Friday, September 8, 2017

Aloha to Tessa Bailey and DISORDERLY CONDUCT (The Academy Book 1)


You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…

Police academy cadet Charlie Burns can’t believe his luck when the gorgeous blonde he meets in a bar murmurs those magic words: “Nothing serious, ’kay?” Mind-blowing, no-strings sex with Ever Carmichael—it’s the holy grail of hookups for a guy who’s too busy following in his law enforcement family’s footsteps to think about getting serious. Charlie’s all about casual…that is, until Ever calls it quits and his world tilts on its axis.

Ever knows that when you control the relationship game, you can’t get played. But for the first time, she wants more than short-term satisfaction. Step one: end her fling with commitment-phobic Charlie. Step two: sacrifice herself to the ruthless NYC dating scene. Yet everywhere she turns, there’s Charlie, being his ridiculously charming self. No online match or blind date compares to the criminally hot cop-in-training, but they’re over. Aren’t they?

If love is a four-letter-word, why does the idea of Ever seeing someone else tie Charlie up in knots? Now he’s desperate to win her back…and a little date sabotage never hurt anyone, right?


Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention. She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.
Learn more about Tessa and her books at tessabailey.com.


Tessa is hosting a giveaway at this link ... and offers an excerpt from DISORDERLY CONDUCT:

“NYPD. Open up...”

Ever opens the door, but I can only see a sliver of her goddess figure because the chain is still on.

“Oh. Is something wrong, Officer?”

“As a matter of fact, there is.” I tug my ever-present notebook and pen out of my back pocket, pretending to consult the first page, which sucks,

since it means taking my eyes off her for a second. “We’ve gotten several complaints about the smell of chocolate coming from this apartment. You know anything about that?”

Ever bites her lip and throws a guilty glance over her shoulder. “Maybe. What’s it going to take to make this go away?”

I lean forward, close enough to hear her breath go shallow through the crack. “What’s it going to take?” I drop my eyes to her exposed stomach where a rhinestone sparkles from its place of honor in her belly button. “We can start with a thorough inspection of the premises.”


New York is full of surprises ... 

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Aloha to RWA's SECOND CHANCES with Kerri Carpenter and HOMECOMING


Do you believe in second chances?

Romance Writers of America brings together seventeen of today's hottest authors in an anthology of never-before-published tales that reveal true love always deserves a happy ending.

Follow New York Times best-selling authors J. Kenner and Christina Lauren back to reader-favorite worlds.

New York Times bestseller Alyssa Day sprinkles djinn magic in her humorous paranormal romance, while Rachel Hauck brings the enchantment of the holidays in her New Year’s Eve contemporary love story.

And Liliana Hart delivers thrills and adventure in her characters’ search for the impossible.

With characters who find love through tough situations, in an elegant 1800s ballroom, with an old friend who shows up when least expected, at a tender age when cliques and homework get in the way of relationships, or after a random encounter in an unlikely setting, Second Chances delivers romance to strike every reader’s fancy.

Plus tales from:
Marilyn Brant
Kerri Carpenter
CiCi Coughlin
Cassandra Dean
Tina Ferraro
Renee Luke
Ariella Moon
Brandi Willis Schreiber
Lizzie Shane
Sharon Sobel
Damon Suede
Tara Wyatt


Where to buy SECOND CHANCES
Avon
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iBooks
Kobo

Check it out on Goodreads



Let's take a peak at Kerri Carpenter's HOMECOMING ....

With only two weeks until she starts law school, Lana Greene has one goal. She’s returning to her hometown of Cherrydale for a second chance at hooking up with her high school crush, Wesley Givens. After all, Lana almost hooked up with Wes after their senior prom. Too bad her lifelong best friend, Ford Campbell, has other ideas. He wants to show her that he’s the second chance she’s been waiting for all along.


[Lana Greene returns home after college before heading to law school determined to hook up with her high school prom date. Her best friend, Ford might just throw a wrench in those plans...]

After a much-needed long shower, my day of travel is washed away, my hair is shiny, and my skin is nice and clear. I throw on a pair of tight leggings and a baby blue tank top, accessorizing with both a long and short necklace and tiny star earrings that Ford gave me for my birthday last year.

As I make my way around my childhood bedroom, I can’t stop thinking about Ford. We didn’t get to see each other as much this year as usual. We had the same spring break but Ford went to Puerto Rico with some friends. Instead of spending Christmas at home like usual, my family went to Arizona to visit my grandparents. I missed him.

We’ve known each other for so long. No one knows me better than Ford Campbell.

On cue, I hear his car horn. Looking out my bedroom window, he spots me and waves and I wave back. I stop for a spritz of perfume before I dash down the stairs and yank the door open.

I pull up short to see that Ford has exited the car and is standing on my front porch with his hands in his pockets. “Ready?” he asks. “You smell good,” he adds.

“Just some perfume,” I say. Then I take him in.

Ford looks like … totally Ford. He’s wearing jeans, a button-down plaid shirt over a—what else—vintage Star Wars tee. Only, there is something else. Something … sexier. OMG. Did I just think my best friend looked sexy?

“Why is your face getting red?” he asks.

“No reason. Let’s go.” I slam the door shut, grab his hand, and quickly head for his car.


Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry.

Learn more about Kerri and her books at kerricarpenter.com.


I am giving away a swag pack from RWA17 to four randomly selected commenters from my posts published in the month of September. To enter the giveaway,

1. Let's chat about Zumba - a favorite activity for Kerri.  Do you Zumba or enjoy other forms of exercise?  I enjoy a three mile walk in my neighborhood each night.

2. Comments are open through Saturday, September 30, 10 pm in Baltimore. 

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 1.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Aloha to Carol J. Post and REUNITED BY DANGER (Cedar Key Book 5)

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When a former classmate is murdered at Detective Caleb Lyons's ten-year high school reunion, he knows the victim's old group of friends are keeping secrets. That includes Cedar Key, Florida, police officer Amber Kingston. Back in school, Amber was headed for trouble, but now she's as dedicated to the law as he is. As he works overtime to get the pretty cop to open up to him, Amber and her friends receive messages threatening payback for past deeds. And her friends keep dying...one by one. But protecting Amber and unmasking a murderer isn't just the widowed detective's shot at redemption--it's his unexpected second chance at love.


Lighthouse at Cedar Key
Photo courtesy of the Florida Archives (link)

Author Carol Post transports readers to the historic town turned tourist destination of Cedar Key on Florida's Gulf Coast. I found this tidbit on Wikipedia (link), 

Early in his career as a naturalist, John Muir walked 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Louisville, Kentucky, to Cedar Key in just two months in 1867. Muir contracted malaria while working in a sawmill in Cedar Key, and recovered in the house of the mill's superintendent. Muir recovered enough to sail from Cedar Key to Cuba in January 1868. He recorded his impressions of Cedar Key in his memoir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, which was published in 1916, after his death.

I have not visited Cedar Key ... yet ... but look forward to visiting it through REUNITED BY DANGER.  Given Carol Post lives in Central Florida, she knows a thing or two romance and suspense in the Sunshine State!   I am giving away a swag pack from RWA17 - recently held in Orlando - to four randomly selected commenters from my posts published in the month of September. To enter the giveaway,

1. What do you know about Florida - have you visited its sunny beaches, historic sites, or sleepy towns?

I attended the University of Tampa, housed in the former Plant Hotel.  Built by railroad magnate Henry Plant in 1891, it offers a resort destination for those who traveled by rail to Tampa. Even Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders laid their heads to rest in the hotel.  Check out my pictures of UT/Plant Hotel at this link.

2. Comments are open through Saturday, September 30, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 1.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Carol and her books at caroljpost.com.

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More books in the Cedar Key series ... 

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

August winners ....


Where did the summer go?  Public school started today in Maryland ... and my youngest begins his junior year.  He already sent me a text, asking to bring his football practice clothes he left in his room.  He is a winner for being physically active ...

... and we have four winners from August:

Jane, Carol, Di, and Debby win a swag pack from RWA.

Winners, please claim your prize by sending your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

If you didn't win in August, try again in September!  Yes, I brought home a suitcase full of fun swag from RWA!

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

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Aloha to Jennifer Ryan and ESCAPE TO YOU (Montana Heat Book 1) - Giveaway and Teaser


It's always sizzling in Romanceland .... Jennifer Ryan is celebrating the release of ESCAPE TO YOU, Book 1 in her new Montana Heat series:

He discovered her during a Montana blizzard, freezing cold, impossibly vulnerable, a little boy by her side. Undercover DEA Agent Beck “Trigger” Cooke is astonished to recognize Ashley Swan—award-winning actress, famous beauty—and missing for over a year. To keep her and the child hidden from a sadistic madman, he secrets the pair away to his isolated home.

No longer a prisoner, and protected at Hope Ranch, Ashley recovers and learns the tall, tempting federal agent may have a dark past, but it hasn’t destroyed his sense of honor.

As they shed past roles and find common ground, Ashley and Trigger can’t help but fall slowly, carefully, in love. But danger still lurks outside the boundaries of Hope Ranch, for until her crazed captor is brought to justice, and Trigger’s undercover past is laid to rest, none of them will ever be truly safe…



Jennifer Ryan is the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of The Hunted, McBride, and Montana Men series. She writes suspenseful contemporary romances with outrageous plot twists, deeply emotional love stories, high stakes and higher drama. Her stories are filled with love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find. Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.

Learn more about Jennifer and her books at jennifer-ryan.com.

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Jennifer is hosting a special giveaway at this link ... and offers a teaser from ESCAPE TO YOU

“What’s wrong?” Trigger asked.

The softness in his voice made Ashley look up at him. Way up. The man was so tall.

She found her voice under the wave of fear gripping her. “I know you don’t mean to, but you’re scaring me.”

“Look at me, Ashley.”

She sucked in a breath, found a shred of bravery from the tatters of her will, and raised her gaze to meet his.

“I will never hurt you.”

She fell into the depths of gray and flecks of blue in his eyes and drowned in the sincerity and promise she found there. Deep down, she believed him. Part of her needed to believe him, because she needed something real to hold on to before she sank any deeper into despair and the paranoia that everyone wanted to hurt her.

She nodded. “If he finds me, he’ll kill me.”

“He’ll have to get past me first.”

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Friday, September 1, 2017

Aloha to Mariah Stewart and THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE

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This weekend marks the end of summer.  For Marylanders, that means a trip to the Cheasapeak Bay.  Enter Mariah Stewart with a new chapter in her celebrated Chesapeake Diaries series .... 

Architect Cassidy Logan has sworn off good-looking adventurers. Newly divorced, she’s focused on building ecologically friendly, historically accurate homes on the Chesapeake Bay for her father’s construction company. Traveling to Cannonball Island—where there has been no new construction in nearly one hundred years—Cass is sensitive to the heritage of the island, and has come up with plans so perfect she’s determined to buy a home for herself. Even the fact that Owen Parker—a local who she dismisses as a lightweight and a player—seems to be everywhere isn’t enough to deter her from building her dream house.

Owen Parker is and always has been sinfully handsome and wickedly clever, a magnet for mischief as well as girls. He’s a rolling stone, going and doing whatever appeals to him, from flying a mail plane in Alaska, to working on a cattle ranch in Australia, a shrimp boat in Louisiana, and surfing and diving in Costa Rica. When an old friend offers him a job salvaging a sunken ship on the Chesapeake Bay, Owen gladly accepts. Something’s been telling him it was time to head home to Cannonball Island, and a job is as good an excuse as any. And he’s totally smitten by the pretty architect on the scene, but it seems he’s finally met a woman who’s immune to his charms. Sooner or later, Owen will have to face the reason why he always runs, because this time, leaving just might be harder than staying.


Mariah Stewart is the award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of numerous novels and several novellas and short stories. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life and tends her gardens. Visit her website at mariahstewart.com, like her on Facebook at AuthorMariahStewart, and follow her on Instagram at mariah_stewart_books.

Chester County, Pennsylvania
pennsylvania-vacations-guide.com

I am giving away a swag pack from RWA17 to four randomly selected commenters from my posts published in the month of September.  To enter the giveaway,

1. What do you know about Pennsylvania - the Keystone State?

I recently drove up for the day to Philadelphia with college friends - we walked around the historic downtown, soaking up our democracy in action.


2. Comments are open through Saturday, September 30, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 1. 

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

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Coming to SOS Aloha - September Schedule


Friday, September 1 - Mariah Stewart's THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE

Monday, September 4 - Annie Burrowes' THE MAJOR MEETS HIS MATCH

Tuesday, September 5 - Jennifer Ryan's MONTANA HEAT: ESCAPE TO YOU

Wednesday, September 6 - Carol Post's REUNITED BY DANGER

Thursday, September 7 - RWA SECOND CHANCES Blog Tour

Friday, September 8 - Tessa Bailey's DISORDERLY CONDUCT

Thursday, September 14 - Sara Jane Stone's THE CINDERELLA FANTASY

Monday, September 18 - USAF's 70th Birthday

Tuesday, September 19 - Mia Sosa's ACTING ON IMPULSE

Wednesday, September 20 - Julie Ann Walker's HOT PURSUIT

Monday, September 25 - Julie Ann Walker's HOT PURSUIT

Tuesday, September 26 - Jennifer Snow's MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS

Wednesday, September 27 - Samantha Chase's HOLIDAY SPICE

Thursday, September 28 - Darcy Burke's THE DUKE OF DANGER

Friday, September 29 - Caridad Pinero's ONE SUMMER NIGHT

Monday, October 2 - Alyson McLayne's HIGHLAND PROMISE

Wednesday, October 4 - Kerrigan Bryne's THE SCOT BEDS HIS WIFE

Friday, October 6 - Katharine Ashe's THE DUKE

Monday, October 9 - Jill Shalvis' CHASING CHRISTMAS EVE

Wednesday, October 11 - Annie England Noblin's PUPCAKES

Friday, October 13 - US Navy's Birthday

Tuesday, October 17 - Kim Redford's A VERY COWBOY CHRISTMAS

Wednesday, October 18 - Terry Spear's DREAMING OF A WHITE WOLF CHRISTMAS

Thursday, October 19 - Leigh Greenwood's CHRISTMAS IN A COWBOY'S ARMS

Monday, October 23 - Shana Galen's THIRD SON'S A CHARM

Wednesday, October 25 - Valerie Bowman's THE RIGHT KIND OF ROGUE

Monday, October 30 - DD & Cathy MacRae's THE HIGHLANDER'S CRUSADER BRIDE

Wednesday, November 1 - Linda Broday's TO MARRY A TEXAS OUTLAW

Friday, November 3 - Heather Van Fleet's THE RIGHT KIND OF RECKLESS

Monday, November 6 - Open

Wednesday, November 8 - Open

Friday, November 10 - USMC's Birthday

Saturday, November 11 - Veterans' Day

Monday, November 27 - Anne Elizabeth's POWER OF A SEAL

Tuesday, November 28 - Jane Ashford's THE DUKE KNOWS BEST

Wednesday, November 29 - Gina Conkle's THE LORD MEETS HIS LADY

Thursday, November 30 - St. Andrew's Day

Friday, December 1 - Paige Tyler's WOLF HUNGER