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The Only One. . .Teaser #2

One week from today, The Only One goes live on all venues! Are you ready? I know I am!

Today’s sneak peek features Rilla and Mason . . . she’s working for him, taking care of his daughter and his mother, and they’ve just come from dinner out. Something happened that kind of set Rilla off. Watch out for those quiet types.

“You’re crazy. Just flat-out, no-holds-barred insane.”

Rilla didn’t wait for me to open her door this time when I pulled the truck into the driveway. She jumped out and then leaned back to unbuckle Piper. “Come on, sweet pea. Let’s get you ready for a bath and bed.”

TheOnlyOneEbook“Rilla, come on. We need to talk about this.” I followed her into the house. “Just wait a second.”

“No, thanks. I’m going to put Piper to bed, and then I’m going to help Naomi with her medicine and help her get changed for bed. And then I’m going to my room and going to bed myself. I suggest you do the same. Clearly you got too much sun today, and it fried your brain.”

“It didn’t go above seventy-two degrees today, Rilla. I don’t have heat stroke. I just—”

“No.” She stopped and spun on her heel, shooting me a stern, shut-your-mouth look that halted me in my tracks. “Not another word.” She turned around again, pausing only at the doorway to my mother’s room. “Naomi, as soon as I get the little one down, I’ll come help you, okay? You all right ‘til then?”

I heard my mom speak, cautious and curious. “I’m fine, darlin’. The bigger question is, are you okay?”

“I’m peachy. Be right back. Piper, say good-night to Nan.”

Rilla bent to set my daughter on the floor, and Piper scampered to hug her grandmother. She ran back to grab Rilla’s hand and marched up the steps.

I went into Mom’s room and dropped into the easy chair, rubbing the back of my neck.

“I’m nearly afraid to ask, but what happened? Here I was happy, thinking the three of you were off having yourselves a time, and instead Rilla comes home in a snit and you’re trailing her around, begging her to give you a minute of time.”

I sighed. “You’re not going to like it, and I’m not sure I can deal with another pissed female tonight. So let’s just say I said something that made perfect sense to me, but apparently was the last thing Rilla wanted to hear.”

Mom laid her head back against the chair. “Oh, son. ‘Fess up, now. Tell me what you did.”

I steepled my fingers and stared down at them. “I asked Rilla to marry me.”

Want to know what happens next? Preorder The Only One NOW and have it on your ereader in one week.

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I’m Reading #Nerd, #Hater, #Player

The indie community is not without its drama, and last fall, some of it involved two authors who apparently were both writing books with a similar main idea. I don’t know details, I don’t know people involved; I only heard buzzings here and there. For some reason, the topic in question stuck in my head.

So when I saw the titles of Cambria Hebert’s series, it rang a bell. I might’ve just slid past it, but the blurb of the first book (#Nerd) struck a chord, and I downloaded it.

I’ve said before that I find some New Adult books somewhat formulaic. It doesn’t bother me, necessarily, as long as the characters are strong and the storyline doesn’t take itself too seriously. A few extra twists never hurt anyone, either.

#Nerd definitely has the formula element. The nerd is the girl, Rimmel (and it’s never addressed where her name came from. . .which I found interesting and a little maddening. If I knew a girl named Rimmel, the first thing I’d ask is where she got her name). She’s not only a nerd, she’s actually a very shy, withdrawn, almost-hermit girl, who dresses in clothes five sizes too big, wears her hair around her face and keeps everyone at arm’s length.  As a matter of fact, in my school days, she wouldn’t have been termed a nerd, necessarily, as much as just ignored. In Buffy-lore, Rimmel would’ve gone invisible long before our story begins. But I digress.

She’s at a college in Maryland on scholarship, and of course part of that scholarship is the requirement to tutor her less-academically-minded students. And to whom is she assigned as a tutor? You guessed it. Hot, rich, popular football player, with heavy emphasis on PLAYER. Dude gets around. During their first study session in the library, he slinks off with a random chick and our poor little nerd spies him getting some action in the stacks.

(Side note to girls in college: if popular literature is accurate, get yourself on staff as a tutor to meet the man of your dreams. Apparently it never fails. You’re welcome.)

But our player, Roman, aka Romeo (and it’s a testament to how much I really liked his character, because I had a hard time taking him seriously with that nickname) turns out to have a heart of gold. He sees the sweet vulnerability in Rimmel, and something in him harkens to something in her. Deep cries unto deep, one might say.

Unfortunately, before this can really develop, there’s a complication in the form of a fraternity rushing initiation. Although this is not a belabored point, thankfully, it does play into both the rest of this book and the second one. There’s the twist, see?

I gobbled up all three books in about three days, so you can tell I enjoyed them. The characters were compelling, well-written and likable. The plot wasn’t shocking or earth-shattering, but it was viable and interesting. The use of the fictional college’s BuzzFeed, a texting gossip network work that uses way too many hashtags, was cute and added to the background.

If I had any reservations about these books, it would be the speed with which Rimmel transforms from hermit-girl to girlfriend of popular dude. We find out why she’s hiding under all those clothes fairly quickly after she and Romeo begin dating, and while I am all for the theory of love-cures-all, I needed her to be a little more real in her reservations. Then again, maybe in real life, any girl who was full-court-press pursued by our man Romeo would cave fast, too.

A fourth book is coming out in May, about one of the side characters. I really enjoyed the supporting cast in these books, including Romeo’s parents. I like this new trend in NA of letting the parents play a bigger role. It feels more realistic to me.

So if you enjoy New Adult romance with a little humor, some heaty heat (oh, yeah!) and some intense love. . .if you liked Beautiful Disaster, for instance. . .check out Cambria Hebert’s Hashtag series.

I’m off to skulk for something else to read. Oh, yeah. . .and write the book that’s under deadline right now.

The First One Tease

Tuesday is Tease Day! Today we’re going to check out a little of The First OneBook 2 in The One Trilogy.

The One Trilogy is very near and dear to my heart. These characters have wormed their way into my heart, so that I think we may be visiting the small Georgia town of Burton more in the future.

In The Last One, we met Sam’s little sister Ali, who’s worked side-by-side with him to keep their family farm afloat. She and Meghan become friends, and Ali confides that the father of her little girl Bridget is not the guy she married suddenly seven years before; it was actually her high school boyfriend, Flynn Evans, who left town never knowing he was going to be a father. He broke Ali’s heart, and although Sam has no idea that Flynn is Bridget’s father, Ali confides in her brother that she never got over her very first boyfriend.

When Flynn returns to Burton in The First One, he’s in for quite a few surprises. It’s not smooth sailing by any means; both Ali and Flynn have years of hurt to overcome. But one day Flynn and Bridget surprise Ali with a picnic. . .

 

Flynn lay back on the blanket with groan. “I don’t think I can move again for at least a week. You’ll have to stand guard over me until I can get up.”

            I laughed. “You’re on your own, buddy. I happen to know the mosquitos’ve started coming out, and down here they bite like a son-of-a-bitch.”

  iphone6greyleft_579x1711          He feigned shock. “Why, Miss Reynolds, such language. And in front of your child.” He shook his head, tsk-tsking the whole time.

            “She can’t hear anything from down at the water, and she’s not paying any attention to us at all. She’s playing water sprite.”

            “Well, in that case. . .” Flynn reached for my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. “I’ve been waiting all evening to hold your hand.”

            I couldn’t help my smile. “Oh, really? Well, you’ve shown great restraint, then.”

            “I’d say so.” He tugged a little, throwing me off balance so that I landed on his chest, my boobs pressed against him and my hand pinned between us. “Now, this is even better.”

            “What’re you doing, Flynn?” I swallowed, wondering if he could feel my heart pounding against him.

            “I’m holding you. I’m enjoying feeling you against me. You might even say I’m canoodling with you. Isn’t that what people do on picnics, after they eat? They canoodle?”

            I shifted, bringing my head back just far enough that I could see him better. “I don’t know. Is that what’s traditional?”

            He rubbed his hand in slow circles, up and down my back. “I remember being on a picnic with you, at another spot on this very river. Just the two of us. And after we ate, I undressed you. And kissed you. And touched you here.” He slid his hand to cover one of my breasts. “And touched you here.” The same hand shimmied lower, to cup me between my legs. “And I made you come for the first time. Do you remember that?”

            My breath was coming in shallow gasps. “Of course I do.”

            Flynn lifted his head to whisper in my ear. “If we were alone right now, I’d do it again. I’d make you come, over and over, until all you could remember was my name and all you could feel were my fingers and my lips.”

            “Mommy? What’re you doing?”

            I jerked away from Flynn, trying to sit up, but he had a grip on my arm. “Mommy’s fine, honeybunch. She’s just canoodling with me.” He grinned, and I was pretty sure my whole body was about to burst into flames.

            “What’s canoodling?” Bridget crossed her arms over her chest, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.

            “It’s what two people—two grown-up people—do when they like each other very much. And I like your mother very much.”

            My daughter shifted her stare to me. “Do you like Daddy very much, too?”

            I licked my lips, and Flynn rubbed his hand on my hip. Like I needed another distraction. “I—yes, Bridget. I like your daddy very much.”

            She nodded. “Okay, I guess that’s all right. Is it time for cookies yet?”

            Flynn pushed himself to sit up, holding onto my hand all the while. “I think we can make that happen.” As he reached for the basket, he lowered his voice so that only I could hear him. “Funny, I was just wishing for the taste of something. . .sweet.”

            I swatted his arm. “Flynn Evans, you’re incorrigible.”

            Laughing, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Oh, I try, sweetheart. I do try.”

 

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The Only One releases on April 7th, but you can preorder it here! Don’t wait. . .

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Mason Wallace left his hometown to live his dream: he had the perfect career, a gorgeous wife and a beautiful baby girl. He was on top of the world, until it all shattered with the sudden death of his wife. Now he’s back in Georgia, running his bar and trying to take care of his family. And he needs all the help he can get.

Rilla Grant’s never been farther than twenty miles from her family’s farm. Her overprotective father wants her to marry their church’s youth pastor and settle down into the life he’s chosen for her, but she’s not sure that’s what she wants anymore. Rilla’s chafing to make her own choices, and that includes starting her own PR business and maybe even moving off the farm, no matter how much her dad hates it.

When Mason asks Rilla to work on some promotion for his bar, she’s both excited and terrified. Excited, because it’s just the opportunity she’s wanted, and terrified because Mason, with his electric blue eyes and drool-worthy body, is the kind of guy who makes her knees weak and her heart pound. He’s the only one who’s ever tempted Rilla to defy her family, and when she does just that by moving in to help take care of his daughter, they’re both forced to make a decision that’ll change their lives forever.

Sometimes love isn’t the easy choice. Sometimes it’s the only one.

Sometimes Music is Best Served Cold

< voice of Sophia from the Golden Girls> Picture it: Florida, 2013. I’m on my way home from a quick trip north to NJ with my husband, and we’re cruising down 95 with the radio playing on the country station when a song comes on and he reaches over to turn it up.

“Have you heard this? It’s good.”

REVENGEThe unmistakable crackle of Miranda Lambert came over the speakers, and as I listened to the words, I began to smile. This song had sass. It had spunk. It had. . .sizzle. I kind of fell in love with it right there.

I added Mama’s Broken Heart to my playlist and listened to it regularly that summer. I’d just finished up The King Series that spring and written and released The Posse in July. I wanted to do something with this new genre called New Adult, because it was something I enjoyed. I wasn’t sure what yet. . .and then a line from Miranda’s song got stuck in my head.

Can’t get revenge and keep a spotless reputation
Sometimes revenge is a choice you gotta make.

Aha. There was a story there.

Julia emerged more slowly than many of my other characters. She was cautious, giving me bits and pieces of who she was and what happened between her and the infamous Liam. Some of her experience was actually based on my own high school life, with a little more drama added.

But whenever I’d get stuck and a little frustrated with her reticence, I’d just go for a drive and turn on the music. Helped me every time.

It was important to me that all of the Best Served Cold music was sung by women. This was a story of empowerment and strength and growth. I wanted that reflected in the songs.

So, without further ado. . .go check out the Best Served Cold playlist here. See what you think. And share your favorite revenge song.

Next week. . .a very special Ava and Liam playlist from Just Desserts.

 

If you haven’t read Best Served Cold, grab it NOW–it’s free for a very limited time (going back to regular price next week!). Best Served Cold - Tawdra Kandle

 

Julia worked for weeks planning the perfect surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, Liam, but that night, she was the one who got the biggest shock. He broke up with her in front of all their friends, humiliating her in the process.

Clearly revenge was in order.

The plan is simple. Make him jealous, win him back, and then crush his heart. Fair is fair. However, there is one little hiccup, and he has curly brown hair and dimples.

Jesse is everything she wants. With him, she could almost forget her bruised heart. Almost. Julia has one choice: let Liam walk away after everything he did, or lose a chance at love in pursuit of payback.

Cover Reveal: BEST SERVED COLD

Releasing soon: BEST SERVED COLD, a new adult contemporary romance by Tawdra Kandle!

Julia worked for weeks planning the perfect surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, Liam, but that night, she was the one who got the biggest shock. He broke up with her in front of all their friends, humiliating her in the process.

Clearly revenge was in order. 

The plan is simple. Make him jealous, win him back, and then crush his heart. Fair is fair. However, there is one little hiccup—and he has curly brown hair and dimples.

Jesse is everything she wants. With him, she could almost forget her bruised heart. Almost. Julia has one choice: let Liam walk away after everything he did, or lose a chance at love in pursuit of payback.

The beautiful cover for this book was designed by Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon A Time covers. She’s an artist. . .and here it is.

Stay tuned for a release date and other updates from Tawdra!

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Best Served Cold - Tawdra Kandle