THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS by Brenda Novak: $100 Book Blast

Kinky Vanilla Romance is pleased to share The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak, a small town contemporary romance available today from MIRA/Harlequin Publishing. This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the banner to visit other stops on this tour.

BLURB

Just call her Christmas Eve…

Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds her of everything she doesn’t have. Almost all her friends are married now, and that’s what Eve wants, too. Love. A husband and kids of her own. But the B-and-B she manages and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where she was born and raised, suddenly seem…confining.

As Eve turns thirty-five, she’s worried that her future will simply be a reflection of her past. She’s dated all the eligible men in the area. There’s no one she could even imagine as a husband—until a handsome stranger comes to town. Eve’s definitely attracted to him, and he seems to have the same reaction to her. But his darkly mysterious past could ruin Eve’s happily ever after—just when it finally seems within reach. Just when she’s counting on the best Christmas of her life!


EXCERPT

Moving slowly to compensate for her hangover, she managed to prop herself against the headboard and, once there, frowned at her bedmate.

Who the heck was he?

She had no idea, but she was relieved to see that he was no bum off the street. He wasn’t even one of those “he looked a lot more attractive last night” kind of pickups everyone joked about. This guy was so far above average that she began to wonder why he wasn’t already taken. Heaven forbid that was the case! She didn’t see a ring on his left hand, which rested on the pillow above his head. But he had to have some story. If he looked this good sleep-tousled, she could only imagine what he’d be like once he had a chance to clean up.

It was his bone structure, she decided. Those pronounced cheekbones. The narrow bridge across his nicely shaped nose. The distinct ridge of his upper eye sockets. He also had a strong chin and a manly jaw, which certainly didn’t detract.

So maybe she couldn’t point to just one or two features. With his long, sandy-colored hair spread across his pillow, he resembled a fallen angel—and his body further enhanced that image. Although bedding covered his lower half—thank goodness—she could see his torso. He was built like a greyhound or panther, lean and sinewy and ideally proportioned with very little body hair. What body hair he did have was golden and downy, as appealing as his tanned skin.

He’d make a nice subject for a painter, she mused, someone looking for refined masculine beauty—a man who could even be called elegant.

But not everything about him was elegant. When she looked closer, she could see that he had some very unusual scars….

What types of injuries could’ve caused those? she wondered. It seemed to her that he’d been shot, and more than once. Several round, bullet-size marks dotted his chest. Then there was a long, jagged scar on his side that must’ve come from something else….

Out of nowhere—he didn’t open his eyes first, so she had no warning—he grabbed her wrists in a crushing grip and slammed her onto her back.

Eve gasped as she stared up at him. Gone was the image of an angel, fallen or otherwise. Shocked at being so easily and unexpectedly overpowered, she couldn’t even scream. His fierce expression, as if he was intent on causing her bodily harm, made it worse.

Had she brought home a homicidal maniac? Was he about to kill her?

The terror that surged up must’ve shown on her face because he suddenly came to his senses. He gave his head a shake. His expression cleared and, letting go, he eased off her and slid back onto his side of the bed.

“Sorry about that. I thought…” His words trailed off, and he covered his eyes with one arm as if he needed a moment to pull himself together.

Her heart was now pounding in unison with her head. But once she could speak somewhat normally, she prompted him to finish his sentence. “Thought what?”

His lips turned down. “Never mind. I was dreaming.”

She pressed a hand to her chest as though she could slow her galloping pulse. “It couldn’t have been a pleasant dream.”

“They never are,” he muttered.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of more than fifty books. A four-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Daphne, and the Holt Medallion. She also runs an annual on-line auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised over $2 million.

For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com. While there be sure to check out her The 12 Days of Christmas Contest.

Links: Website | Facebook

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

GIVEAWAY 

Brenda will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $50 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn host.

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The Rebel Cowboy's Quadruplets by Tina Leonard | Book Blast + Giveaway

Kinky Vanilla Romance is pleased to share The Rebel Cowboy's Quadruplets by Tina Leonard. The Rebel Cowboy's Quadruplets, a contemporary romance novel, will be available on July 1, 2014 from Harlequin Publishing.

 

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tina will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to TWO randomly drawn commenters during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Remember, the more stops you visit and comment, the better your chances to win.

REBEL WITH A CAUSE?

Justin Morant can't believe he answered an online dating ad! Turns out, beautiful Mackenzie Hawthorne is looking for a ranch foreman, not a husband. Good thing, because marriage isn't in the injured bull rider's future. Justin is happy to take up the cause of saving the Hanging H ranch—and then there's the bonus of playing stand-in father to the sexy single mom's four angelic newborns.

Mackenzie doesn't know what miracle brought Justin to Bridesmaids Creek, Texas, but she'd be a fool to fall for the hunky cowboy who wears his rebel status like a badge of honor. Justin's a natural with her daughters and a whiz at ranching…yet one day she knows he's going to gallop off into the sunset. Unless, of course, the marriage-minded townspeople get their hands on him!

Now enjoy an excerpt:

Justin slept off and on, dozing in the room with the babies. It was weird how much he found himself enjoying taking care of them. As a man who’d never been interested in having children—not one bit—he was surprised by how Mackenzie’s four little daughters tugged on his heartstrings.

He hated the idea of leaving them—all of them. And, somehow, he even hated the idea of Frog staying behind to take his place. Or any of the three men Ty was bringing on to replace him, for that matter.

The only reason he was leaving with Ty was because Ty had brought him here in the first place. He owed it to him out of a sense of brotherhood. Ty wouldn’t ask him if he didn’t need him. Mackenzie didn’t really need him—not like Ty did.

He needed to talk to Ty a bit more, dig into the mission to settle the questions in his mind. But the thing that unsettled his mind the most was how much he hated the idea of three men he didn’t know all that well roaming around the Hanging H and falling for Mackenzie and the girls.

Just as he was beginning to fall for them.

Whether he liked it or not, that was the truth. Justin closed his eyes as he rocked in the chair. The tiny night-light sent a soft glow over the room. An occasional baby snuffle or sigh reached him, the sound somehow comforting and not intimidating at all, not the way he’d thought it would be. During his wilder, crazier rodeo days, the idea of a family had been distinctly unappealing.

Mackenzie was recently divorced. No doubt the last thing she wanted was another man in her life. He couldn’t blame her if that was the way she felt.

At dawn, when Betty Harper appeared in the nursery, Justin felt strangely rested. He smiled at Jade’s mother. “Good morning.”

“Go get some rest. I’ll take over from here. Mackenzie said the babies didn’t even move last night.”

He felt like he hadn’t, either. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed. “I thought I was awake all night. I didn’t even realize Mackenzie came in the nursery.”

Betty smiled. “I checked on you at five. Everybody was sound asleep, which is a first for the girls. They probably feel comforted with a man’s presence around. Babies do that sometimes. You have a nice deep voice with is probably soothing to them.”

She disappeared from the room. Justin rose and stretched. Haven peered up at him from her blanket, and he had the uncanny notion that she was watching him. Did babies see anything at this tender age?

“Hello, little one,” he said, approaching her crib. Gently he picked her up, held her close. “Good morning to you, too.”

He kissed the top of her head, breathed in the sweet baby freshness of her skin, the scent of baby powder.

“Hi,” Mackenzie said, her voice soft.

He turned and saw she was wide-awake and looking refreshed. “You’re up bright and early.”

“I got a lot more sleep than I have since before I became pregnant.” She came to take Haven from him, and he smelled an entirely different smell: strawberry shampoo, delicate floral soap, sexy woman.

His heart did one of those funny flip-flops he’d gotten used to feeling around her.

“Thanks for watching them last night.” She gazed up at him. “I think I slept so well because I knew you were standing guard.”

Oh, boy. There went the heart. “It was no problem. Part of the job.”

“Not part of the job I hired you to do.” She looked at him funny.

He backed up a step when he realized he was staring at her pink, glossy lips. “It’s the job Frog and Fellows are applying for.”

“That’s Ty’s bright idea. And by now, you know Ty can be a bit of a squirrel.” She smiled. “Babysitting isn’t part of your job description. But thank you.”

Warmth expanded in his chest at her smile. He wondered if he’d ever met a woman he was so blindingly attracted to—and decided in a hurry that was a terrible thought to have about his boss. Definitely a dead end. There was no way on this planet he had any business being attracted to her.

“I’m going to get some coffee. You want a cup?”

“No, thank you. You go on.”

He nodded and turned to leave.

Turned back around, met her gaze. Started to say that sitting up with her daughters hadn’t been work; he hadn’t done it because of Frog and Friends. He’d done it because he’d wanted to. Wanted to make her happy, help her out.

But it was a bad idea to make such a confession. No purpose to it at all, and he didn’t do anything unless he knew the purpose.

Shutting his stupid yap tight before it could say weird, mushy things, he left.

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard has sold over 2.6 million copies of her titles. She has made the USA Today Bestseller, Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and Ingrambook lists, and has written and contracted seventy-one books and special projects. Her work has been published by Harlequin, Samhain Publishing, Robinson Scarlet, and most recently Random House Loveswept contracted for a single title trilogy project, Hell’s Outlaws. Leonard was chosen to be among the first authors published for Robinson’s Scarlet line, writing four single title novels for that imprint. Not long after, she sold on proposal to Harlequin American, where she has since written several popular series, most notably the Cowboys By The Dozen, Morgan Men, and Callahan Cowboys series. Her newest single title project, HOTTER THAN TEXAS, was published in March 2013. Leonard is known for her fun sense of humor, endearing communities, snappy dialogue, and memorable characters.

Join Tina at www.tinaleonard.com

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http://www.amazon.com/Cowboys-Quadruplets-Harlequin-American-Romance%5CBridesmaids/dp/0373755260/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397386988&sr=1-8

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rebel-cowboys-quadruplets-tina-leonard/1118053054

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20523679-the-rebel-cowboy-s-quadruplets?ac=1