Have You Read It? AWAITING FATE by #MFRWauthor @JL_Sheppard

Awaiting Fate

Erotic Paranormal Romance
J.L. Sheppard
The Wild Rose Press

Cain Thaler’s lived more than four hundred years fighting rogue immortals, avenging the family he’d lost. It’s all he’s needed, all he’s wanted. That changes the fateful day he lays eyes on his fated mate. Olivia Waden, a werewolf princess, is nothing like him. Unwilling to give her up, he sets a plan into motion: ignoring his need to claim her, he befriends her.

Despite Cain’s best efforts at friendship, Olivia has fallen hard for him. It is him she dreams of, him she wants as her fated mate. But she is sure he doesn’t feel the same way. In way over her head, she has no option but to run away from the only man she’s ever loved.

Will Cain find Olivia before it’s too late or will their differences tear them apart?

BUY LINK

EXCERPT
“What?” She managed the strength to mumble.
He drew closer, pressing his chest against hers. The heat of his body caressing hers, she grew warm with craving. Helplessly, her gaze drifted to his thick full lips. Her mind wandered. What she’d give for a kiss, a single mind-blowing kiss?
Cheeks flushing, her gaze darted toward his again. “Why are you…” Her body’s desires overwhelming her, she gasped for breath.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”
He wasn’t just angry. He was livid, and he was livid with her because she’d left.
She didn’t know what to say, had no excuse, not one she could tell him anyway.
Shutting his eyes firmly, his anger intensified, coiling rapidly against her until she not only felt it but tasted it. Still, she wasn’t afraid. With each passing moment, all she felt was heat, his and hers, and how badly she wanted him.
“Answer me,” he demanded harshly. “Tell me why you left without telling me!”
His tone startling her, she jolted against him, her body rubbing his. A desire so powerful rippled through her and spiraled inside her, pooling liquid between her legs. It clouded her every thought and every action, so as she stared straight into his eyes, she couldn’t remember what he’d said.
Clenching his jaw, he ground his teeth in anger, so close to losing it. “Olivia, tell me!”

ABOUT J.L. Sheppard
J.L. Sheppard was born and raised in Miami, Florida where she still lives with her husband and son.

As a child, her greatest aspiration was to become a writer. She read often, kept a journal and wrote countless poems. She attended Florida International University and graduated in 2008 with a Bachelors in Communications. During her senior year, she interned at NBC Miami, WTVJ. Following the internship, she was hired and worked in the News Department for three years.
It wasn’t until 2011 that she set her heart and mind into writing her first completed novel, Demon King’s Desire, which was published in January of 2013.

Besides reading and writing, she enjoys traveling and spending quality time with family and friends.

Lucky Seven #Thursday13 Favorite Books of #MFRWauthor @E_L_Esch

MFRW Author E. L. Esch shares her 13 Favorite Books on Thursday13.

I do not believe there is a linear way to write a romance, or any genre for that matter. I like books that make me think, the ones that make me work to understand the characters and what they go through, because "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." :)

facebook  |  website  |  twitter

13 Favorite Books

Lovers, Dreamers, and Me

Diary of a Seducer

Skin Hunger

Pride of Baghdad

The Less than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal

Lovers and Souls

Player's Ruse

The Last Wish

Guardians of Ga'Hoole

The Name of the Wind

The Drowned Cities

Silverwing

No. 6

EL Esch published her latest book, Lucky Seven, an Erotic New Adult Contemporary

Romance, with Loose ID.

Dante Mathers, college student, fifth year, has a track record for being dishonest with himself, and is about to undergo the biggest, scariest change of his life.

Dante's forced himself to go out with girls in the past and he does it again when he's approached by the beautiful Serena one day on campus, desperate to prove to himself that he's ""normal."" But when he loses a drinking contest and is dared to go to the next campus GLBT meeting by his best friend, he’s not sure how to handle it. Sure he could blow it off and say he went, but something nagging at the back of his mind compels him to go anyway. After all, he’s had problems with intimacy in the past and his first crush was a boy in high school. But is he really forcing himself to go, or is he finally starting to be honest with himself? No need to over think this, Dante tells himself. It'll be get in, get out. No need to talk to anyone. Easy, right?

But then he meets Sven. Sexy, toned, wearing a leather jacket with spiked up bleach-blond hair, Sven's bad-boy flare sticks out on campus and catches Dante's eye. But there's more to Sven than his punkish looks, and Dante's about to find out all the sultry little details.

Are you up all night to get Lucky?
Newly released Romance Novel from Loose ID publishing--Lucky Seven.

BUY LINK

REVIEW
""Oh yes...I really liked this...I love me some angst but not all the time...This one had a little angst but not too much and a lot of sweetness which was just right....I'm off to read Seeing Red....""

~ Dana at Goodreads.com

EXCERPT

“I’m Mandy, and I’m bi.”
“My name’s Cole, and I identify as gay.”
“Terry, and if you can’t tell I’m gay, you need your brain checked, okay?”
The room chuckled, and then everybody’s gaze fell on me. “Uh…” I coughed. My throat felt like it was filled with sand, and I practically had to spit out my next words, “I’m Dante.” That’s it, just Dante. Now move along…
Fortunately when he realized I wasn’t going to say any more, the man next to me piped up with his introduction.
I whistled a sigh of relief. When I got out of this frigging trust circle, I was going to wring Greg’s scrawny neck!
I felt like a huge asshole sitting in this circle of ten people in a secluded underground room of the student union. They were here because they wanted to share with other people like them, to hang out and not be judged. Well, I wasn’t judging by any means, but the only reason I’d found my way to this LGBTQ meeting was because I’d lost a bet and my friend was still immature enough to find this kind of thing amusing.
The guy next to me nudged me in the shoulder, and I nearly flew ten feet out of my chair. I looked around the room. Introductions seemed to be over, and now everyone was just talking.
“You’re a fourth year, right?” he asked. His voice was smooth and rich. It reminded me of syrup, or tree sap.
“Fifth.” I swallowed. “I’m only finishing up electives this semester. I already have a job in my field.”
“Ah, must be nice.” He threw back his head over the edge of his chair and sighed. “In this little town it’s hard to find an internship close to home. I’ve been going through hell trying.” He grinned. “What’d you study?”
“Physical therapy.”
“Ah, that explains it. There are so many old folks and people who work with their backs around here. You’ll be in business for a long while yet. Or did you have plans to leave town?”
Part of me wondered if this was the kind of small talk I’d thought about making with that girl before. This guy was a hell of a lot better at it than I would’ve been. But whatever his motives, I didn’t mind. Greg was the only close friend I had on campus, and he hated talking about school life and work. The change of topic from girls and clubbing was refreshing.
“Nah, not leaving.” I shook my head. “Born and raised here in the country and no plan on leaving. I stick to my roots.”
He nodded. “I feel the same.” He held out his hand to me. “James.”
“Dante.” I took his hand warmly.
“So…” James leaned back in his chair and gestured at the whole of the room. “I haven’t seen you at one of these before.”
“Um…”
“Hey, it’s cool if you don’t wanna talk about it. Just making an observation. This place is so no pressure.”
It certainly didn’t feel like no pressure to me, but maybe it was the overwhelming guilt that made my stomach feel like it was tangled in knots. I wasn’t going to lie—I’d been curious in the past, but nothing ever came of it. Then again I’d never had a girlfriend either, which was why Greg had thought this would be so hilarious. I found men and women attractive in their own way, but that hardly made me gay or bisexual. Damn, if Greg knew how much stress this was really causing me inside, he’d probably look at me like I’d grown another head.
“Terry over there…” James set a hand on my shoulder and pointed to the guy who’d introduced himself earlier. “Biggest flamer in the whole damn school, and proud of it. You’ll see him at every drag show, and he’ll probably win. Sets the rest of the competition on edge, I tell ya.” He chuckled and pointed to another guy sitting three seats to my left. “The guy with the lumberjack beard is Carl. He’s quiet, not too wild. You two would probably get along.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
James laughed. “Because you’re new, and I can tell you’re the shy type. Just put yourself out there. Nobody here bites…” He winked. “Often. Ah, I just noticed Seven is missing. Bummer. Not surprised, though. He’s a shy guy too. He’d be the perfect one for you to talk to. Better than me.”
“Seven?” What kind of a name was that?

BOOK SPOTLIGHT on Pumpkin: a Cindermama Story by #MFRWauthor Ines Johnson @InesWrites

Pumpkin: a Cindermama Story
Erotic Fairytale Retelling
Ines Johnson
Heartspell Media, LLC

Single mother Malika “Pumpkin” Tavares lost faith in fairytales after she fell for a toad. Now she believes she’s not cut from the storybook, heroine cloth and searches for Mr. Good Enough amongst the sidekicks and supporting men of the town.

Love at first sight isn’t a cliche for town royalty Armand “Manny” Charmayne. For generations the Charmaynes have spotted their soulmates by seeing a golden aura the first time they laid eyes on The One.

When Manny meets Pumpkin he sees…nothing, but sparks fly off the richter scale. The more he gets to know her the more he considers defying fate, if only he can convince her to take a chance on love again.

BUY LINK

EXCERPT
The Mistress of Ceremonies hurried through her introductions and then the microphone was in Manny's hand, but he didn't take out the notes of his prepared speech.

""Many of you knew my mother,"" he began. There was a murmur of nostalgic assent throughout the crowd.

""You may not know that after her diagnosis, she spent most of her days watching romantic comedies. She believed she could laugh the illness out of her body. Her favorite moments in these films were something called the Grand Gesture. That scene just after all hope is lost because one of the lovers, normally the guy, has done something stupid that's led to the end of the relationship. So he thinks up this bold, romantic move to get the woman back.""

A glance around the room told Manny that he held the largely female crowd in rapt attention.

""An example of a grand gesture would be a guy telling his estranged wife that she completes him in the midst of an angry mob of women. Or rescuing her underwear from the class geek and returning it to her at her sister's wedding. Or holding a boom box over his head, in front of her bedroom window, early in the morning, while blasting the song that was playing as he deflowered her.""

A different wave of nostalgia swept through the crowd this time as they remembered these treasured moments of Hollywood cinema.

""In the real world, some people might call these behaviors creepy, or stalker-ish. But not my mother. She loved them. She believed in love, believed that when you loved someone you said it loud, you showed it often, and you never gave up.""

Manny paused here, partly for effect, mostly to collect himself as visions of his mother's joyous face played in his head. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest.

""The national divorce rate is 50 percent.""

There was no surprise in the room, where most of the men were older and the women on their arms were younger.

""There's never been a divorce in the Charmayne family. Not one recorded anywhere in our family line.""

The sparkle of young women's eyes threatened to blind Manny from where he stood on the stage.

""What that means is when a Charmayne gives you their pledge, they are committed.""

The decision was a split second one, but once Manny made it he stuck with it. He stepped around the podium, mic in hand and dropped to one knee. The gasp of every woman in the room was near deafening.

""To earn your vote, I will do whatever I have to, including blast Peter Gabriel in the streets. Charmaynes don't quit. I'm committed to this, to the people of this town. I hope that I can count on your vote.""

The room erupted in thunderous applause, and the women's eyes sparkled even brighter.

ABOUT Ines Johnson
Ines writes books for strong women who suck at love. If you rocked out to the twisted triangle of Jem, Jericha, and Rio as a girl; if you were slayed by vampires with souls alongside Buffy; if you need your scandalous fix from Olivia Pope each week, then you’ll love her books!
Aside from being a writer, professional reader, and teacher, Ines is a very bad Buddhist. She sits in sangha each week, and while others are meditating and getting their zen on, she’s contemplating how to use the teachings to strengthen her plots and character motivations.

Ines lives outside Washington, DC with her two little sidekicks who are growing up way too fast.

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24927912-pumpkin
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ineswrites
Twitter
https://twitter.com/ineswrites
Website
https://inesjohnson.wordpress.com/