Acting Happy by Rylie Roberts

Title: Acting Happy

Series: Texas Desires #2

Author: Rylie Roberts

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: March 22, 2016 
Cover Design: Reese Dante

Kenzie Stanton’s constantly matchmaking mother won’t take a hint. At twenty-eight years old, she’d learned rainbows and fairy-tales don’t exist. She swears if she ever gets back on her feet, and out of the hot water her ex landed her in, she’ll embrace a new life that’s relationship-free. When a tall, handsome man with sexy eyes and a smoking-hot body shows up in her family’s store, she has no trouble ignoring him. Until his kindness and genuine nature truly test her resolve. 

The tabloids describe Ty Bateman as a cynical, take-charge, run-over-them-before-they-run-over-you kind of guy. In truth, the life of extreme celebrity has turned him into a tainted, jaded man—being virtually imprisoned behind the windowless walls of his home to avoid the clicking cameras of invasive paparazzi and the overzealous media will tend to do that to a person. When the time comes for his yearly weekend with his childhood friends, he decides to buy a secluded mountain cabin and take an extended vacation from his overwhelming reality. Rejuvenating his soul and making decisions about his future are his top priorities until he spots a blonde beauty in short-shorts carrying groceries out of the only store in town. 

Kenzie and Ty are both hiding out in the mountains…but for very different reason. Reality can only wait so long before it comes knocking on their doors. Even if Ty can break through Kenzie’s barriers, he’s not entirely sure his hurt beauty can withstand the mental brutality of his world. For these two damaged souls, is the possibility of failure too much to try for a life of more than acting happy?

"Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) by Rylie Roberts is a fun, sweet, heart catching read." ~Melissa (Goodreads Review)

"Do you love  heart happy read?  Something that is fun, flirty, and just makes you giggle like a schoolgirl with her first crush?  If you answered yes, then you absolutely must read Rylie Roberts' newest release..."  ~Emily (Goodreads Review)

"I finished in two days.  I can't wait for the third book!  This group of friends are amazing."  ~Sandra (Goodreads Review)

"I loved this whole story and enjoyed how there were funny scenes, some suspense, and most of all, lots and lots of super hotness!!!!! ~Geri (Goodreads Review)

“Holy hell! I’ve never seen that around here before.” The commotion caused Ty to press the brakes, looking back at Cole whose whole attention was focused on the grocery store that had just come into view on the left.

“Sit down, you fool,” Connor yelled. Ty was forced to pay attention to the unusually heavy traffic, coming to a stop in front of the only streetlight in town. He turned his head to finally see what Cole had let out one of those catcall-style whistles at. She turned their way, confusion clear on her face.

The world kind of stopped for Ty, and for the briefest of moments, their gazes connected. His heart seized for one, then two, beats before resuming with a violent thunderous thump. Ty could hear Connor slapping at Cole’s leg, but he became transfixed on the face of the angel in front of him. The earth settled back under his Jeep and he amended his thought. That was if angels actually frowned.

“Who the hell is that?” Ty asked as if the guys would even know. She was gorgeous in all her tall, tanned summer good looks. She turned away, that casual gait stiffening as she walked behind some older woman, carrying several bags. Ty just sat there staring. She wore cut off blue jean shorts that he suspected might show a little ass when she bent over, a form-fitted pink tank top, and her long blonde hair was piled in a high ponytail hanging down her back. Her legs looked to be a mile long and she was muscular and fit. He could see the definition in her arms and legs as she moved. For him, she was stunningly beautiful and so out of character from anything he’d seen in this little backwoods town before.

“Hey, gorgeous. Look this way!” Cole yelled and whistled again. That had everyone in the area looking at them. Well, everyone, but her. She kept her eyes straight, ushering the older woman to her car when she had stopped her progress to stare at the crazy man making all the ruckus in the back of the Jeep.

“Sit your ass down and act right,” Connor yelled from the front seat. Ty registered the honk from behind and reluctantly looked up to see the light had turned green. He was holding up traffic. He did a quick left turn into the small grocery store parking lot and watched as the beauty shut the trunk of the car and walked around the corner of the building, completely out of his view. At least she hadn’t gotten inside the car because his buddies would think he was nuts chasing down that car just to meet her.

“Damn,” Ty said, parking crooked in the first open space he found.

“I swear to God, man. This whole town’s looking at us,” Connor said, not using the door, instead jumping out of passenger seat. “Get your ass out of there.”

“Shit, man. I might be in love.” Cole did about the same thing, jumping free of the open Jeep, and slapped Connor on the back as he strolled past, heading for the front doors of the store. “You might’ve just seen the future Mrs. Cole Willis.”

Rylie Roberts is the Amazon #1 international best selling author and native Texan who loves to write and read romance. Please follow the newsletter by emailing rylie@rylieroberts.com or following me on social media. Stay tuned, there's more on the way.

 

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Malediction: A Crimson Confession by JD Lexx

Title: MALEDICTION: Rise of the Crimson Confessions

Series: Crimson Confessions, #1

Author: J.D. Lexx

Genres: Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense

Release Date: March 20, 2016

 

Some devote a lifetime to the endless pursuit of love. Others spend even longer trying to outrun it. Between the shimmering lights of Paris and New Orleans' commercialized sin, author J.D. Lexx embarks on his latest hunt. Once content to walk blindly in the light, these days he prowls a different world, one of shadow and sensuality where flesh yields to the probing hungers of fantasy. Driven by painful reminders of opportunity left unseized, he roams, tirelessly seeking the next in a growing collection of Crimson Confessions.

Yet these tales of conquest and seduction which have brought such notoriety are merely bait for a more transcendent prey. The one he truly stalks is infinitely more elusive, and lethal in her charms. To win her over, and write the happy ending to this unfinished story, an infamous collector of secrets must now lay his own bare for all to see. Chasing a trail of enticing exploits stretching from Sin City to Prague, every stop leads him back to the beginning...and one step closer to her.

 

  

 

Determined to retake control, I feathered a caress over the sloping muscle of her abdomen while fighting to my last breath the urge to explore her body further. As I took one step back to unsteady her balance, she instantly countered, throwing her palms against the wall behind her and launching the both of us backward. On the far side of the hall, we slammed with a crash so violent that it dislodged a pair of antique mirrors from their mounts.

Moments later, I finished the job. As I shook off the impact of not one, but two bodies, she dropped to the ground, ripping my belt away and heaving it down the staircase. For a passing second, I humored the desire to leave her there on her knees, at the mercy of the beast she seemed determined to unleash. Any longer, however, and she risked getting herself into real trouble. With a grunt of reluctance, I lifted her to her feet and spun her hard against the wall. This time, both mirrors collapsed under the force of the blow, unleashing a deafening roar to each side as bronze frames hit the floor and rained shards of glass over ancient oak.

Looking to one side and then the other while helplessly bound by my grasp, she shook her head and spoke softly, “Fourteen years of bad luck. I hope I’m worth it.”

“You better be.”

I pressed her firmly to the paneling with an added shove for emphasis, and then raked slowly up her sides. Keeping her shoulders glued to the wall, her lower body began to buck as the random whimper escaped her lips. Eventually, every inch struggled to break free and lurch forward for my lips but I allowed nothing on her terms.

With a punishing tug of her hair, I held her still and licked a trail up the warm pulse of her neck. Near enough to taste her lips, I leaned in to stake my claim with that first deep kiss, mangling her blouse in desperation I could no longer control. With a starved tug of fabric, the top two buttons flew free to bounce across the floor, just as the resurrected power grid kindled a soft amber glow.

While my eyes adjusted, I caught a first glimpse of the crucifix revealed by my assault. I can’t tell you how long it kept me at bay as the receding darkness left me once again accountable for my craving. For the first time that evening, I looked into her eyes, squarely and honestly, and reaped all the shame that she had sown. In the rekindled lamp light, I saw only a young girl, and the trust I had so long refused to break.

“I have to get back,” I said, dropping my guilt-laden gaze to the floor.

To this day, those words stand among the most difficult I’ve ever uttered. I knew perfectly well the repercussions they would echo, if not for how long they would do so. No longer had I sacrificed my opportunity for her unwitting benefit. I had now formally rejected it. Fourteen years of bad luck, indeed…

As I turned to leave her trembling in the hallway, I feared the curse may have already taken hold. The moment I stepped again into solitude, that fear gave way to certainty. With a broken breath, I stepped to the bedside to take an icy hand in my own, realizing immediately that I’d returned just minutes too late. I collapsed back into my seat and buried a roar of resignation deep between my palms, grudgingly accepting the unpalatable truth that I had failed not one, but two vows that evening.

 

 

  

 Food Lust (A Crimson Confessions)

  

                  

Two Way Glass (A Crimson Confession)

 

                   

Order of the Orchidarion (A Crimson Confession)

 

                    

International attorney, award-winning journalist and last of a modest raconteur bloodline, J.D. Lexx has been a storyteller for most of his life and a student of humanity for even longer. Perhaps it's no wonder that he takes such pleasure in the subtle tease of the written word, in kindling curiosity with every shared tale, then daring the imagination to continue on beyond The End.

A traveler by nature, Lexx spends most of his time between the frenzied streets of New York and the slower pace of New Orleans' Vieux Carre´. When not exploring the sensual psyche through his writing, he can usually be found honing his skills in the kitchen or working alongside charitable organizations to promote literacy and tolerance-- two causes not only reflected in his work, but forever dear to his heart.

 Join Lexx’s Lair and keep up to date with all the Lexx news and listen to his recent interview - the podcast is LIVE!