Published: November 6, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

“A love story involving two strong personalities who clash repeatedly, both personally and professionally. If you love a story filled with passion and drama, this is the book for you.”
– Melanie Moreland New York Times/USA Today Bestselling Author

“May I cut in?” Mr. Clueless interrupted.

 

My eyes locked on to his green ones. At that point, I welcomed the pervert. He didn’t wait for Tony to respond and took my hand, whisking me away from him. “Should I be surprised that you’re light on your feet?” I asked.

The man could dance.

“I’m surprised you can move in that dress.”

“What is it with you and this dress?”

He thought for a while, and then held me tighter as he whispered, “Can you get on your knees in that dress?”

I gasped, attempting to pull away from him, though he only held me tighter.

“Can those long legs wrap around broad shoulders in that dress?” He grinned.

I couldn’t believe what he was saying to me, never mind the fact I was in the middle of a crowded dance floor, while some stranger was verbally getting me off.

“Do you spew out language like that to every woman you meet?” I hissed.

His grin shifted crooked as his eyes landed on my breasts. “You’re my first, and I must say I would have loved to have popped that cherry in that dress.”

My traitorous nubs hardened.

I wanted this man.

It’s Christmas, and the season of holly, Christmas trees, and goodwill is drifting on air in merry holiday wishes. Romantic suspense and paranormal author Lynn Crandall and contemporary author Lainee Cole present in their own way two stories of love in Captured by Christmas. However it finds you—under a Christmas tree or drifted in snow in a backwoods cabin—the spirit of the season will wrap you in love.

In Snowbound, Lynn Crandall lets readers check in on favorite Fierce Hearts series were-lynx characters Kennedy Mitchell and Asher Monroe as they uncover the identity of the creature scaring the humans in Octavia, a small rural community in northern Michigan. Plans for an intimate getaway and family-style holiday are crumbling as the snow piles higher and Kennedy and Asher find themselves snowbound with a killer outside their door.

In The Mistletoe Effect, Christmas is second-grade teacher Tess McCall’s least favorite holiday, but she’s doing her best not to let it show. Learning he’s a father to seven-year-old Holly makes Alex Randle anxious about the upcoming holidays. When Tess’s class starts reading to shelter dogs, Holly and the antics of shelter dog Mistletoe lead them all to rediscover the magic of Christmas.

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Lynn Crandall lives in the Midwest and writes in the company of her cat. She has been a reader and a writer all her life. Her background is in journalism, but whether writing a magazine or newspaper story or creating a romance, she loves the power stories hold to transport, inspire, and uplift. In her romances, she focuses on vulnerable, embraceable characters who don’t back down.

Shiloh is a secret. Locked away behind thick walls and armed guards. She is the only weakness of her dangerous and powerful father. She dreamed of the day she can escape and live a normal life.

Whispered promises lead her to a different dangerous and powerful man. Shiloh believes Pierce can give her freedom, as long as he never learns who she really is. Shiloh trades being one man’s secret to become another man’s pawn.

What will Shiloh sacrifice to be free? Her family? Her voice?

Can she take a life for a chance to live the life she always longed for?

Inspired by Han Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid (NOT the Disney version), taking place in the modern and human world.

I turn around grip her chin, turning her face so she’s forced to look me in the eyes. I wait until her panic subsidies and she focuses solely on me.
“Can you speak yet?”
She tries. Nothing but a painful rasp. Her eyes are so expressive, I see the sorrow and disappointment in them.
“Did someone send you to me? Are you here to steal, spy, kill?”
She shakes her head, and I see the fear in her eyes. Is she scared I will find the truth or that I won’t believe her?
“What if I took you back to wherever you came from? Should I do that?”
Her hands grab my wrist tightly. Desperation and panic swirls in her gaze. She shakes her head frantically, begging me not to send her away.
“Are you hiding from someone?”
Shiloh nods. It’s full of regret and shame. She bites her swollen lip, waiting for me to push her away or pull her safety. I weigh my options.
“You escaped and think I will save you?” I can’t help the edge in my voice. “I’m not a hero.”
Her mouth forms a word—one so simple I can read her lips.
Please.
They tell me the girl is mute, that she may never speak again. She doesn’t need a voice because I see every word she needs to say in her eyes.
“Come,” I tell her. “You will stay with me until I figure out what to do with you.”
I take her arm and help her off the plane. She’s weak but light and easy to hold up. When she steps to the ground, she inhales deeply. Her wide and glassy eyes looks over to the ocean. I watch her awed reaction and notice the light freckles dotting her nose and cheekbones. There’s an innocence about her that I’m not sure if I should trust.
“Never seen the ocean before?” I ask.
She shakes her head, still staring off to where the sun is starting to set over the blue horizon.
“Welcome to the Bahamas,” I say.
Her gaze is torn away from the view, and mine from her, when my housekeeper takes her off my hands. The girl’s ushered into my home, and I wonder if I just made the stupidest mistake of my life.

Toy. Pet. Secret. Trade.
In the bedroom that is not really mine anger boils inside me. I would scream if it could be heard. What good is a scream if it can’t bounce off the walls? What release does it offer when the pent up energy cannot leave my body?
I was foolish to think I could find what I needed here. Pierce and his family are just like mine. He will use me however he can to gain power.
As invisible as I am, I hear things no one thinks I do. I know that both our fathers are fighting for the same thing.
All my life I resented the fact I was locked away and kept behind high walls. I wanted freedom and a chance to be someone other than the boss’s daughter. I only managed to find myself in the exact situation my father was trying to protect me from.
Paradox: (n.) a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
I want to laugh at the irony. A laugh brings no happiness when it cannot be heard.
Pierce is looking for the dancer I left him with. How funny is it that I handed him to her on a platter? He will seek her out and keep his promises to another woman. I will be the currency used to secure her freedom.
Digging around in the nightstand, I search for the pad of paper and pen left for me. I hold the pen in shaking hands, the ink ready to tell the truth.
I saved you.

I stare at the words a moment before crumpling the paper. Those three words are proof of my betrayal to my family. When my father finds me, or I am turned over, he will know the truth. If I can convince him somehow to forgive me for running away, I won’t be able to walk away from the three words I put on this paper.
I pace the borrowed room, stepping out to the balcony in attempt to soothe the anger I feel growing inside. Instead, I grow more bitter. I shred the page, letting the pieces float away in the breeze. The ocean will swallow my secret and keep it forever.
I whirl around, my whole body shaking with anger and defeat. I want to yell, scream, and cry. The silence becomes too much. I pull at the curtains until I hear the snap of the rods holding them up. I yank the blankets off the bed and toss them to the floor. Doors slam and I pound on anything I can. The need to make noise is so intense I wish I had a bomb.
“Shiloh!”
I ignore the shout as I throw my shells against the window. The sound isn’t as loud as I need it. I reach for the lamp but strong arms band around me. I kick and squirm, but I’m pinned to his chest. My throat is sore from trying to shout and my eyes are wet with salty tears.
“Stop,” he says in my ear. His voice is too calm and low.
I fight him harder. I want him to yell at me. I stomp on his toe, but he doesn’t let go. Instead, we turn and Pierce pins me to the wall.
“Relax,” he whispers in my ear. My blood heats.
I throw my head back, connecting with his chin. His grunt is exactly what I wanted.
I spin out of his hold but only make it a few steps before Pierce tackles me to the floor. I’m quick but not as strong as he is. He flips me to my back and his fingers clamp around my wrist. I buck underneath him as he straddles me, pinning my hands above my head.
“I wish I could hear your screaming,” he says as he stares down at me. “What would you shout at me?”
I can’t move with him on top of me like this. I exhale loudly, my body deflating as the air leaves me. Pierce doesn’t move, trying to read my silent words on my face.
“You think I’m going to take you home.”
I glare up at him, trying to keep my face hard to hide the emotions swirling inside me.
It doesn’t matter anyway because Pierce can hear me from the inside. He can always read me, it seems.

Alyne lives in Ohio with her husband, two dogs and cat. Working full time in an office all day, she spends her nights reading, writing or watching an entire TV series in a night. She refuses to grow up and loves Disney movies and anything with owls. She couldn’t live without her coffee or her furry “children”.

Alyne wrote her first novel titled “Light to the Darkness” in 2014.

To stay up to date on what Alyne is working on, teasers and more: Sign up for the newsletter. http://eepurl.com/YNdxj

She loves to connect with readers so feel free to stalk her!

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Irish Winters is an award-winning author who dabbles in poetry, grandchildren, and rarely (as in extremely rarely) the kitchen. More prone to be outdoors than in, she grew up the quintessential tomboy in rural Wisconsin, spent her teenage years in the Pacific Northwest, but calls the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah home. For now. The wife of one handsome husband and mother of three perfect sons, Irish divides her time between writing at home, and traveling the country with her man while – writing. (Seriously, what else? She believes in making every day count for something, and follows the wise admonition of her mother to, “Look out the window and see something!”

Release Date: December 12, 2016

She’s perfect. And broken, like you …
Unaware of how beautiful she is.

And how much worse her life could be …
She’s cast out for being different, misunderstood, or simply too complicated to bother with.

Just. Like. You …
She’s still perfect.

Because after all, you can’t break what’s already broken, and you can’t hurt what already suffers.

Or can you …?

Originally born and bred in New Zealand, Max now resides with her family in beautiful and sunny Queensland, Australia. Life with two young children can be hectic at times, and although she may not write as often as she would like, Max wouldn’t change a thing. When she’s not engrossed in her dark and twisted fictional worlds, she can be found enjoying the outdoors while 4wd-ing with her family.

The crowd goes silent instantly as the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, and strobes take over. Anticipation is heavy in the air. The tension is thick as the excitement builds, then the plucked notes of an electric guitar fill the room, and I recognize “So Contagious” by Acceptance. Hmm. Interesting choice.

Kip leans over and shouts. “This is going to be good.”

But I don’t hear him. The circling spotlight found it’s target when the curtain was pulled back and a Goddess dances onto the stage. I know without a doubt, this is Seary! Staring at her, spellbound by her beauty, my mind goes blank and the words of the song think for me. Wow! This is unexpected! My cock fills with blood. One hand instinctively seizes it, trying to choke the life out of it, while the other hunkers down on my drink and I struggle to get a grip on myself. She boldly bounces onto the stage to perform for a crowd of drunken fools, but her graceful movement belies her occupation and I recognize a gifted and talented dancer before me. She moves with the elegance and poise of someone who could, and probably should, be dancing on a larger, grander scale. She is perfection in motion.

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