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Category Archives: contemporary romance

Destination: Love

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by elizaknight in Books, contemporary romance, Uncategorized

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I am known best for my historical romance novels, but I do love contemporary, and so every so often, I get the bug to write one. I’m thrilled to announce that my 3rd story in the One Night series has released in the Destination: Love anthology! Wherever You Are is the story of Max and Calista who meet one night on a beach in Grand Cayman–a night that will change them forever.

You first met Max in The Rebound Pact, when his sister Gabriella joins up with Holden to open a bistro at a local vineyard.

Check out an excerpt!

“What are you doing out here?”

“Staring at the stars.” She shrugged.

Max laughed softly. “No, I mean, here in Grand Cayman.”

“Vacationing like everyone else.” Calista turned away. What little part of her had felt the need to open up to this stranger tightened. Talking with a handsome stranger was one thing, relaying the melancholy that was her life was another.

“I don’t mean to pry,” Max said softly.

Calista’s lips curved slightly as she flicked her gaze at him. “Yes you do.”

Max laughed and tapped his hand to his chest. “You got me. I do.”

A little flip of her belly, and she found herself letting her guard down again. “Forgetting.” Though, she was doing a better job remembering and wallowing than anything else. And she had every right, didn’t she? “Forgetting,” she said again quietly, as if hoping to convince herself to do so.

He nodded but didn’t ask any more, as if he could understand the need to forget. He lay down beside her, stretched his legs out so the waves touched his feet and tucked his hands beneath his head. “Have to admit, this is a nice view.”

And it was. But Calista wasn’t looking at the stars anymore. She was staring down at Max. At his lean, cut body and the chisel of his features, dark reddish-brown hair that resembled the color of an old, lucky penny. He was handsome. Hot. Looking at him, a spark of desire flashed inside her, coursing its way along her limbs, making her breasts feel heavy, achy. God, she hadn’t felt like that in a while. Not even with Randy.

Desire. Need. Yearning.

If she were anyone else, she might have taken the opportunity that was being presented to her. Might have taken the chance and jumped this hot hunk’s bones. But she wasn’t any other person. She was Calista Adams. Jilted bride.

Tearing her gaze away from him, she flopped back onto the sand, her arm over her eyes.

“Can’t see the stars like that,” he murmured.

A smiled snaked over her lips, and she tried to stifle it. But all that kept running through her mind was the way she felt so at peace with Max here, lying beside her in the shallow water, waves lapping at their feet. And how wrong that had to be. Right? She shouldn’t feel like this. Not yet.

She’d not felt at peace since her life was inexplicably torn apart. Not since she’d lost—

“Do you live near the beach?” Max asked.

Calista cleared her throat, thrusting her sadness away. “No,” she whispered.

“Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because of how comfortable you are just lying here. Sand in your hair. Clothes rumpled. As though it’s part of a routine you couldn’t live without.”

A routine she couldn’t live without. Warm water slicked up her legs, a gentle breeze soothed her soul. And this man… He was making her think of things that she’d not yet touched on. What she couldn’t live without. And that was affection, kissing, companionship, love.

Destination LOVE Individual Teasers_Eliza Knight

Go the distance, fall farther than you planned…

Don’t bother with your passport – you can watch our HOT couples fall in love from the comfort of your couch! USA Today bestsellers Christi Barth, Eliza Knight, Misty D. Waters and Piper J. Drake, and Christina Elle take you along on sexy, romance-drenched vacations all over the globe. Enjoy the exotic settings, the steamy vacation flings that become something more. Take the plunge with five couples as they throw caution to the wind and give in to temptation. The final destination in this itinerary is love, and you’re in for the trip of your life.

Wherever You Are

After life takes a heart-breaking turn, Calista Adams indulges in a fling while on vacation. But that steamy encounter fills her heart with something she thought never to have again. Maxwell Dane can’t stop thinking about Calista, but he’s home in Paris, she’s an ocean away. Until Calista takes a nine-week sabbatical to travel Europe. With a second chance in sight, Max won’t let her push him away. This could be the forever kind of love, and there’s only one way to find out.

 

Order Destination: Love Now!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2rH8crI

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2rsSdOu

iBooks: http://apple.co/2rNJVE8

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2s29alS

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2tQEDbO

 

Destination LOVE charity

 

More Books in the One Night Series…

ElizaKnight_TheReboundPact_2500

Kindle: https://goo.gl/eMQRv6
Nook: https://goo.gl/VsJXvx
Kobo: https://goo.gl/fuXaVc
iBook: https://goo.gl/WMyy8n

 

ElizaKnight_AKiltedChristmasWish200

Kindle: https://goo.gl/bCcmyn
Nook: https://goo.gl/JktYp7
Kobo: https://goo.gl/af4vRd
iBook: https://goo.gl/xwCFTM

 

HARD AS IT GETS by Laura Kaye

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by elizaknight in Books, contemporary romance

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

chocolate, contemporary romance, Hard As it Gets, Laura Kaye

HARD AS IT GETS smaller release graphicI am so excited for you all to check out my good friend Laura Kaye’s new book, HARD AS IT GETS! I had a chance to read an early copy and it was AWESOME!!! She’s here today to talk about a thing we both love in addition to romance and hot heroes–CHOCOLATE!!!

Enjoy!

 

Five Favorite Chocolates

e5516-laurakaye-21I’m thrilled to be at my good friend Eliza Knight’s place today celebrating the release of my new book, Hard As It Gets, the first in the Hank Ink series. This series has ex-military guys, a tattoo parlor, intrigue, mystery, a kick-ass heroine, and a three-legged dog. And it also has a couple of sexy scenes caused by chocolate. LOL! So, first, I’m sharing my own personal favorite chocolates, and then second, I’m sharing an excerpt in which chocolate is featured.

 

My favorite chocolates include:

1) Snickers. This candy has always been my absolute favorite. And, really, any chocolate paired with caramel ranks pretty high for me.

2) Godiva chocolate. Godiva makes the best hot fudge you’ll ever have. And the best chocolate dip for strawberries. And incredible truffles. And…and…

3) Chocolate chips. I love the way they crunch, and enjoy them by themselves, in cookies, in ice cream, in muffins – you get the picture!

4) Chocolate ice cream. In pretty much any form, I love the chocolate frozen stuff!

5) Nutella. The delicious chocolate-hazelnut spread is incredible on pancakes and even better in crepes. Anything would probably be better with Nutella.

 

HardAsItGets mm cNow for a chocolate-inspired excerpt:

 

Becca opened the fridge and surveyed the shelves and drawers. After all, the last thing Nick had said to her before they’d gone their separate ways at bedtime was “Make yourself at home. What’s mine is yours.” Which had left her mind churning on exactly what the full practical application of that principle might include . . . But, at the very least, she assumed it included midnight raids on his fridge. One of her worst and most favorite habits.

 

But the contents primarily fell into one of four categories: beer, other drinks, restaurant takeout and general leftovers, and meat.

 

Wrinkling her nose, she closed the lower door and opened the upper one. Icy air blasted out as her gaze landed on a two-deep stack of ice cream tubs, the double chocolate fudge brownie catching her eye in particular.

 

“That’s more like it.” She pushed the door shut and turned to the counter.

 

And screamed.

 

Nick was standing like a silent phantom at the edge of the dim light. The half-gallon

container flipped out of her hands and did a triple somersault in the air before she dove for it at the same time Nick did.

 

They crashed and she shrieked, her hands flush against a mountain of bare, hard flesh, and the tub of ice cream fell at their feet. His arms came around her, his greater weight nearly knocking her over and making them stumble until he’d all but pinned her against the counter.

 

Time froze for an instant, then Becca burst out laughing, the ridiculousness of the past ten seconds growing in hilarity the more she thought about what had just happened. She covered her mouth with one hand as her head fell back and her laughter devolved into a series of choked chortles she couldn’t control. She gasped for breath, her forehead falling against Nick’s chest.

 

His chest. Holy crap, the man was half naked and she was touching him. Her hand. Her face. Her stomach against his. The details of their position finally registered in her sleep-deprived brain.

 

He was all over her.

 

Do you have a favorite chocolate?

 

Thanks for reading!

Laura

 

“Edgy, sexy, and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!”

~J.R. Ward on Hard As It Gets

 

About Hard As It Gets:

Five dishonored soldiers.

Former Special Forces.

One last mission.

These are the men of Hard Ink.

 

Tall, dark, and lethal…

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey’s tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome–pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He’s left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander’s daughter. Loyalty won’t let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn’t expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge…

 

Read an Extended Excerpt of Hard As It Gets

Buy at Amazon | B&N | iTunes

About Laura Kaye:

 

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

 

Website | Blog | Facebook | Hard Ink Puppy FB | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

 

Want to visit more stops along the HARD AS IT GETS tour? Click HERE

New Release — A KILTED CHRISTMAS WISH

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by elizaknight in Books, contemporary romance, Self-Published, Stolen Bride series

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Tags

A Kilted Christmas Wish, Christmas romance, contemporary romance, Highlanders, kilts

I love kilts, Christmas, chocolate, hot chocolate and even hotter heroes. Add all those together with heaping spoonful of love and you have my new Christmas novella–A KILTED CHRISTMAS WISH! (Oh and guess what??? The hero–Aaron Sutherland–is a descendant of the Sutherlands from my Stolen Bride series!)

ElizaKnight_AKiltedChristmasWish2500Down on her luck with men, Darla Strider wonders if she’ll ever meet her own kilted hero. Considering she lives in present day New York City, the likelihood of that happening is nil. She’s certain only a Christmas wish could make her dreams come true. Until the day Aaron Sutherland walks into her café, and changes her whole world.

Leaving his pain in Scotland for life in the States, the last thing Aaron has in mind is hooking up with a city girl. But one look at Darla and she’s got him singing All I Want for Christmas is You.

Want to read an excerpt? How about all of Chapter One??? Enjoy!

Highlanders. Oh, she wished.

Darla Strider, hopeless romantic and cynical love hater, tossed the Scottish romance novel she’d been reading aside. Highlander’s Reward… Ultra alpha hero, fiercely loyal, powerful, hot body, good in bed, not to mention his kilt… When was she going to get her reward? The Scottish hero from the novel certainly wasn’t going to leap from the pages, long sexy hair flowing, sword glinting, eyes filled with desire and ask her out to dinner followed by mind-blowing sex—except in her fantasies. And in her fantasies, she would say, yes, a thousand times yes, throwing herself into his waiting, muscular arms.

Leaning an elbow on the counter of her gourmet deli and resting her chin in her hand, she gazed out the paned glass onto the busy, holiday-adorned Manhattan street. Any minute the lunchtime rush would begin. Thank goodness her chef was in today. With Amanda, her hostess/waitress, out sick, the counter was going to get crazy. Reading time was over for the next few hours. What did it matter, anyway? She was beginning to be overly bitter about romance and a reminder of that was the last thing she needed.

One miserable, failed date after another. A couple of meaningless relationships and a series of messy nights bumping uglies. Romance, for Darla, was dead.

What she wouldn’t give to have a Highlander walk through her door that very moment. At least a free year’s supply of her prized veggie and goat cheese panini. To hear his brogue stroke her like a caress while he told her how beautiful he thought she was. She smirked. For that, she’d throw in a daily glass of sangria.

Never going to happen.

She glanced over at the miniature Christmas tree tucked into the corner near the window. Stockings hung from its branches, all in the name of holiday cheer. A little bronzed Santa sat nestled in the branches, surrounded by twinkling white lights and silver tinsel.

“Santa,” she murmured. “Please bring me one of these Highland heroes for Christmas.”

Oh, God, now she was resorting to talking to inanimate objects. Hopeless.

The bell over the door dinged. Swiping her hands on her snowman-covered apron as she stood straight and plastered a smile on her face, Darla resisted the urge to gasp at the gorgeous man who walked through the entrance. Dressed in a dazzling fitted, charcoal-gray suit, with a light blue dress shirt and shiny black tie, he looked like he’d just walked off a billboard titled, Every Woman’s Dream. Dark hair, slightly on the longish side, clean shaven, chiseled features—and those eyes. Gray as storm clouds and just as unpredictable.

Darla swallowed her shock and cocked her head slightly. “Welcome to City Café,” she said, silently cursing the slight shake in her voice. She clutched her fingers together behind her back, then quickly brought them around front when she realized she’d thrust her breasts forward, too.

A delicious grin curled his lips and his eyes raked over her making Darla wish she’d chosen her good jeans today. The ones that made her butt look bootylicious instead of I-eat-too-much-chocolicious.

“Thanks,” he said.

Darla did a double-take, her mouth falling open at least an inch. She definitely detected some sort of accent. Her heart sped up and she gave a furtive glance at Santa. Sounded Scottish, but it was hard to decipher from one syllable. There was no way… She was delusional, that was all.

“Would you like to eat in or carryout?” she managed.

He studied her for a few skips of her heartbeat. There was a wicked glint in his eyes. The kind that would normally make her melt. Okay, fine. She admitted it, the way he was looking at her, she was bound to go boneless if he didn’t look away.

“I’d like a table,” he said.

Holy, fucking, Santa Claus!

The man spoke with the most discernible Scottish brogue. Knees going weak, Darla gripped the counter to hold herself up. She blinked, staring at him and then back at her Christmas tree. Was this a joke? No. Couldn’t be. Just a coincidence. A huge coincidence. No stars-aligning, tragic romance bull, just chance.

“Is that all right?” he asked, staring around the café when she didn’t respond.

The door opened, bell dinging, as a group of three walked in, dusting snow off their sleeves. The noise pulled her out of her trance, and Darla jerked into motion, grabbing a menu.

“Yes, yes, of course.” She skidded around the side of the counter and took him to the table closest to her—selfish really. She wanted the ability to stare at him while she worked. Ugh. Maybe she should convince him to take his order to go?

“Would you mind if I sat by the window?” He shrugged, having the adorable awareness to look charming. “Just got into town and I do love to people watch.”

Darla managed to find her wit somewhere buried beneath the shock and drool. She gave a throaty laugh—hi-fiving herself for being sexy. “I love people watching, too. No problem.”

She led him over toward the Christmas tree, glaring at Santa as she went. Not fair for him to play such a cruel joke on her. “How’s this?”

“Perfect.”

Lord, was he ever…

A clearing throat behind Darla reminded her the line was starting to build. She felt her face heat. She might as well just strip off her clothes right then and there and offer herself over to her hot customer.

Instead, she handed him the menu and said, “I’ll be back in a moment to take your order.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at her.

Not the usual, thanks for the menu now leave me alone smile. No, this was a charming, I want to ask you to dinner smile. And if he asked, she might just find it impossible to say no.

Darla whirled back toward the counter, practically running behind it. Her limbs were tingling, going numb and she could barely catch her breath. Just a coincidence she kept telling herself.

And no dates. Even if he oozed sex on a platter. She wasn’t going down that road again. Besides, she had a half dozen people in line to attend to. Daydreaming about Mr. Hot Scotsman was only going to ruin her business. A chance she couldn’t take. The café was all she had. Her family was scattered across the country, and it wasn’t like she was going to beg a couch to crash on.

Jorge peeked his head around the corner from the kitchen, raising his brow. Darla pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile. Her chef knew her too damn well.

After taking the orders of those in line, she used the brief lull in traffic to rush back to her Scottish gentleman.

“I’m sorry about the wait. What would you like to have today?”

He flashed her that smile again and she gripped tight to her pen to keep from flinging it as her fingers twitched. Yeah, the last thing she needed was to poke out one of his gorgeous eyes.

“What is your favorite?” he asked.

“Hands down the roasted veggie panini, but if you’re in a meaty mood, the turkey and spinach pesto is amazing.”

“I’ll give yours a shot. If it’s not to my liking, I’ll have to come back tomorrow for the turkey.”

Her breath caught. He’d come back?

“That sounds great,” she rushed out. A blush crept up over her chest, a smile frozen on her lips. “I’m going to go put this in.” She hurried back to the kitchen, cursing herself for not being able to say something clever and witty, knowing she must look like a complete moron, mooning over the stranger like a woman who’d never seen a man before.

She’d been staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights. He probably thought she was crazy.

Plates started popping out of the kitchen window, and between taking more orders, she served lunches to those who were staying—including Mr. Hotstuff—and bagged up the to-go’s. Every time she looked toward the hottie by the Christmas tree he was watching her. A few times he tried to look away, pretending that he’d not been staring, but other times he smiled.

She was supposed to be the one staring—not him.

Damn. Double damn.

She’d vowed no more dates. Not one man was going to take off the metaphorical chastity belt she’d chained to her nether-regions. Not until she’d met a man worth it. Not until she felt that spark of love. No matter how much of a Scottish accent he had, or how much she wanted to stare into his stormy gray eyes.

“Excuse me?”

Darla jerked her gaze to the annoyed looking woman. The sound of her customer’s foot tapping in front of the counter made Darla’s eye twitch.

“Welcome to City Café, how can I help you?” She plastered on her snappy customer service smile and listened to the woman complain about how she’d said hello to her about five times before Darla answered.

“So sorry, we’ve been swamped. My apologies.”

“Take out order for the Simpson Firm.”

Darla rummaged through the called in to-go’s and handed the woman two large recycled paper bags, filled with hers and Jorge’s famous paninis. She rang her up, exchanging cash and change with the woman was painful as she seemed to have an affinity to rolling her eyes.

“Enjoy.” Darla handed her the bag.

The woman didn’t bother to say thank you, but stormed out at such a jerky pace, making Darla fear she’d drop the order.

“Guess not everyone can be pleased.” Her Scottish friend had somehow managed to leave his chair and approach the counter without her noticing.

“Not always,” she said with a smile. “Are you all done?”

“Yes, best sandwich I’ve ever had. You run a great café.” He winked. “Very charming. Just like its owner.”

Her mouth fell open. Charming? He was starting with the compliments already?

“I didn’t catch your name. I’m Aaron.” He held out his hand.

She stared down at his hand for a little longer than was appropriate, but finally snapped out of it, slipping hers against his palm. His hand was warm. Fingers long.

“I’m Darla.”

“Are you open for dinner, Darla?” he asked.

Her stomach did a little flip and she nodded. “Um, yes, we are.”

“Darn. I was going to see if you were free to go out with me this evening. Maybe some other time.” He picked up one of the restaurant deli cards and stuck it in his pocket.

She opened her mouth to speak, but only succeeded in nodding. He flashed her one more heart-throbbing smile before walking out of the door, and potentially out of her life forever.

READ THE REST!!! 

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Out now!

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