Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Hail Mary by Nicola Rendell (Book Excerpt Reveal Event)

In association with Ardent Prose PR, Jersey Girl Sizzling Book Reviews is pleased to host the book excerpt reveal event for Hail Mary by author Nicola Rendell!







About The Book 



Hail Mary by Nicola Rendell
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: eBook - November 26, 2016 / Paperback - November 28, 2016
Format: Paperback - 338 pages
               Kindle - 1408 KB
               Nook - 538 KB
ISBN: 978-1540696816
ASIN: B01MYSPWUD
BNID: 2940156990863
Genre: Erotic Sports Romance / Football Theme


Buy The Book:



Book Description:

At a boxing gym in Chicago, Mary Monahan accidentally knocks out the most handsome man she’s ever met. After she wakes him up with a few slaps and some smelling salts, the very first thing he does is ask her out for ribs and beer. His name is Jimmy. He looks like a Gillette model. And he’s just too hunky to resist.


Jimmy “The Falcon” Falconi is mystified that Mary has absolutely no idea who he is. Mystified and refreshed. He is, after all, not your everyday NFL quarterback. He shops at Costco, has a soft spot for Pinterest, and is in the midst of an epic losing streak.



Jimmy falls for Mary fast and hard, the way he does everything—balls out and like it’s fourth and long. And he realizes he’s finally met his match. That stamina he’s so proud of? Doesn’t stand a chance against her Kegels.

But what they don’t know is she’s also his new physical therapist, recently hired by the Bears to work on his rotator cuff…and groin injury. If she can’t help him, he’ll be traded faster than they can say “offensive penetration.”

In spite of the thousands of internet memes featuring Jimmy’s face with captions like: “HEY GIRL, WANT TO TOUCH MY BALLS?” Mary finds herself falling for him and his unrelenting desire to make her his.

Until a toddler shows up at Jimmy’s door.

And throws their lives into total chaos.

***

To the reader: Contents includes love, sweetness, naughtiness, honey, champagne, and an HEA. Safe.



Book Excerpt:

Jimmy

​Joe Namath said it: “When you win, nothing hurts.”
And I might be flat on my back with a headache like I just sucked down a smoothie too fast, but I’m fucking winning. Because look at that goddamned face. Fucking gorgeous. Freckles, those lips. Everything. Her body is hella hot, but that face. That face seals it.
​Also, those tits. I groan and pretend I’m rubbing my temples. Actually, I’m looking at the curve of her stomach—the crease across her belly button. The edge of the tattoo just wraps around her side, accentuating the line of her waist. God, yes.
​“I’m so sorry,” she says. “I’m not allowed to fight my own weight class anymore, but I thought you’d be able to take it.”
​“Ouch.”
​“Oh no.” She puts her hand to her mouth. “I mean…sorry. Just…I’m really sorry.”
​I know she’s lying. She’s probably left a trail of unconscious guys from here to wherever she came from, but I’m not proud. I’ll be the next man in line. I sure fucking will. “What do you weigh? A buck fifty? And you knocked me out like that?”
​“One fifty-seven!” The way she says it, she’s proud of it, and I love that. A buck fifty-seven. Sold.
“You can hit.” I explore the damage with my tongue. The hot, metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, and my saliva stings the cut on my bottom lip.
I glance around. Nobody’s paying any attention at all. Further proof that she’s done this before.
“Sorry. I wasn’t even thinking. Let me…” She dabs at my lip with a washcloth. I can smell the sweat, the salt, the heat. The sharp lingering smell of ammonia in my nostrils. A drop of her sweat runs down off her neck and lands on my chest with a plop.
She takes my face in her wrapped hands, looking from eye to eye. “I don’t think you’re concussed.”
​Okay, so I know I’m not—I don’t know much, but I do know a concussion when I get one—but I’m going to go along with it because I need her to stay exactly like that. “Might be.” I follow her eyes with mine. “Head trauma can be very complicated.”
​Slowly, a smile creeps up across her face, and a little dimple crimps her cheek. But she bites it back. “Your pupils look normal.”
​Coconut. I can smell it. Definitely coconut. Good thing I’m already flat on my back. She holds up one finger and moves it to and fro in front of my eyes. I don’t follow it. I leave my eyes right there, on this fleck of brown in her left iris.
​“If you can’t follow my finger, I think we have to call 911…”
I sniff, the ammonia still stinging my sinuses. “If I let you knock me out again, can I get you to keep doing this all night?”
​She pouts and makes a fist of her wrapped hand. “Let me? Let me knock you out?”
​“Oh yeah. Let you.”
She cocks her head, her eyes saying, Bullshit!
“Fuck, yes, I took the fall. Sometimes you got to throw the fight to get what you want.”
​She lets go of my face, and my head lands in her lap. The curve of her thigh supports my neck. She gives me that look again, the one she gave me right before the lights went out. “Yeah? And what do you want?”
​“I think you know.” I let my stare fall to her cleavage.
​She presses her lips together, like she cannot believe I just said that.
​Booyah. Now who’s on her heels?
​I rip off the Velcro cuff from the glove on my right hand and shake it off. “I’m Jimmy.” I hold out my hand to her. She shakes it softly, and then her grip tightens and she pulls me up to a sitting position in the middle of the ring. She keeps her right hand knitted in mine, thumb over thumb, and gently supports my back with the other. “I really am sorry about that.”
“I’ll deny it forever.”
“There were witnesses.” She glances over her shoulder at the assorted groups of guys around the gym.
“Are you familiar with the down-low?”
“They took pictures. For the Knockout Wall,” she says, grinning.
Fuckers. Great. Just great. JIMMY FALCONI KNOCKED OUT BY GIRL IN PINK GLOVES. I can see it on Bleacherreport.com right now. “Polaroids burn super easy.”
Now she’s really smiling, and fuck is she pretty. Like, drop-dead gorgeous. The knockout with the knockout punch. “I’m glad you’re okay. If you never woke up, that would have been a lot of paperwork.”
I grunt-laugh, which also hurts because of that one-two-three combination to my spleen earlier. I grab my stomach and flop back down on the mat.
“Need ice?”
“Let me die with dignity.”
She gets stern. “Ten-four. We’ll remember you fondly.” And then she salutes me.
​All this and she’s funny?
Alright, Falconi. Time to head for the end zone. Time to bring the Super Bowl ring home. “Fine. I’ll give you the win if you let me buy you dinner.”
​Her eyes move over my face. “Dinner? There’s a blizzard coming. Also, you might need a stitch for that lip.”
​“No way. I’ll get some superglue. Fuck the blizzard. Come out with me.”
“Tough guy.”
I study that hollow at the base of her throat and then meet her eyes to hold her stare. “Dinner and drinks.”
​She stands and offers me a wrapped hand. Toe to toe, she sizes me up like we’re locked in some full-body arm-wrestling match. Christ.
​But she still hasn’t said, “Don’t you play for the…” like everybody else always does. So I ask, “You like any other sports besides knocking totally unsuspecting strangers unconscious? Like maybe…football?”
​I hold the ropes open for her and she steps through. Goddamn, those hips. That skin. The curve of her waist. The petals of the lace that barely touch her spine. And my mind kind of unravels in imagining where that tattoo goes and how sexy that ink must be on the skin of her ass.
​“Nope. Is that a problem?” she asks. “That I wouldn’t know my touchdown from my…whatever? Going to put a cramp in our conversation, champ?”
“No problem at all.” Doesn’t matter if she knows me or not, because pretty quick here, I’m planning to have her saying my name. Over and over again.


Book Teaser:




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About The Author



Nicola Rendell writes dirty, funny, erotic romance. She likes a stiff drink and a well-frosted cake. She is at an unnamed Ivy and prefers to remain mostly anonymous for professional reasons. She has a PhD in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from schools that shall not be named here. She loves to cook, sew, and play the piano. She realizes that her hobbies might make her sound like an old lady and she’s totally okay with that. She lives with her husband and her dogs. She is from Taos, New Mexico.





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Saturday, December 3, 2016

Hail Mary by Nicola Rendell (Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Ardent Prose PR, Jersey Girl Sizzling Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Hail Mary by author Nicola Rendell!


 



Book Review



Hail Mary by Nicola Rendell
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: eBook - November 26, 2016 / Paperback - November 28, 2016
Format: Paperback - 338 pages
               Kindle - 1408 KB
               Nook - 538 KB
ISBN: 978-1540696816
ASIN: B01MYSPWUD
BNID: 2940156990863
Genre: Erotic Sports Romance / Football Theme


Buy The Book:


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Ardent Prose PR.


Book Description:


At a boxing gym in Chicago, Mary Monahan accidentally knocks out the most handsome man she’s ever met. After she wakes him up with a few slaps and some smelling salts, the very first thing he does is ask her out for ribs and beer. His name is Jimmy. He looks like a Gillette model. And he’s just too hunky to resist.


Jimmy “The Falcon” Falconi is mystified that Mary has absolutely no idea who he is. Mystified and refreshed. He is, after all, not your everyday NFL quarterback. He shops at Costco, has a soft spot for Pinterest, and is in the midst of an epic losing streak.

Jimmy falls for Mary fast and hard, the way he does everything—balls out and like it’s fourth and long. And he realizes he’s finally met his match. That stamina he’s so proud of? Doesn’t stand a chance against her Kegels.

But what they don’t know is she’s also his new physical therapist, recently hired by the Bears to work on his rotator cuff…and groin injury. If she can’t help him, he’ll be traded faster than they can say “offensive penetration.”

In spite of the thousands of internet memes featuring Jimmy’s face with captions like: “HEY GIRL, WANT TO TOUCH MY BALLS?” Mary finds herself falling for him and his unrelenting desire to make her his.

Until a toddler shows up at Jimmy’s door.

And throws their lives into total chaos.

***

To the reader: Contents includes love, sweetness, naughtiness, honey, champagne, and an HEA. Safe.



Book Excerpt:

With her hand in mine, I hail a cab on Fullerton. She isn’t saying much, and I like that. I like talking to her, getting dirty, watching her lose her words. Because I’ll tell you what, I’m planning on her losing a shitload more than that before I’m done with her. Losing everything to me. That’s the fucking plan.
​The cabbie pulls off to the other side of the road a little way up from us and puts on his hazards to tell us he’s waiting. As we head for the crosswalk, I kick aside a drift from one of the plows, but it’s unsteady footing, icy and slick. As she begins to slip, her grip on my hand tightens.
​“That’s enough of that,” I tell her, and scoop her up into my arms, newlywed-style.
​She squeals and hangs on tight. She fits fucking perfectly in my arms, and I love the way she feels tight against me. Her fingers slip past my collar, and her fingernails dig gently into the back of my neck. “I can walk,” she says, mostly to my mouth. Then she raises her eyes. “It was just slippery.”

​I don’t answer right away. I don’t want to come on too strong. I don’t want to scare her, but I don’t want there to be any fucking mistake at all about what I want or how I plan to get it. “I know you can. I’m sure you can do pretty much everything.”
​Her eyes glisten, and I hoist her up a little higher in my arms. The walk signal starts flashing its hand as we get to the other curb. “I’m no shrinking violet.”
​“Good. Because I’m going to need you to come strong for me tonight.”
​Her body reacts before her face does, her back arching under my hand, that bend so delicate under my palm.
​“Multiple times. Loudly.”
​She presses her face to my chest and moans out what sounds like, “Who are you?”
“And you’re going to tell me what you like and how you like it. We’re not going to fuck around. Communication, pussycat. That’s the key.”

There go her words again. I’m getting to know that glaze in her eye, disoriented with desire. “And what about you?”
​Now we’re even with the cab, but I’ve still got some things she needs to know. “I don’t come until you do. At least twice.”
​She’s got no answer for that, so I bring her chin up toward me, stretching her pretty neck out with my thumb on her jaw. “You hear me?”
​She nods. She breathes. She blinks.
​“That’s how it’s going to go.”
​“I think I can handle that.”
​I laugh, sending a plume of steam out of my nose. This girl has no idea how badly I want her. How badly I need her. How fucking hard I am already to get inside her. “Yeah? You think so? You think you can handle me?”
​Her eyes widen a little. “I think so,” she whispers.
Then I let her slip from my arms, such a fucking shame, but I’m not about to let her open her own door. As she gets into the cab—on the street side, the safe side—I say into her ear, “We’ll just see about that.”



Book Teaser:




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My Book Review:

What could be more entertaining than an erotic romance tale interwoven within a football theme?

In Hail Mary, author Nicola Rendell weaves a sweet + sassy erotic sports romance tale that interweaves professional football with a chance of finding love.

As a football fan (college and NFL), I love to read sports themed romances, so I knew that I had to read this smoking hot erotic sports romance tale, and boy I wasn't left disappointed! 

Told in an alternating first person narrative, the reader is easily drawn into physical therapist Mary Monahan and star professional quarterback Jimmy "The Falcon" Falconi's story. This exciting erotic romance tale has everything that a reader could want: drama, angst, humor, sassy banter, sizzling sex, richly descriptive football scenes, and a chance at finding love theme that will leave them wanting more! 

The reader can't help but get caught up in Mary and Jimmy's story. Jimmy's finally met his match in Mary, and he is determined to win her heart. The reader will find themselves laughing at Mary and Jimmy's hilarious banter and antics, cheering them on as they overcome obstacles, and passionately discover a true love both on and off the football field.


So, if you're in the mood for a delightfully sizzling erotic sports romance tale with a football theme, than look no further, Hail Mary will provide you with a thoroughly entertaining good time!


RATING: 5 STARS 




About The Author



Nicola Rendell writes dirty, funny, erotic romance. She likes a stiff drink and a well-frosted cake. She is at an unnamed Ivy and prefers to remain mostly anonymous for professional reasons. She has a PhD in English and an MFA in Creative Writing from schools that shall not be named here. She loves to cook, sew, and play the piano. She realizes that her hobbies might make her sound like an old lady and she’s totally okay with that. She lives with her husband and her dogs. She is from Taos, New Mexico.




Contest Giveaway



A signed copy of Hail Mary and a $50 Sephora Gift Card

Open US Only










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Thursday, December 1, 2016

Christmas Candy by Celia Aaron (Book Review)

In association with Ardent Prose PR, Jersey Girl Sizzling Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Christmas Candy by author Celia Aaron!


 




Book Review



Christmas Candy by Celia Aaron
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: November 26, 2016
Format: eBook - 265 pages
               Kindle - 8504 KB
ASIN: B01MSS5OGX
Genre: Erotic Holiday Romance


Buy The Book:


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Ardent Prose PR.


Book Description:


A Christmas novella where everyone gets their just desserts.

Olive had a major crush on Hank in high school. She was the too-smart, slightly chubby girl who gawked as Hank ran track and made all the cheerleaders swoon. After high school, the two went their separate ways. Olive opened a yoga studio and swore off sweets while Hank traveled the world. No problem, right? At least there wasn’t a problem until Hank moved back to town and opened a candy shop across the street from Olive’s studio. Now, Olive will do everything she can to shut her old crush down. But Hank has other plans, and all of them end with an Olive sundae.



Author’s Note: This is a sweet Christmas treat that will leave you satisfied, yet desperate for a little taste of sugar.



Book Teaser:










Book Excerpt:


“So, what’s your poison?” He turns and places the boxes on the counter between us.

“Just whatever you have is fine.” I try not to look at the swirling lollypops, jars of jellybeans, or rows of frosted cookies. The caramel candy apples with chocolate drizzle almost catch my eye, but I look away before I become ensnared.

He sidesteps to the candy apple display. “Try one.”

“No.” I keep my tone level. “Just pack up whatever you want to donate, and I’ll be on my way.”

He smiles, and butterflies go to war in my stomach. Lightly tanned skin, bright eyes, and dark hair are still my weakness, almost as much as the mouth-watering candy apple he picks up and holds out to me.

“Give it a try. I just put these out this afternoon. The apples are tart, and I made the caramel myself.”

I glance at the proffered treat. My sweet tooth demands that I take it, but my will is far stronger. “No, thank you.”

His smile grows, as if he already knew I’d decline. Then he raises the apple to his mouth and takes a bite. The perfectly ripe apple makes a delectably crisp crunch between his teeth. I watch as he licks the stray caramel from his lips, and I wonder just how sweet he’d taste.

“What was that?” He takes another bite.

“Hmm?” Lord help me, but I stare. Watch his Adam’s apple bob and follow the movement down into his flannel shirt right where the tan skin disappears behind the fabric.

He grabs a small plate and sets the rest of the apple down. “You just made a noise is all. Like a high-pitched sigh.”

My face burns bright red. A sigh? I made a noise? “No. I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, you did.” He grins. “Almost as if you’d enjoyed that as much as I did.”



My Book Review:

Christmas Candy is a sweet and sassy erotic holiday romance novella that will easily get the reader into the holiday spirit. Author Celia Aaron weaves an enjoyable tale set in the small town of Hollyton that follows the kindling of desire between yoga studio owner Olive Granderson and candy shop owner Hank Winters when they reconnect over the Christmas holiday season.

Olive had a major crush on Hank in high school, but her feelings were unrequited ... a chubby girl and a track star.... not likely. After high school graduation Olive and Hank went in different directions, but now Hank has come home and opens up a candy store across the street from Olive's yoga studio. He secretly had a crush on Olive in high school, but never approached her ... now he has the chance to get to know her. But there is one little problem, Olive considers Hank's candy shop as the enemy to her healthy yoga studio. There is no denying their attraction, and with a little bit of sugary sweetness, their mutual crush develops into a sizzling desire that will help them overcome obstacles, and put the holiday spirit back into their hearts and a chance at finding love.

I really enjoyed reading this quick little holiday novella, it had the right amount of snarky, sweet, and sexy that I look for in erotic romance stories. You can't help but cheer on Olive and Hank as they overcome their obstacles and find sweet love. Their reconnecting develops into an attraction that is palpable with a sizzling chemistry and a level of delicious desire that was simply smoking hot! I loved the witty banter, drama, humor, and the sexy moments that they shared, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I love a man who can make candy so tantalizingly delectable ... hot, hot, hot!


Christmas Candy is a delightfully sinful holiday erotic romance that will easily satisfy your sweet tooth and definitely put you in the holiday spirit!


RATING: 5 STARS 





About The Author



Celia Aaron is the self-publishing pseudonym of a published romance and erotica author. She loves to write stories with hot heroes and heroines that are twisty and often dark. Thanks for reading.







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