Book Blitz: Can't Catch My Breath by Sarah Sutton

Can’t Catch My Breath by Sarah Sutton
January 26, 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Addy Arden lives in a land called denial.

After losing her dad in a car accident, she’d rather pretend things are okay than be crushed by grief and guilt. Her friends buy the fake smiles and her mom doesn’t seem to notice…or care.

And Addy is doing great until she’s paired with Vincent Castello, the most intimidating senior at Greenville High, for a class project. Interview a random classmate and write a report on them. Should be easy, right?

Not by a longshot.

Because the car accident that killed Addy’s dad? It left Vincent’s father paralyzed.

Talk about an awkward ice-breaker.

As the two grow closer, can Addy face her grief and guilt head-on and put her past behind her, or will she let it consume her, and lose the guy who truly takes her breath away?

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EXCERPT

I wrote down in all capitals PEER INTERVIEW, jotting down the due date. One thing that tripped me up, though, was that Mr. V had said pairings. Meaning he’d already stuck us together with partners. I knew I wouldn’t have gotten lucky enough to be paired with Vesta, but I honestly wasn’t sure if there was another student I’d want to have to spend two weeks interviewing. Or, most likely, one week interviewing—the second week would be spent drafting that report.

“Greyson Clemon and Kristen Veracruz,” Mr. Walker called out. “Yvonne Buckley and Ella Garrett. Vesta Upperton and Kyle Casey.”

Figures. My best friend was with another easygoing, charismatic person. All kinds of unfair. She’d get someone like him, and I’d get—

I’d been looking at Mr. Walker, and I saw the moment he scanned the next pair of names, saw the moment he came up short. “Addy Arden and…” He paused, looking like he visibly swallowed. “Vincent Castello.”

Time stopped.

My whole body seemed to freeze, an iciness sweeping through my veins. It was like I’d fallen into a lake of water in the middle of winter, instantly turning into an Addy Arden popsicle.

I’d never thought about Vincent Castello before, at least not for any longer than five seconds at a time. He was a partier, definitely not my crowd. He didn’t party like Vesta partied, with a few sips from a red cup. Word was he did drugs. Had tattoos. I mean, he had a lip piercing. I’d never even looked him in the eye.

Until now.

While holding my breath, I glanced behind me and almost immediately wished I hadn’t.

He wasn’t looking at me, almost like he refused to. His dark hair hung in his eyes, lips turned down into a frown—even from here, I could see his silver lip piercing, and it made my heart skip a beat. That rumor was true, so what else was?

Just as quickly as I’d turned, I flipped back toward the front, slipping lower in my seat. Whether Vincent looked over at me or not, I had no way of really knowing, but there was no shaking the feel of eyes on the back of my head.

It wasn’t just this assignment that made me panicked. It was the fact that his dad was Carlo Castello that complicated things. A lot.

A sticky, hot feeling unfurled over me. If Vincent and I were partners for this project, that meant we’d have to talk to each other. Interview each other.

I was already near hyperventilating. No. No, no. I couldn’t do that. Not even a little bit. And I was certain Vincent wouldn’t want to either.

Mr. Walker continued down the list, but I mentally replayed the sound of Vincent’s name, my brain unable to let go.

I couldn’t help but think that Vincent’s life was entangled with mine, two pieces of string in a messy, twisted knot. I would never be able to look at him without thinking of everything that happened.

Both of our lives, forever altered by the same accident.

Author Bio

Sarah Sutton is a YA Romance author, bringing you stories about teenagers falling in love (sometimes with magic)She spends her days dreaming up ideas with her two adorable puppies by her side being cheerleaders (and mega distractions).

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Book Blitz: Forgiven by Garrett Leigh

Forgiven by Garrett Leigh
(Forgiven, #1)
Publisher: Carina Press (HQN)
Publication date: January 25, 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

High school sweethearts Mia and Luke get a second chance at love in this brand-new contemporary romance from award-winning author Garrett Leigh.

When Mia Amour returns to England to open a florist shop, all she wants to do is put her lousy ex behind her and never look back. But getting a fresh start is easier said than done when her first love, the boy who once broke her teenage heart, strolls back into her life. He’s every bit as sexy as she remembers, and the urge to melt back into his arms almost makes her forget how devastated she was when he took off without a word. Almost.

Left with no choice, Luke Daley did what he had to do, leaving town to earn enough money to save his broken family, though it just about broke him, too. But now he’s back, running his uncle’s business and trying desperately to forget about Mia, the girl he left behind all those years ago. When he runs into her in town, the shock of seeing her again brings an intense rush of emotions: love, guilt…and an overwhelming urge to find out if it’s still as amazing between them as it used to be.

It doesn’t take either of them long to give in to desire and discover the fiery passion they once shared burns hotter than ever. With each new touch, each moment of forgiveness, old hurts heal and the future they’d hoped for ten years ago becomes possible again. But their fragile connection is tested by a threat neither of them saw coming—a threat that could end their second chance before it even gets started.

Forgiven

Book 1: Forgiven

Book 2: Unforgotten

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EXCERPT

Luke

I was playing darts with some dude-bro of my dad’s when Gus walked in. An automatic grin spread across my face, but he wasn’t alone. Mia flitted in behind him and went straight to the bar without looking my way.

Gus shrugged and followed her.

It stung. I had plenty of old schoolmates knocking around Rushmere, but Gus got me. His easy company had made the transition to civilian life seem almost normal. Perhaps I’d become too reliant on him. Too demanding, and Mia was right. He was her brother, not mine.

I turned my back on them and focussed on flinging darts at the board. My aim had always been good, and I won several times over, but still the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and no matter how much I drank, my skin tingled with her imagined gaze all over me—imagined, because I reckoned I still knew her well enough to be certain she was stubbornly refusing to face me.

Calling time on my darts marathon, I drained my drink, bid my opponents goodbye, and left the pub without glancing in the direction I’d last seen Gus and Mia. It was a mile walk back to my house, but I was glad of it; at least I would be come the morning.

I fished my phone from my pocket and checked that my alarm was set, even though military life had left me incapable of sleeping more than four hours at a time. An Instagram notification from my brother caught my attention. I swiped it and immediately wished I hadn’t. Wasted and trashing whatever shithole town he lived in now, treating them to the same havoc he’d wrecked my mum’s life with after our dad died. Not that I could judge him right now for being wasted, but I’d go home, fall asleep in my own bed, and wake up in time to keep my life moving forward, even if I had no idea where I wanted it to go. Billy was destructive to himself and everyone around him. I loved him, but sometimes I just couldn’t fucking look at him.

A muttered curse behind me spun me around.

Mia glared at me. “For God’s sake. Is there nowhere in this town I can go without you loitering around the corner?”

The absurdity of it was so unfair I just stared.

She stepped closer, her face pretty much twisted in the kind of half snarl that had made me so fucking hard in the past.

Would make me hard now if I let it.

If I let her.

I swallowed thickly. We’d been in the same room all night, and yet somehow the sight of her in front of me seemed brand new. “I’m going home.”

“Yeah. I figured that when you left the pub ten minutes ago.”

She didn’t move. Neither did I, and I cursed myself for not going straight home. The rare glimpses of her were bad enough, but these face-to-face staredowns clawed at my insides. I had stubborn feet, a steady gaze, and hands that never faltered, but with Mia so close a gust of wind would blow her hair into my face, everything trembled.

I inhaled fresh air, hoping it would clear my mind. It didn’t. “Whatever. I’m going home now.”

“Uh-huh.”

Still I didn’t move. I glanced over Mia’s shoulder at the pub. “Where’s Gus?”

“Talking to some bloke from Grindr, I’d imagine. He left with a spring in his step.”

“He left you there by yourself?”

“No, he just left like an adult, because I’m old enough to make the three-hundred-metre walk on my own.”

Mia started to step around me. In a fit of nonsensical recklessness, I grabbed her arm, then braced myself for the inevitable answering shove.

But she didn’t shove me. She stared, apparently transfixed by my fingers circling her slim wrist, and did nothing at all.

Reeling, I let her go. “Sorry.”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you sorry?”

Perhaps she was drunk too, and heat swam in my veins. Getting lit with Mia had always been awesome. Back in the day, I’d lie back and let her take whatever she wanted from me, but that wasn’t the picture dancing through my beer-addled brain right now. I wanted to grip her again, spin her around, and pin her against the wall. She’d never let me dominate her—I’d never wanted to—but fuck if it wasn’t an image I couldn’t shake.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

It was my turn to move past her, and her turn to stop me in my tracks with a strong grip. “Luke.”

“What?” I spun around to face her again, my shout ringing out in the quiet pub car park, the vehemence in it surprising me as much as Mia. “What?” I tried again, softer this time, but no less desperate. “You don’t want to talk to me, I get it, okay? So leave me the fuck alone, and I’ll do the same for you.”

“I never asked you to leave me alone.”

Our eyes met and held on for the first time since our chip shop reunion two weeks ago. I fell down the rabbit hole of those fucking stormy blues, and as the seconds ticked by, so did my resolve to walk away.

Author Bio

Bonus Material available for all books on Garrett's Patreon account. Includes short stories from Misfits, Slide, Strays, What Remains, Dream, and much more. 

Sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/garrettleigh

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer, cover artist, and book designer. Her debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards, and was again a finalist in 2017 with Rented Heart.

In 2017, she won the EPIC award in contemporary romance with her military novel, Between Ghosts, and the contemporary romance category in the Bisexual Book Awards with her novel What Remains.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with photographer Dan Burgess.

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Release Week Blitz: The Start of Someday by Jillian Liota

Today we have the release week blitz of Jillian Liota’s The Start of Someday! 

Check out this gorgeous new romance and be sure to get your copy today!

The Start of Someday by Jillian Liota

Genre: Contemporary Romance

About The Start of Someday

ABBY FULLER wants to have a little fun. Sure, she wants a relationship… someday. But for now, a little heat is exactly what the cold weather calls for. Breaking her own rules, she tumbles into bed with a handsome tourist passing through town…only to find him standing in her living room the following day. JACKSON PAGE is only in town for business. He isn’t expecting a sexy little something with the woman who hits on him at the bar, and he definitely isn’t expecting her to be the younger sister of the friend he’s visiting. Clearly, nothing more can happen between them…no matter how good they are together. But stolen moments and the magic of the holidays make it seemingly impossible for Abby and Jackson to ignore one very real truth: maybe their one night together could be the start of something more. A steamy holiday novella set in the Cedar Point series.  

EXCERPT

“I bet you could bounce a quarter off that ass.”

A snort from my left has me turning to look at my best friend, and I can’t help but grin at the look of complete exasperation on her face.

“What?” I ask, trying to appear as innocent as possible. “It’s true. You know it is.” Then I return my gaze to the absolutely fantabulous buns that caught my eye in the first place. “I mean…just look at it.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Rolling my eyes at Briar’s inability to play with me about this, I continue my attempts at persuasion. “Oh, come on. Having your own boyfriend doesn’t mean you can’t objectively objectify someone else. You’re dating, not blind,” I say, nudging her obnoxiously with my elbow.

Briar narrows her eyes and lets out a long sigh, then finally shoots a quick glance in the direction I’ve been blatantly staring at for the past minute or two.

“I’d give it a solid six out of ten,” she finally says.

My eyes widen, and I seriously begin to wonder if we should just end our friendship right now because…what?

“What?” I say, and not quietly. “That is just…completely false. His ass is at least a nine, easy.”

Briar scrunches her nose and gives her head a little shake. “Mmmmm, those buns aren’t for me.”

I look back at the man in question, trying to understand how in the hell we can have such differing opinions.

This guy is built like a linebacker. Tall and muscular and broad in a way that says he can pick a girl up and toss her over his shoulder. I’ve always wondered what something like that would be like, and I bite my lip, enjoying the way he shifts to dig his wallet out of his back pocket.

“You could not be more wrong,” is all I say, finally refocusing all my attention on her. “But I can manage to forgive you, just this once.”

Briar snorts again and takes another sip of her wine.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that her eyes can no longer acknowledge other sexy men considering the fact that she’s finally ditched the old asshat and found the man of her dreams. Now that she’s all swoony in love, even managing to get her to take a look at Sexy Buns Guy should be considered a success in and of itself. Now, she only has eyes for one man.

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About Jillian Liota

Jillian Liota is a new author writing contemporary romance and new adult fiction. She lives in Kailua, Hawaii with her amazing husband, 2 cats, and 3-legged pup.  She is the author of the new adult romance novel The Keeper, which focuses on a female college soccer goalie, as well as the follow up novella, Keep Away. Her newest release, Like You Mean It, is in the contemporary romance genre and has a more mature voice, as it follows a pregnant mother finding love in a new town. The next novel in the Like You Series, Like You Want It, will be published in Spring 2019 She has a master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs, and she is passionate about all things improvement, development and organization. She’s also a big fan of taking walks with her husband and dog Maia, reading romance (obviously), watching a handful of horrible reality TV shows, and exploring the island she calls home. Check out her Contact page for more information on how to connect.  

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