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Canary by Tijan-Review and Excerpt Tour

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Sandy

Canary by Tijan – Review and Excerpt Tour

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 4 , 2021.

We were on the front lines in that world, the mafia world.

There was nothing soft or glamorous about it.

Who you were before no longer mattered. Names didn’t exist.

I joined anyway. I had no other choice because they took my sister.

Join. Find her. Try and make it out alive.

Then he won me in a poker game.

I hated him instantly, thinking he was like my other bosses before him.

He wasn’t. He was worse.

He wasn’t just cold. He was dead inside.

It didn’t matter that he was gorgeous.

He was the most lethal thing I’d ever met.

He was also the only person who could keep me alive, if he didn’t kill me himself.

••••••••

REVIEW:CANARY by Tijan is a contemporary, adult, dark, erotic, Mafia, criminal underworld romance story line. This is Clay Raize, and Girl/Brooke/Ash’s story line. For followers of Tijan, there is a very slight cross-over with the author’s Bennett Mafia series.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Raize and Ash) CANARY follows Girl aka Ash as she works alongside Clay Raize in an effort to find her sister, and take down the people involved but Girl /Ash has a special ability, one that all of the heads of the Mafia/Cartel want, and because of her ability, our heroine has been tagged the ‘canary’, and targeted for what she does. Along with a small crew of hitmen (Jake and Cavers), Raize and Ash find themselves on the run but needing to rescue two lost souls, lost souls who may or may not want to be found. What ensues is the building relationship between Raize and Ash, as our couple must navigate a series of attempts on their lives, and the possibility of betrayal from within.

The relationship between Raize and Ash begins as an established partnership of sorts, one in which, Ash has jumped from the Mafia to the Cartel as she searches for sister she barely knows but Ash struggles with the world in which she has been forced to live, a world where only Raize is able to calm her demons. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful and often questionable secondary and supporting characters include Raize’s current number one and number two Cavers and Jake; Cartel boss Marco Estrada, Bratva head Roman Marakov; and Raize’s half sister Veronica and Abram Basil. The requisite evil has many faces. I am hoping the author has plans for a story for Abram, Veronica, and Cavers.

CANARY is a story of family, relationships, betrayal and revenge. A story of power and control, desperation and obsession, love and moving forward. The character driven premise is haunting, and dramatic; the characters are tragic and controversial; the romance is edgy and intense.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

NOTE: Excerpt intended for mature readers 18+

I…” I didn’t even know. I
“There is no other way.” couldn’t explain what I didn’t know. “Ask me about Jake in a different way.”
“You know there is! Ask it in a different way.” I shoved up to my feet. This was the fight here.
I was sick of the killing.
I could not handle one more body, especially not someone I knew.
My chest heaved. “Ask it in a different way.”
I liked Jake. I was hurt by what he said, but he wasn’t on my list anymore.
I frowned. “What happened with Cavers?”
“None of your business!” he erupted, his hands flying in the air, but he was moving farther away from me. His back hit the wall, and he let me see him, how haunted he was, how stricken. He let it all out for me to see and read, though wasn’t sure he knew it. “I don’t run my decisions through some pussy I like plowing.”
Okay, now I was mad.
I
“Take that back,” I said quietly.
He swore, low and long. Then he moved, flipping a chair into the wall. It impaled there, and the wall held it. It looked like an abstract piece of art.
“Take it back!” I clipped out, folding my arms over my chest.
He looked away.
I didn’t know what was going on here, but fuck him if he didn’t take back calling me pussy he liked to plow.
I screamed, “Take it back!”
“No!” He was across the room and in my face in the next second. I braced myself, but he didn’t touch me.
He stopped just short of it, his breath in my cheek, his eyes taking me in, scanning my face.
He was panicking.
I saw it now, lurking there.
Good! That filled me with satisfaction.
My chest started pounding.
No, that was my heart.
It was thumping in my chest, getting stronger, faster—a steady and powerful beat now. I could feel it all the way to my toes—in my fingers, my neck. His eyes lingered on my lips.
He couldn’t look away.
Stark hunger flashed in his eyes, and he raised a hand, holding it in the air.
It curved gently, as if he wanted to touch my neck, or the side of my face.
But he didn’t move. He just held it there, a few inches from my skin.
His eyes lifted to mine. “You bitch.”
My heart still pounded, trying to reach him. “You’re a murdering asshole,” I whispered back, seething.
“What?”he sneered. “You want to fuck now? Forget you put a fucking gun to your head?”
“Don’t kill Jake.”
He pressed into me, his eyes wild, on the edge of control. “Why?” His breath was hot on me. He bent down, his eyes glittering now.
Then he found his control. He rested one hand against the wall, next to my head. The other found my hip and slid up, moving under my shirt, raising it.
God. I almost moaned.
Wetness flooded me, and I started to throb.
I wanted him.
So fucking bad.
He bent and his lips grazed over mine, my cheeks, my chin. Tingles raced through me.
Jesus.
I wanted him deep inside of me. I shifted, pressing against him, and both of us groaned from the contact.
I began moving, a slow grind, and he was quiet, grinding back.
This was different from the other times.
The terms had flipped. Roles were changing. Everything was being upended between us.

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The Insiders (The Insiders 1) by Tijan-Review & Excerpt tour

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Sandy

The Insiders (The Insiders 1) by Tijan -Review & Excerpt tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 4, 2021

Bailey is as normal as could be, with a genius IQ and a photographic memory. But still, normal for her. Then, things happen—a guy breaks into her house in the middle of the night to take her hostage. She finds out her father is actually billionaire tech genius Peter Francis, the same guy she’s idolized all her life. She learns all this when she meets dark, mysterious, and electrifying Kashton Colello. He’s an associate of her father’s, and he gives Bailey two choices—go with him and meet her father or survive on her own because those kidnappers are going to try again. It’s a no-brainer.

After this, three things become clear for Bailey:

1. She’s living at her father’s sprawling estate, complete with bodyguards and the best security that money can buy.

2. She’s no longer an only child. She has three siblings and has no idea what to do with them and vice versa.

3. She is being guarded by Kash himself. Personally guarded. And there is a lot of guarding going on there and some of it is going to drive her crazy.

A complete outsider in a world of wealth and decadence, Bailey has to find her way within a family that has more secrets than she could have imagined. One of these secrets could be deadly

••••••

REVIEW:THE INSIDERS is the first instalment in Tijan’s contemporary, adult THE INSIDERS romantic suspense series focusing on twenty-two year old computer hacker Bailey Hayes, and fixer Kashton ‘Kash’ Colello.

Told from first person perspective (Bailey) THE INSIDERS follows in the aftermath of an attempted abduction of our story line heroine. Bailey Hayes has a genius IQ, and will come to learn she is the illegitimate daughter of billionaire Peter Francis, and as such, has a target on her back but to Bailey’s surprise, she has one of two options, and the lesser and safer of two evils is to move in with the Francis family where she will become the object of ridicule, the subject of gossip, and the lover of the Francis empire ‘fixer’ Kashton Colello. All is not well with the Francis family dynamics, and our heroine will be caught in a fire-storm of power and control, jealousy and revenge, hatred, betrayal, acceptance and love. What ensues is the building relationship and love between Kash and Bailey, and the fall-out as the enemy is closer than anyone could have ever imagined.

Kashton Colello has some secrets of his own but his biggest secret is about to be exposed. Raised by the Francis family in the face of losing everyone he loved, Kash has more power and control over the day to day lives of the Francis family but he is about to lose the upper hand as the enemy comes from within.

The relationship between Kash and Bailey begins as an assignment, a duty that Kash has appointed himself as sole authority and control. Bailey is immediately attracted to her savior and guardian but Kash battles between head and heart knowing his past is determined to take down and destroy everyone he loves.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and broken secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to Bailey’s mother Chrissy, and her half-siblings: Matt, Seraphina and Cyclone; her father Peter Francis, and his wife Quinn, as well as an assortment of Matt’s friends, security personnel, and Kash’s ex Victoria. The requisite evil has many faces.

THE INSIDERS is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, family, relationships, murder and money. The character driven premise is intriguing, engaging, heart breaking and dramatic; the romance is seductive and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text; the characters are damaged, spirited yet powerful and strong. THE INSIDERS ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

We were heading out of Chicago, and maybe another half hour or so from the small town where my mom and I lived.
Wait. Second thought—where we used to live?
What would my mom do now? Could Chrissy Hayes remain in that house after I was just attacked, almost taken hostage? I called my mother by all kinds of names—Chrissy Hayes, Chrissy, or Mom. Or, well, a whole other kind of names too, because to say she’s a character is putting it mildly. And we have an interesting relationship to say the least.
I might be deflecting here.
Numb. I was numb. I should be pissing my pants, but instead I’m ruminating over how I refer to my mother.
Could I stay in that house after what just happened?
I’d been planning to spend time with Chrissy, helping with the house and working at the local computer store to make some extra money before I left for school. But now . . . fuck if I knew.
Myriad curses went through my mind as I realized Chrissy would have to move.
Shivers pierced me as I went over what had happened tonight, but then we were pulling into a driveway, next to a booth. A large gate barricaded us from moving forward.
Official police business, my tech ass.
Then again, nothing seemed official. I was told that I was being taken to my mother, but I left with two detectives. Bright and Wilson. They introduced themselves, then said she couldn’t see me in the hospital. They didn’t explain why, but I was to go with them to see her.
I went.
I was in the backseat of their unmarked car a few minutes later.
Bright’s window rolled down. She flashed her badge. “We’re expected.”
The attendant nodded, hitting a button. The gate opened, showing a campus of buildings behind it. Some made of dark red brick. Some seemingly made of reflective windows, top to bottom. Some painted totally black. A large parking lot sat in the middle of the buildings. “Phoenix Tech” was on a sign in front of the first building, but we went past, heading around it and toward a smaller building on the opposite end of the lot.
My tongue was glued to the back of my throat. We were at Phoenix Tech headquarters.
I had yearned to get an internship there every year since fifth grade, and then through college. I kept applying, but they kept denying. Some might say I was being desperate. I prefer determined. It’s a quality that I feel is honorable. Plus, I wasn’t above hoping they’d take pity on me one day. It worked, because while I might not have been good enough to walk their hallways, I was good enough for them to give me charity. They awarded me the majority of my grants for undergrad, so I’d been able to go to college debt free. I’d been expecting that to change for graduate school, but it hadn’t. Or, well, it kind of had.
I was hired as a graduate assistant, starting in the fall, which gave me a stipend, but the rest was covered by another scholarship from Phoenix Tech.
Phoenix Tech was one of the world’s leading companies on cyber security. I was going into information systems, which was close enough. A job here would be a dream.
“My mom is here?” I asked, when Bright parked, and both her and Wilson got out of the vehicle.
Neither answered.
Bright opened my back door and motioned for me, slipping her sunglasses over her eyes. “It’s time for you to find out some answers.”

Connect with Tijan

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

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Rich Prick by Tijan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Sandy

Rich Prick by Tijan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway tour

Amazon.com (Paper) / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

Add RICH PRICK to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2ArZt5G

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release ate June 15, 2020.

He walked into school on his first day and owned it.
I guess that’s what happens when you’re a prick, rich, and you’re best friends with the ruling school’s king.
Also didn’t hurt he’s drop dead gorgeous.
That’s all fine.
I mean, I have nothing to do with them.
I’m a loner, invisible, and that’s how I wanted it to be.
I was even proud of it, until I wasn’t.
Until I saw a girl kneel before him.
Until I couldn’t look away.
Until he caught me watching.
His name is Blaise Devroe. My name is Aspen Monson.
He only knew how to get, command, and demand attention.
I knew how to do everything but that.
And this is our story.

•••••••

REVIEW:RICH PRICK by Tijan is a stand alone, contemporary, YA/NA, erotic, romance story line set in the author’s Crew Series and Fallen Crest World. This is high school seniors Blaise Devroe and Aspen Monson’s story line. Aspen is Nate Monson ‘s sister (Fallen Crest High), and Blaise is the half-brother to Cross (Crew 1 & 2). RICH PRICK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the original series is revealed where necessary. Several characters cross over for cohesion and familiarity.

NOTE: If you have not read the author’s Crew Series or Fallen Crest, there may be some spoilers in my review.

WARNING: Although the characters are high school seniors, the story contains graphic sexual scenarios intended for mature readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Blaise and Aspen) RICH PRICK follows the building relationship between high school seniors Blaise Devroe and Aspen Monson. Blaise Devroe’s return to Fallen Crest High, for his final few months of senior year, comes with the adulation and power trip for the popular crowd but quiet student Aspen Monson keeps to herself, secretly stalking our story line hero. With a reputation that precedes his introduction to our story line heroine, Blaise is the new leader of the Fallen Crest Crew, a leader who is about to be taken down by a girl who struggles with loss and loneliness in a world surrounded by money and fame. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Aspen and Blaise, and the potential fall-out as Blaise’s temper threatens his relationship with Aspen, and his relationship with the people he loves.

Blaise Devroe keeps secret a dark and tormented past including the revelations about a family he never knew. With his best friend Zeke, Blaise becomes the man to beat but a man who beats himself on a daily basis. Aspen Monson is a lonely young woman whose parents are too busy with their own lives to remember their daughter back home. Having lost one brother, and the other barely acknowledging her existence, Aspen is often on her own, preferring to watch from the sidelines until the day she can finally walk away.

The relationship between Aspen and Blaise is one of immediate attraction but Aspen finds herself the voyeur for a number of Blaise’s sexual conquests. Unable to forget about the green eyed beauty caught watching our hero in action, Blaise searches out Aspen Monson, and their relationship begins to surpass anything they could have imagined. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Blaise’s group of friends: Zeke Allen, Brian, Branston, Jamie Conway and Oliver Ashlome; his brother Cross and his girlfriend Bren, and sister Tasmin,; his mother’s husband Griffith, his father Stephen, as well as his ex-girlfriend Mara Daniels; Aspen’s brother Nate, their parents, and housekeeper Miss Sandy.

RICH PRICK is a story of family dysfunction, tempers, secrets and lies; betrayal, grief, love and acceptance. The premise is engaging, entertaining and captivating; the characters are young and aggressive; the romance is seductive and intense. As per most YA story lines, the adults are mostly oblivious and absent, wrapped up in their own worlds and problems; the mean/jealous girls are an early threat; the potential for a love triangle is dangled but never comes to fruition. The male lead as well as the secondary and supporting characters are very sexually active and somewhat misogynistic. If you are a fan of Tijan’s FALLEN CREST HIGH and CREW Series, this one’s for you.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

I’d done my research. Zeke Allen’s cabin was set a good ten miles away from the nearest neighbors. I should’ve been in the clear to sneak onto their land, do a little freestyle camping, and listen to the party sounds like the loser I was. But noooo. I was about to get company.
As I snuck out of my tent, and realized who it was, I almost crapped my pants.
It was Blaise DeVroe, holding hands with Mara Daniels.
As popular girls went, Mara Daniels was one of the nicer ones. She was on the dance team. Dark hair. Shorter, but athletic. The problem with Mara was that she was friends with the other popular girls. Some of them were nasty—hence the reason I wasn’t friends with them. Not that they’d tried to get to know me. Not that I even registered on their radar. But then again, that’s what I did.
I didn’t engage. I didn’t attend. I was on the edge. I was the invisible girl, and here I was, being the invisible girl once more, but man…
When I saw it was him, and then saw how his hand went from holding hers and guiding her to a tree to slipping around and grabbing her ass, something came over me. I couldn’t retreat back to my tent. I couldn’t even stay hidden behind a tree and just listen.
I know, I know. This was all sorts of wrong, but Blaise was Blaise.
He’d become the guy in my dreams, my weird schoolgirl fantasies. He was my high school crush. Everyone had one. If you didn’t, you’re even weirder than me, and that’s saying something. So when I started salivating over Blaise DeVroe, I kinda just let myself go. I mean, nothing was ever going to happen. Guys like him didn’t date girls like me. They didn’t even notice girls like me.
I wasn’t crazy. That’d make me all sorts of delusional.
I was a realist. I knew my place in life’s hierarchy. I was at the bottom. I was not the very bottom—because of my family—but socially, I was barely one rung up the ladder.
Anyway, when Blaise started kissing Mara, when Mara knelt in front of him, when she opened his pants—I lost all train of thought.
And, oh my God.
My whole body was awash with sensations, and I was captivated. Captivated! Entranced. Mesmerized.
I could not look away.
Then I felt throbbing and a warm feeling between my legs, and it was game over. It was all I could do not to make a sound, because I wanted to. So bad. I wanted to moan. I wanted to touch myself, but I didn’t. I kept myself reined in, but watch? Oh yeah. I watched.
I couldn’t not watch.
I watched the whole thing.
I loved the whole thing.
And then at the end of it, I almost died.

Connect with Tijan

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2EcGBqB

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

To celebrate, Tijan is giving away a $50 Gift Card.
Click here to enter → http://www.tijansbooks.com/rich-prick-giveaway.html

Enemies by Tijan-Review & Excerpt Tour

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Sandy

ENEMIES by Tijan-Review & Excerpt Tour

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

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2rjDSbk

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 2, 2019

Stone Reeves was my neighbor, and I’ve hated him since sixth grade.

Gorgeous and charismatic, he became the town’s football god, while I became the town’s invisible girl.

He went to a Division 1 school for football, while my father was fired by his father.
His team won the National Championship, while my mother died the same day.

He was a first round pick for the NFL …… while I made the worst decision in my life.

Now I’m in Texas trying to pick up the pieces of my life.
But, Stone is here. Stone is everywhere.

It doesn’t matter that disaster has struck my life again.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the one trying to console me.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the nation’s newest football obsession.

Because for me, he always has been and always will be my enemy.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: ENEMIES by Tijan is a contemporary, new adult, romance focusing on professional football player Stone Reeves, and college student Dusty Gray.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Stone and Dusty) ENEMIES focuses on the childhood friends to enemies to frenemies to lovers story line between professional football player Stone Reeves, and college student Dusty Gray. Nine years earlier Stone Reeves pushed his best friend Dusty Gray out of his life-walked away leaving a heart broken Dusty in his wake but things went from bad to worse when Dusty’s family suffered loss after loss forcing the family into poverty, obscurity, and struggling to survive. Fast forward to present day wherein Dusty has enrolled at the college, in the same town where Stone Reeves plays professional football, a town that worships the ground upon which Stones Reeves walks. Hoping to avoid any confrontation, Dusty soon discovers that things can definitely get worse, especially when Stone is the bearer of more bad news, bad news that sends Dusty spiralling out of control. What ensues is the rebuilding friendship and relationship between Dusty and Stone, and the potential fall-out as Dusty is unable to come to terms with what happened, and a future that no longer includes the people she loves.

Stone Reeves had no idea the secrets and lies that made enemies between the Reeves and the Grays. From power and greed to accusations, manipulation, sickness and death, the Gray family founds themselves on the outside looking in including a young girl who would lose her best friend to powers out of her control.

The relationship between Stone and Dusty is a second chance friendship, a friendship destroyed by vendetta and deception, circumstance and vengeance. Dusty struggles with her attraction to a man she wants to hate, an attraction that grows every time Stone comes to the rescue as Dusty’s life continues on a downward descent. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including the mean girls and b*tches, sport jocks and students, friends and extended family.

ENEMIES is a heart breaking and emotional story. Tijan pulls the reader into an angst-filled, impassioned, raw and gritty tale of love, loss, grief and acceptance. The premise is strong, sensitive and profound; the characters are dynamic and sassy; the romance is spicy, seductive and edgy.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

“Do not think I won’t pick you up and throw you in my truck, head first and everything. I’m two seconds away.”
I stopped and stared at him.
Shit. He meant business. He was glaring at me with eyes that said, “Do not fucking fuck with me, you fucking twit.”
Well. Then.
I sighed. I’ll try reasoning instead. “You’re going to drive me to your house, and then I’ll pack whatever I need and call a cab to take me all the way back to where I’m paying rent. It’s not worth it. Just let me grab a cab now.”
A savage curse bit out, and then his eyes flashed.
His singular warning had been when he told me he was two seconds away. In a flash, he grabbed me, and I was airborne, right into the back of his truck. But he wasn’t done. He leapt up, grabbing the seatbelt over me, and pulled it around me, clicking it in place. He had the door shut, locked, and he was already going around the front before I could even push myself upright and then start to reach for my seatbelt.
By then, he was inside, the engine on, and he shoved off into traffic.
“This is stupid.”
“You’re right. You’re being stupid.” Cursing, he ducked down as a car sped past us. They knew he was driving because they came up on his driver’s side, their phones up and ready to go. It was a car full of teenage girls. “Dammit.”
“Where do you live?”
He opened his mouth, then caught himself. His eyes narrowed in the rearview mirror. “Why?”
I just smiled. “No reason.”
He continued to study me in between still watching the road, and with a soft growl, he shook his head. “I’m not buying it. What? You’re going to tell those girls who are trying to get a picture of me?”
“What’s the difference? I’ll know when you take me to your house. What’s stopping me from posting it on Twitter, or even posting your phone number?”
A litany of curses spewed from him, and the back of his neck was getting red. I was having a heyday with this. It was more fun than I could remember having in a long time.
Until he announced it, “I liked your mom.”
“What?”
“Your mom.” He moved into the far lane, settling back.
I was thinking we had a bit of drive from here, and he settled an arm back on the passenger seat headrest.
“I always liked her. She made me cookies and muffins. And I remember when she tried to teach us to bake cakes from scratch. You were horrible and your cakes tasted terrible, but we’d lie to you. Both of us.”
“You did not—” But I was remembering, and even I hadn’t wanted to taste my cakes.
A tug at my mouth. “She’d wear that ugly yellow apron. She hated that apron.”
“What? I loved that apron. Always felt like it was sunshine. Made me feel warm, even in the winter.”
I noted softly, “That’s why she wore it. For you.”
His eyes lifted to the rearview mirror, holding mine a second again. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Yeah.” His voice came out raspy. “She was a good woman, and a good mom. She was a good wife. I could always tell.”
I snorted. “Why? Because she wasn’t wasting away like yours?” Then, I winced. That sounded even bitchier to my own ears, more than I thought it would be. “Shit. I’m sorr—”
“Because you guys laughed.” He kept on talking about my family, ignoring what I’d so blatantly pointed out about his own, his face hard. “My parents laughed when they were drunk, and only when they had a party. When there were other people there to laugh with, never the two of them, never the three of us. I was their only kid. I wouldn’t have known better except I half grew up in your home, too, and what I remember the most about growing up was that you guys laughed.”
My throat burned.
“Yeah, we did.” I looked out the window. A hollow feeling starting to dig in my chest. “Until she died. We didn’t laugh much after that.”
“You laughed until then?”
I nodded. I felt the chinks in my armor widening.
I remembered how he did adore my mom. The two acted as if they were conspiring together during our baking lessons, and any time he was in the house. He congregated around her. She congregated closer to him.
“You’re the son she never had.” Then, feeling bad about my shot at his mom, “Your mom cooked for us. I remember that one time she tried to teach us to make lasagna.”
He cracked a grin, barking a laugh. “You sucked at that, too. I never knew lasagna noodles could come out hard like rocks until yours.”
Fuck him, but I was grinning. I couldn’t help myself.
Those were good times, good memories before the shit ones came. And they came soon after that lasagna disaster.
He quieted. “It wasn’t the same. My mom versus yours. We had baking lessons at your house once a month, every first Sunday. My mom tried to teach us how to make Caesar salad, the only second cooking session she gave us, and that one we all got fine. It’s hard to screw up.”
“Says you. You’re perfect at everything.”
He didn’t reply.
I didn’t expect him to. It was true. He knew it. I knew it. The entire nation knew it.
Then from him, “Not at being a friend.”
My stomach kicked.
Hell no. No way. He wasn’t getting back in. No fucking way.
“Oh. God.” I groaned, throwing a hand up to hit my forehead. “Can we not? Can we save the dramatics until I’m able to call a cab to take me back to my place? For real. Enough bonding or whatever it is we were just doing.”
He growled, “You are such a goddamn bitch.”
I retorted, “And you are such a goddamn prick. Drop me the fuck off!”
“With fucking pleasure!”
He gunned the engine, shooting forward in traffic, and weaving until we were nearing my exit. When he took it, I relaxed. The rest of the way was tense and silent, and I knew both of us couldn’t wait to be rid of the other. Then he pulled over to the curb. He didn’t make a move, his only action just unlocking the door.
His head was turned halfway to me, his jaw clenching over and over again.
Fine.
I shoved forward, my head only swimming a little bit as I climbed out of his truck. Once I shut the door and turned around, he’d already hit the engine, tearing away from the curb.
I only had the clothes on my back, on the side of the street, but I’d never been so fucking grateful to be away from him.
Now, turning to the house I wasn’t sure I was still invited to live in, I saw that all the lights were off. Lovely.

Connect with Tijan

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2EcGBqB

Teardrop Shot by Tijan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Sandy

TEARDROP SHOT by Tijan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

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About the book: Release Date June 24, 2019

I asked for his criteria for bed buddies-that’s the PG version.

He swore at me and said he didn’t do groupies. And just like that, our friendship was off to a great start.

Reese Forster was the starting point guard for the Seattle Thunder.

Gorgeous. Cocky. Loved by the nation.

He’s also attending preseason basketball training camp where I used to work.

Correction: where I work again, because I was fired from my last job.

And dumped.

And I might have a tiny bit of baggage, but that’s normal. Right?

Reese and I shouldn’t have become friends. We shouldn’t have become roommates.

And we really shouldn’t have started sleeping together … (Except we did.)

I’m adorably psychotic. He’s in the NBA.
This is not a disaster waiting to happen, at all.

•••••••••

REVIEW: TEARDROP SHOT by Tijan is a contemporary, adult, stand alone romance story line focusing on Charlotte aka Charlie, and professional basketball player Reese Forster.

Told from first person perspective (Charlie) and one chapter from Reese TEARDROP SHOT follows the building relationship between Charlie and professional basketball player Reese Forster. For the past several years, our heroine Charlie, has been living in her own private h*ll, a hell of which few people are aware. One year earlier Charlie walked away from the love of her life, and entered into a relationship with a man who broke her heart. A phone call from a former friend finds Charlie the ‘ball girl’ at Echo Island Camp, a private camp where the Seattle Thunder basketball team will be holding preseason workouts. Enter professional basketball player and starting point guard Reese Forster, our heroine’s favorite player, and the man with whom Charlie will fall in love. What ensues is the building but forbidden romance between Charlie and Reese, and the potential fall-out as Charlie pulls away before yet another crack in her already broken heart.

Charlie is what can only be labelled quirky and strange; a little cray-cray with a slight case of rambling Tourette’s where our heroine asked questions that make no sense at all. Struggling in her own personal nightmare, Charlie’s failed relationships, and continuing job losses constantly pushed at her already fragile heart-Charlie’s secrets have built a wall between herself and her friends, friends from whom she walked away eight years earlier. Meeting her idol Reese Forster, stirs something deep within our heroine, something that manifests itself just short of an emotional breakdown.

The relationship between Charlie and Reese is one of immediate attraction. Charlie’s peculiar way of dealing with stress comes across as odd and unorthodox. Reese Forster finds Charlie’s peculiarities wacky but fun, fun enough to answer her constant stream of unusual questions. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Charlie’s friends Trent, Owen, Hadley, and Grant; camp administrator Keith Gimpel; as well as several team members –Garth, Terry, Matthew, Juan, and their significant others; and coaches, agents and administrators for the Seattle Thunder Basketball Team.

TEARDROP SHOT is a story of secrets, heart break, love and loss; of friendship and family; of struggle and peace. The premise is fascinating; the characters are flirty, sassy and wounded; the romance is spicy, edgy and intense. TEEARDROP SHOT is a wonderful, emotional and captivating story line that touches on some traumatic times for our story line couple.

Copy supplied for review

NOTE: The Excerpt is intended for mature readers 18+ due to strong language and content

He came out, all ready, saw me, and shook his head.
Giving him the biggest smile I could muster, I handed over his coffee and dangled my keys. “Let’s go.”
My neighbor was coming home from his night shift at a factory. He was trudging down the hallway when he saw us, lifted a hand in greeting, then stopped. His head shot upright and his shoulders stiffened.
He rotated swiftly on his heels, his eyes wide and bulging. He held up a hand. “Is that—”
“No.” Lying. Another superhero quality of mine. “It’s late, Bill. That’s my brother.”
Reese squashed a laugh and nodded to the guy. “What’s up.” It wasn’t a question, but a greeting, and he hustled me past my neighbor.
I gave Reese a look as we went to my underground parking spot. “He’s going to hammer me later. He’ll know he wasn’t seeing things.”
“He’s a fan?”
“The biggest.”
Reese smirked, meeting my gaze over the top of my car. “Bigger than you?”
We were entering cheesy territory here. We needed to scale it back.
“I have a cardboard cutout of you,” I told him. “In my closet.”
He froze. “You’re joking.”
I was, but now I had to buy one. “Wouldn’t you like to think that.” Settling into my chair, I felt better—more familiar terrain again. “But the funny thing is, next time you come, you won’t know if I was serious or if I bought him after I told you.”
Reese just rolled his eyes, putting the coffees in the cup holders for both of us.
He was looking around as I pulled out of the lot. “This is actually a nice place.”
“The underground parking is nice. The apartment building itself is okay. Nothing great.” I didn’t tell him how the lights in the laundry room would dim, so if I used those machines, I had to prop the door open with a rock. Or how I’d only do my clothes between seven in the morning and nine. Nine was the latest. After that, people were stirring, and there were a few neighbors I wasn’t so sure about.
Reese whistled as I pulled up to departures seven minutes later. “You weren’t kidding. That’s close.”
“And you’ve barely had your coffee.”
He yawned now, blinking a few times. “I’ll grab some inside. You can have it.”
I parked, but didn’t shut off the engine.
“Do not get out,” he warned.
I grinned. “Wasn’t planning on it. We really don’t need to go to that level, with the hugging, would we kiss or not… Too many strings, friend.”
He smiled back, but his eyes had started to smolder a bit. He leaned over, dropping his voice, “I’ll answer one of those questions.” His lips caught mine in a good, firm kiss, one that sent my senses spiraling and stole just the slightest bit of oxygen from my lungs.
I might’ve needed to gather my bearings as he pulled back and grabbed his bag from the back. Before he turned, he gave me a second kiss, this one lighter. “Go home. Go to bed,” he said as he reached for the door. “Text me when you park, and again when you’re inside your place. Humor me. I’m a friend. I can care.”
He was starting to leave, but I tugged on his shirt.
He paused, looking back.
“And after that?” I asked.
“We’re friends. Let’s play it by ear.”
Our gazes held, a shared reminder of the other details in our agreement. I saw his darkening, so I let go. “Okey-dokey. Hope you don’t get mauled.”
He laughed. “It’s too early for that.”
But we both knew the truth. It could happen.
As if reading my mind, he amended, “It’s usually not that bad. If it is—and I don’t think it will be—airport security is good with celebrities here. They’ve got a special room and everything. Plus…” He reached in his bag and pulled out a baseball hat, dragging it low over his eyes and flicking up his hood. “This is pretty incognito.”
His height wasn’t, but I decided to pick my battles. “I’ll expect twenty questions by the time you land.”
He laughed. “Don’t think so. I’m going to be sleeping that whole time, but I’ll text you updates just to annoy you.” He got out, but bent back down, his tone more serious. “Do me a favor? Only take that job if you want it. Don’t take it because you feel desperate. I can loan you money, if anything.”
That wiped all joking aside. “Reese.” Dammit. “I’ll never lose myself in a guy again. Ever.”
“Yeah, but before you didn’t have a friend who could loan you money until you got to a place where you could pick something that actually made you happy.” His eyes flashed a warning. “Now you do. Just think about it. It’s a loan. I’d give one to another friend in the same spot.”
I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled. “Drive safe. I liked screwing you. Let’s do it again and soon.”
“I changed my mind. Get mauled!”
I could hear his laugh as he shut the door and headed inside, his bag over his shoulder. Only a couple guys squinted at him, their heads cocked to the side. He was right. His incognito look really was incognito, but he was still frustrating.
And I was hoping for thesoontoo.
Driving back, my phone kept buzzing.
Reese: Checking in.
Reese: I had to check my bag. It’s too big for a carry-on.
Reese: Two autographs.
Reese: Going up the escalator now.
Reese: At the security line. The guards are cool. They promised not to be angry when Thunder beats the Coyotes.
Reese: Through security.
He knew I couldn’t answer. I was driving.
Reese: I’m at gate A6.
Reese: This is a nice airport. I always forget till I get here.
Reese: I upgraded to first class.
Reese: Coach wants to make sure I get back in time for meetings this morning.
Reese: Still not boarding. Just letting you know.
After parking, I grabbed my phone.
Me: It’s supposed to be questions. Like, if I asked security if I could put a body in my bag, could I still check it? Questions like that. You’re not following the rules.
Reese: Fuck the rules. These are my rules.
Reese: You do questions. I do updates. Deal with it.
Reese: Except now. Are you back at your place?
Me: Yes. Walking upstairs now.
Reese: No updates from you. Well. Yes. Tell me when you get in your place.
I turned down my hallway. Bill’s door opened and his head popped out. His hair was scruffed up like he’d been trying for a Mohawk. “No bullshit. Was that him?”
I was about to break a fellow Reese Forster fan’s heart. “It was my brother.”
He glared. “You’re not fucking with me?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
That was it.
His head went back in, and he slammed his door shut.
Immediately Mrs. Rings yelled from her apartment across the hall. “STOP SLAMMING THE DOORS! EVERYONE FUCKING SHUT IT!”
And her parrot a second later.
“STOP SLAMMING FUCKING SHUT IT!”
And then, “SHUT IT, BORIS!”
And her parrot again, “EVERYONE FUCK IT AND GO TO SLEEP!”

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