Hard Wood by Lauren Blakely-Review and Excerpt Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 23, 2017
Women often say a good man is hard to find. And a hard man is even better.
That’s why I’m quite a catch— good, hard, loaded, and wait for it…I’m ready to settle down too. But the woman I want to pitch my tent with lives clear across the country. Neither of us wants to get lost in those woods. All I have to do is resist her for the week she’s in town.
I try. I swear I try. But yeah, that doesn’t work out.
And after one fantastic night with my good friend Mia, I’m ready to give her years of nights under the stars. What’s a few thousand miles when love’s involved? But there’s a hitch in my plans — she just hired my adventure tour company. If there’s one thing I’m committed to, it’s running a squeaky clean business. Number one on my list of iron-clad rules?
Don’t screw your customers.
But what’s a guy to do when she’s so hard to resist? How hard can it be to keep our hands off each other for a quick group tour down the hills and over the trails? I’m about to find out, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a new badge of honor because things are about to get very hard in the woods.
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REVIEW:
HARD WOOD by Lauren Blakely is a contemporary, erotic romance found in the author’s series of standalone male point of view story lines including Well Hung, Mr. O, The Sexy One, Big Rock, Joy Ride and Full Package, connected by the familiarity of family, friendships and lovers. This is professional hiker and trail guide Patrick Milligan, and beauty company owner Mia Summers’ story line. HARD WOOD can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty . Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Mia is the younger sister of Chase Summers (Full Package) and Max Summers (Joy Ride); Patrick is best friends with Mia’s brother Max.
Told from first person point of view (Patrick Milligan) with a few pages from Zeus the cat HARD WOOD is a best friends, little sister trope that follows the friends to lovers building romance between adventure tour owner and operator Patrick Milligan, and beauty company owner Mia Summers. Mia is a West Coast girl; her beauty products company is based in San Francisco but she struggles with the distance between herself and her brothers back in New York. Enter Patrick Milligan, Max Summers’ best friend, and the man with whom Mia will fall in love. What ensues is the quick building romance between Patrick and Mia, and the potential fall out of a long distance relationship.
The relationship between Mia and Patrick is quick to build; a friends to lovers insta-love/lust romance wherein Patrick is ready to settle down but Mia battles issues from the past. Convincing herself that New York is where she wants to be, Mia moves her head office and her heart to be closer to the man with whom she is falling in love. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic.
Most of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting roles. The author gives the reader a glimpse into the ongoing relationship dynamics, and the growing families and friendship.
HARD WOOD is a sweet story of romance and love. There is no outside conflict, and little to no confrontation or struggle between our leading couple. The premise is engaging; the characters are real; the romance is sexy and hot. HARD WOOD takes the reader on an adventure with one sexy man; his hiking-loving cat Zeus; and one woman who is willing to take a chance on a happily ever after.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
NOTE: Excerpt intended for mature readers due to language and content
Then I grab her hips and move her so she’s straddling my lap. She gasps, a sexy noise that turns into a moan as she sinks down on my hard-on.
I hiss because it feels so fucking good.
“I wanted to come over the other night. After dinner. After the elevator,” she blurts out.
“Yeah?”
She nods. “Dinner ran late, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“What were you thinking?”
“That we didn’t get to kiss, and I wanted to so badly.”
“I can fix that problem right now.”
I take her face in my hands and bring her to me. Then the world spirals away as I kiss Mia Summers for the very first time.
It’s extraordinary. Her lips brush against mine, and she wastes no time. She slides closer, rubbing on my dick as she presses her chest to me. It’s as if she’s climbing me, and God, how I want this. How I want her like this.
I thread my fingers through her hair, pulling her closer, kissing her deeper. Tasting her. Her mouth is soft and sweet, and she makes these little sounds—whimpers, sighs, gasps—that make me nearly lose my mind.
I’m kissing Mia. I’ve been crazy for her for so damn long, and she’s on my lap, rubbing against my erection, kissing me as if her every last breath depends on it. Her tongue tangles with mine, and in a hot second, the kiss become furious. Greedy. Like two people who are mad about each other. I curl my hands around her head, wanting to get as close as I can, but she bats them away.
I break contact for a moment and raise a questioning eyebrow.
“My turn.” She lifts her hands, cups my cheeks, and then she strokes my jaw. Reverently. Hungrily. And I know what she’s doing. She’s feeling my beard. She’s touching my stubbled jaw with eager fingers, as if she’s wanted to get her hands on me for as long as I’ve wanted to touch her.
I don’t stop her. I drop my hands to her hips, and I guide her along, moving her so she grinds against my cock, and she’s gasping and murmuring as she kisses me.
We consume each other. We are ravenous. My brain turns to static, firing pleasure signal after pleasure signal to every nerve in my body. I want to live in this moment for the rest of the night. I don’t ever want to forget how good it feels not only to kiss her, but to be kissed by her.
She rocks harder, goes faster, murmurs louder, then she separates and looks at me with desperate eyes. “You have no idea.”
I shake my head. “I do. I have every idea.”
A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October she’ll release HARD WOOD, a sexy, standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter
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