Tag: @ardentprose

LIVE – DAMNABLE GRACE (Hades Hangmen #5) by Tillie Cole

Leave a comment


EVEN THE BROKEN, THROUGH LOVE, CAN FIND GRACE…

Secrets never stay hidden.

The burden of guilt never lifts from the heart.

Born and raised in The Order of David, Sister Phebe knows nothing but cult life. Head of the Sacred Sisters of New Zion, Phebe was groomed from childhood for one purpose: to seduce. Prized as a harlot, as a New Zion whore, Phebe is taken from the doomed cult by Meister, the notorious leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Taken as his possession. Taken to be the woman who will obey his every sexual demand. Under his heavy hand, Phebe finds herself in a place much worse than she could ever have imagined… with absolutely no one to help. And no glimpse of hope.

Xavier ‘AK’ Deyes is content with his life as Sergeant-At-Arms of the Hades Hangmen. Leader of the infamous ‘Psycho Trio’ and ex-special ops sniper, AK knows how to fight. Experienced in warfare and schooled in military operations, AK is vital to the Hangmen. When his Vice President needs help retrieving his missing sister-in-law, Phebe, from a Klan-funded trafficking ring, AK volunteers to go in. AK remembers the redhead from New Zion. Remembers everything about her from the single time they met—her red hair, blue eyes and freckled face. But when he finds her, heavily drugged and under Meister’s control, her sorry condition causes him to remember more than the beautiful woman he once tied to a tree. Saving Phebe forces hidden demons from his past to return. A past he can never move on from, no matter how hard he tries.

As AK fights to help Phebe, and in turn she strives to help him, they realize their secret sins will never leave them alone. Kindred broken souls, they realize the only way they can be rid of their ghosts is to face them together and try to find peace.

Despair soon turns to hope, and damaged hearts soon start to heal. But when their deep, painful scars resurface, becoming too much to bear, the time comes when they must make a heavy choice: stay forever damned; or together, find grace.

Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, violence, disturbingly sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and very mature topics. Recommended for age 18 and over.

Tillie Cole hails from a small town in the North-East of England. She grew up on a farm with her English mother, Scottish father and older sister and a multitude of rescue animals. As soon as she could, Tillie left her rural roots for the bright lights of the big city.

After graduating from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Religious Studies, Tillie followed her Professional Rugby player husband around the world for a decade, becoming a teacher in between and thoroughly enjoyed teaching High School students Social Studies before putting pen to paper, and finishing her first novel.

Tillie has now settled in Austin, Texas, where she is finally able to sit down and write, throwing herself into fantasy worlds and the fabulous minds of her characters.

Tillie is both an independent and traditionally published author, and writes many genres including: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance, Young Adult and New Adult novels.

When she is not writing, Tillie enjoys nothing more than curling up on her couch watching movies, drinking far too much coffee, while convincing herself that she really doesn’t need that extra square of chocolate.
Author Links

REVIEW – THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE FOUR (Ripple Effect #4) by Keri Lake

Leave a comment

 

 

 

Ripley

They call me RIP.
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath.
In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.
I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.
I want to love her, but I no longer feel.
She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.
Something I’d kill for.
I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.
I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.
And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.

Dylan

For months, I’ve watched him.
I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.
I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.
Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.
And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.
It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.

*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex.

*****Mel’s review*****

4.5 Stars!

Dylan is still living with Ripley & now wondering how she can ever face the reality of life without him when their arrangement is over. He’s her lover but to her also her savior. He doesn’t want to be her hero, but to Dylan, that’s exactly what he is. She excepts all his crazy & yearns to be closer to him and to know everything about this complex man. He’s become her escape & she’s getting too comfortable with depending on him. He’s taken better care of her than anyone has in her whole life. He always saves her & makes her feel safe. Even though he does bad things, he’s a good man in her eyes.

-Ripley is salt in my wounds sometimes- a deep, penetrating burn that heals as much as it hurts. It’s a sting I’ve grown to need, though, because it forces me to feel something again.

-I’m ravenous and impatient. He makes me this way. He’s become my drug. The rush that excites me, and the high that keeps me addicted.

-In a killer’s embrace, I feel something I’ve not experienced my whole life- I feel safe.

-Something has awakened inside of me since being with Rip.

-“I don’t know what it is about you, Dylan. You touch some dark and carnal part of me.”

Ripley shouldn’t care so much about Dylan, but he does. She’s become his obsession & his weakness because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her. When her past comes back to haunt her, Rip won’t let anyone touch or take what’s his. He will always keep her safe. Even if that means setting her free. The thought of anyone hurting her destroys him & makes him feel like losing control. He’s deeply affected by her pain & she’s continuing to make him feel.

I really loved this series & this last episode was my favorite. It was full of action & emotion, and we get a lot of answers. I would love a book for Jorgen next!

 

*****Patty’s Review*****

*****FOUR STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Author}

We’re volatile and chaotic together, ripples in the water that explode into riptides, pulling us deeper. The more she takes, the more I want to give. The more I want her.

 

 

Episode Four did not disappoint in the least! It’s filled with panty melting steam, jaw-dropping revelations, and tons of action and bloody violence! I never thought that I would be so addicted to the dark romance genre but sometimes I love it even more than RomComs which truly does surprise me. What I’ve learned after having read this series, is that I love the way Keri Lake writes. Her words are hauntingly beautiful and if I go back and look at all the excerpts I highlighted, I don’t think I would be able to keep track!

What I will say about this last episode is that many questions are answered and that love does indeed conquer all. There are too many enemies and it seems their end game is to keep Rip and Dylan apart, but Rip will unleash his fury on anyone who tries to take what is his!! Ah, how I loved that dark and complex man! He made the story for me!

Even though I loved this series and believe me when I say that Keri Lake has a new fan in me, I have to say that after having finished the books, I truly wish that this had been released as one full novel, instead of being broken up into four novellas. Normally I have a truly exceptional memory – you can ask Mel and Dee, they will attest to that! However, when it came to this series I had a hard time keeping track of how each episode ended. There were way too many bad guys and some of them had multiple identities which had my brain in a deep fog! I couldn’t for the life of me keep track of who was who and what had they done to wrong either Rip or Dylan.

 

 

But even though at times pieces of the story messed with my brain, I really did enjoy reading it, for the most part, Keri Lake has become an automatic read author for me. Here’s to hoping that she writes a book for Jorgen!!

THE RIPPLE EFFECT:EPISODE FOUR is available now!

Amazon : hyperurl.co/752k9k

BLOG TOUR – RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE FOUR (Ripple Effect #4) by Keri Lake

Leave a comment

 

 

 

From the author of Ricochet and Backfire comes a dark erotic suspense serial …

Episode Four: With every cause, there’s an effect, and Ripley will do everything in his power to keep Dylan safe. To hell with the consequences.

Series Synopsis:

Ripley

They call me RIP.
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath.
In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.
I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.
I want to love her, but I no longer feel.
She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.
Something I’d kill for.
I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.
I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.
And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.

Dylan

For months, I’ve watched him.
I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.
I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.
Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.
And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.
It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.

*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex

 

Dylan
Pressure and a nip of my skin recoils my muscles.  A pinprick at my left arm tells me Randy’s shoved a needle into my veins, and the warmth that floods every muscle in my body, like a fireplace at Christmastime, has me clinging to my reality.  It’s nauseating and soothing, curling my toes at the same time I want to throw up.  Please.  I don’t want to pass out. Not while Rook’s holding those pliers.  My stomach twists and gurgles.
“Just a little cocktail I put together for you, my sweet girl.”  Randy’s voice fades in and out and he strokes my hair, only adding to the wave of comfort sweeping over me.  “It took twelve stitches to close that stab to my ribs.  So I’m going to give you twelve stitches … somewhere.”
“No.”  My voice is weak and slipping with every second.
“Tell me you love me, Dylan.”  His lips are at my ear, the crackle of his whisper growing distant.  “I can make this all go away.  Tell me you want me.  Only me.”
I roll my head against the dirty mattress they’d lain me on and moan a protest that doesn’t matter.  No one will hear me.
The moment footfalls diminish across the room, Randy’s at my ear again.  “I’ll kill him.”  He speaks so softly I can hardly hear him, even as close as he is.  “For you.  Just tell me you want me.”
Nails scrape my inner walls, and when the heel of a hand presses against my pubic bone, fingers curve up into me—a sensation that begins to fade as the drugs take hold.
“I’ll wait.  You’re gonna love this shit, Dylan.”  Randy’s voice is distant, floating all around me. “I fucking need to get inside you, baby girl.  Need it so bad.  I should’ve done this a long time ago.  You ran, though.  From me.”  A crack to my face hardly registers as the drugs start to kick in, and he strikes me again.  Same place, but I’m numb, drifting from my body into a disconnected space, away from all of this.  The same place I used to hide when my mother fucked her Johns in front of me, or when Randy took pictures in that dirty laundry room.  “You’ll never run from me again.”
A scream hammers against my skull—it’s a loud, screechy, painful sound as if someone has reached down into the depths and pulled out a soul.  Is it me?  Am I screaming for my life and I’m just so gone, I don’t recognize my own pain?  Has he already begun to use those pliers on me?
I don’t notice the pressure against my thighs as it was before when Randy’s voice breezed my ear.  
The blackness lifts, and I’m staring into dark, angry eyes—one blue, one hazel.
If I happened to be sober, the sight of him would have me crawling out of my skin as enraged as he looks with his lip peeled back in a snarl.  My head feels as if it moves in slow motion, as I look around for Rook and Randy.  They’re nowhere in sight.  Am I dreaming?  Is this all a nightmare?  Will I wake to Rip’s pissed off face staring back at me?  There’s an element of fear and relief in that thought.  
I didn’t take any pills, did I?  No, I could swear I didn’t take any pills.
The blackness tugs at me, begging me to swim in its void.  Yes.  Take me.  
Ripley stands up from me, shoving a cigarette into his mouth, and plucks his fingers along his blade.  
Will he kill me?  Will all three of them torture me?
I don’t even care.  Somewhere in the darkness, there’s safety.  Quiet.  So I let it steal me away.

 

$25 Amazon Gift Card
&
Keri Lake Swag Pack
Click HERE to enter
Keri Lake is a married mother of two living in Michigan. By day, she tries to make use of the degrees she’s earned in science. By night, she writes dark contemporary, paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Though novels tend to be her focus, she also writes short stories and flash fiction on the many occasions distraction sucks her into the Land of Shiny Things.

For news, updates and sneak peeks at the sexy cover model candidates for her annual Cover Model Contest, subscribe to her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/HJPHH

 

 

 

HADES HANGMEN SURPRISE!!

Leave a comment

 

 

Pre-order for only 99c

 

 

 

I Do, Babe: A Novella (Hades Hangmen 5.5)

 

WHEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT COMBINE, DESTINED SOULS WILL IGNITE . . .
Connected since childhood.
Two souls: one dark and one pure.
Bracing to take the greatest step of all.
River ‘Styx’ Nash loves his woman. Ever since he met Mae at the fence of the cult that had kept her captive as a child, he has never loved anyone else. He loves her black hair, her pale skin and of course, her ice-blue ‘wolf eyes’.
Since Mae came crashing back into his life, his only wish has been to marry her; finally to make her his wife. But now the wedding is booked, and only weeks from forever having Mae by his side, a lifelong problem is plaguing him.
He wants to marry her; he has never wanted anything more . . .
. . . if only he could speak the words and declare it to the world.
Salome ‘Mae’ Nash’s life had been filled with heartache and pain . . . until, at age eight, she met a strange dark-haired boy from the outside world. Years later, and reunited with her great love, Mae is ready to solder her heart to his. Finally, Mae is getting ready to marry her man. But her fiancé has become withdrawn. Something is deeply troubling him.
But Mae has no idea what.
Or what to do to help.
Can Styx open up and conquer his deepest pain? Or will the infamous Hangmen Mute allow his fears to overcome his love for Mae and watch their much-anticipated wedding crumble to dust?
Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, offensive language and mature topics. Recommended for age 18 and over.
***I Do, Babe: A Novella (Hades Hangmen #5.5) is to be read AFTER Damnable Grace (Hades Hangmen #5)***

 


Tillie Cole hails from a small town in the North-East of England. She grew up on a farm with her English mother, Scottish father and older sister and a multitude of rescue animals. As soon as she could, Tillie left her rural roots for the bright lights of the big city.

After graduating from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Religious Studies, Tillie followed her Professional Rugby player husband around the world for a decade, becoming a teacher in between and thoroughly enjoyed teaching High School students Social Studies before putting pen to paper, and finishing her first novel.

Tillie has now settled in Austin, Texas, where she is finally able to sit down and write, throwing herself into fantasy worlds and the fabulous minds of her characters.

Tillie is both an independent and traditionally published author, and writes many genres including: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance, Young Adult and New Adult novels.

When she is not writing, Tillie enjoys nothing more than curling up on her couch watching movies, drinking far too much coffee, while convincing herself that she really doesn’t need that extra square of chocolate.
Author Links

 

 

 

BLOG TOUR – TORTURED by Nicole Williams

Leave a comment

 

 

 

 

goodreads-badge.png

 

 

WRAPPED UP IN READING’s REVIEW OF TORTURED

AP new - synopsis.jpg

 

When he left for a twelve-month deployment, she knew it would feel like forever before they saw each other again. She didn’t realize how right she was.

 When Lance Corporal Brecken Connolly gets taken as a POW, Camryn hopes for the best but steels herself for the worst. In the end, steel was what she needed to survive when he didn’t. She moves on the only way she knows how—gilding herself in more steel.

 Years go by.

She builds a new life.

She leaves the old one behind.

 Until one day, she sees the face of a ghost on the news. Brecken seems to have risen from the dead, but she knows she can’t perform the same miracle for herself. While Brecken was held in a torture camp for the past five years, she’s been trapped in her own kind of prison. One she can’t be freed from.  

 The man she mourned comes back to join the living, but the girl he wanted to spend his life with isn’t the same woman he comes back for. Brecken isn’t the same person either. The past five years have changed them both. While he’s determined to put the pieces back together, she’s resolved to let hers rot where they shattered.

 

Broken or not, Brecken wants her back. He’ll do anything to achieve that. Even if it means going against the warden of Camryn’s personal prison—her husband.
“It’s been six years. Everything’s changed. I have. You have.” My eyes lifted. “Why? Why are you trying to win me back?”
He exhaled, his lips parting. “I’m going to win you back.”
When his hand slid around the bend of my waist, winding behind my back, I jerked. His touch was different tonight, hungry, determined. My head clouded, blocking out reason or letting it surface to the top, one or the other.
“I married him,” I whispered even as my hand found his chest.
“But you belong to me.”
My eyes closed as he bowed me against him. I wasn’t sure how two bodies that had been as broken as ours could be so strong when joined. “How do you know?”
“I can see it in your eyes. Every time you look at me.” His other hand lifted to my chin, tipping it until our eyes connected. His brow rose slowly, like I was proving his point right that very moment.
“That’s a confident statement.” My voice shook, but my body felt steady. Unwavering.
“It’s the truth.”
My chest was moving so hard, it brushed his with every breath. What was I doing? Where had I found myself? The man holding me had died only to be resurrected six years later. It was too late, but it wasn’t over.
No matter what, Brecken Connolly and I would never be over.
“Twenty-six days,” I said slowly. “That’s all I have to give you. That’s all I have to give. Four weeks. Once he’s back, you know the way it has to be.”
His face broke, but his hold didn’t budge. “It’s not enough.”
My fingers curled into his shirt, looking for some way to hold on to him. “I know.”
His other arm suddenly looped around me and he lifted me off the ground, his grip going around my backside when my legs tied around him. “But a fucking eternity wouldn’t be enough either, so it’ll just have to do.”
He carried me through the sand and up the stairs of the cabin, then he propped me against the wall so he could open the screen door. Something slipped out of my mouth when he flexed his hips into mine.
“Told you it wasn’t a morning issue,” he whispered in my ear, but I could hear the smile in his voice. “Just a Camryn one.”
He made the same motion with his hips, applying a little more friction this time, causing a louder sound to echo from my lungs.
Opening the screen door as silently as he could, he carried me inside.
“You can set me down, you know?” I whispered.
“I know,” he said, his arms tying tighter. Once all of the lights were off, the cabin closed up for the night, he padded down the hall.
“You know where you’re going?”
His head nodded beside mine. “I’ve always known.”
My hands went behind his neck. His skin was warm and familiar. “And where’s that?”
He exhaled against my skin as he closed the bedroom door. “Toward you.”
He set me down once he’d untied my legs from around his waist, and he took a few steps back. He stared at me for a moment then reached for the lamp on the dresser.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Turning on the lights.”
I watched him flip on another. “Why?”
“Because I want to see you. Because I want to watch your face as I move inside you. Because I want to see your skin flush when I make you come.” He flipped on one more light, then all of his attention turned to me. “Because I want to see everything.”
My heart took off as I imagined being intimate with him with every light in the room on. My body wasn’t the same one he’d left. It had carried a burden; it bore the scars of a shattered soul and a broken body. “I don’t want you to see me. Not like that. In the dark, you can imagine the way I was before.”
When I reached for the closest lamp to switch it off, he stopped me. “I don’t want to imagine.” His hand curled around mine, guiding it away from the lamp. “I want the real thing. I want the real you.”
“You’ve seen my body. You know what I look like beneath all of this.” I motioned at the fresh clothes hanging off of me, covering me from my wrists to my ankles to my neck.
“When I look at you, I see beauty and strength, and the one person in the world who gives me a reason to live and a reason to die.” He drew me to him, his face creased in lines of concentration. “That’s what I see when I look at you.”

 

AP new -about the author.jpg

 

Nicole Williams is the New York Times and USATODAY bestselling author of contemporary and young adult romance, including the Crash and Lost & Found series. Her books have been published by HarperTeen and Simon & Schuster in both domestic and foreign markets, while she continues to self-publish additional titles. She is working on a new YA series with Crown Books (a division of Random House) as well. She loves romance, from the sweet to the steamy, and writes stories about characters in search of their happily even after. She grew up surrounded by books and plans on writing until the day she dies, even if it’s just for her own personal enjoyment. She still buys paperbacks because she’s all nostalgic like that, but her kindle never goes neglected for too long. When not writing, she spends her time with her husband and daughter, and whatever time’s left over she’s forced to fit too many hobbies into too little time.
Nicole is represented by Jane Dystel, of Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency.

 

ArdentProse_LogoMain.jpg

 

 

REVIEW – TORTURED by Nicole Williams

Leave a comment

SYNOPSIS

When he left for a twelve-month deployment, she knew it would feel like forever before they saw each other again. She didn’t realize how right she was.

When Lance Corporal Brecken Connolly gets taken as a POW, Camryn hopes for the best but steels herself for the worst. In the end, steel was what she needed to survive when he didn’t. She moves on the only way she knows how—gilding herself in more steel.

Years go by.
She builds a new life.
She leaves the old one behind.

Until one day, she sees the face of a ghost on the news. Brecken seems to have risen from the dead, but she knows she can’t perform the same miracle for herself. While Brecken was held in a torture camp for the past five years, she’s been trapped in her own kind of prison. One she can’t be saved from.

The man she mourned comes back to join the living, but the girl he wanted to spend his life with isn’t the same woman he comes back for. Brecken isn’t the same person either. The past five years have changed them both. While he’s determined to put the pieces back together, she’s resolved to let hers rot where they shattered.

Broken or not, Brecken wants her back. He’ll do anything to achieve that. Even if it means going against the warden of Camryn’s personal prison—her husband.

*****Patty’s Review*****
*****4.5 STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Author}

”When I look at you, I see beauty and strength, and the one person in the world who gives me a reason to live and a reason to die.”

TORTURED is not an easy story to read, I mean the title speaks for itself. This story is utterly heartbreaking and painful at times, but even with the dark subject matter, I was hopeful that the main characters would get their well-deserved HEA. There is an element of cheating but given how horrible the husband is, I doubt anyone who has issues with cheating will really be bothered by it in this book. This is also a tale of second chance love and that’s just about one of my favorite tropes.

Camryn Gardner and Brecken Connolly grew up in the same neighborhood and have been the best of friends since their early childhood. In High School, they became romantically involved and were each other’s first love. They both come from broken homes, but Camryn had an especially rough family life. Her father was extremely strict and was both mentally and physically abusive. At the end of his senior year of high school, Brecken enlists in the Marine Corp., and he’s being shipped off to Iraq. He has reservations about leaving Camryn behind because of her abusive father but he’s planning for their future together and believes he is doing what’s best for them. He promises that he’ll only be gone for a year and then they’ll be together again. Unfortunately, Camryn’s worst nightmare becomes reality and Brecken is captured and later pronounced dead.

The story fast forwards six years and we find out that Camryn has married another man, who also grew up in the same neighborhood, and was considered a good friend. But Crew is anything but a good man. Camryn ended up moving from one nightmare with her father into an even worse one when she married Crew. He is an alcoholic who physically abuses her, but to protect the five-year-old son they have together, she stays in this abusive relationship.

Camryn’s world is turned upside down when news gets out that Brecken is alive and he is coming home. He had been held captive in Iraq for the past six years and the torture that he endured is pretty terrible and hard to stomach. What Brecken went through would break any normal human being, but what kept him going was his dream of seeing Camryn again. The moment he finally sees Camryn again and realizes that she is married nearly broke my heart into pieces.

The two are able to spend time together when Camryn’s husband checks himself into rehab after nearly beating her to death. The six years that separated them seemed to just melt away once they’re able to be together and it’s clear that the love they shared is even stronger than it was when they were teenagers. But Camryn makes it clear that their time together has an expiration date. Once her husband comes home, she will be going back to him for the sake of her son.

This story grabbed a hold of me from the beginning and I found it hard to put down, but there was one piece of the plot that I predicted early on and it ended up becoming a pain point for me in the end. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the choices the heroine made. This would have been a five star read if it weren’t for that tiny flaw in the plot. Otherwise, I still would highly recommend this book!

TORTURED is currently available!

Amazon – hyperurl.co/81w8eh
iBooks – http://hyperurl.co/buhp0z

LIVE – THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE FOUR (The Ripple Effect #4) by Keri Lake

Leave a comment


From the author of Ricochet and Backfire comes a dark erotic suspense serial …

Episode Four: With every cause, there’s an effect, and Ripley will do everything in his power to keep Dylan safe. To hell with the consequences.

Series Synopsis:

Ripley

They call me RIP.
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath.
In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.
I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.
I want to love her, but I no longer feel.
She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.
Something I’d kill for.
I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.
I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.
And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.

Dylan

For months, I’ve watched him.
I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.
I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.
Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.
And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.
It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.

*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex

Dylan
“Look, I know it doesn’t mean anything to you.  I get that you don’t like the hero stuff.  But I really do appreciate what you did.”  I run my finger along his perfectly trimmed hairline and bend forward to kiss the back of his neck.  I can’t help it.  It’s the first time I’ve attempted affection since his accusation.
He doesn’t react at all.  Doesn’t even look at me, and I’m at a complete loss for how to crack this man.  There are times I feel I’ve touched his soul, only to find I’ve not even breached his skin.  
His lack of reaction to me is nothing short of embarrassing—rejection of the worst kind, because I’ve tacked it on to a pathetic gesture of thanks.
“Forget it.”  I step past him and feel a hard grip of my arm that spins me right the hell around.  Twisting my wrist is a fruitless effort in his steel grip, and in spite of my resistance, he pulls me back into him, until I fall awkwardly straddling his lap.  I slide back on his legs, and he yanks me forward by my wrists, until I’m fully aware of what must be one hell of a painful bulge between us.  “This isn’t easy for me, you know?  Showing my gratitude.  I’m not used to this shit.  And you make it … impossible!”
“I don’t need your fucking gratitude, Dylan.  It was a job, okay?”
“I’m just a job to you?”  I can’t even believe I’m talking aloud, saying this shit like something straight out of an angsty teen movie, but he’s got me so pissed I can’t help myself.  The words continue to fall in all their cringe-worthy glory.  “That’s it?  You didn’t give a shit, right?  You’d have let those bastards use and abuse me right there? Rook wanted to fuck me with a pair of pliers.  Did you know that?”  The tic of his eye and the clench of his jaw tell me I’ve hit a nerve, and still my mouth won’t quit.  “Is that what gets you off, Ripley?  Are you such a sadistic bastard, so goddamn hell-bent on pain you’d have let that happen?”
His brows come together at the same time he grips my jaw, and for the first time in the last hour, I see something flicker across his face—pain, anger, I can’t tell, but it’s better than the stoic expression he’s been wearing.  “I’ve killed him a million times in my mind for touching you, Dylan.  You’re having trouble showing gratitude?  I’m having a fuck of a time playing the good guy here.  I don’t save people, sweetheart.  I kill them.  In brutally violent ways, but last night …” His lips form a hard line, brows stern.  “I would’ve taken every bruise they put on your body.  Every punch for you.  Only for you.  Seeing you laid out like that flipped my fucking switch, and I lost control.”

$25 Amazon Gift Card
&
Keri Lake Swag Pack
Click HERE to enter
Keri Lake is a married mother of two living in Michigan. By day, she tries to make use of the degrees she’s earned in science. By night, she writes dark contemporary, paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Though novels tend to be her focus, she also writes short stories and flash fiction on the many occasions distraction sucks her into the Land of Shiny Things.

For news, updates and sneak peeks at the sexy cover model candidates for her annual Cover Model Contest, subscribe to her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/HJPHH

BLOG TOUR – THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE THREE (Ripple Effect #3) by Keri Lake

Leave a comment

 

 

 

From the author of Ricochet and Backfire comes a dark erotic suspense serial …

Episode Three: In the underbelly, trust is everything, and Dylan will soon discover that Ripley trusts no one. With the return of an old threat, loyalty is on the line, and betrayal could mean the end of everything for both of them.

Series Synopsis:

Ripley

They call me RIP.
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath.
In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.
I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.
I want to love her, but I no longer feel.
She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.
Something I’d kill for.
I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.
I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.
And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.

Dylan

For months, I’ve watched him.
I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.
I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.
Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.
And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.
It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.

*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex

 

Dylan
“I trust no one, Dylan.  The sooner you accept that the easier this will be for you.”
“The easier what will be?”  I glare at him, studying the sharp, unyielding lines of his face as he stares out the windshield.  “Say it.  I want to hear you say it.”
“The fuck do you want from me?”
“Your honesty.  Do you want me to stay?  Or should we part ways here?”
“Honesty?  It’s your honesty that’s in question.”  The lines from before somehow turn impassive and completely devoid of reaction.  “I promised you twenty grand.  I like to keep my promises.”
“You’re an asshole, Ripley.”  When I open the door, a harsh grip of my arm tugs me back, but I twist out of it and stumble from the car into the thin layer of snow.
I push to my feet and tromp off with a wet ass.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The hint of boredom in his voice grates me even more, and all I can do is flip him off.  
I need a place to go.  Somewhere to get away, so I can reel myself in without his taunting.  I want to be as cool and detached as he is, so I’m not wearing all this damn emotion for him to smother my face in, but the second the headlights flip behind me, I know I won’t get far.
“Get in the car, Dylan.”  He’s driving beside me, one hand on the wheel, the other stroking his chin and I have to look away, because as sexy as he looks, all leaned to the side and chill, he’s still a bastard. A confusing, sadistic bastard who’s probably hoping I break down and cry so he can lick the tears off my face and laugh.
“Go.  To.  Hell.”  I hate myself.  Every word that drips from my mouth screams pouty, eighteen-year-old brat—all the things I try desperately not to be.  But damn it, the man pissed me off.  Again.  
The car stops and my heart kicks up to oh shit.  I up my pace, trying not to run across the slick snow and risk falling, but the moment the door slams shut, I know I’m screwed.
He loves this.  This cat and mouse game between us.  I dare say it’s why he behaves the way he does, and even though I’m smart enough to read between his lines, I’m tired of the games with him.  The hot and cold and seclusion.  I’m tired of being the only one who doesn’t know what the hell is going on.
I didn’t betray him, and that I have to keep proving that fact irritates the shit out of me.
At the crunch of his boots behind me, I up my pace to a jog and in the next breath, I face-plant the snow.  My body is yanked backward and he flips me onto my back as if I’m nothing but a ragdoll.  
On instinct, I kick out at him, but he ignores my pathetic fight and climbs atop of me, straddling my body, pinning my arms into the cold snow.  
“If you don’t get off of me,” I growl, squirming in his grasp, “I’m going to scream.”
“Scream.”  He’s taunting me, I can see it in his eyes that don’t so much as flinch with my fight.  “Scream loud.  Scream until your voice gives out.  Scream until the whole city can hear you.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?  You’re nothing but a sadist.  A torture-loving bastard!”
“I haven’t begun to torture you, sweetheart.  But after this little stunt, you’re gonna wish you’d have just gotten into that fucking car.”
“I hate you.  I really truly hate you.”
“No you don’t.  You wish you hated me.  Just like I wish I hated you.”  He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and for the first time tonight, his furious eyes soften.

 

$25 Amazon Gift Card
&
Keri Lake Swag Pack
Click HERE to enter
Keri Lake is a married mother of two living in Michigan. By day, she tries to make use of the degrees she’s earned in science. By night, she writes dark contemporary, paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Though novels tend to be her focus, she also writes short stories and flash fiction on the many occasions distraction sucks her into the Land of Shiny Things.

For news, updates and sneak peeks at the sexy cover model candidates for her annual Cover Model Contest, subscribe to her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/HJPHH

 

 

 

REVIEW – THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE THREE (Ripple Effect, #3) by Keri Lake

Leave a comment

SYNOPSIS

Ripley

They call me RIP.
I’m a killer. A murderer. A psychopath.
In the eyes of the righteous, I’m a monster, born of sin and depravity.
I want to protect her, but I’m not a good man.
I want to love her, but I no longer feel.
She gets under my skin, though, and has awakened something inside of me.
Something I’d kill for.
I’m not her savior—not even close. In fact, I’m worse than the hell she’s already suffered.
I’m her vengeance. Tit for tat, as they say.
And if she’s not careful, I’ll be her ruin.

Dylan

For months, I’ve watched him.
I’ve fantasized him as my savior, my lover. My ticket out of the hell I’ve lived in for the last six years.
I never dreamed he’d be my nightmare.
Had I known what he really is, I’d have never gotten in the car that night, but life is full of cause and effect.
And sometimes the choice on offer isn’t a choice at all.
It’s the result of something already in motion, and we’re merely left to survive the ripple effect.

*This is an erotic suspense/erotic romance not recommended for readers under the age of 18 due to graphic violence and sex.

 

 

*****Patty’s Review*****

*****FIVE STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Author}

A woman like that is dangerous for a man like me, but letting her go is no longer an option. I can’t decide if she’s a nightmare or a dream. All I know is that I want more of it. More of her.

 

 

THE RIPPLE EFFECT series is highly addictive, super dark, and decadently steamy!! Each episode is better than the last. This particular episode packed a punch with the steam and it delivered the romance that I have been patiently waiting for. In Episode Three, Rip and Dylan are getting to know each other on a much deeper level.

Dylan and Rip are beginning to feel that that is more than just an undeniably hot attraction between them. They are becoming to mean a whole lot more to each other and it scares them both equally. They’re revealing things about themselves to each other which strengthens the bond between them. But Rip continues to warn Dylan that there is no possible way that they can have a future together. No matter how hard she tries to act as if her heart is not being broken by his words, Dylan can’t help but feel completely rejected by the man she is slowly starting to fall in love with.

 

 

 

Dylan meets a woman from Rip’s past that only brings forth even more unanswered questions. And when Rip makes the mistake of showing how much Dylan means to him, it ends up putting her in a very precarious situation. Things are not looking good for Dylan by the time we get to the end of this episode but hopefully, love will conquer all and these two will ride off into the sunset together by the time we reach the conclusion in Episode Four.

I can’t praise this series enough!! It’s freaking amazing!! Keri Lake is another author that I am happy to add to my automatic must read shelf now!

THE RIPPLE EFFECT: EPISODE THREE is currently available! Make sure you one-click this series!

AMAZON: http://hyperurl.co/cyzs6b

 

 

 

*****Mel’s Review*****

4.5 Stars!

Ripley & Dylan are still enjoying their arrangement as roommates/lovers. She feels safe with him but still doesn’t know exactly how she fits into his life, or what she is to him. She’s starting to feel attached to him, & craves not only his touch but his trust. She knows this isn’t a fairytale, but she’s starting to see a different side to him. He can be tender at times, and she just wants whatever part of himself he’s willing to give her. He’s still her ticket to a better life, but could there also be something real between them.

-“You’re so fucking beautiful it hurts.”

-I’m surrounded by hell and you show up like a breath of salvation.

-The more resistant I am, the more he wants it, and for as many people in my life who sought to control my rebellious nature, this man seems to feed on it.

-No one’s ever kissed me like this, so tender yet possessive as if I belong to him.

-I hate that he has this power over me, but that’s the nature of Ripley and me. We’re fucked up- two wrongs that somehow make a right.

Dylan has awakened something inside of Ripley. He doesn’t want her to be his weakness or someone his enemies can use against him, but he’d kill for her. She’s his, & he will destroy anyone who tries to harm her. He has this overwhelming need to protect her & doesn’t want to ever hurt her. He was numb for years until Dylan entered his life. No matter how hard he tries to fight it, she makes him feel.

EXCERPT REVEAL – DAMNABLE GRACE (Hades Hangmen, #5) by Tillie Cole

Leave a comment

 

 

Coming April 18th

 

 

EVEN THE BROKEN, THROUGH LOVE, CAN FIND GRACE…

Secrets never stay hidden.

The burden of guilt never lifts from the heart.

Born and raised in The Order of David, Sister Phebe knows nothing but cult life. Head of the Sacred Sisters of New Zion, Phebe was groomed from childhood for one purpose: to seduce. Prized as a harlot, as a New Zion whore, Phebe is taken from the doomed cult by Meister, the notorious leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Taken as his possession. Taken to be the woman who will obey his every sexual demand. Under his heavy hand, Phebe finds herself in a place much worse than she could ever have imagined… with absolutely no one to help. And no glimpse of hope.

Xavier ‘AK’ Deyes is content with his life as Sergeant-At-Arms of the Hades Hangmen. Leader of the infamous ‘Psycho Trio’ and ex-special ops sniper, AK knows how to fight. Experienced in warfare and schooled in military operations, AK is vital to the Hangmen. When his Vice President needs help retrieving his missing sister-in-law, Phebe, from a Klan-funded trafficking ring, AK volunteers to go in. AK remembers the redhead from New Zion. Remembers everything about her from the single time they met—her red hair, blue eyes and freckled face. But when he finds her, heavily drugged and under Meister’s control, her sorry condition causes him to remember more than the beautiful woman he once tied to a tree. Saving Phebe forces hidden demons from his past to return. A past he can never move on from, no matter how hard he tries.

As AK fights to help Phebe, and in turn she strives to help him, they realize their secret sins will never leave them alone. Kindred broken souls, they realize the only way they can be rid of their ghosts is to face them together and try to find peace.

Despair soon turns to hope, and damaged hearts soon start to heal. But when their deep, painful scars resurface, becoming too much to bear, the time comes when they must make a heavy choice: stay forever damned; or together, find grace.

Dark Contemporary Romance. Contains explicit sexual situations, violence, disturbingly sensitive and taboo subjects, offensive language and very mature topics. Recommended for age 18 and over.

 


“Well?” Ky asked.
Tanner ran his hand over his head. The brother hadn’t attended one of our cookouts or slutfests in weeks. Not that he ever entertained himself with sluts—still too hard for his piece of pussy down in Mexico. He’d been busy trying to track down Meister. Unlike most of the white-power shit Tanner and Tank grew up with, this Meister was untraceable and off the grid. As much of a computer whizz kid as Tanner was, Meister was proving to be one slippery fucking snake to pin down.
“Gotta be honest, I didn’t think I was anywhere close to finding anything on this prick.” Tanner nodded toward Tank. “We knew of him, of course. I knew he had dealings with my father and uncle, just never met him myself. He’s Aryan Brotherhood, but works closely with the Klan. And there’s nothing on him. No email traces, no invoices, no texts. Nothing.”
I gritted my teeth and glanced at Styx, who was listening closely. Ky wasn’t originally gonna tell the prez about the plan to get Phebe, because of his fucking wedding, but that didn’t last long. Styx knew something was up with his VP. He read him like I read Flame and Vike. So Ky fessed up, and Styx was all for the plan. He’d had to push his wedding back by a month anyhow to get the pastor Mae wanted to conduct the ceremony, so he had time to kill.
“But you found something?” Ky translated as Styx signed.
Tanner sighed, the black circles around his eyes showing how hard the brother had been working. “I got something.” He shook his head, and my blood ran cold. I knew whatever he had found wasn’t good.
Tanner opened the file in front of him and threw a photograph toward the prez. Styx looked at it, then gave it to Ky. “Some middle-of-nowhere ghost town?”
Ky passed the picture around. Vike handed it to me, and I studied it. It was an aerial shot, and the picture was grainy, but from what I could make out, it was just a huge piece of land scattered with decrepit old buildings.
I passed the picture along. “Fucker owns this?”
Tanner faced me. “Yeah, or at least his father did. He’s dead now, but the deeds are still in his father’s name. Been in the family for decades. Took me a while to trace it.” He shook his head. “Meister is notorious among the Klan. Right, Tank?”
“Yeah,” Tank agreed. “Never met him either, but we’d all heard of him. Prick has been mobilizing for years for the race war they think is coming. Real serious, Oklahoma-City-bomb shit. From what we’ve heard, the guy has a one-track mind when it comes to advancing the white race. You think Hitler was fucked up? Well, imagine if he had a kid who was one built motherfucker, with a fucking carbon copy of his psycho mind; and you’ve got Meister. Fucker ain’t even German. Just wishes he was, spouting German phrases around like he’s born and bred Berlin. Delusional asshole.”
“This ain’t gonna be easy,” Tanner finished, looking at me, Vike, Flame, Hush and Cowboy. It was the five of us who had agreed to go looking for Phebe. Hush and Cowboy nodded at me to let me know they were still in.
“So he’s in this ghost town?” Ky asked, translating Styx’s sign language again. “If so, we’ll all just go in and get him, make the fucker talk and tell us where he’s got Phebe.”
Tanner sat forward. “He ain’t just living in the ghost town or hiding out. That’s where he has his enterprise.”
“Enterprise?” Ky echoed. It was his own question this time.
Tanner nodded. “From what I can tell, it’s a fucking brothel. Members of the Aryan Brotherhood, Klan, or Klan sympathizers, can go there for a night or a few days at a time.” Tank shifted uncomfortably next to him. “Ain’t sure, but I’m thinking it ain’t just getting your dick sucked and fucked. It’ll be real fucked-up shit. If Meister’s reputation is anything to go by, we would be walking into an organized, armed hellhole.” Tanner’s eyes darkened. “I get the Klan has a reputation for being full of backward rednecks. I ain’t gonna lie—growing up, most of my father’s cronies were that way. Thick as fuck and couldn’t do shit without screwing it up. Skinheads, lower-ranked soldiers, you know?”
“But there were some members that weren’t,” Tank continued. He cast an embarrassed glance at Tanner. “We weren’t, for starters.”
Tanner nodded. “It’s not the norm, but some of us were good. Smart, strong fighters, or just outright fucking psychos. The skinheads and rednecks are the foot soldiers. The likes of us, the likes of Meister, are the fucking SS. The planners, leaders, the generals—the ones who believe in the cause so much that they’re fucking lethal with what they’ll do, what they’re capable of. Meister is true Aryan Brotherhood; he’s preparing for war. He’s the real fucking deal.”
“And now he’s in our neck of the woods to stir up shit?” I asked.
Tanner nodded. “Comes from northern Texas. Never moved our way before. But the Klan are building day by day, joining forces with other white supremacist gangs—like the Brotherhood—and with the shit that’s on the news twenty-four-seven, blacks and whites at each others throats, he’s moved to the headquarters.” The brother’s jaw clenched. “To my father and uncle, who’ll be protecting him from being found out by the feds.” He sighed and ran his hand down his face. “From what I can figure out, this ghost-town brothel of his has only existed in the last year or so. He’s looking to fund something.”
“They ain’t dealing guns?” Cowboy drawled. “I thought that’s what Rider said the contract with the cult was for?”
“Rider was sure it was guns. At least it was when he was dealing with the Klan—it was all about arms. The Klan was selling them on and taking a cut.”
“His fucking twin,” Hush spat. “He changed the arrangement, didn’t he? When Rider was locked up in cult prison?”
“Think so,” Tanner said after a few seconds of silence.
“Then what the fuck are they dealing? What was Judah giving them if not Israeli guns?”
“Women.”
Tillie Cole hails from a small town in the North-East of England. She grew up on a farm with her English mother, Scottish father and older sister and a multitude of rescue animals. As soon as she could, Tillie left her rural roots for the bright lights of the big city.

After graduating from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Religious Studies, Tillie followed her Professional Rugby player husband around the world for a decade, becoming a teacher in between and thoroughly enjoyed teaching High School students Social Studies before putting pen to paper, and finishing her first novel.

Tillie has now settled in Austin, Texas, where she is finally able to sit down and write, throwing herself into fantasy worlds and the fabulous minds of her characters.

Tillie is both an independent and traditionally published author, and writes many genres including: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance, Young Adult and New Adult novels.

When she is not writing, Tillie enjoys nothing more than curling up on her couch watching movies, drinking far too much coffee, while convincing herself that she really doesn’t need that extra square of chocolate.
Author Links