Air Force Hero by Weston Parker-a review

AIR FORCE HERO by Weston Parker-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon. au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 3, 2018

There’s only been one woman for me, and she’s never truly been mine.

But I don’t have much time for anyone anyway, with my focus on my career.

I’m a military man through and through, from generation to generation.

This one girl, though. She stole my heart when we were kids, but it’s taboo, forbidden.

She’s my best friend’s little sister, and he’d kill us both.

After my mom recently lost my dad, a quick trip home to help her brings me face to face with the past.

It was just one wild night years ago, but I can’t shake it.

She left before the break of dawn, going back to the sea, and I took my place up in the air once again.

But she’s never left my mind. Her soft curves and sweet heart haunted me.

And now that we’re back in the same small town for two weeks, I find out she’s in a bad relationship and hiding a secret from me.

A four-year-old little man with my smile and her eyes.

My dream was to stay in the Air Force until retirement, but that dream has changed.

So have I.

•••••••••

REVIEW:  AIR FORCE HERO by Weston Parker is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, erotic, romance story line focusing on Air Force Pilot, Major Zachary Flynn , and bar owner Josephine Hart.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Jo and Zach) AIR FORCE HERO follows the multi-troped storyline focusing on the best friend’s little sister/ secret baby / second chance/ military romance and relationship between Air Force Pilot, Major Zachary Flynn , and bar owner Josephine Hart. Five years earlier Zachary Flynn reconnected with his best friend’s little sister, Josephine Hart, and following a one-night stand they both went their separate ways. Fast forward to present day wherein Zachary, now retired following the death of his beloved father will come face to face with his past, a past that holds a secret he knew nothing about. What ensues is the rekindling relationship and romance between Zach and Jo, and the potential fall-out as Jo’s ex looks to even the score.

Josephine Hart walked away from the only man she would ever love but discovering she was pregnant meant choosing between her own happily ever after, or destroying Zach’s dreams of Air Force stardom. Zachary Flynn had no idea what transpired in the five years since he last saw Josephine Hart but to discover that she may be the mother of the son he never knew meant a second chance for Zach to start over with the woman he loves.

The relationship between Zach and Jo is one of second chances; a secret baby, best friend’s younger sister relationship wherein Zach hopes to rekindle what they started years before but a relationship that begins with a secret from the past. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Josephine’s brother Ryan, and their parents; Jo’s best friend/ co-worker Rosie Westmore; Zach’s mother; fellow Air Force pilot Grady, as well as Josephine’s soon to be ex Brett; and Jo and Zach’s son Sam.

AIR FORCE HERO is a sexy and sassy story with a spirited and likable couple whose attraction to one is reinforced by time and distance. The premise is engaging; the characters are colorful, lively and charismatic; the romance is moving and provocative.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Share

On Broken Wings (Wild Aces #3) by Chanel Cleeton-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

ON BROKEN WINGS ( Wild Aces #3) by Chanel Cleeton-Review, Excerpt, Book Tour & Giveaway

On Broken Wings Banner

ON BROKEN WINGS
Wild Aces #3
by Chanel Cleeton
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, military romance
Release Date: January 3, 2017

On Broken Wings

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 3, 2017

A year after losing her husband, Joker, the squadron commander of the Wild Aces, Dani Peterson gets an offer from his best friend, Alex “Easy” Rogers, to help fix up her house. Dani accepts, and their friendship grows—along with an undeniable attraction.

Racked by guilt for loving his best friend’s widow, Easy’s caught between what he wants and can’t have. Until one night everything changes, and the woman who’s always held his heart ends up in his arms. Yet as Easy leaves for his next deployment, he and Dani are torn between their feelings and their loyalty to Joker’s memory.

But when Dani discovers something that sends them both into a spin, the conflicted lovers must overcome the past to navigate a future together

••••••••••••

REVIEW: ON BROKEN WINGS is the third installment in Chanel Cleeton’s contemporary, adult WILD ACES erotic, military romance series focusing a group of U.S. Air Force fighter pilots known as the Wild Aces. This is fighter pilot Alex ‘Easy’ Rogers, and Wild Aces widow Dani Peterson’s story line. ON BROKEN WINGS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and history.

Told from dual first person points of view (Dani and Easy) ON BROKEN WINGS is a friends to lovers romance focusing on widow Dani Peterson, and Wild Aces fighter pilot Alex ‘Easy’ Rogers. One year earlier Dani lost her husband, fighter pilot Michael ‘Joker’ Peterson to a jet crash in Alaska, while Easy lost his best friend and mentor. For years Easy has been in love with his best friend’s wife but he wasn’t the type of man to carry on an affair with a married woman. Following the death of Joker, Easy had a difficult time with his need to protect the woman he has always loved. As Dani prepares to sell her house, Easy offers to help with the repairs, and their struggling friendship begins to take on an air of sexual attraction. What ensues is the building relationship and love between Dani and Easy, and the battle between guilt and a happily ever after.

The relationship between Easy and Dani is fraught with guilt and remorse. Easy doesn’t want to stain his friendship with his former mentor, and Dani is afraid that to fall in love again means forgetting about the man she lost. Easy is the epitome of the perfect hero-a passionate, heartwarming and emotional hero who struggles with his attraction to his late friend’s wife. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

All of the previous story line couples and characters play secondary and supporting roles. We are witness to the birth of the next generation, and an epilogue that fast forwards the story line approximately one year.

The world building continues to focus on the fighter pilots and their missions, and the men and women left behind. The ‘forbidden’ aspect of Dani and Easy’s relationship is compounded by outside interference, and a series of confusing messages from well meaning friends.

ON BROKEN WINGS is an emotional and heartbreaking story but also frustrating as it pertained the heroine’s inability to move forward without the constant guilt of pushing aside the memories of what was and what could have been. The premise is moving and intense; the romance and attraction are palpable and inspiring; the characters are broken but healing; animated and passionate. ON BROKEN WINGS is a wonderful and poignant story from the pen of Chanel Cleeton.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Fly With Me
Into The Blue
On Broken Wings

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

On Broken Wings Teaser

 

Excerpt beige

I closed my eyes for a beat, trying to drown her out, to throw the wall back up, attempting to push her out of the cracks and crevices of my heart where she’d snuck in and taken up permanent residence in my chest.
She smelled like apples. Forbidden-fucking-apples. She looked . . .
My eyes slammed open and my gaze slid over her. I blinked, not sure if it was the scent of apples or the sight in front of me that made me so fucking hungry.
She wore a pair of white shorts that showed off surprisingly tanned legs. A faded T-shirt that likely harkened back to her days as a cheerleader at the University of Georgia. Her red-gold hair was up in a loose braid, her green eyes staring up at me.
I’d been in detox, hoped the months apart would cure this ache inside me every single fucking time I saw her.
They hadn’t.
If anything, the time apart had only made the ache worse.
I fisted my hands at my sides, looking away from her again, her words cutting through me as I focused on the paint cans as though my life depended on it. And then I couldn’t take it anymore, and my gaze slid down to the spot where she touched me, where her fingers rested on my bicep, her skin a few shades paler than mine.
I swallowed, trying to drag more air into my lungs, her hand suddenly as dangerous as a deadly spider.
I had a pretty solid you-can-look-but-you-can’t-touch policy where Dani was concerned. There had been moments when I bended the rules a little bit, like a few minutes ago when I’d seen her standing there amid all the painting supplies looking so lost, as though she was drowning and needed a life raft to pull her to shore, but I paid for every fucking moment in spades.
“You don’t make it worse,” I lied, answering her original question, hating that I’d given her a reason to worry about anyone other than herself. She had more shit on her plate than most people could ever deal with, and the last thing I wanted to do was add to it. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my cargo shorts, breaking the physical connection between us, still not quite able to meet her gaze. Her eyes could bring the most resolute man to his fucking knees.
I swallowed again, wondering if my voice sounded as strained to her ears as it did to mine. “It’s good to see you again.”
Heaven and hell rolled into a knot in my stomach.

About The Author beige

Chanel CleetonOriginally a Florida girl, CHANEL CLEETON moved to London where she received a bachelor’s degree from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chanel fell in love with London and planned to stay there forever, until fate intervened on a Caribbean cruise and a fighter pilot with smooth dance moves swept her off her feet. Now, a happily ever after later, Chanel is living her next adventure.

Law school made Chanel realize she’d rather spend her days writing sexy stories than in a courtroom, and she hasn’t looked back since. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she’s happiest curled up with a book. She has a weakness for handbags, her three pups, and her husband.

Chanel writes contemporary romances, women’s fiction, and thrillers. She is published by Harlequin HQN, Penguin/InterMix, and Penguin/Berkley and is the author of the International School, Capital Confessions, Assassins, and Wild Aces series.

Website: www.chanelcleeton.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorchanelcleeton
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1545366192398558/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/chanelcleeton
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/chanelcleeton
Newsletter: www.chanelcleeton.com/mailing-list/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/chanelcleeton/

 

Giveaway beige

Chanel’s publisher and The Reading Cafe are offering a paper copy of ON BROKEN WINGS to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

NOTE: If you are having difficulty commenting after logging onto the site, please refresh the page (at the top of your computer).

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please follow Chanel Cleeton on Facebook.

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Please follow The Reading Cafe on Tumblr

8. Giveaway is open to USA only

9. Giveaway runs from  January 11-14, 2017

Share

The Hero (Sons of Texas #1) by Donna Grant-Review & Book Tour

THE HERO (Sons of Texas #1) by Donna Grant-Review & Book Tour

The-Hero-Blogger-Banner-851x315

THE HERO
Sons of Texas #1
by Donna Grant
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Genre: adult, contemporary, military romance

The Hero

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM / Indiebound/ ibooks / Tantor Audio

Add to your GOODREADS shelf.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 6, 2016

THE HERO’S HOMECOMING

Owen Loughman is a highly-decorated Navy SEAL who has a thirst for action. But there’s one thing he hasn’t been able to forget – his high school sweetheart, Natalie. After over a decade away, Owen is returned home to the ranch in Texas for a dangerous new mission that puts him face-to-face with Natalie and an outside menace that threatens everything he holds dear. He’ll risk it all to keep Natalie safe – and win her heart. . . .

Natalie Dixon has had a lifetime of heartache since Owen was deployed. Fourteen years and one bad marriage later, she finds herself mixed up with the Loughman’s again. With her life on the line against an enemy she can’t fight alone, it’s Owen’s strong shoulders, smoldering eyes, and sensuous smile that she turns to. When danger closes in, she holds close to the only man she’s ever loved…

••••••••••••••

REVIEW: THE HERO is the first installment in Donna Grant’s contemporary, adult SONS OF TEXAS military romance series focusing on the Loughman brothers – our story line hero Owen, oldest brother and Marine recon captain Wyatt, and youngest brother/Marine Cullen- and their Navy SEAL father Orrin Loughman. This is Navy SEAL Owen Loughman, and language expert Natalie Dixon’s story line.

Told from three different third party perspectives (Owen, Natalie and Orrin) THE HERO follows the search for Orrin Loughman and the people responsible for the murder of the Loughman’s Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Virgil. While on assignment overseas, all three Loughman brothers are called home to Texas to discover that their beloved Aunt and Uncle have been murdered, and their Navy SEAL father Orrin is missing. Enter Natalie Dixon, a woman whose own relationship with Orrin Loughman is that of father and daughter, and a woman who is in the direct line of fire when she is targeted by the same people who killed Charlotte and Virgil Loughman. What ensues is hunt for Orrin Loughman, and Owen’s need to protect the woman he has always loved.

THE HERO is a story of second chances. Fourteen years earlier Owen walked out of Natalie’s life believing his presence could risk her life and everyone that she loves. Owen has never stopped loving Natalie Dixon, and in the ensuing years finds himself wondering if she would ever forgive him when the time was right. Natalie is a woman scorned, not once but twice, and is reluctant to renew her relationship with the man who destroyed her heart. The $ex scenes limited but romantic without the use of over the top graphic sexual language and text.

The world building focuses on three distinct scenarios: Orrin Loughman and his struggle to survive; the battle to stay one step ahead of the people who have targeted Natalie Dixon; and the search for the people that have destroyed their lives.

The Loughman family is a dysfunctional family unit that has struggled since the death of the matriarch Melanie Loughman-a murder that has gone unsolved, and brothers blame their father for their grief and suffering. We are introduced to Owen’s family-Marines Wyatt and Cullen, as well as Callie Reed who may or may not have had a prior relationship with Wyatt Loughman. Air Force pilot Mia Carter, the last person to have seen Orrin Loughman alive, is a person of interest in the case. Mia and Cullen’s story is next in THE PROTECTOR-January 2017.

THE HERO is an engaging, action packed, emotional story line of suspense and mystery; murder and the Russian mob; international espionage and affairs of the state. The premise is exciting, complex and creative; the characters are intriguing and powerful; the romance is passionate and seductive. Because the SONS OF TEXAS focuses on the Loughman family, THE HERO does not end with a happily ever after but a happily ever after for now as the search continues for Orrin Loughman.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

 

Excitement or dread? She wasn’t sure she knew.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been on the ranch since her breakup with Owen. In fact, she’d been there several times since discovering Ragnarok, but this time was different.
This time, Owen could be there.
“I’m close,” Callie said.
The line disconnected. Natalie didn’t see the black fence that lined either side of the drive, or the cows and horses that grazed peacefully.
Her gaze was locked on the white house that drew closer with each second. By the time she parked in front of the two- story ranch home with its wide, wrap- around porch, all she could think about was the dinner she’d had the week before with Callie, Virgil, and Charlotte.
She put the car in park and glanced around. There was no sign that anyone else was there. Since she expected someone to come out at the sound of her car, she assumed Owen and his brothers hadn’t yet made it to the house.
Or perhaps, luck was on her side, and those choppers hadn’t been bringing the brothers.
She got out of her car, but it was more difficult than she imagined making herself go up the steps to the porch. She might be involved in all of this, but she’d never witnessed a murder scene firsthand.
Frankly, she didn’t want to.
But Orrin’s life was on the line. Everything she and Callie could discover only helped their chances of learning who took Orrin and where Ragnarok was.
She reached the front door. At least she wouldn’t have to see Virgil’s and Charlotte’s bodies. They had already been taken away.
That was her last thought as she walked through the doorway and found herself fl at on her back. Natalie knew the instant the large hands grabbed her that it was Owen.
Her heart skipped a beat, even as she instinctively reacted and used her momentum to pull Owen over her head. She got up, but in the next heartbeat, he had her pinned to the wall.
The heat of him was the first thing she felt. Then it was his hard body trapping her. She felt herself softening, needing to feel him after all these years.
She thought he would threaten her. Instead, he knocked off her cap. His dark brown eyes widened in shock.
How she wished her heart didn’t feel like it was about to explode out of her chest. He was . . . breathtaking. She drank in the very sight of him. Sharp, chiseled features that looked as if they had been fashioned from granite stared back at her. Gone was any hint of the teenager she’d known. Before her stood a man in all his masculine glory.
He’d always been tall, his muscles honed at an early age from working on the ranch. Now, however, Owen filled out his wide shoulders. His light tan tee stretched tightly across his chest, molding to every ripple of muscle in his arms and shoulders. The shirt was tucked into camo pants she imagined were for the desert by their sand and khaki color. His hair was longer, the dark strands shoved away from his face in long waves.
Her surprise at having Owen against her was quickly hidden. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two more figures. How she wished she would’ve waited for Callie.
“Hi, boys,” Natalie said. It was the only thing she could think of. Owen frowned, the irritation clear in his sensual chocolate gaze. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“She’s looking for me.”
At the sound of Callie’s voice, most of the apprehension left Natalie. Now she wouldn’t have to face the Loughman men on her own.
She barely paid attention to anything going on around her. She was too intent on staring into Owen’s eyes. It was obvious that he was irritated to find her there, but he had yet to release her.
And she didn’t remind him of that fact.
Her allowing him to keep her pinned was an indication of how long it had taken her to get over him. And how she hated herself for it. After all she’d suffered, she should be shoving him away.
Her body had other ideas, however. With her blood burning through her and her nipples hard, she ached for his touch.
Yearned for it.
His eyes dropped to her mouth. Her breath hitched, caught in her throat. Yes! She wanted his kiss. It didn’t matter where they were or who was around.
Dimly, she heard Callie and Wyatt talking. Much to her annoyance, Owen released her. She was more hurt than she wanted to admit.
Perhaps it was for the best. She’d sworn off all men. Especially Owen. She quickly moved to stand beside Callie.
“Someone please tell us what’s going on?” Owen demanded. Callie shrugged. “I work here.”
Natalie looked at Owen and said, “I came to help.”
Owen’s breath locked in his lungs as he stared at Natalie’s long, brown hair streaked with strands of copper.
He wanted those deep green eyes of hers to land on him again, to fill with desire . . . again.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
The years had transformed her into a seductress who left him breathless and needy.
The girl had become a woman, and what a woman she was. He knew the weight of her breast in his hand, knew how it felt to sink into her body and hear her scream in pleasure.
And yet, the woman before him now held a hint of wariness that hadn’t been there before. What happened to her to take away that lighthearted girl he once knew?

Copyright © 2016 by Donna Grant and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Paperbacks.

 

 

About the Author

donna_grant_newDonna Grant is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the sizzling Dark King series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.

She was born and raised in Texas but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding.

Despite deadlines and voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two children, four cats, and one long haired Chihuahua.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

SMP St. Martins

Share

Heart Strike (Delta Force #2) by M.L. Buchman-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway

HEART STRIKE (Delta Force #2) by M.L. Buchman-Review, Book tour & Giveaway

Heart Strike Banner

HEART STRIKE
Delta Force #2
by M.L. Buchman
Release Date: August 2, 2016
Genre: adult, contemporary, military, romance

Heart Strike

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 2, 2016

Richie Goldman is the team geek of Delta Force, a warrior and a technical wizard-but nothing is more mysterious to him than women. When a feisty new recruit joins the team just in time for a dangerous mission in the Colombian jungle, he’ll have to make it out alive if he ever wants to figure her out.

Melissa Moore is going to be the best woman in Delta Force. Ready to do battle, her biggest challenge is avoiding Richie’s sweet and sexy distractions. She was prepared for combat, but falling in love is an entirely different battlefield

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: HEART STRIKE is the second installment in M. L. Buchman’s contemporary, adult DELTA FORCE military, romance series focusing on the men and women of the elite Delta Force squad. This is tech geek Richie ‘Q’ Goldman, and Staff Sargeant Melissa ‘The Cat’ Moore’s story line. HEART STRIKE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Richie and Melissa) HEART STRIKE focuses on the latest mission for the members of the secret Delta Force group known as The Unit- a dangerous mission into the Colombian jungle to take down one of the largest cocaine processing centers in the country. Melissa is a new grad of The Unit’s rigorous six month training program and the second woman to make the Delta Force team. When her fellow grads are sent on a different assignment Melissa finds herself assigned to The Unit’s number one team-a cohesive group of Delta Force operators already working in the field. What ensues is the building relationship between Melissa Moore, and the Delta Force team’s computer geek Richie Goldman, a potential problem with group cohesion, and the undercover operation to search and destroy.

The world building continues to focus on the illegal drug trade of South America; the elite team of The Delta Force unit; and the camaraderie and friendships that continue to grow within the team. HEART STRIKE is an ensemble story line. All of the team members from book one including Kyle and Carla (Target Engaged) play secondary and supporting roles throughout the story.

M.L. Buchman’s stories are rich in military lingo, technical flight information, and a descriptive picture of the Colombian and South American jungles. HEART STRIKE is a story of suspense, mystery, romance and fiery action wrapped in lush green and striking blue of the land and sea. The premise is intriguing and imaginative; the characters are colorful, dynamic, and passionate; the romance is intimate and seductive-M.L. has upped the sexuality of his stories.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Guest Post

The first book in my new Delta Force #1, Target Engaged was called “His best yet” by Booklist and was also named a finalist for RWA’s prestigious RITA award.

Well, my answer to that is Heart Strike, releasing August 3rd, 2016. But it got me thinking. What are my favorite sequels? For a change-up, I focused on the action side rather than the romance, and here’s what I came up with.

5. The Color of Money Paul Newman and a very young Tom Cruise in The Color of Money. The original Jackie Gleason and a very young Paul Newman The Hustler was a master work of a tight psychological drama. They upped the stakes and made it utterly captivating in the highly energetic sequel.

4. Jason Bourne Jason Bourne #2 & #3 didn’t disappoint…for a single second. They sustained the tension, remained true to the character (an essential), and found ways to ratchet the tension higher in each successive one. Number 4? Not so much.

3. The Wrath of Khan The Wrath of Khan notoriously took one of the most disappointing movie launches ever, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and created a massive and incredible franchise that has continued ever since. Khan is still one of the great, over-the-top, out-of-control villains.

2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Sometimes a great sequel comes third rather than second. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade pitted Harrison Ford against Sean Connery in gloriously foolish father-son mayhem that completely honored the first film.

1. The Dark Knight Rises This choice surprises me. I like the Dark Knight reboot, but I’m not a big fan of the comic book heroes in general and frequently skip them. It took me a couple of years to catch up with this one and what I love about it isn’t the acting (which was wonderful), or the action (which was dramatic). It was the story. The writer and director completely set us up to thinking this story was going one direction…then in the last half hour it went another way entirely. AND that twist was perfectly in character, just wholly unexpected.

Now, I write romantic suspense, so the ending is fairly predictable, but I certainly hope that you enjoy the journey of my latest Delta Force novel, number 2, Heart Strike!

Excerpt

Action sequels, even romantic suspense ones, only have a short moment of introduction before it’s time to get everyone moving…and moving fast! Delta Force #2, Heart Strike, opens with the team from Delta #1, Target Engaged, mapping coca fields in Boliva. They’re targeting them for massive defoliant drops from the CIA’s 747 tanker plane. Trouble comes when command issues an order for the team to pull out ahead of schedule to pick up a new team member and a new assignment. Thankfully, no one anywhere adapts faster to a changing situation than a team of Delta Force operators.

Sunrise was less than an hour off when Chad jostled his shoulder. Richie hadn’t been asleep and barely managed to suppress an oath as Chad shook him hard enough to wake the dead-his idea of humor. Richie noticed that he was a little more cautious with Duane who often woke with his knife half-drawn. Kyle and Carla were already at the hut’s entrance. Kyle had taken one look at the order and, in minutes, outlined a plan of how they were going to exit the farm with hopefully minimal exposure and risk. The guards they were anticipating would be off duty and the patrol timing would be wrong, but Kyle’s plan was as solid as they could get with what they knew. No way would Richie be missing this place. Dirt floor, woven grass mat, and a thatched roof that could really use some thatch before the next rainstorm but wasn’t going to get it. He felt sorry for the laborers. Some of the farmers were about to have an even worse season than the last one. At a big site like this, they were little better than slaves. Once the coca was gone, they’d be free, but with no assets and no working farm crop. In the coca business, locals just weren’t part of the profit equation. Rolando and the drug lord’s other armed guards Richie liked well enough, but had less sympathy for. The Delta team slipped out into the darkness, just a hint of the blue in the sky that was already washing out the fainter stars. They passed the farmers’ huts and were almost to the road leading out of the camp. “Where are you going, amigos?” Rolando, his AK-47 no longer over his shoulder but now in his hands. “Hey, buddy.” Chad started forward, but stopped and tried to look stupid when Rolando flicked off the safety. Carla stepped forward with an easy sway of her hips. Her dirty blue work shirt unbuttoned far enough to reveal that her assets weren’t all that much less impressive than the fabled Mayra’s. Rolando’s eyes dropped to her cleavage. She moved a hand up to his chest. With a little flick of her wrist, she revealed the long KA-BAR military knife she was holding and rammed it up under his chin and into his brain. Rolando twitched once. “That’s for trying to ram it up my backside without asking.” “He what?” Kyle snarled, but Carla didn’t waste any time answering. If there was ever a woman able to defend herself, Richie knew it was Carla Anderson. Then Rolando collapsed to the ground and his finger must have snagged on the trigger. A single 7.62mm round gave a loud crack and zinged off into the trees. “Shit!” the whole team said pretty much in unison. With their clandestine departure blown, Chad swept up the AK-47 and fired a security round into Rolando’s forehead. In seconds, they were fifty meters away and moving fast. Kyle had Rolando’s sidearm and Carla had a subcompact Glock 27 that she’d produced from somewhere-where was one of the questions Richie suspected he’d be better off not asking. Still, it was an interesting problem because they’d all been checked on arrival as being unarmed. Richie had pre-buried his GPS and satellite gear in the jungle, carefully crossing then recrossing the mined perimeter before they’d come into the camp so that he could retrieve them once the team had been accepted. The two guards at the main gate were half-awake when they stumbled to their feet. They went back down fast and Richie and Duane now had AK-47s as well. Chad stripped them of a pair of Makarov handguns, tossing one to Richie that he caught midair. There was an old Jeep parked by the gate, but neither of the guards had a key. It was probably back in the open, on Rolando’s body. Chad started hot-wiring it while the rest of them stood watch. Then Richie heard it. Distant at first, but building fast. The four-engine gut-thumping roar of a loaded 747. “Come on, Chad,” Carla pleaded. “Get us out of here.” The Jeep’s engine roared to life and they piled in. Duane tossed his AK-47 to Chad and dove into the driver’s seat-he was the best driver they had. He’d been working up the sprint-car circuit toward NASCAR when he’d taken his detour into the military. Kyle and Richie dropped two more armed guards who came rushing from the huts, half-dressed and scared awake. Duane raced the Jeep out of camp along the road, praying for no booby traps. Then the largest tanker plane in the world descended and began its run. The 747, converted for firefighting, had been put into deep storage in the Tucson desert when its owners went out of business. The CIA had found another use for the massive plane, which now began its dump of twenty thousand gallons-over eighty tons-of defoliant across the exact coordinates that Richie had sent to them just six hours ago. His Delta team had been to twelve coca farms in the last six months. And the 747 tanker had visited each in turn. Twelve farms that wouldn’t produce a single leaf of coca anytime soon. “Down,” Chad shouted. They all ducked and hung on as Duane rammed the heavy wooden outer barrier at thirty miles an hour. It blew apart. A four-by-four shattered the windshield and Carla knocked the remains of the glass clear with the butt of a Chinese QBB machine gun she’d acquired somewhere along the way before turning it around to shoot a guard who’d been standing well clear of the gate. Richie kept an eye out to the rear, but no one was following. If they were, they’d have a long way to go. The team had been pulled out of Bolivia. They were being tasked to a new assignment. That was fine. After six months training together and another six in the field, it was the last line of the message that had worried them all. Proceed to Maracaibo, Venezuela. Acquire new team member.

about the author

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads/ Website

ML BuchmanM. L. Buchman has over 25 novels in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and Booklist “Top 10 of the Year.” In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world.

He is now making his living full-time as a writer, living on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing at www.mlbuchman.com.

Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the publisher.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

sourcebooks logo

Share

Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1) by Chanel Cleeton-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway

FLY WITH ME (Wild Aces #1) by Chanel Cleeton-Review and Book Tour

Fly With Me Banner

FLY WITH ME
Wild Aces #1
by Chanel Cleeton
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, military romance

Fly With Me

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play/ ibooks /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 3, 2016

U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Noah Miller—call sign Burn—loves nothing more than flying hard and fast. When he meets a gorgeous and sassy woman while partying in Las Vegas, he immediately locks on to her.

Jordan Callahan owns a thriving clothing boutique, but her love life is far less successful. Her luck changes when six feet, two inches of sexy swagger asks her to dance and turns her world upside down.

One scorching weekend becomes an undeniable chemistry that they can’t leave in Vegas. But the long distance relationship and their different lives threaten to ground their romance. And when the dangers of Noah’s job become all too real, Jordan learns being with a fighter pilot means risking it all for a shot at love…

••••••••

REVIEW: FLY WITH ME is the first installment in Chanel Cleeton’s contemporary, adult WILD ACES military, erotic romance series focusing a group of U.S. Air Force fighter pilots known as the Wild Aces. This is fighter pilot Noah ‘Burn’ Miller, and dress boutique owner Jordan Callahan’s story line.

Told from dual first person points of view (Noah and Jordan) FLY WITH ME is an emotional story line that looks at love and relationships in the U.S. military- the emotional toll, anguish and heartache of being a military spouse and mate. During a weekend in Vegas to celebrate her sister’s bachelorette party Jordan Callahan will come face to face with her future-Noah Miller- a member of the elite Air Force fighter pilots, and a man who could potentially break her heart. Both Jordan and Noah are ready to settle down but Noah’s life in the military is anything but conducive to a permanent relationship. Following a whirlwind couple of days in Sin City, Noah and Jordan agree to try a long-distance relationship, one that finds our couple growing closer as the days and weeks pass by. What ensues is the back and forth, long distance anxiety between two people whose lives are about to be destroyed by an unforeseen accident.

Jordan is an amazing and confident heroine: she is strong, sexy, and knows what she wants. Noah is a man who sees life passing him by, but a man who is first and foremost married to his job. The attraction between Noah and Jordan is immediate; their sexual chemistry is passionate, intense and emotional. The $ex scenes are seductive, tender and hot.

We are introduced to several secondary and supporting characters including a number of Noah’s fellow fly boys: Thor, Easy, Commander Michael ‘Joker’ Peterson and his wife Dani, as well as Jordan’s boutique co-owner Sophia, and Jordan’s sister Meg. Thor’s story will be told next in INTO THE BLUE.

Chanel Cleeton’s FLY WITH ME is a fascinating, emotional and captivating start to her WILD ACES series. The premise is memorable and inspiring; the characters are real, colorful and vibrant; the romance is provocative and intense. There are moments of heartbreak and pain; laughter and fun; falling in love and letting go. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of FLY WITH ME-sit back with a box of tissues-and enjoy !!!

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Fly with Me Teaser

Excerpt beige

 

Jordan
There was a time in a woman’s life when she had to accept that wearing a headband made of pink—glittery—illuminated penises was too much. I couldn’t put my finger on the number—and I definitely couldn’t do it after my fourth tequila shot—but I figured that at thirty and still single, bachelorettes had ceased to be a fun rite of passage, and had instead become a wake-up call that if Prince Charming wasn’t coming soon, I’d have to start exploring my options in the amphibian variety. Of course, it didn’t help that this was my sister’s bachelorette—my cute-as-a-button, too-young-for-wrinkle-cream sister’s bachelorette. Or that she was marrying my high school ex-boyfriend. I didn’t care; I mean we hadn’t been together in over a decade, but the fact that my future brother-in-law had once seen me topless added to the surreal feeling of the whole thing.
I took shot number five like a champ. “I’m getting married!” Meg screamed for what might have been the fifteenth time that night. Somewhere between dinner at Lavo and partying at Tao, this seemed to have hit her with a vengeance. On anyone else, it would have been annoying; on Meg, it was somehow still adorable.
At twenty-five, she was the baby of the family. A good five inches shorter than me, we shared the same blond hair and brown eyes. We both had curves, but on her, they were bite-size. I was a king-size—tits and ass that could put your eye out—not to mention the pink phalluses bobbing awkwardly on my head.
It had been Meg’s idea to dress up, and I hadn’t been able to disappoint her. So here I was, thirty years old, terminally single, wearing penises on my head, a hot pink barely there tube dress that made me look like an overmammaried Malibu Barbie, and fuck-me Choos that topped me out at six feet. If I ever got married, I was so not doing a bachelorette. Or bridesmaids in hideous dresses. Or arguing with my fiancé over whether we’d serve filet mignon or prime rib. I loved meat as much as the next girl, but the drama surrounding this wedding had my head spinning, and I was just the maid of honor. If I were the bride? I totally got why people eloped.
My parents could do the big wedding with Meg. At least they’d get the budget option with me—if I ever got married at all.
Shot number six came faster than a virgin on prom night.
I wasn’t really even tipsy. I could definitely hold my liquor, but this was Vegas, and everything about tonight screamed excess, and as depressing as it was to be the eldest, even worse, I felt like the mother hen to the group of three Southern girls ready to make the Strip their bitch. It was time to up my game.
I rose from our table and headed over to where Stacey and Amber, my sister’s friends from college, were dancing, determined to kick this feeling inside of me’s ass.
When I’d look back on this evening, and it would play in my mind on repeat for months to come, this would be the moment. Freeze it. Remember it. How often could you say that you could pinpoint the exact moment when your life changed?
I could.
If I had anyone to blame for the wild ride that came next, it was Flo Rida. Because as soon as “Right Round” came over the club speakers, my tequila-fueled body decided it needed to move. It was the kind of song you couldn’t resist the urge to dance to; it made normal girls want to grab a pole and let loose. Okay, maybe just me. But it felt like kismet, like the song played for me, to breathe life into my sad, old self. So I danced, pink penises gyrating and flickering, hips swaying, hair swishing, until my world turned upside down.Noah
“Dibs.”
I took a swig of Jack, slamming the glass down on the bar.
“You can’t call dibs, asshole. There are four of them.”
Easy shrugged with the same nonchalance that had earned him his call sign and made him lethal behind the stick of an F-16. He lulled you into thinking he was just fucking around. He never was.
“Are you saying I can’t handle four chicks?”
“I’m calling bullshit on that one.”
The guy got more pussy than anyone in the squadron, but a foursome was ambitious even for him.
“Fifty bucks,” he offered, knowing my pathological inability to back down from a challenge.
“Fuck you, fifty bucks. You can’t bang four chicks.”
Easy’s eyes narrowed in a look I knew all too well.
“Watch me.”
We all gave him a hard time for being a princess because his face was a panty dropper, but he could throw down like nobody’s business. Lately, though, this shit had been getting darker and darker. We’d broken off from the rest of the group, Joker had gone back to the hotel to call his wife, and now Easy was drinking like he wanted to die.
The Strip had seemed like a good idea four hours ago, but I was tired and now I just wanted to collapse in the suite we’d booked at the Venetian. I’d flown four sorties leading up to today, each one more demanding than the last. Today’s double turn had topped me out at six flights this week, and my body definitely felt it. I was tired, my schedule screwed six ways to Sunday, and right now I was far less concerned with getting laid than I was with getting more than five hours of sleep.
Our commander, Joker, was on my ass for the squadron to perform well at Red Flag—our international mock war held at Nellis Air Force Base in Vegas. As the squadron’s weapons officer, it was my job to make sure we were tactically the shit. Babysitting F-16 pilots with a hard-on for trouble? Not in my job description. It was really sad when I was the voice of reason.
Sending a bunch of fighter pilots to Vegas for work was basically like putting a diabetic kid in a candy store. We got as much training done as we got tits and ass. And considering we pulled fourteen-hour workdays? That said something.
“It’s a bachelorette party,” I ground out, the subject already hitting way too close to home.
The flash of pain in Easy’s eyes was a punch to the nuts. Shit. It was worse than I’d thought.
“Screwing around isn’t going to change things,” I added, trying to keep any judgment or sympathy out of my tone.
If it were anyone else, I would have minded my own business; but it wasn’t anyone else, it was Easy. He’d been my roommate at the Academy, gotten me through pilot training when I’d struggled, flown out to Vegas when I’d somehow graduated from weapons school.
Easy threw back the rest of his drink. “Be my wingman for ten minutes. I won’t go after the bride. Then you can leave.”
I’d been ready to leave an hour ago.
“You owe me for the twins in San Antonio,” he reminded me.
Shit, I did.
“Ten minutes.”
He nodded.
I turned my attention to the group of girls dancing; they looked young and already well on their way to drunk. I was definitely calling in my marker at a later time.
At thirty-three, I was getting too old for this shit. Most of the squadron was either married or divorced, Easy and I among the few single holdouts left.
It wasn’t that I was opposed to marriage. I’d thought about how it would feel to land after a deployment to a girl who’d throw her arms around me and kiss me like she never wanted to let go, instead of landing to my bros carrying a case of beer. Hell, I saw the way guys climbed out of their jets, their kids running toward them on stubby legs, looking like it was Christmas, their birthday, and a trip to Disney World all rolled into one.
Even a fucker like me teared up.
I wasn’t Easy; I wasn’t trying to screw my way through life. I wanted a family, a wife. But I’d learned the hard way that not many girls were willing to stick around waiting for a guy who was gone more than he was around, who missed holidays and birthdays, who came home for dinner some nights at 11 p.m., and other nights not at all. It was hard to agree to moving every couple years, to deployments that stretched on and on, to remote assignments, and Sorry, honey, this one’s a year, and you can’t come.
I got it. It was a shit life. The kind of life that sliced you clean, that took and took, stretching you out ’til there was nothing left but fumes. But then there were moments. That moment when I sat in the cockpit, when I was in the air, up in the clouds, feeling like a god. When the afterburner roared. The times when we were called to do more, when the trips to the desert meant something, when we supported the mission on the ground. The times when we marked a lost brother with a piano burn and a song. I couldn’t blame Easy for needing to let off steam, the edge was there in all of us, our faithful companion every time we went up in the air and took our lives in our hands.
We flew because we fucking loved it. So I guessed I already had a wife, and she was an expensive, unforgiving bitch—
Fortysomething million dollars of alloy, fuel, and lube that could fuck you over at any given time and felt so good when you were inside her that she always kept you coming back for more.
Jordan
As the soberest one in the group, I noticed them first. To be fair, they were pretty hard to miss.
A loud and more than slightly obnoxious bachelorette, we’d run into our share of guys tonight—preppy polos and leather shoes with tassels—some single, some married, all looking like they’d served a stint in suburban prison and were now out in the yard for good behavior. They had that wide-eyed overeager look, as though they couldn’t believe their luck—Look at the shiny lights on the sign. Did you see the ass on that girl?—and Vegas was their chance to make memories that would keep them company when they were coaching Little League or out buying tampons for their wives.
These two were something else entirely.
They walked toward us, and I stopped dancing to enjoy the show. They didn’t look like anyone had let them out for good behavior, or like Vegas was their grown-up amusement park. They looked like this was their world, and they carried themselves like fucking kings.
One was tall and lean, his face—well, fuck, there was no other word for it—he was beautiful. Tan skin, full mouth, blue eyes. Dark blond hair that begged for a woman to run her fingers through. Great hair. Perfect hair.
I admired him for two point five seconds, and then he ceased to exist.
The other one was not beautiful. He didn’t have pretty hair, or long lashes, or any shit like that. I wasn’t even sure his features really registered all that much before he was just there, standing in front of me, and everything else in the club disappeared.
Dark hair. Dark eyes. Tan skin. Sexy mouth.
He was tall—in my heels we were nearly even, which was saying something considering I was a few inches off of six feet and wearing a wicked pair of Choos. He was broad-shouldered and definitely built. He wasn’t dressed up—I doubted this guy even owned a polo—but he rocked his jeans and T-shirt. An expensive-looking, enormous watch that appeared capable of coordinating missions to the moon flashed on his wrist.
His gaze ran over me, his mouth curving as his survey ended at the top of my head. I reached up to see if my hair was out of place and got a handful of something else instead.
My cheeks flamed. The penis headband. Shit.
I dropped my hand as though I’d been scalded.
Act cool. Pretend you didn’t just grip the base of one of the giant pink phalluses currently bobbing on top of your head.
His lips curved even more as he gave me the full punch of his amusement—gorgeous white teeth and a laugh I wanted to cloak myself in.
He kept coming until his body was a breath away from mine. He was big enough that he blocked out the club around us, the scent of his cologne sending a little shock between my legs. I didn’t know what it was about that masculine scent, but some primal part of me that probably harkened back to days when men roamed around bare-chested carrying animal pelts on their shoulders liked it a hell of a lot. His head bent, his dark hair nearly brushing against my blond strands. I got a glimpse of his tanned neck, barely resisting the urge to bury my face there and inhale more of his delicious scent.
I wasn’t much of a romantic—not with my track record, at least. I didn’t believe in love at first sight, but lust at first sight? That was a thing definitely happening all over my body tonight.
“Please tell me you aren’t the bride,” he whispered in my ear, his lips teasing the sensitive skin there.
I shivered, basking in that voice. It was gravelly, and growly, and I was pretty sure I was drenched.
“I’m not the bride.”
Our gazes met, his eyes darkening as soon as the words left my lips in a move that had me sucking in a deep breath, my lungs desperate for air. I didn’t know if it was the loud music, or the late night, or the tequila coursing its way through my body, or the stilt-like heels, or the fact that my ovaries exploded as he engaged all of my senses, but either way I was feeling more than a little light-headed and fighting the temptation to reach out and grab on to one of his impressive biceps to hold steady.
He smiled and I might have had a mini-orgasm.
“Thank fuck.”
Thank fuck, indeed.
He reached out, tucking a strand of hair that had escaped behind my ear. His hand grazed my cheek as he released me and I swayed toward him.
I wanted to lick him, and bite him, and do all kinds of naughty things to that gorgeous body. Multiple times.
“What’s your name?” he asked, interrupting my fantasies.
“Jordan.” I held out my hand to shake and then froze, my hand halfway there. Smooth. You’re in a nightclub, not a freaking business meeting. To say it had been a while since I’d dated was a massive understatement. Plus, I’d have been lying if I didn’t admit I had blindingly horrible moments of awkward even on my good days. I pretty much lived in extremes. I either totally rocked it or epically failed, with very little in between.
His mouth quirked up as he held out his hand. “I’m Noah.”
Well, now I knew the name I’d be calling out in my dreams.
Our palms connected, his hand warm against mine. I waited for him to let go, already mourning the loss of his touch. But he didn’t. He just stood there, holding my hand in the middle of the club, staring at me like I was not alone in these feelings.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I squeaked. Really nice to meet you.
The song changed and the club grew frenzied around us, and then he was pulling me toward him and I was dancing, Noah behind me, his big hands on my hips, fingers laced with mine, his body moving against me.
Yes, please.
For such a tall guy, he had good rhythm. Really good rhythm. I loved dancing, but I was more of a dance-alone or with-friends kind of girl. Most guys were pretty terrible dancers, and I hated having to try to match my movements to theirs, unable to let the beat of the song take over. Noah wasn’t like that at all. He molded his body to mine, letting me set the pace.
And by the way he rolled his hips against my ass, he definitely had some moves.
Holy hell.
His hand drifted up my side, gathering my hair, fisting the ends. Arousal pulsed between my legs, the beat steady, strong, a slow ache. He pulled me back toward him, his hard cock pressing against my ass. A tremor ripped through my body as his fingers grazed my nape, tracing the skin there, my nipples tightening beneath the thin fabric of my dress. My body felt overheated, the music and alcohol flooding my senses. Around us, people danced, bodies rubbing against each other, mouths tangling, hands roaming. It was that point in the evening when inhibitions lowered, and it was Vegas—it was a night for letting go.
Head bent, his arms wrapped around my torso, the curve of my breasts brushing against his muscular forearm. Another tremor throbbed between my legs. His lips grazed my neck, brushing over the sensitive curve where it met my shoulder. I bit back a moan.
More.
I leaned into him, reaching out, our fingers threading together, our hands joined. His body behind me called to mind other images—of me naked, on my hands and knees, while he drove into me.
He was easily the hottest guy I’d ever seen, and tonight was quickly ranking up there with one of the more memorable evenings of my dating life.
His hold on me tightened and another mini-spasm wrecked my body.
I turned in Noah’s arms, my breasts grazing his chest. His hands moved lower, grabbing my ass, hauling me toward him, his gaze on my mouth.
I’d never been happier of my single status than I was now.
Noah
Dibs had flown out the window. I didn’t know which girl Easy wanted, didn’t care. This one was mine.
I feasted on her mouth. She tasted like tequila and mint, her lips soft and plump. Her tongue wreaked havoc on my sanity.
I’d kissed my fair share of girls; drunken kisses in dark club corners weren’t anything new. But this—this was mind-blowing.
The second I touched her, she lit up. Her hands pulled on my neck, her fingers threading through my hair, tugging on the ends, yanking me toward her as though she couldn’t get close enough. My hands cupped her ass, squeezing her through the thin fabric, loving how she squirmed against me, rubbing herself over my jeans and my hard cock.
She was sex in heels, the kind of body that was all curves, made for a centerfold. The beauty mark just above her upper lip took hot to an all-new level.
I released her mouth, kissing my way down her neck, my teeth scraping her flesh, my dick jerking with the moan that escaped her lips. I nipped her, running my tongue over her skin, the taste of her swirling in my mouth. Jordan gripped the back of my head harder, her body begging for more.
No question about it, not only was she sexy as hell, but she liked to play. I’d just hit the motherfucking jackpot.
I shifted so I was behind her again, my hands on either side of her hips, our bodies swaying in time to the music. The girl was gorgeous—long blond hair, big tits, curvy ass, long, shapely legs shown off by the sexiest pink dress. Absolutely gorgeous. And the second our gazes had locked across the club, her brown eyes had looked at me like I was her favorite meal and she wanted me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Done.
My hands moved higher, pulling her tighter against me. Her neck arched, her head tipping into mine, and one of the pink penises hit me in the face again.
I grinned. Fuck, she was cute.
“Babe, gotta remove the headband. Don’t need pink dicks in my face.”
Jordan turned to face me, locking her arms around my neck. Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink and she nodded.
I’d always had a weakness for blondes, and this girl had incredible hair. It fell down the center of her back in a mass of loose waves and curls. I set the headband on the table, my gaze on hers the entire time.
At some point we’d stopped dancing, and now we stood in the club with our bodies plastered together, her arms around my neck.
I stroked her hip, pulling her even closer. We danced for a long time, moving from song to song, our bodies matching each other’s rhythm like we’d been dancing together for years. I’d been exhausted, and with one kiss she breathed new life into me.
I leaned down, my lips inches away from her ear, struggling to be heard over the loud music.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I asked, her answer suddenly feeling like everything.
I hadn’t come out looking to get laid, had honestly been about to call it a night, but the second I saw her, my plans for the evening became whatever put me in her orbit. I didn’t know where this was headed, but right now I was happy to follow her anywhere.
She nodded, and a knot tightened in my chest as she linked hands with me and I led her off the dance floor.


 

About The Author beige

Chanel CleetonOriginally a Florida girl, CHANEL CLEETON moved to London where she received a bachelor’s degree from Richmond, The American International University in London and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chanel fell in love with London and planned to stay there forever, until fate intervened on a Caribbean cruise and a fighter pilot with smooth dance moves swept her off her feet. Now, a happily ever after later, Chanel is living her next adventure.

Law school made Chanel realize she’d rather spend her days writing sexy stories than in a courtroom, and she hasn’t looked back since. An avid reader and hopeless romantic, she’s happiest curled up with a book. She has a weakness for handbags, her three pups, and her husband.

Chanel writes contemporary romances, women’s fiction, and thrillers. She is published by Harlequin HQN, Penguin/InterMix, and Penguin/Berkley and is the author of the International School, Capital Confessions, Assassins, and Wild Aces series.

Website:   www.chanelcleeton.com
Facebook:   www.facebook.com/authorchanelcleeton
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1545366192398558/
Twitter:   www.twitter.com/chanelcleeton
Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/chanelcleeton
Newsletter:   www.chanelcleeton.com/mailing-list/
Instagram:  www.instagram.com/chanelcleeton/

Giveaway beige

Chanel’s publisher and The Reading Cafe are offering a paper copy of FLY WITH ME to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

NOTE: If you are having difficulty commenting after logging onto the site, please refresh the page (at the top of your computer).

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please follow Chanel Cleeton on Facebook.

4. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

5. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

6. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

7. Please follow The Reading Cafe on Tumblr

8. Giveaway is open to USA only

9. Giveaway runs from May 9-13, 2016

Share

True Blue SEALs: Zak (Seal Brotherhood ) by Sharon Hamilton-a review

TRUE BLUE SEALs: ZAK (Seal Brotherhood #13) by Sharon Hamilton-a review

True Blue SEALs Zak

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 20, 2016

Zak and Amy are destined for each other. After successfully passing the BUD/S training, and helping to stop a San Francisco terrorist attack, Zak goes to the arena of war with the rest of his SEAL Team 3 buddies, to return a changed man. Amy will have to negotiate the pain in her heart as she works to discover the man she loved going off to war is still the man of her dreams, and only if she can convince Zak he still is that man.

•••••

REVIEW: TRUE BLUE SEALs: ZAK is the thirteenth installment in Sharon Hamilton’s contemporary, adult SEAL BROTHERHOOD military romance series. ZAK focuses on the relationship between childhood friends new Navy SEAL Zak Chambers, and Amy Dobson-Chambers. TRUE BLUE SEALs can be read as a stand alone. Some of the previous story line characters and couples play secondary and supporting roles. We were previously introduced to Zak and Amy in TRUE NAVY BLUE (Seal Brotherhood #12).

Prior to his first Secret Ops mission, Zak Chambers proposed to his long time girlfriend Amy Dobson. Knowing that he wanted Amy waiting for him upon his return, Zak convinced Amy that a quick wedding was something they both needed, and proceeded to give the woman he loved, everything that she wanted. But something went wrong for SEAL Team 3, on their latest secret mission, and Zak returned a changed man-a man whose emotional and physical damage may have been more than he could have handled. While Zak struggles with his recovery, Amy struggles with the walls Zak continues to build around his heart. Amy will become Zak’s strength-a woman who isn’t willing to let go of the man who has chosen to close off his mind about the future.

TRUE BLUE SEALs looks at the struggles of military couples; their strengths and weaknesses; their support and nurturing; their heartbreak and survival. The premise focuses on recovery and acceptance; the characters are emotional and real; the relationship falters while Zak comes to terms with all that he has lost and more. Sharon Hamilton writes an emotional story line that is relevant to many of today’s military families and homecomings.

Copy supplied by Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

Share

By Break of Day (Night Stalkers #15) by M.L.Buchman-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway

BY BREAK OF DAY (Night Stalkers #15) by M.L. Buchman-Review, Book Tour & Giveaway

By Break of Day

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository /

ABOUT: Release Date February 2, 2016

Captain Kara Moretti flies high in her MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV. It is the Night Stalkers’ eyes and ears in the sky, and being behind a remote control and one step back from the action has always worked for her… and her love life.

Right until Captain Justin Roberts walks straight through her shields and into her heart. Justin is a pilot who loves being right in the middle of the fray. Together they’ll go where life, limb, and heart are at risk in the Mongolian wilderness. But Justin learns there’s something more important than missions –

••••••••••

REVIEW: BY BREAK OF DAY is latest installment in M.L.Buchman’s contemporary, adult, military romantic suspense series focusing on an elite group of military personnel from the US army secret military operations known as 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) aka The Night Stalkers. This is helicopter specialists Captain Kara Moretti, and Captain Justin Roberts’s story line. BY BREAK OF DAY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Several characters cross over between series and books.

NOTE: Do not be frightened by #15-there are numerous short stories and novellas found in several multi authored anthologies that are included in this number

Told from alternating third person points of view (Kara and Justin) BY BREAK OF DAY follows recent addition to the 160th SOAR and new AMC (Air Mission Commander) Kara Moretti, and Justin Roberts as they are recruited for the blacker than Black Ops military organization known as The Activity. Secret missions, on a need to know basis only, finds Kara and Justin in a precarious position when rescue missions turn to search and destroy, and five team members go missing in the dark of night.

Kara is a native New Yorker who specializes in remotely piloted aircrafts; Justin is a Chinook helicopter pilot and a good ‘ole boy from Texas; but their personalities and stereotypical attitudes find our couple at a crossroads when Kara is unable to look past the Texas twang and cowboy hat. Kara is a woman unable to let go of her heart and in this Justin is on the outside looking in. What ensues is the building relationship between Kara and Justin, and Kara’s realization that Justin just may be the one for her. The $ex scenes are mostly implied.

BY BREAK OF DAY, like all of M. L. Buchman’s story lines, is awash in a vast amount of technical and military terminology; detailed search and rescue operations, intense missions; and numerous secondary and supporting characters-some familiar, some new introductions. There was a nice blend of action, suspense and building romance. The premise is exhilarating; the characters colorful, charismatic and animated; the romance a slow build to a happily ever after. M.L.Buchman’s realistic look at US Army intelligence and Special Operations Forces takes the reader onto the front lines of a war played out in our minds.

Copy supplied by the publisher by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

Captain Justin Roberts flies a massive Chinook twin-rotor helicopter. Captain Kara Moretti flies a drone and is trying out to be the Air Mission Commander during a training exercise.
Captain Justin Roberts gave the collective control between his knees a little nudge forward. Fifteen tons of helicopter carrying a platoon of U.S. Rangers and their gear eased forward as smooth as a baby’s behind.
Every single time he flew his big MH-47G “Golf” Chinook helicopter, it was a surprise—a surprise of how much fun it was. Like they were meant for each other since long before they met.
SOAR only flew three primary types of helos, all deeply modified to the 160th’s specification. The Little Bird, the Black Hawk, and the Chinook Golf. His girl was the monster of the outfit. Calamity Jane was definitely a Texas-sized lady: big, powerful, and dangerous.
“I feel the need for a song.”
“Oh God, spare us.” Danny Corvo spoke up from the copilot seat. From there he was Justin’s second set of eyes and the master of the helo’s general health and well-being.
“Oh, give me a home,” Carmen cut in from her position at the starboard gun close behind Justin’s seat.
Carmen Parker was hot shit with an M134 minigun that could unload four thousand rounds-a-minute of hell on anyone who messed with her. She was also king, er, queen of the bird—the absolute last word on maintenance and loading.
“Where the Chinook helos roam.” Talbot George was always off-key at the side gun behind Danny’s copilot position, but he sang with heart, even if with a distinctly British accent.
“And the flights are at night every day,” the three of them sang together in splendidly awful harmony.
Danny groaned as if in the throes of death-by-torture agony.
As usual, Raymond Hines kept his own counsel at the rear ramp gunner’s post. The Chinook was the size of a school bus inside. Tonight, in the cargo area between the cockpit and Ray’s rear post, thirty U.S. Rangers and their three ATVs were counting on SOAR to sling them into position. The big rotors fore and aft let her lift her own weight in cargo; even in high-hot conditions the Chinook outperformed most everything around.
By the third chorus their harmonies were better, so Justin hit the transmit switch for the last of it. It got the answering transmission he was hoping for.
“Justin, honey?”
“Here for you, sweetheart.” Kara Moretti just slayed him. From the first briefing where she’d moseyed in all dark and Italian and perfect, his head had been turned hard enough that he kept checking his neck for whiplash. Then when she opened her mouth and poured out thick Brooklyn… Two months later and he still didn’t know what to do with that, not a bit of it. It was all… wrong, yet it was so right. Her voice should be some sweet bella signora, like the one he’d spent a week with while stationed at Camp Darby outside of Pisa on the Italian coast a couple years back.
Instead Kara was—
“You do that to me again and you’re gonna be singing soprano the rest of your life. We clear, Cowboy?”
—a hundred percent, New York. “Y’all wouldn’t do that to me now, would ya?” He laid it on thick.
“Castrate the bull calf? In a heartbeat. And I ain’t your sweetheart.”
“I’ll hold him down while you trim ’em,” Lola Maloney called in from the DAP Hawk.
He was about to say something about how it made the meat taste more luscious and tender—which was why they castrated most bull calves—but he couldn’t figure out how to phrase it without it sounding crude and perhaps tempting her to start looking for some neutering shears when Trisha cut in.
“Roger that! We’ll pin him, you chop and cauterize. Use a really hot iron.”
Claudia Jean Gibson at the controls of the Maven II didn’t speak much, but he could feel her out there agreeing with them.
Justin winced in imagined pain, as he was sure every man on the comm circuit did. He figured maybe it would be better if he kept his mouth shut. Once the women of the 5D got on a roll, wasn’t no man on God’s green earth who was safe.

About The Author

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads/ Website

ML BuchmanM. L. Buchman has over 25 novels in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and Booklist “Top 10 of the Year.” In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world.

He is now making his living full-time as a writer, living on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing at www.mlbuchman.com.

rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the publisher.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sourcebooks logo

Share

Hot Point (Firehawks Series) by M.L. Buchman-Review and Book Tour

HOT POINT (Firehawks #10 ) by M. L. Buchman-Review and Book Tour

Hot Point Banner

Hot Point
Firehawks #10
by ML Buchman
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Genre: adult, contemporary, military romance, suspense

Hot Point

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository / BAM /Apple/ Indiebound

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 4, 2015

THESE AIRBORNE HEROES BATTLE MORE THAN FLAMES

The elite firefighters of Mount Hood Aviation fly into places even the CIA can’t penetrate.

FROM WILDFIRE TO GUNFIRE

Master mechanic Denise Conroy—with a reputation for being as steel-clad as the aircraft she keeps aloft—shuns useless flyboys who don’t know one end of a wrench from the other.

Firehawk pilot Vern Taylor—known for unstoppable charm and a complete lack of mechanical skills—proves his talent for out-of-the-box thinking with every flight. He’s a survivor and a natural-born heli-aviation firefighter.

When Denise and Vern crash together in the Central American jungle with wildfire on one side and a full-fledged military coup on the other, their newly forged partnership is tested to the max. They have each other, but not even their formidable skills combined can protect Denise and Vern from the conflagration sweeping the jungle… and their hearts.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: HOT POINT is the 10th installment in M.L. Buchman’s adult, contemporary FIREHAWKS romantic, action, suspense series. This is Firehawk pilot Vern Taylor, and Mount Hood Aviation chief mechanic Denise Conroy’s storyline. Although HOT POINT is labeled the 10th installment in the series, it can be read as a standalone without any difficulty. Several of the previous installments are indie publications, novellas and short stories that I had no idea existed.

Told from third person point of view HOT POINT follows Denise and Vern’s building relationship-a relationship that surprises everyone at Mount Hood Aviation but none more so than Denise herself. Denise had a reputation as a quiet, hard nosed mechanic with very little social graces or friends to count as her own. When Vern offers Denise a ride along on their latest fire fighting mission, sparks fly and Denise begins to have second thoughts about what it is she wants from life.

The relationship between Denise and Vern is one of friends to lovers as our couple must navigate the wild fires of America, and a military coup in the jungles of Honduras. Denise’s past is riddled with personal self doubt, loss and a previous relationship that all but destroyed her ability to love- she has some misgivings about her involvement with a Firehawk pilot. Vern is a man whose taste in women is dramatically in opposition to the woman who calls to his heart. ML Buchman’s heroines have an inner strength, and are capable of handling whatever the hero throws in her direction. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive but mostly implied-there is much to be said about the reader using his/her imagination.

The secondary and supporting characters include Jeannie and Cal (Full Blaze); Carly and Steve (Pure Heat); a well as Majors Emily and Mark Henderson, from the original Night Stalkers series. Many of the characters cross over between series and storylines as well as the ‘secondary mission’ that involves secret government assignments where the select few find themselves in life and death situations. The interaction between the men and women is friendly with camaraderie and love.

As in all of ML Buchman’s storylines, the technical detail and terminology is infinite, vast and continuous from firefighting lingo, helicopter technology, and military jargon. The fire fighting sequences are elaborate; the helicopter mechanics are intricate and analytical.

HOT POINT has a little bit of everything: romance, love, family and friendships, mystery, and suspense. ML Buchman pulls the reader into the action where the heat of the flames burns the storyline images into the mind. The premise is exciting and riveting; the characters colorful, enjoyable and realistic; the romance is passionate.

Check out some of Sandy’s reviews in the Firehawks series

Pure Heat
Full Blaze
Hot Point

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Guest Post=Black and Red

MOUNT HOOD Aviation Profile

Full Name: Vern Taylor
Occupation: Firehawk pilot
Height: 6’
Hair Color: dark brown
Eye Color: dark brown
Age: 29
Originally from: Vashon Island, Washington

Describe yourself in 100 words or less:

Not much to describe really. I like helicopters. Old Yuri taught me in his little Bell 47 Angel of Mercy back when I was kid and I never really stopped. Moved on to the Augusta Westland with the Coast Guard. Did three tours for them and now four years flying to fire. People all the time ask me why I do something so dangerous. It’s not dangerous, I tell them. You fly careful, you fly clean, have an ace mechanic and let life bring whatever she’s going to bring. Seems pretty easy to me.

What is the hardest part of your job? What is the most rewarding?

Hardest part of the job is staying on your toes. Whether it’s a USCG patrol or a wildfire, the hours are never short. Keeping your focus in back-to-back-to-back sixteen-hour days, that’s what the job is about. But the payoff is huge. When I fly over someone’s farm and I look down to see that their house or their barn or even their town is still standing because of something I did, well that’s a sweet feeling.

When not working, how do you spend your time?

Never really was good at much other than flying. I bought a sweet car, a ‘Vette—my girl is bronze-colored. Sometimes we’ll cruise to the bar because the old, “I fly helicopters to wildfire,” sure sweeps pretty tourist girls off their feet. But more often, I’ll go out on the back country roads. Not even fast. Just roll down the window, put on a little Buffet or Clapton, and let the world roll by.

If money was no object and you had 3 weeks of vacation what would you do with your time?

Don’t know as the money would make any real difference. But the vacation is easy. An interesting lady, a nice place in the country, a little peace, and a lot of time. I should mention a strong preference that they serve truly exceptional coffee.

About The Author Black and Red

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

ML BuchmanM. L. Buchman has over 25 novels in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year” and Booklist “Top 10 of the Year.” In addition to romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world.

He is now making his living full-time as a writer, living on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing at www.mlbuchman.com.

rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the rafflecopter giveaway. If you have any questions, please contact the tour provider.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sourcebooks logo

Share