Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Swerve Release Day ~ Feature & Excerpt


THE BET by Elizabeth Hayley
SMP Swerve
Publication Date: June 27, 2017

ISBN: 9781250134660; Price: $3.99




Description
"The Bet is a sizzling hot page turner! I couldn't put it down." - New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett

Jace "the Jet" Benning is a legend on the football field. And off. He has the arm, the charm, and the reputation of being the hottest player in the league.

Too bad Dr. Alessandra Mastrazacoma is not impressed.

With a busy schedule and a bruised heart, Alessandra doesn't have time to date, but when she is lured into making a friendly bet with her best friend, she finds herself agreeing to go out with the next guy that asks...and to give him three shots, three dates, before pulling the plug.

Jace also has a friendly wager with his friends going, and it involves making sure the slightly klutzy, but very pretty, doctor will be his date to the biggest night in sports. With two wagers and two hearts on the line, will Aly and Jace win or are they betting to lose?

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Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=uFLFDgAAQBAJ





Excerpt: The Bet by Elizabeth Hayley

He was close enough that she could smell the faded scent of cologne on his skin, but somehow he still felt too far away. She wondered if he could hear her heart speed up at his sudden change in proximity. “Oh. What did you need to see me for?” she asked. She could hear her voice shake as she spoke, but she was pretty sure Jace wouldn’t notice it. Or if he did, he would just attribute it to her extreme lack of social skills and not to her stomach flipping inside itself.
“I was hoping we could go out sometime.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Did this strong, handsome professional football player just ask her out? Her? The person whose makeup drawer consists of not much more than lip gloss and SPF 50 tinted moisturizer? The person who asked if she could take a picture of him holding his balls?
No, she decided. He was certainly, most definitely not asking her out on a date. Mainly because she realized that if he had asked her out, she’d have no choice but to say yes. Damn Lane and her stupid idea.
He’d said he was hoping they could go out sometime. That wasn’t a question. Thank goodness. And if it had been, it certainly wasn’t a question she wanted to say yes to. She could barely be in the same room with this man for more than two minutes without making an ass of herself. There was no way she’d last an entire night.
She needed to get out of there. Fast.
Feeling the urge to flee at any cost, she tried to sidestep him. But his body followed hers and his large hands wrapped around her biceps, holding her in place with a firmness that seemed as sexy as it did entirely inappropriate. “I need to get back to work,” she said to his chest.
He dropped his hands, essentially releasing her from captivity. But she didn’t move her legs. She just lifted her head enough that she could make eye contact with him. For the first time, she noticed how green his eyes were. The color of grass on a rainy spring day. They seemed to pin her in place more than his grasp had. “I need to go.”
“Yet you’re still here,” he said simply as he cocked his head playfully to the side.
She crossed her arms over her chest, a display of power and frustration that she didn’t actually feel.
“Are you going to kiss me again?” he asked, obviously amused.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” And then, “I need to go.” This time when she stepped past him, he didn’t stop her. Though a part of her wished he had.
“You said that already,” he called.
She didn’t turn around. “But I’m actually leaving this time.”
Just when she felt herself gaining some distance from him, he trotted up next to her, walking beside her at the same quick pace. “Answer my question.”
“You didn’t ask one.”
“Yes, I did.” He was clearly confused. “I asked if you wanted to go out sometime.”
“No. You said you hoped we could go out sometime. That’s a statement. And statements don’t require responses, so I didn’t give one.”
“You’re very literal.”
Alessandra didn’t reply.
“Oh, okay. I get it now. I have to phrase things as questions if I want you to talk to me.” He thought for a moment. “Has anyone ever told you you’re very literal?”
She stared ahead as she walked. “Yes. You just did. And you really do need to go. You can’t come into patients’ rooms with me.” That was her out. He would realize that he couldn’t follow her around all day, and he’d leave. Her first stop was only two doors down, but the ten feet or so seemed like miles.
Especially when Jace spoke again. “Even though you drive me completely insane, you’re beautiful and smart and intriguing in a way that somehow makes me want to kiss you and kill you at the same time.”
Despite her intense need to get away, his words halted her movement, and her eyes were on him again, admiring the way his perfectly pink lips moved delicately as he spoke.
“And now that I have your attention again, Dr. Coma,” he said, flashing her that bright smile again, “will you go out with me?”
Dammit.




Author Bio
Elizabeth Hayley is actually "Elizabeth" and "Hayley," two friends who love reading romance novels to obsessive levels. This mutual love prompted them to put their English degrees to good use by penning their own. The product is Pieces of Perfect, their debut novel. They learned a ton about one another through the process, like how they clearly share a brain and have a persistent need to text each other constantly (much to their husbands' chagrin). 

They live with their husbands and kids in a Philadelphia suburb. Thankfully, their children are still too young to read. 

Elizabeth Hayley's writing motto is best captured by the words of Patrick Dennis: "I always start with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind."

Author Links





MARRIAGE CLAWS by Paige Cuccaro
SMP Swerve
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 9781250129239; Price: $3.99




Description
A sassy, sexy debut about a young woman who agrees to marry her billionaire playboy nemesis to save her business, only to find out he's also a werewolf and that her problems are just getting started.

There are two things Kate Affetto will do anything to protect: the younger brother she's raised ever since their father walked out, and the small diner she's managed to start from nothing in New York City. Things might not always be easy, but at least she gets to call all the shots and follow her own heart. That is until Jack Pensione, irritatingly gorgeous billionaire playboy and CEO/heir to the family empire shows up at her diner with an ultimatum: find $3 million to purchase the space, or vacate so it can be turned into condos.

But Kate isn't going down without a fight. So when Jack offers a third option—marry him, and he'll gift her the space—she agrees, knowing it'll save the life she's built for herself and her brother, and that the marriage will be over practically before it's begun. After all, it's not as if she actually likes Jack, or as if he's actually attracted her at all... Little does she know he's also a werewolf, that he's vying to be the alpha of his pack, and that her problems are just getting started.

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Excerpt: Marriage Claws by Paige Cuccaro

He dumped his supplies on the prep table, and set the skillet to warm on the griddle. As he chopped and measured and mixed he looked at me sideways, his smile soft and real. He laughed under his breath and looked back to his vegetables.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.” He shook his head still smiling. “Y’know, inhaling someone’s scent is kind of a big deal to my kind.”
I stole a slice of bell pepper, nervously nibbling. “Really? That’s interesting.” Busted. Admit nothing.
“You sniff me . . . a lot,” he said.
“No I don’t.” Liar! “I mean, yes I sometimes take a breath when I pass by you, but it’s not to smell you. It’s a coincidence. I’m just, y’know, breathing. I’m a mammal. I require oxygen. Don’t be so full of yourself.”
“My mistake,” he said with another soft sexy chuckle. He scraped the chopped veggies to the side and began working on the eggs, expertly cracking the shells with one hand and adding milk. “I was just going to say that I’ve done the same to you.”
I froze, muscles stiff. “Really?”
He picked up the bowl, leaning a hip against the prep table and began whisking the eggs into a frothy cream. “You wear too much perfume.”
Ouch. “Wow. Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“No. I mean, you have a natural scent that’s far more . . . enticing than anything you could buy from a store,” he said. “It’s weird.”
“You’re not really good at the compliment thing.”
“Not tonight, it seems.” He laughed, turning to pour the eggs into the pan. They popped and sizzled, the yummy aroma already making my stomach growl. “Sorry. I’m usually much better at expressing my thoughts but when I’m around you . . .”
He trailed off, shaking his head. He added the mix of veggies and diced bits of ham and pre-cooked bacon. He looked sideways at me again, the expression on his face more thoughtful.
“I meant that most humans smell too much like . . . well, like humans. But you . . . underneath your perfume—which is perfectly nice—you have a natural scent that’s much more . . . distracting than any human I’ve ever met.”
“You can smell my skin underneath the perfume?” I asked trying not to overthink the fact that my scent distracted him.
He nodded, using the spatula to spread the veggies and meats evenly through the eggs. “All the time. I can smell it now. It’s . . . a little intoxicating. Very strange.”
“Okay, here’s a suggestion. Try not to use the words ‘strange’ and ‘weird’ when describing your thoughts about a woman.”
He laughed again and the rich baritone sound rolled through my chest, melting my insides. I inhaled, trying to calm the needs awakening inside me.
“Right. Good tip. Sorry.” He shook his head again, sprinkling shredded cheese and folding the eggs in half. “I told you, I can’t seem to speak intelligently around you. You have an odd effect on me. And I don’t mean odd in a bad way. I mean, unlike anyone I know.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said glancing from the pan to me and back again. He sprinkled more cheese and my stomach rumbled, but the need growing inside me had little to do with hunger. “I’ve never had a woman actually rob me of speech and thought before. I kinda like it.”



Author Bio
Paige Cuccaro lives in Ohio, with her husband, and three daughters. When she’s not writing, she can be found doing the mom thing with a book in one hand and a notepad and pen in the other. Ideas come without warning and the best way to stimulate your imagination is to enjoy the imagination of someone else. Paige is the author of the Hellsbane series, including Heaven and Hellsbane.

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