The Bouncing Tigger Reads

Books

January 15, 20220 Comments

Add Thunder? Book Blitz

Title: Lightning Crashes
Author: by Marla Holt
Genre: Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Tiny Dino Publishing
Release Date: Publication date: January 18th 2022

The Tower Card: Upheaval, Crumbling Foundations, Chaos, Awakening
The Sun Card: Enlightenment, Joy, Success, Vitality

Rachel Ferrer fled the church when she was eighteen, burying her trauma to chase her dreams, only to have them thwarted when her husband died shortly after their son was born. Now she and her tarot-reading roommate do their best to get by.

Nicolas Rivera should be happy. He answered his call to the ministry and has held a position in the church he grew up in for more than a decade. He’s married and he loves his kids, but something in him has shifted and the life he thought he wanted doesn’t feel like it fits anymore. When his childhood best friend’s widow reappears in his life, Nicolas tells himself that his desire to be near Rachel is altruistic.

Until it isn’t.

Rachel and Nicolas have been on the periphery of each other’s lives for years, but when their worlds collide, attraction sparks, lightning crashes and the walls they have been hiding behind begin to crumble.

Lightning Crashes is an evangelical romance that examines what happens when we build our lives on faulty foundations and what can happen when we leave that behind and step into the sun. Follow Rachel and Nicolas down the path of temptation, through their yearning slow-burn, and into their happily ever after.

Amazon

LightningCrashesBlitzBanner - Add Thunder? Book Blitz

The Tower Card: Upheaval, Crumbling Foundations, Chaos, Awakening⁣

The Sun Card: Enlightenment, Joy, Success, Vitality⁣

⁣Lightning Crashes by @marlaholtauthor is an evangelical romance that examines what happens when we build our lives on faulty foundations and what can happen when we leave that behind and step into the sun. Follow Rachel and Nicolas down the path of temptation, through their yearning slow-burn, and into their happily ever after.⁣

⁣ Get started on it today ➞

Excerpt

Rachel lifted the quilt covering Nicolas and slipped beneath it. He made as much room for her as he could, but his legs were already hanging over the far arm, his back pressed against the cushions.

Rachel didn’t need much room as she snuggled into his side, tucking the quilt back around them. “It’s freezing in here,” she said, her voice husky and low, her breath feathering against his neck.

“You need to check your insulation,” he said. “And probably get new windows.”

“I’ll get right on that,” she said in a voice that implied the opposite.

She shivered, and Nicolas allowed himself the indulgence of pulling her closer against him. In the name of keeping her warm. “What are you doing up?”

Rachel’s hand found his waist under the blanket, her fingers icy against his bare skin, but he didn’t dare flinch, lest he scared her off. “I wanted to see if you showed up. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s good you got some rest.”

“More like I sobbed myself to sleep in Naomi’s bed, but yeah, sleep was good. How are you?”

He sighed, at a loss for words to describe how he was feeling. His face ached, his body felt drawn, like he’d worked out too hard without enough food afterward. Nicolas couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. He wasn’t even sure he had a digestive tract anymore. Who had room for food when they were filled with heartbreak and betrayal? Was it possible to be yawning open with emptiness and full of dread and darkness all at the same time? It felt like the same thing, and yet entirely different.

Rachel’s hand was playing over his torso in a way that she probably didn’t even realize she was doing, but in a way that was distracting, allowing temptation to edge in on the periphery.

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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

Author links:
http://tinydinostudios.com/
https://mailchi.mp/7437ec8fab21/ethan-and-juliet
https://www.instagram.com/marlaholtauthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17171605.Marla_Holt

To Purchase:

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/lightning-crashes-4Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=0XhOEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-0XhOEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_atb&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_atb

Books

January 14, 20220 Comments

Don’t Drop – the Ball… Book blitz

Title: Fumbled by
Series: (A Chesapeake Commanders Novel, #1)
Author: Lizzi Stone
Genre: Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, Sport
Release Date: Publication date: January 11th 2022

Hawk Florence has always been the football star, the guy that can make any girl fall in love with him- and then break their heart. And that’s exactly what he did to me way back in high school. Now I’ve been assigned to do a puff piece on him for a national sports journal, and I’m more than ready to get my revenge.

The plan is simple. First, sit him down and flatter the shit out of him. Laugh at his crappy jokes. Touch his arm, let it linger. When he asks me out, I’ll flutter my eyelashes and shyly accept. Then, make him fall in love. And devour him. I’m ready. I won’t fail. But there’s one thing that I didn’t plan for: he doesn’t ask me out. Instead, he calls me out on my BS. He’s not wrong, but that’s just one of the ways that my plan has already gone terribly wrong before it even begins.

When he does finally ask me out, it isn’t much of a date. Instead, it’s a few agonizing hours of going back and forth about why we hate each other. But there is one interesting thing that came out of our brief time together: the bet that Hawk makes with me- that he will make me fall in love in 3 weeks, in love for real. If he fails, he’ll give me every exclusive for the season. Of course, I accept. Why wouldn’t I? This will help my career, and it’s not like he has a prayer anyway. This jerk broke my heart in high school, and there’s no way that I will fall for the same trick twice. Or will I?

All bets are off when it comes to the heart. Fumbled is a standalone sports romcom that will make you wonder what to do when love- and football- gives you a second chance….

FumbledBlitzBanner - Don't Drop - the Ball... Book blitz

All bets are off when it comes to the heart.⁣

⁣Fumbled by @lizzi_stone_author is a standalone sports romcom that will make you wonder what to do when love- and football- gives you a second chance…⁣

⁣Get started on it today ➞ https://amzn.to/3zAPDsK⁣

==========================

Teaser:

“How do I look?” I smiled brilliantly, and batted my eyelashes.

“Like you’re ready to knock off his socks and shoes and leave him to walk home on his bare-ass feet,” Grace replied, as only a best friend can.

“I was going for ‘crawling home on hands and knees,’ but it will do,” I joked. Okay, half joked. I wanted him to look at me. Really look at me, like he hadn’t in high school. Maybe it was petty. I was doing well for myself. I worked at National Daily magazine’s headquarters here in Norfolk. I owned the part of my apartment the bank didn’t own, which was approximately a fingertip of space in the bathroom. Maybe the whole toilet. I didn’t need to impress any guy.

Any but this one.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Grace picked up the lipstick tube and slipped it into my bag.

“In case I get tongue-tied?” I asked. “What’s the worst that could happen?” All right, I might march in and declare myself to be the proud owner of a toilet. I’m pretty sure even I wouldn’t be that awkward.

================================

Other books in the series (so far):

Sacked- Chase’s book

Tackled- Bam’s book

Huddled- Ollie’s book

Purchase:

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/fumbled/id1596651399

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/fumbled-4

AUTHOR BIO:

Lizzi Stone is the pen name for two USA Today Bestselling authors who love sports, sexy men, strong women and coffee, lots and lots of coffee! For giveaways, new releases and deals follow Lizzi on Facebook @lizzistoneauthor.

Author links

:https://www.facebook.com/lizzistoneauthor

https://www.instagram.com/lizzi_stone_author/

Books

December 23, 20210 Comments

Miles and Myles: Book Blitz

Title: The Extra Myles
Series: Southern Hearts Club
Author: Melanie Munton
Genre: Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: Publication date: December 21st 2021

NOW HIRING… Fake boyfriend for 27-year-old desperate female. Must be able to deal with pretentious, New York City socialites. Attendance at family Christmas events required. Seasonal work only. Applicants not named Myles Colson need not apply.

The position has been filled. Granted, Myles is the only man in Blair McCauley’s life capable of looking her dragon mother in the eyes and not bursting into tears. Blair will need that steel whenever her mother helpfully reminds her over a glass of eggnog that a career is pointless when she could just marry rich. Thankfully, the barbecuing, beer swilling, football watching guy’s guy doesn’t even sort of fit in with her flashy New York lifestyle.

Which is exactly the point.

Although Myles is a lot more than a former jock with a pension for frosted mugs and Sweatpants Sundays. He also happens to be a gifted artist, and Blair is helping him carve out his space in the art world. Lucky for her, she’s the only one who gets to see the man behind the pottery wheel. Sans shirt.

But when Blair and Myles both come to the realization that they’ve just been pretending at pretending, they never see what’s coming for them next.

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NOW HIRING… Fake boyfriend for 27-year-old desperate female. Must be able to deal with pretentious, New York City socialites. Attendance at family Christmas events required. Seasonal work only. Applicants not named Myles Colson need not apply.⁣

⁣ The Extra Myles by @authormelaniemunton is a new Southern Hearts Club Novella and it’s out NOW!

The Extra Myles

Excerpt

Blair McCauley.

Every time she’s around, I get all antsy and excited for some reason. Like when my Clemson Tigers complete a sixty-three-yard pass and run it in for the touchdown to win the game.

I snicker.

Little Miss Blair here has probably never even watched a football game in her life.

The woman breezes into the back room with all the air of a European queen. And from what I’ve read, she practically is that up in NYC. Or at least, a princess. Either way, Blair McCauley is American royalty.

And I might as well be the guy who cleans horse shit out of her family’s stables.

“Are you ever going to fix that door?” she asks in the exasperated tone I recognize.

She sounds that exact same level of annoyed every time she stumbles through my studio door that, even I’ll admit is a bitch to open.

Damn, but she’s beautiful.

Like, the breathtaking kind of beautiful. The kind of woman who deserves to have a sultry theme song play every time she enters a room. My favorite is when she gets all huffy like this. Blowing her Marilyn Monroe-styled blond hair off her forehead, planting her dainty hands and manicured nails on her slim hips, and cocking said hip out. The whole move pushes out her full, rounded breasts beneath her silk top, her tight skirt stretching across those svelte legs.

Stunning she may be, but the woman is also the prissiest, most high-maintenance, spoiled city girl I’ve ever met.

Expensive.

And I don’t do that type. Sure, I’ve fantasized about having this woman beneath me—a shameful number of times—but I prefer my women to be a little more kickback. Someone who’s content to sit around with you on a Sunday afternoon in nothing but ratty sweatpants, watching football without complaint. A woman who’s okay with going out in public without makeup. Someone who doesn’t turn her nose up when I don’t wipe my mouth between each chicken wing and just wait until I’m done eating them altogether.

If Blair has never watched football, then she’s damn sure never eaten a chicken wing.

I don’t know jack shit about hair, makeup, or clothes, but I know that all of hers are top-of-the-line. The material of her blouse is high-quality. Every pair of shoes I’ve ever seen her in are high heels that you just know cost a small fortune. Her purses are all designer names I’ve at least heard of—Prada, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana. I even caught a glimpse of one of her lace bras one day when she bent over, a move that about gave me a fucking aneurysm, and I definitely know that item was high-priced.

No. Blair McCauley definitely isn’t my type.

I could never afford her. The best I could do is a hot night between the sheets because a man’s bank account doesn’t matter then. When she saw my place in the daylight, that’s when she would surely saunter all the way back up to New York in her five-inch stiletto heels.

I lift an eyebrow. “Why do you presume I know how to fix it?”

She tilts her head to the side. “Don’t you work in a factory?”

I would be pissed off by the question if I knew she didn’t mean it condescendingly. For all of Blair’s quirks, she’s not a mean person. Perhaps a little naïve at times, but not rude.

I lean back on my stool, crossing my arms over my chest. Her eyes briefly flick down to my biceps before quickly averting to stare at the wall.

Now that’s something.

In all the months I’ve known this woman, in all the phone calls made and trips from New York to Charleston she’s taken, I haven’t seen much in the way of…awareness…from her. At least, not in the sexual sense. God knows I think she’s hot as hell, in the not-so-much-as-a-hair-out-of-place kind of way. But if she felt any attraction toward me whatsoever, you’d never know it.

“We don’t produce doors at a steel manufacturing plant.”

Her apple-shaped cheeks tinge pink. “I realize that. I just pegged you as a jack-of-all-trades type.”

“Because of the uniform? The dirt under the nails?”

She frowns and somehow looks cuter like that. “No. Because you don’t seem like the useless type.”

My ears perk up at something in her voice. Something almost…self-deprecating. Has someone actually told her that she’s useless?

Why does that piss me the fuck off?

She bites her lip in uncertainty, as if afraid she said something wrong. “Or maybe, you know, you can just buy a new door or something? They have those at Home Depot stores, right? I’ve personally never been inside one, but I hear they’ve got them around here.”

I chuckle because I think she’s being funny on purpose, but I can’t always tell with her. It’s almost as if she doesn’t recognize her own sense of humor and doesn’t understand why people might laugh at one of her jokes. Or sardonic quips. Either way, I aim to wipe that look of uncertainty off her face.

“No, you’re right. I can fix the door. I just haven’t had the time lately.”

Truthfully, I haven’t messed with the door because I like how it announces her entrance. And how it makes her angrily curse under her breath. And how she’s slightly out of sorts by the time she reaches me in the back room. I like seeing her hair falling across her forehead before she shoves it back into place. Like seeing the flush on her cheeks, rather than the porcelain doll look they usually have. In those brief seconds, I think I’m seeing the real Blair, rather than the polished, prim illusion she projects.

“I see.” She smooths her hands down her skirt, pushing her shoulders back. “So, how are the final pieces coming along?”

I take another swig of my beer to avoid staring at her legs in those tights that I know have that fucking seam up the back. “Firing up now. Should have them done by tomorrow afternoon.”

She excitedly starts tapping around on her phone. “Excellent. I can have them shipped up to New York before my flight back, and everything will still be on schedule for the exhibition on the twenty-ninth.”

“You don’t even want to look them over for approval before you ship them off?” I question. “You’re so sure these final pieces will be good?”

She peeks up at me through long, lowered lashes. “Not necessary. There’s no way I won’t like them.”

Scout’s honor, my dick turns to a full-blown erection at her compliment.

She actually likes my work.

Her eyes widen as her words finally sink in. “I-I mean, the others are all so fantastic, I doubt these will pale in comparison.”

If she’s trying to backtrack her apparent admiration for my work, she’s doing a piss-poor job, at least from my perspective.

And now my dick is hard as a fucking icicle.

Granted, if you stuck an icicle in my pants right now, it would melt in about two and half seconds. Even in December, it’s a scorcher down here in the South.

“Thank you,” I rasp, fighting to get all my bodily functions under control. “I hope they meet your expectations, then.”

Her eyes stay on me for silent moments, baffling me. She never holds eye contact with me for this long. It’s like she makes a point not to.

“Trust me.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “They’ll exceed them.”

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To Purchase:

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-extra-myles-a-southern-hearts-club-novella/id1594641881

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-extra-myles-a-southern-hearts-club-novella

Author Bio

Melanie grew up in the Midwest, but she loves living in the Southeast (where the beaches are!) now with her husband and daughter.
Melanie’s other passion is traveling and seeing the world. With anthropology degrees under their belts, she and her husband have made it their goal in life to see as many archaeological sites around the world as possible.
She has a horrible food addiction to pasta and candy (not together…ew). And she gets sad when her wine rack is empty.
At the end of the day, she is a true romantic at heart. She loves writing the cheesy and corny of romantic comedies, and the sassy and sexy of suspense. She aims to make her readers swoon, laugh out loud, maybe sweat a little, and above all, fall in love.
Go visit Melanie’s website and sign up for her newsletter to stay updated on release dates, teasers, and other details for all of her projects!

Author links:
https://www.facebook.com/melaniemuntonauthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13976464.Melanie_Munton
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/melanie-munton
https://twitter.com/melanie_munton
https://www.melaniemunton.com/
https://www.instagram.com/authormelaniemunton/

Books

December 21, 20210 Comments

Add it to Rock ‘n Roll

Title: Hex, Love and Rock n’ Roll
Series: Coven Daughters 1
Author: Kat Turner
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Magic. Witches
Publisher: City Owls Press
Release Date: 1 Sept. 2020

Helen undergoes an initiation ceremony to unlock latent magic in a desperate attempt to save her business. Her inexperience with witchcraft results in her accidentally hexing Brian, a famous rock star and her old celebrity crush. They fall in love while Helen struggles to lift the curse, but some cultist associates in Brian's inner circle want to harness the cursed energy to ensnare Brian in a possession plot motivated by greed. As Helen grows in her power, will her newfound competence as a spirit witch allow her to lift the hex, save Brian, and halt this Scarab-affiliated cult's scheme?

Amazon

A City Owl Press: Story Origins free books

An interesting take on magic but somewhat muddled in how it is explained.

The story has elements that in theory should keep the reader interested, but the style and storytelling minimise the interest rather than maximise.

I got to 50% of the way through, convinced I must be near to the end but was disappointed to find I wasn’t, and gave up.

2 stars for the right audience – which wasn’t me.

Books

December 18, 20210 Comments

Which side up? Guest Post

Title: Side Effects
Series: Book 4 of 4: A Ripple Effects Novel
Author: LJ Greene
Genre: Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: Publication date: December 13th 2021

Who can you trust?

Ally Michels is fresh out of her MBA program at Cal and has landed her dream job at hot, up-and-coming video game developer, Jet Stream Studios, all thanks to her uncle, Jet’s largest venture capital investor. She’s feeling pretty good about her future until an inadvertent blurt in a company meeting brings down upon her the dangerous attention of Jet’s co-founder and chief developer, Marcus Abby.

Beautiful, brilliant, and vicious, Marcus is every bit the arrogant, deceitful founder her uncle warned her about. But in the power-fueled world of venture capital investing, things aren’t always what they seem. When Ally finds herself caught up in a play for corporate control, she must work with Marcus to save the company and an ideal she believes in, while navigating perilous family loyalties and fighting to hold onto her own integrity.

For Ally, there’s just one rule: never, ever trust Marcus Abby. Because the one man she needs to stop a high-stakes plot is the one man who has every reason to want her gone.

Amazon

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SIDE EFFECTS is an adult contemporary, twisty, underhanded, certainly unscrupulous . . . romance.

LJ Greene Tells us:

4 Books That Redefined Romance for Me

I didn’t grow up reading (or writing!) romance. The romance genre to me was always the Harlequin books with Fabio on the cover and some maiden being swept away aboard a pirate ship. I never thought of it as real or relevant or, honestly, of much interest. As I look back on my own early attitudes towards romance, I see clear fingerprints of the ever-present snobbery that (sadly) exists against the romance genre. But these four books (or series) not only redefined romance for me, but inspired me in different ways to want to add my own voice to the chorus.

The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley’s retelling of the Arthurian legend from the perspective of Morgaine isn’t technically a romance – there are few happy endings to be found in its pages – but it remains for me one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. It is also the sole reason I came back to reading for pleasure as an adult, in my early twenties. It’s a book of female heroism, something my former self had never conceived of in romance, and of the many, quiet, devastating sacrifices women make for those they love. It is enduringly relevant to the female experience and so beautifully crafted that its 900-page length is a treat worth savoring.

Outlander I am well aware that Diana Gabaldon would not appreciate me for including her books in a blog about romance. But the fact remains that whatever else her books may be, they are also romances, and there’s no shame in that. For me, the Outlander series is most instructive of the fact that as a writer, you can pen almost any scenario you like, as long as you take the care to write it well. It’s been a good reminder for me in my own work, when storylines have sometimes gone places I wasn’t sure I could or should go. This series tackles everything from violence to intimacy to plural marriages to nose-picking with an equally deft hand. The storytelling is absolutely brilliant. If you’ve only ever experienced Outlander through the television show, you’re missing out. The richness of the books is impossible to translate, even as I readily admit that Sam Heughan is about as perfect a Jamie as any reader of the series could ever hope for… 😊

Beautiful Player This book, for me, is contemporary romance perfected. This is the book I always wished I had written and honestly still strive to. It’s the book that inspired me to finally put pen to paper. Beautifully developed characters, lots of humor, and full of heart. You’d be hard pressed to find any writer (or writing duo, in this case) who can pen more authentic, layered, and loveable male characters told from the first-person POV than Christina Lauren. And I’ll also say that before they changed their writing style to omit on-page love scenes, they also wrote, in my opinion, the very best love scenes in contemporary romance – supremely crafted, sexy without being gratuitous, and always underpinned with the emotional complexity of real, human experiences. Beautiful Player is the quintessential CLo novel for me, but Dark Wild Night, Wicked Sexy Liar, and Autoboyography are sure bets, as well.

Bad Things RK Lilley’s trilogy is a master class in character development. It’s been eight years since I read these books and I still haven’t recovered. This was one of the first romance books I ever picked up, and the one that unflinchingly demonstrated just how raw and real and relevant romance could be. Tristan remains for me one of the most beloved, flesh-and-blood characters I’ve ever encountered in the genre. RK Lilley’s bravery in tackling his story arc is remarkable. And the execution of it is something to behold. I have no doubt that this series took its own pound of flesh from the author herself, as books often do. You can feel the way she never shies away from the tough stuff and the result is gut-wrenching. If you’ve somehow missed this series, I recommend you rectify that situation right now. But don’t say I didn’t warn you… 😊

These are just a few of my favorites but there are so many great romance novels out there today – so much variety in the stories being told, so much more inclusivity, and an ever-broadening universe of incredible authors joining the mix. This is a genre that is growing and evolving every day. As it should be, because its readers deserve that. Romance readers are, perhaps by nature, a kind and generous bunch, which often causes them to be underappreciated in their sophistication for good storytelling. But let me just say this to romance readers everywhere: your passion for stories of triumph, your love of happy endings, and your belief that everyone deserves one is the reason writers like me put words to paper. We live in a time when people can look anywhere for cynicism and horror. But you seek out joy, unapologetically, and I adore you for it.