Shadows of Damascus by Lilas Taha, Name Before the Masses Tour & ♥GIVEAWAY♥ (Contemporary New Adult Soft Romance)

Bullet wounds, torture and oppression aren’t the only things that keep a man—or a woman—from being whole.

Debt. Honor. Pain. Solitude. These are things wounded war veteran Adam Wegener knows all about. Love—now, that he is not good at. Not when love equals a closed fist, burns, and suicide attempts. But Adam is one who keeps his word. He owes the man who saved his life in Iraq. And he doesn’t question the measure of the debt, even when it is in the form of an emotionally distant, beautiful woman.

Yasmeen agreed to become the wife of an American veteran so she could flee persecution in war-torn Syria. She counted on being in the United States for a short stay until she could return home. There was one thing she did not count on: wanting more.

Is it too late for Adam and Yasmeen?

Shadows of Damascus to be released by Soul Mate Publishing.

Hot cup of coffee in one hand, phone receiver cradled on shoulder, Adam dialed the phone number at eight thirty the following morning. A decent time. A woman’s soft voice greeted him.

“Good morning, ma’am. I’d like to talk to Mr. Pemssy?” He barely contained his excitement.

“Sorry?”

“My name is Adam Wegener,” he enunciated his words. “I want to speak to Mr. O. R. Pemssy.”

“Wrong number.”

Click.

“Damn it.” His excitement disintegrated like a popped balloon. He went back to the kitchen table and re-worked the letters again, only to end up with the same number. Frustrated, he crumbled the papers and threw them across the kitchen floor. To hell with this, he’d wasted enough time on this shit. If Fadi wanted something from him, he damned well better call him.

Hungry and angry, he stabbed a slice of toast and smeared it with peanut butter. Tension building in the muscles of his arms, he wanted to throw or break something. Instead, he swallowed the sandwich and went outside to work. Climbing astride his rusty old tractor, he cranked the motor.

Rising heat squeezed sweat from his body like a sponge with no regard to his fragile mental state. His mind crunched numbers without end while he worked. Thoughts of the cool fridge full of icy drinks beckoned him for an early lunch. He abandoned his tractor in the middle of the field, and headed home, discarding his wet shirt on the way. He walked around the kitchen, stomping papers. It felt good and satisfying. As satisfying as the icy Coke he gulped down. Needing to put things in order, he collected the discarded papers. When he reached to crush the envelope, his eyes landed on the Turkish stamp. A surge of excitement gripped his stomach. One more thing he needed to try.

Logging onto his laptop, he searched Turkey’s city codes for area code 216. Istanbul on the Asian side. He searched for the country code, then the time difference. Eight hours ahead put it close to nine p.m. in Istanbul.

He dialed the sequence of international code numbers and held his breath while the same ringing tone played with his nerves.

“’Allo?” A man’s voice greeted.

“May I speak to Mr. Pemssy?”
“Yust a minute.” The man spoke with an unmistakable heavy accent.

Adam dropped in a chair and closed his eyes in anticipation.

“I see you got my letter,” a deep voice said.

“You’re the one who sent it? Who am I speaking to?” Eyes wide open now. Could it be Fadi? Damn it, he couldn’t remember his voice.

“You know who I am. I can’t use my real name. How is zat hib of yours? Giving you trouble?”

Fadi. Same annoying accent. “What the hell is going on?” He grit his teeth and tried to ignore the mispronunciations. “Couldn’t you have given me your phone number in the letter, or called me directly?”

“I didn’t know if you still lived at that address, and I didn’t want my number to fall in the wrong hands. You’re not listed. I knew you liked to count things. That was the best I could come up with.”

“I too tried to find you many times. What can I do for you, man? What do you need?” Was there a better way to say he hadn’t forgotten Fadi?

“I need a favor. But I can’t explain over the phone. Get on a plane and come here as soon as possible.”

“You want me to fly to Turkey? You serious?”

“You promised to help if I needed anything, and I do. Desperately.”

Adam coughed to steal a moment. What the hell? Fly over there? Could he even afford it? He’d like to help the guy, but this was insane.

“Can’t just drop everything and leave. I’ll do my best to help you from here if you tell me what you need. Nothing illegal, you should know this upfront.”

“I can’t tell you, and I can’t stay on the line for too long. A life is at stake. Are you in or out?”

Adam was torn. Torn and ashamed to admit he looked for a way out of the promise he’d given years earlier. “Your life?”

Fadi remained silent for a few seconds.

He heard an agonized exhale.

“You’re my only hope.”

Lilas Taha is a writer at heart, an electrical engineer by training, and an advocate for domestic abuse victims by choice. She was born in Kuwait to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father, and immigrated to the U.S. as a result of the Gulf war in 1990. She earned a master’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. There, Lilas met her beloved husband and true friend, and moved with him to Sugar Land, Texas to establish a family. She is the proud mother of a daughter and a son. Instead of working in an industrial field, she applied herself to the field of social safety, working with victims of domestic violence.

Pursuing her true passion for creative writing, Lilas brings her professional interests, and her Middle Eastern background together in her debut fictional novel, Shadows of Damascus.

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Black Dog Nights by Ren Monterrey ♥ GIVEAWAY ♥ (New Adult Romance)

My student loans are due and I still haven’t found a job that pays more than minimum wage. So I decide to make an arrangement through The Club. I’ll get what I need…money to pay my loans. And he’ll get what he wants…access to my body…whenever and however he wants it.

ROSE COLLINS is a recent art school graduate with overwhelming student loan debt and no way to pay it.

JAE ROTHKO is a wealthy and renowned artist who doesn’t have the time or patience for a relationship.

Jae joins The Club so he can have one woman when he wants and how he wants with no attachments and no expectations.

He selects Rose to be that woman.

BLACK DOG NIGHTS is a SERIAL NOVEL, which unfolds in THREE PARTS (approximately 80 pages each). EACH PART has a CLIFFHANGER and EACH PART is .99 cents. (That’s $2.97 for ALL THREE PARTS.)

By the time we get to The Rock Stop, the dance club is already crowded with twenty-somethings who all look eager to hook up with anyone who’s willing.

Two guys, who are already half-drunk, gawk at my breasts as I walk by. I wish there was another feature of my anatomy that garnered as much attention as my mammary glands.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I hit the relative safety of the bar area.

“What do you want to drink?” Cali yells over the loud Top Forty music.

“Would I look too conspicuous just holding a glass of water?”

She purses her lips at me. I tell her she looks like a duck when she does that but it doesn’t stop her.

“I’ll get you a beer. You don’t have to drink it but I don’t want you to embarrass me, or yourself.”

“Yes, Daffy,” I tease.

“I do not have duck lips,” she insists.

“You do when you pucker them like that.”

“I think you’re on crack.”

“Just get the beer.”

She waves in order to get the bartender’s attention but no such luck. He’s busy with a group of girls at the other end of the bar.

“Hey, Babe.” An arm reaches over Cali’s shoulder. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you tonight.”

David nods in my direction. “What’s up?”

He never addresses me by my name even though he’s been hooking up with Cali for over a year and I’ve seen him dozens of times.

David is the kind of guy I always hated in high school. His family has money and he’s never had to work a day in his life for anything. Cars, clothes, expensive vacations, you name it, and his parents have handed it to him on a silver platter. As a result he has a sense of entitlement that knows no bounds.

No doubt that’s why he feels like he can treat Cali any way he pleases and she’ll just keep coming back for more.

He runs his fingers through his short brown hair. I’m not sure whether it’s a nervous habit, or if he thinks that his fingers are like some kind of comb, but he does it all the time.

David is a good-looking guy in a frat-boy kind of way. Cali says he played baseball in high school, and he looks like he probably still plays sports. He’s not huge, but he’s definitely in good shape.

Cali met him at a frat party. Even though she’s never set foot in a college class she’s spent a lot of time at college parties. David likes to brag about the fact that he’s a business major. I don’t see what the big deal is though. I feel like business is a major for people who don’t really know what they want to do with their lives.

Not that I have any room to talk. Apparently I earned a degree for people who don’t really want a job.

Before I know it, Cali and David have disappeared somewhere and I’m alone at the bar.

Great.

I didn’t even want to come here in the first place.

I have a choice. I can leave or I can order a drink. After the day I’ve had a drink is actually starting to sound appealing.

As soon as the DJ starts mixing, nearly everyone moves to the dance floor. The bar area is now pretty empty except for a young woman seated at the far end. She glances up at me when I approach and gives me the faintest of smiles.

She’s an attractive blonde with stunning ocean blue eyes. She’s the definition of a blonde bombshell. She’s got curves that would give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money.

I order a Crantini and the bartender wastes no time filling my order.

“Tough day?” the blonde asks.

I nod.

“Have a seat.” She points at the stool next to her.

“Thanks.”

I climb onto the stool and take a sip of my drink. It’s strong and I cough a little as it goes down.

“Russ likes to make them strong.” She laughs. “Maybe he thinks he’ll get lucky at the end of the night.”

The bartender, who looks like he’s in his mid-thirties, is completely bald and built like a brick house. Definitely someone I would want to have on my side if a fight broke out.

“Are you waiting for someone?” I ask. She looks a little too dressed up for the place we’re in. It’s mostly a denim crowd and she’s in a little black dress and pumps.

“You could say that.”

I nod. A cryptic response, but I get the impression that she’s not going to say much more about who she’s waiting for.

“So what’s your story?” she asks.

I laugh. “Do I look like I have a story?”

“You definitely look like you have a story.”

“You’ve probably heard it a million times before.”

She glances at her watch. I can’t help but notice it’s a gorgeous Rolex. The blonde doesn’t look that much older than me. I doubt she’s even twenty-five. It makes me wonder how she can afford such an expensive watch. When I look at her more closely, I notice she’s also wearing a diamond tennis bracelet and huge diamond stud earrings. Also very expensive.

Maybe she’s like David and has a generous daddy with lots of money.

“I’ve got a few minutes before my friend gets here. Tell me this story I’ve heard a million times before.”

I take another sip of my drink. She’s right. Russ does like to make them strong.

“I recently graduated from art school. I have a fine arts degree but no professional job and no prospects. My student loans are set to go into repayment and I have no way to pay them. I’m barely making ends meet on my salary busting my ass at the local coffee shop. Pathetic, right?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not pathetic, but you’re right, it’s a story I’ve heard a lot. Maybe not a million times. Half a million tops.”

We both laugh. It feels good to laugh about it. At least for one night.

She reaches into her purse, a pricey Coach bag, and pulls out a business card. I expect her to hand it to me but she places it on the bar between us instead.

“I don’t do this very often but I feel bad for you, so I’m making an exception.” She points to the card. “You can pick it up if you want to, after I tell you what it’s about. Or you can leave it on the bar. It’s completely up to you.”

My curiosity is definitely piqued. When I glance down at the card I notice it only has two words: The Club followed by a phone number.

“What’s The Club?”

“It’s a kind of dating service.”

I frown. “Do I look like need a date?”

“No, but you said you need money. This is a special kind of dating service for extremely wealthy men.”

I assume that’s how she got her Rolex and other jewelry, but I don’t want to be rude by asking. “Are you saying it’s kind of like having a sugar daddy?”

She laughs. “That’s kind of an antiquated term but sort of. Most of the men in The Club are older and they have very specific tastes. Most of them want younger women, but more importantly, they want women who will be there whenever and however they want.”

I gulp. Then I whisper. “Are you talking about prostitution?”

She gives me a little smile. “Prostitution implies that you’re with multiple men and they’re paying you for sex. It’s not like that. It’s more like you’re being paid to be one man’s mistress.”

“Are they married?”

She laughs. “Some are. Some aren’t. Does it matter?”

“I think it would to me.”

“Why?”

It’s a good question. I’m not married. He’d be the one doing the cheating.

“Do you mind if I ask how much money you’re talking about?”

“That’s negotiable between you and the man who selects you. It’s called an arrangement. You can negotiate any sort of arrangement you want.”

“Could you give me a ballpark figure?”

“Usually between three and five thousand a month.”

My eyes grow wide at the thought of that kind of money. My salary at the coffee shop, even with overtime and tips, doesn’t come close to that.

“And that doesn’t include all of the perks. A lot of the men like to provide their girlfriends with generous gifts in addition to their arrangement.”

“You said a lot of the guys are older. How old?”

An image of a geriatric using a walker crosses my mind. I’m not sure I’d be able to have sex with someone that old, if he could still even have sex.

“The guy I have an arrangement with is fifty-four.”

That’s ten years older than my dad. I can feel my stomach churn. Am I really considering getting involved with some kind of club and being paid to have sex with a guy who could be older than my father?

The blonde leans in close. “Don’t let his age fool you. He can still perform in bed. And I only have to see him two days a week for a few hours. And my arrangement is non-exclusive. He doesn’t mind if I date other guys.”

“I don’t really date that much,” I confess.

“That’s even better. There are a lot of guys who want exclusive arrangements. Not many girls will commit to that.”

I stare at the business card for a few seconds. Is this something I’m actually considering? I’m just not sure. There’s no doubt that I need the money but I’m not sure about having sex with someone I don’t even know…for money.

“It’s really not that bad,” she insists. “I wasn’t sure at first either but you get used to it. And Alex can be a really sweet guy.”

She makes a point of pushing the business card a little closer to me. “At least meet with Claudia. You can always back out if a guy selects you and you don’t like him.”

I pass my hand over the card and hesitate for a moment. I feel like this is a pivotal moment. Like my whole life could change just by picking up the card.

I take in a deep breath then grab the card from the bar. Now that it’s actually in my hand I feel like calling the phone number is inevitable.

“Tell Claudia that December sent you.”

My eyes widen and I can’t help the look of surprise on my face. “Your name is December?”

She laughs. “It’s my real name too. And I wasn’t even born in December. My birthday is November 28. I was an early arrival. But my parents already picked out the name and they really liked it.”

She holds out a hand for me to shake. “December Reynolds.”

“Rose Collins,” I reply as I shake her hand.

“Claudia just accepted several new members into The Club and she’s looking for a few more girls. I think she’ll really like you. You’re cute and classy.”

I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment. “Thanks,” I say anyway.

December looks at her watch. “I’ve got to split. I’m supposed see Alex in a few minutes.”

She hops down from her barstool then reaches into her purse, grabs two twenties and throws them on the bar. The drinks here aren’t cheap but they’re not that expensive. “The Crantini is on me. I’m sure I’ll see you around. Give my best to Claudia.”

Before I have a chance to respond, December is hurrying out the door.

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Ren Monterrey lives in a small town outside Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and their bloodhounds. She writes New Adult and Contemporary romance under a number of different pen names.

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All In by Autumn Stark ♥ Behind-the-Scenes, Blog Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Contemporary Erotic Romance)

Jay Markham, a wildly popular actor and a chronic womanizer, has become bored with his life. Jay decides to take a break and goes to visit his life-long best friend and famous romance novelist, Anthony Tate. But just because Jay decides to take a break doesn’t mean his fans will let him. The fans and the paparazzi follow him to the small Washington town and, in an effort to escape a particularly dogged fan, Jay ducks into the first open door he can find.

Parker Hardisson is a fairly normal, if self-contained, woman in her, ahem, early thirties. Relatively happy with her life as a freelance translator, she gets to work out of her own home and enjoy her life as quiet and drama-free as possible. So what if she’s a teensy bit lonely? So what if there’s some part of her that wants to explore the world? Things are working out just fine. So, when a mega-movie star comes slamming into her house, she wonders if she’s finally cracked.

Parker seizes the opportunity to make the deal of a lifetime. No strings, no questions. The problem is, Jay is playing this game by his own rules.

Anytime I write a novel, I expect there to be some amount of difference between what I plan to write and what actually ends up on the page. All In is no exception of course.

When I first began to write this series, Jay was actually supposed to have a bit of a thing for Abby (whose name was Rose at the time, by the way). In the original version of the first book, Break Me, and All In, Tony and Abby had just had a baby together when Jay comes to visit. None of this actually comes to pass. By the time I finally got to writing this book, Jay became fond of Abby like a sister, though envious of Tony’s relationship. Then there’s that whole baby thing. When this story starts, Abby and Tony are blissfully in the honeymoon period.

That aside, one of the biggest changes from my original plans was that Jay would be the one to beg Parker to hide him. As I was writing this, Jay openly mocked me in my thoughts. “I don’t beg,” he seemed to snort with laughter. More than that, Jay originally spent a lot of time denying his real attraction to Parker. Ironically, this totally switches in this novel.

I won’t give too much away, but one of the biggest changes from plan to paper was the resolution of this novel. Originally, I had planned that Jay would have to woo Parker into his arms after being rather stupid and vulnerable about a relationship with her. Parker had her own fears, but she was willing to try. Their relationship was challenged by their own fears and rampantly different lifestyles--normal small-town girl and hollywood hottie. I even wrote it that way.

But then I finished it...and Jay openly mocked me again. So...back to the drawing board I went. I won’t give it away, but I will share that, originally, the last chapter was Jay demonstrating rather openly that he wasn’t afraid of being publicly seen in a “relationship” with Parker as they steamed up a window in her bedroom. Jay helpfully pointed out to me that he had never actually cared about that in the first place.

Damned Jay. He had all kinds of opinions. Jay became one of my more opinionated heroes and really influenced everything I wrote. Most people have heard of muses, but Jay was the driving force of this particular novel. I’m sure most people won’t be upset. From the start of this series, Jay has captured the attention of readers. I really think it’s because he’s so captivating and charismatic--enough so that he hijacked my novel!

It seemed like a million years, the fall. It went in slow motion. Parker saw the glint of the sun on the kitchen window panes. She heard Jay Mason yelling behind her. She could hear the sound of a siren somewhere. In the mix, she would swear she heard a bird and even some wind chimes.

Parker didn’t remember the actual moment she hit the ground. One minute she was streaking through the air, the song of chaos and the bright morning sun guiding her down, and the next she was laying in the grass, curled in a ball. The damp grass clung to the side of her face and Parker’s eyes didn’t seem to want to open. She thought she heard her name being called.

She tried harder to open her eyes and realized that the wet grass wasn’t what wet her face. It was blood. She saw a flash of light through the red and could swear she heard Gabe’s voice calling to her, but then it all went black again.

The next thing she remembered was the repeated flashes of light and the sound of too many people talking at once. Someone rudely shoved a light into her eyes. Parker groaned and tried to move her arm to shove the light away.

“Parker? Parker Hardisson? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes to tell me you hear me?” Parker fought through the haze in her head. She wasn’t sure why the voice wanted her to open her eyes, but she knew it was somehow important. She fought to open her eyes, squinting against the light until her eyelids briefly rolled up. Then she remembered what was so important.

  

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♥ Click on the cover for more info ♥

Autumn Stark writes Romance with a sense of humor and a whole lotta steamy fun. Doesn’t mean there aren’t a few whips every now and then, but she’s a sucker for a happy ending. Autumn has been writing in one capacity or another her entire life, but Break Me is her debut novel.

Autumn Stark is the pen name for author and publisher, April Oglesbee. (http://apriloglesbee.com/)

All In is the second book in the All In series. Book 1 is already available on Amazon, B&N, and iBooks. Book 3 will be released in June 2014.

    

Autumn will be awarding at each stop a signed copy of All In to a randomly drawn commenter (US ONLY), and a Grand Prize of a $25 Amazon/BN GC plus a signed copy of All In will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY)