doesn’t bank on is her hateful professor placing her on academic probation and it’s all her ex’s fault. When his rival, Ryan Sommers, offers her a way to get back into her professor’s good books as well as get back at her ex, what’s a girl to do? Revenge is a dish best served hot.

Get Even is the first book in a series of interconnected standalones.

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About the Author

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Jade Church is an avid reader and writer of spicy romance. She loves sweet and swoony love interests who aren’t scared to smack your ass and bold female leads. Jade currently lives in the U.K. and spends the majority of her time reading and writing books, as well as binge re-watching The Vampire Diaries.


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Spotlight & Excerpt: It started With a List + Giveaway

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It Started With a List

Pacific Grove University Book 1

by Tinia Montford

Genre: New Adult Romantic Comedy

 

A BUCKET LIST. THE POPULAR GUY. A LONER. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Time’s up for Vassa Blackwell.

With her college graduation looming, Vassa reflects on the past four years. Man, she is mega disappointed. No wacky misadventures, no drunken nights, and no regrettable mistakes you can NEVER tell your parents. Work and class, Class and work. That’s it. College is suppose to be the best years of one’s life… Right?

Vassa feels as though she’s cheated herself out of a full college experience. Notably with romance and boys and stuff. So, she makes a college bucket list. Then the worse thing ever happens.

Her list falls into the hands of Lazarus Gilbert. King of the baseball team, sworn enemy (in her opinion), and her annoying upstairs neighbor. He thinks he’s found something fun to do. She thinks she’s in trouble. With the pressures of post-college decisions and failing classes looming, can they complete the bucket list before the semester runs out? Are Vassa and Lazarus just too different to get along? Or will Vassa learn to live and let live, and let love enter her heart?

It Started with a List is an opposites-attract romance. Perfect for readers who love drunk karaoke, spring breaks to Las Vegas, and sea lions at Pier 39. This novel contains cursing and sex scenes, and intended for audiences 18 years and older.

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itstartedwithalist - excerpt

Craning her neck back, she looked at the sign. “Crooked Cloud Lounge. Sounds like a brothel.”
Lazarus threw his hands up. “Karaoke!”
Vassa shook her head. There was no way. She wasn’t drunk enough for that. She turned around when he pulled her arm. “C’mon, you can do it.”
Vassa shook her head. No, no way. She sang off-key in the privacy of her shower. He dragged her into the establishment anyway. The place was empty. Just a bartender and a bunch of standing tables. In the corner was a couple, a sleeping security guard, and a random businessman on his phone. He brought her to the table in the middle with a thick binder.
“We’re not leaving till we each do a song.”
Vassa shook her head still. She was the audience. The one that clapped and cheered for the people that were obviously horrible, but had self-esteem (and liquor) through the roof.
“We should just go home; it looks like it’s about to close, anyway.” Vassa looked around.
“How about Smashing Pumpkins, or are you feeling Michael Jackson at the moment?” Lazarus flipped the page.
“I’ll watch you do it. I need more liquid courage,” Vassa said.
He frowned. “You have to live, Vee. When are you ever going to get an opportunity like this again? A nearly empty karaoke bar and me?”
She tried to ignore how he was kinda making sense.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Lazarus smiled. “Now we’re talking.”
Flipping through the binder, she felt overwhelmed by the selections. Should she pick something classic? Off the Wall or Slippery When Wet? Or something modern?
“I’ll get us shots while you look.”
He left and Vassa looked around the room again. At least she didn’t know anyone here. They would only know her as the stranger who couldn’t hold a note. She was doubly grateful Dara wasn’t here to record. She tapped her hand against the table as her eyes scanned the names of the songs, but she found nothing was calling to her.
“Did you pick yet?” Lazarus sat the shots down onto the table. Six shots. Three for him, and three for her.
“Three shots at once?” Her liver was crying.
He rubbed his hands. “We can’t do this sober, can we?”
“What is it?”
“Tequila.”
Vassa made a face. “No vodka?”
“They were out.”
She resigned herself and reached for the lime and salt. “You’re going to have to pick me up off the floor.”
“Someone might have to pick me up,” Lazarus muttered and passed the shots to her. “Back-to-back, no stopping.”
She placed the salt on the curve of her thumb and picked up the first shot. Lazarus counted down. On three, she licked the salt and took the shot. She shivered as she swallowed, the liquor burning every tastebud on the way down. She tried to ride out the burn for as long as she could before biting into the lime. She looked at Lazarus, and he looked as winded as she did.
“That was one,” he gasped.
Vassa steeled herself as they tossed back the next two shots. She was feeling pretty warm at this point. They let the alcohol kick in longer before they went up.
“What did you pick?”
He closed his eyes leaning against the table. “It’s a surprise.”
They let the bartender, who was also serving as the DJ, know what their songs were. Lazarus grabbed another round of shots. The TV on stage turned on and the strobe lights whirled. The first cords of the song played and Vassa didn’t recognize it at first, but then she looked at Lazarus, who moved toward the stage.
“No, you didn’t.”
He winked before jumping onstage. Vassa covered her face. No, he wasn’t doing this. Peeking through her fingers, she saw him roll his shoulders back like he was getting into a fight. The beat of “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor started.
Vassa shook her head at him. No, he really wasn’t doing this. He pointed at her and shook his hips. This was not happening right now. The tequila was kicking in because she was hot and her body felt loose. She swayed to the beat and clapped as he hit the chorus. Lazarus pranced across the tiny stage. It was like a reject strip show. He gyrated his hips, pointing to the couple off to the side and then the businessman too.
He didn’t care that he was singing off-key. The couple cheered for him. Even sleeping security guard woke up.
Lazarus worked the small crowd. He jumped down from the stage and walked around the empty tables, dancing. He looked at Vassa and made a come-here motion with his finger. She shook her head as she laughed. He came to their table and pointed the mic directly in her face.
“C’mon, sing Vee.”
The music continued to play, and she shook her head again. The surrounding people chanted for her to sing.
Lazarus looked at her, and with the demand of the crowd, there was nothing she could really do. She sang a line before backing away from the mic. He said the next line and pointed the microphone back.
“Don’t leave me hanging!” He wiggled his fingers.
Vassa sang. They took turns for a few more seconds before he moved on, dancing around the tables. She clapped her hands together with the rest of the crowd. When the song finally ended, he did a bow. Vassa cheered for him. He passed the couple, and they reached out to high five.
Lazarus took a shot at the table once he came back.
“I don’t know what to say.” Vassa blinked slowly, her hands on her face.
“There’s nothing to say. You just saw a master at work.”
“If baseball or event planning don’t work out for you, maybe you could be a drag queen?”


Tinia Montford is a Pisces who’s a sap for romance, especially when there’s (loads of) kissing. Loves eighties sitcoms and will consume anything with chocolate. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in English and Graphic Design.

She is a world traveler having climbed a volcano in Nicaragua, scaled Angkor Wat in the blistering sun, and basked in the Acropolis of Athens. Oh, she also dabbles in short stories on occasion and blogs.

If you can’t catch her writing, you can bet she’s overindulging on poke bowls, listening to the same four songs, or chilling with her adorbs doggie. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Fiction.

You can catch Tinia here and sign up for her newsletter: tiniamontford.com

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Book Blitz: Sparrow, by Victoria Jayne

SPARROW RDB BANNER

 

Title: SPARROW
Author: Victoria Jayne
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Cover Designer: Deranged Doctor Designs
Editor: Toni Rakestraw
Publication Date: Sept. 14, 2021
Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Regrets. She has a few.

Nothing went how Sparrow Malone planned. Her boyfriend didn’t get clean. She didn’t take the entrance exam, and the motorcycle club her father had been a part of is crumbling. To add insult to injury, Jacob didn’t stay in Montana.

Screw him over once, shame on her. Do it twice, shame on him. Jacob gave up on Sparrow when he left without her two years ago. But Odin’s Fury Motorcycle Club still had business in Ohio, which meant he did too.

The first time, it wasn’t their fault. Their second chance didn’t end well. While both swore never to repeat past mistakes, they can’t help themselves.

With the two clubs merging into one, it’s either going to be third time’s a charm or three strikes and they’re out.

Victoria Jayne is the epitome of a Jersey Girl. She doesn’t [know how to] pump her own gas, enjoys pork roll, and grew up on the Jersey Shore. The only daughter sandwiched between two brothers, she was a bit of a Tom-boy as a child.

As an adult, she’s lived throughout the state of New Jersey. She graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She earned her Masters degree in Marriage, Couples and Family Counseling from Walden University. She’s worked in the human services field since 2005.

She met her sports journalist husband in an online audio/visual chat room. After a few years of dating, they got married and have two darling daughters.

When not writing, Victoria enjoys baking with her daughters, rooting for the New Jersey Devils, thinking of home improvement projects for her husband, and staying up far too late chatting on Discord.

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A fling, a moment of weakness, a fond memory, those were the things Jacob Karolsson was supposed to be. He was supposed to stay in her goddamn fantasy and in fucking Montana.

Okay, one time. There was one time she’d allow him into Ohio. The rally. She’d concede that. He could come for the rally and she would avoid it like the plague. It shouldn’t be too hard. It was good to have a plan.

“You got any Jameson back there?” he asked once the crowd practically parted for him to walk to the bar. The whiteness of his teeth was a stark contrast to his dark beard as he put his elbows on the bar top, smiled, and leaned over it.

Frozen in place, Sparrow looked him over as though she wasn’t sure he was real. Enforcer. Blinking at him, she realized he’d gotten an officer position. When her gaze made it to his light blue eyes, she stuffed the lollipop in her mouth.

Jesus Christ those eyes.

Something jabbed her in the side, and the trance was broken. The hum of conversation over Aerosmith rushed to her ears, and she turned to see Kimber holding a bottle of Jameson, and peering at her questionably. Caught staring at him like a high school girl with a crush. Could she be any more pathetic?

Taking it, she offered a smile to Kimber first and then looked to Jacob. Still grinning, he seemed to have added a bit of smugness to it. Clearing her throat, she half-filled a lowball glass and placed it on a napkin for him.

Placing a twenty on the bar, he reached for his glass, allowing his digits to graze hers. Fire danced up her fingers, over her hand, and through her arm. She should have yanked her hand back. She should have looked away from him. She shouldn’t have turned into a puddle where she stood. 

“Thank you,” he mouthed before pulling the glass away from her and bringing it to his lips.

Could someone sip whiskey sexily? Was it possible? It shouldn’t be. As much as she wanted to fan herself, she couldn’t. So, she did the next best thing. “You got this?” She may have asked Kimber the question, but she had no intention of staying for the answer.

“No! Wait, I…” Kimber’s voice trailed off as Sparrow made her way out the door of the bar. Dick move. She knew it, but if the woman knew what the hell it was about, she’d understand. Anyone who had any inkling of what had gone on between Sparrow and Jacob would understand why she’d just fled the bar.

The cool Ohio air chilled her heated skin as she walked along the side of the cinderblock building, heading for the back parking lot. She just needed to walk to her car and to drive away from all of it. It was too real.

Her car. Fuck. She didn’t have her car.

As the realization hit, she turned, and her back pressed against the bricks. Closing her eyes, her head hit the wall. She needed to figure out a way to handle these little pop-ups.

“I’m going to have to buy you a new shirt.” The deep timbre of his voice heated her just as much as the memory of his touch did.

“Why are you here?” she demanded without looking. The accusation in her tone wasn’t on purpose, but it was too late now. It’d been said.

The heat of his body close to hers tickled her skin. She might as well have been set on fire at the feel of his hands on her face. Before she could stop herself, she nuzzled into his palm. He made her lose her fucking head with the slightest of touches.

“Do you mean Ohio or the bar?” he whispered in her ear when he brushed his bearded cheek against hers. It looked coarse, but his facial hair was impossibly soft. The feel of it had her face tingling as much as his breath along her neck.

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