Day: March 23, 2021

Royally Drained
Fritzi Cox
(V.I.L.F., #1)
Publication date: March 23rd 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

From jilted princess bride to a revenge plot fit for a king, this charming couple is royally screwed …

As I lived my best royal life, my only job as a princess was to find and marry a handsome prince. Too bad Prince Theo turned out to be more of a toad.

After I began losing my powers, he lost interest in our upcoming wedding. Not only did Theo leave me at the altar, but he also banished me and my merry band of misfits from the Kingdom of Poppycock forever.

Talk about a walk of shame!

From enchanted castle to crumbling cottage, I’m now stuck in Morningwood, struggling to plot my next move.

This strange little town, full of mischief and magic, is the perfect place to hide while I practice my spells and hopefully regain my powers.

What could possibly go wrong?

Other than accidentally summoning a mysterious male vampire who throws me off my quest and gets my blood boiling in all the right places.

And my blood is exactly what Vail and his brotherhood need for their top-secret laboratory.

Who would have thought my charming royal genes could help their dangerous mission?

As long as Vail keeps his fangs to himself, we won’t have a problem.

His hands though?

That’s another story entirely.

My taste for revenge is strong, but his taste for me is stronger.

Could this be my fairy-tale ending? Or am I destined to live a nightmare?

Author’s note:
Royally Drained is a paranormal romcom with a few dark themes. This is book 1 in the VILF series and ends with a cliff-hanger.

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EXCERPT:

I had a suspicion that my magic faded with age, like estrogen, draining youth and power from my body, turning me into an old crone soaked in wine, and leaving me with an excessive amount of bitter baggage. At least, that was how I felt at thirty-one, past my prime. I’d stupidly wasted my youth on a man who put off marrying me for so long, only to dump me at the altar and banish me from his life and his kingdom, all in a matter of minutes.

I groaned, settling down onto a tree stump caked with a questionable fungus. The drizzle of rain dissolved into a mist, wrapping around me in a blanket of wet gloom and matching my mood. Anger bubbled inside me like a cauldron of witch’s brew, ready to explode and destroy its next victim.

Could this be early menopause? I thought with a sudden pang of panic.

“Ahem,” I cleared my throat and shook the thought from my head, determined to focus on something I’d not tried yet—the darker creatures of the forest.

My spells usually involved singing birds, cuddly bunnies, and doe-eyed deer. But there was one time, a while back, I’d accidentally summoned a rabid alligator. Of course, I’d hidden up in a tree until he left, but I always wondered if my charms could be used for more than sweet, princessy qualities, as my ex used to put it. You know, those things I’d lost when I became a worthless humanish bag of bones.

“Fa-la-la-la, rawr, la-la-la,” I tried, bellowing out the lowest spooky tone I could.

But nothing happened.

“I said, fa-la-la-la, rawr, la-la-la!” I screamed into the clearing, but only the windswept leaves echoed back.

I scuffed my boot into the dirt, kicking a pebble across the way before taking a deep breath and trying again.

“La-la-la, rawr, la-la-la.” My voice rang out as it had years ago when my magic was strong and powerful enough to command an army of squirrels, nibbling the ankles of all my enemies.

A blanket of clouds thickened overhead, forming a sinister chill in the air. The hair on the back of my neck prickled. I had a feeling I wasn’t alone anymore.

“La-la-la, rawr, la-la-la,” I sang again, louder.

Footsteps, much heavier than a bunny’s, pattered behind me. I stood up and threw my hands in the air, still singing and ignoring the feeling of someone watching me. I twirled, singing in harmony with the wind in the trees, the drizzle of rain, and the low hum of the clouds growing overhead. My senses awakened to the natural life around me, and for the first time in a year, I felt whole again.

I spun around the clearing, singing my heart out and skipping through the mud until—as my luck would have it—a man, not a beastly creature under my command, walked into my life.

“You rang,” said a deep voice behind me.

I turned to see a tall, dark figure stepping out of the shadows. His mouth curled, as if on the edge of laughter, displaying a glimpse of two deadly sharp fangs.

“Holy shit. I summoned a vampire.” I stood frozen, unable to look away.

Author Bio:

Fritzi Cox is a dark soul with a wicked sense of humor. She regularly bathes in the blood of her enemies while sipping champagne and hashtagging her vibes. She’s fond of plotting mayhem, writing spellbinding twists, and tickling her readers with an over-the-top sense of humor. Rumor has it, her alter ego, Kat Addams, is her spirit animal. Or is it the other way around? Either way, expect Fritzi to keep you on your toes!

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Temptation
Marla Holt
(Lightning Crashes #1)
Publication date: March 23rd 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Broke and widowed, Rachel Ferrer has already lost so much that when her tarot reading roommate pulls The Tower card, Rachel isn’t phased. What are upheaval and chaos when the worst had already happened? When Rachel’s late husband’s childhood best friend, Nicolas, reappears in her life and brings a handsome friend along with him, Rachel forgets the cards. She takes a chance on Blake even though she can’t stop thinking about Nicolas. It isn’t settling if the person you want is married, right?

Nicolas Rivera has always been a man of faith. His marriage and his job at the church have been his pillars, but when the foundations of both begin to crumble, doubt and a forbidden attraction tempt him to seek comfort in the one woman he shouldn’t go anywhere near.

Nicolas and Rachel have been on the periphery of each other’s lives for years, but as circumstances push them together, lightning crackles between them. WIll they be able to resist the electricity or will they get burned by Temptation?

Temptation is the first volume of The Lightning Crashes Duet. Volume one is a slow-burn forbidden romance that ends on a cliffhanger. Volume 2, Absolution, will be available April 20th, 2021, complete with all the happily ever afters.

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EXCERPT:

“Gabe hated smoking.”

The voice came from her left, encroaching on the tiniest little bit of peace Rachel had had in days. She knew who she would find when she opened her eyes. He was the other reason she was outside. He and his friends had been in the restaurant, in their usual front-side booth for almost two hours, and the entire time she’d felt watched. She hadn’t been able to decide whether it was Nicolas or Blake who was staring at her. Maybe it was both of them. Shiny Guy had found every excuse he could to approach the bar, even asking her if she happened to be in charge of reservations. She’d barely kept from laughing in his face. The idea of managing the busy restaurant’s events on top of everything else nearly made her head explode.

Rachel opened her eyes and raised her head without adjusting her posture and took another drag from her cigarette blowing the smoke in his direction before she said, “Oh, so we’re talking about how you knew my husband now?”

He ducked his head and sat down on the nearest bench, about ten feet away. Good. He should keep his distance. “I never wanted to put you on the spot. I’m sure it can be a difficult subject.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. “Or you didn’t want to be held accountable for not being there when he was sick. Or after.”

Nicolas sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his palms open. “We went down two different paths. I stayed here. Stayed with the church. Gabe . . .” Nicolas trailed off as if he expected Rachel to fill in the blanks as to what it was that Gabe had done. What he’d studied, the profession he’d chosen, the beliefs he’d adopted after he’d left evangelicalism behind. Rachel didn’t give him anything, and eventually Nicolas said, “Well, he moved on.”

Rachel snorted. “And left us all behind.”

“Is that how you see it?” Nicolas asked.

“It’s not really any of your business, actually.” She ducked down and grabbed her tomato juice before her stomach caved in on itself. “Was there something you needed?”

Nicolas cocked his head to the side and clasped his fingers. “I’m not a threat, Rachel.”

She knew her skepticism shone across her face, as bright as a lighthouse beacon warning sailors of cliffs, but she couldn’t help it. Everything about this man spelled trouble. Maybe he wasn’t aware of it. He definitely didn’t understand how broken she was. Or of the way she longed to use him and discard him. It was dark and lurid, the pull she felt toward him, and something Rachel would never give in to. There was no pretending her husband was back, not even for a second, even if the temptation had kept her awake more than one night this week.

“Our children are friends. You’re volunteering at the church. I’m a regular customer of yours. We could be friends.”

“I’m thankful that Oscar has a friend like Asher,” she said, watching as triumph lit his eyes. She allowed herself a twitch of a smile before she slammed the door on that. “But I don’t have time to indulge your guilt for not being a better friend to Gabe while he was here. If you’ll excuse me.”

Rachel snubbed the cigarette out on the ground and stood to flee. Only Nicolas was by her side before she could take her second step, his fingers closing on her elbow—not with any force, but enough of a touch to stop her in her tracks. Enough for her to feel the heat of him. Enough for the potential energy to crackle between them like lightning.

Time stood still even as Rachel could feel the Earth rotate around them. Rachel could predict the ecstasy of his hands on her body, the taste of sweat on his skin as she licked up his neck. The tangy flavor of herself on his lips as he kissed her. The press of his fingertips into her hips as he positioned her in his lap and the delicious completion as his cock slid inside her.

The heat of it could burn her alive if the guilt didn’t get to her first.

When she could move again, Rachel met Nicolas’s eyes and recognized the yearning. The desire. And the guilt. All there, a reflection of everything she’d just imagined, sparking in the way he was looking at her.

“Rachel, I—”

But Rachel couldn’t stay to hear anymore. She shook off his hold and stepped out of his reach. “I can’t,” she said and fled back inside before she could do something stupid like beg a married man to kiss her.

Author Bio:

Marla Holt believes in second chances, romance, and the radical notion that everyone deserves a happily every after. She’s living her own fairy tale, writing contemporary romance novels in her Kansas farmhouse with her husband, three boys, three cats, and flock of imaginary sheep. Follow her at marlaholt.com or on Instagram as @marlaholtauthor

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