Book Blitz of The Friend Face Off by Grace Worthington (#Contest- Win a $20 Amazon Gift card and a Copy of the Book).

 

The Friend Face Off
Grace Worthington
(Love on Thin Ice, #3)
Publication date: September 12th 2024
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, Sports

Getting involved with your brother’s best friend is risky enough. But when he’s a hockey player? It’s a whole new level of bad idea.

As a ravenous reader, I’ve got a secret: I’m obsessed with hockey romances.

But let me tell you, real life hockey players are nothing like my book boyfriends.

So I threw down the gauntlet on BookTok. I challenged any single guy out there to prove me wrong. Can a real hockey player be as romantic as the ones in my favorite stories?

Enter Dawson Hayes, a goalie with a point to prove and my brother’s best friend. He’s confident he can win me over and take me on the most romantic date of my life.

But there’s a catch: for me to accept, I have to pretend that he’s my fake boyfriend. Now everyone in my small town thinks that Dawson and I are having a fall fling. Even if it’s a fling that can’t last.

Worst of all, I’m starting to believe this fling is real. I’m falling for my brother’s best friend.

DAWSON

The first time I met Emmy, her brother warned me to stay away. As hockey teammates, that made her totally off-limits.

But now I’m back in Emmy’s small town to play in a charity hockey match, and I can’t resist her dating challenge: to find out if any man can be more romantic than the book boyfriends she adores.

Emmy and I are both fiercely competitive, and I’m determined to win her over.

When the moment of truth comes, the chemistry between us turns into something neither of us expected:
A romantic face-off between friends who are insanely attracted to each other.

Now, I’m out to prove to her that you should never judge a book by its cover—or a hockey player when it comes to love.

The Friend Face Off is part of the Love on Thin Ice sweet small town hockey romcom series. It’s a brother’s best friend, closed door hockey romcom with fake dating, friends to lovers and You’ve Got Mail vibes. It’s a small town romance with all the sizzle and chemistry, but none of the spice.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“She can’t go with you,” a voice growls behind me. I spin around to see the hockey player’s steel gaze locked on the jerk who’s asking me out.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s going to the party with me,” Dawson replies without looking at me.
My breath catches. I’m caught between a guy who makes angry hives break out on my body, and one who makes my heart feel things I shouldn’t.
“Is this true?” Stewart asks me directly.
I pause, then look at Dawson. “Yes, he’s my date,” I say, even though I know this is a bad idea. Because once it’s out there, I’m committed. I’ll have to date my brother’s best friend.
I make myself move closer to Dawson and give his arm a pat, only to realize I’m touching what feels like a boulder. Seriously, no man should be walking around with biceps that huge, even if he is holding a coffee carrier with four cups. Either the man is working for a food delivery service in his spare time or consumes coffee at an alarming rate.
Dawson’s eyes trace over my workout wear. His mouth quirks at the corner. “Good run?”
I nod and thread my fingers through my knotted ponytail.
“You were always so fast,” he says.
How does he know this?
“Oh, right,” I laugh. “The night I tried to leave you behind at the party.”
I glance up at him and I’m immediately mesmerized by his eyes. He’s not my usual type—his hands are calloused from hockey. He’s rough and mysterious and his hair looks amazing without any effort. Plus, he’s always ready with a hockey pickup line that’s so cheesy it actually circles back to charming.
I need an emotionally sensitive man who reads books and quotes my favorite parts. Not someone who punches people in the face for a living. Of course, there was that one time he quoted Jane Austen. And he did buy my favorite romance book at the store. What kind of man does that?
My eyes trace over his frame. Dawson’s got that tall, dark, and muscular look. Put him in flannel and he’d be a sexy lumberjack. The image of Dawson in flannel with an axe stirs a funny feeling in my chest.
I can’t date a hockey player. He’s my brother’s best friend. That’s double the trouble.
And I just agreed to a fake date with him.

The Friend Face Off is a
brother’s best friend
closed door hockey
fake dating
friends to lovers
You’ve Got Mail vibes.

Author Bio:

Grace Worthington eats, breathes, and geeks out over sweet romcoms. So it’s no surprise that she believes that laughter and love are a cure-all for pretty much everything in life. After a short stint working in musical theatre (where she was often cast in comedic roles), she instills her books with witty banter, lovable characters, and a story that moves your heart and soul. Her inspiration includes quaint towns by the beach, romantic comedy movies from the '80s & '90s, and the crazy shenanigans of her family. Snag a free sweet romcom at graceworthington.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram

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Book Blitz- Dangerous Allure by S. Fields, D. Rene, C. Denton and E. Bradley (#Contest, Win a copy of the book)

 

 

Dangerous Allure: A Dark Romance Anthology
Cole Denton, Dani René, Eden Bradley, Sara Fields
Published by: GTB Publishing LLC
Publication date: September 10th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

 

 

 

Two’s company. Three’s a dangerously good time.

This deliciously dark collection of stories is flying all the red flags – these men will hunt, stalk, and conquer their prey

And leave them begging for more.

Whether working together to claim their prize, or fighting to be the last man standing, it’s only when you find yourself trapped between them that you realize: there’s no way out.

And maybe…that’s exactly the way you like it.

  Purchase the Book

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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WIN A PAPERBACK COPY OF THE BOOK-CLICK HERE

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Book Blitz- State of Union by Paula Dombrowiak (#contest- enter to win a gift card)

 

State of Union
Paula Dombrowiak
(Kingmaker, #3)
Publication date: September 10th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Our marriage could make or break us…

Letting go of billionaire playboy Darren Walker was the right thing to do.

My life as a former escort will only damage his campaign for congress, and I’m too scared to admit I’ve fallen in love with my fake husband.

Except when Darren finds me and refuses to let me go, I can’t run from my feelings any longer. It’s time I have the courage to confess that he isn’t my husband in name only. He’s my everything.

All Darren wants is to carve out a future for himself while honoring his father’s legacy. But can I truly be the politician’s wife my husband needs when there are those who will use me to derail his campaign?

It doesn’t matter how much we love each other, I can’t change my past.

But we have no way of knowing that he has shocking family secrets that are yet to be revealed. Secrets bigger than me and powerful enough to destroy him.

And his enemies won’t stop until they’ve left him—and our marriage—in ruins…

The Kingmaker trilogy is a steamy, marriage of convenience, romance, in a political setting. State of Union is the final book in the trilogy with a guaranteed HEA. The books must be read in order, for the best reader experience.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

The small bell at the top of the door jingles, a leftover from the hardware store that used to occupy this space. In walks Ethel Jackson, her crocheted handbag tucked under her arm. She looks around the space approvingly, her eyes finally meeting mine.

“Looks like a bunch of pomp and circumstance to me,” she says looking at me skeptically.

“Are you looking to volunteer?” I raise a challenging eyebrow.

“I thought you could use my sunny disposition.”

I can’t help but smile. “Well then, I have a spot for you right over here.” I lead the way to an empty desk near the windows where she sets down her crochet bag, a piece of yarn making its way out of the top like it has a mind of its own.

“Is this the famous Ethel?” Rausch asks.

Ethel places a hand on her hip and looks up at him as he towers over her short, round frame. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Ethel if these two were pitted against each other. “I don’t know about famous, but whatever you’ve heard,”—she pauses and gives him a naughty smile—“it’s probably true.”

Rausch laughs. Apparently, Ethel can win over anyone.

“Where’s that pretty wife of yours?” she asks.

The mention of Evangeline pulls at the edges of my wound, pain ripping through me like a lightning bolt.

Before I can make an excuse, Rausch bellows over the noise. “Angie!” She makes her way over. “This is Ethel, and she would like to volunteer.”

“People say I got a voice like honey, so if you want to put me on the phones, that’s fine by me,” Ethel proposes.

I give Rausch a thankful nod and retreat to my office. The desk is a secondhand one from the nearby school. There are strict rules on how campaign donations can be used. Right now, funds are limited as we start ramping up requests that can sometimes feel like begging. My last name can only carry me so far, and my reputation proceeds me.

“Excuse me, are you Darren Walker?” A young man inquires from the doorway.

I nod and he drops an envelope on my desk. “You’ve been served,” he says and leaves just as quickly as he arrived.

An envelope from a law office in Arizona.

I know exactly what it is. Like a Band-Aid, I rip the envelope open to expose the wound.

Divorce papers.

Pulling off my tie, I throw it across the room. It flutters through the stagnant air and lands silently on the dirty linoleum floor.

“Don’t forget about the fundraising event this weekend,” Rausch says as he enters my office. He sees my tie on the ground and picks it up. When he places it on the desk he notices the papers.

“You can gloat if you want to,” I tell him angrily, using him as a punching bag. “You got what you wanted, right?” I look up at him, the sting of getting the papers still fresh.

“If you want me to say that Evangeline leaving was the best thing for your campaign, then fine, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about seeing you in turmoil.”

I scoff. “In turmoil? Is that what you think this is?”

“No.” A look of understanding crosses his face like a shadow. “I understand your heartbreak.”

I never thought of Rausch as a person, just a thorn in my side, giving me disapproving looks and lectures about getting my life together. Of course he knows what heartbreak is. No human gets a pass on that in their lifetime, not even someone as impenetrable as Rausch.

“You can think what you want, Darren, but what I said to you before was the truth. I would have done everything within my power to protect her.”

I lift my eyes from the papers. “Well, it seems she didn’t want to be a part of this life after all.” I can’t seem to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

Rausch lets out a breath. “You can sit here and stare at those papers, or you can pull yourself together and win this election.”

Author Bio:

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Twitter / Facebook / instagram / Bookbub / Newsletter

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Guest Post by Randy C Dockens Author of Stele Prophecy Pentalogy (Christian Fiction)

I want to welcome Randy C Dockens to Books R Us. Randy is the author of a collection of five books in a biblical end times prophecy series called Stele Prophecy Pentalogy. Thanks to the author for providing a guest post for my readers.

 

Take Advice from Others with a Grain of Salt

When I first started out on my writing journey, I knew I did not know a lot about how to be an author. Therefore, I took everything I read as gospel and tried to follow what I read to the letter. I began to discover many “professional” writers, editors, agents, and publishers have a lot of pet peeves about writing requirements and I told myself I was not going to offend any of them. I tried my best to ensure my writing met all their requirements so when they received my manuscript it would not end up in their waste paper pile. Yet, when I attempted to comply, I found my writing became worse and not better. This is why my novel Mercy of the Iron Scepter went through so many revisions before it was ever published. I was constantly changing how I wrote due to the next pet peeve I read about. I then began to see that some of these “experts” contradicted other “experts.” I was then in a quandary until I began to look deeper. Let me give you some examples and I think you can better understand why I gave this piece the title I did and the reason for why I ended up in my quandary.

Here are some of the things I read, took to heart, and tried to comply completely: (1) the word that should never be used because it is superfluous, (2) the word was should be avoided because it is too vague and imparts passivity to the text, (3) exclamation marks should never be used because good writers can write in a way that will indicate the emotion rather than having to show it with an exclamation point, and (3) dialogue tags should not be used because they can be distracting and are a sign a writer has weak technical talent.

What I came to realize was that these were just pet peeves of certain writers, agents, editors, and publishers. They are not absolute requirements. Granted, each of these points are useful and can be taken to heart, but they are not gospel. These individuals should have clarified that one should be aware of these pitfalls and not overuse these writing elements. It is the overuse that is the faux pax and not their use itself. Actually, it is impossible to avoid each of these altogether. Well, I shouldn’t say it is impossible, but definitely there is no need for one to avoid them all together.

Let’s look at these pet peeves just mentioned. It is true that many times the word that can be omitted because it is superfluous. Yet, that is not always the case. It is true that was can often be passive and a better expressive word can be substituted, but not in every case. Regarding exclamation points, yes, one should write a sentence that a reader can tell is an exclamatory sentence. Yet shouldn’t one use an exclamation point if the sentence is an exclamation? I think the point is that an exclamation mark does not make a sentence an exclamation if the tone of the sentence is not written that way. And, finally, yes sometimes dialogue cues are not needed, and dialogue can be written without them. Yet, if there is any chance of a reader getting confused as to who is talking, then a dialogue tag is needed.

My conclusion from my initial struggle in this area is that one should take to heart what others say about writing tips and tricks, but realize they are just that: tips and tricks. You need to be sure your writing style and emotional content comes through loud and clear but in a way that uses good sentence structure, correct spelling, and proper grammar. But, if an element or emotion is needed that dictates not to use spelling, grammar, or sentence structure in their traditionally accepted way, then that is okay if what you write and the way you write it is intentional. Your reader will be able to tell if what you did was purposeful or not. So, you can do anything, just know you did it and that it was a purposeful change to accomplish something special for your reader.

So, yes, study all the proper ways of writing and proper writing techniques. Yes, try to avoid all the pitfalls writing experts warn you about. Yet, remember that the most important thing about your writing is you. If you get lost in your own writing, then your writing is lost. Your writing will be different from that of anyone else, and it should be different—unique to you. It should also be as good technically as you can make it and not lose the essence of you in the process. Even more importantly, you need to be purposeful. Your writing is to engage your reader, so be purposeful in your writing. Ask yourself questions about your writing. Why did I use that word? Why did I use that punctuation at that spot in the sentence? You don’t have to follow traditional methodology, but there is a caveat to that statement. You need to know that you did not follow traditional methodology and that you purposefully chose not to follow traditional writing techniques. Every sentence, every word, every punctuation should be purposeful—chosen by you as the author for a specific purpose, to elicit a specific emotion, feeling, or ambience.

If you would like to have a text to get you started in this regard, here are two that I think you can benefit from: Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing: Creating Vivid and Colorful Stories that Readers Want to Read and Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Self-Editing: Framing Your Colorful Masterpiece to Keep Readers Engaged in Your Story. These two books were recently published by myself and my editor. I wanted to pay it forward, so to speak, so others did not have to go through the same hardship that I did when I first started writing. My editor and I put these materials into a unique and fun format that I think many will appreciate. These two books are not the end-all for what to know about writing but will provide anyone with a good head start on their writing journey or even remind more seasoned writers of the fundamentals that we should never lose sight of. Also included are other references that writers will benefit from by having such tools in their writing arsenal.

The most important three elements are the following. Study. Learn. Write. Enjoy the process. But most of all, be purposeful. Your readers will thank you for it.


CLICK HERE FOR BOOK SPOTLIGHT AND EXCERPT

 

Connect with the Author: 

Website ➜ https://www.randydockens.com/   

X ➜ https://x.com/RandyCDockens 

Facebook ➜  www.facebook.com/Randy.C.Dockens

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/randydockens 

Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16453941 

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Review of the book Den of Iniquity by J.A. Jance (Suspense Novel)

I'm excited to welcome J.A Jance to Books R Us as she has just published her new novel, "Den of Iniquity." Let me share my thoughts on the book.

About the Book:

New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance returns with a new pulse-pounding suspense novel featuring beloved private investigator J. P. Beaumont as his investigation of a seemingly accidental death uncovers a complex web of evil.

Former Seattle homicide cop J. P. Beaumont faces trouble in the small town of Ashland, as both his personal and professional lives are thrown into turmoil. Beau’s daughter and son-in-law are having marital troubles, and his grandson, a senior in high school, shows up on his doorstep, wanting to live with Beau and his wife Mel as he finishes out the school year.

Meanwhile, a friend from his past asks for Beau’s help in looking into what appears to be an accidental death. A young man died of a fentanyl overdose, but those closest to him are convinced that he would never have used the drug, and that something much more sinister has happened. Beau agrees to unofficially reopen the case, and his investigation leads him to uncover similar mysterious deaths that all point to a most unlikely suspect.

As the case becomes more complicated than he could have imagined, and past and present mysteries collide, it will take everything Beau has to track down a dangerous vigilante killer.

Published: September 10, 2024
Hardcover: 9780063252585
$30.00, 368 pg
eBook: 9780063252592
Digital Audio: 9780063252615

 

My Thoughts:

I have never read any books by this author before. However, I really enjoy a good crime mystery novel, and I was impressed by her writing style, the development of the characters, and the entire plot. The protagonist, J.P., has to balance his professional life with his family life to find the identity of a serial killer, which makes the book engaging. I have to admit that I didn't know about the author until I was given the opportunity to review the book by the publisher. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read the other books in the series.

 

 

 

 Disclaimer:

The publisher gave me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review, and I was not compensated for my review.