Monday, July 31, 2017

The Little-Big Reason I've Been MIA

On the 27th of June I adopted 5 year old corgi-terrier mix whom I named Jack. This cutie is the most low-high maintenance dog. Jack was a rescue from a local shelter and had no known history since he was found roaming the city streets. However, it quickly became apparent that Jack had endure abuse before finding a home with me and my family.

My precious boy is my every present shadow, Jack sticks to me like glue relying on for love and protection. So it hurts my heart to know that he's still uncomfortable around the house, and my family, when I'm not there, because of his past. My brother calls him broken, but I call him special. 

Now I will admit Jack is Mr. Lazy bones all day long when I'm at work he waits in our room for me. So at night he just loves to wake his mommy up to cuddle and be held every other hour or so. Mean less to say I haven't had a full 8 hours of sleep in weeks and I've definitely had to work with him on a emotional level. But by far my favorite part of his personality is how he loves to greet me when I come home. Though it's hard when he tries to leave with me every time I have to go out. 

Then there's the issue with how he plays into why I've been MIA online. Jack gets SUPER jealous of my attention being anywhere but on him. When I'm home to Jack, it means just him and me time. So if my phone is out he will literally get up from me and curl up in a corner away from me just to have me call him back. Or if I'm on my kindle he'll go under my bed as if I was rejecting him. My Jack has made it clear my priorities have changed and reading is now second in my life. In the coming weeks I'm going to try and blog at least once a week, but honestly it all depends on Jack and his moods. Once my boy settles in and feels at home I'm sure life will find a new normal, but for now Jack will be my first thought and reading second.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

NEW BOOK OUT!!- "The Long Way Home" by Jasinda Wilder

!! NEW RELEASE !!
by Jasinda Wilder
Penned Series: The Falling Series, Badd Brothers Series, Alpha Series, Alpha One Security Series, The Ever Trilogy, Delilah's Story Novels, Madame X Novels, Rockstars Do It Forever Novels, Biker Billionaire's Novels, Preachers Son's Novels, and Big Girls Do It Series.
AND single novels: Yours, Stripped, Trashed, Wild Ride, Dec the Holls, and Caught in The Surf.
Also co-authored w/husband Jack: The Black Room Collection, Wounded, Captured and The Missionary.

Book 1, in The One Series
"The Long Way Home"
Genre: Contemporary, Romance. 353 pages.
Price: $3.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
- SYNOPSIS -
I need you, Ava. 

 I am desperate. For you. For touch. For a kiss. For the scrape of your hand down my stomach. For the slide of your lips across my hipbone. The sweep of your thigh against mine in the dulcet, drowning darkness. For the warm huff of your breath on my skin and the wet suck of your mouth around me and the building pressure of need reaching release...I am mad with need. 

Wild with it. 

I cannot have you. I have lost you, as I have lost myself. 

And so I go in search. Of myself, and thus the man who might return to you, and take you in his arms. 

I loathe each of the thousands of miles between us, but I cannot wish them away, for I hope at the end of my journey I shall find you. Or rather, find myself, and thus…you. Myself, and thus us. 

I am taking the long way home, Ava. 

 * * * 

Christian, 

I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know how to stop it. I shouldn’t be writing to you, but I am. I’m friendless, loveless, and lifeless. You’re out there somewhere, and still you’re all I really have. 

I hate my reliance and dependence on you, emotionally and otherwise, and that reliance is something I’m coming to recognize. I hate that I can’t hate you as much as I want to. I hate that I still love you so much. 

I hate that there’s no clear solution to our conundrum. Even if we could forgive each other, what then? 

I hate you, Christian. I really do. 

But most of all, I don’t. 

It’s complicated. 

Complicatedly (still) yours, 
   Ava
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<==========>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
EXCERPT
Chapter 3
[From Christian’s computer journal; January 10, 2015] 
Henry is sick, and they don’t know what’s wrong with him. It started as a low-grade fever that wouldn’t go away, and then he became colicky, crying literally all the time, nearly every moment of every day, barely even sleeping. Which means I’m not sleeping, and Ava’s not sleeping. Ava is out of her mind with panic. Something’s wrong with him, she claims. Something serious. She knows there is, she says, she just doesn’t know what. We’ve taken him to the doctor; we’ve taken him to several doctors. He’s been X-rayed, MRI’d, CAT scanned, poked, prodded… they just can’t figure it out. 
        Even when Henry finally manages to fall asleep, I can’t find rest. My eyes close, my body demands rest, but my mind will not quiet. The only way I can slow or quiet myself enough to sleep is through medication, which leaves me groggy and unable to wake up, or self-medication by way of excessive amounts of scotch. I don’t care for either option, and Ava says I’m a different man when I’ve been drinking. 
        But without those options, I don’t sleep. 
        It’s four in the morning right now, and I tossed and turned from the moment I laid down at eleven until finally giving up and opening my laptop to this journal a few minutes ago. 
        I have the baby monitor beside me, and I can hear Henry fussing. Tossing, turning, mewling, as if he, too, cannot rest. 
        I’m not a praying man, but I’ve found myself begging any deity that might exist to give me Henry’s illness, to take it from him and give it to me. He’s an innocent little boy, not even a year old. He doesn’t deserve this— no one deserves this, but a baby? 
        I think about that, and I get angry, and I’m reminded why I’ve never been a praying man. 
        Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. There is no justice. 
        I know this is ridiculous and selfish and petty and horrible, which is why the only place I’ll ever voice this complaint is here, in this digital journal, but… 
       Ava and I haven’t had sex in months. Since before Henry was born. I know, I know— she gave birth, she needed to heal. No problem. But then once she got the okay from Dr. Gupta, she didn’t feel ready. She still had the baby weight, she said, and she felt like she looked like roast beef down there— her words, not mine— and didn’t want me anywhere near it. And then Henry started crying all the time, and that’s taken all of our time and energy, and now she’s too panicked and exhausted and stressed to even think about intimacy. 
        And I know I shouldn’t be thinking about that, but I can’t help it. I need that intimacy with her. Yes, I also need the physical release and relief, but it’s more than that. It’s the connection. The closeness we find, especially in the afterglow. 
        God, I feel like such an asshole, but the need for her is yet another stone on the pile weighing me down. And I dare not say anything to her. Dare not make a move. It would hurt too much to be rejected yet again, and would only upset her more than she already is. I know she doesn’t mean it as a rejection of me, per se, but that’s still how it feels. 
        Now more than ever we need each other, yet… I feel us drifting further and further apart.


Chapter 4
[From Ava’s blog: Confessions of Working Mommy; 
January 20, 2015] 
Let’s talk about sex. 
         Ha, now you’ve got that song stuck in your head. 
         But for real, I’ve got some dirty thoughts I need to muse on, and you naughty vixens out there seem to enjoy getting glimpses into the inner workings of my fucked-up mind, for some reason, and so you’re going to be my sounding board. 
         Henry was born seven months ago. The last time I had marital intercourse with my husband was exactly twenty-four days before that; I know the exact date only because I blogged about it (which you can find here). So, it has been eight months since I last had sex. 
          Eight months without any nookie whatsoever. 
          Ya’ll. 
          That’s not okay. 
          NOT OKAY. Mama needs her nookie, all right? 
          I mean, yeah, the first three months or so are understandable: I had just pushed a human being out of my vagina, and Henry was not a small baby, at nine pounds six ounces. So yeah, six to nine weeks of recovery for poor Ava St. Pierre’s hoo-ha is to be expected. 
           And then… and then…? Nobody tells you about the hemorrhoids, nor what I’ve been calling the Arby’s poon— which is when your lady bits rather closely resemble a sandwich from the aforementioned purveyor of meat-like-substance imitation sandwiches. Yeah, I’d like to have learned about that shit in the My Baby and Me class. Screw Lamaze, let’s talk about roast beef pussy. Yeah, sure, of course Chris told me I looked totally normal and was more beautiful than ever; he had to say that because he knew I’d kill him— 
            The other thing nobody talks about is that your hormones don’t go back to normal right away either. I mean, yeah, you hear all about how you’ll be hormonal during pregnancy, and you’ll have weird cravings and alternate between loving your hubby more than ever and wanting to strangle him with his shoelaces— which you couldn’t reach because hello, you’re pregnant. Do you ever hear about still feeling like an unhinged lunatic months after the baby is born? NOOOOOO. I didn’t, at least. Yeah, they talk about postpartum depression, but what about postpartum homicidal rage because you’re not getting laid? What about feeling stabby because your baby is three months old and you haven’t had wine or coffee in almost a fucking year, and now they’re telling you that you STILL can’t have it because you’re breastfeeding? 
           Switching Henry to formula so I can have wine and coffee would make me a horrible mother, wouldn’t it? Yes, I know I can have beer while I’m breastfeeding because of something to do with lactation or something, but honestly, beer? Probz not, folks. 
           But I digress. 
           Sex. 
           Which I’m not having. 
           Why? 
            Because I’m still twenty pounds away from my post-baby goal weight, and it seems like a goal I’ll never reach because Henry is colicky and difficult and I think he’s sick but they can’t find anything wrong with him. But I’m his mama, dammit, and I know he’s sick. I’ve been around colicky babies before. My sister’s son, my nephew Alex, now he was a super colicky baby. He was just cranky all the time, and hated life and hated being put down and hated being hungry and hated being wet and REALLY hated being poopy, and guess what he was all the time? Hungry, wet, and poopy. That was colic. He grew out of it, turned into the sweetest, cutest, happiest little walking, talking kid you could ask for. 
           This, with Henry? It’s not colic. 
           There’s something wrong, and nobody knows what. 
           So that’s not helping the get-Ava-laid program. 
           Also not helping is the fact that Christian is under deadline and took two months off from writing to help me with Henry and take care of me. God bless the man, he did so much in those two months, and I don’t know how any woman has ever survived those months without my Chris, because he made me breakfast in bed, brought me endless mugs of herbal tea, brought me snacks, held Henry so I could sleep, changed diapers, went to Walgreens whenever I ran out of Tuck’s pads AND brought back chocolate. He had pizza and the Thai place on speed dial, and could get in and out with our order in less than ten minutes, so I wouldn’t be alone with Henry for too long while I was still so sore I could barely walk. 
           Yeah, they also don’t tell you about that. Giving birth hurts— that’s not news; what’s news is that it continues to hurt for weeks and weeks afterward. 
           So yeah, Christian was an actual angel from heaven, and now he’s got sixty thousand words due in six weeks and did I mention that Henry cries ALL… THE… TIME? Poor man isn’t sleeping, and he’s still trying to be there for my every want and need, and he’s got insane stress from the due date. 
         The only thing he can’t do for me is make me capable of sex. 
         See, that’s the issue. I WANT sex. I NEED sex. 
         My man and I have wicked powerful chemistry, okay? I’ve blogged about this before (here and here). Chris and I? We’re, like, world champions at sex.
          But… my body is all like NO, AVA, NO SEX FOR YOU and my mind is like FUCK YOU, BODY, GET WITH THE PROGRAM! RIDE THAT DICK! And my heart is like I just want intimacy. I want him to whisper sweet nothings and tell me how beautiful I am and kiss me and make me feel desired and needed. 
         And I’m freaking out about Henry. Freaking out seriously hardcore, and that’s just shut down my mojo completely. 
         Even worse is, I know Chris is feeling it too. He needs it as much as I do, if not more so simply because he’s a dude and dudes require crazy amounts of sex to function. My point is, he needs me. He needs us
        And I can’t give it to him. 
        I wonder if he ever reads my blog? 
        If you’re reading this, Christian, then please know it’s not you. I love you more than ever and want you more than ever, but I just… can’t. And I feel horrible about it, and I’m sorry. 
        Who am I kidding? Christian’s never read my blog, and never will. Not because he doesn’t care— he does, and he supports me, so don’t get the wrong idea, here. I don’t know, though. Don’t let my pithy blog style fool you, dear readers: I’m a damned mess right now.
******************************************************

Sunday, July 2, 2017

4th of July $ALE!!


In honor of this 4th of July weekend I've seen a few great books on put on $ALE and made FREE for a limited time. So I've listed some great books I've seen on sale, and some I've managed to nab up, to fill the holiday weekend. Enjoy the time off and hopeful get some great barbecue.
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

"Dark Summoner"
(The Relic Keeper, Book 1)
by D.D. Miers
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Across the Ages"
(Time Travel Romance, Book 1)
by RaShelle Workman
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nora & Kettle"
(A Paper Stars Novel, Book 1)
by Lauren Nicolle Taylor
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"North Star"
(Polaris Series, Book 1)
by M.E. Montgomery
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"November Rain"
(Bad Bloods, Book 1)
by Shannon A. Thompson
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Midnight Sea"
(The Fourth Element, Book 1)
by Kat Ross
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Aveline"
(Lost Vegas, Book 1)
by Lizzy Ford
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"House of Royals"
(The House of Royals Series, Book 1)
by Keary Taylor
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If At First"
(Crimson Cove Mysteries, Book 1)
by Tara Brown
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 


"Cursed"
(The Devil's Roses, Book 1)
by Tara Brown
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


"Imaginations"
(Imaginations Trilogy, Book 1)
by Tara Brown
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


"The End of Me"
(The Single Lady Spy Series, Book 1)
by Tara Brown
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


"First Kiss"
by Tara Brown
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Messenger"
(Mortal Beloved Time Travel Romance, Book 1)
by Pamela DuMond
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Frost Burn"
(The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1)
by Erica Stevens
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Extracted"
(The Lost Imperials Series, Book 1)
by Sherry D. Ficklin and Tyler H. Jolley
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Hive Queen Saga"
(Three Book Box Set)
by Janine A. Southard
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good Intentions"
(The Road to Hell Series, Book 1)
by Brenda K. Davies
$ALE Price: $0 Free (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


"Carved"
(The Road to Hell Series, Book 2)
by Brenda K. Davies
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here's To Falling"
by Christine Zolendz
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Crimson Sky"
(Dark Sky Series, Book 1)
by Amy Braun
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"ARV-3"
(The After Light Saga, Book 1)
by Cameo Renae
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Chosen Knights"
(Secret Knights, Book 1)
by Mary Ting
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Year I Became Isabelle Anders"
(Sunnyvale Series, Book 1)
by Jessica Sorensen
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cursed by the Gods"
(The Sphinx, Book 1)
by Raye Wagner
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Neverland Evermore"
(Never Ever Series, Book 1)
by Sarah J. Pepper
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Spectacle"
by S.J. Pierce
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Time of Useful Consciousness"
by Jennifer Ott
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Next Door To A Star"
(The Star Series, Book 1)
by Krysten Lindsay Hager
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here 

"Competing With The Star"
(The Star Series, Book 2)
by Krysten Lindsay Hager
$ALE Price: $0.99 ebook (at time of post)
Book Link: Click Here

*******************************************