The Billionaire's Secret Excerpt

Here's a tease for the Billionaire's Secret out this Friday!

Leila's in troubleeeee...;)

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Excerpt from The Billionaire's Secret (Part Six)


Escape.
It was the thing I’d wanted since I realized that my friendly cup of coffee with Whitmore and Creighton’s new client, action star Cade Wallace, had been a horrible mistake. I’d come to my senses too late, just in time for a photographer to snap enough pictures to tell a story. A story where I wasn’t Cinderella at all--unless Cindy liked to spread ‘em for any Prince that came knocking.
I thought I had time for damage control; to surprise Jacob with a nice dinner and after his belly was filled with steak and he had a glass of wine or two, explain myself. I thought I had time to ease him into the truth before he saw any photos of me staring into the eyes of a man I swore meant nothing. But Jacob was home and without saying a word, I knew something was terribly wrong.
I held my breath, hoping the savory aroma would sink in and he’d lose the scowl on his lips. Instead, it deepened.
“I picked up some Sullivans for dinner.” My stomach churned madly as I tried to explain. “I remembered you saying how you loved their prime rib so...”
I stopped talking as he ignored me completely. He put his briefcase down and eased out of his coat. He discarded it then turned back to me, loosening his tie. His movements were mechanical and precise, his face tight and void of any tell-tale signs of emotion. I tried to convince myself that he couldn’t know. There was no way the story, the pictures, could be live that quick...right?
He finally spoke, his voice low and dangerous. “Sullivans, huh?”
I bit my lip and nodded, surprised I didn’t draw blood. “I hope that’s alright.”
He opened his mouth and anger rippled across his face, but he hid it away almost immediately. He walked past me and whatever was on his tongue was left unsaid.
I drew a shaky breath and followed him into the dining room, wanting to get the truth out before I lost my nerve. Jacob was already seated, pouring himself a glass of wine. He didn’t even acknowledge me, eyeing the ruby red liquid before raising the rim to his lips. The coward in me wanted to say the words from where I stood, away from his steely gaze and in a somewhat close proximity to the exit. But running was the thing that had me sneaking out of the office to meet Cade, avoiding Jacob to minimize drama. I needed to look him dead on and explain myself. I owed him that much.
“I need to talk to you.” I hesitantly brought my eyes to his,expecting another peek behind the curtain, but nothing registered. His gaze shifted to mine and I was sure I’d see something in those pools of blue, but he was still playing his cards close to the chest.
Of course he is, I thought, dread pulling my heart to the pit of my stomach. Cold as ice is Jacob Whitmore’s default mode when he’s pissed.
“After the meeting with Ca--Mr. Wallace, I, um, we--” I swallowed the stumbled confession that rose in my throat. I just needed to get it out. “Cade and I had coffee and when I was leaving, I ran into a photographer.”
“And you’re telling me this because...” He held onto the last syllable, his dark eyebrows raising suggestively. “You want me to pay the photographer off?”
I pulled back, surprised and slightly offended by his callous remark. “Uh, no, I just--”
“Well then what’s done is done.”
I gawked at him, watching him scissor through the prime rib, mouth opening and closing, Adam’s apple bobbing. If I hadn’t seen the scowl on his face a minute ago, I would have thought it really was no biggie. But I’d seen the flash of anger. Of hurt. This was affecting him more than he let on.
“I’m sorry, Jacob.” It was a whispered plea, every ounce of me pouring into the words, begging him to look at me and see that I meant it.
He didn’t.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
His smooth dismissal hurt, as palpable and real as a blow to the gut, but I kept trying. “It was just a cup of coffee.”
“Then why are you apologizing?” He snapped his napkin like a whip before dabbing the corner of his mouth. “I mean, it’s done. You had coffee, he whispered sweet nothings--”
“He did not whisper anything to me!” I said indignantly, heat burning my cheeks. I knew I had no right to be insulted or blush like he’d just called my honor into question when I did a fine job of that myself by meeting Cade in the first place. “It meant nothing.”
He let out a snicker that was deep and condescending. “You were millimeters from kissing him in one of them, Leila. That means everything.”
And just like that, the world stood still.
He’d seen the pictures.
****

<3

The His Dark Lessons Soundtrack

So I got an email and I've *gotta* give Chance and Cass the same love as Leila and Jacob. :D  Can't believe I completely forgot to post my soundtrack for the His Dark Lessons series!

Check out my picks below:

Feist and Ben Gibbard- "Train Song"

It's so many miles and so long since I've left you
Don't even know what I'll find when I get to you
But suddenly now, I know where I belong
It's many hundred miles and it won't be long



Feist- "Brandy Alexander"

He's my Brandy Alexander
Always gets me into trouble...



Band of Horses- "The Funeral"

To the outside: the dead leaves lay on the lawn
For they don't have trees to hang their own.



Florence and the Machine- "Only If For A Night"


And although I was burning, 
You're the only light




Anesthesia- "Megan"



Maria Taylor- "Clean Getaway"

And I miss you,
I miss you every single day



Death Cab For Cutie- "Tiny Vessels"

So one last touch and then you'll go
And we'll pretend that it meant something so much more




The Blow- "True Affection"

And true affection floats
True affections sinks like a stone
I never felt so close 
I never felt so all alone



Blue Foundation- "Eyes on Fire"

Eyes on fire
Your spine is ablaze
Felling any foe with my gaze



Angus and Julia Stone- "For You"

If I talk real slowly, if I try real hard
To make my point dear, that you have my heart



When I was compiling this list and comparing it with the His Submissive soundtrack, it was really interesting to see how darker the songs and lyrics were. Lots of angst.

Thanks to everyone who hung on for Cass and Chance, with fingers crossed for their happily ever after. :)

P.s.--Posting an excerpt from The Billionaire's Secret tomorrow...and it'll be out Friday!!!!

Release Day!

Hi lovelies!

Despite some pretty intense history, Chance and Cass' story has come full circle in The Test and the last installment in their journey is out today!!!

Cassandra Woods is ready to give Dr. Chance Crawford her whole heart despite his past betrayal, but the road to forgiveness is not an easy one. Those close to her seem hell bent on keeping them apart and their doubts seep in like poison. When someone reports the new professor for inappropriate behavior with a student, Cassandra must find a way to keep it together just as everything begins falling apart...

This final installment is longer, hotter, and (hopefully) the heartwrenchingly beautiful send off that Chance and Cass deserve. :)

As far as buy links, Amazon is tripping. Even though the book was submitted in plenty of time to have it live for this AM (they *claim* that books will be live in 12 hours after submission, but if that was true it would have been up late last night).  I swear me and the 'Zon have a love/hate relationship lol...

Anyway! *deep breaths*

The book is live at the links below and I'll update Amazon as soon as they push it through.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords

<3

p.s. I'm going to have a steamy excerpt from The Billionaire's Secret up for yall in a few days...can't wait to share!

Updates and Changes

Thank yall for understanding about the postponed release of The Test. I'm back and everything is good and I'm ready to get stuff back on track! :)

The Test will be released tomorrow (barring it gets stuck in Amazon purgatory...but there's nothing THAT scandalous going on ;).

I wanted to also let you know that I've decided to put the first book in the series, The Student in Amazon Select. This means the full series (The Student, The Teacher, The Test) will be exclusive to Amazon for 90 days.  This won't be happening until Monday, February 25, so you'll have plenty of time to pick up the entire series on B&N/Smashwords if you don't have a Kindle.

And now for the new covers....

(I decided to give the His Dark Lessons covers a face lift too!)

Check out all the pretty below:

New His Dark Lessons Covers:

And for the Jacob and Leila lovers, here are the new His Submissive covers <3:

 And here's the cover for the next installment, out next Friday (3/1/13):

 Tell me what you think of the covers in the comments! **bites nails anxiously** :)

Delay

I hate it, hate it, HATE when I have to delay things because I know you guys are so amazing and engaged with my stories and when I say something's coming out, it should be out.  Unfortunately, I have a personal emergency so I'm gonna have to delay the release of The Test. It's completed and I got it back from my editor/beta reader but since this one is longer (over 20k words) I want to read it again and make sure it's perfect. It's the last of Cass and Chance's story, so I want to do them justice.

I'll update with the release date asap. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. <3

The Test Excerpt

So if you're a follower of my sporadic ramblings (though I've been better about posting...right? :), you know that the final book in Chance and Cass' story is coming out this week, 2/15/13!

In celebratory excitement, I'm sharing a snippet. Hope you guys enjoy and stay tuned for more tidbits and posts throughout the week leading up to the release on Friday. <3

Excerpt from The Test (His Dark Lessons, Part Three):

"Pull the car over," I said through gritted teeth. "NOW."
For once, Chance Crawford obeyed me.
I always thought that going to Mayor's Glen, the rich suburb tucked outside of the city limits where Alicia lived, was like stepping into another world and tonight was no different. Lush green trees stretched their arms to the dimly lit night sky, like they were trying to catch a star with their wooden fingers. The road stretched dark and abandoned in front and behind us, isolated except for emerald and bark.
Any other night, driving on this road would have been relaxing; windows down, wind combing through my hair, the sweet musk filling my nostrils. The night sounds of owls and crickets would have been the music that flooded my ears until I hit civilization and decided to crank up the radio. But tonight, the green landscape was alien--along with the guy who was kowtowing to the whims of everyone except the person that mattered.
He put the car in park and in one swift, mad as hell move, I unclicked my seatbelt and threw open the door. I stepped out into the darkness, ready to pace until I wore lines into the asphalt, but instead, my flats sunk into the soggy dirt like quicksand. I let out an angry groan as I wrenched my feet from the muck and stepped onto solid ground, walking in the opposite direction.
"Just where the hell do you think you're going, Cassandra?" Chance yelled after me.
"Back to Alicia's. Apparently, I owe them a huge apology for standing up for my boyfriend."
Boyfriend. This dark, intensely handsome guy didn't really fit the cutesy sounding descriptor. Words like 'mate’ and ‘lover’ seemed closer to the truth; words that evoked passion and trembling knees instead of valentines and first loves. It was easy to forget that once upon a time I’d called him that without hesitation, giving my whole heart and committing myself to him. And then the bottom fell out, spilling my hopes and dreams. Ruining that word. Runing me.
I shied away from the ‘b’ word even when I dated other guys that called me girlfriend and made it official on Facebook. But I never said it out loud after I broke up with Chance. Boyfriend meant being attached. It meant being vulnerable. But I’d called him that at dinner tonight without even thinking about it.
My heart hitched in my chest and without seeing it with my own eyes, I knew that Chance had stopped advancing toward me. The word caught him off guard too.
“Boyfriend?” he repeated.
I shivered. As his deep voice rushed over the syllables, I was thinking of anything but candy hearts. I thought about how his lips would feel pressed against my heated flesh. I thought about the simmering pull in my lower abdomen that overwhelmed my will to hoof it back to Alicia’s. Instead, I was entertaining the thought of turning around and telling him to take me right there in the middle of the road.
"Does that mean we're official?" he probed, words like warm honey as they went down. Even with the insects call I could hear him rock back to motion, each step matching my heartbeat.
The nearness of him sent goosebumps up and down my arms. The blush that started in my cheeks spread outward, the current of warmth extending to my toes. How did he do it? Chance Crawford made everything else fade to nothing except the stomp of my heart. I was so rapt, so freaking sensitive, that even the slightest touch would send me spiraling into bliss.
I let out a tiny gasp as his fingers combed through my windswept hair and all of the dark strands spilt over one shoulder. The goosebumps along my exposed neck stood at attention, waiting with bated breath for what came next. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for strength that evaporated as soon as his lips pressed against the nape of my neck.
"You smell delicious," he breathed into the sensitive flesh, sinking right to my bones. His fingertips were rough and possessive as they drug across my abdomen and pulled me back until I met a solid wall of muscle and the hardened length of his arousal.
My lips parted slightly and ‘you too’ was left unsaid as I felt his cock raging for freedom against the contrast of his steady breathing. I was dialed to a hundred, dangerously close to begging and I knew speaking was no longer an option. Only moaning, groaning, and the erotic language of our bodies would be possible. The earthy notes of the woods mixed with his warm, exotic scent, creating a heady mixture that was as hypnotic as the breaths that went right to my core.
His fingers wrapped around the last button on my blouse, freeing it, then a second, and a third. It wasn't until there was only one button holding the fabric together that I finally spoke.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Do you know what hearing you say that word does to me?"
A moan rose in my throat at the urgency in his voice. The white hot need. "Chance-"
The button slid through the sliver of a hole and I glanced down, watching his hand spread across my pale flesh like caramel. His fingers were trembling, like it was a battle just to keep it together.
"Don't tell me to stop." Those forceful fingers were pulling the two sides of my blouse outward, over my shoulders. "I don't think I can. Not with how beautiful you look tonight."
****

His Submissive Re-branding

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you--I am doing back to back posts. :) I was considering just P.S.'g the last post but I think this warrants its on little corner on the blog.

I've been kicking around the idea of re-branding the His Submissive e-book covers for awhile. I think the current covers are hot (from the suited up guy in the car with the chick/Billionaire's Contract to the couple from the Billionaire's Heart *fans myself*) but those images have been used on multiple other e-books for other authors and to be honest, I have yet to find a stock photo of a couple that just screams Leila and Jacob. 

So I decided to get all the e-covers re-done. As an author, this kind of thing is really nerve racking because I know from personal experience that a good cover can tip the scales as far as potential readers taking a chance on a book and so far, people have decided to take the leap on the His Sub series with the covers as is. Still, I think the covers could have more depth and something that's uniquely 'this series'. And from the mock ups I've seen from my new cover artist, I think/hope yall will love the new look! 

I plan on doing a big cover reveal during the week leading up to the release of The Billionaire's Secret (His Submissive, Part Six) so stay tuneddd. 

p.s. What made you decide you had to read Leila and Jacob's story? Did the cover play a big role?

Feb Releases

Hope Feb is treating yall awesomely! :) I've gotten a couple of emails/comments about release dates of The Test (the final part to Cass and Chance' story) and The Billionaire's Secret so here's the updated list:

The Test (His Dark Lessons, Part 3): Feb. 15, 2013

The Billionaire's Secret (His Submissive, Part 6): March 1, 2013

Also! I'm on Goodreads now...my reviews are nowhere near as witty as most, but you can check out some of my faves and what I'm reading.